……

“By the way, Master, do you know of the Pill Cauldron Elder?” Wang Shouzhe changed the subject.

“I do, but we don’t get along,” said the Everlasting Elder. “The Pill Cauldron Elder is a self-taught cultivator. It’s said that he was once rejected when he sought to study at the academy in his youth, which led to his disdain for it. I’ve had several verbal clashes with him.”

“Uh…” Wang Shouzhe looked helplessly at the Everlasting Elder. He had thought that since they were both elders, there might be some connections he could leverage, perhaps even a backdoor. But to his dismay, it turned out to be a negative relationship.

The academy naturally had a system for studying pill concoction, but Wang Shouye was a pill master trained by the family, destined to guard the clan in the future, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to follow the academy’s path.

“I heard that old fellow can’t hold back anymore and is preparing to take on disciples?” The Everlasting Elder said with a smile, “Shouzhe, are you thinking of having a clan member become his disciple? Not to mention anything else, the Pill Cauldron Elder’s pill concoction system is derived from a legendary pill master and has some unique aspects. However, the Pill Cauldron Elder is known for his quirky temperament and is not easy to serve. And if you mention my name, he might just kick you out on the spot.”

“Actually, it might not be the case,” Wang Shouzhe pondered. “The Pill Cauldron Elder’s issue with the academy stems from his background as a self-taught cultivator and the subsequent discrimination he faced, which led to his rebellious attitude. Master, think about it, if I, a direct disciple of the Everlasting lineage, were to have a clan member become his disciple, wouldn’t that give him a sense of superiority, as if to say his Pill Cauldron lineage is better than the academy’s pill path?”

“This…” The Everlasting Elder’s smile froze, and it was indeed a possibility. To prevent his direct disciple from badmouthing the academy to please the Pill Cauldron Elder, the Everlasting Elder reluctantly took out an identity token and said, “This is my identity token. Take it and find His Highness, Prince Zhenzuo of Longzuo Wang’s Mansion. The prince has a wide network of friends and once did a favor for the Pill Cauldron Elder. If he is willing to intervene, the Pill Cauldron Elder will surely give him face.”

This was what a master should do, and Wang Shouzhe was delighted, taking the token and bowing to the Everlasting Elder: “Disciple thanks Master.”

With his status as a seventh-grade noble family, if he went to Longzuo Wang’s Mansion to present his visiting card, he would probably be lucky to be received by a steward. To make connections with the renowned Prince Zhenzuo was almost impossible.

But with the Everlasting Elder’s connections and the identity token, Wang Shouzhe was confident he could cling to Prince Zhenzuo’s coattails.

“This token can only be used on this occasion, do not flaunt it elsewhere,” the Everlasting Elder quickly added. “After using it, return it to me immediately. Also, remember not to weaken my presence in front of the Pill Cauldron Elder.”

“Yes, Master,” Wang Shouzhe replied earnestly. It was already quite difficult for the Everlasting Elder to use such connections to help him, and Wang Shouzhe was not the type to be insatiable.

“Also, don’t get too involved with the Wang’s Mansion,” the Everlasting Elder frowned and reminded him again, “In recent years, there have been some unpredictable changes in the capital. Your small Wang’s Clan must not get involved.”

Unpredictable changes?

After a moment of thought, Wang Shouzhe’s heart chilled: “Master, could it be that you mean…”

“You understand, that’s good. Don’t speak of it,” the Everlasting Elder raised his hand to stop him.

“Disciple understands,” Wang Shouzhe said with a solemn face. “Our Wang’s Clan of Changning is just a small seventh-grade noble family, and naturally, we won’t be foolish enough to get involved in those major affairs. Fortunately, Changning is far from the capital, and we only need to focus on farming our land diligently, without having to take any shortcuts.”

The Everlasting Elder nodded in satisfaction. His disciple understood the importance of steady development and did not aim too high. Moreover, he handled matters with proper measure, which was reassuring. No wonder even Luwei often liked him and would stay in Changning for a while.

……

While Wang Shouzhe was busy in the commandery city.

The other clan members also had their own paths in life.

In the eastern part of Longzuo, there was a fort called Dingdong Fort, which was located by the mountains and the sea, a bustling hub of commerce, and thus a place where dragons and snakes mingled.

There was a building in a nearby town called the Pity Flower Pavilion.

The night was deep, but the Pity Flower Pavilion was at its busiest time of the day.

