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“Xu Taiping of the Qingxuan Sect, greetings to Master Liu.”
Xu Taiping cupped his hands in respect upon hearing the name.
He had heard of this Master Liu before.
His name was Liu Chuxuan. Before being elected as the head of the Nine Mansions, he was one of the elders of the Carefree Sect, with unfathomable cultivation.
“And who might this be?”
Liu Chuxuan and Oriole’s gaze quickly fell on Duan Xiaoyu.
“Heavenly Blade Sect, Duan Xiaoyu, greetings to Master Liu.”
Duan Xiaoyu quickly wiped her face and cupped her hands towards Liu Chuxuan.
Liu Chuxuan was initially stunned, then overjoyed.
“So it’s Xiaoyu! Thank goodness, thank goodness. If anything had happened to you, your master would have torn the Nine Mansions apart.”
“My master is here too? I haven’t seen him in years!”
Duan Xiaoyu was equally overjoyed.
“Not only is he here, he nearly turned our Nine Mansions upside down.”
Oriole looked helpless.
“Oriole, take Xiaoyu aside to treat her injuries. I have something to discuss with Taiping alone.”
Liu Chuxuan signaled to Oriole with his eyes.
Oriole nodded and then secretly gave Xu Taiping a reassuring look, as if to say, “Don’t worry, it’s good news.”
Xu Taiping was skeptical of Oriole’s look.
“Young friend Taiping, we owe it to you for opening this hidden teleportation array and bringing us in.”
Liu Chuxuan thanked Xu Taiping again.
“Master Liu, you’re too kind. I was merely saving myself. Besides, Brother Oriole said that once the task is done, the Nine Mansions would pay me three thousand Gold Essence Coins.”
Xu Taiping remained calm and composed.
Once the task was done, the reward had to be settled.
At the mention of “three thousand Gold Essence Coins,” Liu Chuxuan’s mouth twitched slightly, revealing a hint of pain.
“That’s… that’s what you deserve.”
Liu Chuxuan forced a smile and then returned to the main topic.
“Actually, there’s another matter I need your help with.”
“What is it?”
Xu Taiping asked, puzzled.
“You might not know this, but the Immortal Gourd Cave has two layers.”
Master Liu hesitated slightly before speaking.
“Two layers?”
Xu Taiping feigned surprise.
“Yes, two layers. We only just learned this from Jade Green Scholar.” Liu Chuxuan nodded and continued.
“We are currently in the upper layer of the Immortal Gourd Cave. The formation you broke only lifted the restrictions of the upper layer. My fellow cultivators and I from the Nine Mansions still cannot enter the lower layer.”
Hearing this, Xu Taiping began to guess Liu Chuxuan’s intentions but didn’t show it. Instead, he asked directly.
“But most of the disciples are in the upper layer. Once we rescue them, why does the Nine Mansions need to go to the lower layer?”
Liu Chuxuan was slightly surprised that Xu Taiping saw through this point so quickly.
After a brief hesitation, Liu Chuxuan explained.
“According to Jade Green Scholar’s dying words, the lower layer of the Immortal Gourd Cave contains fragments of an ancient demon god’s corpse. Even a single hair from these fragments could greatly enhance the power of the demonic cultivators of the Nine Mansions.”
“This upheaval orchestrated by the Nine Mansions appears to target the young genius disciples of the Nine Mansions, but in reality, it’s all for the demon god’s corpse fragments.”
Liu Chuxuan’s expression became extremely serious. After a slight pause, he continued.
“If we don’t stop them soon, it might be too late.”
Although Xu Taiping had guessed some of this, hearing it from Liu Chuxuan still surprised him.
“But I’m just a cultivator of the Gazing Abyss Realm. What can I possibly do?”
Xu Taiping frowned.
Although Fairy Lingyue had said that entering the second layer of the Immortal Gourd Cave would be a death trap for demonic cultivators, it still posed risks for him.
“Don’t worry, Taiping.”
Fearing he might scare Xu Taiping, Liu Chuxuan immediately softened his tone and gently patted Xu Taiping’s shoulder.
“We wouldn’t send you down to fight those demonic cultivators.”
Liu Chuxuan pointed to the teleportation array in the center of the ice pool.
“If you agree, we’ll use this teleportation array to send you to the second layer of the Immortal Gourd Cave.”
“All you need to do is place this jade disk on the altar in the center of the blood pool in the second layer. Then our cultivators from the Nine Mansions can teleport to that altar.”
Liu Chuxuan took out a jade disk and placed it in front of Xu Taiping.
Hearing this, Xu Taiping was tempted.
He had originally planned to go to the second layer of the Immortal Gourd Cave to pick the Jade Bone Grass. Now someone was offering to send him directly there, saving him a lot of trouble.
But he wasn’t foolish enough to agree immediately.
After a moment of consideration, he looked at Liu Chuxuan with a troubled expression.
“Master Liu, this is still too dangerous for me.”
“Taiping, if you complete this task, I’ll pay you an additional three thousand Gold Essence Coins. How about that?”
Liu Chuxuan gritted his teeth.
“I don’t need that much Gold Essence Coins. But if you can help me obtain something, I might consider taking the risk.”
Xu Taiping didn’t beat around the bush.
“What is it?”
Liu Chuxuan’s eyes showed a hint of wariness.
“The spiritual essence at the bottom of Yuhu Mountain.”
Xu Taiping said.
Hearing this, Liu Chuxuan’s brows furrowed tightly, and he looked at Xu Taiping suspiciously.
“Did Zhao Qian tell you about the spiritual essence?”
Xu Taiping was momentarily stunned, then nodded vigorously.
“Yes!”
He didn’t hesitate to push the matter onto their Peak Master.
“Alright!”
After carefully weighing the options, Liu Chuxuan finally nodded.
Compared to the demonic cultivators’ conspiracy, a bottle of spiritual essence was nothing.
“By the way, Master Liu, why did you come to me instead of other disciples?”
As he prepared to set off, Xu Taiping asked Liu Chuxuan, puzzled.
“Because among the younger generation of disciples, you’re the only one we trust.”
Liu Chuxuan replied.
“Why?”
Xu Taiping was even more puzzled.
Liu Chuxuan stopped and looked at Xu Taiping seriously.
“Back in the Cloud Dream Marsh secret realm, it was Uncle Nine’s Longyuan that brought you out, right?”
“Yes.”
Xu Taiping nodded.
“No demonic cultivator’s disguise, not even a demon lord’s, can fool Uncle Nine’s Longyuan!”
Liu Chuxuan said with deep respect.
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