Over the next day and night, Yun Heng wished he could stretch the twelve double-hours into sixty-four.
First, his mother kept him at the main residence, nagging him all night. She showered him with concern and affection, stuffing so many magical artifacts and spirit stones into his storage bag that it could barely close.
He finally managed to break away, but before 3:00 AM, Yun Hao dragged him off to participate in the morning horse races.
The stakes remained the same: the title of “Mighty Brother Hao” and 6,000 spirit stones. In the end, Yun Heng cleaned him out for 30,000.
Before leaving, Yun Heng mentioned how horse racing could be viewed as a general commanding his troops.
Yun Hao only half-understood, but he found it impressive and decided to experiment with the idea, temporarily forgetting about the stakes of the title.
It was exactly 5:00 AM, and before Yun Heng even had a chance to drink a bowl of hot porridge, Yun Feng arrived with his sword in hand.
He claimed Yun Heng’s constitution was too weak and that he needed to learn from him to strengthen his body. Without giving Yun Heng a chance to argue, he dragged him toward the back mountain.
Yun Heng was then forced to practice “Closing eyes to listen to the wind to distinguish sword qi” and “Contemplating ‘Severing Emotions’ within the waterfall” for 2 hours.”
“He cooperated the entire time, but at the very end, he whispered, “Your sword’s ring still carries attachments; that is a good thing.”
Yun Feng felt this sentence was incredibly profound and fell into a day of philosophical contemplation, completely forgetting that he had come to “avenge his defeat.”
Before leaving, Yun Heng left him a sword manual he had heard of in his previous life, along with a booklet of scripts for posturing.
Afterward, Yun Heng thought he could finally eat some food. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Yun Qiuhong, acting like a smiling tiger, intercepted him at 7:00 AM.
With a wide, “kindly” grin, he invited Yun Heng to “provide guidance” on his newly improved manor defense formations.
He wondered if the boy had seen the Recording Stone Yun Heng had secretly swapped yesterday and felt a surge of anger, because every formation he laid out today was a killing formation.
However, noticing the artifact Yun Qiuhong clutched in his hand — which could break the formation’s eye at any moment — Yun Heng found it amusing.
While breaking the formations, he could not help but tease that the boy was still too kind-hearted to achieve Great Success in killing formations; he suggested transitioning to “trapping formations” instead.
Yun Heng then reversed the formation, giving a hands-on demonstration that trapped Yun Qiuhong within his own killing formation for 5 ke.
When the boy finally emerged, he was exhausted but his face was filled with joy. He ignored Yun Heng completely, rushing into his study to record everything.
By 12:00 PM, Yun Heng arrived at Muyaige as scheduled.
Yun Sheng had prepared three brand-new mechanical puppets and required Yun Heng to disassemble, assemble, and propose an “optimal improvement plan” without using any spiritual energy.
Yun Heng not only completed the task but also used spare parts on the spot to cobble together a “Pseudo-Perpetual Motion Balancing Bamboo Dragonfly.” Yun Sheng’s eyes lit up, and he kept Yun Heng there, discussing mechanics for 2 hours.
As 3:00 PM approached, the siblings Yun Shuo and Yun Lu arrived at Muyaige almost exactly on time. After a brief exchange of looks, Yun Sheng clumsily cried out that his stomach hurt and scurried away.
The task these two siblings had for Yun Heng was quite interesting. Under the guise of “testing their big brother’s knowledge,” they designed a series of interlocking “Travel Intelligence Q&A Double Acts.”
Yun Shuo asked difficult questions with a straight face, such as, “When processing Beiming black ice and Nanli fire jade simultaneously, which comes first?”
Meanwhile, Yun Lu would suddenly chime in with a cold remark like, “The grass on the grave of the last person we played this with is already 3 meters tall.”
Yun Heng not only answered every question fluently but also threw back even more obscure anecdotes.
Finally, he laughed and concluded, “You two should just go perform comedy… No, you should partner up as intelligence assassins.”
“One can set the trap with questions while the other plays the foil and delivers the killing blow. You’ll definitely squeeze the truth out of anyone.”
The siblings thought Yun Heng made a lot of sense. After asking him for some tips based on his experience, they turned around and immediately began researching the feasibility of this plan.
Next was Yun Qiuming.
This boy was also quite creative. He led a group of young masters from other noble families with whom he had past grievances straight to the door.
