Chapter 6

The long boat creaked and groaned, and Patriarch Yu was drenched in sweat.

He was a powerful cultivator at the Great Ascension stage, yet even he found it difficult to bear such a burden.

The heavy pressure made the flow of spiritual energy throughout his body sluggish. He released a magic treasure to assist him in barely supporting his daughter, then hurriedly extended his spiritual sense to examine the child's meridians.

After all, the sudden changes in the child deeply worried Patriarch Yu.

Despite his careful examination, he found no abnormalities in Yu Youyou’s body.

She remained as ordinary and almost mundane as ever...

Except for being a bit heavier.

Chu Xingyun had just been maintaining the long boat with hand seals. After much effort, the boat finally stabilized and continued to speed through the clouds. Seeing Patriarch Yu’s puzzled expression, he guessed that the child was likely fine for the moment.

Still, there was indeed something strange about Yu Youyou.

He liked this little one who tilted her head cutely, looking innocent and well-behaved, so he said, “Master, I have a close friend who is highly skilled in medicine and has inherited the knowledge of the ancient medical immortal. She has been in seclusion for a long time and is about to emerge. If you permit, I will invite her to examine our little junior sister and help with her recovery.”

Patriarch Yu was not adept in medicine.

Though a child merely having a fever, a high fever at that, and just recovering from a serious illness, now feeling somewhat heavy, would usually be nursed and observed by any ordinary family without much fuss, there was no need to cause an uproar.

But Patriarch Yu was different.

Yu Youyou was his treasure, the most precious thing in his heart.

He was deeply worried for his daughter, and because her sudden heaviness troubled him, he was already thinking about seeking out some senior cultivators in the cultivation world with whom he had connections to thoroughly examine Yu Youyou, just to be sure there were no hidden dangers.

Hearing his disciple’s suggestion, he did not dismiss it lightly. He hurriedly asked, “Is this the young lady who traveled with you before and claimed to have gained the ancient medical immortal’s inheritance by chance? That’s good. But there’s no need to invite her to the sect. Seeking medical help is asking a favor; there’s no reason to trouble the healer to come here. When she emerges from seclusion, inform me, and I will personally bring Youyou to visit her. Also, you must not urge her to end her seclusion prematurely and disrupt her cultivation. I will return to the sect and ask the Grand Elder to examine Youyou myself.”

The Grand Elder of the sect was an immortal-level cultivator, knowledgeable and experienced, and should be able to discern some details about Yu Youyou’s condition.

As for that doctor... he himself bore none of the pride of a grand sect patriarch, nor did he feel that his status as father and daughter entitled him to demand the doctor’s personal attendance.

Chu Xingyun had always known his master’s character and nodded in agreement. “I have noted it.”

“But that young lady...” Patriarch Yu hesitated. Although worried about his daughter, Chu Xingyun was also a disciple he valued and cared for. Seeing Chu Xingyun raise an eyebrow and twitch the corner of his mouth without saying anything further, he gave up.

The disciple was still young, a junior in the cultivation world.

Although he had received a message from Chu Xingyun’s family asking him to “speak well” of marriage prospects to Chu Xingyun—advising him to quickly find an excellent Dao partner of appropriate age—this was merely a mortal perspective.

Cultivators are different from mortals; their goals lie in cultivation, and naturally, most are not particularly interested in marriage and offspring.

Still, Patriarch Yu could somewhat understand the family’s anxieties.

This disciple, though extremely fortunate and well-connected, often ventured into places of great chance and thus was never entirely without risk.

The mortal royal family had finally produced a powerful, talented cultivator.

A cultivator of royal blood like Chu Xingyun, once enlightened, could protect the dynasty for thousands of years. For the mortal empire, he was its greatest pillar and reliance. Naturally, they hoped Chu Xingyun would not only achieve immortality but also continue his bloodline, ensuring the empire’s eternal reign.

Moreover, Chu Xingyun was very popular, with many friends and even more outstanding female cultivators.

Had it been earlier, Patriarch Yu might have reminded him.

But the patriarch had just been bested by Immortal Miaohua and was feeling that marriage and children were matters to be approached with caution. He had no heart to lecture his disciple now.

He simply lacked the mood.

Fearing to alarm the child, he did not reveal his sudden anxiety.

His large hand gently stroked the sparse hair on his daughter’s little head, who still smiled innocently at him. Patriarch Yu’s heart ached even more.

As a grown man, it was one thing—even if someone stole his partner, it was just a matter of heartbreak.

But his daughter had suffered a great injustice.

Chu Xingyun saw his master hesitate, knowing what was troubling him but remaining silent.

He hesitated briefly before also reaching out to rub the little head of the junior sister, who was secretly casting him a strangely sympathetic glance, as if happily nestled in her father’s arms.

Born of royal blood and raised in dignity, Chu Xingyun’s slender hands bore an elegant, noble charm.

But Yu Youyou, nibbling on the little snack her father handed her, though still hungry, felt much more relaxed than she had in the demon city. She even had time to worry quietly about her senior brother, sighing softly.

Despite the senior brother’s deep fortune and long blessings, and surviving even the little villain’s traps, and having many comrades who had risked life and death alongside him...

