The Arrogant Immortal
Chapter 365 - 364: Seeing Each Other for the Last Time

Chapter 365: Chapter 364: Seeing Each Other for the Last Time

Someone led the way, and the pace was swift.

Xie Jiuniang arrived at a valley.

Here, white mist swirled around, no wonder Nalan Youfang said it was hard to find. Upon finding the entrance to the valley, a different scene unfolded.

It was the season when peach blossoms bloomed profusely, as far as the eye could see was a sea of flowers.

The flowers clustered in vibrant arrays, their fragrance assailing the senses.

As soon as the two appeared, someone blocked their path, a Golden Core Cultivator, "So it’s Miss Nalan, my apologies for the oversight."

"It’s alright, I’ve come on business this time," Nalan Youfang said politely.

The Golden Core Cultivator nodded, then turned to gauge Xie Jiuniang beside him, tentatively asking, "Miss Jiuniang?"

"You..."

Xie Jiuniang was bewildered.

She didn’t know this person, but he seemed to know her.

The Golden Core quickly said, "My name is Qin Tong, my mother was born into a collateral branch of the Xie Family, and we have resided in Yunmu City for generations."

Xie Jiuniang nodded.

Then, Qin Tong offered to lead them inside.

Nalan Youfang timely mentioned she had business to attend to and had to leave prematurely. Before leaving, she also gave Xie Jiuniang a stack of Sound Transmission Talismans so she could contact her if needed.

She watched Nalan Youfang depart.

Xie Jiuniang then turned back to Qin Tong, inquiring about the valley.

As they walked, Qin Tong shared some events, "On that day, when several of the Divinity Transformation cultivators entered the city and began a massacre, we thought we were doomed. It was the Nalan Family’s elder who acted, saving everyone in the city..."

Such a feat was utterly inconceivable.

Xie Jiuniang only then realized that executing such a large-scale technique must have come at a great cost. She suddenly wondered if bringing Starwood alone was too little a gesture?

She had only seen the elder yesterday.

At that time, she saw no issue, but now, upon careful consideration, there seemed to be problems everywhere.

A Divinity Transformation Peak expert, appearing frail with age?

Considering her own master’s youthfully charming visage, there appeared to be a grave problem with the Nalan Family’s elder.

It was either a serious injury or a dwindling lifespan.

This matter, she would have to wait to ask her own master for more insight.

Qin Tong continued, "The Nalan Family allowed us to choose to leave on our own. At that time, about half of the people chose to go, and the rest left gradually afterwards."

Not a single one of the Xie Family clan members left, however.

Among those who stayed, if they were not affiliated families of the Xie clan, then they were in-laws. The others were the old, weak, sick, and ordinary residents living within the city, who were accustomed to the protection of the Xie Family and did not wish to leave so abruptly. Normal people felt uneasy and anxious about unfamiliar environments.

The Xie Family clan members, on the other hand, were generous; they didn’t see these people as a burden, but settled them properly instead.

Peach Blossom Valley was very vast.

Its name originated from the outer valley, where the entrance was marked by a grove of peach trees. Further inside, there was an expansive flat grassland, very suitable for building houses and cultivating Spiritual Fields, with soil far more fertile than the land around Yunmu City.

Even the concentration of Spiritual Energy was richer than in Yunmu City.

Living here was more suitable for cultivators, whereas Yunmu City was better for retirement.

But everything had to start anew.

Xie Jiuniang swept her Divine Sense across the entire valley, confirming that Qin Tong spoke the truth.

Before long, they arrived in front of a small courtyard.

Compared to the crude dwellings of others, this courtyard was quite decent. Standing at the entrance, she could smell the faint scent of medicinal herbs wafting from within.

Qin Tong said, "Pill Master Wenshuang lives here."

"Alright."

Xie Jiuniang took out a bottle of Golden Core Elixir and gifted it to Qin Tong, "Please go ahead with your duties."

Qin Tong, delighted by the gift, expressed his thanks and took his leave.

The courtyard was protected by a Protective Array of low grade. Xie Jiuniang could easily break through if she wanted to enter, but she refrained from doing so.

According to Qin Tong, currently, the Xie Family affairs were overseen by Xie Wenshuang and their Uncle. Their second uncle had led some clan members to a nearby city to procure daily necessities half a month ago and had not yet returned.

She gently touched the Array.

"Who is it?"

The voice of Xie Wenshuang came from within.

When she stepped out of the house, she saw Xie Jiuniang standing with her hands behind her back outside the courtyard gate.

