“Actually, things are really simple. Your family goes out and steals whatever they please. That kind of behavior makes me really unhappy,” Shen Ying explained. “I heard that you’re Vegetable Family’s parent. Let me remind you that your family members have done some really horrible things. You should educate them.”

　　“…” What Vegetable Family? He was the patriarch of the family, not the parent. And why was she talking to the Traveling Immortal as if he was her grandson?

　　“I came back to tell you guys this.” Shen Ying plucked the radish from her thigh and continued, “This may be a radish, but it belongs to someone. Your family may really love vegetables, but you can’t snatch it from me if I refuse to give it to you.”

　　A Thousand Leaves Vegetation Spirit!

　　The Patriarch’s eyes lit up as they widened. Suddenly, he understood why his five uncles had taken so long to return. The Thousand Leaves Vegetation Spirit belongs to her! That’s frightening.

　　“I can’t be bothered to deal with you guys, so I’m going to give you a stern warning right now. If anyone from the Xuan Yuan Family appears midway through my meal again… I’ll hit you!”

　　“…” You already hit me!

　　┭┮_┭┮

　　“Do you understand?” Shen Ying raised her voice.

　　The people on the ground suddenly stood upright and nodded in response.

　　Traveling Immortal One: “Yes, Great Immortal. We understand, Great Immortal!”

　　Traveling Immortal Two: “I’ll reflect on my actions and change as needed, Great Immortal!”

　　Traveling Immortal Three: “I will always remember your wise words, Great Immortal!”

　　Traveling Immortal Four: “One sentence from you, Great Immortal, is more valuable than ten… or a thousand books!”

　　Traveling Immortal Five: “No one from our family will ever interrupt your training again, Great Immortal. I will personally deal with whoever who dares to do so.”

　　Xuan Yuan Family Patriarch: “…” Were the Traveling Immortals from his family concussed?

　　“And you?” Shen Ying suddenly turned to look at him, full of murderous intent.

　　His entire body stilled and thoughts of death filled his mind as he began to break out in cold sweat.

　　With all the willpower he had, he stuttered, “Y-Yeth, Gray Immorer.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer her properly—he really couldn’t speak. He was still in so much pain!

　　“Mm.” Shen Ying nodded in approval. Finally, she stood up and walked toward them. “I have nothing else for you. Dismissed!”

　　As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she headed for the exit.

　　“Ji ji ji ji!” The radish suddenly hopped back into the hall.

　　“What are you doing?” Shen Ying asked, confused. “You want to be the Vegetable Family’s radish?”

　　“Ji ji ji…” The radish nervously bounced on the spot. It looked at something located further inside of the hall, then turned back to Shen Ying. Suddenly, it hopped up forcefully and landed on the seat atop the platform where Shen Ying had been seated just seconds ago. The radish used its leaves to reach into the wall behind the chair and a moment later, it pulled something out and lifted it up to Shen Ying. “Ji ji ji…”

　　The six other men’s expressions changed.

　　Shen Ying lowered her head to study the item. All she saw were dried leaves. “A pickle?”

　　“Ji ji.”

　　“You want it?”

　　“Ji ji ji…” The radish frantically nodded with its leaves.

　　“Er…” Shen Ying frowned. She turned around to look at the men standing beside her and said, “Vegetable Family Patriarch, could you…”

　　“Yes, yes, yes!” The Master had finally regained his ability to speak. Nodding furiously, he said, “Great Immortal, it is our honor to offer to you something that you like!”

　　“Oh, thank you then! Radish, come here!”

　　“Ji…” The radish hopped forward. Shen Ying reached for the huge dandelion atop the radish’s head and plucked it off. She handed it to the Master and said, “This should be useful to you. Take it as an exchange! Radish, let’s go.”

　　She walked out of the door as soon as she finished speaking.

　　“Ji?” The radish articulated. It paused as its eyes followed Shen Ying. It then turned around to look at the dandelion in the Master’s hands.

　　Pui!

　　You lucked out .

　　It bounced out after Shen Ying. As it bounced, it shouted continuously, “Ji… ji… ji…”

　　Xuan Yuan Family Patriarch: “…”

　　He looked at the Thousand Leaves Spirit Flower in his hands, then looked up at the empty doorway.

　　They left… just like that?

　　“Un… uncle? Am… am I dreaming?” They had broken a few bones and dropped a few cultivation levels, but… they were still alive. None of them had died.

　　That person had the ability to wipe the entire Xuan Yuan Family off the face of the Upper Azure World, yet she let them go so easily?

　　“Is… is this real?” another Traveling Immortal added. He, too, looked like his mind was somewhere else.

