“Umm…”

“Hey, Huang Yan, Hua Ying, there you two are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

Huang Yan had just uttered a single sound, with the rest of his words caught in his throat, forcibly held back by the sudden voice coming from nearby.

Huang Yan helplessly closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and looked toward the source of the ill-timed interruption.

Beside them, National Preceptor An was casually walking toward the pair, carrying a large package in his hand.

Upon seeing National Preceptor An, Huang Yan’s anger intensified. “You’re the National Preceptor of South Court Country, what are you doing hanging around North Ming Country all day?”

If not for the interruption, he would have spoken what was in his heart.

“Chu Li asked me to stay a few more days. Do you have a problem with that?” National Preceptor An replied teasingly.

Huang Yan pressed his lips tightly together, too angry to know what to say.

…

…

Seeing the situation, Hua Ying slightly curved her lips and looked toward National Preceptor An. “You mentioned you’ve been looking for us for a while. Is there something urgent?”

“Someone seems upset with me. Did I interrupt something important?” National Preceptor An glanced toward Huang Yan.

Huang Yan remained silent.

Hua Ying smiled slightly. “We were just strolling around, nothing important.”

“That’s good then.” National Preceptor An nodded in understanding, then continued, “I came looking for you because I just saw several tribal chiefs from Tiansheng Continent while drinking tea at the teahouse.”

“What did you say?!” Upon hearing the words “tribal chiefs,” Huang Yan immediately widened his eyes, excitedly grabbing National Preceptor An’s sleeve, and all previous displeasure vanished from his face.

National Preceptor An looked at his sleeve and raised an eyebrow. “Not angry with me anymore?”

“Oh come on, we’re close, how could I ever be angry with you, right?” Huang Yan immediately put on a smiling face. As long as National Preceptor An would tell him the chiefs’ whereabouts, he’d be willing to kneel and call him father.

National Preceptor An snorted, “Pathetic!”

“Where are they? Take me to find them. I even dragged Lei Yan to the borderlands that day, but couldn’t find them. I never imagined they would be here in North Ming Country.” Huang Yan had calculated everything but hadn’t considered this possibility.

Hua Ying had already received this information from Qiqi earlier, so she wasn’t surprised at all.

Seeing Huang Yan’s eager expression, Hua Ying felt an inexplicable warmth in her heart.

“Come with me.” National Preceptor An stopped teasing him, as this wasn’t a small matter. He quickly turned around, leading Huang Yan and Hua Ying to find the tribal chiefs.

Huang Yan followed behind National Preceptor An, observing Hua Ying’s expression as they walked.

Although he wasn’t certain whether Hua Ying was willing to release her beast spirit form, it was better to make preparations in advance.

Arriving at a teahouse in the center of the market street, National Preceptor An stopped and turned to look at Huang Yan. “They’re here.”

After speaking, National Preceptor An stepped inside.

After entering the teahouse, they went directly to the third floor and stopped at the door of a private room.

Unlike the other quiet private rooms, boisterous laughter and the sound of table-slapping continuously emanated from this one.

“Knock on the door,” National Preceptor An said to Huang Yan.

Huang Yan nodded and quickly knocked.

The laughter inside immediately stopped, followed by a gruff voice, “Who is it?”

“Brothers, may I come in and speak with you?” Huang Yan didn’t know how to introduce himself, as no one here knew him as Huang Yan.

“Come in,” the person inside said.

As soon as the words fell, Huang Yan pushed the door open, and National Preceptor An and Hua Ying entered as well.

Five tribal chiefs were currently sitting in the private room. Seeing Huang Yan enter, they were momentarily stunned, not quite recognizing him. But when they saw National Preceptor An, Tur, who was sitting closest to the door, immediately slapped the table and stood up.

“So it’s you, the old man who led us in circles!” Tur exclaimed, his tone filled with anger.

The other four also stood up, their smiles disappearing as they glared at National Preceptor An. “Damn it, we kept our end of the bargain and searched for that damn spring for ages, but you broke your promise and ran away. Now you dare show your face before us—are you tired of living?”

“Please calm down, gentlemen, and allow me to explain,” National Preceptor An said, distressed at being berated the moment they entered.

“Speak!” Remu roared.

National Preceptor An wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled at them. “As you all know, the situation in Tiansheng Continent was critical then, with threats from all sides. Not honoring our bet while in Tiansheng Continent was my fault, but I ask for your understanding.”

“See, today when I learned you chiefs were here while having tea, I immediately came to see you. If I truly intended to break my promise, I wouldn’t have dared come find you, would I?”

The chiefs were all quick-tempered, their anger rising and falling rapidly. Hearing National Preceptor An’s humble words, Tur’s face immediately broke into a smile. “Fair enough, as long as the misunderstanding is cleared up. We’re not unreasonable people after all.”

We brothers suffered quite a bit in Tiansheng Continent and still bear the wounds. I can understand your situation,” Tur said.

“Come, sit down first,” Tur enthusiastically invited the three to sit.

National Preceptor An gave Huang Yan and Hua Ying a look, then went over and sat down beside Tur.

