The air suddenly fell silent, Ling Xiaoyue's response came a bit unexpected, catching people off guard.
Li Ruyu swung her sleeve fiercely, irate: "Your Excellency need not mock us any longer, what exactly do you want?"
Ling Xiaoyue sat back down, shaking her head with a sigh, "Ah, this means there's no room for discussion then? You all are really petty, traversing the jianghu yet unwilling to abide by the rule that beauty should be shared by those who encounter it?"
With a wave of her hand, Li Ruyu took the longsword from her junior sister's hand out of thin air.
She flicked the blade lightly, speaking coldly with her head raised: "This Yun Mountain Region is under the jurisdiction of Xuanji Sect. We disciples of Xuanji Sect are dealing with sect affairs, I ask Your Excellency not to misjudge. If you visit Xuanji Sect another day, we will certainly offer you a cup of fine tea."
Had it been anyone else meddling in Xuanji Sect's affairs, Li Ruyu would have already made a move, but she couldn't see through Ling Xiaoyue, couldn't fathom her, and could only proceed with caution.
Ling Xiaoyue didn't bother with her, instead, she smiled at Fang Zhou, "Little brother, do you want me to save you or not?"
If I say yes, will you make me beg you?
Fang Zhou thought to himself under the warning glances of Li Ruyu and the others, he resolutely nodded his head.
Having already offended Xuanji Sect, he couldn't afford to offend another party. The priority was to escape the current predicament and then figure out how to cope with the gangster in the tree.
Ling Xiaoyue swayed her wine flask, and a clear sound was heard from within.
"Saving you is not impossible, but the righteous prioritize a well-founded apprenticeship. Meddling in your Xuanji Sect affairs like this doesn't seem quite right."
Disciples of Xuanji Sect all displayed an "as expected, you know better" expression, however, Fang Zhou knew this gangster woman must have something more to say.
Sure enough, as if struck by a great idea, Ling Xiaoyue snapped her fingers: "Little brother, I see you have the beauty of a flower along with astonishing bones, with divine light erupting from your crown, truly a heaven-sent genius. How about this, you take me as your master right now, as my disciple, then I'd have the right to save you. What do you say?"
"How dare you?!"
Li Ruyu immediately gave Fang Zhou a furious stare and barked, "Fang Zhou, you have already entered Xuanji Sect. If you dare to switch allegiance to another, that's a betrayal of the sect's trust, a deceitful act against your ancestors. According to the sect rules, you must be cut to pieces, your soul detained and enslaved by the sect forever. Have you thought it through?!"
Damn, it wasn't me who brought it up, why are you yelling at me?
Previously Xiao Family instructed Fang Zhou to think it through, now it was Li Ruyu's turn to insist Fang Zhou do the same, this repetition came quite fast.
Fang Zhou glances at Ling Xiaoyue, after throwing out a line that infuriated everyone from Xuanji Sect, she had resumed leisurely drinking her wine.
Fang Zhou knew it was time to make his decision, if he refused, the gangster in the tree might just let go and leave.
Feeling one's fate being controlled by another wasn't pleasant, but with no other choices left, Fang Zhou didn't have the luxury to consider whether he was jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
Facing Li Ruyu's threatening gaze, Fang Zhou met her eyes without the slightest fear.
These many days of keeping his head down and acting tame had built up a surge of anger within Fang Zhou, unable to contain it any longer.
"Teared to fragments... Haha, Li Ruyu, you really think highly of yourself."
Fang Zhou let out a cold laugh, "Idiot, get lost!!"
Li Ruyu's expression turned icy, and her body suddenly transformed into a white blur, charging towards Fang Zhou.
"Master, save me!"
While speaking, Fang Zhou had already assessed the terrain and started running as he saw Li Ruyu rushing towards him.
Ling Xiaoyue laughed heartily, casually plucking two branches and shooting them towards Li Ruyu.
Li Ruyu's figure made an abrupt return, evading the branches and leaping into the air, stabbing her longsword towards Ling Xiaoyue in the treetop.
Meanwhile, the four Xuanji Sect disciples charged straight at Fang Zhou.
Li Ruyu's stabbing sword was swift and fierce, like a shooting star striking the moon, the blade casting a long, chilling gleam.
Ling Xiaoyue, still seated, swung the wine flask forward, spilling out a stream of wine.
The wine in mid-air astonishingly condensed into ice, shooting like countless shards of light towards Li Ruyu.
Li Ruyu's complexion drastically changed, hastily retracting her attack, twirling the sword into a circle of light, clinking and clanging as she shattered all incoming icicles.
As a result, she was knocked back to the ground, tapping her toes on the surface, she dashed under the tree and sliced, in one stroke, the thick trunk.
The enormous tree crown crashed down with a thunderous roar.
Ling Xiaoyue drifted lightly down from the air, and before her feet touched the ground, Li Ruyu's longsword was already thrusting at her from the shadows.
