Wu Long saw that they were moving with the Illustrious Sride, a movement technique Ye Ling liked to use, which she probably taught her new juniors, but what surprised Wu Long was that they were moving at a speed Ye Ling could manage, but the others should not be able to handle, especially Luo Mingyu.
Not to mention, that Ye Ling was already in the Foundation Building Realm. It seemed that returning to her Path of the Sword, she was able to make rapid progress in her cultivation until she was stopped by the quality and quantity of Spiritual Qi in the surroundings. Otherwise, she would have reached even higher realms.
‘Heh, no wonder my Yang Qi was at the limit of what it could handle’
He thought, as he unexpectedly and unknowingly was already bound with a Foundation Building Realm expert in addition to two Extreme Yin physique women at that time. They reached him and smiled at his both surprised and happy face.
“Do you like my surprise?”
Ye Ling said with a proud look on her face.
“Very”
Wu Long nodded as he approached and hugged her, to which she embraced him in return, letting him know by how tightly her hands were holding him, how she missed him. He tightened his hug in return as he too longed to see her and others.
“Ziyan, come here”
He beckoned her while walking up to her when Ye Ling was content with his warmth and finally let go. Hua Ziyan slightly widened her eyes, and with a little timidness approached him as he went to her with open arms and embraced her. She trembled slightly in his embrace and then returned it, as a feeling of happiness spread through her. He then kissed her, to which she eagerly responded.
Ye Ling looked with warm eyes at this scene, as Wu Long asked her to look after her when he left the sect. She soon noticed the problem Wu Long was talking about, as she seemed to think that she could only stay with him if she was useful enough, and studied Dual Cultivation scrolls and tomes without end and cultivated with effort. The fact that her cultivation base was lower than Ye Ling and thus even her Pure Yin Essence was not able to advance his cultivation much was one of the sources of her anxiety that she would not be able to keep up and be cast aside.
But although she noticed it, her younger self without the memories of the current Ye Ling did not know how to deal with it, and even Ye Ling who awakened agreed that direct interference would ruin her chance at a mental realm growth. Realizing self-worth was something very precious to every cultivator, and closely linked to expanding their potential. Not to mention that she had to learn to make her own progress, as helping her achieve that realization without any effort on her part would be harming her instead of helping since she would be then slowly accustomed to being led and not moving forward herself.
However, it did not mean Ye Ling could not do anything at all now that she was awakened and had all of her years of experience. She subtly guided her in their conversations, making her realize on her own that Wu Long never expressed any other requirements for her to become his woman other than being loyal to him and having no other men.
Being in his embrace now only reassured her newfound hope that she was not just a cultivation partner who had to prove her worth to not be discarded, but that she was a woman loved by him.
Ye Ling marveled at how crudely he tried to guide her to that realization before, since the only thing he did was make her too exhausted after their cultivation sessions to do anything for him, thus trying to show her that he did not expect her to service him like a servant.
Wu Long then embraced and kissed Luo Mingyu, who responded with an eager kiss of her own, showing him what she learned from the scrolls and tomes and additional explanations from Hua Ziyan. He smiled as he hugged her close.
He then beckoned Shen Min into his embrace and she ran into it as if she was the one who did not see him the longest, despite only being apart for a few days. The others laughed at this sight.
“When I received your message about her I decided to pick her up on the way. Those rats can’t run or hide anywhere in this small world anyway, giving them a few more months of life will not make much difference”
Ye Ling said to his slightly questioning gaze.
“How did you all move at your speed though?”
“Ah, that, hehe, sect master taught me a Moving Formation long ago, though I never used it, which allowed a group to share the speed and move at the speed slightly slower than the fastest member, though that member would have to endure quite a lot, I could handle the three of them”
Wu Long nodded with understanding. Aside from Formations that were formed with symbols, arrays, talismans, and inscriptions, there were Formations formed by a group of people as cornerstones, such as Sword Formations, Spear Formations, Movement Formations, etc. Such Formations allowed several people to combine their strengths efficiently into one. However, it seemed that the knowledge about them was greatly deficient in this fractured world, as sects and organizations would usually put great focus on the practice of those formations so that even their lower-level members could fight high-level fighters, and Wu Long did not meet any, which would have made it harder for him if he did. So he did not expect to see one, thus creating a mystery of how they moved so fast.
“And Feng Yi?”
He asked. Since Ye Ling picked up Shen Min whom she never met, by common association Feng Yi whom she did meet would have been here as well.
“That girl first has to decide whether she wants to be with you or not first”
Ye Ling said, folding her arms, somewhat surprising Wu Long. She was usually a kind and gentle woman, and she also welcomed Feng Yi when she met her, but it seemed she was a little dissatisfied with her attitude.
“Heh, you are being a little mean”
“Yes, I am, but what can I do, I don’t like the man I love being ignored”
“S-sister Feng Yi is not ignoring Wu Long, she just…, she just…”
“I know, don’t worry, I just want her to have room to, but also the motivation to decide”
Luo Mingyu tried to come to Feng Yi’s defense and Ye Ling smiled, then gently rubbed the top of her head as Luo Mingyu closed her eyes with a smile. In the time they spent together, she came to regard Ye Ling as a kind older sister who looked after, guided, and pampered her.
Wu Long also noticed that Hua Ziyan seemed to have a similar attitude toward her. The mature and experienced character and demeanor she naturally showed were probably the cause of them looking at her as a sort of leader.
“I am going to get jealous you know?”
He said with a chuckle and she laughed in return at his slight teasing. She then came to his embrace again, kissing him with all of the tenderness and love she held in her heart.
“Don’t worry, I am yours, and yours only”
He smiled at her whisper in his ear after the kiss and this time kissed her.
“…Ahem”
As a slight sound resounded to the side, Wu Long parted his lips from Ye Ling and still holding her in his embrace, looked to the side, where Wei Lan awkwardly stood for some time, not knowing what to do. She noticed that Wu Long moved to the entrance with a surprised expression so she followed after him, but ever since she arrived she did not find the right opportunity to make an appearance.
“Ah, my apologies, my family decided to surprise me with a visit, so I was eager to meet them. Everyone, meet Wei Lan, former Grand Elder of the Clear Water Pavilion”
When he said the word ‘family’ the three beside Ye Ling blushed with happy smiles as he signified with these words that they were not passing lovers, but someone he regarded as his dao companions. Although marriage was not common in the cultivation world, since most cultivators did not acknowledge any authority over their private lives, there were still families, commonly called dao families who were composed of dao companions. If a man called his woman a dao companion it was akin to a lifelong promise of marriage to mortals, only even more significant since the time spent could potentially be eternal, and the relationship was identified by not an outside authority but mutual trust and feelings, signifying that they shared one path in life.
Wei Lan was a little dazed at how beautiful all of the four women in front of her were, but she somehow understood it since she understood his charm. She smiled and welcomed them, and they soon started introductions. But what Wei Lan did not notice was that when her eyes flashed with a little envy at their happy smiles, Ye Ling’s eyes showed a glint of attention, and a smile touched her lips.ｂ𝚍𝚘𝚟ｌ.ｎｔ