A short while later, the stinging sensation finally faded. A wry smile touched Xu Luo's lips. 'Qiushuiduan hid this little girl well,' he thought. 'If I didn't have this particular skill, it would've been impossible to find her among all these obstacles.'
Besides, other people passing through here wouldn't be paying close attention to the sound of breathing from below. After all, plenty of animals could be breathing down there, so no one would normally pay it any mind.
"Qiushuiduan, just give it up. We won't let you in!" a woman in a long yellow dress said in a heavy voice, her face cold as she stared at the white-haired, white-robed man.
"You are no longer a disciple of rak. rak will never open its gates to you!" another woman in a white dress sneered. "As for the Sect Leader you're so fixated on, she has already succumbed to cultivation deviation. Even if you were to see her, it would be aningless!"
"That's right, Qiushuiduan. If you insist on forcing your way in, don't bla us for being ruthless!"
"If I had wanted to force my way in, I would have been inside long ago." Qiushuiduan's white hair danced in the wind, a faint glimr of resignation in his deep, dark eyes. "None of you can stop ."
"Force your way in? What a joke! Qiushuiduan, you've been away from the sect for so many years. Have you forgotten the power of the rak Array? You want to test it? Be my guest!" the yellow-skirted woman sneered at Qiushuiduan.
A cold glint flashed in Qiushuiduan's eyes. He looked at the woman in yellow and said in a heavy voice, "If I recall correctly, the rak Array is only to be used against outside enemies, is it not? Though I have been away from the sect for many years, I am still a disciple of rak."
"And another thing... I rember you. You competed with Wenxi for the position of Saintess back in the day, didn't you? What's your position in the sect now? An Elder? I ca back this ti just to see Wenxi. I am a disciple of rak, yet you won't even let pass through my own sect's gates. Don't you think you're going a little too far?"
"Qiushuiduan, stop spouting nonsense! Are you implying I'm not letting you in because I'm jealous of the Sect Leader? And for the record, I never competed with her for the position of Sect Leader! Also, I'm not an Elder..."
"Oh, so you're not even an Elder." Qiushuiduan's voice was low and cold, tinged with mockery. "And here I thought you'd have beco the managing Grand Elder by now."
"Qiushuiduan! Your na was removed from the rak disciple registry long ago! You ca requesting an audience, and no one will grant you one! If you try to force your way in, you will be treated as an enemy invader!" the woman in yellow shrieked, her voice sharp and cold, as if he had struck a raw nerve.
Qiushuiduan hesitated for a mont. If he had co alone, he might very well have forced his way in.
The rak Array wasn't so easily activated, and he suspected this woman in yellow wasn't nearly as familiar with it as he was.
But he had the little girl with him. 'If I force my way inside, what will happen to her?'
With this in mind, Qiushuiduan gave the yellow-skirted woman a calm look, nodded faintly, and said, "Fine. I will not force my way through the gates. Regardless of what you think of , I am a mber of rak. Please go back and tell whoever is in charge now that if I am not allowed to see Wenxi, this matter is not over."
"Not over? And what exactly can you do about it?" the woman in yellow retorted with a sneer.
"I don't have to go in. But in that case, don't expect anyone to co out, either." Qiushuiduan's voice grew progressively colder. "While I won't slaughter my fellow disciples, I'd have no qualms about crippling a few of you!"
As he spoke, Qiushuiduan leaped, soaring high into the air. The people surrounding him were startled and imdiately went on guard.
But they saw that Qiushuiduan had no intention of attacking them. Instead, he casually struck out with his palm toward the small lake in the distance.
In the next instant, the surface of the lake, once as still as a mirror, began to churn violently. A column of water erupted toward the sky!
It shot hundreds of ters into the air!
Then it ca crashing down, setting off a chain reaction across the entire lake as massive waves surged toward the few thatched huts on the shore.
With a series of thunderous CRASHES, the thatched huts were battered to pieces by the waves, vanishing in an instant.
Qiushuiduan's figure had already vanished, leaving behind a group of won staring blankly, frozen in place like statues.
The yellow-skirted woman's face was livid. She stared in the direction of the lake where the huts had vanished, a flicker of fear deep in her eyes.
Then, she gritted her teeth and said coldly, "Let's go. We're heading back!"
The won followed her in silence. They all understood now. They had been fighting for so ti, but he hadn't been serious at all. If he had been, their group wouldn't have stood a chance.
Then, Xu Luo watched as the group of won seed to vanish into thin air. Imdiately after, he saw Qiushuiduan hurrying back in his direction.
He glided through the air, his movents effortless and incomparably graceful.
"Yaya, you can co out now. It's all right," Qiushuiduan said, his voice gentle as he went straight to the little girl's hiding place.
"Mar... Martial Uncle, is it really okay?" the little girl's timid voice ca from a crevice in the rocks.
Xu Luo's lip twitched. 'Martial Uncle? Where did that co from? Could it be that Old Zhang and this Qiushuiduan had so kind of special relationship?'
