For a moment, the two of them stared at each other.
They remained silent.
"We are all fellow sufferers in this world..."
Li Qiushui spoke slowly. "I thought my senior brother left me because my appearance was ruined, but I never expected..."
"I also thought that my junior brother didn't love me because of my physical disability. It turns out, he loves someone else!" said Granny Tong. "You crippled me, I ruined your appearance, and after a lifetime of fighting, what have I gained?"
Bang!
Suddenly, a commotion arose outside.
Four beautiful young women appeared in the stone chamber.
"Your servants, the Four Swordsmen of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum, are late in coming to our aid. Please punish us, Granny!" The four women entered and knelt before Granny Tong, not daring to utter a sound.
"Why are you only arriving now? Grandma was almost killed!"
The old woman said weakly.
"Grandma, who hurt you?"
The four women looked at Fang Chen and saw that he was rescuing Tong Lao. They immediately looked at Li Qiushui, each holding a sword, and stabbed at Li Qiushui.
"slow!"
The old woman spoke up to warn her, but it was too late. The orchid sword closest to Li Qiushui pierced into her chest, leaving her defenseless.
Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.
Li Qiushui died, but her eyes remained open, seemingly unwilling to accept that her senior brother had fallen in love with her own younger sister, Li Canghai.
"Grandma, let's go! All eight sisters from the Eight Tribes have arrived!" the girl who killed Lan Jian said as she stepped forward.
"It's too late...cough cough...cough cough..."
The old woman coughed a few times, and blood actually flowed from the corner of her mouth.
"Grandma was stabbed by Li Qiushui, and her injury is too severe. I'm afraid... she won't make it." Tianshan Tonglao said weakly.
"Grandma!"
Upon hearing this, the four sisters burst into tears. They were all children from a farming family who had been abandoned by their parents and eventually adopted by the old woman.
Although Tong Lao was extremely strict with her subordinates, they treated her like family.
"Fang Chen, Grandma has a favor to ask."
The old woman looked at Fang Chen.
"Senior, please tell me what you need. I will do my best to help." Fang Chen said.
"I don't think it's going to work..." Tong Lao sighed. She knew her own situation. She had been stabbed in the abdomen, and her Eight Desolations Supreme Technique was in a weakened state. She had only managed to hold on until now.
"I wish that after I die, you could send me to my junior brother's valley, to be buried with him...together, what do you say?" The old woman looked at Fang Chen with hopeful eyes, thinking to herself. "Junior brother, in life, I cannot be with you; in death, I want to be buried with you!"
The old woman knew that only Fang Chen knew the location.
"Don't worry, the Life and Death Talisman, the Six Yang Palm of Tianshan, and the Plum Blossom Hand are in the stone chamber behind Lingjiu Palace. Since Junior Brother has passed on the leadership of the Xiaoyao Sect to you, and I am also a disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect, you will have to take good care of Lingjiu Palace from now on."
The old woman seemed to experience a sudden burst of energy before her death, and her spirits lifted instantly.
"Alright, I promise you, I will bury you together with Senior Wuyazi."
Although Fang Chen obtained three great martial arts skills, he couldn't help but sigh for Tong Lao.
"Okay, okay, okay!"
When Fang Chen agreed, Tianshan Tonglao said "okay" several times and then gradually closed her eyes.
"Grandma!"
"Grandma!"
The four women hugged the Heavenly Child Granny and wept bitterly.
........
Time passes.
Three months have passed in the blink of an eye.
Over the course of three months, Fang Chen buried Tianshan Tong, Li Qiushui, and Wuyazi together in the valley where the Zhenlong Chess Game was located.
After returning to Tianshan, he took over Lingjiu Palace and became its master. After entrusting the affairs of the palace to Yu Sao and the Four Swords and other key members, he devoted himself to practicing the Life and Death Talisman, Tianshan Six Yang Palm, and Plum Blossom Hand in the stone chamber behind the mountain.
He was already highly skilled, and after obtaining Wu Yazi's internal energy, which came from the same source as Tianshan Tonglao, his cultivation became twice as effective with half the effort.
I have already made a basic grasp of the Life and Death Talisman, the Tianshan Six Yang Palm, and the Tianshan Plum Blossom Hand. All that's left is to practice diligently.
Upon arriving in the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Fang Chen obtained incredibly powerful martial arts manuals such as the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and the Yi Jin Jing. All that remained was time.
"With the portal, there's nothing I can't get, given enough time."
Fang Chen was taken aback when he thought about the time.
He realized he was in his twenties now, and that everyone eventually gets old.