Surprised not because this was the first time a woman was hugging him but because he didn't remember possessing a close relations.h.i.+p with the woman, Jian Shen hesitated and chose to not hug her back.

Instead, he just stood there and awkwardly waited for her to stop hugging him.

Looking towards his shoulder to find Lifen looking at him with curious eyes, Jian Shen lightly shrugged and showed with his eyes that he himself didn't know what was happening.

To this though Lifen didn't look the slightest bit sceptical and nodded her head cute little head before closing her eyes and not bothering with the woman who was resting her head inside Jian Shen's chest.

"Unnmm... Cui Yan? Are you... "

"You won't believe how happy and relieved I am to see you."

Speaking to Jian Shen while still hugging him, Cui Yan who never remembered feeling so happy was quickly brought to tears which soon soaked the boy's clothes.

If the woman hugging him wasn't shocking enough, Jian Shen was now thinking that maybe this was a dream due to not being able to believe what was happening.

Was this the same dignified woman who seemed like she wouldn't be fl.u.s.tered even if the sky collapsed? What happened to her?

But, just as he was about to ask her, the woman herself spoke.

Not bothered by the fact that she was crying in the arms of someone who wasn't even a tenth of her age, Cui Yan said, "Please save my clan, Jian Shen. I'm willing to do anything as long as you save my clan."

…

It took a while for the emotional Cui Yan to calm down, but once she did she did her best to not show any signs of being embarra.s.sed in front of Jian Shen who was looking at her weirdly the whole time.

Sitting opposite to him with a table in between, Cui Yan out of nowhere said, "You've grown a lot in the two years that I haven't seen you. Not only have you ascended, but you've even entered the Soul Splitting Realm."

While Jian Shen hadn't officially split his Nascent Soul which had fused with the two swords yet, he was considered to be in the Soul Splitting Realm because there hadn't been anyone who failed to split their soul for the first time since they entered the Soul Splitting Realm.

"And you've changed a lot as well."

Understanding what Jian Shen meant, Cui Yan couldn't help slightly blush and almost looked away wanting to hide herself inside a hole.

After all, she herself didn't know what got into her to suddenly hug Jian Shen and ask him to save the Cui Clan.

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Sure the clan had been on a decline and was now facing the biggest crisis since the day it had been established, but what made her think that Jian Shen who most likely ascended a year or so back could save it for her.

Was it due to how easily he took care of the annoying man for her when they were in the Mortal Realm?

Or was it that refres.h.i.+ng smile on his face which made it look like there wasn't anything in the world that he couldn't achieve?

Regardless of it, since she had come this far, it was best to properly explain everything to Jian Shen.

Putting aside the fact that he was an ascender whose strength in the future would be enough to singlehandedly fight against the top forces, even if just the fox around his neck agreed to help them, the Cui Clan would manage to obtain some breathing s.p.a.ce from all their troubles and enough time to think about what to do next.

This was because unlike humans in the Eternal Palace Realm, a Divine Beast like Lifen despite being in the same Realm was many times stronger than the humans and could easily fight against hundred and maybe even thousand cultivators in the Eternal Palace Realm depending on her combat skills.

Of course, this was only when they were average cultivators in the Eternal Palace Realm and not the elite cultivators.

In face of elite cultivators though, even someone like Lifen who reached the Eternal Palace Realm wouldn't find it easy to face against more than two human cultivators.

"The Cui Clan is on the verge of being destroyed, so we need every single possible ally if we want to survive against this upcoming disaster."

Looking towards Cui Yan who looked really serious, Jian Shen also turned serious and paid complete attention to every single one of her words as she continued explaining how the Cui Clan which was once the strongest clan in the entire Divine Realm was now so close to being wiped off completely.

Using her hands to move the silky black hair which fell on her forehead away, Cui Yan revealed the black tattoo on the side of her left eyebrow.

And while this tattoo which looked like a dancing flame increased the woman's beauty, that wasn't what Jian Shen focused on.

Rather it was how much the black tattoo felt similar to Xifeng's golden mark between her eyebrows that caught Jian Shen's attention.

Could the two of these be related in some way?

While thinking so, Jian Shen once again examined Cui Yan from the top to bottom to see if he'd find any more traces that were similar to Xifeng on her.

Medium length black hair tied into a ponytail, pale white skin like gla.s.s, popping red lips, a bodacious body with splendid curves, a flower-like earring, and finally one more mark just like the one near her eyebrow near the neck.

Though this second mark almost made Jian Shen think that it was a curse mark, the feeling it gave was the same as the mysterious golden mark Xifeng and her daughter.