At the entrance, the fragrance of women and the shadows of their hairdos made the place extraordinarily lively. Bright red lanterns illuminated the surroundings. Young women in light and gorgeous dresses greeted the well-dressed guests with smiles as beautiful as flowers.

Inside, the sounds of silk and bamboo music wafted out, and the lively atmosphere could be felt even from half a street away.

This was the largest brothel in Langping Town, frequented by the town’s wealthiest families and passing merchants. Recently, even the sons of noble families had occasionally visited.

This was because a new beauty had arrived—Chunying.

Chunying had a graceful figure and a voice as sweet as an oriole. She was like a boneless spring, and few men could resist her charm.

It was said that she came from a modestly wealthy family and had been deceived by a man, which led to her unfortunate fall into the dust.

Her original brothel had offended a powerful figure and was squeezed out of business, so she was brought here by the old madam with a hefty sum, becoming the new top courtesan of the Pity Flower Pavilion.

At this moment.

On the second floor.

In Chunying’s boudoir, a series of panting and moaning sounds could be heard, interspersed with broken words.

“My lord, my lord, please… please spare me… I really can’t… can’t take it anymore…”

The beauty on the bed was disheveled, panting heavily.

On her, a late-stage Qi Cultivation realm robust cultivator was burying his head and working hard. Sweat dripped down his strong back, almost soaking the bedsheet beneath him.

At the same time.

Outside the window, several zhang away on a roof eave, two figures were hiding in the shadows, watching this place from afar.

Under the hazy night, their figures were very vague, but one could still make out their slender silhouettes. Clearly, they were both women.

Both were cloaked, almost blending into the night. One was slightly taller, and the other carried a large box on her back, which was clearly a spirit insect master’s insect box by its material and shape.

At this moment, the spirit insect master was holding a green insect flute in her hand.

This flute was half the size of a normal one, and subtle Xuanqi swirled around her fingertips, stirring the flute like a breeze, emitting sounds that were hard to detect by the human ear.

With the sound of the flute, insects of various sizes crawled out of the box behind her, disappearing into the night with rustling sounds.

At the same time, a number of purple butterflies also fluttered out of the box, gradually vanishing into the night.

“How’s the situation?”

The other woman beside her asked.

“What’s the rush?” The spirit insect master glanced at her, “The bugs need a while to spread out~ Huaxie is full of tricks, we need to be prepared, or something might go wrong.”

“You’re always so cautious.”

The woman frowned but said nothing more, patiently waiting.

These two women, still and active, were none other than the sisters Wang Luojing and Wang Luoqiu.

Over the years, both of them were now in their early thirties, and their cultivation had improved significantly, reaching the fourth layer of the Lingtai realm, stepping into the mid-stage of the Lingtai realm.

With abundant resources and opportunities for experience in the academy, the sisters had grown rapidly over the years, and their temperament had undergone a transformation. Now, they had a completely different aura, like a metamorphosis.

Compared to the Xuanwu cultivators who stayed in the clan to cultivate, they had a more resolute and decisive temperament, with a sharpness in their eyes, like unsheathed swords, emitting a chilling light.

At this moment, they were on a mission from the academy to capture a notorious self-taught criminal on the wanted list.

This self-taught cultivator, nicknamed “Huaxie,” was said to have gone astray in his cultivation, becoming perverse and addicted to killing. He had committed crimes in many places, leading to the extermination of several ninth-grade noble families. He was ranked nineteenth on the black list of wanted criminals issued by the Longzuo Commandery’s governor’s office, worth five thousand academy credits.

However, “Huaxie” was elusive and full of tricks, and he was extremely good at hiding. Previous academy disciples who took on the mission either couldn’t find him or failed to capture him when they did, allowing him to escape.

Because of this, the credits for the “Huaxie” mission had been raised repeatedly, about sixty to seventy percent higher than the average mid-stage Lingtai realm criminal.

The sisters had also been searching for a long time before they finally found a clue and traced it to this brothel.

Now, it was finally time to close the net.

After a while, Wang Luojing put away the insect flute and looked at Wang Luoqiu: “It’s confirmed, there are no other Xuanwu cultivators in the Lingtai realm within several li, and there are no formations or mechanisms set up, so there should be no ambush.

But since Huaxie has survived the pursuit of other academy disciples several times, he must have some other means. Be careful, don’t fall for it.”

“Do you need to remind me?”

Wang Luoqiu gave her a look.

