Chapter 2476: Chapter 2540: The Joy of the Women
The women of the Li family were overjoyed when they heard that Li Yifei had woken up. Even someone as composed as Su Mengxin and Ye Yunzhu lost their poise in their excitement when they heard the news, hurriedly dropping what they were doing to go see Li Yifei.
The Li family’s structure was far too special, and it was precisely because of this that Li Yifei was especially important. Of course, in a real family, every member is important.
Seeing his wives and children, Li Yifei’s mood also brightened. He had just learned that the two of them had been cultivating for several months; no wonder that when he came out, even the sky outside felt different. After all, when they went into seclusion it was only early autumn, and now it was midwinter. After several months apart, everyone in the Li family took turns expressing how much they had missed him.
By the time everyone calmed down, two hours had already passed. Li Yifei and Su Lio sat together, Elder Su and Yao Lingfu sat opposite, and the women of the Li family each found a place to sit down. Naturally, the focus was on Li Yifei and Su Lio. After several months, everyone had been waiting for an answer, waiting for them to reveal the mystery—after cultivating nonstop for so long, just what level had they reached?
Seeing the expectant looks in everyone’s eyes, Li Yifei and Su Lio exchanged a glance, and she said softly, "You say it."
"Alright." Li Yifei nodded and said, "Grandpa, Elder Yao, after this long period of cultivation, things have turned out just as you guessed: Ali’s body is completely fine now. The Sky Yin Absolute Vein hasn’t been cured, but through the Dual Cultivation Technique, Su Lio and I worked out a brand-new cultivation method. With this method Ali can directly use the cold energy in her body to cultivate her Upper Dantian, so Ali is now also an Innate Expert!"
Across from him, Elder Su nodded repeatedly, eyes full of relief. He and Yao Lingfu had already guessed this result, but this was the best possible outcome. Before, they had thought the odds were very small.
The women of the Li family were full of amazement. They hadn’t expected that not only would Su Lio be fine, she would even leap straight into the ranks of experts. For a moment everyone couldn’t help congratulating her. One more expert in the Li family, in the face of increasingly serious challenges, also meant one more layer of safety.
As for the relationship between Su Lio and Li Yifei, the women naturally saw it clearly at a glance. The two of them had already reached this point; it would be strange if there was no follow-up.
"Yifei, what about you? Has the Worm been removed?" Yao Lingfu asked with concern.
Li Yifei smiled at her words and said, "Elder, about the Worm... I feel like it’s gone, but I don’t have proof. I just can’t sense its existence anymore, and it’s no longer restraining me."
At the mention of the Worm, joy immediately surfaced on the faces of the Li family women. That Worm could be called the greatest worry pressing on their hearts. Now that it was gone, it meant Li Yifei could be with them... Almost every woman showed a look of happiness, and Na Yi let out a long breath of relief. Her feeling had been right, the Worm really had disappeared. Although it meant that special link between her and Li Yifei was severed, they already had genuine feelings now and no longer needed the Worm’s restraint.
Seeing the looks on her sisters’ faces, Na Yi also felt much more at ease inside.
"Na Yi said she can’t sense the Worm’s existence anymore either!" Yao Lingfu nodded, then said, "It seems the Worm is what saved you back then."
"Back then?" Li Yifei was a bit puzzled. He asked, "Elder, what are you referring to?"
Yao Lingfu then recounted what Jiang Ningxiang had told her, as well as how dangerous it had been at the time.
After listening, Li Yifei looked over at Jiang Ningxiang. She pursed her lips and smiled as she met his gaze.
"So that’s how it was. I’d already fallen apart at the time, and Ali didn’t respond either. If it hadn’t been for your help, Ningxiang, we might have been in real danger."
"It’s fine, hubby. As long as you’re all okay, that’s what matters. Besides, I didn’t really help much—at most I was just caught up in the backlash. In the end it still depended on you two!" Jiang Ningxiang said.
Li Yifei laughed and said, "It really did go beyond expectations, but the result is good. We’re all fine now."
The happiest ones were naturally the women of the Li family. Elder Su also breathed a sigh of relief. What he’d worried about most was his granddaughter’s health. That was why, back when he’d encountered Li Yifei, Elder Su had immediately started to scheme; once he’d investigated Li Yifei’s background, he’d wanted to entrust his granddaughter to him. Looking at it now, that choice back then had been very correct. In order to save Ali, Li Yifei had even been willing to stake his own life.
The only one who needed to be especially careful now was Su Lio herself. She currently had a body full of power but didn’t know how to control it yet, so it would be easy for her to hurt others. Because of that, over the next few days Su Lio focused on trying to get a handle on her own body.
Her Cultivational Techniques were also somewhat different from others’, since she cultivated the Upper Dantian.
During these days the two of them were still living together. Li Yifei didn’t immediately start "making it up" to the other women just because the Worm had disappeared. Instead he continued Dual Cultivation, helping Su Lio stabilize her body and consolidate her cultivation, so she wouldn’t run into mishaps.
