"Then go, but for me, the most important thing is that you live."
Qi Ping saw the determination in Sister Nan's eyes and knew her choice, so he no longer tried to dissuade her.
Everyone had a path they wanted to choose firmly. Whether it was going against the current and enduring ten thousand tribulations, or simply lying flat and being free and easy, the most important thing was to walk the path one approved of. As long as one was happy and had no regrets, that was enough.
With the deepening of his comprehension of the Path of All Living Beings, Qi Ping could increasingly feel that every creature and every person should possess their own fate.
Among the countless fates of every creature, those who felt the least regret before their lives came to an abrupt end were those who had firmly chosen their own paths. Some might die from a forced breakthrough, some might die before a great opportunity... but this did not change the fact that if they were to do it all over again, they would still firmly choose the same path.
However, one had to distinguish this from those who were driven by blind madness, coerced by dogmas or greedy desires. Firmness under the coercion of desire was entirely different from the firmness found after clarifying one's heart and seeing one's nature.
At this moment, Sister Nan's choice was naturally the latter. She knew very well what she needed.
When she was very young, she had nearly died because of a hereditary feud between families. By the time she fled to Bluestone County, she was the only one left in her entire family; her parents had died before her very eyes.
After drifting to Bluestone County, before she could even take root, she was targeted by thugs because of her clear, beautiful, and refined appearance.
Fortunately, her strength was decent, and Old Man Zhou's passing by indirectly helped scare off the enemies.
At first, she worried if Old Man Zhou would move against her, but he seemed to see through her fear, leaving only a healing herb and a note.
The note said: 'Hiding your appearance can avoid many dangers.'
Thanks to the treatment from that herb, Sister Nan successfully survived her first crisis in Bluestone County.
Later, the incomparably ordinary and unappealing "Sister Nan" appeared. Shortly after, Sister Nan and Old Man Zhou both joined the Fosheng Society.
Gradually, after a period of tempering, a Sister Nan who understood human nature and social graces emerged.
Later still, Old Man Zhou picked up the nearly dead Qi Ping and introduced him to the Fosheng Society and Sister Nan.
During that period, Sister Nan practiced very diligently and hard. However, because her Supreme Spirit Insect King Physique had not yet awakened, her cultivation speed might have been considered decent among rogue cultivators, but compared to those terrifying enemies who had slaughtered her clan, she might never have been able to get her revenge.
But there was nothing to be done about it. Without talent or aptitude, a beautiful and moving appearance was merely a death warrant.
So, that period was Sister Nan's most conflicted time. She was originally a girl overflowing with happiness and spiritual energy under her parents' care, someone who could be described as innocent and romantic.
But the calamity of her clan's extermination left her as the only survivor. After fleeing to Bluestone County, she, lacking any survival experience, was nearly harmed by thugs. If not for Old Man Zhou's appearance, her corpse might have long since been abandoned in the wilderness.
An innocent nature, emotions suppressed by hatred, and a mask of worldliness worn for survival... these formed the Sister Nan Qi Ping first knew.
At that time, Sister Nan had many good friends in the Fosheng Society, but the only one she could truly call a confidant was Old Man Zhou. No one had ever known her true appearance or the bitterness in her heart.
But even then, her true nature could be seen. When Qi Ping's little black bee went missing, besides Old Man Zhou, Sister Nan and Big Brother Wang were the first ones to help Qi Ping find it without a second thought.
And during the chaos of the raiding cultivators, she was willing to help the "weak" Qi Ping, both because Qi Ping treated others well and because of her relationship with Old Man Zhou.
It wasn't until later that she saw something different in Qi Ping. When Qi Ping contracted the Golden Marrow Bees, he gave her a surprise; perhaps he had a hidden talent.
So, under the pretext of repaying Qi Ping for saving her life, she gave him the Manual of Spirit Beast Cultivation: Demonic Insect Volume, which played a crucial role in his later development.
What surprised Sister Nan even more was that the later Qi Ping displayed more and more extraordinary traits, proving she had not misjudged him.
Furthermore, Qi Ping chose to repay her again and again, from Golden Marrow Honey to one-time life-saving treasures... letting her know that he not only had extraordinary potential but also knew how to return kindness.
Believing Qi Ping's talent was related to the cultivation of demonic insects, she later informed him of the location and the token of the cave dwelling where the demonic insect cultivation manual could be found.