She was not like the naive and sweet Licui. Over the years, countless wanted criminals had died at her hands, and she had seen all sorts of tricks and schemes. How could she be easily outsmarted?

Without further ado, she tapped her toes on the eaves, and her body shot out like a bolt of lightning.

“Let’s go.”

In an instant, the wind howled, and a meteor seemed to streak across the night sky. In the blink of an eye, she covered several zhang and crashed through the window lattice, breaking into Chunying’s boudoir on the second floor.

The window lattice shattered, and wood chips flew everywhere.

Wang Luoqiu, like a nimble swallow, passed through the wood chips and landed gracefully, her movements clean and neat, without a single chip touching her.

“Who’s there?!”

The man and woman on the bed were startled and quickly pulled up the blanket to cover themselves, their faces showing panic.

“Disciples of the Purple Mansion Academy, here to apprehend a wanted criminal,” Wang Luoqiu’s eyes swept over them, and her icy gaze fell on one of them, “Huaxie, if you surrender, I might leave you a whole corpse.”

With that, she didn’t wait for the two to react and drew her low-grade spiritual weapon long knife, slashing at them.

The knife’s energy was vast, like a hanging river, with unstoppable might.

The chilling and surging killing intent instantly filled the room.

“Huaxie? What Huaxie? You’ve got the wrong person, right?”

The man was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he scrambled to hide under the bed.

However, Wang Luoqiu’s knife energy was not aimed at him.

As he scrambled away, the “Chunying” who had been curled up at the foot of the bed suddenly burst into action, pulling a short sword from under the pillow and blocking Wang Luoqiu’s slash.

The knife energy exploded, and “Chunying’s” hanging hair was lifted by the wind, revealing her beautiful face.

However, at this moment, there was no trace of tenderness in her seductive eyes, only bloodthirsty ferocity and defiance.

It turned out that the courtesan “Chunying” was the real “Huaxie”!

But how could Wang Luoqiu’s knife be so easily blocked?

Having awakened a double bloodline at the Qi Cultivation stage, she had already reached a triple bloodline after advancing to the Lingtai realm. Her bloodline power was surging and strong, and since she had awakened a combat body bloodline, her strength was far greater than that of an average mid-stage Lingtai realm cultivator.

Seeing that Huaxie had actually blocked her knife energy, Wang Luoqiu’s eyes sharpened, and she instantly increased her strength to the fullest.

“Bang!”

With a muffled sound, “Chunying” was instantly sent flying by the tremendous force, crashing hard against the wall on the other side of the bed.

“Boom!” The wall immediately cracked with several lines.

However, Huaxie was, after all, a mid-stage Lingtai realm cultivator with rich combat experience. She had adjusted her posture while flying backward and used her Xuanqi to reduce the impact, so she wasn’t seriously injured.

Even so, she still felt a tingling in her sword-holding right hand, her blood churned, and a sweet taste rose in her throat, even the circulation of Xuanqi in her body was somewhat impeded.

She knew this was due to the huge difference in strength, and her face turned very ugly.

She had anticipated that academy disciples would come after her, but she didn’t expect that the disciple who found her this time would be so powerful. The strength this girl showed was not like that of an ordinary academy disciple, perhaps…Huaxie’s mind raced, and she suddenly let out a cold laugh: “Who would have thought that I, ‘Huaxie,’ could actually compel a direct disciple of the academy to personally pursue and attempt to kill me. Truly an honor.”

Wang Luoqiu sneered: “This lady does not change her name or sit under a changed surname. A direct disciple under the tutelage of Master Xuan Yao, I am Wang Luoqiu. When you face judgment in the underworld, make sure not to report the wrong name.”

Huaxie’s heart trembled.

Her original intention was merely to bluff and ascertain the identity of her opponent. Who would have thought that this girl was actually a direct disciple?

Although she was still only a Lingtai Realm direct disciple.

Could any who become a direct disciple of the academy not be a proud child of heaven, with extraordinary bloodline, intellect, and strength? How could she possibly handle such an opponent?

However, before she could react, Wang Luoqiu had already struck with her blade again.

“Die.”

The chilling blade qi slashed across, aiming straight for Huaxie’s face, as if it would split her in two the next moment.

Huaxie’s face drastically changed, and without thinking, she swiftly retreated, pulling the man by the bed and placing a short sword against his neck.

The man’s face turned pale with fright, trembling all over.

Huaxie sneered, glancing at Wang Luoqiu with a threatening tone: “If you move again, I’ll kill him.”

