“Is everything alright?” Jiang Huai asked gently.
Luo Qingyu buried her face in his shoulder. “It’s fine… Jiang Huai Gege, why are you here?”
“I just came out of the Daoji Ancestral Land with Wen Wanwan, so I thought I’d come pick you up with her. Hmm? You’ve reached the Transcendent stage?” Jiang Huai quickly sensed Luo Qingyu’s cultivation level. She had now reached the Fifth Level Transc, indicating she had gained significant opportunities in the Immortal Spirit Secret Realm. After a while, Luo Qingyu obediently got up from Jiang Huai’s embrace. Jiang Huai looked at Bai Li, who stood quietly beside them, her giant sword floating behind her. It was a Heaven-tier Spirit Sword. Jiang Huai winked at her, “How was your harvest?”
“Not bad, just caused a bit of trouble.”
“Trouble?” Jiang Huai was taken aback.
Bai Li looked towards the crowd, then raised her small hand and pointed at one of the cultivators.
“In the secret realm, during a multi-person trial, I couldn’t transform back into my true form. He sensed my power from the Dragon Crystal and wanted me as his spirit beast. I told him I was your spirit beast, but he said he’d never heard of you and tried to force me. I beat him up.”
The cultivator Bai Li pointed to wore a brocade robe and his face was slightly pale. He was clearly still recovering from an old injury. After a moment of silence, Bai Li thought, “He has an older brother who also got a great opportunity and is very powerful. Qingyu used a formation disk obtained in the secret realm to set up a barrier. We hid inside the formation disk to escape his brother’s revenge.”
Bai Li placed her hand on Jiang Huai’s shoulder, her eyes gazing at him calmly. She was waiting for his reaction.
The moment she saw anger flare in Jiang Huai’s eyes, her suspended heart quietly settled. Her tone rose slightly, “Master, I told him I’m your spirit beast, but he still wanted to harm me… You’ll help me get revenge, right?”
Jiang Huai found Bai Li’s deliberately acting spoiled tone particularly amusing. Given Bai Li’s usually straightforward personality, it was rare to see her acting this way. Bai Li had already shrunk next to him, hugging his arm, her eyes pretending to be timid as she glanced at the cultivator she had just pointed to in the crowd.
“Are you not hurt?” Jiang Huai asked gently.
“I’m fine… He was so weak, he couldn’t even take two sword strikes before spitting blood. But his brother is really too powerful. Even Qingyu and I together couldn’t defeat him, so we had to use the formation disk to hide like cowards.”
“Who is his brother? Point him out.” Jiang Huai’s gaze scanned the crowd and he quickly spotted a man with a similar appearance to the injured cultivator. He also wore a brocade robe embroidered with golden dragon patterns. He was slender yet exuded power. From his aura, Jiang Huai immediately recognized him as a sword cultivator.
Luo Yueguan naturally heard Jiang Huai’s conversation with Bai Li and Luo Qingyu. Without revealing any emotion, she stepped forward and stood before the three of them. The two cultivators Bai Li had pointed at earlier also approached their respective elders. After a series of whispers, the gazes of the two groups met, and the atmosphere became somewhat tense.
“Qingxuan Sect Master Luo Yueguan?”
A female cultivator in a deep blue ruqun stepped forward, shielding the two children behind her. Her eyes coldly fixed on Luo Yueguan.
She had met Luo Yueguan once before at a gamble in Ziyun Pavilion. She knew she was the wife of the Mu family head, Mu Lanyan, from Linglong Continent. The Mu family was the foremost aristocratic family in Linglong Continent, and Mu Lanyan herself was an early Eighth Realm cultivator, one of the four Eighth Realm cultivators in Linglong Continent.
“It is I,” Luo Yueguan replied calmly, her eyes also revealing a trace of coldness.
“I heard from my child… that the little girl you are protecting is a Snake Demon with dragon potential? She injured his lifeblood with a sword. What is your relationship with her?”
This question actually put Luo Yueguan in a difficult position for a moment.
She had no personal relationship with Bai Li. If there was a dispute between Luo Qingyu and Mu Lanyan’s child, she would certainly have reason to seek justice for Luo Qingyu. But Bai Li… was merely Jiang Huai’s friend, and Jiang Huai was her son-in-law. Bai Li was from the Monster Clan of the Western Region. Logically and reasonably, it seemed inappropriate for her to intervene.
However, since she was Jiang Huai’s friend, she naturally couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
“She is my son-in-law’s friend. What of it? I just heard… that your child wanted to make her his spirit beast, but his strength was inferior to hers, so she cut him twice. He lacks cultivation and doesn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth; it’s good for him to suffer a little.” Luo Yueguan’s tone was sharp, with no hint of politeness.
Mu Lanyan sneered, “You are a Human Clan member, yet you are speaking up for a Western Region demon who has strayed into the Eastern Region?”
“I am reasoning with you.”
“She injured my child with a sword, so there is no reasoning!” Mu Lanyan snorted coldly and the next moment raised her hand, a surge of spiritual energy heading towards Bai Li. Luo Yueguan immediately waved her sleeve, blocking the spiritual energy instantly.
This action naturally stunned many cultivators present, who then gathered to the side to watch the spectacle. Indeed, regardless of age or cultivation level, enjoying a spectacle was always human nature.
