52: Liu Ruyan

The air seemed to solidify.

Their gazes instantly locked onto the two inside the hall, who were still in an intimate embrace.

Especially Gu Qiuyue's face, with tear stains still wet, yet filled with endless satisfaction and infatuation, and the glistening liquid at the corner of her lips that she hadn't managed to wipe away.

"Sixth Junior Sister," Luo Ximei was the first to break the dead silence, walking towards her step by step.

"It seems, during the time Senior Sister and Seventh Junior Sister were away... you and Revered Master had a very deep exchange?"

Mu Qingxue didn't speak, but a terrifying chill uncontrollably emanated from her body.

"Fifth Senior Sister is joking," she met Luo Ximei's gaze, not backing down an inch, "This Disciple was merely using her own method to nourish Revered Master's Divine Soul and consolidate his Dao Foundation. After all, isn't this what Revered Master needs most right now?"

"Nourish Divine Soul?"

Luo Ximei giggled, her voice like silver bells, yet carrying a bone-chilling coldness, "Why does it look more like you're absorbing Revered Master's Qi?

Sixth Junior Sister, after a hundred years, your methods have become increasingly clever. Even Senior Sister was almost fooled by your pitiful appearance."

"You!" Mu Qingxue finally couldn't hold back and snapped, "Gu Qiuyue! How dare you do such a sordid thing to Revered Master while we were away! What is your crime?!"

"Sordid?" Gu Qiuyue slowly shook her head, her gaze calmly sweeping over her two enraged Senior Sisters, "Seventh Junior Sister, your Dual Cultivation secret art; Fifth Senior Sister, your Origin Devilish Qi.

If we talk about intentions, how can my meager tricks compare to the frankness of the two Senior Sisters?"

"What you can do, I can also do. Moreover," she changed her tone, and the absolute confidence and sense of control belonging to a business empress burst forth, "the wealth I can give Revered Master, you cannot."

Su Lin watched his three disciple once again draw swords, feeling overwhelmed. He stood up from his seat, trying to mediate.

However, this time, his words were gently interrupted by Gu Qiuyue.

"Revered Master," Gu Qiuyue's expression suddenly became more serious than ever before. She no longer paid attention to her two Senior Sisters but gently tapped her jade finger in the Void Realm in front of her.

The giant water mirror reappeared, but the scene in the mirror was no longer the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower auction house.

Instead, it was a vast star map enveloped by endless starlight. Above the star map, countless points of light flickered, outlining the entire continent.

"Seventh Junior Sister, Fifth Senior Sister,"

Gu Qiuyue's voice returned to its usual calmness, even carrying a hint of solemnity, "I know your cultivation is profound, and you don't put the heroes of the world in your eyes.

However, do you think the news of Revered Master's return can truly be kept secret? The previous Dao Yan Sect and Sword Shadow Sect were merely hyenas smelling blood, just appetizers."

Her finger slowly traced across the star map, illuminating dozens of light points flickering with dangerous red light. These light points were spread across all states of the continent, including some top Sects and ancient families that even Mu Qingxue and Luo Ximei would look at with respect.

"Just now, my Master-Seeking Alliance's Heavenly Eye network, spread across the continent, simultaneously sent out an alarm."

"Wan Beast Mountain in Beiyuan, Penglai Island in the East Sea, Suspended Temple in Ximo, Tianyan Holy Land in Zhongzhou..."

With each name she uttered, Mu Qingxue and Luo Ximei's expressions grew a shade more solemn.

These were all colossal entities with Legacies spanning tens of thousands of years and unfathomable foundations! Among them were even Holy Lands where Old Ancestors in the Undergoing Tribulation stage slumbered!

"These forces, within half an hour, simultaneously sent the highest level of inquiry to my Master-Seeking Alliance, and the content was only one thing—"

Gu Qiuyue paused, then said word by word, "Has Revered Master truly returned?"

She raised her head, her golden eyes glinting with a cold light, as if overlooking a chess game that had already begun to move.

"They are not verifying, but confirming the target."

"Now, I can clearly tell you—"

"A hunting net targeting Revered Master, secretly formed by nearly half of the continent's top forces, has quietly opened."

"However," Gu Qiuyue's tone shifted, "However, this Red Dust Pavilion is quite interesting; they seem to be thinking of pledging allegiance to Revered Master."

"Red Dust Pavilion?" Su Lin hadn't heard this name.

"Red Dust Pavilion?"

Upon hearing this, Su Lin frowned.

In his memory, he had no impression of this name. A hundred years ago, he was intimately familiar with the continent's top forces, yet he had never heard of such a Sect.

Seeing Revered Master's puzzled expression, Gu Qiuyue immediately understood. A hint of realization flashed in her golden eyes, and she proactively explained, "Revered Master, you may not know, but this Red Dust Pavilion is a newly emerging force, established just over seventy years ago."

"But its Origin, you must surely know."

Gu Qiuyue paused, then uttered a name that made everyone present momentarily stunned, "Hehuan Sect."

The Hehuan Sect, both righteous and evil, specialized in the Yin and Yang harvesting technique. Some Cultivators yearned for it, while many others disdained it.

Su Lin nodded, signaling her to continue.

Gu Qiuyue continued, "Decades ago, a remarkably talented Disciple emerged within the Hehuan Sect, named Liu Ruyan.

She was born with a charming physique but possessed a noble Heart-Nature, disdaining the Sect's harmful and self-serving harvesting methods. She advocated for a cultivation Dao of Yin and Yang complementarity and mutual affection.

This naturally infringed upon the fundamental interests of the Hehuan Sect's higher-ups, who branded her a traitor and issued the highest-level pursuit order."

"Liu Ruyan narrowly escaped death, fleeing the Sect with a portion of her disciple who followed her. Just as she was about to be captured by the Hehuan Sect Elders, in her despair..."

Gu Qiuyue's gaze turned to Su Lin, with a faint, almost imperceptible smile in her eyes, "...she met you."

"Me?" Su Lin was startled, trying hard to search the depths of his memory.

"Yes." Gu Qiuyue affirmed, "After I founded the Master-Seeking Alliance, I collected information about Revered Master's past. You once traveled to the Southern Border and encountered this incident.

You seemed to merely find the Hehuan Sect's style of action too noisy, so you casually reprimanded them, startling away the pursuers."

Upon hearing this, Su Lin vaguely recalled it.

It seemed there was indeed such an event. Back then, he simply felt that a group of people were bullying the few and acting stealthily, so he casually drove them away, not even seeing their faces clearly, let alone taking it to heart.

However, his unintentional action was a profound act of kindness to Liu Ruyan at that time.

"So that's how it is." Luo Ximei chuckled, "Revered Master is truly dashing. With a casual rescue, he saved a future Ancestral Master of a Sect.

This Liu Ruyan is also a courageous woman, daring to challenge the Hehuan Sect."

"Hmph, a Sect that relies on enchantment to establish itself has impure motives; their intentions are punishable."

Mu Qingxue spoke coldly, clearly disdainful of the matter, "Revered Master, such a force is absolutely untrustworthy."