“You two certainly share a temperament.” Yun Qingrao murmured, gently stroking the gilded treasure box on the table, her ice-silk skirt shimmering in the night dew. The compensation sent by the Beast Taming Sect exceeded her expectations, even the ancient Dragon Scale was returned intact, which instead made her suspicious.
The Mist Concealing Bell suddenly rang without wind, and the cloud-patterned wide sleeves dispersed the lingering scent in the room. “Is Aunt Qing secretly learning the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s escape technique again?” Yun Qingrao’s fingertips condensed ice crystals, which transformed into fluttering snow butterflies after she recognized the arrival.
“To make Yao'er say ‘he’, could it be the one Sect Leader Mu mentioned?” Luo Qing deliberately drew out her words, her hair ornaments scattering star-like fragments of light.
“Those old fellows are almost going crazy.” The purple-robed female cultivator lightly tapped Yun Qingrao’s forehead. “Three whole years with no news, and the Beast Taming Sect keeps prevaricating and making excuses. Do they think we’ve gone mad from seclusion?”
Before she finished speaking, her tone softened again: “The Sect rules are strict, and the Ancestor cannot act arbitrarily. I secretly snuck into the Yixian Palace Disciple team, originally intending to infiltrate the Grotto-Heaven to find you, but who knew you would break through on your own? Even stranger, those sword-crazed lunatics from the Beast Taming Sect actually agreed to reason?”
Luo Qing, Supreme Elder of Yixian Palace, at the Great Perfection of the Void Return Realm, her stealth techniques are unparalleled.
“An alliance is indeed the best strategy right now.” Yun Qingrao’s delicate hand brushed the jade pendant at her waist.
“Exactly. However, I must return first, after all…” Luo Qing tidied the stray hairs at her temples, a hint of cunning in her smile, “Infiltrating is not exactly dignified.”
“Please convey this matter, Aunt Qing.” Yun Qingrao lowered her voice, revealing the secret of the world in full.
Luo Qing’s pupils constricted. “The world’s origin is actually incomplete?” The silk handkerchief in her sleeve was crumpled with wrinkles, and after a long moment, she said, “This makes cooperation even more essential.”
After her emotions settled slightly, she suddenly remembered something: “Were there any opportunities found in the Mystic Realm?”
A cyan dragon shadow suddenly rose around Yun Qingrao, and the void faintly showed the image of scales and claws churning.
Aside from her entanglement with Qing Feng, she recounted all the good fortune she had obtained.
“Heaven-tier supreme treasure, ancient dragon blood!” Luo Qing’s joy didn’t reach her eyes, and she suddenly frowned: “Are you really going to venture into the Endless Demon Sea?”
“At least one needs to be in the Void Return Realm to dare to venture in.” Yun Qingrao intimately hooked Luo Qing’s arm. “You know, I never act rashly.”
“At least you need to undergo Tribulation!” Luo Qing grabbed her wrist in return. “The Demon Sea is far more dangerous than you imagine.”
“Then I’ll break through to the next realm sooner.” The young girl’s eyes sparkled, rarely showing such a hint of coquettishness.
Luo Qing sighed inwardly, her tone suddenly shifting: “Perhaps the human and demon races can form an alliance, it doesn’t necessarily have to come to war…”
“Aunt Qing is right.” Yun Qingrao responded with lowered eyes, her long lashes concealing the flicker in her gaze.
Noticing her distraction, Luo Qing suddenly raised an eyebrow: “The plan you just mentioned, is it that young fellow named Qing Feng? He helped scheme against his own Sect, could it be that you’ve charmed him?”
Yun Qingrao’s fingertips suddenly tightened, and a faint blush appeared behind her ears: “It was merely repaying a life-saving favor.”
Luo Qing’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. This girl had been raised by her since childhood, and such behavior was a first.
Above the clouds, Mu Zhengting, an Elder of the Beast Taming Sect, pressed his sword hilt, his face full of confusion: “Grand-Uncle, not pursuing Yun Qingrao was already giving enough face, why do we still need to bestow treasures?”
Feng Dingshi looked at the surging sea of clouds in the distance, his aged face hidden in the shadow of his bamboo hat: “Some karma, if not settled now, will have to be repaid in the future.”
“We detained a Disciple from Yixian Palace for three years, Yun Qingrao rescued our Sect’s Disciple, and the Grotto-Heaven ultimately came under our Sect’s control. Which of these three favors isn’t worth a return gift? Since when did the integrity of us sword cultivators become so cheap?”
Feng Dingshi’s withered hand pressed on the mottled sword sheath, his knuckles turning white.
