The Ginseng Fruit on the plate was large and shiny.
A young woman who looked to be in her twenties had a vibrant and innocent appearance.
Her hairstyle was a rebellious shoulder-length bob, but there was an unshakeable gloom between her brows.
As a result, although the girl was stunningly beautiful, she gave off a fierce impression.
She wore a face that looked like her mother had just died, as if the whole world owed her something.
She was Xian Yuyan, a woman currently traveling to clear her mind.
The carriage was moving very fast.
The horse wasn’t a live animal, but a puppet horse powered directly by burning Spirit Stones.
Even the coachman was a puppet.
Suddenly, Spiritual Qi fluctuations at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage came from the horizon, followed by the loud sound of rapid flight.
Her expression changed slightly.
She lifted the carriage window curtain and leaned out to look.
In the sky, several Soul Transformation Stage experts stood in mid-air, looking into the distance.
Far away, two Tribulation Transcendence Stage powerhouses were engaged in a magical battle.
One side used talismans like a sword formation.
The other side, together with a Weapon Puppet, was jointly attacking the other party.
“Ji Lanruo? A Weapon Puppet? So, that woman must be the master of Xuanbing?”
Xian Yuyan recognized the Sect Leader of Xishan Sect and also recognized the mid-stage Tribulation Transcendence level Weapon Puppet that had been harassing the Xishan Sect for years.
The Xishan Sect and Xuanbing had been feuding for many years, so it wasn’t strange for them to fight.
“Since she’s Qianlin’s mother, I’ll lend a little help.”
“Stop the carriage,” she said, calmly taking a bite of the Ginseng Fruit.
The whip in the coachman’s hand responded to Xian Yuyan’s words.
The four legs of the horse-shaped puppet came to a halt.
She slowly got out of the carriage.
She stored the carriage in her Spatial Ring, then changed into clothing more suitable for movement.
Finally, she suppressed her aura and began walking as if out for a stroll.
Although her steps were small, with each step, her figure would instantly move hundreds of meters away.
She soon entered the area affected by the Spiritual Qi of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage mighty ones.
She still suppressed her aura, took out a top-tier Invisibility Talisman to conceal her form, then carefully levitated in the air to avoid leaving footprints on the ground.
She held her breath and concentrated, controlling the airflow around her body.
The enemy was in the open, she was in the dark.
She wouldn’t give up such an advantage.
Before long, she arrived at the still-intact mountain forest beneath the two women.
“Why aren’t they attacking this particular mountain forest?”
All around, not only the trees but even the mountains had been leveled and crushed into a plain of rubble.
Yet, this one mountain remained untouched by the aftershocks of the two Tribulation Transcendence Stage mighty ones’ battle.
A dim candlelight flickered inside a cave.
“Could there be some treasure inside?”
She didn’t use her spiritual sense, merely gazing and staring into the cave.
The instant she saw three figures…
Two gray figures appeared right in front of her.
Two silver-black horizontal sabers flashed with cold light as they slashed down towards her face.
Fast.
It could be said to be the peak speed achievable at the Soul Transformation Stage.
They had their heads wrapped and faces covered.
Their gray robes fluttered loudly in the wind.
The turbulent air currents they stirred up left a slight sting on Xian Yuyan’s seemingly delicate cheeks, a bit stronger than an itch.
Her expression didn’t change, remaining that same utterly dejected look.
Soul Transformation Stage Great Perfection Weapon Puppets were certainly formidable, especially since their physical bodies approached early-stage Tribulation Transcendence levels, granting them immense destructive power.
But she was at the late-stage Tribulation Transcendence.
Why would she be afraid?
She calmly took a step, and her figure suddenly appeared behind the Weapon Puppets.
The puppets twisted their bodies, swinging their blades at her in a posture impossible for a human, targeting her who had teleported behind them.
She sighed, taking out two talismans.
The formations on the talismans lit up, instantly folding space.
