CHAPTER 169: WAIT, NANTIAN WAN'ER'S SECRET

Nantian Wan'er glanced at Jun Laoye and said playfully, "Lu-gege is fine. It's just that the manual he received this time is rather significant to him. Lord Wind Dragon is the weapon spirit of the Hunyuan Greatsword. As the master of the sword, once Lu-gege achieves a major breakthrough, Lord Wind Dragon will advance alongside him."

"Mm... I suppose that makes sense," Jun Laoye replied.

He looked at Lu Chen and let out a long sigh. "I thought that once I awakened my primordial spirit qi, I'd surpass Little Lu. Who would have thought he'd improve again while hiding here?"

Nantian Wan'er turned her gaze toward Lu Chen and said gently, "Hehe, Brother Jun, don't be discouraged. Lord Wind Dragon said that once you achieve Heaven-Man Unity, Lu-gege will have to think twice before challenging you."

"Sigh... That's the Heaven-Man Unity that you're talking about... It's not as simple as it sounds," Jun Laoye murmured. He spread his hands, and a ball of lightning gradually formed between his palms. The sphere hovered, drifting up and down as tiny arcs crackled outward, making the surrounding air sizzle and intensifying the surrounding lightning energy.

Jun Laoye focused on the ball, drawing in its electricity with each breath. "Even with my clan's techniques, I've only just begun to scratch the surface of Heaven-Man Unity. The elders in my clan could barely achieve it through sheer will alone."

He lowered his head, frustration heavy in his voice. "How... how could I possibly do it?"

Nantian Wan'er keenly noticed his mood darkening. "Brother Jun? Brother Jun..." She stepped closer, crouching beside him and lightly patting his shoulder. "Don't be disheartened. Lord Wind Dragon said that with your primordial qi awakened, your progress will accelerate, and you will gradually grasp all aspects of Heaven-Man Unity naturally."

Jun Laoye laughed heartily. "Yes, yes. Many may have had primordial lightning qi implanted within them over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, but very few actually awaken it."

With a grand gesture, he grasped the lightning sphere. "I've inherited my Second Uncle's will. I am a man pursuing the Heavenly Dao. How could I fail here?"

Electricity coursed through his palms as he laughed. "Is this the path I'm meant to follow? I think I'm finally beginning to understand, even if just a little, how Second Uncle felt when he returned from his travels."

"Could it be that Uncle Jun has also awakened his primordial lightning qi?" Nantian Wan'er said, keeping her eyes on Jun Laoye. "I heard grandpa mention that Uncle Jun had exceptional talent. Could this be why he's so strong?"

"I'm not certain. What I do know is that Second Uncle awakened his primordial lightning qi through sheer will, without relying on any external force."

Jun Laoye clenched his right hand, compressing the lightning sphere until sparks burst from between his fingers, searing faint marks into the air. "From today onward, I will train diligently. I may not have Second Uncle's innate talent, but I will follow his path.

"The Jianghai Region is just my first stop. I will eventually visit the Nantian Region, the Western Mountains, and the Northern Region as well. If, after following Second Uncle's path, I still cannot find traces of the Heavenly Dao, I will return to the Central Continent and seek a way to open the passage to the Outside, continuing our ancestors' quest for the Heavenly Dao."

Lightning surged with each breath, pouring through Jun Laoye's pores into his veins and rushing into his Heavenly Pool. He exhaled a mouthful of impurities from his body, then drew the ball of lightning back inside. It coursed through his meridians once more before sinking into the depths of his sea of qi.

"Brother Jun, are you alright now?" Nantian Wan'er asked with a gentle smile. "I knew that with your strong will, you wouldn't despair so easily, and that you would eventually discover where your true strength lies. For now, let's wait for Lu-gege to wake."

She settled beside him. "I wonder when he'll wake up. Brother Yijian has also been unconscious for a long time... why hasn't he woken up yet?"

