Chapter 350: Taiyin Body

The cold wind howled, and snow swirled erratically. The humble tavern, situated on a street corner, had no customers.

After several years, Old Man Jiang had aged even more. His hair was completely white, and his face was etched with many new wrinkles.

The tables and chairs were already spotless, yet he was still slowly wiping them. His cloudy old eyes seemed to hold a sense of nostalgia, as if he were reminiscing, and his expression was somewhat dazed.

His clothes were old and patched, and his hands were calloused. His movements were slow. His back was bent, and his white hair was sparse.

Upon seeing this, Ye Fan's heart ached. Why was their life still so difficult? The Jiang family had brought the grandfather and granddaughter to the Northern Region, so why were they still in such dire straits?

This lonely old man had lost his son in his later years. He had raised little Tingting by himself, and Ye Fan had thought their lives would improve once they joined the Jiang family. He hadn't expected this outcome.

He stepped into the small tavern, bringing in a biting cold wind. The old man's frail body immediately shivered, and he slowly turned around.

Ye Fan quickly closed the door, blocking the cold wind, and smiled. "Do you have anything to eat, old man?"

Old Man Jiang seemed delighted to see a customer; the wrinkles on his face softened. He wiped his hands and brought over some tea.

"What would you like to eat, young man?"

"Anything is fine, no need to be fancy." Ye Fan didn't want him to exert himself. It pained him to see someone so old still running a tavern.

"All right, please wait a moment." Old Man Jiang turned and went to the back.

Ye Fan quietly surveyed the tavern. It was very small, with only a few tables, but it was meticulously clean. Its layout and furnishings were remarkably similar to the old tavern he remembered.

There were still no hired hands; the old man was running it all by himself. In this freezing winter, hardly any customers came.

Ye Fan scanned every corner and realized the old man seemed to live alone. He found no trace of little Tingting, no small clothes or anything of the sort.

Before long, the old man brought out some steaming hot food. It wasn't a delicacy, but it certainly whetted the appetite.

Ye Fan ate a large bowl of noodles, several pancakes, and cleared all the dishes.

"You certainly have a good appetite, young man. When I was young, I could eat just as much…" Old Man Jiang smiled kindly and asked if he was full.

"I'm full, it was perfectly to my taste," Ye Fan replied with a smile.

Old Man Jiang cleared the dishes and refilled his tea. With a customer present, his face was alight with genuine joy.

"Are you living here by yourself, old man?" Ye Fan began to inquire.

"Yes," the old man said, resuming his wiping of the table.

"Old man, the table is already very clean. Look, it's gleaming. If you wipe it any more, it'll be a mirror."

"When you get old, there's not much to do, so I always find myself wanting to wipe things," Old Man Jiang said, putting down the rag. He shook his head and sat down.

"Don't you have any relatives?" Ye Fan asked cautiously, fearing he might sadden the old man.

"Yes, I have a granddaughter."

Although the old man was smiling, Ye Fan detected a hidden worry in his eyes, as if something was troubling him.

What was wrong? Had something happened to Tingting? Ye Fan felt a pang of doubt.

"Doesn't she live with you?"

"No, she's training with someone. But she's a very filial child; she comes back to see me every half month," the old man said, looking content.

But Ye Fan became even more suspicious, as the old man clearly harbored an unresolvable, deep-seated worry.

Ye Fan thought for a moment, then walked out of the tavern and circled the small town, using his Source Heaven Divine Sense to perceive everything around him.

He found no cultivators, no members of the Jiang family here, only ordinary people. Soon, he returned to the tavern.

"Come, young man, have another cup of tea," Old Man Jiang offered.

Old Man Jiang greeted him, not asking why he had left and returned.

"Old man, do you still remember me?" Ye Fan's bones crackled as he restored his original appearance. He needed to find out what had truly happened; he couldn't stop worrying about the grandfather and granddaughter.

