Lan Yi, puffed with anger, really wanted to hit the old man a couple of times, but she couldn’t beat him, so she could only walk over sullenly.

"If he comes, just say that your master is gravely ill and that the hidden ailments in his body have erupted, leaving him bedridden for years and losing all combat power, got it?" the old man said.

"Why?"

"Watch your words, your master is rehearsing lines with you now, rather than the time for you to question it."

"..."

"If he shows signs of attacking, your master will surely strike first, and then... you must stand behind him, delivering a thunderous blow, hmph, the strike must be ruthless, kill him." He was kindly at first, but when he talked about those later words, the old man’s face had already turned very cold.

Lan Yi wiped a bead of cold sweat nervously and timidly said, "Master, aren’t you life-and-death friends?"

Strike immediately?

Thunderous blow?

This is called life-and-death friends?

Friendship has been fed to the dogs!

The old man didn’t bother to refute, half-squinting his eyes, getting more excited at the thought. I suddenly attack, with Lan Yi attacking from front and rear, he surely won’t be able to resist...

At this moment!

A hundred miles away.

Lingyun Emperor was also instructing Chen Pingping: "Later when you meet my old friend, cooperate with me a bit, just say that this Emperor was severely injured while breaking free from the suppression of the Divine Clan, coupled with the eruption of hidden ailments in the body, has already lost all combat capability."

"???"

"Then, watch this Emperor’s eyes and act accordingly. Once anything goes wrong, this Emperor will surely strike first, then you should stand behind him and deliver a thunderous blow, keep in mind, be ruthless, kill him." As he spoke, Lingyun Emperor’s demeanor grew vigorous.

Cold sweat dripped from Chen Pingping’s brow: "Sir, are you truly life-and-death friends?"

"Of course!" Lingyun shamelessly yet solemnly replied, "That stubborn mule and I have known each other for hundreds of thousands of years, having grown together, endured many hardships, faced numerous strong enemies, our friendship is profound, sworn to the heavens, as solid as stone."

For such a solid friendship, they still need to strike first, delivering thunderous blows...

Chen Pingping did not dare to retort.

Beside him, Yue Wuxia grew interested, ’Spiritual Beasts becoming emperors, speaking of... Pingping’s family also has several spiritual beasts, they probably have all become emperors by now?’

This matter is also strange. During the era when Chen Pingping verified Tao, how did those spiritual beasts become emperors?

Moreover, their Tao verification to become emperors happened silently, without any calamity.

Strange.

Indeed!

Pingping herself is quite strange.

But it doesn’t matter, she has her big brother.

She thought to herself.

After walking for about ten minutes, finally... they saw the trident-like peak, Lingyun smiled slightly, showing a radiant smile: "My old friend, I’m back."

At this moment, Lan Yi strode out, came before the group, observed them, and then earnestly asked: "Sir Lingyun?"

When Chen Pingping first saw Lan Yi, he was greatly shocked, as if he suddenly saw an old acquaintance.

Too similar.

Why so similar?

He stood transfixed, involuntarily recalling some bygone years.

Lingyun tugged his beard, said weakly: "It’s me, and you are?"

Lan Yi replied: "Oh, I am the only disciple of Demon Emperor Zhengheng, my name is Lan Yi, originally Master was very happy to hear you broke free and came here, but... Master he... eh, Sir, please come in!"

Several times wanting to speak but stopping, repeatedly sighing lightly, the lingering melancholy between her brows seemed indelible, as if the Master she spoke of was already on his last legs.

Fortunately, Sir Lingyun, you came early, otherwise, a little later, he might not have made it.

However...

Lan Yi always felt something was amiss, the Lingyun Sir before her also seemed very weak, despite his strong physique, his face was pale, eyes dull, his internal energy and blood had declined severely, every step he took was very difficult, he even needed someone to support him.

This?

Could it be that this Sir is also on his last legs?

"Who is this?" She looked at Chen Pingping, feeling for a moment that this person looked familiar, as if she’d seen him somewhere.

The more she looked, the more shocked she became.

A sense of inexplicable familiarity stirred deep in her heart towards Chen Pingping.

"I’m Chen Pingping!" He smiled slightly.

"Yue Wuxia."

"Please follow me." Lan Yi nodded, suppressing the familiarity in her heart, leading them into the high peak, shortly arriving at the place she and her Master lived.

The terrain here was relatively flat, several hundred meters wide, surrounded by cliffs, with only a winding path leading up.

A few simple huts, with sparse flowers and grasses planted in front, looking rather drab.

In front of the huts hung many bacon, corn, hmm, quite particular...

It felt like entering a small village.

Chen Pingping muttered privately: "Looks like it must be a spiritual beast that ran out of some village."

People are extremely rare in the depths of the great mountain, coexisting with villages.

Cough cough!

Just then, a coughing sound came from inside, weakly said: "Lingyun, is it you? My good brother."

Lingyun tottered inside, face full of excitement: "Zhengheng, my Zhengheng."

Lan Yi did not enter.

Chen Pingping and Yue Wuxia did not either.

The three exchanged glances, their expressions revealing a peculiar feeling they dared not share, both Sirs seemed on their last legs.

What a coincidence?

"Lingyun, it really is you, my long-lost good brother. I heard you’ve been suppressed in the arena, huh? Though it’s not your flesh, only a trace of residual thought, yet your brother is still heartbroken, always pondering daily how to save you, alas your brother here ran into problems too, sob sob..." At this point, the gravely ill Demon Emperor Zhengheng actually choked up, trembling as he tried to crawl up from the wooden bed.

In the end, he did crawl up but didn’t get out of bed, still sat at the bedside, his dry hand grabbing Lingyun’s hand, tears flowed freely.

"Brother Zheng, although I’ve been suppressed, I’ve been missing you as well, hearing that a few titled martial artists pursued you back then, your brother was furious! Why did you choose to travel far at that time, choosing to enter the battlefield, if you stayed, I’d certainly help you fend off strong enemies." Lingyun was also quite emotional, poignant in voice and expression, squeezing out a few tears as he spoke.

They both called each other "brother" because they had competed over this title for hundreds of thousands of years.

The spiritual beast believed it was born earlier, so calling itself brother was natural.

But Lingyun felt, though it was born early, it hadn’t developed spiritual intelligence at that time, nor transformed, most important is that his Tao verification by Lingyun occurred a hundred thousand years earlier than Zhengheng.

Eh...

After this passionate performance, they both fell into an awkward situation.

Having known each other for hundreds of thousands of years, once traveled together, faced strong enemies side by side, also turned against each other, with various betrayals...

They knew each other too well.

The passionate words just now not only failed to touch them but instead made them feel disgusted inside.

Lingyun Emperor was suddenly furious, cursed in his heart: "You damn thing, you stupid mule, if you really wanted to save ’me’, ’I’d’ have been free long ago, see ’me’ suppressed, are you especially happy inside?"

"Damn it, those titled martial artists pursued this Emperor, don’t you have some idea why they did?" Zhengheng also cursed in his heart: "Had you not intruded into their territory, desecrated their ancestor’s grave, would they chase this Emperor? Damn... in the end, you quietly entered the battlefield, vanished without a trace, leaving this Emperor here to be chased, today we must have one dead, but the dead one must be you."

Thinking of this, Zhengheng secretly ground his teeth but kept his face unchanged, his smile remained, then he said: "Good brother, come, let me introduce my disciple, Lan Yi, you quickly enter."

"Your brother also introduces the most excellent rising star of the Human Clan." Lingyun shouted: "Pingping kid, quickly come and pay respects to the master?"