At the rear mountain of the Infatuation Daoist Temple, Ye Zhihua waited outside Yun Jianyue's cave dwelling, anticipating the emergence of her junior brother after breaking through.
She sat cross-legged before the cave, not just waiting, but also serving as a protector.
At this critical moment, she would not feel at ease with anyone else guarding Yun Jianyue, only herself being present could put her mind at rest.
She had already been waiting here for three days.
She did not know whether it would take several more days, but Ye Zhihua was not bothered by it.
Fortunately, the sound of footsteps soon came from within the cave. Yun Jianyue, dressed in a dark red daoist robe, walked out. He did not seem too different from before his retreat, except that his eyes were noticeably brighter.
Ye Zhihua opened her eyes, looking at Yun Jianyue and said, "I thought your breakthrough would cause quite a stir, but instead, it's as calm as can be."
Yun Jianyue was now undeniably the number one genius of Daoism. Most geniuses experience some kind of phenomenon during their breakthroughs, especially when stepping into Nepenthe and becoming a Daoist Sage.
However, Yun Jianyue's breakthrough was truly too peaceful.
"It was a natural process, so there was no need for anything spectacular."
Yun Jianyue was very calm, seeing these things in a light way. What he should be concerned about now should not be this either.
"Senior Sister, has anything major happened in the temple these days?"
Yun Jianyue looked at Ye Zhihua, as he was still most concerned about the Infatuation Daoist Temple.
Ye Zhihua began to speak about the recent events in the temple in a very neutral tone, as if she were recounting something that had little to do with her.
"Daoist Zhenye died in the Divine Capital, which was quite unexpected. Given how turbulent the Great Liang is right now, even if that Daoist Zhenye had acted out of line, they should have tolerated it. But instead, they killed him outright and even hung his head outside the Divine Capital's gates."
Ye Zhihua could not fathom where that young martial artist found such audacity.
Yun Jianyue chuckled. "That's just the kind of person he is. If you push him that far, do you think he can resist drawing his saber?"
Ye Zhihua remained silent.
"This time, the Infatuation Daoist Temple is in the wrong, and he holds the moral high ground. Since he already acted, he has nothing to worry about. As for whether Infatuation Daoist Temple seeks revenge, why would he care?" "The desolate north is already a forbidden zone; off-limits to both humans and demons. Without the demon race as a threat, if you push him too far, he might just rally the Northern Frontier Army to march south against the Infatuation Daoist Temple. And by then, what could the temple possibly do?"
Ye Zhihua asked, "Would he really dare to go that far?"
Yun Jianyue smiled. "I don't know about others, but if you push him too far, he'll definitely do it. Besides, the current Great Liang isn't what it used to be, there's only one voice in the entire court. Before, it was His Majesty the Emperor. Soon enough... it will be him. He won't take the throne, but he'll be no different from an emperor." ŗᴀℕồꞖЁS̩
Ye Zhihua said, "The Infatuation Daoist Temple will probably have to do something about it. Best to drive a wedge between him and that crown prince."
Yun Jianyue smiled. "We may not even need to do anything, he might act first."
Ye Zhihua was taken aback, then took out a letter from her sleeve and handed it to Yun Jianyue.
"He really made the first move."
Yun Jianyue took the letter and, seeing the signature at the bottom, let out a knowing smile. "Everyone in the world thinks he's just a martial artist. But from the very beginning, he was never just that."
Tearing open the letter, Yun Jianyue glanced at it a few times before nodding. "Just as I expected, this guy knows a few things."
Ye Zhihua asked, "What are his terms?"
Yun Jianyue did not answer. He simply smiled and handed the letter to Ye Zhihua.
Ye Zhihua took it and skimmed through it, only to find that it merely expressed gratitude to Yun Jianyue for finding him a decent disciple. The rest was just polite, meaningless pleasantries. No matter how many times Ye Zhihua looked, she could not find a single useful word.
Yun Jianyue said, "How could he possibly state things so plainly? If someone else were to see this letter, it would be a big problem. Looks like I'll have to make a trip to the Divine Capital and speak with him in person."
Ye Zhihua asked, "Could this be a trap? Is he luring you to the Divine Capital to kill you?"
Among this generation of youngsters, few could be mentioned in the same breath as Chen Chao, but Yun Jianyue was definitely one of them.
Yun Jianyue glanced at Ye Zhihua and said, "At this moment, I'm far more useful to him alive than dead. He won't kill me."
"In fact, he’s more likely to be worried that I might end up dying at the hands of the Chief Enforcer."
Even now, Yun Jianyue still preferred to refer to Daoist Yinli as the Chief Enforcer.
Ye Zhihua said, "I'll go with you."
Yun Jianyue shook his head. "If I’m heading to the Divine Capital, I'll have to trouble Senior Sister to stay here and keep the Chief Enforcer in check. Otherwise, this won't work."
After saying this, Yun Jianyue could not help but feel a bit concerned. "No matter how this plays out, the Infatuation Daoist Temple is likely going to suffer great losses."
In a secluded spot behind the Infatuation Daoist Temple, a young daoist was currently cautiously making his way toward an even more secluded area. His daoist robe bulged noticeably, clearly hiding many things.
After passing through a dense forest, the young daoist finally arrived at a deserted place and began calling out in a hushed voice, “Daoist Ox, Daoist Ox...”
After a few calls, a black ox lazily appeared in the distance. It glanced at the young daoist and nodded in satisfaction, clearly pleased with this form of address.
The young daoist dumped out everything he had been carrying in his rob, all of it turned out to be rare medicinal herbs.
The black ox's eyes lit up at the sight, but then it grumbled, “With my status now, do you really still need to sneak around ?”
The young daoist replied with a grievance, “You may not care, Daoist Ox, but I'm of low standing... If I get caught, the temple rules won't spare me.”
The black ox nodded, acknowledging this explanation, and began munching on the spiritual herbs the young daoist had brought.
The young daoist plopped down beside the black ox and cautiously asked, “Daoist Ox, about what we discussed before... Can I meet the Temple Master?”
The black ox mumbled through its chewing, “No rush... I mentioned it to the Sage, and he said he still wants to see how you perform. You understand, right?”
Hearing this, the young daoist immediately nodded and said, “I understand! I'll definitely bring more good things so as to satisfy you, Daoist Ox.”
The black ox frowned. “What’s the use of me being satisfied... Oh, right, I do need to be satisfied.”
The young daoist fell silent and simply sat beside the black ox, occasionally handing over more spiritual herbs.
Halfway through its meal, the black ox suddenly asked, “Uh... what was your name again?”
The young daoist grinned and said, “Daoist Ox, my name is Yu Lu.”