Elsewhere, Fang Zhou, with his agile pace, sped wildly through the woods.
[Trigger new mission - Escape the pursuit of infatuated women]
[Difficulty: Easy]
[Reward: 2 points of Manliness, 1 White Card]
[Failure: Loss of virginity]
Another new mission triggered, why is it always losing virginity upon failure?
```
Fang Zhou's speed was incredibly fast, and for a moment, the four Qi Refining Realm disciples from Xuanji Sect couldn't catch up to him.
But they soon found a way.
"Whoosh!"
As Fang Zhou was fleeing, he suddenly heard a whooshing sound from behind and hurriedly ducked.
A glint of cold light flew over his head and embedded into a tree trunk ahead—it was a steel needle.
Just as Fang Zhou was about to continue his escape, another few glints of cold light shot toward him, forcing him to dodge.
This delay allowed the four Xuanji Sect disciples to immediately catch up.
Fang Zhou turned around and consecutively cast three Illusion Techniques, hitting the three leading Xuanji Sect disciples and trapping them in illusions.
Because he released the techniques too quickly, his spiritual power was severely depleted, causing him an excruciating headache.
The remaining Xuanji Sect disciple saw her three companions with dazed expressions and was startled but understood it was Fang Zhou's doing. She quickly brandished her sword and thrust at him.
Fang Zhou, enduring the pain, relied on his high agility to dodge the incoming sword and simultaneously summoned the disorderly left hand of Hu Lai.
Fang Zhou tried to control this kind of left hand but failed due to the headache, and as soon as it appeared, it started flailing wildly.
The Xuanji Sect disciple heard the racket from the flailing hand and took a wary step back, noticing no danger.
Seeing Fang Zhou's embarrassed and panicked expression, she let out a light laugh, surged forward, and thrust with her sword.
These Qi Refining Realm disciples might be at the bottom of the Cultivation World's food chain, but for an ordinary person, they were already superhuman.
Their bodies had been nourished by Spiritual Energy year after year, able to harness Spiritual Energy to aid in combat, and with every move, they wielded formidable strength.
This disciple from Xuanji Sect thrust her sword, the blade tearing through the air with a whistling sound, quick as lightning.
Fang Zhou hastily defended with Li Ruyu's personal longsword. Relying on his five points of speed, he barely managed a couple of parries before his hands went numb from the vibration.
Unfortunately, he didn't understand swordsmanship and was disarmed by the opponent's sword after just a few exchanges.
As Fang Zhou hastily dodged backward, he accidentally stepped on a rock and tumbled to the ground.
The woman, showing a triumphant look, chased after him and thrust.
Before she could strike Fang Zhou, a gust of foul wind arrived with such velocity that she couldn't react in time. With a bang, it struck her in the chest.
The woman let out a piercing scream as she was sent flying backward, spinning six and a half circles in a 360-degree turn mid-air—a difficult maneuver—before plunging headfirst into the ground.
Fang Zhou caught his breath for a few moments, surprised that Hu Lai's left hand had actually done something useful, flailing about and managing to hit someone.
Approaching her, he saw that she was unconscious, with half her chest caved in, an indication of the punch's power; it could have burst a persimmon.
Truly, Hu Lai's left hand made a difference where it struck.
Fang Zhou looked at the remaining three women, who were now entangled in a bundle, tearing at each other's clothes and bursting into peals of lascivious laughter.
"Little punk, see if you run now!"
"Watch me turn you over!"
"Keep screaming, come on, shout! Hahaha"
Without guessing, Fang Zhou knew what obscene things these three women were seeing in the illusion; he hadn't expected that even in these women's illusions, he couldn't escape inappropriate relations.
Such scenes that disrupt social harmony and poison the minds of young people, Fang Zhou felt he couldn't bear to watch another second.
He cautiously managed Hu Lai's left hand, enduring the stabbing pain in his head, and dealt each of the three debauched women a punch.
Whether it was due to lack of proficiency or some other reason, the left hand kept hitting the same spot with every blow; while he aimed for the head, what was hit were always the chests.
The three women still lost in the illusion were knocked out, and the notification of mission success followed.
[Successfully evaded the pursuit of the amorous women]
[Reward: Testosterone*2, White Card*1]
Fang Zhou added the two points of testosterone to his physical constitution. His constitution was just average, and the strenuous exertion had nearly killed him.
With the addition of two points of constitution, a warm current spontaneously emerged within his body, flowing to his limbs and banishing all fatigue; it even restored much of his drained spirit.
He then drew the newly rewarded White Card.
The white card spun rapidly, exploded into particles, and finally condensed into a bottle.
[Revealing Potion: After drinking, you can see invisible objects for thirty minutes]
A small bottle wide enough for two fingers magically appeared in Fang Zhou's hand, filled with clear, transparent liquid.
At last, he had drawn an item, but it seemed pointless at the moment.
Fang Zhou could only tuck the small bottle close to himself.
```