Sister Peach Tree?
After speaking, Ling'er glanced furtively toward the peach tree.
Indeed, those were the words the peach tree had taught her to say.
Seeing that her act of feigning illness had been exposed, Ling'er had no choice but to seek help from the peach tree.
Ping'an stared intently at Ling'er, his scrutinizing gaze intensifying.
"Little Ling'er, are you truly a cultivator?"
Ping'an felt that Ling'er was not deceiving him this time. Given her strength and the incident that morning, there was no way she could be pretending.
The answer was obvious.
Ling'er nodded and said, "But I'm very weak."
Ping'an gave a snort. "You concealed it quite craftily from me. What, if I hadn't discovered it, were you planning to keep hiding it forever?"
Ping'an felt his self-esteem had been dealt a blow.
Ling'er was so young, yet she had already cultivated abilities.
But he had none!
It was simply too tragic.
Ling'er blinked her large eyes, listened to the peach tree's words, and then repeated, "I didn't hide it from you, Brother. Besides, you never asked me."
Ping'an was rendered speechless.
Well, she had a point.
Indeed, he had never asked.
He had always assumed that someone as young as Ling'er could not possibly have cultivated abilities.
"Alright, never mind that. But tell me, what was going on with you earlier? Don't tell me you really fell ill!"
Ping'an said sternly.
Ling'er glanced toward the peach tree again, then quickly replied, "I didn't want you to go there and leave me alone here."
Ping'an's face darkened. "I never said I wouldn't take you with me."
Ling'er looked serious again. "No, if we leave, what if someone breaks in and steals the watermelons?"
Ping'an stared at her silently.
Alright, you win.
Ping'an didn't want to discuss this further. He fixed his gaze on Ling'er and asked, "Little Ling'er, what is your current level of cultivation?"
Ling'er glanced toward the peach tree again before replying, "The Qi Refining stage."
Ping'an frowned slightly.
It wasn't because Ling'er was at the lowest Qi Refining stage.
Rather, he noticed that before speaking, Ling'er would always look toward the peach tree.
Ping'an walked over and circled around the peach tree.
No one was there.
He was starting to feel puzzled.
He felt that Ling'er was acting strangely today.
Why did she keep glancing over here before speaking?
If there wasn't someone here coaching her on what to say, he would have suspected as much.
Especially that first line about coming clean—it didn't sound like something Ling'er could say on her own.
"Little Ling'er, tell me the truth, what's going on with you? I've noticed you're acting very strange! If you don't tell me the truth, I won't let you eat any watermelons!"
Ping'an stared at Ling'er and threatened her.
Upon hearing this, Ling'er's large eyes widened, and she hurriedly said, "Brother, it's not me, it's Sister Peach Tree who taught me to say those things! Don't stop me from eating watermelons!"
Huh?
Sister... Peach Tree?!
At the nearby peach tree, upon hearing this, Anthropic could only feel exasperated.
She suddenly felt like crying.
She never expected that just by mentioning watermelons to her master, Ling'er would readily rat her out like this...
At that moment, the system's voice rang out.
[Peach Tree, deal with this yourself. If you're exposed, you know what happens.]
Anthropic shuddered, left with no choice but to take action.
A dark beam of light shot into Ling'er's forehead.
Meanwhile, Ping'an's brow had furrowed.
Ling'er called this peach tree "Sister Peach Tree"?
This was a peach tree he had planted himself.
Although the sapling was gifted by the system, over the past five years, this peach tree had behaved exactly like a normal peach tree.
No different at all.
He had read the book on common knowledge about the cultivation world.
He knew that after living for a very long time, or encountering some fortuitous opportunity, all living things could become spiritually awakened.
But at the moment of awakening, they would essentially have attained immortality.
Like sentient weapons.
Upon awakening, they would become divine artifacts, able to speak.
The same principle applied to trees attaining immortality.
If this peach tree had indeed become immortal, then it was conceivable that it could teach Ling'er to speak!
But this was a peach tree he had watched grow over just five years.
And in those five years, there had been nothing unusual about it; otherwise, he would have noticed.
"Is Ling'er hallucinating from her fever? Or did that cultivation book leave things out? Or perhaps the tree sapling the system gifted was somehow special?"
Ping'an's mind was suddenly filled with questions.
He looked at Ling'er and reached out to feel her forehead.
This...
It was burning hot again!
"Brother, I'm feeling dizzy again. Actually, it's not just Sister Peach Tree talking to me. The white clouds in the sky are also talking to me, and even that watermelon is waving at me..."
Ling'er said with a silly grin.
Ping'an didn't wait to hear more after that, his face filled with an urgent expression.
He scooped up Ling'er and rushed toward the house.
After leaving some instructions for her, he quickly left the courtyard to find a doctor.
As for Ling'er's earlier words, he had already dismissed them as delirious ramblings from her high fever.
...
At the Ping'an Sect.
The Murong Palace was still greeting guests.
More people had arrived afterward.
Some were from powerful factions.
Others were from local forces nearby.
Eventually, seeing that there were still plenty of seats left, the Murong Palace casually invited some random people from outside to join them.
These minor forces wanted to go in and take a look, but were also afraid of sitting among the major figures.
After all, the powerful auras from those experts made it difficult for them to even breathe properly.
However, in the end, their curiosity overcame this pressure, and they waddled their way inside.
In the palace's main square, a group of people drank and chatted merrily.
This was essentially a grand banquet.
The Murong Palace would stop and greet each table.
When he reached the table of Bai Guifeng and Bai Xiaochun, Bai Guifeng smiled and asked in a low voice, "Palace Brother, let me ask you something. Will that person be coming today?"
Bai Guifeng's understanding of that existence was limited only to what his grandson had described.
He was quite eager to witness it himself.
The Murong Palace revealed a lecherous grin. He had a feeling Bai Guifeng and these other experts had come because of the Predecessor.
The Predecessor truly thought of everything, not appearing in person but arranging for these experts to preside instead.
Thinking further, he suddenly paused.
"Wait, could it be that the Predecessor had already foreseen that people from the Lianhuo Sect would come, which is why he arranged for these three to be here?"
With this thought, the Murong Palace felt a surge of reverence.
The Predecessor was truly a divine being!
In response to Bai Guifeng's question, he decisively shook his head. "This morning when I went to see the Predecessor, he said he didn't wish to make an appearance, so he likely won't be coming."
Upon hearing this, Bai Guifeng let out an inward sigh, though he didn't show it outwardly.
Instead, his gaze toward the Murong Palace became even more resolute.
"He can freely go and meet the Predecessor. Tsk tsk, it seems his relationship with the Predecessor runs quite deep!"
Bai Guifeng felt rather envious.
The Murong Palace then respectfully greeted Long Aotian and Zhen Dangteng with drinks.
The three of them seemed to share a psychic link, as they all asked the same question.
This caused the Murong Palace to inwardly sigh, before repeating the same answer once more.
The banquet proceeded as planned.
However, not long after, someone suddenly appeared in the sky above their heads!
The moment this person materialized, the aura of every cultivator within a radius of several miles was completely overwhelmed.
Everyone present was startled.
They rapidly looked upward.
And with that glance, many opened their eyes wide in astonishment.
In the town of Qingyuan...
Caidao looked toward the artifact in the corner and said, "Little trash, go take a look. If necessary, be prepared to intervene and help."
The artifact nodded, seizing the chance while Ping'an went to find a doctor to slip out of the courtyard unnoticed.