Sensing the killing intent, Xie Yunfan desperately resisted, continuously using his thoughts to call upon Elder Qiu.
“If I die, your soul will also be scattered.”
Elder Qiu squeezed out a few words: “I can only help you escape.”
As long as the mountain remains, there will always be wood to burn. He noted this debt owed by Yun Xiao. It wouldn’t be too late to seek revenge against Yun Xiao after leaving the secret realm.
The Thunder Roar unleashed by Yun Xiao shattered the array disk, stirring up a cloud of thick dust.
In the haze, she seemed to see a figure fleeing in panic.
She immediately flew up to give chase, but after a quarter of an hour, she completely lost track of Xie Yunfan.
As expected of the male protagonist; he can still escape even in this state.
Yun Xiao frowned and returned to the Black Sky Giant Python. She said with a complex expression, “I should have reminded you earlier; he isn’t that easy to kill. However, I have retrieved the hard-earned assets you accumulated. To take people’s money and eliminate disaster for them—since our enemy is the same person, I might as well help you take revenge.”
Without the obstruction of a defensive array, cultivators who heard the commotion surrounded Yun Xiao, intending to seize the tenth-tier demonic beast she had before her.
Even the corpse was worth tens of thousands of high-grade spiritual stones.
Yun Xiao gave a light “Ha,” and suddenly released her pressure.
It was a pressure comparable to the Soul Transformation stage. The highest cultivation level among the surrounding cultivators was only late-stage Nascent Soul, making them no match for Yun Xiao. Their movements became hesitant.
A bearded man shouted, “Go! I don’t believe it! With so many of us, we can’t take down one little woman!”
Yun Xiao slightly raised an eyebrow. She only used one move, Thunder Spread, and the bearded man was instantly killed, splashing blood on the spot. Even his Nascent Soul was extinguished by her.
She gave an alluring smile, her gaze filled with coldness: “If you want to attack, hurry up. I have things to do.”
The bearded man was a cultivator at the early stage of Nascent Soul, yet he died from a single strike by Yun Xiao. The cultivators who had been somewhat eager immediately dismissed the idea. After giving vague apologies, they quickly retreated.
Once everyone was gone, Yun Xiao took out her spiritual beast pouch and stored the Black Sky Giant Python inside.
Just as she was preparing to leave, her peripheral vision caught sight of a white figure approaching her.
Yun Xiao’s body stiffened. Her lowered eyelashes trembled slightly, and a hint of pain flashed in her eyes.
She had clearly warned herself not to be persistent anymore, that the answer had been given. Why did her heart still move because of her?
Fang Zhiluo surveyed the surrounding battle aftermath. She hesitated, then stepped forward, trying to speak but stopping herself: “Do you know where Senior Martial Uncle Xie went?”
The Sky-Shaking Sword was a unique sword technique created by the Venerable Sovereign of Cloud-Splitting. She had seen Xie Yunfan use it before, so she guessed that the battle here was related to him.
She did not suspect Yun Xiao. When she left Yuxu Zi’s cave dwelling, Yun Xiao was still inside. Even with the aid of a Swiftness Talisman, Yun Xiao couldn’t have been much faster than her.
Yun Xiao’s heart throbbed intensely. She turned away so Fang Zhiluo couldn’t see her face, though the bitterness in her tone was hard to conceal: “What? Aren’t you going to ask if he died under my sword?”
Fang Zhiluo walked two steps closer to Yun Xiao, her expression solemn: “Yun Xiao, his Master is the Venerable Sovereign of Cloud-Splitting, and he is the Chief Disciple of the Tianyan Sect. He holds high prestige among cultivators of the same generation. If you kill him, the Venerable Sovereign of Cloud-Splitting will not let you go, and the Tianyan Sect certainly won’t.”
Yun Xiao laughed, but the smile vanished instantly. She turned back to meet Fang Zhiluo’s eyes, mocking: “Then do I have to apologize and compensate him as well?”
“Yun Xiao, you know I don’t mean that,” complex emotions were hidden in Fang Zhiluo’s eyes. “It’s not worth becoming enemies with the entire Green Cloud Sect because of him.”
Yun Xiao moved closer, now only a step away from Fang Zhiluo. She couldn’t resist testing her: “If I said I have a deep blood feud with him, would you still advise me against it?”
Fang Zhiluo looked astonished. She frowned: “How could you have a blood feud with him? You two previously—”
Yun Xiao interrupted Fang Zhiluo: “He stole the Black Sky Giant Python’s home and then used a life-saving sword talisman on his person to kill the Black Sky Giant Python. What else is he incapable of doing?”
He did this so smoothly; clearly, Xie Yunfan has done similar things many times before.
Fang Zhiluo choked, unable to offer any defense.
Yun Xiao’s eyes flashed slightly. A’Luo truly was a person who distinguished right from wrong.
If it were anyone else familiar with Xie Yunfan, they would probably say, “Serves it right; why did that beast relentlessly pursue Junior Grandmaster Xie?”
