In Xianxia With The Investment Return System, Starting My Journey by taking Demon Empress as a Disciple

Chapter 116: A New Perspective on Her Junior Sister—Yanran Is Stunned

The Grand Elder finished speaking and nervously looked at Leng Yanran, afraid that this intimidating young woman wouldn’t believe him.

After all, Li Yurong was now a disciple of Senior Chen.

If she went back and complained to him, the Holy Mountain would be in serious trouble!

However, upon hearing the Grand Elder’s explanation, Leng Yanran was momentarily stunned.

Then, she let out a long sigh.

She believed him without a shred of doubt.

Because this was exactly the kind of ridiculous thing her junior sister would do…

Besides, the Grand Elder had no reason to lie to her.

Once they got to the mountain, it would be obvious whether or not there was actually a grand hall prepared for Yurong.

“Hehe, Senior Sister! Doesn’t my house look pretty decent?”

Li Yurong beamed at her, completely unaware of the tension in the air just moments ago.

She even looked excitedly at her senior sister, expecting praise.

“Uh… If I had to say something…”

“…It sort of looks like a house.”

“…Apart from not being a house at all, everything else is fine.”

Leng Yanran glanced at her junior sister, then at the horrific pile of misshapen stones that dared to be called a house.

It took everything she had to force those words out.

After saying it, she felt a little guilty—as if she had betrayed her conscience.

If it weren’t for sparing her junior sister’s feelings, she honestly would have smashed that eyesore into dust!

How could something so ugly be called a house?!

With the misunderstanding resolved, the two elders finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Let’s head up the mountain first. We can talk more later.”

The Grand Elder quickly composed himself and began leading the way.

“Wait!”

“Elder, wait a moment! Yurong needs to bring her best friend along to meet Senior Sister!”

Before they could take a step, Li Yurong suddenly interrupted and happily flew off toward her stone hut.

Seeing this, the two elders exchanged glances and saw the helplessness in each other’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Leng Yanran couldn’t help but grow curious.

Could it be that her junior sister was keeping someone in her hut?

But she hadn’t sensed any human presence inside…

Before she could ask the elders, Li Yurong had already returned, flying toward them with excitement—

—dragging a big white goose by the neck.

The large white goose flailed wildly, struggling against its captor.

It was obvious that it did NOT want to be here!

But Li Yurong didn’t care in the slightest.

“Senior Sister, look! This is Yurong’s best friend on the Holy Mountain!”

“It’s been so long since I left the mountain… Without me taking care of it, it’s even lost weight from hunger…”

Li Yurong sighed in distress, heartbroken over her poor best friend struggling in her grip.

Her expression was full of pity.

“…”

Leng Yanran felt her eyelid twitch.

Her junior sister was so lonely that her best friend was… a goose?!

‘Sigh… Looks like I need to be nicer to my junior sister from now on…’

Leng Yanran let out a deep sigh.

Although she wasn’t a direct descendant of the Leng Family, and wasn’t even human, she at least had the Leng Family members by her side growing up.

But Yurong had no one.

She was so lonely that her only companion was a white goose…

How pitiful was that?

“Ahem, let’s get up the mountain first. We can talk more later…”

The Grand Elder interrupted, worried that Yurong would cause more trouble.

As they set off, he glanced at the weakly struggling white goose and softly reminded her:

“…By the way, Yurong, loosen your grip a little.”

“Your best friend is about to die…”

“Oh!”

“Right!”

“If it dies, it won’t be fresh when we eat it!”

"Hehehe, Second Elder, I'll have to trouble you to cook a braised goose for me later. Senior Sister hasn’t tried your cooking yet!"

Hearing the Grand Elder’s words, Li Yurong suddenly had a moment of realization.

Then, without hesitation, she handed over her so-called best friend…

…to the Second Elder, who now wore an expression of utter helplessness.

Leng Yanran stumbled midair, nearly falling out of the sky.