The blades of the two Weapon Puppets didn’t hit her.
Instead, through a spatial rift, they saw each other’s necks.
Two blades, two necks.
Blade met neck, grinding out a shower of sparks.
The Weapon Puppets were unfazed.
They retracted their blades and attacked Xian Yuyan again.
She didn’t want to get entangled with rigid, mindless puppets that only had powerful bodies.
Their attack meant she had been discovered.
It was better to charge straight into the cave.
The Weapon Puppets attacking her followed closely behind.
A Weapon Puppet guarding the cave blocked her path.
Behind it, Ding Nan lay quietly on a bed.
Ding Nan was sleeping soundly.
On his rising and falling chest hung his dark jade tablet.
Seeing Ding Nan’s familiar face and the dark jade tablet, Xian Yuyan, who had looked as if she was mourning her parents, widened her drooping eyes, revealing a look of shock.
She took two disbelieving steps back, shaking her head repeatedly.
“How is this possible! It can’t be… He died two hundred years ago. Why is he here!”
In her moment of panic, all three Weapon Puppets raised their blades to attack her vital points.
Chest, thigh, arm.
The three puppets coordinated flawlessly, leaving Xian Yuyan no chance to escape.
She couldn’t even pull out a talisman in time.
As three nearly top-tier blades were about to land on her, her gaze turned sharp.
She no longer suppressed her aura.
Protective energy erupted from her body, repelling the threatening blades.
She turned, grabbed Ding Nan from the bed, wrapped them both in Spiritual Qi, blasted through the mountain top, and flew away into the distance.
“Who is it? How dare you touch my Young Master!”
Behind her, Luo Yao’s voice rang out.
She looked back and was startled to see the woman at the Tribulation Transcendence Great Perfection stage.
Luo Yao’s eyes were bloodshot, her pupils filled with madness.
Her maid’s uniform was tattered.
On her right arm, a hideous, charred burn scar stood in stark contrast to her otherwise fair, flawless skin.
Luo Yao wasn’t accompanied by her Weapon Puppet, but by hundreds of spirit swords.
Each of these spirit swords was a weapon only a master artifact smith could forge, each at least at the eighth tier.
These top-tier flying swords formed a shield wall, attempting to block the woman who had snatched her Young Master.
Looking at the sword formation, the immense Spiritual Qi churned the space, cutting off any possibility of escape using spatial magic.
Xian Yuyan turned around and saw Luo Yao flying towards her, reaching out to snatch the man in her grasp.
Xian Yuyan, holding Ding Nan by the collar, suddenly let go.
Completely unprotected, Ding Nan went into free fall.
“Young Master!”
Luo Yao flew towards Ding Nan like a madwoman.
However, she didn’t fly too fast, lest she crash into Ding Nan and turn him into Ding Nan paste.
Seizing this opportunity, Xian Yuyan pulled out her crimson-red longbow, drew the string, and fired an arrow that shattered the sword formation.
Over a dozen high-level spirit swords shattered into fragments, falling to the ground like glass shards.
“You bastard!”
Luo Yao caught Ding Nan.
“I’ll kill you!”
In Luo Yao’s eyes, this woman who had so casually placed Ding Nan in danger was now a person who must die.
Yet, Xian Yuyan’s face remained calm.
She raised her hand, and a talisman materialized.
Luo Yao’s pupils contracted sharply.
“A first-grade Teleportation Talisman!”
In an instant, Ding Nan was back in Xian Yuyan’s hands.
Immediately after, she slapped a “Thousand Mile Swift Step” talisman on herself.
In the blink of an eye, she shot through the hole in the sword formation with Ding Nan, streaking across the sky like a meteor, quickly turning into a tiny black dot in the distance.
Luo Yao intended to pull out her own talisman.
But Ji Lanruo, behind her, stopped her.
Ji Lanruo was also in tattered clothing, covered in numerous, thin, crimson sword wounds.
