RUFENG SECT IN LINYI

Chu Wanning woke up early the next morning, but by the time he was done putting on his clothes, he found that the room was empty.

He walked toward Mo Ran's bed. It was tidy and cold, as if the man did not sleep on it at all the whole night.

Chu Wanning sighed and left the room.

When he arrived downstairs, he found Xue Zhengyong, who had bags under his eyes. The Sisheng Peak Sect Leader did not look like he enjoyed staying with Jiang Xi that much. It was apparent that he chose to sit alone in the dining area to avoid being in the same space as Jiang Xi any longer.

Xue Zhengyong was more than delighted to see Chu Wanning.

"Yuheng, good morning. Eh? Where is Ran-er?" Xue Zhengyong craned his neck and looked around. He was puzzled to see Chu Wanning come down alone.

"He already left," Chu Wanning answered curtly.

Left?

Left where?

Xue Zhengyong wanted to ask further, but the gloom on Chu Wanning's face prevented him from uttering even a single word. His stupid nephew must have upset his shizun again.

Although Xue Zhengyong did not like Jiang Xi, he had to agree that Mo Ran's disrespectful attitude toward the elder was unbecoming of someone his age and position.

Not to mention that Jiang Xi could be counted as one of Chu Wanning's closest friends.

"Yuheng, Ran-er is hot-blooded and rash. If he offended you, please forgive him. Just treat it as if you are giving me some face," he said, hoping to placate Chu Wanning with his apology.

"Sect Leader is mistaken," Chu Wanning said in response. "He did not offend me."

"Oh."

-So why do you look like you want to skin him alive? Even ghosts will run away from you, Yuheng... You should work a lot on your facial expression.

Xue Zhengyong and Chu Wanning were the first people to come down for breakfast. They expected to wait a long time before the food was ready.

To their surprise, they soon found out that the inn's staff were more than dedicated to serving their guests well. They even took the effort to cook Jiangnan-style breakfast for them. The dough was kneaded meticulously with a generous amount of oil. It was then left to rise twice before it was split into two halves.

One half was divided into equal parts and rolled out until they were thin. The round-shaped dough parts were then fried into crispy pancakes. Once they were done, fragrant sauce of all kinds was smeared onto its surface. Sweet and savory, alone the smell made people salivate a lot.

The other half was also rolled out into thin skins. These skins were then filled with all kinds of fillings. Pork, sweet beans, ground peas, peanuts, and even sweet osmanthus roots.

As if that was not enough, the server rolled out of the kitchen with two bowls of salted soybean curd with dried seaweed and dried prawns.

Chu Wanning ate a lot.

Xue Zhengyong wrinkled his forehead in suppressed disgust.

"Oi! Why are you not serving Linyi dishes? Where are all the spicy food around here?"

The waiter looked perplexed.

"Oh... yes, of course. I will change the dishes..."

He extended his paw to take away the bowl of salted soybean curd that Xue Zhengyong refused to eat, but Chu Wanning smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch it. It's my food."

"..."

"..."

Xue Zhengyong got the Linyi-style dishes that he wanted, while Chu Wanning feasted on all the Jiangnan-style dishes that the hardworking kitchen staff made. Mo Ran appeared when they were almost done with breakfast. For some reason, he looked as if he had worked hard in the morning. Some strands of his hair were sticking out and sweat glistened on his forehead. Even his tanned face looked somewhat red.

"Aiya, Ran-er, where did you run off to? How can you leave your shizun alone like that? Truly unfilial!"

The word "filial" made Mo Ran's face drop. If Xue Zhengyong told him that five years ago, Mo Ran would repent and strive to be more filial to his shizun. Unfortunately, they had come to this point where being filial was no longer an option. Chu Wanning knew about Mo Ran's beastly desire. Unpredicted circumstances led them to have physical entanglements that none of them could erase from their memories no matter how hard they tried.

Now that Chu Wanning already drew the line and rejected Mo Ran once and for all, the latter was left with chunks of his broken heart. He had nowhere to go and no one to confide in.

"This disciple was wrong," Mo Ran answered solemnly, sorrow underlining his every word.

Looking at his nephew that way, Xue Zhengyong's heart rapidly softened. He approached his nephew and patted him with his fan. "There, there. Your shizun is magnanimous. As long as you admit your mistake and refrain from repeating it, naturally, Yuheng will not hold a grudge. Right, Yuheng?"

Chu Wanning raised his phoenix eyes and stared at Mo Ran. "Of course."

Mo Ran swallowed.

"There you go. Come, come, sit next to your uncle. Have you eaten your breakfast, Ran-er?" he dragged Mo Ran to an empty seat.

"Uh, yes. This morning."

Xue Zhengyong lowered his voice and whispered to his nephew. "How did you find the breakfast? Isn't it weird? We are in Linyi but this inn actually cooks Jiangnan-style food for us. I was expecting to have spicy rabbit heads or goosenecks for breakfast..."

Mo Ran laughed nervously.

Once they were done with breakfast, they set off for Linyi. Jiang Xi already left ahead of them with the rest of the Gu'yue'ye Sect. After all, the medical sect handled Nangong Si's treatment. The others were just there to contribute with their elemental spiritual power.

The walk from Dai City to the seat of Rufeng Sect took over an hour.

