“Are you cold?”
The small hand Shen Ruochu had exposed outside her sleeve shrank back slightly.
Lin Qing noticed and spoke while draping a thicker robe over her.
After traveling through the teleportation array, Lin Qing brought Shen Ruochu to Azure Cloud Province.
Although the sky was clear and the red sun hung high overhead, Azure Cloud Province was built atop high mountains. At such high altitude, combined with the region’s naturally cold climate, the temperature was far from pleasant.
Under normal circumstances, the temperature in Azure Cloud Province remained below 0°C all year round.
“Come on, Senior Sister will take you to eat something delicious.”
Lin Qing looked lively and cheerful.
Her spirited demeanor and delicate appearance naturally drew attention as she walked through the bustling streets.
Shen Ruochu saw that Lin Qing was about to pull her into a busy restaurant. She immediately stopped and tugged lightly at Lin Qing’s sleeve.
Lin Qing felt the movement and turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
For once, there was a trace of gloom on Shen Ruochu’s small face.
She extended her little hand and spread her palm open.
It was dirty, covered with grime and many small wounds.
“I want to wash my hands first.”
Originally, Shen Ruochu had been covered in mud, but when she came out, Gu Chengxing had shaken most of it off with spiritual power, making it less visible.
That did not mean she was clean. The dirt in her palms had to be properly washed.
Lin Qing reacted immediately and slapped her forehead. “Senior Sister was careless. I was only thinking about taking you out to have fun.”
As she spoke, she was about to lead Shen Ruochu back.
But suddenly, a clear voice sounded from the side.
“Sister Lin Qing, you’re here too?”
Lin Qing froze and turned around. A handsome youth around seventeen or eighteen stood there, joy written all over his face as he stared at her without blinking.
Beside him were three or four other young men and women of similar age.
Lin Qing recognized him at once and smiled. “Lin Zhe.”
Lin Zhe was her cousin.
Both Lin Qing and Lin Zhe belonged to the Lin family of Azure Cloud Province, a family deeply rooted within the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.
From birth, both of them could be considered half disciples of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.
Lin Zhe jogged over, unable to hide his grin.
Lin Qing raised an eyebrow. She immediately understood what he was scheming.
“Sis~”
“About that~”
The smile faded from Lin Qing’s face as she interrupted, “No spiritual stones. Just one life. And you’ve been punished by Uncle again, haven’t you? What did you do this time?”
Lin Qing sighed helplessly.
Although Lin Zhe looked honest and refined, like a good child, in reality he was a troublemaker. The kind who would tear the roof apart if not disciplined for three days.
As his cousin, Lin Qing was already very familiar with his antics.
Her gaze moved past Lin Zhe to his companions. Without deliberately making things difficult, she pulled a spatial bag from her waist and tossed it to him.
“Get lost. Don’t let me see you for the next few days.”
Lin Zhe’s face lit up with delight. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll roll away right now.”
Watching him scamper off happily, Lin Qing shook her head with a smile.
Shen Ruochu quietly observed everything.
Deep within her eyes, there was a trace of envy.
She once had such a family too, with complicated yet warm relationships.
Now, it was all smoke and dust.
In the heaviness of her thoughts, Shen Ruochu suddenly felt a strange chill.
She looked up toward its source.
In her sight were Lin Zhe’s companions, laughing and chatting among themselves, seemingly teasing Lin Zhe.
A flicker of doubt crossed Shen Ruochu’s heart.
Having just cultivated killing intent, she had become extremely sensitive to malice or focused gazes from others.
That strange feeling should not have been wrong.
But she was not certain…
Only when Lin Qing gently patted her shoulder did Shen Ruochu snap back to reality.
“Wake up. Stop daydreaming. Let’s go.”
“Mm…”
“Come on, let’s get some roasted spirit duck first to warm up.”
On the other side, more than twenty meters away, Lin Zhe and his group continued laughing.
Among them, a plain-looking girl cast a subtle glance in Shen Ruochu’s direction.
For a brief instant, her expression twisted strangely.
An uncontrollable smile crept onto her lips.
Finally… found her.
“Caiyun, let’s go.”
The girl called Caiyun immediately composed herself, turned back toward the one calling her, and put on a gentle smile.
“Coming.”
After dealing with the matter concerning Ji Liang, the final necessary task was to clean out the hidden agents from other sects.
One was the Heavenly Divination Sect, whose agents were spread across the world.
The other was the Demon-Subduing Sect. Their people might be lurking anywhere, truly living up to the name “Demon-Subduing.”
However, the Demon-Subduing Sect was a demonic path force. It was easier for them to plant agents within other demonic sects. Infiltrating righteous sects was far more difficult.
Moreover, the Demon-Subduing Sect only began to exert strength in the later stages. For now, it was not worth considering.
Thus, the primary target was clear.
Still the Heavenly Divination Sect.
Calculating the timeline, at this point in time, there was at least one elder-level figure within the Azure Cloud Sword Sect who belonged to the Heavenly Divination Sect.
He could not recall the exact person clearly.
But he knew the leader.
It was Elder Zhang Lan, a Protector Elder of Thunder Punishment Peak. On the surface, he was at peak Nascent Soul Realm, an ordinary Protector Elder. In truth, he was a mid-stage Void Shattering Realm expert, whose combat strength did not lose to the Peak Master of Thunder Punishment Peak.
In the plot, he had dealt a devastating blow to the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.
This had been a grand plan laid out by the Heavenly Divination Sect for nearly a thousand years.
Of course, Gu Chengxing was not dealing with Zhang Lan right now.
Zhang Lan was a trump card. He would not move until many years later.
What Gu Chengxing needed to pay attention to now were the unknown disciples hidden within various branches.
A rough estimate told him that, given how much the Heavenly Divination Sect coveted and valued the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, there were at least several inner sect disciples in every peak who were their hidden agents.
There might even be some True Disciples and personal disciples among them.
As for Azure Cloud Province, there were too many to count.
Shen Ruochu could very well be monitored the moment she stepped outside.
Of course, even if she was being watched now, it was not a big problem.
“Damn it. The Heavenly Divination Sect is truly annoying…”
“I need to find a way to eliminate as many of their hidden agents as possible…”
“And I can’t alert them.”
Only now did Gu Chengxing truly feel how troublesome the Heavenly Divination Sect was.
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached.
“Their strongest point lies in their ability to deduce Divination Omens and foresee the future. It’s too broken. How can a mere desolate domain force have such an ability?”
“To limit them, I would have to obscure the future itself. Otherwise, they will always adjust their strategy.”
“They will always be one step ahead.”
This was no small issue.
Suddenly, a glint flashed in Gu Chengxing’s eyes as a thought formed.
“Hmm… not a big problem. I’ll find a way to make Shen Ruochu stand in opposition to the Heavenly Divination Sect. With the fortune of the Chosen female lead, that should be enough to break the deadlock.”