Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

"Who told you to have ulterior motives?" Xiao Yan rolled his eyes.

"Can't you just be genuinely good to Ling'er? Can't you really treat her like a younger sister? When it comes to feelings, the worst thing you can do is force it. Just be yourself, treat Ling'er sincerely, and let things take their natural course, okay?"

Chapter 256 Cao Ying and Little Fairy Doctor

Seeing Xiao Yu's complicated expression, Xiao Yan continued, "Besides, the entire Xiao family will support you. Pills, cultivation techniques, resources—as long as you ask, the clan will prioritize providing them to you."

"Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about the Xiao family. Being able to establish a connection with Mr. Su, even if it's just a small favor, would be a tremendous opportunity for the Xiao family."

Xiao Yu fell silent.

She walked to the window and looked at the lush trees outside.

She remembered the little girl who used to tug at her clothes, her eyes that curved into crescents when she smiled, and her soft, sweet voice calling her "Sister Xiao Yu"...

I also recall that figure who was always dressed in white, pure and elegant like a banished immortal.

“I…” Xiao Yu took a deep breath and turned to look at Xiao Yan.

"I'll give it a try. But let me make this clear first, I genuinely like Ling'er and want to play with her, not..."

"I know, I know," Xiao Yan interrupted her with a broad smile.

"You're just a nice older sister who loves kids, okay?"

Xiao Yu glared at him, about to say something, when Xiao Yan suddenly slapped his thigh: "Oh right, I also prepared some things for you—"

He took out several beautifully bound books from his storage ring and stuffed them into Xiao Yu's hands.

"What is this?" Xiao Yu asked in confusion as she flipped it open. After just one glance, her cheeks flushed.

"Xiao Yan! Where did you get all this junk?!"

The pages are filled with portraits of women, and next to them are densely packed annotations—"How to Showcase Your Physical Advantages," "Eighteen Methods for Cultivating Temperament," "Conversation Skills and the Art of Maintaining Tacit Understanding," and so on.

"This is the essence of my painstaking compilation!" Xiao Yan said proudly.

"This is the culmination of my wisdom accumulated over many years! Study it carefully; it's guaranteed to be useful—"

Before she could finish speaking, a clear child's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Sister Xiao Yu! I've come to play with you!"

Xiao Yan's smile froze instantly.

"It's Ling'er!" Xiao Yu panicked and hurriedly hid the books behind her back.

"I...I'm leaving first!" Xiao Yan rushed to the window, pushed it open and was about to climb out when he suddenly remembered something, turned back and lowered his voice.

"Remember this! Start by being playmates! Be sincere! Be sincere!"

After saying that, he leaped into the air and disappeared out the window.

"Xiao Yan, you—" Xiao Yu stomped her foot in anger. This ungrateful guy, he ran away so fast!

She hurriedly tidied her hair, checked her clothes to make sure the "essence" was hidden, then took a few deep breaths and tried to fade the blush from her face.

"I'm coming!"

Xiao Yu opened the door, and sunlight and a tiny figure rushed in.

Su Ling'er tilted her little face up, smiling like a sunflower: "Sister, what are we going to play today?"

Looking into those clean and clear eyes, Xiao Yu's last bit of hesitation and calculation suddenly vanished.

She knelt down and gently patted the little girl's head: "Ling'er, whatever you want to play, I'll play with you."

"Really?" Su Ling'er's eyes lit up, and she threw herself into her arms.

"My sister is the best!"

Holding the soft little body in her arms, Xiao Yu suddenly felt that none of Xiao Yan's messy ideas mattered anymore.

What matters most at this moment is the child's wholehearted trust and reliance.

As for the rest... let time take its course.

Outside the window, Xiao Yan, who was hiding in the tree, looked at the two people, one big and one small, embracing inside the house, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Finally it's all settled... Do you know how hard it was for the Xiao family?"

He shook his head, slipped silently down the tree, and disappeared at the end of the path.

…………

On the border of Central China, amidst a dilapidated wall half-hidden by wind and sand.