　　“But, that…” He suddenly remembered the withered grass that the Vegetation Spirit took with it.

　　“Master, let’s never speak of this again!” The Traveling Immortal reminded him, his expression one of panic. “Master, you know that the Thousand Leaves Vegetation Spirit that we had has already lost its sentience a thousand years ago. Its body had already withered. It’s unlikely that we would have been able to revive it anyway.” That was why they had so desperately wanted to find another Vegetation Spirit. “The Great Immortal has already been so kind to give us more than ten Thousand Leaves Spirit Flowers in exchange for that withered grass. What’s more…”

　　What’s more, she had let all of them live—although she did hit their master in the face. She said she came to have a chat and that was really all she did.

　　The six Traveling Immortals were thoroughly confused. This Shen Ying… what kind of person was she?

　　“No matter who she is, we should be careful not to offend her the next time we see her. If we can… we should even avoid her two subordinates as well!”

　　The other five nodded in agreement. The Xuan Yuan Family definitely would not be able to withstand another blow.

　　————————

　　Something had shaken the Upper Azure World recently. Word was going around that a group of people from one of the four aristocratic families, the Xuan Yuan Family, went to the Lower Realm and offended two Sword Cultivators. The Sword Cultivators got upset and followed the group of people all the way back to the Upper Azure World. They even managed to attack the patriarch of the Xuan Yuan Family.

　　The Xuan Yuan Family had sent more than ten people at the Soul Formation stage to fight against them, yet not one of them could defeat the Sword Cultivators. The few Traveling Immortal elders who were sent out earlier had also failed to return home. The Xuan Yuan Family suffered great losses—even their master was heavily injured.

　　The two Sword Cultivators heavily injured all the Soul Formation cultivators, then left. Nobody from the Xuan Yuan Family lost their lives, but the entire family did lose its reputation and honor in the Upper Azure World.

　　Sword Cultivators could challenge others regardless of their cultivation level, but it was rare to find a Sword Cultivator who would dare to travel up to the Upper Azure World and immediately take on ten Soul Formation cultivators from an aristocratic family. These two Sword Cultivators’ sword techniques and cultivation levels must have been so advanced that even a Traveling Immortal could not have been confident of winning against them. This was indeed shocking.

　　It was a pity that they picked the wrong family to fight with. The family whose reputation was on the line was one of the four aristocratic families after all—the Xuan Yuan Family!

　　All of the Upper Azure World was waiting to watch a good show. They were waiting for the elders from the Xuan Yuan Family to return. They were curious to see how they would take revenge on the two Sword Cultivators. It thus came as a surprise when the Xuan Yuan Family remained quiet for the next three months. From the day their elders returned, the entire Xuan Yuan Family seemed to have gone under the radar. Even the disciple who was sent out to deliver pills and elixirs had been ordered not to stir any trouble or attract any attention to himself.

　　The Upper Azure World was left confused. Could it be… that the two Sword Cultivators were so capable that even a Traveling Immortal elder of an aristocratic family did not dare to provoke them?

　　What was even more mysterious was that just a few months ago, two Traveling Immortals from the Xuan Yuan Family had gone missing in the Middle Azure World. The reason for that remained unknown.

　　Suddenly, all the cultivators in the Upper Azure World were on their toes! The two Sword Cultivators from the Lower Realm became the talk of the town. Their names spread like wildfire throughout all the towns in the Upper Azure World and they were also the topic in all daily conversations.

　　“Fellow Daoist, have you heard of the Sword Cultivators Yi Qing and Lonemoon?”

　　“Yes, they were the two who almost wiped out the Xuan Yuan Family…”

　　“I heard that those two…”

　　Shen Ying sat in silence at the adjacent table.

　　A moment later…

　　“I suddenly realized a serious problem!” she exclaimed as she stood up abruptly.

　　Lonemoon quickly picked up the cups that had been knocked over by her, saying, “Hey, hey, hey. Why did you stand up all of a sudden?”

　　“Master?” Yi Qing asked seriously, “What strange thing did you realize?”

　　Shen Ying frowned. She faced the two of them with an expression more serious than they had ever seen before.

　　“What’s the matter?” Lonemoon’s heart fell. “Did you not want to come here to eat?”

　　“Don’t you think…” Her expression became more serious as she emphasised each of the following words, “That I’m not very famous?”

　　Lonemoon: “…”

　　Yi Qing: “…”

　　“Look, I was the one who hit that family’s parent. I was also the one who tied up the five Traveling Immortals and carried them back. Yet, on the way here, people have only been talking about the two of you. Why hasn’t anyone mentioned my name? It doesn’t make sense that I seem so insignificant, right?”

　　The two of them: “…”

　　How would we freaking know?