“Chief, since I’m here today to honor our bet, may I ask if you found the Jade Moon Spring?” National Preceptor An asked directly.

Tur nodded. “As agreed, we found the Jade Moon Spring you mentioned and are quite certain it’s the right one.”

“Oh? How did you confirm it?” Huang Yan interjected.

“In the center of the Jade Moon Spring stands a stone tablet with the three characters ‘Jade Moon Spring’ carved on it,” Tur replied.

Hearing this, Huang Yan felt excited.

After speaking, Tur looked at National Preceptor An. “Do you remember promising us a divine artifact?”

“Yes, I remember. Which divine artifact have you gentlemen set your eyes on?” National Preceptor An asked.

“Originally, we coveted the Divine Decree, but that thing is too powerful, and we have no use for it. Then I tried that young lady’s Phoenix Tail Whip that day, and although it felt good in hand, the whip seemed quite important to the young lady, so I didn’t want to take what she treasured.”

“So, hand over the Snow Soul Pill that’s said to bring people back from the dead!”

Seeing that Tur wanted the Snow Soul Pill, National Preceptor An found himself in a difficult position, and Huang Yan beside him also frowned instinctively.

“Well…”

“What, unwilling to give it?” Remu became displeased again, seeing their hesitation.

National Preceptor, An quickly shook his head. “It’s not that I’m unwilling, but the Snow Soul Pill was used by us in Tiansheng Continent.”

“Used? Is that true or false?” Tur was somewhat skeptical.

“Of course it’s true. The battle in Tiansheng Continent left us exhausted in body and mind, and the Snow Soul Pill is a life-saving medicine. Under those circumstances, we had to take this divine medicine to save our lives first.”

After finishing, National Preceptor An sighed. “Chiefs, perhaps we could exchange for another divine artifact?”

“Are there others?” Remu raised an eyebrow.

“Certainly, let me show you something interesting.” After speaking, National Preceptor An took something out from his sleeve and placed it in his palm.

This time, not only were the chiefs stunned, but even Huang Yan and Hua Ying were puzzled…

“This thing is called a telescope, also known as a thousand-mile eye. When you put it to your eye and look out, tsk tsk tsk, you can see clearly which young lady is bathing with her door unlocked.” After saying this, National Preceptor An put the telescope to his eye and looked around.

At this moment, he could only be thankful that he had directly crossed over in physical form, and that he had been conducting research in the mountains when it happened, so his backpack contained many strange and wonderful things.

This telescope, in the eyes of these ancient people, could probably qualify as a divine artifact.

Tur took the telescope, walked to the window, and imitated National Preceptor An, raising the telescope to look outside.

At first glance, he didn’t quite understand.

After adjusting a bit, Tur let out exclamations of amazement. “My goodness, this thing is miraculous!”

“Let me see!”

“Let me have a look…”

The other chiefs gathered around, and they stood by the window playing with it for quite a while.

After playing for a while, Tur walked over and cupped his hands toward National Preceptor An. “We’ll take this divine artifact.”

“The Jade Moon Spring is located in the southeast direction of Tiansheng Continent. There’s a waterfall mountain there. After you find that mountain and climb to the top, the Jade Moon Spring is in the center of the mountaintop.”

“We searched for a long time and never thought the spring would be on the mountaintop. Later, we stumbled upon it by accident.”

Hearing this answer, National Preceptor An nodded slightly and looked at Huang Yan. “Did you hear clearly?”

Huang Yan nodded repeatedly, his hands clasped together, so excited that he wanted to fly there immediately.

“Well, since our bet with the chiefs has been settled, I won’t disturb you further. Farewell.” National Preceptor An stood up, not lingering any longer.

……

After leaving the teahouse, National Preceptor An had intended to return to the North Ming Country palace with Huang Yan and the others, but at the corner, he glimpsed a familiar figure.

“You two go back first, I have something to attend to.”

After dropping these words, National Preceptor An walked toward the corner.

After walking a few steps and seeing clearly who was standing at the corner, National Preceptor An sighed and frowned. “Wanyue, since you’re here, why not go to the palace to find Chu Li?”

Consort Rong leaned against the corner of the wall and smiled awkwardly. “No need to meet. Knowing you’re all safe puts my mind at ease.”

“Mm.” National Preceptor An nodded, not having much to say to Consort Rong at this moment.

Just as he was about to leave, Consort Rong called out to him again. “Um…”

“What is it?” National Preceptor An turned around.

“Was… was the Divine Decree activated? Were there the rumored Death Spirits and Death Soldiers?” Consort Rong desperately wanted to know if the thing she had been obsessed with for so long had helped Chu Li.

Hearing these words, National Preceptor An chuckled lightly and shrugged. “At this point, you should be grateful that you came to your senses earlier and abandoned your obsession with the Divine Decree, without doing anything more heinous.”

“In the days ahead, focus on nurturing your mother-son relationship. It’s not too late to make amends for past mistakes.”

After speaking, National Preceptor An walked away.

Consort Rong leaned against the corner of the wall and heaved a deep sigh…