Chen Yang cradled the cluster of Moonlight Orchids in his hands, his steps light and brisk as he made his way along the mountain path back to his residence on Qingyun Peak.
The delicate, lingering fragrance drifted into his nostrils with every step, gently unraveling the gloom that had settled over him from his losses at the market, leaving his mood considerably brighter and more at ease.
He glanced down at the small, milky-white blossoms in his hands, and a faint smile crept onto his face without him even noticing. He murmured softly to himself:
"This fragrance may not boost one's cultivation, but it truly does calm the mind and lift the spirit. I should have Yiyi take a look when I get back — maybe she can find a way to graft some into our backyard. Being able to smell this every day wouldn't be bad at all."
He raised his head and gazed toward the towering silhouette of Qingyun Peak not far ahead.
That was the main peak of the Verdant Wood Sect.
It was also the place of seclusion of the elusive and enigmatic Sect Master, Ouyang Hua.
Although Chen Yang had never laid eyes on the Sect Master — he knew nothing of the man's appearance or temperament — just from the scattered remarks of others and the reverence the sect showed toward him, he could sense the immense power and transcendence of that presence.
"They say that if one is favored by an Elder, or even by the Sect Master himself, and taken on as a Personal Disciple, one can cultivate in the main peak or the core areas of the various peaks, enjoying far better resources and guidance…"
A flicker of longing stirred in Chen Yang's heart.
He didn't know what the future held for him.
But if he could rise even further, he would welcome it with open arms.
His thoughts drifted to the sect's upcoming rewards.
In the recent demon beast rampage, he wouldn't dare claim all the credit — but luring away the thirty-meter crocodile and rescuing his fellow disciples was surely enough to leave some impression on the Elders.
What if…
What if an Elder from one of the peaks took a liking to him and was willing to take him as a disciple?
The moment that thought arose, a cool and graceful silver-haired figure drifted unbidden into his mind…
"I wonder… would the Silver-Haired Senior be willing to take me as her disciple?"
A ripple of feeling stirred in Chen Yang's heart.
But he quickly shook his head, laughing quietly at himself:
"A Foundation Establishment Elder taking on a disciple — how exacting would that be? I may have had some fortunate encounters, but my cultivation is still shallow and my foundation is not yet unshakably solid. How could I dare to dream of such a thing? Besides, the Senior has already promised to guide my cultivation — that alone is an immense kindness. I mustn't be greedy and reach for more."
His mind then turned to the jade slip he had seen on the third floor of the Cultivation Technique Pavilion — the one called the Blazing Annihilation Sword Art.
That fierce and peerless sword intent, devastating in its offensive power, still set his heart racing whenever he thought of it.
The sword art was an excellent match for the Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Art he was currently cultivating and the Spirit Origin Pills he was taking. If he could practice it, his combat power would surely surge dramatically.
"Still, cultivation techniques and fortuitous encounters cannot be forced. The Yimu Immortality Art is already a tremendous stroke of fortune for me — I should focus on cultivating it wholeheartedly."
He reined in his wandering thoughts and pushed those distractions aside.
To have become an inner disciple, to possess the cultivation environment and resources he had now — compared to just a few months ago, when he had been struggling in the mundane fields and toiling away in the laborer's medicine garden, the difference was like heaven and earth.
He ought to be grateful for what he had.
Lost in thought, he soon found himself near the courtyard where he lived.
However.
When he was still some thirty meters from the courtyard gate.
His steps suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
Something was wrong!
He keenly sensed that from within the courtyard, there seemed to come the faint sound of an argument!
Though the courtyard wall and the distance muffled the words, the agitation and sharpness in those voices were utterly unlike the peaceful tranquility that normally filled the yard.
Chen Yang's brow immediately furrowed.
"Could Xiaochunhua and Yiyi be fighting?"
The thought had barely surfaced before he dismissed it.
Xiaochunhua's personality was lively and impulsive — sometimes even a little loose-lipped.
But Liu Yiyi was gentle and tolerant by nature. The two of them had always gotten along harmoniously, like real sisters. There was no way they would ever come to such a loud quarrel.
He strained to listen. Among the indistinct voices drifting over, he could make out Liu Yiyi's voice — and mixed in with it, another voice…
A woman's voice, both familiar and strange, that made his heart sink like a stone!
Chen Yang's expression shifted.
A sense of foreboding rose in his chest.
He quickened his pace immediately, nearly breaking into a run as he rushed to the courtyard gate.
He shoved open the half-latched gate.
The scene before him froze him on the spot, his pupils contracting sharply.
The stone table and chairs that had always been neatly arranged lay overturned on the ground. The carefully prepared dishes, along with shards of broken bowls and plates, were scattered everywhere.
