Li Yingling stood up, looking at Chen Baiqing's tear-glistened eyes. Though countless harsh words filled her mind, in the end her tone softened:
"That jade token is a Tianyan Sect specialty, containing Master's very distinctive spiritual energy. How could it be fake?"
"Master clearly wants you to settle down and stop causing trouble."
Chen Baiqing turned slightly to the side, not responding to this, only asking:
"If I return directly to Tianyan Sect from here and have nothing more to do with this matter, can Senior Sister agree to that?"
Li Yingling's tone grew more serious:
"No. As your eldest senior sister, I know exactly what you're capable of."
Chen Baiqing lowered her head slightly. After a moment's silence, she chose to explain:
"Master has long known we had slightly different views on this matter. But all this time, Master never sent me a letter telling me to rein it in. Presumably he didn't give you specific instructions on how to handle it either."
Li Yingling looked deep into her eyes but found herself at a loss for words.
"This means Master wants us to handle this ourselves, to do what we want to do. He won't interfere." Chen Baiqing took out the jade token that had just arrived. "And this one… is almost certainly from Shiniang's hand."
"Only when Master isn't at Tianyan Sect, and Shiniang doesn't want our relationship to deteriorate further—pushing things beyond what she can control—would she send this jade token."
"If Master were still at Tianyan Sect, this jade token would absolutely never have made it out of the sect!"
"Eldest Senior Sister! Don't you know Master? Once he's set on something, how could he possibly give up halfway?"
"Everything here—whether it's the new policy, or this silly monk's beloved Small Vehicle Buddhist Teachings—none of it matters as much as Master!"
"Eldest Senior Sister! Right now, which of Master's personally taught disciples is even still at Tianyan Sect?"
"Master might also be using this opportunity to trick us all away, so he can go face some heavenly tribulation again, hanging his life on the line."
"All I want now is to go back to Tianyan Sect, keep watch over Master. Even if I can't stop him, I want to see it with my own eyes!"
Chen Baiqing's voice broke, a hint of pleading in her eyes:
"Eldest Senior Sister… aren't you worried about Master too?"
Li Yingling took two deep breaths, her gaze shifting to Li Xingtian and Cui Hao. After a moment's silence, she waved her hand gently:
"Go. I trust you wouldn't use Master's name to deceive me."
Chen Baiqing bowed, then instantly transformed into a rainbow light and soared away.
Li Yingling exhaled heavily, watching the rainbow light Chen Baiqing had become, and asked Cui Hao beside her:
"Do you think your third junior sister… was speaking the truth?"
Cui Hao thought for a moment, his tone earnest:
"Third Junior Sister is always sincere."
"It's just that Third Junior Sister's sincerity isn't always recognized by conventional standards. But it is genuinely her sincerity—whether toward me or toward Eldest Senior Sister."
"Also, I think Third Junior Sister probably didn't lie to Eldest Senior Sister. Was it that she didn't verbally agree, just smiled beautifully, and Eldest Senior Sister assumed she'd agreed?"
Li Yingling turned to look at Cui Hao at this. She thought back but couldn't quite recall that unremarkable detail.
But put that way, it did sound like Baiqing's personality.
Li Yingling lifted her foot and gave Cui Hao a light kick:
"You could have at least reminded me about something like this."
Cui Hao's expression was aggrieved: "I didn't know at the time either! You only told me about it later, Eldest Senior Sister! If you'd told me earlier, I definitely would have reminded you earlier!"
Li Yingling ignored him and turned her gaze to Li Xingtian:
"What are you still sitting there for?"
Li Xingtian blinked in surprise, then stood up:
"So I should follow Third Junior Sister back to Tianyan Sect?"
"What could you accomplish by going back? I'm telling you to come sit over here. Is my little second junior brother also trying to challenge the eldest senior sister's authority?"
Li Xingtian laughed speechlessly and quickly walked over.
Their sect's eldest senior sister was still the same as always—still a bit childish at heart.
Tianyan Sect, Peak of One Big Happy Family.
Xie Lingyu held a jade token awaiting review. Part of it concerned the new policy in Southern Zhanbu Continent. After all, beyond the policy, they also had to guard against whether the Celestial Demons might actually try to wipe out all of Chu Xingchen's disciples in one go.
So besides intensive reconnaissance in that direction, there were also Tribulation Transcendence cultivators providing cover nearby.
Here, things were nearly calm. After all, in the Celestial Demons' eyes, compared to Chu Xingchen, their thorn in the side, his disciples were hardly worth mentioning.
What truly gave Xie Lingyu a headache was the other part—news of Chu Xingchen's antics in Eastern Divine Continent.
Xiaoyun Hall's warnings arrived like a blizzard.
Basically, every time Chu Xingchen caused trouble in Eastern Divine Continent, Xiaoyun Hall would send at least ten urgent jade tokens.
Including reports that:
Chu Xingchen, despite being gravely injured, still charged fearlessly to the front lines without the slightest thought of commanding from the rear. Upon seeing even the slightest connection between evil cultivators and demons, he would charge straight in.
With incomplete intelligence and unclear surroundings, Xiaoyun Hall naturally judged this extremely dangerous.
So frequently—despite the most powerful among them being merely Nascent Soul realm evil cultivator gangs—
The moment Chu Xingchen charged in, at least two Tribulation Transcendence cultivators would descend to flatten them.
Setting everything else aside, the rumors of evil cultivator gangs across Eastern Divine Continent spread incredibly fast.
Even the Evil Spirit Sect—an organization that existed in name only—instantly went silent.
This was terrifying beyond belief.
No one wanted to be ground to dust by a descending Tribulation Transcendence cultivator with full spiritual sense and every technique deployed before they'd even done anything wrong.
Chu Xingchen's approach naturally had its problems. What if a Celestial Demon seized this opportunity to set an inescapable trap?
But Chu Xingchen was maverick. He insisted he was riddled with ailments, as though he'd collapse at a touch.
The entire Xiaoyun Hall truly didn't dare use any means to stop Chu Xingchen.
What if Chu Xingchen simply lay down on the spot? Then no one would be able to clarify who bore the responsibility.
Beyond directly confronting evil cultivators, Chu Xingchen was relentless in pursuing Xu Linglong—whenever there was word of her, he would personally investigate.
He would also interrogate suspicious individuals.
Though the methods were somewhat crude, Chu Xingchen actually did manage to track down traces of Xu Linglong.
Whether it was bait Xu Linglong deliberately set was unknown, but Chu Xingchen found it, and then set off with Tribulation Transcendence cultivators in pursuit.
During these days, he had actually encountered Xu Linglong's true body.
Fortunately, Xu Linglong chose not to engage directly, seemingly wary of Chu Xingchen's condition—feeling it wasn't the right time.
For the moment, Xu Linglong wasn't afraid, and Chu Xingchen wasn't afraid either.
It was purely Xiaoyun Hall that was afraid.
They were even considering having Tianyan Sect cultivators come to Eastern Divine Continent to fully take over Chu Xingchen's entire operation.
Xie Lingyu sighed softly.
As expected, it had to be Chu Xingchen.
"Shiniang."
Hearing the voice, Xie Lingyu looked up to see Chen Baiqing—who should have been in Southern Zhanbu Continent—had returned at some point.
She asked instinctively: "How come you're back?"
Chen Baiqing walked closer, her gaze sweeping the surroundings, then answered:
"There's something I need to discuss with Master."
"Where's Master?"
[
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