548: Reunion with Luo Yan

Qiong Shuang was just grabbing a Phoenix-tail shrimp to stuff into her mouth when her movements instantly froze!

She looked at Yao Delong with suspicion and uncertainty.

Although that out-of-control killing intent had only leaked for a sliver of a second when the teacup shattered, she was constantly by Yao Delong's side!

She felt her big brother's terrifying emotions in that moment as clearly as if they were a rolling sea of blood from a demonic realm!

It was even more frightening than the Golden Scale Demon Marshal they had encountered in Biqiu!

It was a cold, destructive rage! Even her Silver scales couldn't help but stand on end!

On the other side, You Yuan, who was hovering over the pastries, also stopped her nibbling.

For the first time, that palm-sized little face showed an expression of solemnity and surprise.

Her illusory senses could "touch" the ripples of destruction fluctuating in the space around Yao Delong!

Yao Delong slowly raised his head.

No trace of rage could be seen on his face; in fact, he looked even calmer and more profound than usual.

Deep within those eyes, however, it was like a boundless icy star abyss, freezing all emotions, leaving only a coldness so pure it was despair-inducing!

The temperature in the entire private room seemed to be plummeting!

His gaze seemed to pierce through the magnificent pavilions of the Immortal Gazing Tower,

piercing through the clamor of the mundane world, locking firmly onto the southern part of Jinling City!

Myriad Medicine Pavilion... Shopkeeper Luo... Zhao San... forcing her to submit?

Dancing in public?

"Heh..." An extremely soft, cold sneer escaped Yao Delong's lips, carrying a cruelty that disregarded life and death.

He slowly stood up, his movements natural and composed.

But that invisible aura was like an awakening primordial beast,

making the Restriction formation of the Immortal Gazing Tower—which was claimed to be able to isolate the pressure of a Nascent Soul—wail and buzz!

"Qiong Shuang."

His voice was calm and without ripples. "Ah? Here! Brother!" Qiong Shuang jumped, also snapping to her feet as the playfulness vanished from her face.

"Pack it up." Yao Delong didn't even look at the table of delicacies and Spiritual Meals that could satisfy several people. "Are you full?"

Qiong Shuang nodded vigorously. "Full! I'm full! Is Big Brother going to fight?"

A silver light flared in the depths of her eyes; her instinctual thirst for battle was ignited by that terrifying killing intent!

You Yuan instantly retracted her spiritual light, turning into a mark that shrank back into the jade pendant at Yao Delong's waist,

leaving behind only a thought: "Kid! This old lady is full! Go do your business!"

Yao Delong acted as if he hadn't heard.

Or rather, at this moment, he had only one destination in his heart!

The south of the city!

Myriad Medicine Pavilion!

He casually flicked a ray of spiritual light toward the shopkeeper, who had long been scared witless and was hiding in the back, to settle the bill.

While Qiong Shuang put away the expensive Spiritual Meal boxes, Yao Delong's green robes fluttered,

and as if stepping on an invisible staircase, he disappeared from the window of the private room in a single step!

Qiong Shuang followed closely behind in a flash of silver light!

Inside the Immortal Gazing Tower, a chorus of gasps and the sound of breaking cups instantly erupted!

A hundred miles east of Jinling City, atop a lonely cliff.

A figure in a skirt flowing with dark red fire Evil Qi, like molten lava, stood against the wind.

Flame demonic patterns flickered incessantly on Luo Tianying's hem, reflecting on her Qiong Shuang-sculpted profile and making it look somewhat demonic and stunning.

The light of the transmission crystal in her palm had already gone out, but Xin Yuelan's command, which contained traces of Qiong Shuang Evil Qi, still lingered in her ears:

"Sister Luo, stall Yao Delong for me. I am rushing over at full speed! Otherwise... Sister knows the consequences~"

"Young Miss..." Behind her, three Black-robed demonic cultivators at the Late Nascent Soul Stage were trembling, not daring to breathe loudly.

Luo Tianying turned around abruptly, her face no longer holding any charm, as if covered by a mask of cold iron.

