Qin Xi and Mo Tiange stayed in Tiandao Sect for only one day. On the second day, they made a detour and embarked on the road to return to Xuanqing School.

What they found interesting was that Xuanqing School sent two disciples to attend the Immortals Assembly at Tiandao Sect and asked them to stir up trouble, trying to incentivize some talented cultivators to go to Xuanqing School instead.

When the two disciples happened to be discussing whether Tiandao Sect or Xuanqing School would have a Nascent Soul cultivator first and take the position of the number one sect in the Celestial Pole, Qin Xi and Mo Tiange broke the restrictions and escaped Demonic Mountain, causing the Nascent Soul celestial phenomena. It made the two disciples think that Tiandao Sect had one more Nascent Soul cultivator, so they failed in their mission at the last moment.

But not long after, the truth spread like wildfire. After learning that the celestial phenomena was caused by Xuanqing School’s cultivator, sure enough, a bunch of cultivators exited Tiandao Sect’s Immortals Assembly and planned to turn to Xuanqing School to try their luck. The two disciples were excited to see that, then they stumbled upon Qin Xi and Mo Tiange.

Since the two disciples were sent by Xuanqing School on an “important mission,” Qin Xi and Mo Tiange didn’t reject them. They took the two Foundation Building disciples with them as it could take them several months to fly back to Xuanqing School by themselves.

The Nascent Soul celestial phenomena saved the two disciples a lot of words, and they were very grateful and also admired Qin Xi very much since their mission had been immediately completed. Accordingly, they were also very curious about Mo Tiange. Qin Xi had a cool personality and had now become a Nascent Soul cultivator, so the two disciples didn’t dare to ask him too much. However, upon seeing that Mo Tiange was quite kind, they immediately approached her and asked her about everything. They called her Martial Uncle intimately over and over.

Having been trapped on Demonic Mountain for ten years, Mo Tiange also wanted to know what had happened outside, so she willingly talked to the two Foundation Building disciples along the way.

“Martial Uncle Qingwei, I heard you weren’t even a hundred years old when you formed your Gold Core—you’re so powerful! We’ve heard of you before, but we never got the chance to meet you. We’re so honored to meet you now!”

The Foundation Building disciple called Li Yang talked nonsense so easily as if he had eaten honey.

Mo Tiange certainly didn’t take his words seriously. She just thought he was quite interesting, so she smiled and said, “Are you two on a special mission of talking glibly? You’re so eloquent!”

The other disciple called Wu De was a little ashamed to hear this and he said, “Martial Uncle Qingwei, please don’t mind him. We often go to other sects to spread news; he’s just used to saying pretty words easily but he didn’t mean to offend.” As Wu De spoke, he glared at Li Yang and continued, “Martial Uncle Qingwei is one of ours. Don’t talk that way.”

Li Yang touched his head and smiled sheepishly. “Martial Uncle Qingwei, my words were compliments but they were also the truth. You and Martial Uncle Shoujing… Oh, it should be Grandmaster Shoujing now—you’re a legend in the sect. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time, but it’s a pity that both of you are secretive in your movements. It’s been difficult to meet you.”

That was true. Qin Xi seldom showed up in public, and even the disciples who’d been in the sect for several decades rarely saw him, while Mo Tiange didn’t go out much usually. Aside from when she shuttled between all the peaks to handle trifling matters for Lord Daoist Jinghe over sixty years ago, Mo Tiange was either on trips outside or in Closed Door Meditation these past several decades.

Mo Tiange smiled and picked up another topic. She asked, “You two handle affairs for the Steward’s Hall, so presumably, you’re well informed. I wonder how’s everything going in our sect?”

“The situation of our own sect?” Wu De thought about it and answered, “Do you mean our sect’s strength and prestige, Martial Uncle? It’s looking very good! Speaking of which—we should be thankful that our sect is in western Kunwu, far away from Demonic Mountain. Each time Demonic Mountain opened, only several Core Formation Martial Uncles and Nascent Soul Grandmasters went to the mountain and few disciples below the Foundation Building realm followed, so we didn’t suffer great losses. When the big restrictions on Demonic Mountain collapsed ten years ago, we only lost two Core Formation Martial Uncles and several Foundation Building cultivators, so we were far better off than other sects.”

