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

Instead, he hoped that he could at least help Yunping, even as a disciple, and that he didn't have to let his teacher take on everything.

Even if it's just once, she wants to try to help Yunping, even if it's just to share his sorrow.

But Yunping... he seems determined to suppress all his sorrow and bear it all alone.

The old rogue stared at Ye Yuchan with a smile for a while, and Ye Yuchan, noticing Yun Ping's gaze, blushed even more, not daring to meet those seemingly magical eyes.

Seemingly having seen enough, Yunping slowly stood up, standing on a corner of the hillside, above the dense forest, under the blazing sun.

Looking into the distance, he could see so much.

"Tears can indeed wash away sadness. What you said makes sense. If you're really sad, have a good cry and release your emotions. It might make you feel much better."

"So when grief is about to cross the threshold, washing it off with tears is the best choice."

Ye Yuchan stared blankly at Yun Ping: "Then you..."

"It hasn't reached that point yet."

He interrupted Ye Yuchan because he knew what she was thinking.

"It's not some ridiculous reason that links dignity to men not shedding tears or emperors not shedding tears. Although it's a bit unfair to that guy to say that, it's really not that serious. At least for me, it's just the departure of another old friend."

again……

Ye Yuchan's eyes dimmed involuntarily.

Yunping had lived for a very, very long time, and she could tell that, probably before this, he had already…

I have witnessed the passing of more than one close friend.

It could be hundreds, it could be thousands, it could be many more...

"Rather than releasing that sadness, I prefer to suppress it in my heart and transform it into something else. Sometimes, this sadness becomes perseverance, sometimes anger, sometimes hatred, sometimes helplessness, and sometimes... it simply exists as sadness."

Ye Yuchan shook her head, her face full of confusion: "I still don't understand... Even if it's just a little sad thing... Even if it hasn't reached that threshold, shouldn't you be able to talk about it?"

Why...why do this?

Facing Ye Yuchan's question—

Yunping simply turned to the side and grinned.

"Because I want to."

……

"...Huh?" Ye Yuchan was dumbfounded: "Why did you suddenly start illogical?!"

"Logic?" Yunping looked at Yu Chan as if she were an idiot. He crossed his arms and said with a proud expression, "Sorry, logic is just a product of human self-righteousness. It's something that was concocted to serve as an excuse for emotions such as anger, sadness, and joy."

"There's a saying that goes something like this—it's an impossible dream to expect humans to remain rational forever. If we really judge people by reason and logic, then someone like me is obviously an idiot."

"And being an idiot feels pretty good, don't you think, Yu Chan?"

Ye Yuchan was stunned for a moment. One second she was thinking about the meaning of Yun Ping's words, and the next second she realized what he meant.

Her expression suddenly changed: "Don't ask me! I'm not an idiot, how would I know how it feels?!"

Yunping looked surprised: "...Aren't you and Ruoxue known as the two idiots of Yuntian?"

"There's no such thing!"

"How about adding Luo Kui? A trio of hotheads, what do you think?"

"Don't think you can badmouth Junior Sister Luo Kui just because she's not here! Be careful, or I'll tell on you!"

"Go ahead and hit her! Let's see if she dares to lay a hand on her master."

Yun Ping gave Ye Yuchan an extremely smug smile.

The latter's face darkened, and he immediately took out his magic weapon, Black Rain, and drew his bow and arrow.

After that, the two of them basically spent most of the day wandering around the Hunter Alliance area, causing quite a commotion.

Compared to discussions of heavy topics, this "friendly" interaction seems more suitable for this master and apprentice.

(It's worth mentioning that Ye Yuchan's arrows hit Huang Luo, who was healing inside the Hunter Alliance, more than once during this period.)

(As a result, the injury that should have healed in three hours was delayed until the next day.)

38. Arrival

The next day.

The crowd gathered in front of the entrance to the vine-covered staircase, which for some reason appeared withered and decaying, and silently waited for Yunping to return.

The feeling was different from when I arrived here yesterday. The brown and yellow fallen leaves around me no longer floated in the air due to the cold wind. Although there was a dampness in the air, there was no cold feeling. Instead, the slightly damp wind blowing on my face made me feel quite refreshed.

The ground beneath my feet was still soft, muddy soil, but looking around, I couldn't find any trace of any vengeful spirits.

Even the two vengeful spirit beasts that had transformed into their ultimate forms had vanished.

All that could be seen were a few pale blue wolf hairs lying silently among the colorful fallen leaves on either side of the entrance to the vine-covered staircase, and golden manes that seemed to blend into the land.

"Were they converted? Or did their egos simply dissipate...?"

Recalling the scene of being toyed with by two extreme spirit beasts yesterday, Huang Luo, who had just recovered, shivered and asked in confusion.

