"Husband, Li Zhi hasn't awakened her past life memories yet. Is there anything you can do?"
Seeing Yang Hong finish dealing with sect affairs and walk over, Zhu Yuyan immediately asked anxiously about the girl Jiu Jiu.
"Go back first and teach her cultivation, then slowly help her regain her past life memories. This process might take a very long time, from a hundred years to a thousand years."
"Ah~ It's going to take that long?"
Hearing the time frame of centuries, Zhu Yuyan exclaimed, while Wan Wan and Song Yuzhi also looked over with wide eyes.
"There's no other way. They are true spirit reincarnations. With my secret method protecting them, they have the chance to be reborn. If we cannot guide Li Zhi and the others onto the path of cultivation within three lifetimes, they will lose themselves upon forming a golden core and shall not be able to retrieve their memories."
Wan Wan couldn't help but question, "There are such rules? We've never heard of them."
"This is information I obtained after refining the Red Lotus Karmic Fire. Although it's fragmented and incomplete, it should be correct."
Yang Hong was also helpless. The reincarnation rules of this world were not obvious, and he couldn't find the underworld or the land of the dead. Even though he refined the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, which contained the rules of reincarnation and karma, his knowledge was scarce.
"Let's go. We'll return to Shallow Dye Plain first and guide Li Zhi onto the path of cultivation."
"Mhm~ Let's go."
As the five turned to fly away, Yang Hong suddenly remembered Li Lizhi's grandfather.
He then brought Li Longjiang before him and said, "Jiu Jiu's past life was likely my wife. I intend to take her with me, and you shall come along as well. I will give you an opportunity to enter the immortal cultivation world."
"Alright~ Thank you, Sect Master, for your heavenly grace."
With the opportunity for immortal cultivation, how could Li Longjiang refuse? Moreover, his granddaughter was the Sect Master's wife. Even if he couldn't swagger around Qingfeng Villa, he would at least be able to hold his head high.
As he spoke, he looked at his granddaughter standing beside Zhu Yuyan and the other two women, his eyes filled with doting affection and relief. He was relieved that he had protected his granddaughter, which had led to this heavenly opportunity.
As for his deceased children, though they caused him sorrow and grief, if he achieved success in cultivation, wasn't it easy to have as many children as he wished?
With a granddaughter like Jiu Jiu, the Li family was destined for prosperity!
Oh, right.
From today onwards, Jiu Jiu had a proper name: Li Lizhi!
Yang Hong did not understand Li Longjiang's rapidly changing expression, nor did he need to. He could take Li Lizhi away even without Li Longjiang's consent.
Asking was merely a matter of politeness.
What he cared about was the girl Jiu Jiu's attitude and willingness, and that was enough.
"Jiu Jiu, from today onwards, you have a proper name. It is Li Lizhi. Do you like this name?"
"Mhm, Li Zhi likes this name very much. Thank you, Sect Master, for bestowing it."
Hearing Yang Hong's question, Li Lizhi immediately nodded with joy. She felt a sense of familiarity and liking for this name, though she didn't know why.
Even without understanding why, the relatively simple-minded girl felt that liking it was enough.
As for the words spoken by the elder brothers and sisters before her, she truly didn't understand them. The only thing she knew was that she could also cultivate now and become someone who could fly in the sky.
This was already enough to make her excited.
Yang Hong and Zhu Yuyan, along with the other two, smiled warmly at the smiling girl.
This was the warmth of family reunion.
With a wave of his hand, the five disappeared from Roc Smoke Plain and reappeared in Shallow Dye Plain.
"Husband, why don't you let sister Lizhi accompany you tonight, and you can help her cultivate?"
Back at Purple Jade Mountain, in a small courtyard modeled after the Qingfeng Villa of the Great Sui dynasty, Wan Wan suddenly made such a suggestion.
Yang Hong heard this and directly flicked her forehead.
