Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts

“This is the entrance to the Wanhua (Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers), Young Master Xu. You can head in directly,” Yue Lou said as she brought Xu Ming to the valley’s entrance. “Martial Aunt Qin is waiting for you inside.”

Xu Ming nodded. “Alright, I understand. Thank you, Miss Yue. But aren’t you coming in with me?”

“There’s no need,” Yue Lou shook her head. “I’ve already seen Martial Aunt, and she’s doing well. Besides, the moment she woke up, the first thing she asked was whether you’d arrived. She’s been longing to see you. If I went along, wouldn’t I just be interrupting?”

“But speaking of which,” Yue Lou looked at Xu Ming with curiosity, “what exactly is your relationship with our Martial Aunt Qin?”

Xu Ming smiled. “We’re just childhood friends.”

“Just ordinary childhood friends?” Yue Lou’s gaze was skeptical as she eyed Xu Ming.

“That’s right,” Xu Ming nodded.

For now, their relationship truly was no more than childhood friends.

“Alright then,” Yue Lou replied, a bit disappointed that she hadn’t gotten the answer she wanted.

What kind of “ordinary childhood friends” would risk their life for the other, taking on nearly half the young talents of Tianxuan Sect alone?

And what kind of “ordinary childhood friends” would ask about the other person the moment they came out of seclusion?

But since neither of them was willing to spill the truth, there wasn’t much Yue Lou could do. When she’d asked Qin Qingwan earlier, she had also insisted they were just childhood friends.

“Alright, you should go in. The ceremony is approaching, and I still have a lot to take care of.”

With that, Yue Lou waved her hand and flew off, not saying anything further.

“Let’s go,” Xu Ming said to Shen Shengsheng beside him with a smile.

“Mm-hmm,” Shengsheng nodded and followed her elder brother into the narrow passage.

The entrance was small, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

But after walking a few dozen steps, while it didn’t open up entirely, it was spacious enough for two people to walk side by side.

Before they even reached the end of the passage, a floral fragrance wafted toward them.

A bright light appeared before Xu Ming and Shengsheng.

“Wow!”

As the two stepped out of the passage, they were greeted by a sea of flowers covering a small plain. Shengsheng’s eyes lit up with amazement.

Being a little girl, Shengsheng naturally loved flowers. And this was an entire sea of them—who wouldn’t?

Reds, whites, yellows—flowers of all kinds bloomed in a dazzling array of colors. The hues blended together, and when the wind blew, the flowers bent and swayed like waves rippling across the field.

In the midst of this floral ocean stood a young girl of sixteen or seventeen, tall and graceful.

The breeze carried the scent of flowers and scattered petals around her. Her flowing dress clung to her figure, accentuating her elegance.

“Big Sister Qingwan!”

The moment Shengsheng spotted Qingwan, her large eyes lit up, and she opened her arms wide, running toward her.

Seeing Shengsheng’s joyful expression, Xu Ming couldn’t help but shake his head.

This little girl was perfectly fluent when calling out Qingwan’s name—no hint of her usual stutter.

It was clear Shengsheng genuinely adored Qingwan.

Hearing the voice, Qin Qingwan turned her head and saw Shengsheng running toward her.

A smile spread across Qingwan’s face as she ran forward and scooped Shengsheng up, their faces pressing together. “Shengsheng looks like you’ve grown taller~ and even cuter too~”

Shengsheng squirmed a little as Qingwan nuzzled her, giggling, “Big Sister Qingwan… is… is even prettier now!”

“Thank you, Shengsheng~”

Qin Qingwan planted a light kiss on Shengsheng’s cheek.

As Xu Ming walked up to her, he smiled and said, “You’re looking quite well.”

“Of course I am,” Qingwan replied, her eyes curving into crescents as she gazed warmly at him.

“Huh?” The young girl let out a soft gasp.

Xu Ming asked, “What’s wrong?”

Qin Qingwan gently set Shengsheng down and stepped closer to Xu Ming, hands clasped behind her back. She leaned slightly forward, tilting her head up to study him. “Hmm, it feels like your sword energy has grown even sharper, your sword intent deeper, and your martial aura more robust.

“Before, your martial energy and spiritual power felt chaotic, like they were clashing against each other. I wasn’t sure why at the time, so I consulted my master.

“Master said it was because you’re practicing dual cultivation of martial and spiritual techniques, and the conflict between the two was causing the imbalance. I’d even planned to help you find a solution. But now it seems you’ve already resolved it?”

Xu Ming hadn’t expected her to be so observant. “Thank you, but there’s no need. I’ve found a temporary solution myself.”

Xu Ming decided not to delve deeper into this topic—it wasn’t something he could explain easily.

“Really? You don’t need my help anymore?” Qingwan asked.

“No need,” Xu Ming replied, shaking his head. He thought to himself, Even if you wanted to help, this isn’t something you could do for me.

“Alright then,” Qingwan straightened her back. “But… why do you have a faint scent of a woman on you?”

Xu Ming’s heart instinctively skipped a beat, and he replied a little too quickly, “Maybe it’s because I just came from Yanhan’s courtyard.”

“Oh?” Qin Qingwan narrowed her eyes slightly, her expression unreadable. “Yanhan? You mean Wu Yanhan, the princess of the Wu Kingdom? It seems like your relationship with her is pretty close—you can visit her courtyard freely and even call her by name.”

Xu Ming said seriously, “Yanhan and I are open and aboveboard.”

“…”

As Xu Ming finished speaking, silence hung between them.

Standing off to the side, Shengsheng didn’t fully understand what was happening, but her instincts told her she should quietly slip away. Something about the atmosphere between her Brother Xu and Sister Qingwan seemed… off.

Three breaths later, Qin Qingwan chuckled softly, her laughter crisp like silver bells. “I was just teasing you. Look how nervous you are.”

She blinked mischievously. “I believe you. I trust that you and the princess are completely innocent. Otherwise, wouldn’t you have agreed to marry her back then? Besides, I’m actually quite happy.”

Xu Ming raised an eyebrow. “Happy?”

Qin Qingwan nodded. “Yes, I’m happy because you got nervous just now. And why would you be nervous unless… I mean something to you?”

“You little rascal,” Xu Ming said, flicking her forehead lightly. “We’ve just met, and you’re already playing tricks on me.”

“Bleh!” Qingwan stuck out her tongue playfully.

“Come on, let me show you something nice.” Qingwan naturally reached out to take Xu Ming’s hand.

Xu Ming tightened his grip on her hand.

Qin Qingwan’s cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn’t let go; instead, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze in return.

Just then, a flower suddenly uprooted itself from the ground. Using its roots as feet, it scurried over to Qingwan and stopped in front of her. “Qingwan, Qingwan, there’s a visitor!”

“A visitor?” Qingwan turned to the flower.

The spirit flower nodded. “Yes, there’s someone at the entrance to the valley. She says her name is Mo Zhuer.”

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