Nonsense! Master is not my wife.

He shouted loudly several times, but there was no response from her. He thought the little girl had fainted from soaking in the hot spring, so he ran to check.

What he saw instead was a scene that made him laugh and cry.

The little girl stood blankly in the hot spring, her clothes all wet, and she didn't react at all.

As if she heard his footsteps, the little girl's pure white eyes, which had been looking at the hot spring water, slowly raised and turned to look at him.

Yin You didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he just realized that the little girl in front of him seemed to lack common sense. He could only try to teach her how to take a bath and wash her hair, but no matter what he said, the little girl looked confused and innocent, as if she didn't understand what he was saying at all.

Finally, Yin You gave up. He took off his coat, walked into the hot spring wearing only his underwear, and helped the little girl take a bath.

After all, children don’t have the concept of physical contact between men and women. At that time, Yin You often took hot spring baths and slept together with his master!

However, Yin You still underestimated the difficulty of helping people take a bath. After struggling for a long time, he finally helped the little girl take a bath and took her to the cave to wait for his master.

Because there were no clothes that fit her, the little girl could only wear Yin You's clothes. Fortunately, although she was a few years older than Yin You, she was very thin and only slightly taller than Yin You. Yin You's clothes were just a little tight for her and she could still wear them.

It was not until he finished giving her a bath that Yin You saw her true face. The little girl had short silver-gray hair and a cute face, but she had a dull expression and looked a little silly.

……

boom!

There was a sudden loud noise on the Jin Ge fighting stage, bringing Yin You's thoughts back to reality.

Zhu Yingqiu had just finished sheathing his sword, but the sword intent in his body had not yet dissipated, almost condensing into substance. Even through the defensive formation of the Golden Sword Fighting Arena, Yin You could still feel the will to destroy everything.

Opposite her, Xue Qingyou stood there, looking a little tired. There were five or six sword-type spiritual weapons lying on the ground around them. Their grades were all above the seventh level, but at this moment, the swords had no spirituality at all. Instead, they had varying degrees of damage, looking quite miserable.

……

Afterwards, after a rest, Yin You fought with Xue Qingyou again. In the sword competition, Yin You was defeated quite miserably. After all, the person standing in front of him was a sword prodigy that was rare to come across in a thousand years.

As for magical powers, Xue Qingyou was quite cautious from the beginning because of Zhu Yingqiu's previous experience, making it almost impossible for Yin You to start.

Finally, Yin You ran out of spiritual energy and gave up.

After that, the three of them did not move to another place, but sat on the ground in Jin Ge Square, exchanging their experiences in cultivation and chatting about some interesting things in the sect.

In the evening, Yin You bid farewell to the two and flew back to this secluded peak on his sword.

After having dinner with his master, Yin You was about to say goodbye and return to his bedroom to practice when Yin Ci suddenly called him.

"You'er, the Lord of the Ruins came to me today and told me about your wandering."

Upon hearing this, Yin You instantly became alert.

Although Xuelingxu is considered a secluded sect and rarely travels in the Five Realms, it knows that blindly closing itself off will not keep up with the pace of the times. What's more, the greater the strength, the greater the responsibility. Xuelingxu has never forgotten the cultivator's belief in slaying demons and eliminating evil. The current master of the sect, Ao Qingyue, is the leader of the Northern Territory Taoist Alliance and has been fighting on the front lines of slaying demons and eliminating evil.

Wandering is the worldly practice that every disciple of Xuelingxu must go through.

The purpose of wandering is to broaden one's horizons and to temper one's mind in the mundane world. As for whether the disciples travel around the world, save people, or slay demons and monsters, the sect does not force them in this regard and it is entirely up to the disciples to decide.

The sect does not have any clear regulations on time. Some disciples will return to the sect after traveling for a year, while some disciples will even travel for decades.

Of course, the disciples would receive more or less tasks assigned by their master in private, and they could only end their wandering and return to the sect after completing them. This was also an unwritten rule of Xuelingxu.

Yin You originally thought that he might need to practice for a few more years before he could go out to travel, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.

But he was not afraid. Instead, he was looking forward to the world outside the sect. For him, who had lived in the sect since childhood, he could only learn about this world from books. There were countless forbidden areas, secret realms of opportunity, wonders of heaven and earth, and biographies of cultivators, which made him excited every time he read them.

Yin You looked at his master's magnificent and mysterious eyes, which seemed to draw his gaze in like a whirlpool:

"Master, when will your disciple travel?"

