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Gu Luolin sounded like she thought this was an awful pity, and all of her words were chosen to comfort him.

As he sat on the condor's back, Ye Zichen's heart sank. The thing he'd worried about all this time had happened; he'd fallen too far behind. Even with the condor's help, he still couldn't catch up.

He spread out his divine sense, but they were still quite a distance from the palace.

It seemed close, yet far away. Ye Zichen sighed.

"You aren't considering throwing your life away, are you? My dear nephew, we can't be so fragile." Gu Luolin tugged his arms and comforted him.

Ye Zichen glared, then rolled his eyes. "Don't talk nonsense. As if I'd give up on life so easily at my age."

"Then what are you standing for!"

"Can't I enjoy the breeze?" Ye Zichen glared at her. "Besides, even if the condor says the gate's open, I want to see the truth with my own eyes. Got it?"

"Big White is this place's guardian beast. If he says it, of course it's true!"

"Okay, okay, okay. But even if it's true, so what if the door's open? That doesn't guarantee that anyone's gone inside."

"But if no one's gone into the palace, why is the door open?"

"…."

"Do you think someone got to the palace, opened the door, then ran off to have a snowball fight instead of going in?"

"……"

"In that case, why would that person bother making the trek all the way there? Just to enjoy the thrill of climbing that high?"

"Please, stop talking!" Ye Zichen smiled bitterly. He naturally knew none of that was possible.

Everyone in the snowy mountains was here for the mountaintop palace. No one would open the door, then choose not to go inside. If someone had, Ye Zichen dared say he'd take off his own head and use it as a soccer ball.

That someone had beaten him to the punch naturally made him frantic, but even if he was frantic, it was no use! But urgency wouldn't fix anything. He was still en route to the palace. It's not like he could just teleport there!

He'd made that conjecture purely in an attempt to trick himself and calm himself down.

Who'd have thought that a little girl like Gu Luolin wasn't just good at putting on airs; she was even good at kicking him when he was down!

But she still kept arguing for logic. "Tell me, is anything I suggested earlier actually possible? If the door is open, someone has undoubtedly gone inside. Or are you telling me the wind blew the door open on its own?"

"Stop talking! If you keep going on like this, I'm really going to jump." Ye Zichen took a few steps forward, then pointed into the clouds.

"Whether you jump or not, I have to tell you the truth! If the palace doors are open, it's undoubtedly because someone went inside!"

"Ancestor, I know! So please, stop talking." Ye Zichen almost knelt before her. He clutched her clothes and begged, "I already know all of that! What will it take to get you to stop fixating on the palace door?"

"I'm not fixated on it, but your attitude about it is insufficiently serious. Someone with your bad attitude needs a mature senior like me to guide you back on the right path. That's the only way you can improve," said Gu Luolin with her hands on her hips.

"Alright, I was wrong. I sincerely apologize for all of my mistakes, and I repent of my unserious attitude. Your guidance has enabled me to cast aside my misconceptions and see the light. Going forward, I swear not to be so irresponsible, and I humbly request you not to say anything else. Okay?" Ye Zichen smiled bitterly.

"That's about right!" Gu Luolin clapped and laughed. In truth, she'd said all that while remembering how her elders addressed juniors who didn't cultivate diligently enough; she was just parroting things her seniors tended to say.

She just wanted to try it for herself, and when she did, she saw Ye Zichne's enlightened expression.

To tell the truth, it felt great!

But what did the Gu Family's elders do after comforting their juniors? She scrunched up her face and thought about it. Then, her eyes lit up.

"If the palace doors are open," she said with the air of a pondering elder, "those who went inside are definitely among those who entered the mausoleum. Big White told me that in the eyes of the beasts here, the palace is sacred ground. They dare not wander its periphery, much less knock down the door and enter."

At first, Ye Zichen thought she was harping on about the same thing as before, but to his surprise, she began a logical analysis.

"There aren't many who could get there faster than us, but Kui Lin is likely one of them."

"That's right!" Ye Zichen nodded. Kui Lin was one of his top suspects too.

Kui Lin had reached the condor's territory just a few days ago, but even after scampering off in terror, he hadn't given up on the palace. Given Ye Zichen's understanding of him, not only had he not stopped, he'd likely rushed to the palace at top speed.

Three days didn't sound like a long time, but for Kui Lin? It wasn't entirely impossible to complete the journey that fast!

"But we can't discount the possibility that others have entered the palace too," said Ye Zichen.

"Hmph. The others, I don't care about, but that Kui Lin had better not show his face in front of me." Gu Luolin scrunched up her face and stared at the palace, looking murderous. She still carried a grudge over Big White's injuries.

