Martial Cultivator

Yu Lu’s voice was very soft, but the implication behind it was very heavy.

Yun Jianyue sighed, ”That Lord Warden Commander of yours, although we’re clearly on the same boat, he always shows his most cold-blooded side. Isn’t he afraid I might turn on him now?”

Yu Lu smiled and said, ”The Lord Warden Commander said that being friends with Sage is something very interesting, but if we want Sage to always stand with us, then friendship will always come second. The first priority is our shared goal.”

Hearing this, Yun Jianyue suddenly felt that this young man in front of him was rather interesting. He thought for a moment and then said, ”If possible, stay in the Infatuation Daoist Temple.”

Yu Lu did not hesitate, shaking his head, ”I can only be a Liang person.”

Yun Jianyue glanced at him and said, ”Who isn’t?”

After saying this, Yun Jianyue did not linger at the Soul Locking Prison. He quickly returned to his cave, where Ye Zhihua had been waiting. Upon seeing Yun Jianyue, she was not particularly surprised but said, ”You and Chen Chao set up a trap to kill the Chief Enforcer?”

These past few days, she had not done much, but it was not that she had done nothing. She had been thinking about many things and finally figured some things out, understanding the cause and effect of this matter.

Yun Jianyue smiled and said, ”Since the Chief Enforcer really killed the Temple Master, I naturally have to kill him.”

Ye Zhihua said, ”Did you see the evidence?”

”Yes.”

Yun Jianyue said, ”So the Chief Enforcer must die.”

Ye Zhihua said calmly, ”You’ve made a mistake. The seniors on the mountain won’t bear to kill you. If you try to kill the Chief Enforcer, they might even stop you, so that’s why you chose to ally with Chen Chao.”

Ye Zhihua was definitely one of the smartest individuals in the Infatuation Daoist Temple. There were very few things that she could not figure out if she really put her mind to it.

”But what kind of helpers will the Great Liang send to help you kill the Chief Enforcer?”

Ye Zhihua looked at her junior brother, somewhat worried for his safety.

Daoist Yinli was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable individuals of this era. Even after the Great Liang Emperor and the Demon Emperor disappeared without a trace, and after the Daoist Wuyang was killed by him, it could be said that the current world’s strongest figure was most likely the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, who was in closed-seclusion. After him, the old monk from Deercry Monastery might be second, and if you count some ancient powerhouses who remained secluded, the newly appointed Temple Master of Infatuation Daoist Temple would certainly rank among the top five.

If you don’t consider those powerhouses in seclusion, Daoist Yinli would definitely be in the top three strongest.

Could Yun Jianyue really deal with such a powerhouse?

”Counting me, just three people.”

Yun Jianyue looked calmly at his senior sister and smiled. ”Three Nepenthe Realms.”

Ye Zhihua grew a little angry and snapped, ”Yun Jianyue, do you really have no regard for your life?!”

Someone like the Chief Enforcer, never mind three Nepenthe Realms, even ten might not be enough to kill him.

Yun Jianyue did not speak. He simply looked quietly at Ye Zhihua.

Ye Zhihua saw many things in his eyes. After a moment of thought, she said, ”I’ll go with you.”

Yun Jianyue shook his head. ”Senior Sister, you know that a threshold lies between Nepenthe and the end of Nepenthe. But between the Great Beyond and the end of Nepenthe, that’s no threshold, but a heavenly chasm.”

Some things were left unsaid, but Ye Zhihua understood them.

Yun Jianyue reached out and gently took her hand, smiling. ”Just wait for me to come back, Senior Sister.”

Ye Zhihua said nothing. She simply tightened her grip, unwilling to let go.

Yun Jianyue smiled at her. ”My path is far ahead, so I won’t die here. But I hope Senior Sister will keep walking this path with me.”

In Ye Zhihua’s eyes, for the first time, a clear emotion surfaced - it was worry and tenderness.

Yun Jianyue smiled, reaching out to stroke his senior sister’s head.

Then, he gently kissed her forehead and whispered with a laugh, ”Senior Sister, when I come back, may I ask to become your dao companion?”

Ye Zhihua did not answer. In that moment, she suddenly felt deep regret, regretting why she had yet to take that step forward.

Why could she not become Nepenthe sooner?

......

......

In the bamboo building in the Divine Capital.

Xie Nandu sat in the bamboo chair where Chen Chao often used to sit. He Liang and Yu Qingfeng, the two young boys, sat on the steps, their legs swinging back and forth.

He Liang, who previously could not touch the ground no matter how hard he tried, could now just barely reach it with the tips of his feet.

Boys their age were like this, changing every day, growing rapidly, shooting up like bamboo.

A middle-aged man who looked like a steward stood in front of Xie Nandu, reporting the events of Chen Chao’s journey southward. When he got to the part where the Lord Warden Commander killed the Sect Master of Green Algae Sect on a ferry, the two boys were already bursting with excitement.

While listening to the earlier parts of the story, they had been thinking about how one might go about settling that score. They had even made a bet over it, but in the end, neither of them had guessed correctly.

Still, the result was incredibly satisfying.

“Now, Lord Warden Commander is almost at Yingchun Commandery...”

At that point, the steward stopped talking. No matter how fast the Xie Family’s intelligence network was, they could not transmit news every moment.

Xie Nandu waved her hand, dismissing the steward. Then she looked over at the two boys and said softly, “You heard all that, didn’t you?”

He Liang nodded vigorously, saying seriously, “Master is amazing!”

Yu Qingfeng asked with some concern, “Master’s going to eliminate the Glaze Temple this time. Can he really pull it off?”

Xie Nandu smiled and said, “He may be a bit foolish and a bit clumsy, but everything he sets his mind to, he always manages to get it done. It shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Hearing this, He Liang furrowed his brows imperceptibly. Though his mistress said so, he really did not think his master was either foolish or clumsy.

His master was the most formidable of all.

Xie Nandu stood up, took a few steps forward, raised her hand, and summoned a flying sword, letting it hover before her. She said softly, “Glaze Temple isn’t that troublesome, but the Infatuation Daoist Temple is. Whether he can come back alive... I honestly don’t know either.”

He Liang opened his mouth, burning with anxiety. “Then why did you still let Master go, Mistress?!”

Yu Qingfeng tried to tug on his junior brother’s sleeve, but after a moment’s thought, he could not say anything either.

“When a man grows up, he stops listening to a woman’s words.”

Xie Nandu glanced at the two boys and smiled. “Do you two still think your master is just a boy your age?”

The two youngsters did not really understand what she meant.

Xie Nandu did not say anything more. She simply turned her head, looked toward the sky, her eyes slightly damp. She murmured, “Chen Chao, I’m still waiting for you to come home. Don’t die out there. Promise me, don’t die out there.”