Xie Jiuniang still bore the likeness of a young girl, not much different from the person in her memory, so Xie Wenshuang recognized her at a glance. Her face slightly changed, "Xie Jiuniang, you dare to show yourself?!"

"Granny."

Xie Jiuniang did not get angry.

There were some internal affairs that the Xie Family members did not yet know about, only that they had sent one plea after another to the Tianxu Sect for help, yet no one had come to their aid.

Xie Wenshuang questioned, "The family asked you for help, why didn’t you come? You once said that if the family was in trouble, you would step in!"

"I was in seclusion at that time."

Xie Jiuniang did not want to make excuses, but she had to state the facts, "As soon as I received the message, I started to make arrangements, it’s just that I was one step too slow..."

From Xie Wenshuang’s attitude, there was resentment but not hatred, leading Xie Jiuniang to suspect that she did not yet know of the great calamity that had befallen the Xie Family, resulting from her own involvement. If she had known, it probably wouldn’t have been a question but an immediate drawing of swords instead.

The matter concerning her had caused an uproar in the Cultivation World.

Xie Wenshuang would find out sooner or later.

But looking at Xie Wenshuang’s face filled with sorrow, haggard with stress and streaked with white hair, the grievances of the past seemed to fade away.

The array in the yard was activated.

Xie Jiuniang stepped inside.

"You’ve come at the right time, you can see Big Brother for the last time." Xie Wenshuang said, her eyes suddenly reddening as she mentioned it.

Upon hearing this, Xie Jiuniang was stunned, "Big Brother?"

Xie Wenshuang ignored her and turned to enter the house.

Xie Jiuniang followed her into the house, where she found more than ten people, either seated or standing, all very quiet.

The atmosphere at the scene was extremely heavy and sad.

When the more than ten people saw Xie Jiuniang, they all froze.

A young girl wanted to speak, but after glancing at everyone and seeing that no one else made a sound, she shut her little mouth again.

Xie Wenshuang entered a bedroom without saying a word.

Xie Jiuniang followed her in.

The medicinal smell in this bedroom was even stronger.

On the bed lay a person in a coma, pale-faced and with weak breathing.

As Xie Jiuniang clearly saw the person lying in a coma on the bed, her pupils constricted, "Grandfather? But Grandfather passed away long ago..."

"You—"

Xie Wenshuang glared at her angrily.

Xie Jiuniang came to her senses and explained, "The outside world rumored that Grandfather had fallen, so I was very surprised to suddenly see him."

At that time, Grandfather had activated the great array and self-destructed, using his own blood and Spiritual Soul as a sacrifice, which in principle made it very unlikely for him to survive.

It was the ancestor of the Nalan Family who acted, stepping in the moment before the grand array self-destructed.

By a twist of fate, he also managed to take the barely alive Clan Leader of the Xie Family away.

However, the Nascent Soul Medical Cultivator from the Nalan Family had already examined him.

The Clan Leader of the Xie Family had severe damage to his Spiritual Soul and even to the Soul Source, and the other party said he could not be cured—at least, the Nalan Family had no way to do so.

This essentially amounted to a death sentence.

Only Xie Wenshuang did not want to give up and brought him to her side, desperately maintaining that trace of vitality in the Clan Leader of the Xie Family with Spiritual Power and medicine.

But to sustain it until now was already the limit.

Xie Jiuniang stood in front of the bed, looking at the comatose Clan Leader of the Xie Family. The grandfather in her memory was supremely dignified, not lying breathlessly like this without any ability to attack.

This scene was very unfamiliar.

And it pained her eyes.

The so-called "last moments" that Xie Wenshuang mentioned was probably about seeing him one last time...

"Master, don’t you have an Ice Soul Stone? Use it on him—there’s no way to save him now, but maybe there will be a way in the future," Jian Lingyan reminded her in time.

It was then that Xie Jiuniang remembered the Ice Soul Stone and she asked, "Granny, may I use the Ice Soul Stone?"

"Do you have one?" Xie Wenshuang asked urgently.

Hovering just above the palm of Xie Jiuniang’s hand, wrapped in Spiritual Power, was an Ice Soul Stone.

The Ice Soul Stone was very small, only the size of a peanut.

Xie Wenshuang excitedly took the Ice Soul Stone, "This needs to be processed first; it can’t be used directly."

She hurried away with the Ice Soul Stone.

When she came back, the Ice Soul Stone no longer displayed its previous chill and seemed to be sealed with some kind of Technique.

Now it wouldn’t harm anyone, yet it would still achieve the intended effect.