Because Lu Qingyu instantly knew when Lu Yaoyao returned safe and sound, Yao Jiuxiao naturally knew it too. At the time, he was inside the ten thousand years old ice chamber, meditating with his eyes closed, exuding an aura that was even colder than the perpetual coldness of the ice chamber.
When Yao Jiuxiao slowly opened his eyes, his deep gaze, as cold as the ice cave itself, slowly melted to reveal overflowing gentleness. He stood up, left the ice chamber, and returned to his residence in a blink of an eye.
Guiyuan Sect has thirteen main peaks, one of which was the residence of Yao Jiuxiao – East Ninth Peak. East Ninth Peak was the most eye-catching but also the most deserted among the thirteen main peaks; the major reason lay in the fact that Yao Jiuxiao lived alone and didn’t have a single disciple. Usually, only a few outer disciples came to clean regularly, leaving the peak unattended for the rest of the time, lonely and deserted.
When Yao Jiuxiao returned to the East Ninth Peak, Lu Chongyun, the sect leader of the Guiyuan Sect, immediately noticed the first time and hurriedly came over.
“Senior Brother, what do you mean by that message?” Lu Chongyun asked impatiently. Just before Yao Jiuxiao left for his latest retreat a few weeks ago, he suddenly sent a message to Lu Chongyun, asking the latter to renovate his residence. Most surprisingly, he wanted the side courtyard next to his own to be transformed into a red-themed boudoir that a little girl liked.
Yao Jiuxiao sent this baffling order and went to retreat, leaving Lu Chongyun running wild with imagination.
What did Senior Brother mean? Did he finally figure it out and want to accept a disciple?
But… such a specific instruction and such a bright color… had Senior Brother found a female disciple outside? And now he was going to take her back?
Senior Brother did such a shocking thing, but left him, the Junior Brother, totally in the dark.
Even so, why did Senior Brother actually value this disciple too much? Even willing to stand a gaudy color he usually distasted? One had to know that this East Ninth Peak had only seen plain and boring colors for eons!
Because of Yao Jiuxiao’s mysterious order, the whole Guiyuan Sect was thrown into confusion. Everyone had their own guess, and even the outer disciples also learned about the rumor that Dao Venerable Hengwu was going to accept a disciple.
Lu Chongyun was anxiously waiting for Yao Jiuxiao to leave his retreat. When he finally did, Lu Chongyun immediately ran over to demand an explanation.
“Are you going to take a disciple?” Except for this reason, Lu Chongyun couldn’t imagine why Yao Jiuxiao suddenly wanted to remodel the residence. There was still another half a year until Guiyuan Sect’s recruitment opened. Was he planning to welcome his new disciple at the time?
Yao Jiuxiao slowly shook his head. He then looked around the renovated courtyard, which was now bright with a few clumps of colorful spiritual flowers. The bedroom itself was decorated with great care, looking totally exquisite.
Maybe because she had only been exposed to one bright color since birth, Lu Yaoyao grew up really fond of red. This was completely opposite to Yao Jiuxiao’s own taste and followed Lu Qingyu… But it was just a preferred color and nothing harmful, so he didn’t care.
Lu Chongyun was indeed unable to comprehend Yao Jiuxiao’s mind, but he was very attentive to the latter’s order. “Not taking a disciple? So what? You aren’t going to welcome a Dao companion, right?” In Lu Chongyun’s opinion, this was even more absurd than the possibility of Yao Jiuxiao finally taking a disciple.
Yao Jiuxiao’s temperament was inherently cold, and although there were a select few with whom he had a good relationship with, they could only be called his close friends at most. As far as Lu Chongyun knew, there was no possibility of Yao Jiuxiao tying a knot with any of them.
Lu Chongyun couldn’t imagine seeing his Senior Brother standing side by side with a Dao companion. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if someone in this world actually had the ability to stand by Senior Brother’s side.
Yao Jiuxiao slowly shook his head.
Lu Chongyun frowned and finally got angry: “Spill it now. What else could it be? Since you aren’t taking a disciple or a Dao companion, are you telling me you will bring a daughter back?”
Yao Jiuxiao nodded.
“Of course it’s impossible… wait, a daughter?!” Seeing Yao Jiuxiao nod, Lu Chongyun’s eyes almost popped out of their socket.
“Where did your daughter come from?” What Lu Chongyun wanted to but didn’t dare to ask was — which brave lady dared to climb to the top of the snowy mountain to pick this iceberg flower? Was she not afraid of getting frozen to death?