“Oh?” Having learned from Tiandao Sect that Master and Martial Uncle Huayan were safe, Mo Tiange still asked, “What about our two Nascent Soul Grandmasters?”

Li Yang answered quickly, “Rest assured, Martial Uncle! The Grandmasters escaped in time, but they were both injured.”

Mo Tiange and Qin Xi were prepared for this, so they didn’t take it seriously. They just asked, “Are they all right now?”

But Li Yang asked back, “Martial Uncle, did people in Tiandao Sect tell you that Grandmaster Jinghe suffered minor injuries, while Grandmaster Huayan was badly injured?”

“Yes.” Mo Tiange raised her eyes and looked at Qin Xi. Was the information wrong?

Wu De sighed and picked up the topic. “Martial Uncle Qingwei, Grandmaster Shoujing, the news was actually put out to others, but it wasn’t the truth. In fact, Grandmaster Huayan wasn’t badly injured. He was safe, and he also didn’t regress in his cultivation. Perhaps he’s already recovered after ten years of healing.”

Blue veins bulged in the middle of Mo Tiange’s forehead and she asked further, “What about Grandmaster Jinghe? How is he?”

Surely, Wu De continued, “Instead, it was Grandmaster Jinghe’s condition that wasn’t good. Grandmaster Jinghe exerted his energy to escape from Demonic Mountain with Grandmaster Huayan those days. We heard before we left that Grandmaster Jinghe was still in Closed Door Meditation, but we don’t know the circumstances.”

Mo Tiange and Qin Xi exchanged a look, frowning separately. Their Master turned out to be the one who had been badly injured. The news spread on the outside was false.

It wasn’t hard to understand, though. Xuanqing School had six Nascent Soul cultivators, including a sole cultivator in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm and one in the middle stage. Lord Daoist Jinghe’s cultivation level had reached the peak of the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and his strength in fights of magical power was no weaker than a cultivator in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm. It went without saying what such a Nascent Soul Lord Daoist meant to Xuanqing School. Given that Tiandao Sect suffered losses and Xuanqing School was likely to become the number one sect in the Celestial Pole, such news should of course be concealed.

Upon thinking this, both Mo Tiange and Qin Xi couldn’t help but worry about their Master who was seriously injured at such a critical time. Would this hinder him from advancing to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm?

Upon observing their worried expressions, Wu De and Li Yang immediately comforted them together. “Martial Uncle, Grandmaster, there’s no need to worry too much. Although we’re kind of core disciples in the sect, we’re just two small Foundation Building cultivators. If Grandmaster Jinghe was really endangered, it’d be confidential information. We wouldn’t know anything.”

“Right, Clear Spring Peak is as prosperous as before. I heard Grandmaster Jinghe even saw disciples occasionally, so there shouldn’t be anything extremely wrong with him.”

After thinking about it for a moment, Qin Xi nodded and finally agreed. “You have a point.”

Upon obtaining praise from their Nascent Soul Grandmaster, Wu De and Li Yang were so delighted that they offered another round of compliments to Qin Xi. Mo Tiange just felt worried and strange as she had to listen to the pair’s admiration.

Putting aside the matter about Lord Daoist Jinghe, Mo Tiange asked again, “Since you understand the situation at the sect so well, do you know a Foundation Building disciple named Ye Zhenji?”

“Ye Zhenji?” Li Yang asked. “Martial Uncle, are you talking about Grandmaster Shoujing’s inner disciple, your nephew, Ye Zhenji?”

Mo Tiange didn’t expect that Li Yang would remember everything at the mere mention of a name, so she was quite pleasantly surprised. “You know him?”

Li Yang shook his head. “Senior Martial Brother Ye is an elite disciple among the elite. We’re just supervising disciples of the Steward’s Hall. Since we often run errands on the outside, how would I know him? I just met him before.”

“Oh, do you know his condition? Has he returned from his trip?”

