Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

Unlike others, the young man did not seem afraid of evil spirits or ghosts.

Because at this moment he was sitting improperly on that crooked tombstone covered with black vines, showing no respect for the deceased whatsoever.

The young man had a face that was neither particularly handsome nor ugly, and his skin was not fair; it was a bit darker than most people's. He was thin and gave the impression that a gust of wind could blow him over.

He wore a light blue long robe, simple white cloth shoes, and a jade belt around his waist. His attire was quite simple, but it was definitely not good-looking.

"Look at what you're saying... I... how could I make up such a story! These are all true stories... If you don't believe me, go ask someone else later?"

Kneeling before the young man was a strikingly beautiful young woman.

With a beautiful face and delicate figure, the girl, who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen, twitched her nose, her eyebrows furrowed in grievance, her moist lips trembled slightly, and her white teeth gently bit her lower lip. Her exquisite, dignified, and lovable face was filled with indescribable shock and fear.

She was genuinely terrified.

As an inner disciple of the Ranshan Sect who came to the mass grave to cleanse demons, Ren Yao felt like she had truly seen a ghost.

Her fellow disciples and fellow disciples had all been to the mass grave, because this place was the place with the heaviest demonic energy within the entire territory of Cangyue City. It was said that an ancient demonic beast was once buried there. In order to prevent demonic energy from invading Cangyue City, Ranshan Sect, entrusted by the Cangyue City Lord's Mansion, would intermittently send disciples to this place to cleanse the demons.

Ren Yao's senior and junior brothers had come several times before, but this was her first time accepting the request to cleanse the demon. She never expected to actually see a ghost!

It's a real ghost!

Because just as she was halfway through her purification ritual, a hand suddenly emerged from the small grave in front of her, and then the young man in front of her crawled out of the grave...

He was still muttering to himself, "How the hell did I come out of a coffin..."

—This is something I have absolutely no idea what it's trying to say!

And so, this scene unfolded.

The young man narrowed his eyes, his unique dead fish eyes scanning Ren Yao back and forth. He glanced at the bamboo scroll hanging on her waist and immediately knew that Ren Yao was not lying.

But this era of immortals and demons... was a bit unexpected for the young man.

Unexpectedly, in just thirty years, two major forces, the Immortal Capital and the Demon Dynasty, emerged, and there were even two people who broke the shackles of True Immortal.

Truly divine...

Seemingly bored, the young man looked up at the azure sky, but it wasn't as if he was looking at the blue sky itself, but rather as if he was looking at something beyond it.

He then added sarcastically, "You're just bored and have nothing better to do."

His gaze swept over Ren Yao, through the dense forest outside Cangyue City, through the bustling trade route, through the thick city walls, and finally settled on the prosperous street of Cangyue City.

Glancing at Cangyue City, so different from what he remembered, the young man jumped down from the tombstone and walked lightly towards Ren Yao, asking as he did so:

"How many years has it been since Crescent Moon City was rebuilt?"

"Huh?" Ren Yao didn't expect the young man to ask this question. She paused for a moment and hurriedly replied, "No... if I remember correctly... it's been thirty years."

Thirty years?

The young man was taken aback, then muttered to himself, "I see... the flow of time is different in different airspaces..."

Ren Yao tilted her head nervously: "What?"

The young man smiled calmly, shook his head, and stared at the girl in front of him with interest.

He could tell Ren Yao's cultivation level and what kind of cultivation technique she practiced, which was why he found it so interesting.

I never imagined that in just thirty years, time would have changed so much in both people and things.

"that……"

Ren Yao timidly raised her head, her fair index fingers intertwined, and nervously asked, "Lord Ghost, I have told you everything you asked me to say, but... can you let me go back now?"

"ghost?"

The young man was taken aback by what he heard and almost burst out laughing.

So this girl saw herself crawling out of the grave and thought she was an evil spirit.

He spread his hands, looked down at his rather simple attire, and asked with a smile, "Little sister, do I look like a ghost?"

Ren Yao blinked, thought for a few seconds, and then said blankly, "It doesn't seem like it."

"Then..."

"But he looks like a bad guy."

youth:"……"

Ren Yao swallowed hard. "Especially those eyes, they're really creepy."

youth:"……"

Are those dead fish eyes bothering you?!