Soup and grease stained the bluestone floor.
Utter chaos!
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"What… what happened here?!"
Shock and fury surged through Chen Yang as his gaze swept the courtyard, instantly locking onto the figures confronting one another inside.
When he recognized the woman standing in the courtyard — clad in the water-blue long dress of a Jade Bamboo Peak female cultivator, her expression icy, her bearing imperious and condescending — a rage he could not suppress blazed straight to the top of his head!
Zhao Yanran!
It was actually her!
In an instant, Chen Yang recalled the incident where Li Baode had been sent to Butterfly Valley to forcibly seize the purple ginseng and had injured Liu Yiyi!
Liu Yiyi's leg bone had been broken then. Had he not arrived in time to treat her, the consequences would have been unthinkable!
And the one who had orchestrated it all from behind the scenes was none other than this woman standing before him — the woman he had once called his wife!
He forced down his fury, his voice so cold it could have chipped ice:
"Zhao Yanran! What are you doing here?!"
He had already warned her clearly — she was not to come and trouble Liu Yiyi again!
Zhao Yanran heard Chen Yang's voice and turned around.
Those eyes of hers, which once held tenderness, now fell upon him.
Then the corner of her mouth curved into a playful arc:
"Why shouldn't I come? If I hadn't, I never would have known that my dear husband has been keeping a hidden lover in a gilded chamber here, living such a carefree and comfortable life!"
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Chen Yang's temples throbbed with fury:
"Stop talking such rubbish and slandering innocent people!"
Zhao Yanran let out a cold snort, her tone cutting:
"You did it but you won't admit it? If you had nothing to hide, why would you be so agitated?"
Chen Yang was about to explain, but for some reason, the image of Lin Yang playing the zither that day floated into his mind, along with the words that had been said.
He and Zhao Yanran — they had nothing to do with each other anymore.
Since they were nothing to each other, why should he explain anything?!
Zhao Yanran watched Chen Yang remain silent and let out a cold laugh. Then she suddenly asked:
"That day, when you came to the Jade Bamboo Lodge to meet me — had you already been concealing your cultivation?"
Chen Yang pressed his lips together and said nothing.
Zhao Yanran nodded to herself, her tone carrying a complex, unreadable quality:
"To think… husband… you truly do possess remarkable talent for cultivation. It seems I misjudged you before."
Chen Yang said coldly:
"Whether I have talent or not is none of your concern anymore!"
"None of my concern?"
Zhao Yanran seemed stung by those words, and her gaze turned suddenly frigid.
Her eyes swept over Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua, who were pressed close together.
Especially when she saw Liu Yiyi's delicate and gentle face, a nameless jealous rage surged up inside her.
She said nothing more. With a cold snort, she suddenly activated the Jade Ripple Art within her, raised her slender hand, and a water-blue stream of true qi — carrying a soft yet razor-sharp aura — shot out like a viper striking from its den, blazing toward Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua with terrifying speed!
The strike appeared effortless, but the power it contained was enough to gravely wound an ordinary low-level Qi Refining disciple!
"You dare!"
Chen Yang roared and reacted with lightning speed, his figure flashing to interpose himself between Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua. He simultaneously channeled his spiritual energy and threw a punch!
Though he hadn't used his full strength, the physical power of the peak sixth level of the Qi Refinement Realm combined with the burst of spiritual energy was more than enough to easily shatter that stream of water-blue true qi.
Both Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua were frightened pale by the sudden attack, crying out in alarm.
"Brother Chen!"
"Senior Brother Chen!"
Xiaochunhua was so startled she dove behind Chen Yang's broad back, both hands clutching tightly at his clothes.
Liu Yiyi also instinctively reached out and gripped Chen Yang's wrist tightly, seeking the security of his presence.
This scene was like pouring oil onto a fire, completely igniting Zhao Yanran's jealousy!
"Chen Yang! You dare block me? And you still claim you have nothing to do with these two vixens?!"
Zhao Yanran's chest heaved with fury as she pointed at the two women and berated them.
Xiaochunhua poked half her head out from behind Chen Yang's back. Though frightened, she still mustered her courage to retort:
"Senior Brother Chen, help! This woman is terrifying! She walked in without a word, stared at us with this creepy look, then glanced at the food on the table and flipped the whole thing over with a wave of her hand! We have no idea what we did to offend her!"
Liu Yiyi nodded as well, her face pale but her gaze steady.
She didn't yet fully know the exact identity of the woman before her, but piecing together the incident with Li Baode and Chen Yang's reaction, she had already formed a quiet suspicion.
She took a deep breath, seemingly trying hard to defuse the confrontation, and looked at Zhao Yanran, speaking softly:
"You… you must be Miss Zhao, right?"
