Chapter 170.2: A New World: the Mortal Heart World

At Seven-Colored Peak, Qi Jianjun held Qi Yuan's hand, eyes wide with curiosity. "So, this is Daddy's home?"

Qi Yuan felt a wave of calm wash over him due to the homecoming. "

Mm

."

Running wild in the outside world had its thrills, but home was the harbor of one's soul.

"The place looks really beautiful, it is perfect for seclusion," Qi Jianjun said.

Qi Yuan gave his daughter a side-eye. Was she really just saying it was remote? They stopped in front of the brick-and-tile house. Qi Yuan's gaze drifted toward the wooden cabin next door.

His expression turned odd. "Where's Junior Sister?"

Suddenly, his expression changed. A dense frost aura emanated from her cabin. He stepped inside, only for several talismans to flare into life, forming a protective formation to block him.

When cultivating, his junior sister often used talismans as guards around her. The power of these talismans nearly rivaled a Nascent Soul cultivator. In the Great Shang Kingdom, they counted as top-tier protective runes. They shattered the moment Qi Yuan's eyes swept over them.

He shifted and immediately saw Jiang Lingsu lying on the bed, clad in thin garments. A sheer veil covered her, revealing pale arms and a neck dusted with faint frost. Her brows were furrowed, clearly enduring some pain.

Qi Yuan's heart tightened. "Junior Sister?"

He had long known about her afflictions, which could only be treated by a Water Spirit Root Violet Palace cultivator. Unfortunately, even after founding the Blood-Clothed Alliance and gaining dominance over the Eastern Lands, he had yet to find one.

He reached out, grasping Jiang Lingsu's arm. Scorching energy surged through him. Qi Yuan used the Five Elements Essence to temper her body. Though it couldn't completely eradicate her illness, it could at least ease her suffering.

Heat swept through the cabin. The layer of frost on Jiang Lingsu disappeared, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

Weakly, she opened her eyes, a flicker of gratitude in them. "Senior Brother..."

Qi Yuan continued to channel his spiritual qi, using this crude method to dispel the lingering cold within her. "No need to speak."

Jiang Lingsu's eyes opened, her long arms twitching as if to reach for something.

"Don't move," Qi Yuan cautioned, holding her arm firmly.

His rich junior sister had helped him so much, he had to honor her generosity by taking care of her properly.

"What do you want to do? Tell me, I'll help you," he said, ever responsible.

A blush crept across Jiang Lingsu's fair face. She turned away, refusing to meet his gaze.

Qi Yuan looked puzzled.

What is wrong with her?

"Daddy, I think this sister wants you to help pull up her clothes," Qi Jianjun teased from the side.

Jiang Lingsu lay on the bed, her pink veil clinging lightly. Even lying down, her slender figure was evident. And now, a certain protruding curve had escaped half-exposed, white and eye-catching.

Qi Yuan exhaled softly, and the garment lifted to cover her. Feeling his warm breath, Jiang Lingsu's blush deepened. Who ever helped someone pull up clothes like this?

Qi Yuan, however, felt pleased with himself.

Another day, another act of high EQ.

As the saying goes, men and women should avoid improper contact. He hadn't touched her, just gently blowing to solve the problem.

"No need to thank me," he said, finally relaxing when he saw her color return.

Jiang Lingsu seemed much better now. She clasped her hands over her chest, still faint and frail like a sickly beauty. "Senior Brother, thank you."

"Your condition has worsened," Qi Yuan noted.

From dissipating the ice within her, he felt that the cold had accumulated over half a month. Jiang Lingsu had endured two whole weeks of pain alone, lying on that bed, with no one to talk to. Even a rich junior sister had her trials.

"It's fine, I've grown used to it," Jiang Lingsu said lightly, with a relaxed expression.

"Senior brother, how did the Eastern Lands Prodigy Battle go this time?"

"Mission accomplished. I made it onto the list."

"Really?" Jiang Lingsu's eyes brightened. "As expected of you, Senior Brother!"

Making it onto the prodigy list meant true recognition on the Eastern Lands’ stage. When Qi Yuan visited the Jiang Clan, he’d be treated as an equal. If it had been him in the past, he wouldn’t even have gotten past the front gate.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Did anything big happen in the Divine Radiance Sect or the Great Shang Kingdom recently?" Qi Yuan asked.

"Well, two," Jiang Lingsu said, her expression strange. "Two Violet Palace Cultivators from the Blood-Clothed Alliance came to Divine Radiance Sect, and even executed an elder from the Red Sword Sect."

At first, she had thought Blood-Clothed Sword God was just her senior brother's alias. Later, she realized that Blood-Clothed Sword God was far too powerful. There was no way they were the same person.