By that point, Sister Nan had decided to completely "lie flat."
With her talent, she could never have hope for revenge. Her only remaining hope likely lay with Qi Ping. Her enemies had more than one Foundation Establishment cultivator!
That was why she had said, in a joking tone, that she would wait until Qi Ping reached the Golden Core stage before asking for his help. Once Qi Ping reached the Golden Core, killing a few Foundation Establishment cultivators for her wouldn't be a difficult task.
Of course, she only held a sliver of hope for this and would not force Qi Ping to do it.
Crucially, she had made peace with herself. Whether one called it seeing through things or being selfish, she had practiced desperately for many years and ultimately only reached the middle stage of Qi Refining. Even reaching the late stage of Qi Refining was a distant dream, so how could she talk about revenge against Foundation Establishment cultivators?
In this situation, she only wanted to live out the rest of her life in a low-key and stable manner. This difficult cultivation world and lifestyle... she might not come back in her next life, nor did she want any descendants to suffer in this world.
That was why when Qi Ping later arrived at Sister Nan's peak, he found her temperament had changed, becoming somewhat similar to Old Man Zhou's—simple and natural.
However, just as Sister Nan was prepared to completely give up, Qi Ping gave her more surprises. The resources he brought her became more high-level, and the methods he displayed became more extraordinary—for example, high-level formations that could hide a cultivator from detection.
Little Qi had actually become a high-level formation master! The demonic insects he cultivated also seemed to be getting stronger and stronger!
At that time, Sister Nan became increasingly certain that Qi Ping was truly about to soar! Perhaps she would witness the rise of a legend.
But at that time, no matter how large her imagination, she would never have dreamed that this legend would unify the Qingtian Domain and later sweep across the entire Star-Sea Continent!
Because in her eyes back then, the Foundation Establishment stage was already an unattainable existence.
However, due to Qi Ping's performance, the fire of revenge in her heart began to rise once more. As Qi Ping became more powerful, he also brought her better resources.
Seeing hope for revenge, the fire in her heart burned again.
After that, Qi Ping rose step by step. The image of the legendary cultivator "Bee Daoist" in the rumors began to slowly merge with the Little Qi she knew.
Her strength also grew stronger and stronger in this process. Eventually, she slowly gained the ability to seek revenge.
On the day she broke through, a family in the Qingtian Domain vanished, slaughtered to the last person by a ruthless cultivator; even the earthworms in the soil were pulled out and cut in half.
On that day, the shadow that had covered Sister Nan's heart for countless years and the nightmare that appeared in every dream were finally removed.
What put her at ease even more was that she could feel, while she was slaughtering her enemies' family, a pair of eyes she was incomparably familiar with watching her from an unknown corner. She knew that as long as that person was there, no accidents would happen.
After completing her revenge, Sister Nan finally cleared the gloom and restored her true nature.
Unfortunately, she found that the innocent and romantic girl from before had vanished at some point, perhaps dying on the day she witnessed her parents' death.
Now, she was merely a worldly person whose edges and emotions had been smoothed away...
But on the very day she cleared the gloom, she discovered that a figure had slowly walked into the depths of her heart...
She had simply never faced or considered this matter because of her hatred, and thus had never discovered it.
Yes, witnessing a tender and cute boy grow step by step into a world-famous legend, while having so many bonds with her... how could such a person not walk into her heart?
But even after discovering this, Sister Nan chose to ignore the figure in her heart.
That person was too brilliant—so brilliant that one dared not look directly at him, like the difference between a firefly and the bright moon!
Although Qi Ping still let her call him Little Qi, and although he still treated her as he had in the past, she could not ignore the massive gap in status and strength.
Whenever she thought of this, Sister Nan felt as if thousands of mountains and rivers separated them.
Two people with such a huge gap could never be together. Even if Qi Ping did not mind, she knew she would eventually be stuck at a certain realm, her appearance would age, and her lifespan would run out...
It wasn't until she awakened her Supreme Spirit Insect King Physique, obtained the Beast God Sect heritage, and contracted the Eight-Winged Ant-Fairy reincarnated body that she saw a sliver of hope.
From then on, she threw all her energy and will into her cultivation and the nurturing of demonic insects.
Perhaps it wasn't just for a goal; walking this path, every breakthrough in realm and every molting of her demonic insects brought her peace and comfort. She enjoyed the feeling of cultivating and becoming stronger.
