382: Chapter 383 Waiting for your brother to take you home!

Mist swirled through the mountains, and occasionally, a crane would sweep past, leaving behind a string of clear, resonant calls.

In front of a side hall in the Outer Sect Disciple area, a young boy walked out with quick steps.

He was around eleven or twelve years old; although he had not yet fully matured, he already possessed a somewhat upright silhouette.

Dressed in a luxurious robe of interwoven gold and white, his features were clear and bright, with red lips and white teeth.

His eyes were sparkling with the high spirits characteristic of a youth, and the corners of his mouth could not stop curling upward, his whole face filled with irrepressible joy.

It was none other than Ye Chen.

As soon as he stepped out of the hall, he caught sight of Ye Zhenzhen reading under the corridor outside.

She was a little girl a few years younger than him, wearing her hair in two cute buns,

dressed in a little goose-yellow skirt, lying on a low table under the corridor, holding a thick book, her two little legs dangling in the air and swinging gently.

She was reading intently, her small brows slightly furrowed, as if the content of the book was a bit difficult to understand.

"Zhenzhen!"

Ye Chen ran over in two or three strides, scooped his younger sister up into his arms, and bounced her a little, his eyes squinting into crescent moons with happiness:

"Zhenzhen! I have already completed the process of guiding Qi into my body!"

Ye Zhenzhen had been deeply engrossed in her reading and was startled when her brother suddenly picked her up, but upon hearing his words, a brilliant smile immediately bloomed on her little face:

"Really? Brother is truly amazing!"

She wrapped her arms around Ye Chen's neck and affectionately rubbed her cheek against his: "I knew Brother was the best!"

"Of course!" Ye Chen looked proud, reaching out to rub his sister's little head, his tone filled with the pride and certainty characteristic of a youth,

"Don't worry, with my talent, in just a little over ten years, I will be able to Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment and become a great Foundation Establishment Cultivator! By then, we can go home to visit Mother!"

"Really?" Ye Zhenzhen's eyes sparkled with anticipation, "Then... then will Mother and Aunties be so happy that they cry?"

"Mother wouldn't cry."

Ye Chen snorted, then added with a bit of a guilty conscience,

"...Maybe, maybe she might cry a little bit in secret. Anyway, when we suddenly appear in front of her, it will definitely give her a fright!"

"Hee hee, what about Father? Will Father be startled too?" Ye Zhenzhen asked, tilting her little head.

Ye Chen thought for a moment and said seriously: "Father... he probably won't be startled. He is so amazing, he knows everything. However, he will definitely be very happy."

Ye Chen imagined the scene after returning home, and the corners of his mouth could not stop curling upward.

He thought that by then, he would surely be a great Foundation Establishment Cultivator, wearing a gold and white brocade robe, a long sword hanging at his waist, descending from the sky on his Flying Sword.

Father would certainly be in the study looking at account books, and Mother would most likely be in the courtyard tending to those Spiritual Plants.

He would suddenly appear, landing in the center of the courtyard, elegant and extraordinary, then bow and say in a clear voice: "Father, Mother, your son has returned."

Mother would surely be stunned, then the jade pot she was using to water the plants would drop to the ground with a "clatter," spilling water everywhere.

She would walk over quickly, looking him up and down, her eyes turning red, her lips trembling for a long time, and finally squeezing out one sentence: "You've lost weight."

Then she would surely be unable to hold back her tears, wiping them away while chiding him: "Why didn't you send word in advance before coming back?"

As for Father... Father would likely stand at the doorway of the study, still holding the account book, his expression calm, merely nodding slightly and saying: "It is good that you have returned."

But Ye Chen knew that with Father's reserved personality, he would definitely secretly order the kitchen to prepare a big table of his favorite dishes that evening.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen could not help but chuckle.

The other younger brothers and sisters would surely be like this too, clinging to his neck and refusing to let go, their soft little faces rubbing against his cheeks, calling out in milky voices: "Brother! I missed you so much!"

Then he would take his younger sister to pay respects to the Aunties and go visit his eldest brother, Ye Bufan. He had heard that his eldest brother was also doing very well at the Lingxiao Sect, with his Cultivation improving rapidly.

The whole family would sit around eating together, lively and bustling, just like before.

The more Ye Chen thought about it, the happier he became, and the smile on his face was almost overflowing.

But as he laughed, he remembered the time when he first arrived at the Jinyang Sect.

At that time, he did not know how far away the Jinyang Sect actually was.

He thought that the Jinyang Sect was similar to the Lingxiao Sect that Father had mentioned, both within the Zhao State, and that he could get there in three or five days by taking a teleportation array or riding a spiritual bird.

It was only after arriving that he realized the Jinyang Sect was not in the Zhao State at all.

It was in the Daliang State, tens of thousands of miles east of the Zhao State.

The distance between it and the Lingxiao Sect was far more than just "a little bit far."

Separated by several countries, towering mountains and ridges, and vast wilderness in between.

Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage simply did not have the ability to cross such a vast distance.

If there were no Sect teleportation arrays, relying solely on flying, a Qi Refining Cultivator might not be able to reach it even after flying for a year.

When he first learned of this news, Ye Chen was completely dumbfounded.

Standing in front of the Jinyang Sect's mountain gate, looking at the ten-thousand-fathom peaks shrouded in clouds and mist below his feet, he suddenly felt that this mountain was so high, so high that it made him feel empty inside.

Ye Zhenzhen was even sadder for a long time.

That night, she ran to Ye Chen's room with her pillow, buried her little face in the pillow, and cried muffledly for quite a while.

She said: "Brother, will Father and Mother forget us?"

She said: "When we go back, will they not recognize us?"

She said: "I miss Father... and I miss Mother..."

At that time, Ye Chen wiped her tears while patting her back to comfort her: "They won't, they won't. Father and Mother won't forget us. When we have achieved success in our Cultivation and succeed in Foundation Establishment, we will go back to see them."

He said it with certainty, but in reality, he had no confidence in his heart either.

After all, he was only ten or so, thousands of miles away from home; it would be a lie to say he was not afraid.

But from that day on, reaching Foundation Establishment quickly and taking his sister home to visit their parents became his greatest motivation for Cultivation.

Every morning before dawn, he would get up to meditate and practice breathing exercises, during the day he would follow Revered Master Honglian Immortal Master to learn Cultivation Techniques and Spells, and at night he would add an extra hour of swordsmanship practice.

Sometimes when the crane Fairy passed by his courtyard in the middle of the night and saw the lights still on in his room, she would pat the window with her wings and scold him in a slurred voice: "Little madman, still not sleeping?"

Each time, Ye Chen would just chuckle and brush it off, and the next day he would do the same.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen touched Ye Zhenzhen's little head, put her back on the low table, bent down to get close to her exquisite little face, and asked gently: "Little Zhenzhen, is there anything you want to eat? Brother will go to the Jade Dining Hall to get it for you."

Ye Zhenzhen was deeply engrossed in reading the book, and upon hearing this, she raised her little face, her dark, round eyes turning, and then she shook her head very obediently: