A Shura Field

Between mountains wreathed in clouds and mist, two Immortal Feather Spirit Beasts flew past.

Chen Ning and Xiao Mei rode one together, while the little loli Su Ling'er steered the other herself.

She was sulking, casting a jealous look at the figures ahead.

"Hmph! Bad woman."

That bad woman had actually tricked her sect master brother onto her spirit beast with just a few words.

She had even said that the spirit beast flew too fast and that her sect master brother's cultivation was too low, so she was worried about the bumpy ride and couldn't feel at ease letting him ride with Su Ling'er.

"Hmph!"

The little loli unhappily steered her spirit beast close behind the pair. She wanted to hear exactly what that bad woman was saying to her sect master brother.

On the back of the Immortal Feather Spirit Beast ahead, Xiao Mei sat in front while Chen Ning sat behind her, gripping the beast's feathers to steady himself.

"Sect master, please put your arms around Mei'er's waist."

A soft, airy voice reached him. Chen Ning shook his head. "No need. My cultivation has advanced now. A little turbulence is no trouble."

Xiao Mei, however, let out a soft laugh and urged the spirit beast to fly faster.

Whoosh!

The scenery around them rushed backward. The ride grew bumpier and bumpier, and Chen Ning instinctively wrapped his arms around Xiao Mei's waist.

Mm, very slender and soft.

It felt wonderful.

But this was no time to dwell on such things. The full view of Gold and Iron City was growing clearer in his sight.

They had arrived.

"Sect master, we'll spend tonight in the city. At midnight tomorrow, the Marrow-Cleansing Divine Fruit will ripen. This humble woman will go and pick it then. You need only rest nearby."

"Good."

Chen Ning gave a calm reply. This was where the benefits of being a sect master showed themselves.

There were naturally subordinates to take care of many things.

More often than not, he only had to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

It would have been even better if his subordinates hadn't all been undercover agents.

Still, Chen Ning was also making plans. It was time to build a force of his own.

Only then could he better stand against the group of undercover agents.

As things stood, only the Mo Clan of Gold and Iron City counted as people he could command. But they were all women, and most were ordinary mortals without cultivation.

He still needed to recruit more experts from the cultivation world.

The area around the Innate Ancient Tree was already filled with people from all sides.

Some were hiding in the shadows, while quite a few forces stood guard openly.

"Sect master, those thirty people are disciples of our Dragon-Seeking Sect."

Xiao Mei looked down.

There was a camp below, where more than thirty imposing Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples were all looking up at the sky, cupping their fists in salute.

Seeing this, people from many forces assumed that some expert from the Dragon-Seeking Sect had arrived and turned to look.

But the Immortal Feather Spirit Beast's barrier was so powerful that they couldn't see the slightest thing through it.

"Gang leader, if the Dragon-Seeking Sect competes for it, won't we have no power to contend with them at all?"

A burly man dressed in dark, close-fitting clothes spoke with deep concern.

If they were only ordinary Dragon-Seeking Sect disciples, they might still be able to put up a fight, especially with so many forces present.

With undercurrents surging, no matter how monstrous or gifted the Dragon-Seeking Sect's disciples were, they might not be able to fight a hundred enemies each.

There was still some chance of victory, or of picking up scraps.

But now that an expert from the Dragon-Seeking Sect had arrived, it was hard to say.

"I wonder who's come. If it's an attendant or someone at the protector level, that would be one thing. But if it's a hall master or an elder, then we truly won't have the slightest chance of getting the divine fruit."

The leader of the Overbearing Gang rubbed his gleaming bald head, his expression grave.

Meanwhile, many people hiding in the shadows were also watching the two Immortal Feather Spirit Beasts flying across the sky.

They all felt a wave of pressure at the sight.

"What do we do? If the Dragon-Seeking Sect makes a move, we can't beat them at all. What's the point of fighting for it?"

"Don't panic. There are so many people here. Even the Dragon-Seeking Sect can't guarantee they'll get the divine fruit, can they?"

"Besides, I heard Situ Zhuikong is very interested in the divine fruit too. If the Situ Family comes to fight for it, we can sit back and reap the fisherman's benefit while those two sides fight tooth and nail."

"Brilliant, brother! I admire you, I truly do!"

The Situ Family the two were discussing was also a distinguished clan in Spirit Province.

In the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty, generations of the Situ Family had served as ministers, earning the dynasty's deep trust.

Coming from a family of ministers was dazzling enough, and on top of that, the young master of the current generation was a genius. At such a young age, he had already entered the Spirit Martial Realm Fifth Heaven.

Given time, he would surely step into the Venerable Martial Realm.

When that happened, the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty would place even greater trust in the Situ Family.

Inside a guest room in Gold and Iron City.

Chen Ning sat at the table drinking tea, with the little loli and Xiao Mei seated on either side.

Hostility showed in the little loli's eyes.

Xiao Mei, however, was completely at ease. When she noticed that Chen Ning had finished his tea, she thoughtfully picked up the teapot and poured him another cup.

Su Ling'er refused to be outdone and tried to snatch the teapot, but Xiao Mei held it in a death grip, and she couldn't wrest it away.

So she silently unleashed the Heaven-Stealing Ghost Hand.

The next moment, Xiao Mei felt the teapot slip from her grasp like a loach.

In an instant, it was in Su Ling'er's hands. The little loli held the teapot with a grin and poured tea for Chen Ning.

"Protector Su, go wait outside. I'm enough here."

Xiao Mei gave the order in an unfriendly tone.

"No way! I've always been the one to attend to sect master brother. You should go out instead."

The little loli glared at Xiao Mei, puffing her cheeks.

"Protector Su, I order you to leave."

The clear beauty of Xiao Mei's eyes lost some of its allure and gained a measure of an expert's authority.

"Are you going out or not?"

"No!"

"Are you going to defy me?"

"No!"

"Are you going to stay in the room?"

"No!"

The little loli blurted it out instinctively, then realized something was wrong and hurriedly corrected herself. "Ah, no... I'm not going out, anyway!"

As she spoke, the little loli pitifully hugged Chen Ning's arm and rested her little head against it.

The little black dragon had been sleeping soundly in his arms when it was suddenly squashed. It cried out twice in displeasure, and the little loli quickly let go, though she still felt aggrieved.

She was on the verge of tears.

She certainly couldn't beat that bad woman in a fight, but even so, she couldn't give up.

"Enough! Neither of you say another word."

Chen Ning stood up and settled the matter with a single blow of the hammer. "You both stay in the room. I'll go out!"

With that, Chen Ning strode over, pushed open the door, and walked out.

He felt a little relieved.

He had escaped that Shura field. How happy he was.

Who knew what Xiao Mei was plotting, trying to get so close to him lately?

Chen Ning had noticed it ever since they rode the Immortal Feather Spirit Beast.

Although she had brought him to pick the Marrow-Cleansing Divine Fruit and seemed quite friendly and loyal,

Chen Ning would never let his guard down. She was an undercover agent of the Devil Race, after all.

The very thought was frightening. Just how ruthless did she have to be to become master of the Law Enforcement Hall?

There was actually one more thing.

Chen Ning was also worried that if he kept spending time alone with this devil woman, he might not be able to restrain himself.

What if she couldn't rest until she had killed him?

"Just you wait until I reach the Venerable Martial Realm. Then you'll see whether or not I can handle you."

Chen Ning felt that a little impatience could ruin great plans. He had to lie low for now.