Su Mingyuan turned around. The newcomer wore a purple robe, with a round face and gentle features, looking naturally good-tempered.
It was none other than the Sect Master of the Taiyan Sect, Xie Huairen.
A look of pleasant surprise flashed across Su Mingyuan's face. “Second Senior Brother! You brought your disciples here too?”
Before Xie Huairen could speak, another voice cut in, interrupting their reunion. “In a dilapidated place like the Grand Primordium Sect where the spiritual energy is so thin, let alone cultivating, even breathing is a chore. Yet someone is actually willing to become a disciple? They must have had absolutely nowhere else to go.”
Xie Huairen frowned and barked, “Lianfeng, don't talk nonsense!”
Beside him, a man also dressed in a purple robe with a square face and prominent brow bones not only failed to restrain himself but instead lifted his chin, talking back righteously, “Did I say anything wrong? The spiritual energy of the Grand Primordium Sect is so thin right now it's practically non-existent, yet they still have the nerve to accept disciples. Isn't this just ruining people's futures?”
Xie Huairen's face darkened, and he immediately hissed, “Lianfeng! Stop this nonsense at once!”
Then, turning to Su Mingyuan, he explained awkwardly, “Third Junior Brother, please forgive him. Our Fourth Junior Brother has never had a filter on his mouth since he was a child, but his heart isn't in the wrong place.”
Su Mingyuan let out a couple of dry laughs and waved his hand. “No matter, no matter. Fourth Junior Brother has always been like this. I'm used to it.”
Wu Lianfeng snorted, crossing his arms and turning his head away, still muttering, “Once the Grand Primordium Sect completely collapses one of these days—”
“Wu Lianfeng!” Xie Huairen was truly angered this time, his voice rising several decibels.
Seeing that he was genuinely angry, Wu Lianfeng shut his mouth resentfully and looked away.
Xie Huairen sighed, forced a helpless smile at Su Mingyuan, and changed the subject. “Let's not talk about him. Which ones are your disciples? Let me have a look.”
Su Mingyuan pointed to the bottom-left corner of the Floating Light Array Disk, a spot so obscure that one wouldn't even notice it without looking closely. His voice carried a hint of pride that he himself hadn't even noticed. “Over there, the one in red, and the kid next to her. My two newly recruited personal disciples.”
Xie Huairen looked in the direction Su Mingyuan pointed. In the projection, besides the two young disciples in red, there was another group of people—the groups from the Heavenly Origin Sect and the Flowing Cloud Sect had happened to run into each other by a stream, and the atmosphere was clearly tense.
Meanwhile, Xue Mingzhao, Su Ye, and their bird were currently squatting on a nearby crooked tree, watching the drama unfold.
Below the tree, Jiang Yuran's eyes were slightly red, her voice so soft it could melt water. “Senior Sister, Master has been very sad ever since he found out you went to the Heavenly Origin Sect. Please come back. As long as you return, Master says he won't hold anything against you anymore.”
Shen Chaoyue's face was as cold as ice. She didn't even lift her eyelids as she said, word by word, “I will say this one last time—all ties between me and the Flowing Cloud Sect are severed. Get out of my sight.”
Behind Jiang Yuran, Fourth Senior Brother Xiao Jinghe instantly exploded, pointing at Shen Chaoyue and shouting abuse, “Shen Chaoyue! Yuran is your Junior Sister after all. She didn't even hold it against you when you smashed her mother's relic, yet you're putting on airs here? Are you even fit to be her Senior Sister?!”
A cold sneer curved Shen Chaoyue's lips, though there was no warmth in her eyes. “Xiao Jinghe, if you idiots are willing to play along with her melodramatic acts, that's your business. Just don't disgust me with it.”
Third Senior Brother Xie Yunchuan sighed, advising her with earnest persuasion, “Junior Sister, even if you used some tricks to enter the Heavenly Origin Sect, your cultivation has already been destroyed. Sect Master Huang might not necessarily value you, and the other disciples will bully you. Come back, the Flowing Cloud Sect will always be your home.”
Squatting on the tree, Xue Mingzhao almost failed to suppress a laugh when she heard this.
Others might not know, but she knew all too well.
Shen Chaoyue's spiritual root had long been restored by Huang Siqi, and in just one short month, she was already at the first level of Qi Condensation.
She leaned in close to Su Ye's ear and whispered, “Tsk, tsk. Look, Senior Brother. They were the ones who kicked her out in the first place, and now they're begging her to go back. Their skin is thicker than a city wall.”
Su Ye commented expressionlessly, “Only someone with a hole in their brain would go back.”
Below the tree, the First Senior Brother of the Flowing Cloud Sect, Lin Xibai, finally spoke.
His gaze fell upon Shen Chaoyue, his eyes holding a hint of genuine sorrow, and his voice was much gentler than his junior brothers. “Chaoyue, do you really not want your Senior Brother anymore? Come back. As long as you are willing to return, let bygones be bygones. We will still be senior brother and junior sister.”
Beside him, Second Senior Brother Zhou Qinghe interjected coldly, “Senior Brother, why are you still begging her? She would rather destroy her own cultivation than admit her mistake. A person with such a malicious heart will only throw the sect into chaos if she returns.”
Jiang Yuran's tears came on cue, her eyes reddening just the right amount as her voice trembled. “Second Senior Brother, don't say that. Senior Sister already knows she was wrong. If Senior Sister is unwilling to return because of me, then at worst, I will leave the sect. We cannot let Senior Sister wander outside all on her own.”
Xiao Jinghe said anxiously, “Junior Sister, Shen Chaoyue treated you like this, and yet you still—”
Before he could finish, a clear, crisp voice suddenly rang out. “Do you think the people of our Heavenly Origin Sect are dead? She said she doesn't want to go back. Are you all deaf?”
The speaker was Yun Yanchen.
He took two steps forward, shielding Shen Chaoyue. His cold gaze swept over the crowd from the Flowing Cloud Sect, finally landing on Jiang Yuran's face. “Heh, Chaoyue is doing perfectly fine in the Heavenly Origin Sect. If she really went back with you, I'm afraid we wouldn't even see her standing here in one piece.”
Shen Chaoyue looked up at Yun Yanchen, a trace of inexplicable surprise rising in her heart.
Ever since she joined the sect, this senior brother had been lukewarm toward her. She had always thought he disliked her, so she hadn't expected him to stand up and speak for her at a time like this.
Seeing the way Shen Chaoyue looked at Yun Yanchen, Xiao Jinghe grew even angrier. “Yun Yanchen, what do you mean by that! My Junior Sister is speaking so politely, so what's with your sarcastic attitude!”
Another disciple from the Heavenly Origin Sect glared at him. “Is our First Senior Brother someone you can just shout at? Xiao Jinghe, watch your mouth!”
Xue Mingzhao watched with great relish from the tree, only missing a handful of melon seeds in her hand.
Just then, Su Ye suddenly frowned and remarked thoughtfully, “This Jiang Yuran doesn't look like a good person.”
Xue Mingzhao turned to look at him in surprise. “How did you tell?”
Although her Sixth Senior Brother usually pretended to be a shrewd and calculating strategist, his heart was actually incredibly simple.
To think that in just this short moment, he could tell at a single glance that Jiang Yuran wasn't a good person. Was his ability to spot a green tea innate?
Rate on N.U.