Still, when her senior brother’s message coincided with the Blood-Clothed Alliance’s arrival, she couldn't help but wonder. However, looking back on him just now—friendly, approachable, no overwhelming aura of a world-dominating demon—she felt she had been overthinking.

Nevertheless, her suspicion lingered. They could be deeply connected. Could Blood-Clothed Sword God actually be their peak master? That would explain everything.

"Anything else?" Qi Yuan asked.

She explained solemnly, "There was internal conflict in the Demonic Desire Sect. The Shen Clan rose up, suppressing the Ji Clan, slaughtering all the Ji disciples. Now, the Shen Clan controls the sect."

Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow. He had been planning to handle the Ji Clan himself, but the enemies disappeared on their own? Life was full of surprises. Sometimes the small gets swallowed by the large.

Then, Jiang Lingsu's gaze fell on Qi Jianjun, curious. "Senior Brother, who's this?"

Earlier, she had vaguely heard the little girl call Qi Yuan "Daddy."

"This is my daughter, Qi Jianjun."

"Daughter?" Jiang Lingsu's eyes widened. "Senior brother, you're not even twenty, how could you have a daughter this old?!"

Qi Yuan explained, "She's my daughter in the game."

Jiang Lingsu was stunned. She recalled that in her clan, some people played with jade slips—calling older players siblings, even father and daughter. Nevertheless, that was done in a playful setting.

And this little Qi Jianjun? How...?

"All right, Junior Sister. Now that you're awake, I will leave. Haven't played a game in a while, it's hard to resist," Qi Yuan said, hurrying out.

The cabin was left in silence, Jiang Lingsu sitting with a puzzled expression. She felt a stir of motherly instinct. "Could that little girl be an orphan, adopted by Senior Brother? Poor thing..."

She rose slowly, stiff from lying down too long. Still, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the stiffness vanished instantly.

Then realization struck her. "What happened to the talismans I placed at the door?"

Before entering seclusion, she always left talismans to protect herself. Now, they were gone.

How did Senior Brother bypass my talismans?

Jiang Lingsu wondered, astonished.

***

Mortal Heart World, Clearwater Village. The villagers, gaunt and yellow-faced, trudged back in droves, many bearing visible injuries.

The village chief, Yulei, was a small, elderly man with a hunched back. His pants were rolled up to his knees, revealing legs as thin as straw.

"We were defeated in the village battle! What a disgrace!" a fat man wailed, face contorted with sorrow, looking particularly miserable.

A scholarly-looking man sneered at the idea of Stone Village following a new god. "The Shi family village has no sense of martial ethics, they actually worship a new god!"

At the mention of the new god, the expressions of the villagers darkened. To enjoy favorable weather and good harvests, they had to make offerings to deities. And yet, their deity—the Dogtail Grass God—had not responded in decades.

According to the village priest, Shen Tu, the Dogtail Grass God had likely starved to death. It sounded absurd, yet somehow unsurprising. After all, Clearwater Village had been poor for generations, with nothing left to offer the god.

"Without the blessings of a god, we simply cannot defeat Stone Village!" one man said.

In terms of raw strength, Clearwater Village outmatched Stone Village. Yet Stone Village had a new god who could bless its people, giving them a clear advantage. The fight over the water source had cost Clearwater Village heavily.

"Even if the Dogtail Grass God blessed us, we still couldn't beat Stone Village. Their new god is just too strong!"

Hearing the words "new god," fear flickered across the villagers' faces.

"Then should we worship a new god too?" one villager tentatively asked.

"No!" the village chief, Yulei, finally said after a long silence. "No matter what, Clearwater Village will never worship a new god. Absolutely not!"

The villagers fell silent, all understanding why the chief was so adamant. Unlike old gods, new gods demanded human sacrifices. For example, Stone Village's new god required a child every month. The Clearwater Village found it utterly unacceptable.

"Besides, we are the descendants of the ancient clan. How could we possibly bow to a new god?" Yulei said.

Pride flickered in the villagers' eyes. The ancient clan was known for its unyielding spirit. In the old days, when heaven seemed to turn a blind eye to them, the clan's great gods had dared to challenge the heavens themselves. Now, in this chaotic age of new gods, how could they submit and scrape by in cowardly survival?

"We, the ancient clan, dare to challenge the gods! Even if we decline, our spines shall not bend!"

"Dare to fight heaven, dare to oppose injustice! The ancient clan shall not be humiliated!"

"

Waaah

... I'm so hungry... Gou Dan, give me some cornbread!"

"You, with your pure ancient bloodline, asking me for cornbread?! Have some shame!"