Zhao Yanran's cold gaze snapped to Liu Yiyi, filled with scrutiny and disdain, as if she wanted to see what this "vixen" could possibly say.
Liu Yiyi met that gaze and struggled to keep her voice steady:
"Since you and Brother Chen have already… already parted ways, why come here to stir up trouble? I know something of what happened between you and Brother Chen. I…"
She had intended to say a few words of persuasion, hoping the other woman could let go of the past and let everyone move on in peace.
However.
Before she could finish, Zhao Yanran let out an impatient cold snort:
"Silence."
The moment those words fell, Liu Yiyi suddenly felt as though her lips had been sealed by some invisible force. No matter how hard she tried, she could not produce a single word — only muffled sounds escaped her.
She stared in horrified disbelief, hands frantically trying to pry her own lips apart, but to no avail.
Chen Yang was stunned. He hadn't seen how Zhao Yanran had made her move at all!
Xiaochunhua was equally startled, then immediately furious. She pointed at Zhao Yanran and shouted:
"You wicked woman! What kind of sorcery did you use?! I know all about your dirty business too! Didn't you abandon Senior Brother Chen at first to climb higher, and now that Senior Brother Chen has become impressive, you want to come back and…"
Her words too were cut short — her mouth sealed as if stitched shut, leaving her only able to produce a rapid series of muffled sounds.
Xiaochunhua was so frustrated she was hopping up and down.
Zhao Yanran looked at the two of them struggling uselessly, and a haughty, cruel satisfaction spread across her face.
She explained with casual indifference:
"This is just a minor spell technique from Jade Bamboo Peak that isn't worth mentioning — the Silencing Technique. Some of the senior and junior sisters on the peak like to keep spirit hounds for company, but find the barking too noisy, so they learned this technique for some peace and quiet. I didn't expect it to work just as well on people."
The contempt embedded in those words could not have been more obvious!
Chen Yang's face turned an iron shade of grey, his fists clenching with audible cracks.
He wanted to help.
But having never encountered this type of spell technique before, he had no idea how to break it!
Liu Yiyi, upon hearing those words, went even paler, humiliation flickering in her eyes.
Xiaochunhua looked as though she was about to explode with rage.
She was jumping up and down, pointing at Zhao Yanran, her mouth opening and closing without making a sound, her small face flushed a deep crimson from the strain.
Zhao Yanran was quite satisfied with the effect she had produced. She turned her attention away from the two women and looked back at Chen Yang, even managing to squeeze out what she considered a gentle smile, her voice softening somewhat:
"There now, husband. With no one else to interrupt us, we can… have a proper chat about old times."
With that.
She actually stepped forward, extending the same slender hand that had just cast the spell technique, reaching out to take Chen Yang's hand.
And at that very moment.
Xiaochunhua, who had been hopping about in a barely contained fury, watched Zhao Yanran put on that affected display.
She thought of how this woman had not only sent someone to bully Sister Liu.
But now had the audacity to call her a dog.
And was even trying to steal Senior Brother Chen away.
Old grievances and new insults, combined with the humiliation of this moment, sent a surge of extreme rage crashing through her reason!
Unable to speak, driven to the edge by furious desperation, she steeled herself — and bit down hard on the tip of her own tongue with her teeth!
A sharp, metallic sweetness instantly flooded her mouth. Amid the searing pain, the invisible force that had bound her tongue seemed to crack open just a sliver, as if shattered by the sudden rush of blood and agony!
Ptui!
Xiaochunhua spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged saliva. She felt her throat loosen, and the torrent of words that had been suppressed for so long burst out like a dam breaking. She pointed at Zhao Yanran and screamed at the top of her lungs:
"Who are you calling a dog?! You wicked woman! You've got not even two ounces of flesh on your chest — skinny as a bamboo pole — and you still have the nerve to come looking for Brother Chen?! Ptui!"
Zhao Yanran's hand, reaching toward Chen Yang, froze in midair. She turned to stare at Xiaochunhua in astonishment, genuine surprise crossing her face for the first time.
She looked carefully at the bloodstain at the corner of Xiaochunhua's mouth.
Then understanding dawned, and she murmured to herself:
"So she bit through her tongue tip and used the rush of blood to break through… a crude method. But then, the Silencing Technique is the lowest-grade of tricks — meant to fool ordinary mortals or those of meager cultivation. It's no surprise it could be broken this way."
Yet.
That line from Xiaochunhua — "not even two ounces of flesh on her chest" — was like a poisoned needle.
It had struck with unerring precision at a natural insecurity she carried as a woman, and her expression instantly darkened so completely it looked as though it might drip with fury.
Zhao Yanran's killing intent stirred.