[Ah, you can’t do this to me! Just because I said I’m not doing a Chapter burst, you stop giving me monthly tickets! That’s not right! Xiaodao needs your support!]

When Song Mingyue found Ling Xiao, he had once again reverted to his appearance as a handsome and elegant young man, a refined gentleman in a chaotic world. The moment he saw Ling Xiao, he remembered his mother’s words, and his first reaction was a pang of shyness. Luckily, it didn’t show on his face. He hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Brother Ling, um... my father... he..."

"Hm? Hasn’t your father already awoken?" The joy of having fused the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Soul into the Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword had not yet faded from Ling Xiao, and a gentle smile graced his lips. "This is about restoring his strength, isn’t it? To be honest, what Martial Artist would be willing to lose their power completely? It’s just that... Brother Song, you know your father’s situation..."

"I know." A shadow crossed Song Mingyue’s face, and he said softly, "But as long as there is a sliver of hope, we have to... we have to hold on to it, don’t we? Brother Ling, I’m begging you. Please help my father!"

HUUFF!

Ling Xiao let out a long breath. "Alright, how about this. I’ll draw the medicinal ingredients needed. Then, you can mobilize your family’s power, and we can search for them together. How does that sound?"

"Ah, that would be wonderful! Brother Ling, thank you so much!"

Tears glistened in Song Mingyue’s eyes as she gazed at Ling Xiao, her heart filled with warmth. She hadn’t completely followed her mother’s instructions, but had instead asked Ling Xiao for help directly. Back in Penzes City, Song Mingyue had seen that Ling Xiao was no soft-hearted fool. He was decisive and ruthless, not someone easy to get along with. The fact that so many hidden families couldn’t gain the slightest advantage over him was a clear testament to this.

But the more he was like that, the more Song Mingyue wanted to see just how much this "Brother Song" was worth in Ling Xiao’s eyes. Was he the type of person with such deep cunning that he remained unmoved by worldly temptations, all while plotting for something far greater?

In the end, he won the bet. Or rather, Song Mingyue had made a bet with herself, and the stake was human nature itself.

"Brother Ling, please forgive me for acting on my own," Song Mingyue said with a light smile. "Before coming here, I had already obtained my grandfather’s consent. The funds you need to rebuild Penzes City will be covered by the Sea Domain Song Family! As for the city’s safety, the Sea Domain Song Family will dispatch two Tier Two Sword Emperors to guard it year-round, until... the day you have enough power to protect yourself! Otherwise, the Sea Domain Song Family’s promise will not change for a hundred years!"

Ling Xiao was utterly astonished. He had just agreed to help Song Mingyue, and frankly, he had his own selfish reasons for doing so. The High Priest of the Beast Race could also use a Small Returning Pill to quickly recover his strength. No matter how he looked at it, Ling Xiao was going to help her anyway.

But for the Sea Domain Song Family to make such an offer for a single clan member was an incredibly grand gesture!

Rebuilding Penzes City would require a sum calculated in the hundreds of millions of Gold Coins!

Even if the Sea Domain Song Family was powerful and wealthy, and even if their treasury was filled with countless Magic Beast Crystal Cores, they were still a massive clan with a population of over a hundred thousand! How could they so easily mobilize the wealth that so many people had accumulated over a thousand years?

It seemed that the Song Family was truly sparing no expense to have Song Yi recover!

Ling Xiao looked hesitantly at Song Mingyue, who was watching him with a nervous expression, and said, "This... Is this really appropriate?"

Song Mingyue replied, "What’s inappropriate about it? A Sword Emperor Level Martial Artist is not something money can buy! Besides, this also concerns the morale of our entire Sea Domain Song Family!"

Ling Xiao nodded. That was true. If Song Yi could recover, the boost to the entire Sea Domain Song Family’s morale would be extraordinary. Looked at that way, the Song Family’s actions were indeed reasonable.

With this in mind, Ling Xiao nodded and said, "Since it has come to this, I’m already gaining a huge advantage. If I were to refuse now, it would seem too unreasonable! Very well, Brother Song, please wait a moment. I will draw the herbs we need, and then write down their growth habits, characteristics, and general locations. Tomorrow, you can send people to search for them. But one thing: any place where these ingredients grow is likely occupied by powerful Magical Beasts, so you must be extremely careful. It’s best not to send anyone whose strength is below that of a Demon Sword Master! In fact, to be safest, it would be best to only send those at the Sword Sect level or higher!"

Ling Xiao continued, "To refine the Small Returning Pill, you need five types of medicinal herbs and the blood of two creatures. The five herbs are the Purple-Backed Sunflower, Sweet Osmanthus, Acorus Fruit, Seven Scattering Grass, and the Cold-land Snow Lotus. The two types of blood are Thousand-Year Jiao Blood and Ice Crystal Celestial Silkworm Blood. You’ve probably never heard of any of these. They will be very difficult to find, especially the Thousand-Year Flood Dragon. A Jiao... it’s considered a branch of the Dragon Race, I suppose. They are rare to begin with, and a thousand-year-old one is even harder to find. Moreover, any Jiao over five hundred years old is already incredibly powerful! Obtaining its blood will indeed be very difficult!"

Song Mingyue watched Ling Xiao, her gaze as gentle as water, and said softly, "No matter the cost, I am willing to do it!"

Ling Xiao nodded with a wry smile. ’Some things aren’t a matter of willingness,’ he thought. But... never mind. He didn’t want to crush Song Mingyue’s confidence. ’That Thousand-Year Flood Dragon... forget me, even if the Sea Domain Song Family’s Sword Venerable ancestor went, he’d just be throwing his life away! Assuming Jiao even exist in this world. Because a Thousand-Year Flood Dragon would be, at the very least, a Tier Nine Magical Beast!’