The Little Fairy Doctor sat cross-legged on the rammed earth platform, her slender shoulders and back rammed straight.

She was surrounded by a misty, flowing aura of colorful battle qi, like a beautiful yet deadly veil.

As the technique was activated, the weeds and low shrubs within a radius of several feet around her were losing moisture and vitality at a visible rate, their leaves curling and turning yellow, until they finally died completely.

The deathly yellow landscape contrasted sharply with the eerie, colorful light flowing around her, creating a chilling atmosphere.

Cao Ying sat with her knees drawn up to her chest under a broken stone pillar not far away, her beautiful eyes fixed on Xiao Yixian's pale profile, filled with worry.

The sudden and dangerous incident a few days ago still leaves her with lingering fear.

They had only been following an ancient map to explore a ruin that might be related to alchemists, but they never expected to run into the infamous Ice Valley Master—the Ice Venerable.

The man exuded a chilling aura, his gaze as cold as ancient ice. With a single glance, he fixed his gaze on Little Fairy Doctor like a venomous snake. His hoarse voice carried undisguised greed: "A congenital calamity poison body... truly a heaven-sent opportunity!"

Before he finished speaking, a chilling, bone-piercing battle aura swept over him.

Although their cultivation levels were inferior to each other's, Little Fairy Doctor's unpredictable and deadly poisonous gas complemented Cao Ying's agile and strange fire, allowing them to barely hold on for the time being and not show any signs of defeat.

However, the most deadly threats often come from the shadows.

Just as the fierce battle was raging and the poisonous mist, ice, and flames were intertwined and collided in chaos, a cold and cunning palm wind, like a venomous snake that had been lurking for a long time, suddenly attacked from the blind spot of Little Fairy Doctor!

It was none other than Tian Shuangzi, the Grand Elder of the Ice River Valley.

Little Fairy Doctor was caught off guard and took a direct hit from the palm, causing her breathing to become disordered on the spot.

Cao Ying was shocked and furious. She activated her strange fire with all her might, turning it into a blazing fire curtain that temporarily forced back the powerful enemy. Taking advantage of the situation, she carried the injured Little Fairy Doctor and, with the help of the complex terrain of the ruins and the secret techniques taught by her master, managed to escape with great difficulty.

After an unknown amount of time, the colorful battle aura surrounding Little Fairy Doctor gradually receded into her body. She exhaled a long breath of turbid air carrying a grayish-white aura and slowly opened her eyes.

"How is it?" Cao Ying immediately got up and leaned closer, her tone urgent.

Little Fairy Doctor's face was still as pale as paper, and the color on her lips was so faint that it was almost invisible. She forced a reassuring smile and said in a weak voice, "I'm fine now. It's just that I took that palm strike head-on, and my fighting spirit was depleted. I'll be fine after a few days of recuperation."

Hearing that her life was not in danger, Cao Ying's heart finally felt half relieved, but it was immediately replaced by a sense of regret. She kicked away a small pebble at her feet with some frustration: "Sigh, if I had known that the outside world was so dangerous, I shouldn't have used the life-saving item that Master gave me so quickly..."

Over the past few years, they have indeed grown rapidly while traveling together. Their vision and strength are now vastly different from what they used to be. However, the protective trump card that Su Baichen bestowed upon them back then has long been exhausted in one unexpected danger after another.

If those methods were still available, why would they have been so embarrassed when they encountered the Ice Venerable? They might even have turned the tables and made that old ghost suffer a great loss! After that, Tian Shuangzi's sneak attack would have been out of the question.

“Yes…” Little Fairy Doctor also showed some embarrassment and lingering fear upon hearing this.

The evil of the turmoil on the mainland and the treacherousness of people's hearts far exceeded their imagination when they first came down the mountain together. Those trump cards that were enough to turn the tide had been used up without them even realizing it.

"Forget it, let's not talk about these depressing things."

Cao Ying shook her head, suppressing her chaotic and frustrated emotions, and regained her composure. She looked intently at Little Fairy Doctor and asked the most crucial question: "Did you successfully obtain that map and that ancient key?"