Yao didn’t like small talk and only briefly informed Lu Chongyun that yes, he has a daughter, and yes, she is biological, not adopted. Aside from these, he said no more.
“How old is your daughter? Where is she now, and when will you bring her back? Who is her mother… Yao Hengwu, speak! Why do you never tell me that you already have a child? Am I not your most beloved junior brother?!”
“…”
…
None of the commotions in the Devil Palace nor in Guiyuan Sect reached Lu Yaoyao, who remained clueless. Time seemed to pass very slowly as Lu Yaoyao impatiently waited until Cangwu secret realm opened again. To distract herself, Lu Yaoyao took Shen Changyuan to all corners of the secret realm, gathering many spiritual materials wherever they went.
Time passed, and finally came the day when the secret realm opened. Ye Zelan and Ye Qingdai arrived at the gate, along with other disciples who entered Cangwu this time. The two sisters glanced back at the woods, then swept their eyes across the crowd. The people closest to the gate were all disciples of major sects, with several wandering cultivators standing at a distance. However, the figure of the little girl they wanted to see the most was not among them, and so did her brother.
Why weren’t they here yet? Nothing happened to them, right?
Ye Zelan’s expression remained calm, but inside, she resisted the urge to ask around, so as not to expose her two saviors.
In one of the corners, the disciples of the Wentian Sect stood in isolation. Only seven remained out of eight disciples who entered the secret realm, but no one dared to speak about it.
Li Shengyuan’s severed hand was bandaged, his face was very gloomy, and his ferocious eyes swept across the crowd, wanting to identify the culprit who dared to sever his hand. Disciples of the small sects didn’t dare to offend Wentian Sect, nor did they possess a sword aura strong enough to cut off Li Shengyuan’s hands. Therefore, his gaze fell on the disciples of large sects, especially those who belonged to the Guiyuan Sect.
However, the disciples who entered Cangwu secret realm this time were all ordinary disciples in the Qi Condensation stage, and even with the backing of the Guiyuan Sect, those ordinary disciples wouldn’t dare to offend Li Shengyuan, the heir of the Wentian Sect.
The crowd had noticed Li Shengyuan’s severed hand. They were extremely curious, as they had no way to know if the hand was lost by accident or deliberately cut by someone. Still, Li Shengyuan’s reputation was stinky enough that many were secretly rejoicing at his misfortune.
Li Shengyuan’s gloomy eyes scared most of the disciples, who promptly took a distance from him. This caused the Wentian group to be isolated in the corner, with a large space between them and the rest of the crowd.
The gate of the Cangwu secret realm finally opened. Each disciple used their spiritual aura to activate the entry token and quickly left one after another. Ye Qingdai said to Ye Zelan, “Eldest Senior Sister, we should leave too.”
Ye Zelan nodded. She injected spiritual aura into the token in her hand. The next moment, they were enveloped by a blinding light and left the Cangwu secret realm.
Li Shengyuan and the rest of his fellow disciples also hurriedly took their leave. Their figures instantly appeared in the main square of the Wentian Sect. The next moment, Li Shengyuan’s hoarse voice resounded in the air, “Father, you have to avenge me!”
Terrifying coercion suddenly enveloped the whole square, and the figure of the Wentian Sect leader instantly appeared in front of Li Shengyuan. Upon seeing his son’s severed hand, his expression changed greatly, “Who did it?”
Sect Leader Li’s eyes swept sharply at the disciples who followed his son to Cangwu secret realm. All of them fell onto their knees with a thud and replied tremblingly, “F-forgive us, Sect Leader… we failed to identify the perpetrator who attacked Young Master…”
“We only saw a sword aura suddenly swept by. The coercion it had was terrifying, but we didn’t see the one who released it…”
“It’s those bastards!” Li Shengyuan’s face twisted, “It must be those bastards from Guiyuan Sect! Lu Junyang has long seen me as a thorn in his eyes!”
Only cultivators of the Nascent Soul stage and above could release sword aura, but the Cangwu secret realm had a rule that forbade those above the Foundation Establishment stage from entering. However, this rule could be easily circumvented by deliberately suppressing one’s cultivation base.
Sect Leader Li was furious. He glanced coldly at the kneeling disciples and said, “You failed to protect your Young Master. Go to the punishment hall and receive your punishment.”
“Yes, Sect Leader. Thank you for your compassion!” The disciples almost cried in relief and gratitude. Compared to their fellow disciple who was killed in the secret realm after receiving Li Shengyuan’s anger, they were lucky enough to return alive and only received a punishment, which was very magnanimous in contrast.
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