However, Wang Luoqiu’s expression did not change in the slightest, not even the surging blade qi wavered, showing no intention of stopping as if she did not care about the life or death of the man in Huaxie’s hands.

The blade light brushed through the air, reaching her in an instant.

Huaxie’s face changed drastically.

She never expected that this girl would not hesitate for a moment, not giving her any chance to exploit a weakness.

With no other choice, she had to mobilize her Xuanqi, brandishing her sword with all her might to meet the blade.

But her response was even more hasty than before, neither her strength nor her Xuanqi were fully deployed when the blade light and sword light met, and she was immediately sent flying backward, spitting out blood.

She was also sent crashing through the wall behind her, even the man in her hand was flung aside.

Countless fragments of stone fell with a “rumbling” noise.

Huaxie reacted quickly, flipping up from the ground, shaking off the debris with a backhand, but still got splattered with dust and grime.

Her beautiful face was smeared with dirt, but it could not hide the shock and disbelief: “Are you insane? As a disciple of the academy, you actually disregard the life and death of an innocent cultivator?”

Wang Luoqiu sneered: “Take another look, what is it that you’re holding?”

Huaxie instinctively turned her head, only to see that what had fallen to the ground beside her was not a man at all, but a human-shaped puppet covered in runes!

Her face changed dramatically: “How is this possible?”

Wang Luoqiu’s lips curled into a meaningful smile.

What else could it be? This was naturally Wang Luoqing’s doing.

Influenced by Wang Shouzhe from a young age, they both knew the necessity of being cautious with enemies. As soon as they discovered Huaxie’s whereabouts, they had already anticipated her possible reactions, naturally leaving no such obvious flaws.

The puppet was a special product of Wandi Valley, used in conjunction with the illusions of the Wandi lineage, it could almost deceive the real.

Just now, she did not strike to kill immediately but gave Huaxie a chance to speak and react, naturally to buy time for Luoqing to move the person away and also to drive the others in the Lianhua Building away.

After all, even if she did not care for that man, as a direct disciple of the academy, she had to consider the academy’s reputation and not give others a pretext.

And now, with no bystanders, Huaxie’s time of death had naturally come.

At this point, Huaxie finally had no more illusions of luck.

She abruptly raised her hand, using her Xuanqi to lift the surrounding debris and fiercely smashed it towards Wang Luoqiu, then taking advantage of the cover, she attempted to flee with a flash.

However, before she could escape through the window, suddenly a purple butterfly swept past her face.

Almost imperceptible scales fluttered down, causing her head to spin, and she involuntarily fell from mid-air.

At the same time, the crisp sound of a bell rang from outside the window.

Huaxie instinctively looked up, only to see a mysterious purple shadow flying through the night sky.

Holding a bugle in one hand, surrounded by purple butterflies, she seemed to glide through the air, ethereal and graceful, and in a blink of an eye, she landed on the eaves outside the window.

It was Wang Luoqing.

As she landed, countless huge purple crystal peaks roared out from the box behind her, accompanied by a roar like an engine, swarming towards Huaxie.

Almost simultaneously, the blade light from Wang Luoqiu had also arrived behind Huaxie.

Huaxie’s face changed drastically, her heart sinking like falling into an ice cave.

Under the joint efforts of Luoqing and Luoqiu, what chance did Huaxie have to survive? In less than half a moment, Huaxie became a corpse.

The lonely night wind made her body seem all the more desolate.

“No wonder everyone could never find Huaxie, who would have thought she was actually a courtesan in a brothel. Such peculiar tastes.” Looking at the scene before her, Wang Luoqiu couldn’t help but make a comment.

“It might not necessarily be a preference.” Wang Luoqing casually said, “I’ve heard of a special dual cultivation method that can enhance cultivation through such means. Maybe she was practicing it.”

Wang Luoqiu was puzzled: “Where did you hear that? How come I don’t know?”

Wang Luoqing: “…”

Could she say that she “accidentally” overheard it while passing by Shuiyue Pavilion?

Forget it, better to save some face for her fourth brother~ Such embarrassing words, she really couldn’t say them out loud.

However, having killed the nineteenth-ranked ‘Huaxie’ on the Black List, both were very pleased. Although they both had family subsidies and direct disciple allowances, the cost of accelerating their cultivation was substantial.

Five thousand academy credits split between the two of them, enough to exchange for many precious elixirs.

…