One moment, she was calling it her "best friend."

The next, she wanted to eat it?!

"Young friend, don’t misunderstand."

"Yurong has many ‘best friends’ on the mountain every month…"

"When one best friend gets eaten, she just catches another one…"

"So, just eat without worry…"

The Grand Elder’s face turned slightly red with embarrassment as he explained.

He truly could not understand—

Li Shenruo and Li Yurong were sisters, yet how could they be so different?!

In terms of talent, Li Yurong was actually superior.

When she first arrived on the Holy Mountain as a child, they had planned to groom her as the next Saintess.

Li Shenruo was meant to be just a backup.

However…

As the years passed, Li Yurong’s mental state never seemed to mature, while Li Shenruo became a diligent cultivator, wholeheartedly pursuing the Dao.

Eventually, Li Shenruo took center stage, while Li Yurong was left to be… "free-range".

<+>

As they ascended the mountain, Li Yurong hummed a tune, occasionally glancing at her best friend, the white goose, with an affectionate look.

Leng Yanran, however, remained silent.

She had just arrived on the Holy Mountain, and her junior sister had already shattered her understanding of reality.

Unbelievable…

She had been feeling sorry for her junior sister.

But now, she felt sorry for her junior sister’s best friend instead.

Honestly, how many white geese had there been before this one…?

Just a moment ago, when her junior sister had worried that the goose had lost weight, Leng Yanran had been touched, thinking,

‘Wow~ my junior sister is so kind.’

But looking back on it now…

Yurong wasn’t worried about its health.

She was worried about there being less meat to eat!

Luckily, the rest of the journey was uneventful, and soon, the four of them arrived at a flat mountaintop plateau.

Before them stood seven grand halls, arranged in a way that encircled two larger central halls.

Leng Yanran raised an eyebrow.

Judging from the layout, the Saintess’s status seemed to be above even that of the elders?

How peculiar…

The Holy Mountain had no single ruler.

Instead, it was governed by seven elders, who collectively managed the mountain and trained the Saintess.

"Big Brother, you’re back?"

"Did you take care of the Ren Family?"

Upon seeing the Grand Elder return, several other elders appeared.

The Grand Elder and Second Elder had left the mountain in response to the Ren Family’s plea for help.

But with both of them personally taking action, there was no way anything in the Eastern Region could remain unsolved!

"Uh…"

"The Ren Family… has been taken care of."

The Grand Elder hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Leng Yanran before replying to his fellow elders.

"Hmm. As long as it’s resolved."

"Wait—Yurong has returned as well?"

"…Hmm?"

"Hold on—what do you mean the Ren Family has been ‘taken care of’?"

At first, one of the elders nodded in approval.

Then, he noticed Yurong had also come back—

And that there was an unfamiliar young woman with her.

A Demon Clan cultivator.

A girl so young, yet already at the Unity Realm?

She was clearly a genius!

But before he could ask about her, something felt off.

The Ren Family has been taken care of?

What did that mean?!

"Sigh…"

"The Senior Chen we encountered in the Northern Region… acted against the Ren Family."

"Our Holy Mountain cannot afford to interfere."

"Anyway, let me introduce this young friend—she is Senior Chen’s first disciple!"

"Oh, by the way, where is Shenruo?"

<+>

An:

(╯✧▽✧)╯ Today, I get to reward myself with a bottle of Coke and two packs of spicy snacks!

Love you all!

Lastly, here’s a full list of cultivation realms before reaching Immortality.

After Tribulation Crossing, the next step is Ascending to Immortality!

(If I write faster, I might add another realm, but otherwise, this is the full list.)

Body Refining → Qi Condensation → Sea of Qi → Void Sky → Profound Sky → Unity → Extinction → Boundless → Spirit Dividing → Void Return → Union → Great Ascension → Heaven’s Gate → Tribulation Crossing → Immortal Ascension.