Ling Xiao had never seen what the Dragon Race of the Canglan Continent was like. He’d heard that dragons were considered Tier Nine Magical Beasts, but in the Cultivation Realm, dragons were absolutely formidable creatures. They could even serve as mounts for Immortals! Just think, could a creature capable of being an Immortal’s mount be weak? Against a Mahayana Stage Cultivator, a dragon wouldn’t necessarily be at a disadvantage!

As for a Jiao, while much weaker than a true dragon, it could definitely instakill an ordinary Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who didn’t have a powerful Protective Magical Treasure!

However, Ling Xiao had no way of knowing if the Dragon Race of this world possessed that same might. Besides, he had his own methods for survival. The higher the tier of a Magical Beast, the higher its intelligence. Ling Xiao could simply offer something to tempt the Jiao into giving him a little of its Essence Blood in exchange.

It was just a fair exchange... Now it all depended on whether he could actually encounter one!

Early the next morning, Ling Xiao handed the drawings to Song Mingyue. He gave a special warning regarding the Thousand-Year Flood Dragon: if they really encountered one, they should notify him immediately and must not take action on their own. Never mind a thousand-year-old one, even a five-hundred-year-old Jiao was not something a mere Sword Emperor could hope to defeat!

Humans were always so arrogant. In reality, there were simply too many beings more powerful than them!

At the docks, Song Mingyue’s parents and a large crowd from the Song Family had all come to see them off. Song Mingyue’s father, Song Yi, had learned that the entire family was searching for medicine that could restore him. He was deeply moved and had insisted on coming to see them off as well.

The way Song Yi looked at Ling Xiao was intense and somewhat complex, which left Ling Xiao confused. ’It’s no use looking at me like that,’ he thought. ’It’s not like I deliberately created a difficult problem for your Sea Domain Song Family...’

What Ling Xiao was thinking and what Song Yi was thinking were, in fact, worlds apart. Song Yi was simply watching his daughter, who seemed so happy next to that young man. He then thought about how for so many years, he had never truly fulfilled his duties as a father. By the time he had this realization, his daughter had already reached a marriageable age, filling his heart with a wistful sorrow.

Song Yi looked again at his beautiful wife beside him and was suddenly filled with emotion. His somewhat withered hand slipped out from his wide sleeve and gently took his wife’s soft, delicate hand.

Madam Song’s body trembled slightly, a blush rising on her cheeks. With her other hand, she waved energetically at the large ship as it weighed anchor and set sail.

Ling Xiao and Song Mingyue were leaning against the deck railing. Tiger was still sitting against the ship’s side, his expression a mix of nervousness and excitement.

Ling Xiao walked over and asked, "Tiger, what are you doing? You seemed to be like this on the way here, too. Does doing this help you increase your strength faster or something?"

"Hehe, Tiger has never seen the sea before, and I get a little seasick, so... here I am."

Tiger bared his teeth in a grin, startling a passing Maid so much that she nearly spilled the two drinks she was carrying.

Tiger quickly turned his head away. Though he looked fierce and was incredibly powerful, Tiger’s disposition was actually very gentle. Although he thought human females were all ugly, he was trying hard to change this viewpoint. He liked being able to turn into a human!

Ling Xiao smiled. ’This quality of Tiger’s is actually pretty good,’ he thought. ’The more you fear something, the more you should strive to conquer it!’

After boarding the ship, Ling Xiao discovered that Thirteenth Master and Fourteenth Master, who had come along with Song Mingyue, were a pair of absolute characters. Wherever those two were, there was never a shortage of laughter.

Moreover, they didn’t have any of the airs of powerful masters. Their favorite pastime was sitting shirtless with the sailors, gambling and shouting until they were red in the face.

Song Mingyue seemed to have long been accustomed to this and paid it no mind. Ling Xiao, however, was quite shocked. ’These two are really something else,’ he thought. ’They’re over two hundred years old, yet they still have such a great attitude. It’s truly enviable.’

In his past life, when Ling Xiao was in his fifties, his mindset had already been like that of a two-hundred-year-old! After all, time passes unnoticed in the mountains; cultivating day in and day out could make even a teenager seem incredibly world-weary.

"Young Friend Ling Xiao, how about we go fishing together? Let’s see who can catch the bigger fish!"

As Ling Xiao was lost in thought, a voice came from behind him. Thirteenth Master, dressed in a white robe, walked over with a grin and said, "Those guys have no integrity! They actually dared to cheat right in front of me, the Thirteenth Master! Are they courting death? If I didn’t need them to sail this boat, this old man would’ve thrown them all into the sea to feed the fish!"

Fourteenth Master, who was behind him, curled his lip and said, "Fourteenth Brother! Your own cheating is sloppy, you got caught, and now you’re blaming them? What a shameless old coot!"

"Bullshit! Also, I’m the Thirteenth!"

"You’re the one full of bullshit! I’m the Thirteenth..."

Ling Xiao watched these two characters, utterly speechless. An exasperated Song Mingyue, their face darkening, came over and dragged Ling Xiao away.

"Brother Ling, it’s windy out here. Let’s go back to the cabin and play chess!"

Ling Xiao glanced back at the sky. The sun was bright and the wind was gentle. On the sea, there wasn’t even a single ripple. (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com. There are more Chapters, and you can support the author and legitimate reading!)