A hint of anger flickered in Luo Yueguan’s eyes. “The feud is between juniors. Is it fitting for you, an elder, to intervene and lose face?”
“I am seeking justice for this Western Region demon. Since you are not related to her, it is not your place to meddle!”
From the crowd, an elder whispered to a junior like a joke, “Mu Lanyan of the Mu family in Linglong Continent is famous for her protectiveness of her children, and Luo Yueguan is also famous for her unreasonableness. Both women are known for their beauty and cultivation. It’s truly interesting to see them arguing with flushed faces.”
“And what if I insist on meddling?!”
Spiritual energy surged around Luo Yueguan, the wind blowing her hair. Jiang Huai looked at Luo Yueguan’s profile. At this moment, Luo Yueguan’s eyes were unusually indifferent, and her cold, beautiful face was tinged with bone-chilling coldness.
This moved Jiang Huai a little.
Bai Li’s body trembled slightly, her fingers tightly gripping Jiang Huai’s clothes. Only now did she realize that she was, after all, an outsider. In this human world, even if she could contend with these prodigies, they all had powerful backing behind them, while she… was alone. She knew her relationship with Luo Yueguan was not that close; she was merely benefiting from Jiang Huai’s connection.
Mu Lanyan seeking justice for her child was reasonable. But Luo Yueguan intervening for an unrelated outsider was somewhat inexplicable. Yet Luo Yueguan did not retreat an inch, even initiating the spiritual energy first, as if daring Mu Lanyan to fight her if she was not satisfied.
Generally speaking, cultivators who had reached the Eighth Realm rarely fought each other. Eighth Realm cultivators almost all knew each other. Even if they weren’t well-acquainted, they had met. They all cultivated in the Eastern Region, and eventually, they had to see each other. Most of the time, big issues were settled down, and small issues were resolved, so they did not form any enmity.
“You cannot meddle.” Mu Lanyan’s aura was no less than Luo Yueguan’s. The moment Luo Yueguan’s spiritual energy erupted, a sheathed Spirit Sword appeared in her hand. She held the sheath in her hand and grasped the hilt. The moment she drew the sword, a chilling sword energy nearly enveloped a radius of ten miles.
The cultivators watching the spectacle quickly shielded their juniors, preventing them from being injured by Mu Lanyan’s sword energy. Many were already looking forward to it. How many years had it been since two Eighth Realm cultivators fought? And over such a trivial matter? Indeed, it was more interesting when women argued.
Spiritual energy surged in mid-air. Jiang Huai frowned slightly and suddenly took a step forward.
His abrupt appearance surprised the crowd. Then they heard Jiang Huai speak.
“Senior, I am Jiang Huai of the Tian Xuan Sect.”
This sentence seemed to possess a strange magic. The moment it fell, the crowd suddenly quieted down. Immediately, the elders present began telling their juniors stories about the recent most talked-about and widespread event in the Eastern Region: the emergence of the Refined Yin Demon Gu in the Daoji Ancestral Land, and how it was slain by a cultivator from Moon Wave Continent.
That cultivator’s name was Jiang Huai.
Bai Li stood behind him, her eyes calm, not showing any fear. “The Western Region Snake Clan you speak of became my spirit beast three years ago. However, because I was worried that the slave imprint might harm her soul, I did not imprint it. I believe she told your child during the dispute, but he still wanted to seize my spirit beast. By all reason and logic, he brought this upon himself.”
“I understand your concern for your child, Senior, but as an elder, you must uphold principles. If you indulge him in seizing another’s spirit beast today, will you also indulge him in seizing another’s Dao Companion tomorrow? Or seizing another’s Spirit Sword and taking another’s life?”
Mu Lanyansizing Jiang Huai up seriously, her eyes grew colder. “I have heard of your name, Jiang Huai of the Tian Xuan Sect? Since your cultivation is already crippled and cannot recover… why not give your spirit beast to my child, allowing me to imprint it? They can cultivate together, and my child has good cultivation talent. He will surely treat your spirit beast well in the future… I can also offer you some compensation.”
The corner of Mu Lanyan’s mouth curved into a smile, but the next second, her smile froze.
“Why don’t you go die?”
Jiang Huai immediately interrupted Mu Lanyan. “Then according to you, I think my talent for the Sword Dao is much better than yours, so why don’t you give me your sword now? Your two mongrel sons, I can kill with one punch even with my crippled cultivation, and you dare to talk to me like this?”
Jiang Huai had initially intended to speak calmly, but hearing Mu Lanyan speak such disgusting words so brazenly made him unable to hold back.
Mu Lanyan’s brow furrowed slightly. “Did your master not teach you that words can bring disaster?”
“My master, Chu Xianning, taught me all sorts of principles from a young age, especially not to bully others with your power, to not be despicable and greedy. My upbringing is only for shameless people like you. What? Senior, I am Chu Xianning’s only direct disciple. Would you like to experience my master’s Silver Ray?”
Master Chu Xianning, a Mahayana early stage Eighth Realm, only at the first level of Mahayana. However, Chu Xianning had once seriously told Jiang Huai that when he was out, as long as he was in the right, he should not fear any powerful force. She could slay anyone below the Mahayana Sixth level with a single sword.
Chu Xianning never lied.
