Back in the city, Qi Yalan still arranged for Qing Muling to live in the courtyard of the senior sister. No one was allowed to have close contact with him without permission.
In other words, except for these two senior sisters and a few close confidants, no one could be alone with Qing Muling. This naturally caused dissatisfaction among many people, but there was no good way to deal with it for the time being.
According to the usual practice, Qing Muling would naturally go into seclusion next. The reason why it is said to be a usual practice is because most low-level cultivators do so. Every time they come back from training and fighting, they always close the door and cultivate for a period of time, healing and recovering, digesting their experience and insights, and adjusting their mentality to prepare for the next encounter with opportunities.
Of course, this time, Xuebing Xuan replaced the senior sister who lived with Qing Muling. The external explanation was that Junior Brother was accidentally injured during his training and fighting outside and needed her help in healing and recovery. Whether others believed it or not, or what they thought, it didn’t matter.
Only Qi Yalan knew in her heart that she and the senior sister had reached a bottleneck in their cultivation. The accumulation of their usual hard work was already enough. They only needed a suitable opportunity to break through the thin barrier and step into a completely new realm.
At that time, not only would Qi Yalan’s status rise, but Xuebing Xuan’s advantage in competing for the position of the sect’s successor would become more apparent, further widening the gap with the other competitors.
Therefore, Qing Muling’s enlightenment and terrifying luck became an indispensable help for them. This was a crucial opportunity that could not be replaced by any resources at this stage, and there was absolutely no reason to waste it.
Three days later, in the sky to the south of the city, a sudden burst of colorful light dyed half of the sky red, and the surrounding temperature rose sharply.
“Luo City Lord is back!”
The elder disciples on duty were discussing with great joy. Since the city lord went out alone to kill demons at the beginning of last month, it has been more than a month. The time is indeed long, and the elders who stayed behind were a little worried. Now they can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
After a few breaths, the dazzling light gradually converged, and a majestic red sun descended, revealing a graceful and beautiful figure inside.
“Wanqing, I finally waited for you!”
A bright sword light swooped down at high speed, and Qi Yalan appeared from the sword light, meeting the woman in the rising sun.
The bright red tight armor outlined a fiery and curvaceous figure. The snow-white skin was delicate and smooth, and the facial features were stunningly beautiful. It carried the vigorous vitality and youthful energy, as well as the majestic and ancient aura of the primordial times. It was fierce, intense, and had an indomitable fighting spirit against the heavens.
At the moment of seeing her, a substantial and violent impact rushed over, and the powerful aura made people with lower cultivation dare not look directly at her.
This female cultivator is Qi Yalan’s junior sister, the fourth disciple of the Supreme Sect Master: Luo Wanqing. It is rumored that she comes from an ancient Witch Clan with a long heritage and unimaginable foundation. She has pure ancient witch bloodline, so she naturally chose the path of body cultivation. She is the top melee warrior in Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, and ordinary talented body cultivators are nothing compared to her.
Seeing Qi Yalan, Luo Wanqing nodded slightly, and a hint of smile appeared on her tense face. “It has been a long time since I went out this time, but with you here, there is nothing to worry about. By the way, where is our Junior Brother?”
The last sentence was communicated through divine sense, obviously she also understood that it was a matter of great importance and should not be discussed in front of outsiders.
“Junior Brother is in closed-door cultivation. Senior Sister is taking care of him, so there won’t be any problems. He should be coming out soon, we can go over now.”
“Very well, I hope he won’t disappoint me! After receiving the message from the Sect Master last time, I went out several times specifically to prepare a decent gift for the meeting!”
“Don’t worry, Junior Brother will definitely satisfy you. Otherwise, why would the Sect Master value him so much?”
“Well, that’s true. If both of you think highly of him, then he must be excellent.”
“Alright, let’s go and wait for him. It’s a pity that the second senior sister hasn’t come out of seclusion yet. It’s really frustrating. The four of us can’t withstand the pressure from those crazy women if we don’t join forces.”
Qi Yalan responded calmly with divine sense, and Luo Wanqing nodded silently. She casually said some polite words to the elder disciples who had gathered around, and then left in a hurry, using rest as an excuse.
In a luxurious mansion adjacent to the city lord’s mansion, the guards were lax on the outside but tight on the inside. In the inner courtyard’s pavilion, a group of veiled female cultivators sat around a round table.
The spirit wine and delicacies on the table were exquisite, showing that the host who called for this gathering was very attentive. However, at this moment, everyone’s thoughts were not on these things.The meeting had been going on for a while. The female cultivators exchanged and summarized the intelligence they had gathered, then moved on to the discussion and decision-making phase.
“…I still don’t understand, what on earth are those two up to?”
A young woman in a colorful dress frowned and spoke, “Even if that Qing Muling really is the descendant of some ancient ancestor, and has won the favor of the Supreme Sect Master, willing to break the norm and take him as a closed-door disciple, it’s not worth them placing such importance on him, is it?”
“Exactly! Even if there’s the sentiment of teaching on behalf of the master, the relationship is closer than with other sisters, but this kind of behavior is a bit too much!” Another female cultivator with a gentle demeanor chimed in.
A male disciple who popped up from nowhere, with average cultivation, unclear talent, and a questionable background, could actually make the senior sister look at him differently. This in itself was suspicious.
“…Who can argue with that? Usually hiding in the courtyard, not going out, not seeing any outsiders, even when they are in closed-door cultivation, they stick together. Those who don’t know the inside story would think they are Dao companions! They have absolutely no shame! They have completely lost the face of the Saintess of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace!” A tall and voluptuous female cultivator with sharp eyes said bitterly.
“Arrogant and domineering…”
“Shameless…”
“Unaware of self-respect and self-love…”
The female cultivators were indignant, and the domineering behavior of the senior sister Xuebing Xuan had undoubtedly offended many people. Not to mention the core disciples of other factions in the sect, even the disciples of the Sect Master’s faction had complaints.
However, Xuebing Xuan held the token given by the Sect Master, and her own cultivation was strong enough. No matter how unwilling the other core disciples were, they didn’t have a good way to counter. Moreover, at this stage, it was not appropriate to rashly ask the high-ranking elders behind them to intervene.
“I think, there are two things we urgently need to clarify,”
The core disciple Long Xin said in a deep voice, “First, what secrets does this junior brother Qing Muling hold? Second, how important is his potential value? Is it worth us fighting for at all costs?”
The female cultivators nodded in agreement. The two questions could actually be summarized into one, that is, there must be something extraordinary about Qing Muling, otherwise, how could the always arrogant Xuebing Xuan and Qi Yalan care so much about him?
It was said that after the city lord Luo Wanqing returned, she went straight to the senior sister’s residence without any delay. The reason was obvious.
It could only be said that the Sect Master Mu Yinghua was too biased. She thought of taking care of her own disciples first when there were benefits, but she ignored the overall situation of the sect, which made them hard to accept.