After hugging Seraph with a tight grip, Ariana raised her head.

"Big Brother, I missed you."

Nodding faintly, he patted her head.

"I also missed your antics. Unfortunately, this woman here wasn’t going to allow me in."

Finally, their attention turned back to the warden whose face was as red as a ripe tomato. She was fuming inside.

Raising a finger, she pointed at Ariana.

"You brat! You dare to tarnish our Winter Peak image?! How can you go so close with a male?!"

Seraph’s brows furrowed, and he looked at her in confusion.

"Are there only females in the Winter Peak?"

The woman turned to him with a sharp glare.

"No, but every single one of our male disciples have been cleansed and are not lustful and filthy like you all."

Seraph rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say. I’m only here to see my little sister. And I have a permit from Elder Song."

The warden froze, her expression changing rapidly.

"E-elder Song? Impossible..."

While she was dazed, Seraph retrieved the stamped permit from his robes, then showed it to her.

"Ah..."

A horrified look appeared in her eyes, as she confirmed that she might have offended an existence she couldn’t afford to offend.

What if Seraph returned to the Soul Peak and told Elder Song that he had been turned away?

Knowing that coy madwoman’s vengefulness, the warden would definitely pay with her life.

So, she immediately switched her attitude. "Ah? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Esteemed disciple, you’re free to roam our Winter Peak with your little sister."

Giving him the most flattering smile she could make, she bowed courteously.

It was strange. An old woman bowing to a child. Seraph was sure such a thing didn’t exist back on Earth. Even if it did, it would be very rare.

Before he could even reply her, the woman turned to Ariana.

"What are you still waiting for? Quickly show your brother around our Winter Peak."

The two kids glanced at each other, then shrugged. Holding Seraph’s hand, the silver-haired girl led him up the mountain.

Only after they had disappeared from her sight did the warden finally exhale.

"Almost... I almost courted death. That boy... how did he even get Elder Song’s permit?"

Closing her eyes, she frowned. ’Could it have been forged?’

Just as she was feeling conflicted, she heard a beautiful voice beside her.

"Oh~ I thought you were going to be adamant until the end. Hehe."

Instantly, the warden froze, and she saw her life flash before her eyes.

Fortunately, she didn’t die. By the time she turned around, the speaker had already disappeared.

Meanwhile, she continued to carry a terrified expression as she retreated from the base of the mountain.

"I almost died today."

..................

Ariana led Seraph to the Winter Peak disciples residential area. It was built differently compared to the Soul Peak disciples residential area though.

Here, the dormitories were built in ascending order, with the Core Court dormitory being the closest to the peak.

The Inner Court dormitory was in the middle, while the Outer Court dormitory was closer to the base of the mountain.

"The weather here is really cold."

Seraph remarked, rubbing his arms. Although he had water affinity and fire affinity, he could still feel the chill.

The Winter Peak was always having this snowy climate, causing the entire mountain to be covered in snow.

Ariana turned to him with a smile, then paused.

"Big Brother... why do you look... much older?"

Before they were accepted as disciples, he was only slightly taller than her. Now, her head only reached his chest.

Not wanting to explain too deeply, Seraph smiled and ruffled her hair.

"It’s growth spurt. Mainly because I made a breakthrough."

The silver-haired girl nodded, completely believing him. In the end, she was still a 10 year old girl.

He sighed, remembering how he had promised the Patriarch to look after his daughter.

This was also why he had come to see her. To scout her surroundings and know what type of friends she moved with.

Suddenly, Seraph felt like he had returned to Earth, where he had to infiltrate a high school to keep watch of the president’s daughter’s movements and association.

’Truly...’

As they continued to climb up, Ariana asked.

"Big Brother, you said you had a breakthrough. So... are you a Core Advanced Stage cultivator now?"

Although she tried to suppress it, Seraph could sense the competitive undertone in her voice.

Ever since they were kids, she would always try to catch up to him. Unfortunately, they were on different levels entirely.

