Hammer in her left hand, sword in her right, the eldest sister is connected to both worlds.

Chapter 683 Snowflakes Over Flame Spirit City

The storyteller spent almost half an hour, but still couldn't melt the ice that had inexplicably frozen in his teapot.

Tea can be skipped, but books cannot be left unread!

When he returned to the stage, fanning himself, he suddenly noticed that everyone below the stage was standing at the entrance of the teahouse, and people in the crowd were constantly exclaiming in surprise.

"What's wrong?" he asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It's snowing!" a shop assistant excitedly replied. "Mr. Qin, it's snowing in Flame Spirit City!"

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Mr. Qin stepped down from the stage: "From the very beginning of this city's construction, the powerful beings of the Feather Clan have said that Flame Spirit City's firepower converges, situated atop the earth's veins. For a thousand years, there has been no... snow..."

The crowd parted to make way for Mr. Qin, and as the layers of heads cleared in front of him, he saw a light, rustling snowfall.

Like fine salt mixed in with white sand, it seeped onto the ground and dampened a patch of earth.

"Snow!" Mr. Qin raised his hand to catch the tiny snowflakes.

"The snow of Flame Spirit City".

The fine snowflakes occasionally turned into large snowflakes, drifting in the wind. The hexagonal snowflakes brushed past the last leaf of the red maple tree at the street corner and landed in the little girl's palm.

Jin Can looked up at Xue Lan, his eyes sparkling with admiration: "It's Xue!"

"I knew my second brother was lying to me. There is snow in Flame Spirit City too."

The little girl broke free from Xue Lan's hand and frolicked in the wind and snow. The two slowly walked towards the direction of the city lord's mansion.

The wind and snow around him ceased, and the inner demon, unseen by outsiders, appeared beside Xue Lan:

"Aren't you being too lenient? All that girl said was that it was hot. And you've brought on this heavy snow. The elders of the Feather Clan must be terrified."

"Back in the Upper Realm, controlling ice and snow is indeed much easier." Xue Lan said to herself, gently raising her hand and waving it, causing the wind and snow throughout the city to sway with her movements.

"Answer me!" the inner demon said coldly.

"I'm going to mine in the Feather Clan's sacred land, this is to let them prepare in advance."

The inner demon sneered: "Are you going to say next that this is for their own good?"

Xue Lan: "Huh? How did you know?"

The inner demon rolled its eyes at her, its gaze falling on the little girl running ahead: "I want to play with the cat you picked up."

"Granted, go ahead." Xue Lan waved her hand casually.

The inner demon suppressed its demonic energy and went to play with the little tiger.

Xue Lan watched the two figures from behind as the three of them slowly walked to the City Lord's Mansion.

Zhu Lingzhi and Xue Tong were waiting for her at the door.

Not long had it been since Zhu Lingzhi last saw Xue Lan, but she noticed that the man's demeanor had changed again. Despite the swirling snow, Xue Lan remained completely untouched by the snow.

His black clothes were so deep they were like the darkest ink, impossible to bleach, and naturally, they couldn't be any blacker.

The black, though strikingly black amidst the swirling white snow, harmonized perfectly with the city's snow, as if—it was created for her.

Xue Lan saw Zhu Lingzhi and greeted him with a smile, "Long time no see, fellow Daoist."

Zhu Lingzhi wanted to say that it hadn't actually been that long.

But someone around her was faster than her.

"Can Can, your second brother has finally found you."

The chubby boy knelt on the snow and hugged Jin Can, crying so hard it was earth-shattering.

Why did you leave without telling your brother?

Xiao Jincan pushed his face: "It's clearly Second Brother who didn't take good care of me!"

"It's me, it's me! I'm so glad you're back!"

"Jing Tonghu Jin Chen, thank you, fellow Daoist."

Xue Lan nodded to the boy, then suddenly asked, "What's your father's name?"

"Huh?" Jin Chen looked puzzled as he hugged his younger sister.

His peers immediately asked his father if something was amiss.

However, he quickly suppressed his unease; his father's name had already spread throughout the Upper Realm.

“My father is Jing Tonghu, the clan chief, and Jin Queshan.”

"Clan leader?"

Xue Lan exchanged a glance with the inner demon who had concealed himself beside her.

"He has also become the clan chief."

