“You…”
Nuo Ying looked at Bai Xiao, who was brimming with excitement, and felt a touch of surprise. She couldn’t help but glance at Ye Ling beside her.
Ye Ling chuckled, “He’s a kind soul I just met in the city.”
Bai Xiao quickly chimed in, “Although I’ve only met Brother Wang once, it feels like we’ve known each other for a lifetime. I just took one look at Brother Wang and knew he was my brother for life!”
Nuo Ying’s lips twitched as she watched Bai Xiao shamelessly try to forge a connection with Ye Ling. “Indeed… a bit too ‘kindly’ for my taste.”
Ye Ling didn’t mind Bai Xiao’s forceful attempts to befriend him. He turned to Nuo Ying and asked, “Nuo Ying, do you know anything about the Ascension Convention?”
“Ascension Convention?” Nuo Ying blinked in surprise. “What is that?”
“You don’t know?” Ye Ling and Bai Xiao exclaimed in unison, both stunned.
“No, I don’t…” Nuo Ying blinked innocently. She turned to Ye Ling and said, “I was actually wondering what all these people gathered here for. I was just about to ask you!”
Seeing Nuo Ying’s bewildered expression, Ye Ling recalled something… He hadn’t found any memories related to the Ascension Convention in Nuo Ying’s mind before.
Ye Ling had read through Nuo Ying’s memories. While he might have overlooked minor, unimportant events, considering the current scale of the Ascension Convention on Dragon Wing Continent, if Nuo Ying had experienced it, he wouldn’t have missed it!
“This is getting interesting…” Ye Ling’s eyes gleamed with thought.
Meanwhile, Bai Xiao was scrutinizing Nuo Ying, muttering, “I’m not mistaken… she’s an adult of the Winged God Clan. But how can someone from the Winged God Clan not know about the Ascension Convention?”
Bai Xiao was completely bewildered, his mind a muddled mess, unable to comprehend anything he was seeing.
Ye Ling noticed Bai Xiao’s furrowed brow and asked, “Brother Bai, when was the first Ascension Convention held?”
Bai Xiao instinctively replied, “It’s an ancient tradition of the Winged God Clan… The earliest Ascension Convention recorded in ancient texts dates back to the era when the Supreme God Tianyi still roamed the Dragon Wing Continent.”
“Impossible!” Nuo Ying immediately refuted Bai Xiao. “When I left the Tianyi Universe, the Supreme God Tianyi had already vanished! There was absolutely no Ascension Convention before that!”
“Nuo Ying, please calm down.”
Ye Ling patted Nuo Ying’s shoulder, signaling her to compose herself. He then transmitted his voice, “The flow of time is different even in different parts of the same universe, let alone across vast universes.”
“You traveled to the Three Thousand Universes alone, Nuo Ying. Who knows how much time has passed on the Dragon Wing Continent during your journey? Perhaps in this period, the Supreme God Tianyi reappeared?”
Hearing Ye Ling’s words, Nuo Ying regained her composure and realized the truth. “You’re right… So much time has passed, it’s normal for the Dragon Wing Continent to have changed. No wonder those people in the clan don’t recognize me, and the Elder is gone! I overreacted…”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find the Elder,” Ye Ling reassured Nuo Ying.
According to Nuo Ying’s memories, the Elder was one of the top powerhouses in the Tianyi Universe, a true apex existence. Furthermore, the Elder had a close relationship with the Supreme God Tianyi, so it was impossible for the Elder to have died due to the passage of time.
“Mhm, I’m not worried about the Elder,” Nuo Ying said without a hint of concern. “The Elder is in very good health, he wouldn’t just kick the bucket so easily!”
“Yes…”
Ye Ling smiled at Nuo Ying, but his gaze held a hint of worry.
Nuo Ying still held immense admiration for the Elder and the Supreme God Tianyi. If she were to learn the truth about them, Ye Ling feared she wouldn’t be able to bear it.
For a moment, Ye Ling didn’t know how to tell Nuo Ying the truth, so he could only remain silent and adapt as the situation unfolded.
“As a member of the Winged God Clan, not knowing about the Ascension Convention… it seems you’ve been away from the Dragon Wing Continent for a very long time. Could it be that…”
After listening to Nuo Ying’s words, Bai Xiao seemed to have thought of something. His expression changed, and he became visibly distressed.
Ye Ling noticed Bai Xiao’s emotional shift and asked, “Brother Bai, have you thought of something?”
“N-nothing…” Bai Xiao came back to his senses, his face pale as he shook his head at Ye Ling. He then added, “My stomach feels a bit unwell. I need to go to the restroom. You don’t have to wait for me!”
With that, Bai Xiao clutched his stomach and quickly turned to leave.
Nuo Ying watched Bai Xiao’s retreating figure, a hint of pity flashing in her eyes. She sighed, “What a shame… He’s almost thirty years old, and he still can’t achieve辟谷 (Bìgǔ - abstaining from grains). His cultivation journey has likely reached its limit.”
Ye Ling said, “He’s faking the stomachache.”
“Faking it?” Nuo Ying looked at Ye Ling with surprise. “But his complexion really doesn’t look good!”
Ye Ling’s eyes narrowed slightly. “He must have thought of something. Let’s follow him secretly!”
Saying that, Ye Ling concealed their presence with a rune and led Nuo Ying in pursuit of Bai Xiao.
Bai Xiao weaved through the crowd, exited the plaza, and ran through several streets. Seeing that Ye Ling and Nuo Ying weren’t following, he finally let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed onto the ground, lamenting, “Damn it… Could that woman be from the Fallen God Clan?”
“According to legends, weren’t the Fallen God Clan all killed by the Supreme God Tianyi? How could there be a survivor lingering in this world?”
“No, this is a matter of grave importance. I must inform the Winged God Clan immediately. If I achieve this merit, perhaps I’ll be directly selected for the Ascension Convention?”
Bai Xiao muttered to himself, realizing that Nuo Ying’s appearance might be his opportunity. He became excited again, got up from the ground, and prepared to go report to the Winged God Clan.
However, as Bai Xiao stood up, he hadn’t taken two steps before Ye Ling and Nuo Ying appeared before him, blocking his path.
“B-Brother Wang…”
Seeing Ye Ling and Nuo Ying suddenly appear, Bai Xiao yelped and fell back onto the ground, trembling. “W-when did you get here?”
Ye Ling asked, “What is this Fallen God Clan you mentioned?”
Upon hearing Ye Ling’s question, Bai Xiao’s face turned deathly pale. He immediately knelt before Ye Ling and Nuo Ying, kowtowing repeatedly. “Your Excellencies! I know nothing! I saw nothing! Spare my life!”
“I can leave Tianyi City right now, as far away as possible!”
Seeing that Bai Xiao mistook them for assassins intending to silence him, Ye Ling sighed slightly. He then said to Bai Xiao, “Tell us everything you know about the Fallen God Clan.”
Bai Xiao froze, looking at Ye Ling and Nuo Ying tremblingly. He asked hesitantly, “Are you… not from the Fallen God Clan?”
Ye Ling said indifferently, “If you don’t cooperate, we can be.”
Bai Xiao’s body trembled.