Upon returning to the Taiyi Sect, the Sect Master personally welcomed Shen Yanchu in the main sect hall. His gaze swept up and down Shen Yanchu’s body as if searching for any possible injuries. After a thorough inspection, the Sect Master finally breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that Shen Yanchu was indeed safe and sound.
“Yanchu, my child, it is truly wonderful to see you return safe and sound! All these days, you really worried your old father to death,” the Sect Master said, looking at Shen Yanchu with a face full of care, genuine worry radiating from his eyes.
Just at that moment, as if suddenly noticing something, the Sect Master’s brow furrowed tightly. His gaze eagerly searched all around as he asked in confusion, “Eh? What about Su Rongyu? Why is he not returning with you?”
Before anyone else could speak, Shen Yanchu eagerly blurted out an answer, his words even tinged with a trace of an imperceptible playful tease: “You wouldn’t know this, Sect Master, but Senior Brother Su is living a carefree life right now. He is probably living the high life like an immortal; we do not need to worry about him at all.” With that, a cunning smile appeared on his face.
Seeing this, Xie Huaizhou, who was standing to the side, glared fiercely at Shen Yanchu, and then with a stern expression corrected him: “Cease this nonsense! Rongyu was forcibly abducted by Ji Yanche. I have already made up my mind. When the time is ripe, I will personally go and rescue him.” As soon as his voice fell, everyone present felt an invisible coercive pressure emanate from Xie Huaizhou.
Hearing this, the Sect Master’s face instantly turned immensely gloomy. Furrowing his brows in deep suspicion, he muttered to himself: “Bizarre, simply bizarre! What on earth has happened among these three sons-in-law? Why are they all coincidentally entangled with Su Rongyu? What is the underlying reason behind all of this?”
Faced with the Sect Master’s questioning, Xie Huaizhou merely lowered his head slightly and remained silent. However, one could tell from the resolute light shining in his eyes that regarding the matter of rescuing Su Rongyu, he was already fully confident and had formulated his own meticulous plan.
The Sect Master turned to Xie Huaizhou and said in a serious tone, “Huaizhou, stay away from Su Rongyu from now on. Our Chuchu is your best cultivation partner; you should focus your mind on cultivation and sect affairs.”
Listening from the side, Shen Yanchu chuckled inwardly, realizing that the relationship network of the Taiyi Sect was even more complex than he had imagined.
Perhaps to ease the atmosphere, or perhaps out of a genuine desire to matchmake Shen Yanchu and Xie Huaizhou, the Sect Master cleared his throat and changed the subject: “Since that is the case, we should not delay here any longer. The Immortal-Demon Assembly is fast approaching, and this is a great opportunity for you young people to showcase yourselves. Yanchu, Huaizhou, both of you are outstanding disciples of our Taiyi Sect. I have decided that the two of you shall go together to the place where Huaizhou usually cultivates for closed-door cultivation, to spar with one another and make progress together.”
“Sect Master, I…” Shen Yanchu had just wanted to open his mouth to voice his true inner thoughts and refuse the Sect Master’s arrangement, but before he could even finish speaking, he was rudely and bluntly interrupted by the Sect Master.
The Sect Master spoke with a stern expression: “The Ascension Assembly will be upon us very soon, and this is an important grand event related to the reputation and future development of our sect! Furthermore, both you and Xie are elite disciples of this sect. If you can undergo closed-door cultivation together, sparring and learning from each other’s strengths to make up for your weaknesses, you will undoubtedly achieve even greater breakthroughs. This is undoubtedly a magnificent thing for the sect!”
Hearing these words, Shen Yanchu could not help but inwardly groan. To be honest, he was unwilling from the bottom of his heart to cultivate with that fellow named Xie. Usually, the two of them did not get along well, and their personalities were vastly different. Would not cultivating together turn everything upside down into utter chaos? Thinking of this, Shen Yanchu decided to pull out all the stops to act spoiled and wriggle out of it with the Sect Master.
Therefore, he quickly put on a flattering smile and continued to say to the Sect Master: “Sect Master, you are wise and martial, naturally seeing through everything. But I truly feel that this is not the best choice! Look, I have my own unique cultivation method and rhythm; if you force me to get lumped together with someone else, I am afraid it will instead hinder my cultivation progress. Besides, although that Xie also has some skills, our cultivation techniques and styles are completely different, and there is simply no way we can mutually promote each other! Therefore, I earnestly implore the Sect Master to take back your command and make other arrangements!”
However, the Sect Master remained unmoved. He directly placed a barrier on Shen Yanchu: “This barrier will ensure that you do not leave Xie Huaizhou by more than ten meters, otherwise you will suffer a lightning tribulation. Unless your cultivation realm can break through to the Nascent Soul stage, this barrier will remain in effect. Now, go together for closed-door cultivation.”
Shen Yanchu froze. He had not expected the Sect Master to resort to such extreme measures. He helplessly looked at Xie Huaizhou, who also wore a look of astonishment, but quickly recovered his composure, appearing not entirely averse to such an arrangement.
“Sect Master, I…” Shen Yanchu wanted to say something more, but the Sect Master had already turned and left, clearly having no intention of listening to his defense any further.
Shen Yanchu and Xie Huaizhou exchanged glances, both of their expressions rather complex. Despite their innermost reluctance, they both knew that they could only follow the Sect Master’s arrangement for now. Shen Yanchu sighed, knowing that his days ahead would be closely bound to this disagreeable senior brother as they jointly faced the challenges of cultivation.