"Child, is that you?" Old Man Jiang's cloudy old eyes widened in surprise.

Several years had passed, and Ye Fan's appearance had changed somewhat; he now looked fifteen or sixteen. But the old man quickly recognized him.

"Child…" The old man was very emotional.

"Old Man Jiang, please sit down. Take your time and tell me what happened." Ye Fan helped him to a chair in front of the stove.

"I heard Tingting say you caused a great stir, and many people are looking for you," Old Man Jiang said, sounding very worried.

Ye Fan smiled. "I'm doing very well, you don't need to worry. No one can catch me."

"Every time Tingting comes back, she says she wants to cultivate diligently so she can save you in the future. I've been very worried about you too."

Ye Fan was deeply moved. Little Tingting had only been four or five when they parted. He had thought that after several years, at such a young age, she might not remember him. He hadn't expected this sensible child to still remember him and want to rescue him.

The Desolate Ancient Sacred Body had stirred up endless commotion in the Northern Region, possessing a sacred artifact, and word of it had even reached the Jiang family, known even to little Tingting.

Old Man Jiang, with his calloused hands, pulled Ye Fan to sit beside him, examining him carefully. "It's good that you're well. It's good that nothing happened."

"Old man, what exactly happened? Why aren't you living with the Jiang family?"

"That place is full of cultivators, and I'm just an ordinary person. Their dwellings float in the sky, and I'm not used to it."

"There's probably something else, isn't there?" Ye Fan asked.

The old man nodded. "I didn't want to listen to all the gossip. I can make a living on my own."

Ye Fan's anger flared. "You're so old, and they had the nerve to make you leave?"

He already knew that the Jiang family had wronged Old Man Jiang's father, Jiang Zhe, forcing a genius of his generation to leave his homeland and die with regret. How could they treat Old Man Jiang this way now?

"No, I insisted on coming out myself; I didn't want to live there. To me, those people are like immortals. As a mere mortal living in palaces in the clouds, I felt utterly uncomfortable. I didn't even have anyone to talk to, and it was always the same."

"How is Tingting? Is something wrong?" Ye Fan kept feeling there was a hidden problem.

"My poor granddaughter… she might not live to be twenty years old." Old Man Jiang's face was streaked with cloudy tears.

Ye Fan was shocked. "What exactly happened?"

"Tingting is a Lunar Physique, they say she will die young…" Old Man Jiang's aged tears flowed continuously.

Upon first entering the Jiang family, Tingting's cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds, shaming many geniuses. Her talent even astonished a group of old masters.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before a retired old master of the Jiang family discovered that she possessed the extremely rare Lunar Physique. In terms of physical constitution, it was incredibly powerful.

However, people with this physique rarely live long; most die young. Throughout history, apart from one or two who left their names in cultivation records, none have lived past twenty.

After her physique was discovered, Old Man Jiang heard a lot of gossip. He was a mortal, while the Jiang family were all cultivators who could fly and burrow through the earth. He felt very lonely there and didn't want to hear those remarks, so he strongly insisted on moving out.

Through Old Man Jiang's narration, Ye Fan keenly sensed that the Jiang family was complicated, appearing to have two factions.

Old Man Jiang and little Tingting were descendants of God-King Jiang Taixu's lineage. This lineage had few members but were all very powerful, and they took great care of little Tingting and her grandfather.

The people from the other faction, however, were very cold, and most of the gossip came from them.

"Even so, they shouldn't let you live in such a humble tavern!" Ye Fan was very displeased.

"The people who are close to Tingting built me a mansion in a large city where mortals live. But I couldn't get used to it. When you get old, you always become nostalgic and prefer the small tavern in the Southern Region, so I came here."

"Tingting…"

"Tingting herself is quite optimistic, but…" The old man's eyes became cloudy again.

Little Tingting's cultivation progressed at a divine speed. In less than five years, she was already a small cultivator at the Other Shore realm, and she wasn't even nine years old yet.