Yin Ci reached out and gently touched his beloved disciple's head, saying in a gentle voice: "Don't worry, you have only this little cultivation, how can the master be at ease with you going on a journey like this?"

After saying that, Yin Ci took out a rare treasure from the storage ring and placed it in Yin You's hand.

Chapter 16: The Dark Water of the Far North

"This is?"

Yin You looked at the dark blue water droplets floating on his hand, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

He searched his memory but could not find any other rare treasure in the world similar to this one.

This deep blue water drop is just like the ordinary water drop that can be seen everywhere, there is nothing special about it.

"Haha, you can't recognize it?"

Yin Ci smiled at his disciple, and seeing that he was looking at him eagerly, he stopped teasing him and told him the origin of this rare treasure:

"This thing is called 'Far North Dark Water'. It is a rare treasure that the Lord of the Ruins obtained from the endless deep sea in the Far North Land of Eternal Night. Although it does not look impressive, it contains terrifying water essence inside. It is a top-notch treasure in the world."

Yin You suddenly understood: "So that's it."

Yin Ci continued, "You'er, although you have the 'Five Elements Hall' and can comprehend the Way of the Five Elements, you can also continue to practice the Way of the Five Internal Organs."

“And this Extreme North Dark Water is the top water treasure of heaven and earth. After refining it, your affinity and perception of water will be greatly improved.”

Yin You nodded, his eyes lighting up as he looked at the dark blue water drops.

Yin Ci paused, and then said, "Don't be in a hurry to refine it. You should use your heart to comprehend the water law in it. This will greatly speed up your refining of the Extreme North Dark Water."

"You'er, you have almost learned the way of swordsmanship. Starting tomorrow, you can go to Aoxue Peak every morning to learn swordsmanship from the master. She practices both swordsmanship and sabers, and her achievements in both are at the top of the world. I think she will be able to give you a lot of benefits."

"By the way, don't go back to your room to practice after dinner every evening. I will teach you some magic skills to save your life."

"When you have completely refined the Northern Dark Water, that will be the time for you to start traveling."

……

The next morning.

Yin You slowly opened his eyes, put away the Far North Dark Water in his hand, and sighed in his heart:

"This Extreme North Dark Water is indeed a top-notch treasure of heaven and earth. I have been refining it with all my strength for a whole night, but I have only refined less than 1% of it. When will I be able to refine it completely?"

However, he quickly adjusted his mentality, went out to the yard to have breakfast with his master, and then flew to Aoxue Peak on his sword.

Aoxue Peak is the first of the twenty-four peaks of Xuelingxu. It sits in the center. There are several palaces on it, which are used for assigning tasks, holding sect meetings, and elders' offices, etc. It can be said to be the center of Xuelingxu.

And at the deepest part of Aoxue Peak is the palace cave where successive masters of the ruins have lived - Aoxue Palace.

That was Yin You’s destination.

When he arrived outside the Aoxue Palace, he unexpectedly saw two familiar faces.

"Junior Brother Zhu, Junior Brother Xue."

Yin You greeted, and standing not far away were Zhu Yingqiu and Xue Qingyou.

When the two saw Yin You, they were also a little surprised and walked towards him together.

Xue Qingyou spoke first: "Uncle Yin, are you here to see the Lord of the Ruins as well?"

Yin You nodded, understanding that the two men also came to the Lord of the Ruins for training. After all, the two men in front of him were respectively specialized in the art of saber and sword, and were top-notch talented cultivators.

"Come in now that you're here."

The three of them had just chatted for a while when a lazy, hoarse female voice came from their ears, and the door in front of them opened at the same time.

The three of them quickly stopped talking and walked into the palace.

Following the guidance of the voice beside their ears, they arrived at a formation, and then the formation was automatically triggered, teleporting the three of them to a cliff.

"This is... a small world?"

Yin You and the other two heard the sound of crashing water outside the cliff. They turned around and saw a rough sea. The waves on the sea kept hitting the cliff, creating a spectacular scene.

"good."

Ao Qingyue suddenly appeared in front of Yin You and the other two.

She was wearing a set of pitch-black armor, which looked ferocious and domineering, but not bulky. Instead, it highlighted her tall and slender figure.

Just as Yin You and the other two were about to salute, she took the initiative to raise her index finger wrapped in the hand guard, placed it in front of her thin lips, and let out a soft hush.

After seeing Yin You and the others quiet down, she chuckled, and her head was suddenly covered by a hideous helmet.

The moment she put on the helmet, her aura changed drastically. Her original laziness and casualness disappeared, replaced by a domineering, strong and iron-blooded aura.

