Chapter 371: Xue Ren's Request

Everyone in the forest fell silent once again.

Qu Hongye was raised in front of Gu Nan like a shield and could feel the faint murderous aura coming from behind her. She could only stare at Xue Ren tearfully, not daring to make the slightest move.

The old Daoist and his two disciples stared at Gu Nan speechlessly. They'd already realized that the one before them was most likely a Star Ruler powerhouse.

But it was the first time they'd seen such a shameless Star Ruler.

Xue Ren was also dumbfounded. He laughed involuntarily, and the sword Qi that coalesced in front of him slowly dissipated.

...

A few minutes later, Gu Nan and Xue Ren sat across from each other.

Their meeting place was very special. It was a three-story pavilion built entirely from bamboo. The pavilion had a unique style, with a thin layer of woven mats on the floor. It was somewhat reminiscent of the Japanese style Gu Nan remembered.

Xue Ren even assumed a seiza posture, and Qu Hongye, who was waiting upon them from the side, also did the same.

"Where did you guys learn this?" Gu Nan looked at the two curiously. He didn't seem to recall hearing about any Japanese swordsmanship schools in the Myriad Heavens Universe.

"You mean this?" Xue Ren gestured to their surroundings. "It was left behind by my Master. It's a swordsman friend's residence. His swordsmanship is very interesting."

Gu Nan nodded and didn't ask further questions, instead explaining the purpose of his visit.

"You want to bring 200 people into the Myriad Heavens?" Xue Ren rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Lingyang told me you just came back from that side, but if you want to bring so many people over, smuggling them all isn't very feasible. The Thirteen Heavens aren't blind."

Xue Ren was one of the upper echelons of the Heaven-God Alliance. Both his personal strength and seniority were sufficient to qualify for this position.

So after Gu Nan joined the Heaven-God Alliance, Daoist Lingyang quickly informed this side of the news, and Xue Ren naturally knew about it.

Although the Thirteen Heavens couldn't boast of having absolute control over the Myriad Heavens Universe, their control was by no means weak. They could turn a blind eye to human smuggling in relatively small numbers, but that was all.

"What about splitting it into smaller groups?" Gu Nan could easily think of this problem.

"That's also a little difficult." Xue Ren explained with a smile, "Many of those engaged in human smuggling are actually people from the Thirteen Heavens. If you frequently send small groups over, then you'll be discovered sooner or later."

Gu Nan couldn't help frowning slightly. He didn't expect for the Thirteen Heavens to actually have control over both the legal and illegal channels. Sure enough, forces at that level really wouldn't leave many loopholes.

Seeing his expression, Xue Ren suggested, "But you just want to bring people over to this side. In fact, that's easier than smuggling people out… Have you considered going through the official channels?"

"You mean, bring them to this side through the Thirteen Heavens?" Gu Nan raised an eyebrow. He was used to acting alone, so this actually never occurred to him.

"That's right." Xue Ren replied with a smile, "If you don't mind the Thirteen Heavens knowing about the people you're bringing in, I can do this favor for you."

There were naturally many advantages to bringing the vampires over through the Thirteen Heavens' official channels. For one, there was no need to hide anything, and it was also stable and efficient.

The downside was that the people brought in would need to go through a background check. Their identities, origins, and whereabouts would all be recorded by the Thirteen Heavens.

Gu Nan thought about it and decided on this approach. After all, Shana's group of vampires didn't really have anything to hide. Moreover, after they entered the Myriad Heavens and went inside his Divine Kingdom, the Thirteen Heavens would lose sight of them all the same.

"Okay," so Gu Nan agreed with a nod.

"Then it's a deal." Xue Ren didn't act like a Star Ruler with a high status at all. He was as easy-going as normal people. "In exchange, I hope you can also help me with a small favor."

Gu Nan was all too familiar with the model of completing a mission to earn rewards, so he naturally had no objections.

"Want a fight?"

"No." Xue Ren smiled as he patted Qu Hongye's head. Under the latter's resentful gaze, he leisurely said, "Help me look after a child."

...

Although Qu Hongye was Xue Ren's Martial Niece, her master passed away when she was young, so she was actually brought up by Xue Ren from childhood. Thus, it wasn't such a stretch to say that they had a master-disciple or even father-daughter relationship.

More importantly, Xue Ren only had a few disciples in total, and among them, Qu Hongye was the one who showed the most promise of inheriting his mantle.

With that, it was easy to imagine Qu Hongye's status inside the Sword Sect.

But that same Qu Hongye was currently walking behind Gu Nan with a wary gaze, sizing him up.

The condition in exchange for Xue Ren's help was for Gu Nan to help look after a child for a period of time, and this child was precisely Qu Hongye.

The period was around three to six months, and Gu Nan only needed to hand back an alive Qu Hongye upon Xue Ren's return.

A few injuries were really nothing for a cultivator at this level—just like Qu Hongye's broken legs, which were treated in no time.

"Why does Xue Ren want me to look after you? Will someone come to kill you?" Gu Nan turned his head and asked Qu Hongye.

In his opinion, this was nothing more than a protection mission, and predicting possible crises was naturally what the player needed to do.

Gu Nan didn't mind staying in Extreme Sword Heaven for a while. In any case, after moving the vampire clan into his Divine Kingdom, he still needed to wait for a while for enough points to be accumulated.

Even if he planned to launch a Divine Kingdom War, the points that needed to be invested in the early stages were quite sizable.

It wasn't like he wouldn't be able to visit his Divine Kingdom at all while staying at Extreme Sword Heaven to babysit a child, so it wouldn't affect his plans there.

Qu Hongye glanced at Gu Nan and said with some embarrassment, "I'm not very dangerous, but I'm prone to attracting dangers…"

...

Void Grotto Heaven.

Void Grotto Heaven was one of the Thirteen Heavens. Not only was it powerful, but it was also one of the first astral worlds to enter this level. Among the astral worlds, it was a veritable veteran Heaven Level plane.

In ancient times, Void Grotto Heaven was once known as the Daoist Sect, and the current Daoist Lingyang's Clear Profundity Realm was actually one of the branches of the ancient Daoist Sect.

Void Grotto Heaven was also passed down from each sect master through many generations, but surprisingly, every single generation's ruler was an extraordinary pedant who successfully stepped into Unified Dao Realm. Thus, Void Grotto Heaven never once fell out of the ranks of the Thirteen Heavens.

Of course, perhaps it wasn't even called the Thirteen Heavens back then.

Void Grotto Heaven's current Star Ruler was a woman, which was quite rare. She was known in the mortal world as Nun Yu Lian, because her real name was Yu Lian.

At this time, Yu Lian was sitting across from Xue Ren, making small talk.

"Then I'll leave this matter to you." Xue Ren smiled lightly and took a sip of the clear tea. The Daoist Sect's unique tea had an indescribable fragrance lingering about.

Yu Lian had an average appearance. She was neither beautiful nor ugly, yet her features were extremely symmetrical and orderly, giving people a comfortable impression.

"A small matter," was her response to Xue Ren's request.

It was just a matter of receiving a group of people into the Myriad Heavens—it was indeed a small matter. As long as the other party was willing to accept the background check, there was actually no price that the Thirteen Heavens needed to pay in return.

Some space-time crystals weren't much of a big deal at all for the Thirteen Heavens, which controlled the resources of the entire Myriad Heavens Universe.

"The one who wants to bring people over is Gu Nan, right? Is this person worth going to all this trouble to win him over?" Yu Lian naturally knew who Xue Ren was doing a favor for.

"He's a very interesting person." Xue Ren smiled, his gaze suddenly becoming somewhat meaningful. "He should be related to that side."