Many elderly figures in the Jiang family were astonished; the cultivation speed of the Lunar Physique was too astounding. It was a great pity that she was destined to die young.

Ye Fan was also surprised. This was almost a realm per year, immediately reminding him of Xia Jiuyou, who was already a Four Extremities expert at thirteen or fourteen. Little Tingting's cultivation speed was definitely comparable.

The elder cultivators close to little Tingting had tried every possible method, scoured ancient texts, and concocted various spiritual medicines, but nothing had any effect. Ultimately, they were at a loss.

"Is there really no way at all?" Ye Fan thought, knowing that lovely little Tingting didn't have much time left. He felt a wrenching pain in his heart.

"I heard them say that a Life-Preserving Fruit must be found to prevent the Lunar Physique from dying young." The worry between Old Man Jiang's brows was so thick it couldn't be dispelled.

Ye Fan's heart immediately skipped a beat. The Human Essence Fruit, once mature, transformed into the Life-Preserving Fruit, comparable to ancient divine medicines and an unparalleled rarity.

Unfortunately, both ancient divine medicines and the Life-Preserving Fruit had almost vanished. Old Sacred Lords and Emperors, with little life left in their later years, had scoured the desolate lands but couldn't find them.

If found, they could grant rebirth, and their value was immeasurable! Alas, no one had ever been known to find them.

"Don't worry, old man, I can find the Life-Preserving Fruit. Little Tingting will be fine."

"Child, you can find it?" Old Man Jiang's eyes widened, then he shook his head. "You don't need to comfort me; I've already accepted this reality."

"I once cut a Human Essence Fruit from a stone, and after it matures, it becomes a Life-Preserving Fruit. I believe I can cut out such divine fruits in the future."

"Really?" Old Man Jiang was very surprised. "They said, only if the Source Heaven Master revives is there a glimmer of hope to find a Life-Preserving Fruit."

Ye Fan immediately smiled. "The reason I say that is because I have inherited the legacy of the Source Heaven Master. Little Tingting's matter is on me. Even if I can't cut out a Life-Preserving Fruit, I'll find a way to help her find an ancient divine medicine."

"Re… Really?" Old Man Jiang choked with emotion, clutching Ye Fan's hand with his rough old hands, asking again and again.

"Really, please rest assured!" Ye Fan replied with certainty.

"In a few more days, Tingting will be back to see me again. Child, you should meet Tingting."

Ye Fan smiled. "Of course I'll see her. It's almost five years now, I wonder what the little girl looks like."

The cold wind was biting, and heavy snow fell. For the past few days, Ye Fan had been following various news, hoping that God-King Jiang Taixu could emerge alive from Purple Mountain.

However, he was somewhat worried that even if God-King Jiang was still alive, he likely didn't have much lifespan left, perhaps not enough to deter the various Sacred Lords.

"If only there were a few Life-Preserving Fruits," he murmured, shaking his head. That was too unrealistic.

"If a complete divine medicine could be cut from a divine stone in God City, that could also solve it." He truly hoped that God-King Jiang Taixu was well and could live longer. That way, little Tingting would be protected, and no one would dare provoke her.

"Alas, even the successive Old Emperors of the Immortal Divine Dynasty, who commanded vast territories, could not obtain ancient divine medicines."

Four days later, a delicate, porcelain-like little girl descended into the small town, braving the wind and snow. She skipped and hopped into the tavern.

"Grandpa…"

"Tingting!" Old Man Jiang quickly went to meet her.

"Grandpa, you don't always have to worry about me." The little girl, dressed in white clothes whiter than snow, was like a porcelain doll, very beautiful and cute, her face full of happy smiles.

Old Man Jiang lovingly stroked her head. "Have you been well these past two weeks?"

"Very well! Tingting is very happy. Grand Ancestor specially permitted me to read the first half of the 'Hengyu Sutra.'"