The powerful aura almost made Yin You and the other two unable to breathe.

Ao Qingyue pulled out the knife and the sword from behind, and the spiritual energy was injected into the knife and the sword. The blade turned blood red, and the sword turned blue and white, exuding the aura of peerless divine weapons, which echoed Ao Qingyue's own aura.

The next moment, Ao Qingyue disappeared and appeared above the vast ocean.

She held a knife in one hand and a sword in the other, and used different knife and sword techniques respectively. Her posture was natural and she had reached a high level where she could control her movements freely.

Under her demonstration, powerful sword and knife lights cut through the sea, revealing a terrifying open space, but soon, the sea water flowed into the exposed land again and covered it, and soon, the sea was cut off by the sword again.

The two went on in this cycle repeatedly, and the scene was extremely shocking.

Yin You, Zhu Yingqiu and Xue Qingyou were completely impressed by Ao Qingyue's knife and sword skills. They were so mesmerized that they even forgot the passage of time.

After Ao Qingyue had displayed countless sword and knife techniques, he returned to their side. His ferocious and domineering helmet and armor disappeared, replaced by a black robe.

"how?"

She looked at the three of them with her blood-red eyes and asked with a smile.

Yin You said with respect and admiration: "Lord Xu is worthy of being the leader of the five supreme beings in the Northern Territory. His swordplay has reached perfection."

Zhu Yingqiu remained silent, but her fiery eyes filled with fighting spirit revealed her inner thoughts.

Xue Qingyou was also amazed. Compared to the exquisite swordsmanship skills, she was more attracted by the mysterious artistic conception of Ao Qingyue.

Ao Qingyue reached out and tapped Yin You's forehead, then smiled and said, "You are the only one who talks too much."

Then she coughed lightly, and without further ado, she got straight to the point:

"You three should have known the purpose of your trip from your respective masters. Yes, I will teach you some life-saving skills so that you won't lose face for our Xuelingxu when you go out."

Upon hearing this, Yin You was secretly surprised and couldn't help but glance at Zhu Yingqiu and Xue Qingyou.

Hearing what the ruins master said, it seemed that besides him, Zhu Yingqiu and Xue Qingyou would also go out into the world to travel.

Ao Qingyue paused and continued, "During last month's Xueyue Questioning Realm, I also paid attention to your trial situation and have some understanding of your cultivation situation."

As she spoke, she looked at Zhu Yingqiu first:

"Zhu Yingqiu, your physique, soul, sword intention, and sword skills have all reached the peak of the seventh realm. I have nothing to teach you."

At this point, she seemed a little distressed: "Well... then I will teach you some of my unique sword techniques. This is also what your master wants to see. I hope you will not disappoint your master's expectations."

After Zhu Yingqiu listened silently, a hint of excitement appeared on his originally dull face. He clasped his fists and saluted, saying:

"Yes, Lord of the Ruins!"

Ao Qingyue smiled and nodded, and her blood-red eyes looked at Xue Qingyou again:

"Xue Qingyou, you do have a unique advantage in sword practice. If you comprehend the mysterious state of harmony between man and nature, it will bring you unexpected benefits."

"Your sword intent is extremely pure, with almost no impurities. This is extremely rare. I hope you can keep it up."

"I don't have much to teach you about cultivation. Your master must have arranged everything for you."

"I heard that Elder Yin has passed on her sword skills to you, but during last month's Snow Moon Questioning Realm, I saw that your sword skills still have a lot of room for improvement."

"In that case, I will teach you some of my unique swordsmanship. Hmm... If you have any questions about Elder Yin's swordsmanship, you can ask me. You don't have to bother Elder Yin. She will be very busy in the next few months and will not have time to help you answer your questions. Don't worry, I am from the same school as her and I know her swordsmanship quite well."

Xue Qingyou listened quietly, and a hint of respect appeared on her indifferent face:

"Yes, Lord of the Ruins."

After finishing the practice arrangements for Zhu Yingqiu and Xue Qingyou, Ao Qingyue finally turned her gaze to Yin You.

Looking at the young man in front of her who was her nephew in terms of seniority, she slowly said:

"Yin You, you are not suitable for sword practice."

Chapter 17: Choice

Ao Qingyue looked at Yin You with her blood-red eyes and said word by word:

"Yin You, you are not suitable for sword practice."

Yin You, who was originally full of expectations, widened his eyes when he heard this, and began to doubt whether he had heard it wrong.

But looking at Ao Qingyue's serious expression, he realized that the other party was not joking.