In truth, none of those companions had ever truly been saved.

By the story’s end, Yu Youyou would be sealed away, and her senior brother would remain alone.

But these were futures she was not meant to know, nor had she considered telling her senior brother about his noble yet solitary destiny.

She weakly nibbled her snack again, then wearied, lay back on Patriarch Yu’s arm and drifted into sleep.

She did not seem dull or slow, only lacking energy. Yet Patriarch Yu, holding this fragile... yet heavy little life, feared that any rough movement would harm his delicate flower of a daughter.

He could not help but gently place his large hand before her, supported by the magic treasure, and softly said, “Sleep now, Daddy is here with you.”

Though a simple phrase, since his only daughter’s birth, he had only been able to say it to her in his dreams.

The little one nodded, tugging his sleeve slowly and softly calling, “Daddy.”

She instantly fell asleep, sleeping soundly.

Since the high fever, nightmares often appeared, but perhaps because she was by her father’s side and had a strong backing, she no longer had such nightmares, nor was she as alert as during the day.

The child’s soft breathing echoed throughout the silent flying boat. Patriarch Yu froze in place, unmoving. Chu Xingyun also rose quietly, going aside to check their whereabouts. After a moment’s thought, he lit some incense in a nearby censer to calm their spirits.

When he first saw Yu Youyou, he had noticed her weak appearance.

Not only did it seem she was not being properly fed, but she also appeared restless in her sleep.

Yet in the demon city, where no one cared for her, despite the hardships—and despite her seeming indifferent—he did not dare to question or probe her heart each time he saw her.

He thought, “I’ll raise the little sister plump and then settle accounts with the Red Flame Demon Lord.”

With these thoughts, Chu Xingyun couldn’t help but glance back at the father and daughter.

Though a broad-minded prodigy and always sincere with friends, traveling the cultivation world and born into the most cunning royal family, Chu Xingyun was never naïve or entirely unguarded in dealing with others.

This was the first time he had met a little one like Yu Youyou.

Even though she had never lived with her biological father and had never appeared before, despite the strangeness and the natural bond of blood, her trust in Patriarch Yu was evident. She could fall asleep soundly beside this unfamiliar father, which was both endearing and worrisome.

That was pure trust.

Though the junior sister also appeared to trust her senior brother uniquely, she still secretly watched his expression and seemed a bit timid.

But in front of Patriarch Yu, she was completely at ease.

It was as if she was certain that no matter what happened in this world, her father would always be her support.

Such innate trust was not a bad thing.

A faint smile flickered at the corner of Chu Xingyun’s eyes.

Yu Youyou had no idea that her senior brother had been silently watching her for so long.

She truly had not slept well for a long time. Now, finally sleeping soundly, when she woke, she found herself in an unfamiliar palace.

The palace was magnificent and grand, glowing with radiant treasures. Even inside, one could feel the imposing majesty of the entire hall.

At this moment, the hall was quiet. She was cradled in Patriarch Yu’s arms. Now awake, she rubbed her eyes and yawned softly.

Patriarch Yu sat cross-legged on a jade mat, eyes closed in meditation. Seeing her awake, he quickly asked with concern, “Youyou, do you feel unwell anywhere?”

His expression was anxious and worried. Yu Youyou, having slept deeply, felt much better. Hearing his words, she instinctively touched her small belly.

“Hungry? Just hungry?” Patriarch Yu sighed in relief upon seeing no other discomfort.

He took some warm honey water and soft, mushy snacks suitable for children from his storage ring, then circulated spiritual energy around Yu Youyou’s meridians again.

Still no abnormalities.

Counting from their return from the demon city to the sect, three days had passed.

Yu Youyou had been asleep for three days without waking.

Patriarch Yu had already asked an experienced immortal-level cultivator in the sect to examine her.

The elder said, “There’s nothing wrong,” and indeed, that seemed to be the case now.

Yet, even with this assurance, a father’s heart could never completely rest.

The little one, clearly more spirited after three days of sleep, seemed to share a tacit understanding with her father. Happily, she stretched out her skinny little hand to receive the honey water while patting her little chest, saying, “Good.”

“Is that so?” Patriarch Yu looked softly at his daughter, comforted.

“Dream,” she mumbled after gulping down the honey water. The little one wiped her mouth, held a snack in one hand, placed her small hand on her cheek, tilted her head, and let out two soft breaths before struggling to say a word.

Patriarch Yu hurriedly asked, “Did you sleep well because you didn’t have nightmares? What kind of nightmares did you have before?”

As he spoke, two exceptionally handsome young cultivators entered the hall.

One was naturally Chu Xingyun, whom Yu Youyou recognized. The other was a beautiful female cultivator with elegant eyebrows and a dignified demeanor, holding a censer filled with spiritual pills, expression serious and unsmiling.

The two had just entered when they heard Patriarch Yu’s question and immediately fixed their eyes on Yu Youyou.

Rarely the focus of such attention, the little one, recalling her strange, kaleidoscopic nightmares, timidly glanced at the beautiful, unsmiling female cultivator. She awkwardly tugged at her little clothes with her empty hand, then after a moment’s effort said, “Beat...”