Then, as if they cost nothing, he began throwing out Silence Talismans. He unleashed a unilateral verbal assault while running toward Yun Heng.
Once the effect of the Silence Talismans ended, the counter-fire was automatically diverted toward Yun Heng, who was “renowned” for being “especially protective of his own.”
Yun Qiuming then watched intently as Yun Heng engaged in a verbal battle against the group.
He cheered, saying his big brother was amazing, truly worthy of being the eldest, and that his metaphors were brilliant.
He even asked which dialect Yun Heng was using so he could learn it later… all while frantically taking notes.
Heaven only knew why he was taking notes on how to curse people.
After “dealing” with seven of his younger brothers and sisters in this manner, only Yun Zhi remained.
However, the usually lively and cheerful girl did not say a single word during the evening banquet.
When she sought out Yun Heng at 5:00 PM, she simply sat on the edge of his bed with a pouting face, fiddling with the hem of her clothes without saying a word.
Her entire being radiated an aura that said, ‘I am unhappy, so hurry up and ask me why.’
“What’s wrong?”
Yun Heng went to Yun Zhi’s side and asked softly.
The relationship between the nine siblings was excellent, but if one were to say who was the most clingy toward Yun Heng, it was undoubtedly the seventh sister, Yun Zhi.
Ever since she was a toddler, this girl loved crawling behind Yun Heng. As she grew a bit older, she would even wail and throw a tantrum if Yun Heng did not carry her.
Every night, she would find Yun Heng and pester him for a bedtime story; otherwise, she would stay awake the whole night.
“Big Brother only has eyes for Third Brother’s formations and Xiao Sheng’s wooden lumps now. How could you remember you have a seventh sister?”
Having finally waited for Yun Heng to take the initiative to ask, Yun Zhi looked at him, her tone hiding her grievance.
“Back then, whenever I exploded my furnace while refining elixirs, you would laugh at me and then help me clean up.”
“But now… you just give me a clue and let me go ‘find a feather in the ice and snow’ by myself. And the ‘Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix Sword Style’ you promised to teach me… are you going to wait until the next ‘who knows when’ you return?”
By the time she finished, Yun Zhi’s eyes were already turning red, but she proudly turned her face away, not wanting her brother to see.
Yun Heng was stunned, then realization dawned on him.
When he first returned home in his previous life, his younger siblings had already become world-renowned experts in the cultivation world.
At over 200 years old, they were mature, steady, and excellent, not at all like the childish, impulsive, and innocent youths they were now.
So-called youthful spirit was a non-renewable resource. That was why it was so precious and dazzling.
When Yun Heng returned this time, he had not immediately noticed this difference.
It had caused him to act as if he were “running a circuit” — whether it was the essentials of formations, mechanical inspiration, sword path pointers, or even debating techniques, everything was extremely precise and practical.
This fit his long-standing habit of prioritizing problem-solving.
He had ignored the fact that for his seventh sister, who had valued “Big Brother’s company” more than any treasure since childhood, these things were useless.
What she wanted was more of that reckless “unreasonable behavior” from their childhood — like blowing up a roof together, being scolded together, and secretly winking at each other while planning where to explode the next furnace.
“So, you’re jealous?”
Thinking of this, Yun Heng could not help but tease her.
He tried to reclaim some of the emotions he had discarded.
“So what if I am?”
Yun Zhi sniffled, wrinkled her nose, and then puffed out her chest righteously. “I just think you should spend more time with me, Big Brother! I even prepared so many, many gifts for you!”
Yun Heng had made it clear he was leaving tonight.
The other siblings could use debt collection, sparring, or academic discussions to dilute the sorrow of departure, or use their career ambitions and cleverness to hide their reluctance.
But Yun Zhi would not. She had been the pearl of the Yun family since she was a child. Before Yun Lu and Yun Sheng were born, she was even the only sister qualified to be held by Yun Heng while she slept.
Although Yun Zhi also loved Yun Lu and Yun Sheng, and felt the others were using “correct” and “considerate” methods that would not cause trouble for Yun Heng, she simply did not like others taking away her big brother’s precious time.
Brothers, sisters, older, or younger — none of them were okay!
At worst, they could just have a fight, and whoever lost would have to copy the rules 100 times. It was not like she had never copied them before.
Seeing the small gesture of the seventh sister subconsciously glancing out the window to make sure no one was around, Yun Heng was amused.
“It seems that if I don’t help my seventh sister blow up a furnace today, it will be difficult to soothe someone’s resentment.”