Wu De smiled and picked up the topic. “Speaking of the matter, it’s quite a funny story!”

Mo Tiange was confused. “Why do you say so?”

Li Yang picked up the topic. “Senior Martial Brother Ye had been missing for more than a decade and no one had heard anything from him. Then one year, news suddenly came out from Kunzhong City that there was an individual cultivator called Wanderer Baiyu who had been killed by two Foundation Building cultivators. After that, our branch in Kunzhong City received a message from Senior Martial Brother Ye…”

“Wanderer Baiyu?” Mo Tiange and Qin Xi exchanged glances. They were both very surprised.

Upon seeing that Mo Tiange seemed puzzled, Qin Xi explained, “Wanderer Baiyu was also a member of the Individual Cultivator Alliance in Kunzhong City. He was over four hundred years old and had a young face. It’s said he specialized in dual cultivation… I once guessed that he was the one whom Old Man Tong asked you to exchange your Heavenly Aromatic Beans for the Chalcedony.”

“That’s right.” Li Yang continued, “Grandmaster Shoujing, you’re experienced and knowledgeable. Wanderer Baiyu was indeed an individual cultivator in Kunzhong City in the Core Formation realm. According to the Senior Martial Brothers who met him, he was an old man but looked like a young man, and he was as exquisite as a woman… He didn’t have a very good reputation. Many people said he was using the Art of Absorbing to maintain his youth.”

Mo Tiange nodded. “So what exactly happened to Zhenji?”

Wu De continued, “Speaking of that, Senior Martial Brother Ye was really unlucky. When he traveled to Kunzhong City, he saved a woman by accident, but the woman turned out to be a Human Furnace chosen by Wanderer Baiyu, so Wanderer Baiyu took him away along with the woman. Fortunately, due to the identity of Senior Martial Brother Ye, Wanderer Baiyu didn’t dare to kill him. However, Senior Martial Brother Ye wanted to protect the woman, so the two of them were imprisoned by Wanderer Baiyu for more than ten years…”

After hearing all this, Mo Tiange was surprised at first then she got very angry. “How dare this Wanderer Baiyu! He dared to imprison Xuanqing School’s disciple!”

“That’s right. But later, without knowing what method Senior Martial Brother Ye used, he actually stepped over the line and killed Wanderer Baiyu! Then he escaped…” Li Yang shook his head as he spoke. “According to the Senior and Junior Martial Brothers at the branch in Kunzhong City, when Senior Martial Brother Ye and the woman escaped, they were tortured half to death!”

“What happened then?” Qin Xi asked as he frowned. “Wanderer Baiyu imprisoned Xuanqing School’s disciple; did we do anything to obtain justice?”

“Of course.” Upon knowing that Grandmaster Shoujing had only one inner disciple, Li Yang hurriedly said, “As soon as Senior Martial Brother Ye returned to Mount Taikang, the entire sect was shocked. Grandmaster Jinghe gave the order in person and we almost massacred the Individual Cultivator Alliance in Kunzhong City. The Individual Cultivator Alliance was destroyed overnight at that time and the matter shocked all of Kunwu. Later, Grandmaster Jinghe calmed down and agreed to let other unrelated people go, then the matter was ended. Thus, today’s Individual Cultivator Alliance in Kunzhong City has been reorganized.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange and Qin Xi didn’t feel that angry. If Wanderer Baiyu was alive, they would’ve definitely killed all the way to Kunzhong City. Zhenji was their only disciple yet he was almost tortured to death by him. It was irritating enough just to think about that.

Mo Tiange realized that Wanderer Baiyu cultivated the Art of Absorbing and was a member of the Individual Cultivator Alliance, so he should be the old friend Tong Tianyun once mentioned; Mo Tiange made a deal with Tong Tianyun that she would get Heavenly Aromatic Beans from Demonic Mountain then would exchange them for a thousand-year-old Chalcedony with him. If Mo Tiange met Wanderer Baiyu before that, perhaps Zhenji wouldn’t have suffered. Mo Tiange regretted it very much. Fortunately, Zhenji escaped. Otherwise, Mo Tiange would regret it for the rest of her life.