After bidding a "reluctant" farewell to Weisheng Moran and the others, Li Tianming quietly returned to the An Tian Emperor Manor in the state of the Void Universe Astral Manifestation.
With the prestige he now commanded in the Imperial Ruins, wherever he went, crowds surrounded and watched him. There was no real need for him to hide.
But this meeting with Weisheng Moran had been a clandestine tryst that could not see the light of day. For her sake, he naturally had to be more careful.
In fact, after Zi Zhen went public, Weisheng Moran had also endured plenty of doubt and suspicion.
The main reason was that Li Tianming was simply too outrageous. Outsiders found it hard to believe that the old flame between her and him would not rekindle... or that, like Zi Zhen, it had never been extinguished in the first place.
Even within the Divine Tomb Cult's Mu Xue Branch, there were surely many who suspected the same.
It was at this time that Mu Baiyi appeared. Perhaps because they had "fought side by side," or perhaps because they were "birds of a feather," their relationship improved considerably. They even began going out together in pairs. Though they still kept their distance, Weisheng Moran's obvious change in attitude toward Mu Baiyi gradually dispelled the suspicions.
Only then did her situation begin to improve.
"Unfortunately, I still can't bring her to my side. First, I married into the An Clan, so I am not the master here. And with disputes within the An Clan's inner court, they certainly won't allow this son-in-law to keep a beauty in a golden house. Second, since she has become Mu Dongli's disciple, she is half a member of the Mu Xue Branch. They won't allow me to take her away either."