"Perhaps they're waiting... for the right moment," Jun Laoye said, lifting his head and meeting her gaze. "Wan'er, has anyone ever told you that you carry a very unusual aura? It calms people simply by being near you."

"I hadn't noticed until just now. When the impurities within me erupted, I felt it strongly. It hit me quite intensely," he replied.

Jun Laoye's gaze grew solemn. "I mean this sincerely. Your aura keeps growing stronger. Being near you... It makes me calm."

"Can the aura I carry really calm people?" Nantian Wan'er mused. "I've noticed this sort of thing happening quite often before, though it usually only affects small animals. Back then, I didn't fully understand it, but after experiencing it more recently, I've realized it must originate from my bloodline.

"But calming a human cultivator... this seems to be the first time it happened," she added softly, glancing at Jun Laoye. "Perhaps it's because we're close friends. Having a friend nearby is always reassuring.

"It's like how I feel around Lu-gege. I feel completely at ease whenever he's here," Nantian Wan'er said with a playful smile. "With him around, even if the sky fell, there'd always be a way to handle it."

"Is that so?" Jun Laoye rested his hands on the steps behind him, looking at her. "Can having a friend nearby really make things so much easier? You might be the first true friends I've ever had. Back home, everyone was afraid of me. No one wanted to be friends with me, not even my eldest brother.

"That's the sorrow of being the son of a sect leader, I suppose. Every day is filled with flattery and cultivation, and no one wants to be friends with the leader's child, not even superficially," he sighed, speaking with a maturity that seemed beyond his years. "Wan'er, I heard from little Lu that you're the legitimate princess of the Nantian Sect. You must have felt something similar, right?"

She replied, "When I was young, I had a few friends. It was also around that time that I began cultivating. Grandpa would prepare countless resources for me every day, and people were always around. I didn't know what they wanted from me, but every time grandpa handed me something, they seemed the happiest.

"I was very happy during that time. I thought those people genuinely wanted to be my friends."

Jun Laoye frowned, his brow tightening. "And after that? Didn't you later start suffering from the cold poison and couldn't cultivate anymore?"

Nantian Wan'er adjusted her sitting posture, then continued, "When I was first infected, Grandpa told me to pause my cultivation and stopped giving me resources. After that, those people stopped coming around as well.

"I was still very young and didn't understand what had happened, but every time I went out, the sect disciples who used to play with me would scatter like they were fleeing a plague the moment they saw me approaching."

"I see..." Jun Laoye slammed his fist against the wall. "Every sect has disciples like that. They only care about personal gain and have no true friends."

"They weren't all like that. I actually had a brother who treated me very well," Nantian Wan'er said, a bright smile spreading across her face. "He'll eventually become the Lord of the Nantian Region, so he spends most of his time cultivating. Whenever he returned to the sect after traveling outside, he would always bring me fascinating things."

"Brother... that's such a long-lost word," Jun Laoye murmured.

"During the first few years I was afflicted by the cold poison, no one wanted to play with me, but my brother stayed by my side. He would tell me stories of the outside world. Those were the happiest years of my life," she faltered, sadness creeping in. "Every year, the Nantian Sect travels to the southernmost part of the Nantian Region for trials. My brother would only go out during that time. But in the third year, something unexpected happened.

"That day, I waited outside the sect for him to return. But instead, I received news that he had been gravely injured, and my father had disappeared," tears welled in Nantian Wan'er's eyes. "I saw my brother so badly wounded for the first time, and I saw him grieve like never before."

"Your brother... did he... die?"

"At that time, he was still conscious. He saw me standing at the gate, forced a smile, and threw me a string of sword bone necklaces before the elders dragged him away.

"After that day, the sect's atmosphere turned tense. Everyone rushed to cultivate. Even grandpa, who usually went out to gather herbs for me, hurried back."

Jun Laoye lifted his head. "And after that?"

He had a strong feeling that this was the turning point that changed Nantian Wan'er's life. "Did your brother recover? With the Nantian Sect's strength, he surely could have been saved."