How could she not feel admiration for an A’Luo like this?
“Are you truly willing to marry such a person with a flawed history?” As she asked this, Yun Xiao lowered her eyes.
She was afraid—afraid of seeing determination and anger in Fang Zhiluo’s eyes.
Fang Zhiluo took a step back, turned her head away, and said stiffly, “This is not just a matter between him and me.”
Yun Xiao gave a bitter smile and nodded: “That’s true. You are the Chief Senior Disciple of the Green Cloud Sect. You bear the responsibility of the entire sect; the Green Cloud Sect would fall into chaos without you.”
With that, she turned and left.
She repeatedly warned herself: Don’t look back. So what if her heart moved? Before the Green Cloud Sect, you are nothing.
Fang Zhiluo opened her mouth to call out to Yun Xiao, but recalling the words she had just spoken to Yun Xiao, she swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue.
Yun Xiao did not continue rushing toward the secret realm’s exit. There was still over a month until the secret realm closed. She wanted to wander around a bit more.
It would be nice to have a pleasant surprise, but even without one, she could avoid A’Luo.
She admitted that acting this way was weak, but she couldn’t control her heart. Whenever she saw A’Luo, her emotions would be swayed by her.
Until she could control her heart, avoiding her was the only choice she could make right now.
As for Xie Yunfan, whether this incident happened or not, he would not spare her. Although she failed to take his life today, she had taken most of his life. He wouldn’t recover for at least a year or two.
By then, she would have successfully passed the Soul Transformation Thunder Tribulation and stabilized her cultivation.
Finding no gains nearby, Yun Xiao simply sought out an unoccupied cave dwelling, activated the defensive array, and focused on alchemy.
Only when she was busy would she stop thinking about A’Luo.
As soon as the hourglass she set earlier ran out, Yun Xiao immediately put away her alchemy furnace and headed straight for the secret realm exit.
On the way, she changed her appearance, turning into an ordinary-looking male cultivator.
As she expected, Xie Yunfan left the secret realm and immediately exaggerated his version of Yun Xiao’s actions in the secret realm to Elder Cui, who had come to receive people.
Elder Cui, a cultivator at the late stage of Soul Transformation, looked sternly when he heard Xie Yunfan’s words. His divine sense swept over the female cultivators who came out, but he found nothing amiss.
Xie Yunfan, standing beside Elder Cui, was prompted by Elder Qiu and suddenly realized: “I know! She must have used some artifact that can change her appearance!”
“Aura! She has no aura, and she has an artifact that conceals her cultivation!”
Yun Xiao, mingling in the crowd, kept her body tense, allowing Elder Cui’s divine sense to sweep over her.
The Vice Alliance Leader Hu of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance counted the numbers: forty-five people went in, and twenty came out—more than half were lost.
He sighed. The next moment, he loudly announced, “Everyone, I shall take my leave first.”
Yun Xiao’s token originally belonged to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. She had also transformed into the appearance of the token’s original holder, and her cultivation was altered to the middle stage of Nascent Soul, so no one discovered that she was not who she appeared to be.
Once aboard the spiritual boat, she didn’t linger on the deck. She handed the spiritual herbs she had prepared in advance to Vice Alliance Leader Hu. After he registered them, she went directly into the cabin.
Just as the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s spiritual boat left, Xie Yunfan struggled to walk toward Fang Zhiluo and questioned her: “Where is the female cultivator who was by your side? Where have you hidden her?”
Fang Zhiluo had already guessed that Elder Cui was looking for Yun Xiao when she sensed his divine sense.
She didn’t know how Yun Xiao managed to deceive Elder Cui, nor did she know if Yun Xiao had left yet. She only knew that countless eyes were now fixed on her due to Xie Yunfan’s questioning.
Just as she was about to answer, she was blocked by Daoist Yuhui.
“Elder Cui, are you going to tolerate your sect disciple slandering my Green Cloud Sect like this?”
Elder Cui quickly interjected: “Please forgive me, Junior Martial Sister. It is just that my Junior Brother was too badly harmed by that female cultivator in the secret realm, causing him to lose his sense of reason,” he shifted his gaze to Xie Yunfan and said gravely, “Junior Brother, why don’t you apologize quickly?”
Xie Yunfan’s returning reason still didn’t allow him to apologize. He held his head high and said, “Junior Martial Sister may not know, but Junior Niece Fang has repeatedly humiliated me, her fiancé, for the sake of an outsider, and the rest of your esteemed sect’s disciples did the same. To not teach one’s children is the master’s fault. Junior Martial Sister, you should give me an explanation.”
Elder Cui frowned deeply. Xie Yunfan’s words not only criticized the Green Cloud Sect disciples but also trampled Daoist Yuhui’s reputation underfoot.
Daoist Yuhui smiled, her eyes flashing with cold light. A pressure from the middle stage of Soul Transformation pressed directly onto Xie Yunfan: “You only take advantage of your seniority and dare to point fingers at me? If you want an explanation, let Yunhua come personally. While he’s at it, I’ll also ask him exactly how he raises his disciples!”