Yun Heng sighed with feigned helplessness, rubbing Yun Zhi’s head with a hint of doting affection. “How about this? Since I’m leaving tomorrow anyway, why don’t we do something big?”
Although he was deliberately imitating this gesture from his memory, it was still a bit stiff.
After all, he had never imagined that there would come a day in the future when he would still perform such a “doting” action.
“…That’s actually not important. I just want you to stay with me for a while longer…”
Yun Zhi leaned her head into Yun Heng’s chest and spoke softly.
“Big Brother, don’t go, okay? I really prepared so many fun things for you… For the past 6 years, I thought every day about what stories I would tell you and what gossip we would chat about if you ever came back… I even listened to you and kept a diary, studied seriously, and practiced hard… I’m already at the peak of the Golden Core Stage; my cultivation is even higher than Third Brother’s.”
“I’m only one step away from the Nascent Soul… and… and I really pick herbs at sunrise, refine elixirs at noon, practice swords at sunset, and meditate at night. I really, really do everything exactly the way you told me to before you left…”
Toward the end, the young woman began to lose control of her emotions. She bit her lip hard, her fingers tightly clutching Yun Heng’s clothes, and her tears finally broke through, streaming down her cheeks.
“I know… you’re very busy, Big Brother. Sometimes I overhear Uncle and Aunt talking; I know they gave you a lot of intelligence that can only be investigated by someone in the Qi Refining Stage…”
“But aren’t you in the Foundation Establishment stage now? Haven’t you come home? Aren’t you just like before, feeling happy and laughing happily when you’re with us?”
“Can’t you just take it easy and let others do those things? Big Brother, we really, really, really miss you…”
***
The full moon hung high.
Jiang Keke held A Xiang’s hand, and A Xiang held Yun Heng’s. The three of them strolled along the small path leading to the teleportation array.
When they were less than 500 meters from the array, Jiang Keke called out tentatively.
“I’m here.”
Yun Heng turned his head to look at her and smiled slightly.
“Are you… alright?”
Jiang Keke’s status meant she was destined to be unable to participate in the core group of the Yun family’s younger generation.
Furthermore, she was responsible for acting as Yun Heng’s eyes and ears while watching A Xiang.
Therefore, Jiang Keke did not actually know the specifics of what had happened to Yun Heng over the past two days.
But she could tell that Yun Heng’s mood was somewhat low.
“If we must judge based on good or bad, it should be good,” Yun Heng said softly.
“Because I suddenly realized that, many times, I still think of people too simply. Discovering that I still have so many things to learn is simply the most wonderful thing.”
Yun Zhi had fallen asleep.
Rather, she was already drowsy when she first found Yun Heng.
As the youngest Grade 9 Alchemist in history destined to shine brilliantly in the Penglai prefecture, Yun Zhi knew her own selfishness better than anyone.
She was never good at controlling her emotions, nor did she understand what it meant to endure.
So, she was certain that she would eventually make a move or say something to force him to stay, which would cause trouble for Yun Heng. Therefore…
She had taken soul-soothing powder an hour in advance.
That was the very first elixir Yun Heng had taught her to refine by hand when she was a 9-year-old. Its effect was to assist sleep and calm the spirit.
Now, Yun Zhi could already refine 4-ringed soul-soothing powder that was effective even for Golden Core Stage cultivators.
If she hadn’t been clutching a small ball of dough with the words “For Big Brother” written on it while she slept, and if Yun Heng hadn’t accidentally brushed a trace of medicinal residue from her fingertip when he took it, perhaps this secret would have belonged only to Yun Zhi until the very end.
Is a “willful” person… truly “unreasonable”?
Yun Heng did not wish to pass judgment.
A Xiang looked up at Yun Heng, her small mouth opening and closing like a goldfish blowing bubbles.
She felt that the scent on Yun Heng today was very unique. It was a scent she had never smelled before.
It was more fragrant and concentrated than usual, yet deeper and more distant.
A Xiang suddenly saw the moon in the sky and subconsciously tugged at Yun Heng’s sleeve. “The moon!”
Just like the moon!
The three of them stopped and looked up.
The young man seemed to finally realize why Yun Zhi was holding a “dough ball.” He could not help but take it out of his storage bag and take a tentative bite.
Though it was hard enough to grate against his teeth, ‘So it really was a sweet dumpling…’
“Speaking of which, Young Master, today is the Lantern Festival.”