Only in the depths of her eyes were waves of extreme complexity churning—

intense hatred, forced humiliation, and a deep-seated, distorted fear that she herself hadn't fully realized,

as well as a strong sense of dread regarding Yao Delong's current true combat strength!

"Yao Delong..." The name rolled through her teeth, carrying the taste of blood.

She knew the consequences of disobeying the order.

But these Demonic servants behind her... three Nascent Souls and dozens of Golden Cores?

They weren't even enough to fill the gaps between the teeth of Yao Delong's Sword formation!

Charging in? It would be like a mantis trying to stop a carriage! It would be sending them to their deaths!

It would also be handing herself over to be crushed by Yao Delong in passing!

Her Breakthrough to Soul Transformation was achieved through Dual Cultivation with Yao Delong! Now that the gap in their cultivation was so large, if they really fought... she would be the one to suffer.

She could only pray that Yao Delong would not leave Jinling City for these two days!

Meanwhile, inside the city, Yao Delong arrived at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion in a single flash.

The familiar scent of herbs mixed with soil and the slightly bitter aroma of Pill Fire rushed toward him, instantly triggering buried memories.

His Divine Thought spread out silently like flowing water, accurately capturing that familiar yet somewhat resilient aura in the backyard—

That's right, it was Luo Yan! She had actually quietly reached the Early Golden Core Stage?

This speed... she must have suffered a lot over the years.

The shop assistant at the door put on a smile, just about to step forward to greet this guest of extraordinary bearing,

but his vision blurred. Where was the person? Only a wisp of clear breeze remained over the threshold.

The backyard of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

A bluestone Pill Furnace was shrouded in the lingering warmth of a fire that had yet to fully dissipate. The medicinal Qi in the furnace was thin,

indicating that this batch of Medicinal Pills had not been refined smoothly, and might even have failed.

Luo Yan stood alone before the furnace in simple cloth robes. Her face was as gentle and beautiful as ever,

but her once lively eyes seemed to be covered by a persistent mist,

and a deep, unshakeable sorrow was locked between her brows.

The pressure from the City Lord's Mansion was like an invisible mountain, weighing her down so much she could hardly breathe and exhausting her mind.

Her slender fingers unconsciously stroked the wall of the furnace, her knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

Suddenly!

A powerful yet not unfamiliar aura—one that was even etched into the depths of her Soul—appeared behind her without warning,

as if it had torn through the barriers of space to dominantly barge into her small world.

Was it a dream? Or... She turned around abruptly, her heart pounding violently in her chest!

The person before her wore green robes and stood tall and straight like a pine tree.

His face was handsome, with a faint outline of the elderly man in her memory, but the high spirits between his brows,

and the aura of a towering mountain overlooking the world in his every movement, were already as different as heaven and earth!

He stood there, surrounded by an invisible halo, like a banished immortal descending to the mortal realm.

It was him!

Yao Delong!

The figure she thought of day and night, yet who made her heart ache with pain when she woke from her dreams, feeling as lowly as dust and forever out of reach!

The massive shock left her momentarily speechless. Her blood felt as if it were flowing backward,

her cheeks uncontrollably flushed, only to turn pale in the next second.

Almost instinctively, she lowered her eyes as quickly as possible, forcibly suppressing the surging tide in her heart

and reining in all her inappropriate emotions. Her hands folded in front of her,

she performed an impeccably standard yet incredibly distant greeting, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling as she tried to maintain her composure:

"Senior... Senior Yao."

This address of "Senior" was like a needle dipped in ice, accurately piercing the softest part of Yao Delong's heart, bringing a sharp pain.

He looked at her. He looked at her long, slightly trembling lashes beneath her feigned calm;

he looked at the faint stiffness in her deliberately straightened back;

he looked at the over-exerted paleness of her fingers as she bowed.

At that very moment, a System interface invisible to others suddenly expanded before his eyes:

[Target: Luo Yan]

[Favorability: 95 (Unforgettable, humble admiration)]

[Status: Extremely nervous, intense joy, deep self-inferiority, desperate and helpless]