Jin Chen inexplicably felt that Xue Lan's words were somewhat disrespectful to his father, but looking at his little sister in his arms, he decided to pretend he hadn't heard.

Anyway, in the family, the eldest sister is the most important person.

Father won't mind.

Xue Lan felt a little itchy to touch him.

To Jin Chen, who was still in human form in the eyes of others, it was a furry, half-grown tiger, not agile, but rather round and plump.

Xue Lan's comment was: "He looks just like his father!"

Jin Queshan was the same size after she fed him with rare and precious herbs in the Northern Region for half a year. He would even roll around in the snow if he walked fast.

Xue Lan couldn't help but smile, looking at Jin Chen tenderly.

Jin Chen wondered if it was just his imagination, but the way the fellow Daoist in front of him looked at him seemed somewhat kind.

Could it be... a friend of my father?

"Does the senior know my father?"

Xue Lan nodded gently: "We met many years ago."

More than a thousand years ago.

Jin Chen wanted to ask something more, but Xue Lan seemed to be ignoring him.

The woman looked at Zhu Lingzhi: "Did Xiaotong tell you that I'm going to the Feather Clan's sacred land?"

Zhu Lingzhi crossed his arms and looked at her: "My suggestion is that you leave quickly, and I'll pretend I never saw you."

"Otherwise, Wan Gong Fang might have to change hands."

"How could it change hands so easily? Do you think I'm a pushover?" Xue Lan's eyebrows curved, and her gray-white pupils seemed to hold a landscape painting in ink.

"Then we should leave Flame Spirit City. This heavy snow is suspicious."

Zhu Lingzhi raised his hand and caught a snowflake. The Nirvana Ancestral Fire in his palm ignited instantly, but it couldn't melt that small snowflake.

"It doesn't snow in Flame Spirit City. You're not from the Upper Realm, so you don't know. Only those madmen from the Northern Region could manage this."

Xue Lan looked up at her: "The madman from Beiyuchuan?"

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you,” Zhu Lingzhi said.

"I can't stand idiots as much as madmen."

Xue Lan knew who the fool she was talking about was—nothing more than those who went to Beiyuchuan to invite trouble.

The woman chuckled to herself, "I didn't know?"

The inner demon chimed in, "No one knows better than you, you culprit."

"In short, leave quickly." Zhu Lingzhi looked at Xue Lan: "Regarding Ji Ping'an, I owe you a favor. That's all I have to say."

Her intentions were good; Xue Lan's status was too high, and his cultivation too low. She didn't know how he had managed to reach the Upper Realm. Ultimately, however, he was like a rabbit entering a wolf's den, surrounded by danger.

But she didn't know that Xue Lan wasn't a rabbit; she was a wolf disguised as a rabbit, a greedy wolf.

"Is it really not allowed?" Xue Lan raised her hand to shake Zhu Lingzhi's sleeve.

Zhu Lingzhi glanced at her: "I saw this trick of yours many years ago."

Back when this person was taking the weapon refiner assessment in Xie Cui City, he was known for having one older sister and two younger sisters. He was utterly harmless.

And after that?

She no longer trusted Xue Lan.

"Alright, let's go! I'm begging you, Master Xue."

"Even if you beg me, I can't leave." Xue Lan sighed. A crimson light flew from the horizon of Yanling City, and a plump phoenix rushed to the ground, bouncing twice before arriving in front of Xue Lan and the others.

Xue Lan: "Is it really that serious?"

The inner demon: "You don't remember at all that time you said you'd pluck the hairs off someone's tail!"

Xue Lan: "I won't talk about it!"

Zhu Lingzhi quickly shielded Xue Lan behind him and bowed swiftly as the man stood up: "Lingzhi greets Ninth Elder. How did you arrive so quickly?"

Unexpectedly, the plump old man did not stand up, but adjusted his posture and kowtowed directly:

"Junior Yuan Mingluan of the Crimson Phoenix Clan greets Lord Changjun!"

He looked up, trembling, at the gray-eyed woman behind Zhu Lingzhi, and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

It's unmistakable; the memory is still vivid.

"My lord has long resided in the Northern Region, but I wonder why you have come to Flame Spirit City."

"Lord Changjun?" Zhu Lingzhi asked in confusion, slowly turning his head to look behind him.

Master Xue stood ramrod straight, giving her a strange smile. Then he looked at the person kneeling on the ground.

"Long time no see, you've aged."