Gu Xingzhu shook his head and said, "I don't know. As a fellow dead person, I can sense that the resentment in this area has dissipated considerably. I'm afraid the vengeful spirits have disappeared from this forest."

"There doesn't seem to be any trace of Buddhism or Buddhist teachings nearby, at least I'm not sure... where did those vengeful spirits and those two ultimate spirit beasts go?"

Ye Yuchan suddenly recalled the ghost and monster settings from her previous world and couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that they were satisfied and then dissipated on their own?"

"Satisfied?" Huang Luo's lips twitched violently, his face turning ashen. "Just because I was played with like a ball by those two for two hours...?"

"Wow!" Zhang Ruoxue patted Huang Luo on the shoulder and exclaimed in admiration, "Could it be that you have the kind of constitution that can exorcise spirits?!"

Cold sweat streamed down Huang Luo's forehead: "...I don't think so?"

"Then why did these vengeful spirits disappear so mysteriously?"

"Because the spirit of the Seven Dream Tree has dissipated."

Answering Zhang Ruoxue's question.

He was a young man in a white shirt who came up from the dark staircase.

Everyone looked over at the sound and saw Yunping emerge from the decaying vine-covered steps, holding a broken branch in his hand.

At first glance, the branch looks much like an ordinary branch. It is dark brown with a few irregular patterns on the top. The bark is slightly rough, and the shape is like a winding snake, thicker at the bottom and very thin at the top.

But it's worth mentioning that, for some reason, seven small flowers were blooming on this broken branch.

The arrangement seems to resemble the seven stars of the Northern Peak in the sky. The little flowers appear to have just bloomed, as tender as newborn babies. The pink and white petals are an extremely soft seedbed, carefully nurturing the delicate yet exquisitely beautiful stamens at the center.

Ye Yuchan's gaze was uncontrollably drawn to the broken branch, her eyes seemingly locked by some kind of magic, staring intently, unable to look away: "You old rogue, what is this...?"

"The things that guy left behind."

Looking at the belongings left behind by his dear friend, Yunping scratched his head impatiently and complained, "Even at the very end, he still left behind such troublesome things."

“A branch of the Seven Dreams Tree…” Gu Xingzhuo seemed to understand something, and gave a bitter laugh: “I thought it was a life-or-death separation, but I didn’t expect that it would leave a last glimmer of hope.”

Yunping spread his hands and shook his head helplessly: "What a hassle."

"A glimmer of hope?"

Yuan'er stared at the particularly beautiful and eye-catching branches of the Seven Dreams Tree and tilted her head.

Meanwhile, a little queen inside her head responded.

This is no ordinary branch; if we must say, it is the true form of the Seven Dreams Tree. Although its divine soul has dissipated, its physical form remains. For an existence like the Seven Dreams Tree, as long as this branch survives, it can regenerate its divine soul.

That being said, since the soul has been destroyed, even if one is truly reborn, one probably won't remember anything from the past.

Of course, your teacher might have other options.

Rebirth... huh.

Seeing Yunping scratching his head while staring at the broken tree branch, Lin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Yunping glanced at Ye Yuchan, then casually tossed the Seven Dreams Tree branch over.

"Little Rain Cicada, this is for you."

Ye Yuchan quickly caught the small branch that fell from mid-air and stared at the bright little flower up close, somewhat lost in thought.

At the same time, Yunping continued, "Once things settle down, find a place to bury this branch and treat it as a seed to grow. Just water it every day."

"Huh?" Ye Yuchan was taken aback: "Will the Seven Dream Tree grow back?"

"Yes, it will." Yun Ping thought for a moment, then smiled very gently. "It just will take a little longer."

"how long?"

"Around 300,000 years, or 200,000 years if things go smoothly."

Ye Yuchan: "..."

Staring at that branch, Ye Yuchan fell into a daze.

She's starting to have doubts.

Will I be able to live to see that time?

……

……

"Speaking of which—"

Walking on the road leading away from the deadly place of vengeful spirits.

Lu Yingqiu followed closely behind Yun Ping, recalling Yun Ping's words earlier, and couldn't help but ask, "Grandmaster, you just said that those vengeful spirits dissipated?"

"Is it because the soul of the Seven Dream Tree has dissipated?"

"Yes."

As Yunping walked slowly forward, he narrowed his eyes and said without turning his head, "The Seven Dream Tree has already decayed. In fact, it would have been impossible for those three wraith-turned-ultimate spirit beasts to cover such a large area with wraith energy. Moreover, the reason they could turn into wraiths so easily is also because of the Seven Dream Tree."

"Now that the soul of the Seven Dream Tree has perished, it means that the existence that supports these vengeful spirits has disappeared. Although the resentment has been preserved, it is like a river whose water source has dried up; it will eventually dry up slowly."

"Furthermore... those two ultimate spirit beasts still retained some of their will. They probably understood that simply releasing their anger and hatred would be futile, so they destroyed themselves."