Elder Cui silently cursed Xie Yunfan as an idiot. He offered a sheepish smile: “Junior Martial Sister, please calm your anger. He has been punished. Please give me face and forgive him this once.” As he spoke, he kept signaling Xie Yunfan with his eyes.
Xie Yunfan was immensely frustrated but could not act since his cultivation was inferior to Daoist Yuhui’s. He reluctantly and unwillingly said, “My words and actions were inappropriate. I hope the Daoist will forgive me.”
Daoist Yuhui gave a cold snort. She didn’t withdraw her pressure until Elder Cui was about to speak again. She then said icily, “Zhiluo, tell me yourself, how did you humiliate Yunhua’s personal disciple?”
Fang Zhiluo recounted the events one by one, without any omission.
Elder Cui felt that his dignity of several hundred years was completely lost today. If Xie Yunfan weren’t Yunhua’s disciple, he would have definitely turned and left the moment Xie Yunfan acted foolishly.
“What you did was correct. Reason outweighs emotion, which ensures impartiality,” Daoist Yuhui looked at Elder Cui. “Senior Brother, what do you think?”
Without waiting for Elder Cui’s reply, Daoist Yuhui continued, “Everyone has heard it. It’s not that my Green Cloud Sect disregards the friendship of the two sects spanning many years, but rather that Yunhua’s personal disciple’s conduct was utterly despicable. My Green Cloud Sect disciples would rather die than sink to the same level.”
She once again fixed her gaze on Elder Cui: “I will report this matter truthfully to the Sect Master.”
Elder Cui wanted to say something more, but Daoist Yuhui had already boarded the spiritual boat, with the Green Cloud Sect disciples following closely.
The hostility in his eyes flashed and then vanished. He did not lose his temper, merely flicked his sleeve, and left.
The Tianyan Sect disciples also felt disgraced and hastily boarded their spiritual boat.
Ten days later, Yun Xiao scrambled off the spiritual boat in a sorry state, tearing four Swiftness Talismans in a row and heading toward a nearby barren mountain.
Seeing Vice Alliance Leader Hu pursuing her, she proactively explained: “Don’t worry, the token was acquired through a transaction. It was wrong of me to use the Rogue Cultivator Alliance to evade the Tianyan Sect’s pursuit, but I did hand over enough spiritual herbs. Just turn a blind eye and pretend you know nothing.”
Vice Alliance Leader Hu scoffed: “The little bit of stuff you handed over is not enough for me to offend the Tianyan Sect for you.”
Yun Xiao understood. Vice Alliance Leader Hu wanted to extort benefits from her or was planning to kill her and seize her treasures.
I actually thought this old guy was chasing me so desperately to seek justice for the male cultivator.
She pulled five Thunder-Clap Bombs from her storage bag and threw them forcefully at Vice Alliance Leader Hu.
A single Thunder-Clap Bomb could kill a Nascent Soul cultivator. With five of them hitting him, Vice Alliance Leader Hu would be crippled, if not dead.
Ignoring Vice Alliance Leader Hu’s curses, Yun Xiao tore another five Swiftness Talismans and hurried away.
Once Vice Alliance Leader Hu escaped, he would surely actively spread her whereabouts. If he added false details about her possessing ultimate treasures, she would face endless pursuit.
No, I must travel further away to undergo the tribulation.
Yun Xiao changed her face again and concealed her cultivation and aura. Five days later, she found a secluded barren mountain.
Before she could fully prepare, a lightning bolt as thick as a water barrel, colored purple, struck her.
Her human body couldn’t withstand it, so she transformed into her Flood Dragon form.
Recalling the power of the purple lightning, Yun Xiao endured the pain in her body and guided the purple lightning into her Dantian for refinement.
Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth, she looked up at the final, colossal heavenly thunder still brewing above her head, her eyes filled with determination.
The closer it got to the end, the larger the thunder became. Even taking out an artifact to block it would be of little use.
Since that was the case, it was better to endure it directly; she would treat it as body refinement.
Yun Xiao still overestimated herself. When the earth-shattering thunder struck her, the pain was so intense that she thrashed about. Currents as thick as a bowl crackled over her body, and she could even smell the scent of roasting meat.
When the current dissipated, she had lost more than half her life.
Sensing spiritual energy fluctuations nearby, she frowned and shoved several Rejuvenation Pills and Spirit Replenishment Pills into her mouth.
The next moment, she took out six high-grade Swiftness Talismans from her inner space and fled hastily.
Along the way, she did her best to avoid the approaching cultivators. If she absolutely couldn’t avoid them, she had no choice but to fight.
After a month of this, she finally managed to shake off the cultivators who wanted to kill her and seize her treasures. She found a temporarily safe place to stabilize her cultivation.
Little did she know, people across most of the Heavenly Origin Realm were searching for her.