It was precisely because of the potential inheritance of powerful figures deep within these ruins and the fragmentary map pointing to an even more mysterious place that they inadvertently revealed their whereabouts.

Otherwise, with the concealment technique personally taught by Su Baichen, even someone as powerful as the Ice Venerable might not be able to detect it easily.

Chapter 257 Ice Venerable, Soul Palace Attacks!

"got it!"

Little Fairy Doctor nodded, and a faint light flashed in her palm. A strange jade stone with an ancient shape and mysterious patterns, as well as a dark yellow map made of some kind of animal hide, appeared in her hand.

However, she then shook her head regretfully, her fingertips brushing across the map's surface, and she could feel a subtle yet tenacious resistance.

"However... there is a very strong soul restriction on it, and with my soul power, I cannot explore its contents at all."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Cao Ying frowned and immediately took the map and the ancient key.

She took a deep breath, and an invisible spiritual power flowed out from between her brows like a trickle, carefully touching the animal hide map.

The map felt cool to the touch, with a peculiar texture. The moment her soul power attempted to invade, an ancient, obscure, and exceptionally resilient barrier suddenly appeared!

The barrier was not simply a defense; it was more like a network of chains woven from countless intricate and complex soul runes, firmly sealing the information within the map.

As soon as Cao Ying's soul power came into contact with it, she felt a stinging pain, and a repulsive force rebounded back, causing her mind to tremble slightly.

She focused her mind and pushed her soul power to its limit, transforming her mid-stage spiritual realm soul power into a more solid "pointed cone" in an attempt to find the weak point or operating pattern of this soul restriction.

However, the restriction was seamless, and the flowing runes subtly formed a kind of array that she could not understand, which was more solid than she could imagine.

She could even feel that her soul power was like a stream crashing against a reef, all in vain.

A moment later, Cao Ying slowly withdrew her soul power. When she opened her eyes again, her eyes were filled with solemnity and disappointment.

"No!" She shook her head, her tone tinged with helplessness.

"This restriction is extremely sophisticated and cannot be set up by ordinary means. To forcibly break it or safely unlock it... with my current soul level, it is far from enough. I estimate that at least a soul power at the Heavenly Realm level is needed to possibly glimpse its mysteries."

The cultivation of soul power is an extremely difficult and unorthodox field in the Dou Qi Continent, and its difficulty of improvement far exceeds that of Dou Qi cultivation.

Even those ancient imperial clans with long-standing traditions may not all possess systematic and efficient secret methods for cultivating the soul.

Otherwise, why would a spirit of a strange fire that has existed for thousands of years, like the Void Devouring Flame, need to drive the Soul Palace to capture souls everywhere to devour and cultivate?

If there truly were a method for cultivating the soul, with his talent and the accumulation of time, he would probably have already reached the legendary Emperor Realm soul.

"Alright..." Little Fairy Doctor could only sigh helplessly after hearing this, and put the map and the ancient key away again.

"It seems I can only keep it safe for now and ask my master for help when I have the chance to meet him again."

Although both she and Cao Ying had been bestowed with precious soul cultivation techniques by Su Baichen, their cultivation time was still relatively short. She had barely reached the early stage of the Spirit Realm, while Cao Ying was only at the middle stage.

Even Cao Ying was at a loss, so she herself didn't even need to try.

"Sigh, after all that effort, almost losing my life, it turns out I can only see it but not touch it. What a waste of time!" Cao Ying was also a little discouraged, rubbing her temples to relieve the slight fatigue from breaking through the barrier.

However, just as the two women were feeling down and their vigilance was slightly relaxed, a cold and familiar voice suddenly rang out from above, like an icy wind blowing in the dead of winter:

"You've all wasted your time, but I'm different!"

The voice seemed to be right next to their ears, and Cao Ying and Little Fairy Doctor's expressions changed drastically in an instant. Their slight relaxation just now vanished, and their fighting spirit surged instinctively.