A conspicuous scar from Luo Yao’s blade marred her beautiful face.
Luo Yao had fought ruthlessly, not only aiming to kill but also attacking dirty, specifically targeting Ji Lanruo’s face.
“Someone took the Young Master…”
Luo Yao didn’t attack Ji Lanruo.
Ji Lanruo stared at the retreating, unfamiliar yet recognizable back, stunned.
The headmaster of Nanyang Academy?
Ji Lanruo suddenly surged with Spiritual Qi, flying with all her might after Xian Yuyan.
Luo Yao followed closely behind, flying side-by-side with her.
“Do you know her?”
Luo Yao asked amidst the fierce winds.
“She’s the headmaster of Nanyang Academy. She reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage at two hundred years old. She’s the most talented, youngest Tribulation Transcendence expert in a millennium.”
Ji Lanruo’s expression grew increasingly grave.
Luo Yao’s expression darkened.
Nanyang Academy, the holy land for all rogue cultivators in the world.
Its emergence provided a home for countless rogue cultivators, directly shaking the foundations of many established families.
Although the other party was one realm weaker than Luo Yao, she was a powerhouse proficient in all three major disciplines.
Moreover, she had defied opposition from numerous ancient forces in Zhongzhou to firmly establish Nanyang Academy right there.
Luo Yao lacked Ji Lanruo’s background and even more so, Xian Yuyan’s resources.
Apart from her cultivation level, she was at a disadvantage in everything else.
“Is she also the Young Master’s ‘old acquaintance’?”
Luo Yao asked.
“I didn’t know before. Now I do.”
“Why didn’t you know before?”
“Do you know the Nanyang Academy headmaster’s name?”
“No.”
“Xian Yuyan.”
“Who?”
Luo Yao frowned.
The name was completely unknown.
“Master’s last known activity was as a chivalrous thief who robbed the rich to help the poor. The cultivation family he wiped out in that lifetime was precisely the Duanmu Family.”
“I know. The Young Master killed three of their Tribulation Transcendence experts and severely injured the Duanmu Ancestor, leading to the Duanmu Family being devoured by other families. They’ve now declined into a third-rate family in Zhongzhou, almost unable to stay there.”
“Did your investigation reveal any connections he had with any women in that lifetime?”
“…”
Luo Yao fell silent.
A chivalrous thief was still a thief, doing things secretly.
When stealing, he would hide in someone’s rafters for ten days to half a month without leaving.
When helping the poor, he would also sneak into people’s homes and leave money as a surprise.
How much information could there be about such a person?
If it weren’t for the fact that the chivalrous thief’s final battle was so earth-shattering and exposed his techniques and martial arts, they wouldn’t have known that thief was their beloved, reborn and grown again.
After exchanging information, a needle seemed to prick their hearts.
‘Why didn’t you come find me?’
They could only channel their grief and anger into strength, desperately chasing after the distant Xian Yuyan.
However, their previous battle had taken a heavy toll.
After chasing Xian Yuyan for over a hundred kilometers, their speed quickly began to slow.
Gradually, the distance between them grew.
They could only watch as Xian Yuyan flew away.
“Do you have any way to find the Young Master?”
“Do you? Any method?”
The two looked at each other, instantly falling into silence.
“Anyway, let’s recover our strength first,” Ji Lanruo suggested.
Luo Yao nodded.
Each took their respective pills to restore their Spiritual Qi.
On the other side, Xian Yuyan flew into a nearby city, violating the no-fly ordinance.
She descended from a great height, crashing through the roof of the City Lord’s Mansion, startling the local City Lord.
“Take the Spirit Stones. Activate the Teleportation Array immediately.”
Xian Yuyan directly threw a Spatial Ring to the City Lord.
Qin Yangtai, a scholarly man with a thin mustache, held the Spatial Ring, trembling as he knelt before Xian Yuyan.
Good heavens, a new Tribulation Transcendence expert!
Qin Yangtai swallowed hard.