"What? Do I not look like your employer?" Ye Ling chuckled, and in front of Ye Qingyan, he transformed back into Su Chen's appearance.
Seeing Ye Ling turn back into Su Chen, Ye Qingyan's pupils constricted sharply, and she exclaimed, "You fooled the Hongchen Pavilion?"
"What, do you think it's difficult to fool the Hongchen Pavilion?"
Ye Ling returned to his original form and smiled at Ye Qingyan, "I only needed to obtain the member's information from Hongchen Pavilion, transform into his likeness, and use their identity to log into Hongchen Pavilion. It only took a blink of an eye."
"You..."
Ye Qingyan realized that the person in front of her was an exceptionally terrifying individual. She immediately tried to escape through the window, but before she could reach it, Ye Ling blocked her path.
Ye Ling chuckled, "If you escape now, the mission will be considered a failure."
"Previously, your price was one hundred and twenty billion US dollars. After failing once, it became eight billion US dollars, making you the cheapest hire among the Rank Seven异士 (Yi Shi - extraordinary individuals).
"If you fail twice in a row, I'm very curious about what your fate will be."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ye Qingyan's expression grew even more unsightly. She said in a deep voice, "No matter who you are, hiring me genuinely cost eight billion US dollars. You spent so much money just to suppress my market value?"
"How did I offend you?"
"I'm not that idle."
Ye Ling smiled at Ye Qingyan, "I just want to chat with you and ask a few questions. As long as you cooperate, the mission will be completed, and you can easily earn that eight billion US dollars."
Ye Qingyan sat down on the sofa, crossed her arms, and pouted her legs, asking Ye Ling, "Really?"
Seeing Ye Qingyan making these gestures and saying these words while occupying his aunt's body, Ye Ling couldn't bring himself to pressure her further. He asked, "How did you come to this world?"
"I don't understand what you mean," Ye Qingyan frowned. "What do you mean, how did I come to this world?"
"Haven't I always been in this world?"
Seeing that Ye Qingyan didn't seem to be lying, Ye Ling was slightly taken aback. Then he said, "Do you genuinely not know, or are you pretending not to know?"
"You even occupy my aunt's body, and I watched your soul descend here from another dimension. Now you're telling me you've always been in this world?"
"Your aunt's?"
A hint of confusion flashed in Ye Qingyan's eyes. "Shouldn't this body have been cloned using my cells and modern cloning technology? How could it be your aunt's?"
Ye Ling's brow furrowed. "Cloned? What's going on?"
"I practice the technique of soul projection. My main body is cultivating in the deep mountains and forests, aiming for a breakthrough."
"Then the people from Hongchen Pavilion found me and, using the technology of this era, created a cloned body tailored for me. As long as there's a mission, I can use soul projection to take control of this body and complete tasks for employers. The money earned can be exchanged for cultivation resources from Hongchen Pavilion."
"I've never heard of my cloned body having a nephew like you."
Ye Qingyan said solemnly, realizing something was amiss, and sat up straight.
"Soul projection, interesting... Since you say you exist in this world, where is your main body now?" Ye Ling asked.
"Of course, it's in Shennongjia!"
"Can you take me there now?" Ye Ling asked with a smile.
"If you want to go, then go. Don't think you can influence my Dao heart with this matter."
Ye Qingyan agreed to Ye Ling without hesitation, then got up, went out, summoned her flying sword, and ascended into the sky.
"This guy... could he be serious?"
Ye Ling muttered to himself, watching Ye Qingyan's aggressive demeanor, and chased after her.
An hour later.
Above Shennongjia, Ye Qingyan was flying on her sword, silently looking at the mountain forest below, her mind heavy with thoughts.
Since she had gone into seclusion in the mountains and focused on seeking the Dao, she had ceased to concern herself with worldly affairs, having been in seclusion for several hundred years.
Only when Hongchen Pavilion assigned missions would she choose to project her soul and use the mission rewards to exchange for her cultivation resources.
If she didn't exist in this world, then who was she?
Ye Ling followed leisurely behind Ye Qingyan and asked indifferently, "Ye Qingyan, where is your main body?"
"Don't rush, it's just ahead."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Ye Qingyan felt another wave of irritation. She flew her sword into the wild mountains of Shennongjia and landed in front of a cave blocked by thorns.
Seeing the cave where she had been in seclusion, Ye Qingyan felt a sense of relief and said to Ye Ling, "It's here."
"Are you sure?"
Ye Ling looked at the thorn-covered cave in front of him and said with a deep voice.
He couldn't sense any life force from within the cave.
Even if this Ye Qingyan was lying with her eyes open, she shouldn't have deceived herself to this extent.
"We're already here, and you still don't believe me?"
Ye Qingyan held her flying sword, cut through the thorns in front of her, and walked into the cave first.
But when she reached the cave dwelling, she froze completely!
This cave was opened by her, and the arrangement inside was exactly as she remembered.
But...
Sitting on the stone platform was not her main body...
But a skeleton!
"This, this is..."
Ye Qingyan was stunned, staring at the skeleton in front of her with disbelief, her body trembling slightly.
She couldn't believe it.
"It seems you didn't know you were already dead."
Ye Ling walked to the skeleton, gently placed his hand on the skull, and his spiritual power quickly covered the entire skeleton. Ye Qingyan was transformed back into her original form.
"What dynasty are you from?" Ye Ling asked.
"The Ming Dynasty..." Ye Qingyan replied woodenly.
"More than four hundred years... You're only a Rank Seven 异士 (Yi Shi), how could you live so long?"
"The 'Taiyi Sword Art' I cultivate is a celestial inheritance that can extend one's life. How could I not live this long?" Ye Qingyan was somewhat frenzied at this moment, unable to accept the fact that she was dead.
If she had died long ago, then what had she been doing with her cultivation for the past few hundred years?
"Taiyi Sword Art... Can you run the cultivation technique for one full cycle?" Ye Ling asked.
"Alright! I'll run it for you now!"
Ye Qingyan, as if wanting to prove something to Ye Ling, sat down on the ground and began to circulate the technique.
Ye Ling's eyes flickered with red light, his pupils following the flow of spiritual energy within Ye Qingyan's body, outlining the meridians through which the cultivation technique circulated.
After two hours, Ye Qingyan completed one major cycle and one minor cycle of the technique. She slowly opened her eyes, exhaled a turbid breath, and a flash of purple lightning appeared in her eyes.
She looked at Ye Ling and asked, "How was it?"
Ye Ling said, "Indeed, the cultivation technique you've been practicing for years is a level higher than the techniques practiced by those 异士 (Yi Shi) before. However, I've slightly deduced it. When running this technique, you shouldn't be circulating through the Taiyin Lung Meridian of the hand, but rather the Shaoyin Heart Meridian of the hand."
"Although these two meridians are both hand-three yin meridians, and practicing through them has little impact on the power of the technique, even circulating through the Taiyin Lung Meridian would increase the power of the sword art, this would severely shorten your lifespan."
"Even though you are cultivating a celestial technique, a mistake in this area is enough to cause you to die prematurely."
"If my deduction is correct... you should have already died at the age of forty."