"I urge you to give up on the idea." Ye Zichen's expression suddenly turned solemn. "At least, until we leave this place. In here, you don't have your parents to protect you, so you'd be better off not provoking someone like Kui Lin lightly."

"Why? It's not like they'd dare hurt me!" Gu Luolin snorted.

"You're still too young." Ye Zichen sighed. "Do you think that, just because you intimidated them earlier, you'll be able to do the same thing again next time?"

Gu Luolin didn't respond, but she didn't argue either. But she still remembered how scared Kui Lin had looked. She sure didn't think that he'd dare attack her should they meet again.

"Do you know why he didn't dare touch you?"

"Because they were afraid of me!"

When Ye Zichen heard that, he chuckled. When he saw how staunch and determined she seemed, he couldn't help but sigh. People her age were so pure. No matter what happened, they wouldn't think too deeply. You could call them immature, but wasn't this purity in itself a priceless treasure?

Although Ye Zichen didn't know how strong the experts of Gu Luolin's family were, they most likely weren't ordinary.

If he were as strong as them, Ye Zichen might just let Gu Luolin do as she pleased. But Ye Zichen's cultivation was low. Out of consideration for Gu Luolin's safety, he had to shatter her fairytale-like fantasies. "He didn't touch you, but that was because he could afford to give up on the treasure the condor was guarding!"

After saying that, Ye Zichen knew there was no need to keep anything else hidden, so he explained in full detail. "Do you understand how Kui Lin does things? Do you know his temperament? He didn't harm you, but that was only partially out of fear of your faction's strength. More importantly, he could take the condor's treasure or leave it. He felt no need to expose himself to uncontrollable danger over it!"

"But the palace is different! Transcendent fortune lies in wait there!"

"To Kui Lin, that's a treasure he'll seize at all costs, even at risk to his life. If you provoke him then, while he might still fear your family, I can guarantee that his longing for transcendent fortune far eclipses any fear he has of your clan."

"When that happens, you'll be nothing but a paper tiger, unable to threaten him at all!"

"You snuck out of your home, without any of the tools your parents gave you to protect yourself. When that time comes, what can you do against Kui Lin? He's absolutely the type to pull up grass by the roots. If he hurts you, he'll offend your family. Better to just kill you… as well as all other witnesses."

"Your parents might very well learn that it was him, but by then, he might have already received the enlightenment of transcendent fortune and become a true transcendent. When that happens, so what about your family?"

As Gu Luolin listened to his explanation, she went from proud to disdainful, until finally, she collapsed onto the condor's back, unsure of what to do. Yes, she was a spoiled child of a wealthy family, but she wasn't entirely unwilling to listen to other people, nor was she incapable of understanding them.

Ye Zichen's words weren't unfounded, and Gu Luolin couldn't argue with him.

She'd never thought about anything so deeply before, but after hearing Ye Zichen's explanation, she really was a little afraid.

Especially when Ye Zichen brought up the possibility of Kui Lin becoming a transcendent. She was certain that her parents would avenge her if Kui Lin killed her, but half-steps transcendents were ultimately only half-step transcendents. The difference between them and the real thing was far too huge.

What would happen to her family then? She didn't know why, but she could already picture it. "What should I do?" she said, as if pleading for advice.

Ye Zichen smiled and patted her on the head. "Let's hope we don't run into Kui Lin, but even if we do, unless we push him to the edge, he won't attack us. After all, both of us have factions strong enough to make him think twice backing us. He wouldn't dare be too vicious!"

"I'll just listen to you, then!"

"Okay!

"No, wait!" Gu Luolin suddenly blinked and put her hands on her hips. "I've got seniority here! Why is it that the more you talk, the more you sound like one of my family's elders starting to give me a lecture? You ought to be listening to me! Are you doing this on purpose?"

"Do you really think I have that much free time?" Ye Zichen said, his calm indifference and impatience stopping Gu Luolin's momentum.

She looked at him bitterly, scrunched up her face, and said unwillingly, "Fine. I guess I'll still listen to you, but you have to remember….I have seniority here! I'll listen to you, but that's only while we're here! After we leave, you still have to listen to me!"

"Sure, sure." Ye Zichen didn't want to argue with the girl, so he treated her just as he would a little sister.

"Scree!" The condor suddenly stopped, then circled in mid-air.

Gu Luolin cupped her ear and listened, then translated for Ye Zichen. "Big White says the palace is up ahead, but this is the edge of the beasts' range. He can't fly us any further. This is as far as he can take us."

"Then let's go down!"