“Grand-Uncle, the reasoning is sound, but this explanation is too blunt.” Mu Zhengting’s brows, beneath his cyan jade crown, furrowed into a ‘Sichuan’ character.
“Either we fall out with Yixian Palace over the seven Sect-suppressing magical treasures, or we follow what that kid Qing Feng said and kill Yun Qingrao to eliminate future troubles. You are the Sect Leader; if you decide to act, this old bone of mine, already half in the grave, naturally cannot stop you.”
As Feng Dingshi sneered, the rusty iron sword at his waist actually let out a dragon’s roar.
Mu Zhengting’s gaze swept over the bulging veins on the back of his hand, swallowing the words “Grand-Uncle, please put down your sword first” that were at his throat, and instead said seriously: “This matter is of great importance; we should report it to the Ancestor of the Sword Tomb for a decision.”
“Precisely!” Feng Dingshi sighed and withdrew his stance, the sword’s roar abruptly ceasing: “It’s just that disturbing the Ancestor’s cultivation will consume his lifespan again. It’s regrettable that we, the younger generation, are incompetent; no one has yet broken through the shackles of the Heavenly Tribulation.”
Deep within the Sword Tomb, past nine layers of restrictions, the crystal image suddenly fluctuated.
The gray-robed elder, who had been sitting like a stone sculpture, suddenly opened his eyes, two beams of sword light bursting from his cloudy pupils. In an instant, all the swords in the entire Sword Tomb resonated.
Mu Zhengting felt his spiritual power stagnate, as if countless invisible sword edges were pressed against his throat.
“Is this true?” The old man’s voice was like metal striking metal, and the ancient swords hanging on the cave walls trembled in response.
Feng Dingshi bowed and presented the recording crystal: “The Saintess of Yixian Palace personally recounted it, Qing Feng of Chen Ming Peak swore by his Dao Heart, and there’s the Celestial Void Daoist’s inheritance in that Grotto-Heaven.”
Before he finished speaking, the old man suddenly coughed violently, and the black blood seeping from between his fingers actually turned into tiny sword shadows and dissipated.
After calming down, he said hoarsely: “The Immortal Alliance Conference is imminent; we must form an alliance with the Dao Sect. Is Celestial Void’s Armillary Sphere still missing?”
“I was just about to have Zisu contact Yun Qingrao for a detailed investigation.” Mu Zhengting quickly interjected, and seeing the look Feng Dingshi secretly gave him, he added: “Elite Disciples have already been arranged to set up a sword array in the Thirty-Three Grotto-Heavens.”
The Ancestor nodded, his gaze penetrating the heavy stone walls and looking towards the sky: “The laws of heaven and earth are changing; we don’t have much time left.” With that, his figure had transformed into a sky full of starlight and merged into the Sword Mound, leaving only the Sect Leader’s token humming in mid-air.
“Yun Qingrao and Qing Feng? How credible are these two young ones?” The Ancestor of the Beast Taming Sect lightly tapped the stone table with his finger.
Mu Zhengting bowed and reported: “Immortal Yun swore by her Dao Heart. Although there was some concealment in her soul fluctuations, the core information should be true. As for Qing Feng, although his cultivation is shallow, he is a true-born Disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, and has always been astute and loyal.”
“Loyal?” Feng Dingshi suddenly sneered, interrupting, “The insidious method he proposed the other day seemed like something from the Demon Dao.”
The Ancestor on the main seat showed a playful expression: “Dingshi, you who never leave the Sect, why did you make an exception?”
“Zisu vouched for it.” Feng Dingshi uttered four words, startling Mu Zhengting, whose pupils constricted slightly.
The Ancestor’s eyebrows raised slightly, and the Yin and Yang energies in his palm suddenly flowed.
In the bamboo forest of Chen Ming Peak, Dao Lord Zisu, who was reading an ancient book, suddenly felt the world turn upside down, and in an instant, she was kneeling before the bluestone steps of the Sword Tomb.
“You may rise.” The Ancestor waved his sleeve, lifting the purple-robed cultivator. “Tell me about that little rascal.”
Zisu adjusted her crooked jade crown: “Qing Feng’s talent is extraordinary, but he is inherently lazy. He seems carefree but is actually deeply emotional. Qin Balance and his Disciple are his weak points; as long as that stubborn master and Disciple pair are there, even if the sky falls, this kid will hold up the Beast Taming Sect’s plaque and not flee.”
“He’s quite an interesting person.” The Ancestor clapped his hands and laughed. “How old is he?”
“He just had his coming-of-age ceremony.”
“Haha! When I was his age, I still dreamt of venturing into the Demon Abyss alone!” The Ancestor’s eyes showed a hint of reminiscence. “Let him do as he pleases; it’s not good for young people to have no spirit.”