'If that's the case, why did Qiushuiduan destroy Old Zhang's tavern?'
While Xu Luo's imagination was running wild, the little girl crawled out of her hiding place. She looked at Qiushuiduan with a joyful expression and asked, "Martial Uncle, can we go in now?"
Qiushuiduan sighed and said with a hint of helplessness, "Not yet. Your master suffered a cultivation deviation, and the sect is now controlled by a group of villains. If your Martial Uncle is going to get you inside, I'm afraid I'll have to think of another way."
"What's a cultivation deviation?" the little girl asked, looking at Qiushuiduan with innocence.
Qiushuiduan's face was full of affection. "It ans sothing went wrong during her training. Hmm, it's like when Yaya is walking and suddenly trips and scrapes her knee."
"Oh, really? But Yaya is very tough! I don't even cry when I scrape my knee!"
"Mm, Yaya is the best girl."
Watching this heartwarming scene from several hundred ters away, Xu Luo found it hard to believe this was the sa cold, white-robed, white-haired man who had seized the Nine Profound Celestial Heart that day.
Just then, Qiushuiduan's gaze suddenly pierced through the many obstacles and landed on Xu Luo. In a heavy voice, he said, "You've been hiding for quite a while. Haven't you seen enough? Co on out."
Xu Luo hadn't expected to hide from Qiushuiduan for long. 'Back then, Qiushuiduan spotted from so far away. Now, with only a few hundred ters between us, how could soone with his abilities possibly fail to notice ?'
But Xu Luo wasn't afraid. Their goals were aligned, and from the way Qiushuiduan treated the little girl, it was clear he wasn't a cold-blooded killer.
"This junior, Xu Luo, greets Elder Qiu!" Xu Luo stepped out openly, cupping his fist in a salute to Qiushuiduan.
Qiushuiduan was taken aback for a mont. A flicker of doubt crossed his cold gaze as he asked in a heavy voice, "Who are you?"
"I am a friend of Phoenix, a disciple of Sect Leader Li Wenxi." 'At a ti like this, it's best to state my identity quickly to avoid suspicion.'
"Phoenix's friend?" Qiushuiduan clearly knew of Phoenix. His cold eyes swept over Xu Luo a few tis, but he didn't seem convinced. He asked coolly, "Why are you following ?"
Xu Luo looked up, his clear gaze eting Qiushuiduan's doubtful one. He shrugged slightly. "I ca here on my own. If I had been secretly tracking you, Elder, wouldn't you have discovered long ago?"
Qiushuiduan's icy gaze didn't soften. "Then leave," he said coldly. "This is no place for you."
"If you can be here, Elder, why can't I?" Xu Luo said with a smile. "Besides, even for you... getting into rak isn't so easy, is it?"
"That has nothing to do with you. Leave," Qiushuiduan's voice grew even colder.
Just then, the little girl, Yaya, who was standing to the side, said timidly, "Martial Uncle, you're being scary..."
"Er..." Qiushuiduan's frozen expression turned a bit awkward. He shot Xu Luo a cold glare before turning back to Yaya and saying softly, "They aren't good people..."
"..." Xu Luo stared at Qiushuiduan, speechless. 'It serves you right that you've been pining after Li Wenxi all these years,' he thought. 'With a personality like yours, who could possibly put up with you!'
"But this big brother doesn't look like a bad person!" Yaya said, her face a picture of innocence.
"Hmph. The one who killed your grandfather didn't look like a bad person, either," Qiushuiduan said coldly.
At the ntion of her grandfather, Yaya's large, innocent eyes imdiately welled up with tears.
Qiushuiduan was suddenly flustered. "Yaya, don't cry. Your Martial Uncle shouldn't have brought up your grandfather."
He shot a cold glare at Xu Luo and added, "This is all your fault!"
"...?" Xu Luo thought, 'If I weren't sure I'd lose, I'd slap you right across the face and teach you a lesson!'
"What did you co here for? You can't even get past the main gate. You'll be killed on sight!" Qiushuiduan finally said, looking at Xu Luo's aggrieved expression.
Then he sighed and sat down on a large stone, holding Yaya. He pointed to another stone opposite him. "Sit. Let's talk."
Xu Luo walked over, sat down, and said, "I heard from Phoenix that her master suffered a cultivation deviation, and now the sect is controlled by another faction. They want to marry Phoenix off, so... I wanted to co and see what was happening..."
"Young man, you overestimate yourself!" Qiushuiduan cut him off rcilessly, sneering, "What do you think a sect is? A place you can co and go as you please? Or do you think you can sway a sect's decision with your paltry secular status?"
"Take my advice: go back down the mountain and leave. To have reached the realm of a Great Sword Master at your age makes you quite the young prodigy. Given ti, you might reach an even higher realm. But with your current strength, trying to change a sect's decision is simply courting death."
'This guy's words are really harsh,' Xu Luo thought. He looked at Qiushuiduan with utmost sincerity. "This junior only asks to see Phoenix one ti. I hope Elder can grant my request!"
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