Ye Yun ran away... This news greatly surprised the people of Hua Yun Sect, and even made them slightly angry. But the angriest should be Lan'er, and she became even more furious when she found out that Ye Tong and Luo Lan had also disappeared silently along with Ye Yun. Seeing her daughter sulking every day, Hua Yun Yan could feel a trace of jealousy from it.
Qianlong Valley is located southeast of Hua Yun Sect, relatively close to the southwestern continent. Because the journey is quite long, Dark Charm pulled Ye Yun aside after he had checked Luo Lan's injuries to conduct a strength test and enhancement. The reason is that Ye Yun's continuously soaring strength could not be controlled at will, and if handled improperly, it might lead to a deviation in his cultivation. Therefore, he needed practical combat to consolidate the floating Wind Element within his body, so that his strength could steadily improve.
When departing, Ye Yun's outward aura was at the level of an eight-to-nine star Wind Emperor, but his actual strength was only around three stars. The large discrepancy would affect his future improvement, and might even permanently stop him at the Wind Emperor stage!
Dark Charm felt both speechless and slightly impressed with Ye Yun, because if it were her going, she wouldn't have his kind of perseverance.
So, on the way to Qianlong Valley without rush or delay, every evening, Dark Charm would pull Ye Yun for training. Calling it training might be too kind—it was more like torture, because…
"You don't move fast enough, your weapon is too heavy! From now on, take that ruler of yours and chop down a hundred trees every day. If you don't finish, you're not allowed to eat!" These were Dark Charm's exact words.
Thus, in the forest every day, there was an extremely determined old man swinging something unknown, ‘bang bang' chopping trees. Some passersby, feeling pity, would leave a small portion of their money by the roadside and shout loudly into the forest at the hunched figure, "Old man, I've left some money by the road! Remember to take it later! Don't just stubbornly chop trees, old man. You're old now, it's time to enjoy family happiness!"
The hunched figure in the forest made Ye Yun feel utterly helpless…
At these times, besides feeling pity for Ye Yun, Ye Tong and Luo Lan would also hide aside and giggle, while Ye Yun remained completely unaware.
At first, Ye Yun was very unwilling: "Who are you to me?! Why should I listen to you? Shouldn't I explore my own cultivation methods myself? Why must you come to instruct me?!"Every time Ye Yun had this expression, An Zhi Mei whipped him mercilessly and shouted, ‘Look at the way you are! If it weren't for him… I wouldn't bother with you! Chop twenty more trees! If you don't finish within half an hour today, you can go starve!' Ye Yun was helpless; in the face of absolute strength, what resistance could he possibly have? One time, Ye Tong saw Ye Yun, whose whole body seemed like it had fallen apart, trembling with his hands while eating, and the scene was extremely desolate and sorrowful. So she requested An Zhi Mei to lighten his burden a bit, but unexpectedly, An Zhi Mei just tossed out a remark, and Ye Tong didn't plead for Ye Yun again. ‘I'm doing this for his own good. Don't worry, it won't tire your husband out.' The serious expression made it seem as if what she was doing was perfectly justified. But she assumed Ye Tong and Luo Lan were always by Ye Yun's side, thinking that they really had something going on. And in An Zhi Mei's eyes, Luo Lan, besides the strangely familiar feeling from their first meeting, increasingly resembled the appearance of Ye Yun and Ye Tong… But indeed, this had greatly helped Ye Yun improve his strength later on; you could say An Zhi Mei completely helped Ye Yun solidify his foundation. As the days passed, getting closer and closer to Qianlong Valley, Ye Yun became increasingly skilled at using the Nirvana Rebirth Rod. Felling a tree, Ye Yun could use more than a dozen different methods to chop it down without much effort, which greatly satisfied An Zhi Mei regarding the speed at which Ye Yun could chop a hundred trees. Originally, it would take three hours at a turtle's pace, but later, in just half an hour, he could sweep through the forest like a whirlwind—tsk tsk—the speed was astonishing. The considerable weight of the Nirvana Rebirth Rod was no longer a hindrance in Ye Yun's hands, but a complete weapon! However, the worst outcome was that along the way, he destroyed too many trees, sometimes prompting officials to come and create trouble. (After all, this is a nation we're talking about.) Hehe, the biggest benefits, aside from a stronger body and increased strength, were that he no longer had to worry about travel funds. That day, Ye Yun's journey passed through a canyon—a necessary route to Qianlong Valley. Hearing the roaring sound of waterfalls within the valley, An Zhi Mei smiled slightly. Seeing this smile from An Zhi Mei, Ye Yun was greatly shocked. Whenever she showed that smile, it meant a whole new method awaited Ye Yun. Only Heaven knows what this woman was thinking in her mind.Sure enough, An Zhi Mei forcibly brought everyone to the source of the roaring sound—the waterfall. First, she made Ye Yun chop down ten large trees, then had him cut them into wooden stakes from longest to shortest. She herself was responsible for firmly planting the stakes into the rocks that had been eroded by the waterfall over the years. Ye Yun knew what she was planning to do… Ye Yun, as the one who knew An Zhi Mei best among the three, could see how sinister her warm smile looked to him: "We will stay here for seven days. There are ten stakes here, and you must first adapt to the water's impact on the highest stake, then practice step by step downwards. The lowest stake will endure the strongest force of the waterfall, so you have to be careful. Seven days—if you can't meditate for an hour on the lowest stake within seven days, the consequences…" Before An Zhi Mei could finish, Ye Yun, without even taking off his clothes, spread his Wind Element wings as if fleeing for his life and flew to the highest stake. In his imagination, the consequences of failing her task were extremely… outrageous? Horrific? Unimaginably cruel? Luckily, the height of the waterfall wasn't too great, only about fifty feet. Just as Ye Yun flew off, An Zhi Mei vanished. She was like this every day, only appearing to check on Ye Yun's "progress"; most of the time, she was nowhere to be seen. However, if Ye Yun tried any tricks, she would appear like the wind… As expected, as soon as Ye Yun flew toward the waterfall, Ye Tong and Luo Lan started preparing dinner. It happened every day, and it gave Ye Tong a strange feeling of being a wife… Because during the day, Ye Yun would monitor Luo Lan's dominance, while she managed everyone's daily life; at noon, they all took a nap; in the evening, Ye Yun trained while she waited in the distance for him to come back to eat… Sometimes she also had to take care of Ye Yun, who was exhausted and aching all over. Living like this felt strange not only to Ye Tong, but also to Ye Yun. Moreover, because Ye Yun had received Ye Tong's wholehearted support for her kindness last time, it inevitably caused the unsuspecting An Zhi Mei to imagine all sorts of things… That said, as soon as Ye Yun reached the highest stake, he was knocked off by the powerful water, and he muttered a curse under his breath—the rare curse everyone seldom heard Ye Yun say: "Damn it (you all know…)!" Unwilling to give up, he fiercely flew up again. “Bang!” knocked off once. “Damn!” “Bang!” knocked off twice. “Damn!” “Bang!”… “Damn!” “Bang!”… Night Tong and Luo Lan exchanged a wordless glance…
