The Heavenly Gu Elder had lost yet another Divine Soul Incarnation.
Even for a soul cultivator at the True Realm, that was becoming too much to bear.
It was equivalent to having two chunks of flesh carved straight from his body in short order—not just physical agony, but heartache to match.
How much would he have to consume before he recovered from that?
The real kicker was that his painstakingly laid plans had fallen apart. The prized disciple and pawn he’d valued were dead. It was a triple blow.
The Heavenly Gu Elder had added Yan Zhen, Yun Xiu, and the others to his must-kill list. He was especially wary of Yan Zhen, who had somehow suppressed the Taiyin Primordial Fire lurking inside his own body.
For a mere Mystic General to leap two full realms and slay Wolf Poison—then vault three realms to suppress his signature ability—it was downright bizarre, no matter how you sliced it.
“In this world, only two things can suppress an extreme flame,” he muttered to himself. “One is a higher-grade extreme flame. The other is… that thing. The Flame Saint has been missing for nearly twenty years. Could it be—”
Yan Zhen could well imagine the Heavenly Gu Elder pounding his chest and cursing up a storm right about now. He didn’t care. All that mattered to him was whether his wives were hurt.
Fortunately, everyone was fine.
The one in trouble was Old Bai.
He had been struck by a gu toxin refined by the Heavenly Gu Elder himself, a venom tailored to slay those at the Mystic Ancestor level. By now, he had fallen into a coma.
Having a Demon Exterminator Envoy die within the sect would stir up far too much trouble, so Yun Xiu went to summon the Eighth Palace Lord, Yun Ye, to treat him.
Yun Ye’s mind was a little… off, but her skills as a Pill Refiner were genuinely formidable. She quickly suppressed the gu toxin rampaging through Old Bai’s body and brought him around.
Even so, she could only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. It would take a Seventh-Tier—or higher—Pill Refiner to truly cure him. Otherwise, even if he survived, he’d be half-crippled for life.
Old Bai wasted no time lingering. He took Lin He’s corpse and his remaining subordinate and boarded the private flying boat that Lin He had specially procured for their mission. They hurried back to the Black Horn Empire without delay.
Given his years of meritorious service, the Demon Slaying Squad would pull out all the stops to save him. The Holy Land had Eighth-Tier Pill Refiners on hand—it was just a matter of paying a steep price to secure their aid.
Once Old Bai had departed, Yun Xiu lifted Yun Ye’s confinement as a reward for her successful treatment. She permitted the Eighth Palace Lord to move freely within the Eighth Peak, but no farther.
Yun Ye pleaded to enter the forbidden area and visit Cloud Heaven Lord, but Yun Xiu refused. “The Lord will be out soon,” she said, offering her a glimmer of hope.
“Senior Sister,” Yun Xiu said sadly, gazing at Yun Ye, “Cloud Heaven Palace can’t afford to lose anyone else. With all of you acting so recklessly, how am I supposed to hold everything together on my own?”
Yun Ye broke down in tears and threw her arms around Yun Xiu. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed.
Later, Yun Xiu joined Yan Zhen in seeking two strands of Starlight Glazed Fire from Chen Xi. Combining it with the medicinal liquid she had taught him to prepare, they burned the gu insects infesting the Third Palace Lord and Fifth Palace Lord to ash.
Freed from the parasites’ influence and control, the two Palace Lords snapped awake to their senses. A chill of fear and deep regret washed over them for the time they’d lost. When they learned that Yun Ling—the eldest among them—had perished, tears streamed down their faces.
Yun Xiu held off on restoring their positions as Palace Lords right away. She planned to confine them for another year or so to observe, just to guard against any mishaps. In the meantime, the elders would handle affairs on the Third Peak and Fifth Peak—no major issues there.
The real headache was the Second Peak. From top to bottom, elders and disciples alike had been virtually wiped out. All that remained were a handful of raw recruits whom Yun Ling had always dismissed as hopelessly inadequate.
In a flash of inspiration, Yun Xiu proposed making Yan Zhen the Second Palace Lord of the Second Peak, with Huangfu Wenqing to assist him. They’d draw additional personnel from the other peaks as needed.
“Not a bad idea,” Huangfu Wenqing agreed.