Currently, under the effect of her Life-Source Demonic Insect—the Eight-Winged Ant-Fairy reincarnated body—her strength had reached the Perfection of the Nascent Soul stage. The reincarnated body of the Eight-Winged Ant-Fairy had successfully broken through to the early fifth rank, which was the early Soul Transformation stage!
A Soul Transformation-level Time-type demonic insect, and the reincarnated body of the Eight-Winged Ant-Fairy at that—its power was beyond doubt.
Of course, the reason her cultivation speed could be so terrifying was due both to her Supreme Spirit Insect King Physique and the Eight-Winged Ant-Fairy, as well as the resources and positional convenience provided by Qi Ping.
But this was not enough for her. This World-Domain Battlefield was a heaven-defying opportunity she absolutely could not miss. Only by seizing this chance could she have hope of truly standing by Qi Ping's side.
For this battlefield, she had used the origin essence-blood of her Supreme Spirit Insect King Physique and multiple rare demonic insect lineages—one of which was the bloodline of a Soul Transformation-level Demon Insect King larva with an exceptionally terrifying bloodline, caught by Qi Ping in the depths of the Star-Sea Continent—to cultivate a kind of Taboo Demonic Insect that she wasn't even entirely sure she could control. These insects, in tests, could devour nearly anything containing energy.
Even in their larval state, these Taboo Demonic Insects displayed power more terrifying than the Eight-Winged Ant-Fairy. One must remember that the reincarnated body of the Eight-Winged Ant-Fairy was a Time-type demonic insect!
However, these Taboo Demonic Insects were not yet fully cultivated. she needed more demon corpses as fodder for their nurturing and evolution.
In the past, she had nurtured various demonic insects primarily with basic spirit herbs; this was her first time dealing with such ferocious Taboo Demonic Insects.
But no matter what, Sister Nan had enough confidence that these Taboo Demonic Insects would bring terrifying casualties to the demon race. This was her confidence as the Supreme Spirit Insect King Physique.
'Little Qi, this time, whether I live or die in the end, I will slay a massive swathe of demons for you!'
'If I am lucky enough to live and obtain Fortune, I will lead these Taboo Demonic Insects to guard this home for you, which you spent so much effort on...'
Sister Nan took a deep look at Qi Ping, silently saying these two sentences in her heart. Currently, she possessed only determination and a resolve without regret.
After a brief chat with Qi Ping, she returned to the Immortal-Slaying City.
Qi Ping naturally noticed the abnormality in Sister Nan's eyes, but he didn't say much. He simply spent some effort to secretly place several life-saving techniques upon her.
Since Sister Nan had made her decision, he would support her.
As Sister Nan landed back within the Immortal-Slaying City, several respectful voices rang out:
"Hall Master!"
"Disciple greets Insect Hall Master!"
The speakers were genius disciples from the main campus of the Star-Sea Academy. Sister Nan's current identity was the Master of the Insect Hall of the Star-Sea Academy.
Because in the Star-Sea Continent, besides Qi Ping who excelled at controlling bees, the strongest in terms of demonic insect cultivation was Sister Nan!
Perhaps because Sister Nan had just spoken directly with Qi Ping, many gazes within the city fell upon her. Not many people were qualified to speak directly with Qi Ping or dared to proactively seek him out.
Sister Nan was also a famous figure in the Star-Sea Academy. Not only did she possess the strength of the Nascent Soul Perfection stage, but she also owned a terrifying Soul Transformation-level Time-type demonic insect. Ordinary Soul Transformation cultivators were not necessarily her match.
Furthermore, Sister Nan carried more than one type of demonic insect; she had no fewer than ten types of powerful and bizarre demonic insects. This configuration was terrifying in both individual combat and mass slaughter.
Moreover, Sister Nan's talent allowed her own strength to be empowered by the insect swarm. As long as the swarm was large enough, she could erupt with power exceeding her own realm. This was one of the horrors of the Supreme Spirit Insect King Physique.
Facing this moment of being the center of attention, Sister Nan felt no ripples in her heart. She did not worry that this communication would bring trouble to Qi Ping, as there were no intimate or unusual actions between them.
More importantly, after she returned from the World-Domain Battlefield, she would either be dead or return with her successfully nurtured Taboo Demonic Insects to sweep through everything... As long as the insects lived, she would not die!