It must be noted that the Rufeng Sect was not only the biggest, but also the wealthiest sect in the entire cultivation world. They built 72 city fortresses that they named the Immortal Residences. These residences were vast in size. Going from the front end to the back end with a horse took almost two hours, hence these residences were often referred to as "cities".

The group from Sisheng Peak arrived at the main city, which was also the largest of all Rufeng Sect cities. The city gate towered high above the ground, painted in red and gold. Four directions of the sky were depicted on it, with precious gemstones embedded into the gate. Behind the gate was a long road, five feet in length, and paved with top-grade Qi Refining Stones.

Chu Wanning used to be a guest teacher at Rufeng, so he naturally knew about the extravagance of the sect. Having trampled the seventy-two Rufeng Cities to the ground, Mo Ran naturally was not surprised at all.

Xue Zhengyong knew that Nangong Liu was rich, but he never knew how rich. He thus could not help but sigh in admiration as they walked past the long road.

"It's so good to have money," he lamented. "If only I can afford a tenth of these stones, I would place every single one in the villages that surround Sisheng Peak. It can help ward off stray demons and ghosts..."

Mo Ran smiled, "Uncle is kind and benevolent."

"We are all cultivators. I don't understand how Rufeng gets to become so rich."

For this question, Chu Wanning had the answer.

"Sect Leader, do you know how much common folk needs to pay an ordinary Rufeng disciple to exorcise demons?"

Xue Zhengyong shook his head. "No, how much?"

Chu Wanning extended four fingers.

"Four hundred silvers? Wow. Even I only require eighty sil..."

"Four thousand gold," Chu Wanning corrected him.

Xue Zhengyong's spirit plummeted to the ground.

Chu Wanning's eyes softened. He continued to speak, "Upper cultivation realm is full of wealthy people who can afford the high cost. Sisheng Peak is surrounded by villagers who rely on hard work to make money. It is thus natural that Sisheng Peak cannot afford this kind of extravagance."

Xue Zhengyong stole glances at Chu Wanning. He let out another sigh in his heart. Yuheng, with your ability, I am sure that you can enter any other sect in the upper cultivation realm. Even Nangong Liu would be ecstatic to have you back. But you are too noble. You chose to join my poor sect because you want to protect the world from ghosts and demons... Ah, Yuheng, you are too good.

Xue Zhengyong shot Mo Ran a look.

"Ran-er, you need to be nicer to your shizun in the future, do you hear me?" he said, his tone strict and decisive.

"... Of course, Uncle."

"You need to listen to his every word. Stop going against his wishes."

Mo Ran curled his fingers into fists. If Xue Zhengyong had seen the cold glint across his nephew's eyes, he would be shocked to death.

The ripples in Mo Ran's eyes were gone within a few seconds. Only the amicable facade was left to hide the turmoil that brewed inside the young man's heart.

At the Six Virtues Hall, the strongest cultivators of the upper cultivation realm had gathered. Most of them belonged to the nine top sects, but there were also a few rogue cultivators who had made a name for themselves during one tournament or two. At the moment, they were all chattering animatedly with each other.

The three Sisheng Peak cultivators could not help but be amazed. Were they not there to help Nangong Si overcome his illness? Why were these cultivators smiling and laughing as if they were there to attend a social event?

Not long after, Nangong Liu's arrival was announced by one of his attendants. The leader of the number one sect looked haggard and pale, but he tried his best to summon a smile across his face. Behind him, Jiang Xi and Hua Binan tagged along.

"Brothers and Sisters, welcome to my humble abode," he said. "Thank you for making the long trip to reach this place. I cannot emphasize how lucky I am to have so many friends who are willing to help me save my only son."

Chu Wanning closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. if he did not know the depth of Nangong Liu's depravity, he might be swayed by those honeyed words, too.

"Grandmaster Hua, the famous Cold Scale Sacred Hand, had come up with the most effective method to heal my son, and it is by combining the qi of five elements to promote his qi circulation. This treatment will take around twenty-four hours. Before that, Grandmaster Hua will assess everyone's spiritual power in order to be able to place everyone properly on the magical array."

"Once the treatment is done, I will arrange for a hunt. All those who participate in this treatment have a chance to win a grand prize."

At the end of his words, Nangong Liu clapped once. A dome-like structure, covered in golden cloth, was wheeled into the center of the hall.

Nangong Liu grabbed one end of the cloth and tugged it loose. Once the cloth fell off, all the guests saw that there was a golden cage on the cart. Inside the golden cage was the most beautiful girl that they had ever seen. Her long satiny hair flowed down her body, covering the intimate parts that the transparent veil around her body failed to hide. Her gentle appearance was enough to make lust grow inside the heart of the most disciplined men.

But it was not her beauty that made these cultivators stare at her with unconcealed hunger in their eyes.

It was the golden tears that fell from her big, round eyes.

The mark of a Butterfly-Boned Beauty Feast!

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning both widened their eyes in disbelief. It was Song Qiutong, Taxian-Jun's Empress in the previous life!

Nangong Liu could see the fire burning in the guests' hearts. He snapped with his finger and one of his servants pulled at the chain that bound Song Qiutong's wrist. The young woman yelped pitifully when Nangong Liu grasped her wrist and exposed the distinct mark on the inner side of her arm. "As you can see, she is still a virgin."

The surrounding cultivators ooh'ed and aah'ed in excitement.

"The winner of the hunt can take this maiden home," Nangong Liu said.