novelraw Chapter 485: You Got the Wrong Person
Chapter 485: You Got the Wrong Person
In the depths of the vast starry sky, a towering palace stood in silence. Inside, a woman wearing a demon-faced mask sat cross-legged. As she cultivated, even the surrounding space seemed to contract and tremble with her breathing.
All at once her body quivered; she snapped her eyes open, anger flashing within. She lifted a hand to wipe away the blood that had trickled down her neck, then spoke coldly: “Fortune Ruyi… has been destroyed?”
She licked the blood from her fingertip and flicked her fingers; a dark-gold sigil condensed in the air and shot away as a streak of light.
Before long the great doors swung inward and a man in sumptuous robes strode in. His features were as delicate as a woman’s; his eyes flowed with languid charm, bewitching and alluring. He halted before the masked woman and bowed: “My lord, you summoned me. What are your orders?”
The woman’s voice was cool, threaded with suppressed fury as she said: “Fortune Ruyi has been destroyed. The furnace cauldron has awakened.”
Killing intent clouded the man’s pretty brows, yet doubt stirred there as well, and he asked softly: “Wasn’t Fortune Ruyi’s master Liu Yun? How could—”
She did not explain. She lifted a hand and a light screen bloomed in the air, showing Yu Zhao walking the chains within Bifang’s Eye as she said: “Fortune Ruyi was originally in the hands of a woman named Yu Zhao. She not only escaped from Wind Clan, she used Bifang’s Otherworldly Flame to remove the soul seal between her and Fortune Ruyi. Since she now knows Fortune Ruyi’s secret, she cannot be allowed to live. Her last appearance was within Bifang Realm.”
The man bowed: “Understood. I will dispatch people at once to execute her.” He paused, then added with a gleam in his eyes: “She was able to contract with Jade Ruyi, which proves she bears the Furnace Cauldron Sacred Body. If we seize her alive, we can make up for Jade Ruyi’s loss.”
“She carries many secrets, and two Integration-stage protectors stand at her side,” the woman said calmly. “Act with care. Do not alarm outsiders.”
“Rest assured, my lord: I will bring her back without a trace.” He withdrew.Alone in the darkness, the woman sat in silence for a moment, then murmured to herself: “Yu Zhao, I did not expect you to come this far. But since you dared to absorb Fortune Ruyi’s power, you are destined to be my tonic.” She laughed quietly; the chill of it lingered in the palace for a long time.
The palace of Lingyin Sect sped through the clouds at a blistering pace. Several hours later, the sect gates were already within sight. Just then Elder Xiu Yu lifted her hand and said in a low voice: “Stop.”
The palace halted at once. Everyone stared at Elder Xiu Yu in confusion. Ancestor Sui Bian asked in puzzlement: “Xiu Yu, what did you notice?”
Elder Xiu Yu’s fine brows knit slightly as she answered: “Lingyin Sect is encircled by unwelcome guests.”
Ancestor Sui Bian, Old Black Daoist, and Elder Qun Fang all grew grim. They knew the methods Elder Xiu Yu cultivated and that she would never speak idly. Xiu Yu narrowed her eyes and traced a fingertip through the air; a watery screen gradually unfolded. In its rippling surface, a crowd had gathered outside Lingyin Sect’s mountain gate, their momentum fierce and obviously ill-intentioned.
Yu Zhao looked closely, and her heart sank as she said: “That’s the Patriarch of Earth Clan, and several of Earth Clan’s elders. People from Metal Clan, Wind Clan, and Water Clan are among them as well.”
Ancestor Sui Bian blurted in shock: “How did they track us here?”
“Our movements have been exposed.”
Elder Qun Fang asked evenly: “Why would Earth Clan make trouble for you?”
Yu Zhao gave a concise account of her enmity with Earth Clan and those other families. When Elder Qun Fang heard that those clans shamelessly used female cultivators as furnace cauldrons and had even set their sights on Yu Zhao, her expression turned frigid: “They look glamorous on the surface, but they are worse than beasts.”
“Elder Qun Fang, I’ve dragged you into this,” Yu Zhao said apologetically.
“If you hadn’t stayed in Bifang Realm to help me, they wouldn’t have found this place as quickly. There is no need to blame yourself.” Elder Qun Fang considered briefly, then decided crisply: “Since they came for you, you must not show yourselves at all. Xiu Yu, take Yu Zhao, Sui Bian, and Old Black Daoist and leave at once. We’ll remain to deal with them.”
Ancestor Sui Bian shook his head: “No. We can’t dump our trouble on you.”
“You staying only adds trouble for me,” Elder Qun Fang replied coolly. “As long as you are not here, they will not dare act recklessly against Lingyin Sect. This is Bifang Realm. The other sects will not let them run wild here.”
The Heng Nan Sect Master nodded in agreement: “Elder Qun Fang is right. If you leave, they will have no pretext to act against us.”
Ancestor Sui Bian exhaled, convinced, and said: “Very well. We’ll go first. Be careful.”
Elder Xiu Yu swept her sleeve; the watery screen rippled, then stretched and reshaped itself into a passage. “Go.”
Ancestor Sui Bian plunged through first, followed by Yu Zhao and Old Black Daoist. Elder Xiu Yu was about to step in when Elder Qun Fang’s voice sounded from behind: “Sui Bian is in your care.”
Elder Xiu Yu dipped in a slight bow with a smile: “Rest easy, big sister. Your little sister will guard Sui Bian well.” She flashed a brilliant smile and vanished within the palace; the passage sealed shut.
Elder Qun Fang watched them depart, then turned toward Lingyin Sect’s gates. Her sharp brows grew even more intimidating as she said, voice like steel: “If you want to trouble Lingyin Sect, first see whether you have the right. Heng Nan, increase speed.”
The palace surged forward and, in the blink of an eye, hovered before the mountain gate. Elder Qun Fang stepped out and stood at the gate, calling out in a clear voice: “Fellow Daoists who have come from afar, to what do we owe the honor?”
At her words, the Earth Clan Patriarch appeared with a group, flashing across the space to stand opposite her. “This humble one is Tu Zhen Yue, Patriarch of Earth Clan from Earth Realm. I come only to seize Yu Zhao and Sui Bian, who share a blood-deep enmity with my clan. I ask the fellow Daoists of Lingyin Sect to make things convenient. I will pay a heavy reward.”
“I don’t know these two. You’ve got the wrong people,” Elder Qun Fang said without changing expression.
Tu Zhen Yue’s gaze turned sinister. “Since we of Earth Clan dared to come, we naturally hold conclusive evidence. If you insist on sheltering them, it will harm our amicable relations.”
He lifted an arm. From the distant woods and treetops, and even from beneath the ground, swarmed a dense mass of Earth Clan clansmen. Faces alight with fervor, they advanced on Lingyin Sect’s gate with various magical treasures in hand, their momentum fierce. A rough count showed thousands.
“Fellow Daoist, do you still dare say you don’t know them?”