"What are you thinking? Lizhi is not the Lizhi she used to be. Before she recovers her memories, we cannot dual cultivate with her, otherwise, it will be a huge obstacle to the recovery of her past life memories."
"Oh~ I understand. Then, Husband, do you want me to accompany you tonight?"
"Haha~ There's a child here. Is it appropriate for you to say such things?"
"Ah~ It seems inappropriate. Shall we talk outside?"
Saying this, Wan Wan pulled Yang Hong away from Li Lizhi's room and into her own. Then, Zhu Yuyan and Song Yuzhi also followed.
The night breeze was cool, and the moon was hidden. In deep sleep, spring gradually arrived; red silk swayed, and green vines rustled. In the pavilion of silken curtains, waves of passion calmed.
After a night of exertion, Yang Hong's mood was much improved, and his anger and戾气 (fierce energy) had mostly dissipated.
Zhu Yuyan, nestled in his arms, asked in a lazy, weak voice,
"Husband, are you feeling any better?"
"Mhm~ Thank you~ Wife, it's truly wonderful to have you all."
Stroking Zhu Yuyan's skin, which was as warm and smooth as the finest jade, Yang Hong felt calm and contented.
He understood that his three Dao companions had deliberately done this to help him dispel his negative emotions.
Now, the three great masters of the Tribulation Crossing stage didn't even want to move a finger.
"Yuyan, from now on, Lizhi's cultivation will be taught by you. She will cultivate the 'Great Five Elements True Scripture.' This cultivation technique has been perfected for over two hundred years and is comparable to a top-grade Heavenly-tier cultivation method."
"Husband, don't worry. The three of us are cultivating the 'Great Five Elements True Scripture,' so we will teach sister Lizhi well. However, Husband, are you going into seclusion?"
"No, I need to go out and find the other three."
"Then it will be hard work for you, Husband. Only you can find the other sisters."
Upon hearing that Yang Hong was going to find Zhou Fengzhi and the other two, Zhu Yuyan excitedly raised her body and gently pecked Yang Hong.
...
With his emotions settled, Yang Hong left Purple Jade Mountain the next day and flew around the Qingfeng Villa's territory on his flying sword.
Initially, he extended his divine sense to its fullest, trying to find Zhou Fengzhi, Jia Yuanchun, and Li Xuefeng more quickly.
However, he found nothing. After ten years, he had traveled across twelve colorful oases with no success.
"Destiny is truly wondrous."
Just as Yang Hong was filled with disappointment and had given up on this search, a surprise appeared before his eyes.
Under the spring sunlight, in the humble county town of Wei Rui, the triennial entrance test for Qingfeng Villa disciples was underway.
Among the onlookers, Yang Hong concealed his entire aura, retracting his divine sense and spiritual power within his body, appearing like an ordinary mortal watching the spectacle.
He had initially just wanted to see if the disciples of Qingfeng Villa had changed after the great slaughter ten years ago. He had deliberately disguised himself and randomly chosen a mortal city in "Melody Plain" to observe the entrance test, and unexpectedly made a discovery.
In the long queue of boys and girls waiting for the test, Yang Hong spotted two figures that made his heart race.
One was a tall woman in simple cloth and a hairpin, who looked weathered and somewhat aged. Her features were not striking but harmoniously perfect, simply a slightly attractive older young woman.
The other was stout, appearing quite imposing, with the physique of a female bandit leader and the aura of one. She carried a large cleaver on her back, and her appearance was slightly better.
The two were clearly together and stood side by side.
In the vast queue of over a hundred paces, people were crammed together. Within a meter in front of and behind these two, no one dared to stand.
Yang Hong gazed intently at the two. Based on their appearance alone, he couldn't discern who among them was the reincarnation of a true spirit. However, the sensation of his heart accelerating, identical to when he met Li Lizhi, confirmed it.
They must be the reincarnations of his wives; he just didn't know which two.