“Me?” Yan Zhen blinked in surprise. Yun Xiu’s train of thought had left him utterly baffled, and he shot her a warm, pitying look reserved for the mentally challenged. “I’m heading back to the academy soon. Me as Second Palace Lord? It’d just be a title on paper—completely useless.”
Yun Xiu softly rolled her eyes at her little lover. “A title’s all we need. What does a Palace Lord even do? Hand all the real work to Wenqing.”
“Then why not make it Wenqing?”
“Because I’m the Young Sect Master. I can’t hold a Palace Lord position at the same time.”
“Exactly,” Huangfu Wenqing chimed in. “Yan Zhen, you’re Cloud Heaven Palace’s son-in-law—not an outsider at all. You’ve already shown your strength to the elders and disciples. No one would dare challenge you as Palace Lord. And it’s only temporary, until we find someone suitable to replace you.”
Yan Zhen crossed his arms and arched one eyebrow. “So, what’s in it for me?”
Yun Xiu batted her lovely eyes. “Palace Lords get a salary, you know. I’ll save every month’s pay for you. Deal?”
He coughed awkwardly. “I’m not exactly short on coin.”
“Then what do you want? Cloud Heaven Palace is already in dire straits—now you want to shake us down?”
“Yeah, Yan Zhen,” Huangfu Wenqing added. “Just say yes. Let’s share the burden for my master a little.”
“One thing at a time. If I’m not Palace Lord, I’m just the Palace’s little uncle-in-law. I can crash at the Exiled Immortal Palace.” Yan Zhen slid Yun Xiu a sidelong glance and drawled meaningfully, “But if I become Palace Lord, I’ll have to live on the Second Peak. Talk about taking a loss.”
It took her and her apprentice a moment to catch his drift. Identical blushes crept over their fair cheeks.
“Live wherever you want—who’s going to stop you?” Yun Xiu huffed.
“Exactly,” Huangfu Wenqing echoed.
Yan Zhen’s eyes lit up like stars, a roguish grin spreading across his face. “For real? Those are your words, now.”
“Hmph.”
“Pervert.”
Yan Zhen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “In that case, Yun Xiu, would you and Wenqing mind visiting the Second Peak now and then to keep me company?”
Yun Xiu flushed with a mix of shyness and irritation at his opportunistic escalation. She was half-tempted to slug him.
They’d been discussing serious business, and here he went veering off into the gutter again.
Back in the Demonic Dragon Mountain Range, he’d been so adorably shy, his sunny smiles lighting up the world. Now he was nothing but a little lech. Who had spoiled him like this?
Wenqing, maybe?
She shot her apprentice a glare. Huangfu Wenqing looked utterly bewildered.
“Anyway, it’s settled,” Yun Xiu declared. “I’ll go make the preparations. Let’s go, Wenqing.”
She grabbed her apprentice’s hand and fled the main hall of the Exiled Immortal Palace as if her life depended on it, terrified that lingering a moment longer might give him ideas about having his way with them right there on the spot.
It was obvious he harbored such notions—they shone all too clearly in his eyes.
Whenever they set foot in solemn, sacred places like the front hall or main audience chamber, Yan Zhen’s gaze took on a predatory glint, like a big bad wolf eyeing tender lambs, positively drooling at the prospect.
Fortunately, She Ji, Xian’er, Ji Ya, and Long Ying were all present, which kept him somewhat in check.
Truth be told, Yan Zhen had simply overdosed on his little black books lately—those steamy novels that filled his head with idle fantasies. He hadn’t seriously expected them to go along with it. Their rabbit-like escape drew a chuckle from him, and he turned his thoughts back to business.
Grandpa had been rescued. Yun Ling was dead.
He had completed one of the three tasks needed to unlock the upgraded version of System-chan. Two remained. In another couple of days, he’d head to the Golden Jade Chamber of Commerce headquarters with Ji Ya to check things out. As for refining the Wind-Thunder Crystal Fire, that could wait until he returned to the academy.
Lost in thought, he made his way back to the right wing of the palace and entered Cai Lian and Long Ying’s room. He dispatched Long Ying to fetch Yi Xian’er and Ji Ya, convening a little “family meeting.”