The only reason why Seraph’s cultivation pace had been quite normal was because he only had access to silver spirit crystals. If he had gotten the chance to use lots of gold spirit crystals as cultivation resources, he would have advanced in leap bounds.

"I’m at the Peak Advanced Stage currently."

Although he wanted to lie, he didn’t want to deceive Ariana. The girl was too young to be deceived and lied to this early.

Just like he expected, Ariana froze the moment she heard him.

"You... already?! How!!!"

Her large blue eyes stared at him like they were about to cry.

Smiling faintly, Seraph pulled her close and patted her head.

"It’s not as you think. I recently broke through to the Core Advanced Stage, but then chances upon a fortuitous encounter. That’s what pushed me to the Peak Advanced Stage."

Although he explained, Ariana still seemed grumpy. But then, she looked at him and smiled.

"Hehe, since you’re so strong now, I’m sure you’ll protect me."

The white-haired boy blinked, clearly not expecting that. He had thought she would speak about catching up to him soon, but she didn’t.

This made him believe she was maturing.

"Of course." He patted her shoulder. "I can see that you’re already an Initial Advanced Stage cultivator too. Very impressive!"

Ariana blinked, her eyes shining. "Really?"

He nodded. "Crossing from one stage to another is really difficult, and it can’t be done in a short period of time."

As soon as he said this, Seraph shivered. He knew deep down, that he could possibly advance into the next stage in a short period of time.

Still, he kept his thoughts to himself and continued praising Ariana.

Eventually, they arrived at the Outer Court dormitory where Ariana lived. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a single building like Seraph expected.

Instead, there were several small houses scattered around, with four rooms in each house.

Ariana and Tamar shared a room, according to the sect’s arrangements.

"Oh? That grumpy sword girl? You guys got along."

Seraph spoke in mild surprise, looking around. The other outer court disciples looked at the duo, especially him.

After all, it was extremely rare for the Winter Peak to have visitors. Only the new disciples recognized him as the boy who had been carried away by that mysterious elder with heaven-defying beauty.

"Ariana?"

Hearing that voice, the silver-haired girl turned around.

"Ah! Tamar, look! Big Brother came to visit me."

Seraph also turned around, locking eyes with the black-haired girl who’s expression never changed.

"Hello." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Tamar froze, clearly not expecting to see him. She could clearly remember what their first meeting was like.

Realizing she had been silent for too long, she replied to his greeting with a nod, then walked away quickly.

’When did he grow so big? And those damned eyes!’

Ariana tilted her head, watching her friend scurry away like a rat fleeing with composure.

"Hm? I guess Tamar must be feeling really awkward seeing you."

Seraph nodded. He also understood that their first meeting wasn’t an amicable one.

"Is she the only friend you have?" He asked, curious.

Ariana shook her head. "No. I have two—no, three friends in the Inner Court. And I know a nice person in the Core Court."

Seraph’s eyes widened faintly. "Really? That’s unexpected."

He had never met any of the Soul Peak Core Court disciples. Yet, Ariana already knew one of the Core Court disciples here.

"Alright, let’s go visit your Inner Court friends. Wait. Are you allowed to go there?"

She nodded with a grin. "Two of my friends there have connections, so I was given unrestricted access to the Inner Court."

She pulled out a badge from her clothes, assuring him.

"Alright. Let’s say hi."

The two left the Outer Court, moving up the mountain and soon arriving at the Inner Court.

There was a disciple manning the gates, and when she saw Ariana’s Outer Court robes, she stopped them.

"Outer Court disciples aren’t allowed here."

As if used to it, Ariana brought out the badge. After seeing the badge, the young lady let them pass.

Seraph glanced back at the lady, then looked at Ariana. "Shouldn’t she recognize you if you come here frequently?"

The silver-haired girl explained to him, skipping lightly as her shoes sank into the snow.

"The disciples at the gates change everytime. So it’s not always the same person."

Seraph nodded. "I see. Alright."

Just as he turned to admire the view of the Inner Court, he saw two young girls skating on the snow and speeding straight at him.