The young man rolled his eyes helplessly, thinking to himself that he really had bad luck.

It turned out that the body had naturally dead fish eyes. Although it looked strange, he didn't care about his appearance anymore, so it didn't matter if he wasn't handsome.

But to his surprise, after changing bodies, he found that even the original owner of this body had dead fish eyes.

Am I arguing with dead fish eyes?

With this in mind, the young man temporarily set aside this strange thought and instead asked Ren Yao:

"Who taught you that cultivation technique inside your body?"

"Huh? Cultivation technique?"

Ren Yao was startled, thinking to herself, "Why does the ghost keep asking such strange questions?"

However, she still answered honestly, "It's a technique passed down from our Ranshan Sect's founder, and all of us inner disciples learn it..."

"It's not this technique, it's another one."

Upon hearing this, Ren Yao was so startled she almost jumped up from the ground.

She was like a frightened little rabbit, her tuft of hair standing on end, her face etched with terror, her complexion deathly pale: "You...you...you...what are you saying? What other cultivation technique? I...how could I possibly cultivate...cultivate two cultivation techniques at the same time..."

The young man smiled at Ren Yao, "There are many people who cultivate two techniques at the same time. You are not the first, nor will you be the last."

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in that technique. I'm just curious who taught it to you."

He was indeed very curious; he never expected that person would pass on this technique.

Moreover, it was done in such an opportunistic way—

"This...this..." Ren Yao was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to speak or not.

If I don't say anything, I have a feeling that this young man in front of me is not someone to be trifled with. Putting aside whether he is a ghost or not, even if he isn't, I guess he's not a good person—he doesn't look like one at all.

Not to mention that this young man came from this mass grave. You should know that this mass grave is a place where sinners are buried, and there are even demonic cultivators who have committed heinous crimes and slaughtered an entire city. Someone who crawled out of this mass grave... is definitely not a good person!

To save my life, it's definitely more important to tell the truth.

But if I were to tell him, I would be breaking my promise to that person... even though it's a secret.

Just as Ren Yao was in a dilemma, she suddenly saw the terrifying and unfathomable depth hidden in the young man's dark eyes.

In an instant, it was as if she had fallen into an ice cave. A chill swept over her entire body, and her skin felt as if it were covered with a layer of frost. She was so frightened that she trembled three times.

“It was…it was secretly passed down to me by one of the maternal ancestors of our Ranshan Sect…she…she said she was destined to be with me…so she…so she passed it on to me…”

"Grandfather?"

"Well... although they don't belong to our Ranshan Sect, they live with us... and have a very good relationship with our patriarch... it's said they even saved our patriarch's life..."

The young man nodded knowingly, and then walked past Ren Yao.

With his back to the timid girl from the Ranshan Sect, he said, "Then, take me to your Ranshan Sect."

"Eh?!"

Ren Yao felt she had been more frightened in the past few days than in the entire month, and hurriedly chased after him: "Um, why did you..."

“Your maternal grandmother and I have a slight connection. I’m going to go see her.”

"You know your maternal grandfather?"

"Let's say that for now." The young man stroked his light stubble, turned around, and flashed Ren Yao a sly smile: "What, little sister, don't you believe me?"

"Believe it, believe it, believe it!" Ren Yao didn't dare say a word against it, nodding her head like a pile driver: "How could I not believe it... Hehehe..."

"That settles it then, let's go."

"and many more……"

Ren Yao quickly called out to the young man, "I don't even know your name yet, Ghost... Master?"

"Isn't it better to state your own name before asking someone else's?"

“I…I am called Ren Yao…Ren as in Ren Woxing, Yao as in Bi Yao.”

Upon hearing this, the young man raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but say—

"Transvestite? That's a rather peculiar name."

Ren Yao: "..."

The young man smiled and waved his hand, "Okay, just kidding."

"So... what is your name?"

"I?"

The young man shrugged, spread his hands, and uttered the name that belonged only to him with a smile.

He had no need to change his name; despite the change in body, he had already found himself.

That self belongs to only one name.

"My name is Yunping, Yun as in white cloud and Ping as in peace."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A new volume, a new beginning.

Thirty years have passed, and everyone can look forward to seeing what all the apprentices have become!

2. Giving away an old man for free

Ren Yao had never heard of the name Yun Ping before, and had no recollection of the rare surname Yun.