As for Li Yifei himself, he’d entered a very subtle realm. He hadn’t mentioned it, not because he didn’t trust Elder Su and the others, but because he felt that even if he told them about his condition, they might not know the reason either.
Li Yifei felt he had improved. Through these months of Dual Cultivation, plus a few days of adjustment after waking, he was sure that he was no longer the same. Having walked through the gates of hell this time and with the Worm gone, Li Yifei truly felt that he had risen to another level.
But as for exactly where he’d improved, that was something he needed to explore on his own.
How to put it... Li Yifei felt he’d stepped into a realm that was very hard to describe, and the improvement wasn’t just that his True Qi had increased, his Meridians had expanded, or his body had grown tougher. It was more like a vague feeling in the dark, something very hard to put into words.
If he had to use a metaphor, it was like a basketball player whose height and weight hadn’t changed much, but whereas before Li Yifei had played on a city team, now he’d gone to the national team. His skills and so on might not have improved yet, but his horizons, the people he came into contact with, his fans, his training in technique and everything else were all improving—or at least had the potential to improve.
Perhaps, once he figured out exactly what had improved, Li Yifei would know what kind of change he had undergone.
The things he’d just mentioned were all surface-level improvements. Vaguely, Li Yifei felt that this time his perception of cultivation, of his body, and of the outside world had all changed.
This subtle realm was something he couldn’t quite describe for now, so he decided to study it properly.
With Li Yifei and Su Lio both fine, the women of the Li family were naturally filled with joy, and Elder Su and Yao Lingfu also relaxed.
Li Yifei specially called Murong Yuanqing and also learned from his wives what had happened between the two old men while he was in seclusion. When he heard that Li Yifei had woken up and that things had turned out almost as well as they possibly could, Murong Yuanqing was very happy. After laughing over the phone, the old man said, "Rest for two days, have a proper New Year. After the holiday we may have a lot to do."
"After the New Year?" Li Yifei immediately thought of the Noah’s Ark Organization, nodded, and said, "Alright, Elder, if you give the word, this junior won’t hesitate."
"We will need you, but not yet. Enjoy the New Year, spend time with your family." Murong Yuanqing added, "Alright, go keep your family company. I’ve got other things to take care of here."
After Murong Yuanqing hung up, Li Yifei frowned slightly. The old man’s mood didn’t seem too good; he didn’t know why. Since Murong didn’t say, Li Yifei couldn’t very well ask. But thinking of the mission after the New Year, Li Yifei just raised an eyebrow. Anyway, there were only a few days left before the holiday; he might as well focus on his family first.
"Hubby." Li Xinyue saw Li Yifei walking over.
Li Yifei reached out and pinched her cheek. "The New Year’s coming. Do you want to go home for a visit?"
"Back to my parents’ place?" Li Xinyue was stunned for a moment. Her family situation was a bit complicated, and after she came to the Li family some unpleasant things had happened. So when she heard what Li Yifei said...
Li Yifei smiled easily and said, "Of course. Go see your dad, see your little brother."
This was a lingering knot in Li Xinyue’s heart. Because of these issues, she was very cautious. Hearing this, Li Xinyue said, "I... I’ve already given them money."
"Silly girl, giving them money is fine, but you should also visit them in person now and then."
"Hubby... My relationship with them is pretty average. Giving them money is already enough. My dad understands."
"I don’t mean anything else. I just don’t want you to grow too distant from them. The unpleasant things from before are all small stuff. There’s nothing that can’t be sorted out."
Li Xinyue nodded and said, "Hubby, I know what you mean. They’re living very well now!"
"I’m not forcing you, just making a suggestion. It’s the New Year after all. The same goes for the others—while your relatives are still around, stay in contact with them. Even with those not-so-great relatives, in the end it usually just comes down to money. Our family lacks everything except money, so we can afford it!" Li Yifei said, playing the nouveau riche.
Li Xinyue couldn’t help but laugh, then reached out to hold his arm, leaning her head on it and rubbing against him as she said, "Hubby, I know you’re doing it for my own good, but let’s just leave this matter as it is. Our family will recognize relatives, but as for relatives like my stepmother’s side, we’d better not get too close. Who knows what they might try to pull."
Li Xinyue had been scared off by that kind of relative. After the incidents before, she had seen clearly what those relatives really were like.
So Li Yifei didn’t push her any further. This year at the Li family was as lively as ever. New Year supplies and so on were all handed out early, and the quantity and quality went without saying. Put simply, they tried their best to satisfy everyone who supported the Li family.
After this enlightenment on the edge of life and death, Li Yifei cared even less about money. As long as people were alive, that was worth more than anything. If you weren’t around anymore, no matter how much money you had it was meaningless. Of course, there was a premise to this—a very important one: you had to have a lot of money to begin with to be able to reach such "great enlightenment." Otherwise, even if you did reach that enlightenment, people who heard you would just think you were being sour.
Li Yifei strolled around with Li Xinyue for a while before heading back, only to see Xu Yingying running over in a hurry. Li Yifei quickly went to meet her.
