A Two-Faced Traitor

"Hmm? Ugh!"

Shortly after setting up the Formation, Tang Ruowei and Li Jinyao heard a slightly painful groan coming from Elder Liu's room.

The two girls exchanged a glance, then rushed out side by side, shouting, "Help! Elder Liu is awake!"

"What? Elder Liu is awake?"

Their shouts immediately alerted the disciples of Heaven-Forging Stronghold. Dozens of people from the vicinity rushed into Elder Liu's room, and one of them, who looked like the Senior Disciple Brother, turned around and shouted, "Quickly, go and inform the Sect Master!"

Then came another flurry of activity, and taking advantage of the commotion, Li Jinyao and Tang Ruowei quietly left.

"What? Elder Liu is awake?"

Yue Qianlian's face lit up with joy as he looked at the disciple who had come to report.

"Yes, Sect Master."

A disciple of the Heaven-Forging Stronghold, who was under Elder Liu's tutelage, told him, "I saw it with my own eyes; Elder Liu has indeed woken up, and now a large group of his fellow disciples are watching over him."

"Finally, some good news after all this time..."

Yue Qianlian slapped his thigh and said, "I need to go visit him."

He got up and walked towards the door, with the disciple following behind him. Yue Qianlian pushed open the door, only to find someone already standing there, which startled him.

Bai Qiuran was standing outside the door.

"Sword Ancestor? What are you doing here?"

Yue Qianlian looked at Bai Qiuran in astonishment and asked, "Weren't you annihilating the Earth Immortal Ancient City?"

"It's almost over over there."

Bai Qiuran and said, "I'm here to clean up the mess. Come with me for a moment."

Inside Elder Liu's room, a group of disciples were exchanging pleasantries and asking after his well-being.

Under Yue Qianren's cover, Elder Liu, who had narrowly escaped death in the Ancient City, also sat up and was responding to his disciples' concerns, coughing occasionally.

Cultivation are much stronger than Mortals. Elder Liu had just woken up from his coma and was still recovering from serious injuries, but it was normal for him to be able to sit up. In fact, if it were any other Elder from a super sect, he would have remained calm and not uttered a sound while coughing so incessantly.

Just as the disciples were interacting warmly with Elder Liu, demonstrating the harmonious relationship within the sect, someone outside the door shouted loudly.

"The Sect Master has arrived!"

The disciples in the room quickly parted to make way, and then watched as Yue Qianlian led the disciple who had gone to report the news into the room.

"Old Liu!"

Upon seeing Elder Liu sitting on the bed, Yue Qianlian's face lit up with joy. He rushed to the bedside and helped him up.

"You're finally awake. Are you alright?"

"It's nothing, Senior Brother Sect Master Leader. I'm sorry to have worried you."

Elder Liu coughed twice, his face pale, and then asked, "Where is the Grand Elder? Did he return safely with the Book of Questions?"

"My older brother..."

Yue Qianlian looked somber. Seeing his expression, Elder Liu already knew the outcome, and let out a long sigh.

"Truly, Heaven's Envy..."

"Let's not talk about that."

Yue Qianlian patted his hand.

"It's good that you're alright. Get some rest, we won't bother you any longer."

He stood up to let his disciples leave, but Elder Liu grabbed his hand.

"Sect Master!"

Elder Liu coughed twice and said weakly, "Wait a moment, I have something I want to tell you privately."

"Is there something you want to discuss with me?"

Yue Qianlian thought for a moment. After years of getting along, he had developed a deep trust in his fellow disciple. So he waved his hand and said, "You all go out first. I'll discuss this with Elder Liu."

The other disciples exchanged glances and then left, with the last disciple thoughtfully closing the door behind him. Once they had sensed their presence had faded into the distance, Yue Qianlian sat down beside Elder Liu and asked, "Old Liu, is there something you'd like to discuss with me?"

"That matter, well, it's about --"

Elder Liu smiled, then suddenly flipped his hand, revealing a strange, sharp, pure black prism. Before Yue Qianlian could react, he plunged it into Yue's neck.

"Sect Master Su's skill has improved again."

Sheathing her Curved Saber and looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, Ji Lingyun exclaimed to the white-clad beauty beside her, "The allure of this Demonic Art is so strong, even I almost couldn't resist it."

"Sect Master Ji's Saber Technique has also improved rapidly."

Su Xiangxue said leisurely, "I believe that we will be able to defeat the Jueyunzi leader Jueyunzi of the Azure Nether Sword Sect Master in less than two years."

"Hmph, that bastard, one day I'll cut off his mouth and use it as a snack with my drink!"

Speaking of Jueyunzi, Ji Lingyun's expression turned very unpleasant. She snorted coldly and continued, "However, Sect Master Su, your target is much more difficult to deal with than mine. I can only wish you success in slaying that person soon."

"Sect Master Ji, what you're saying is ridiculous. I'm not going to kill him..."

Su Xiangxue put on the veil she had taken off during the battle and said with a wry smile, "Alright, let's not talk about these unpleasant topics. Sect Master Ji, these monsters have been mostly dealt with. Let's hurry up and storm into the city to clean up the mess."

"Okay, sure."

Ji Lingyun nodded, and the two heroines were about to step into the Ancient City when the pillar of light that was originally inside the Ancient City suddenly shone brightly.

"Careful!"

Su Xiangxue quickly pulled back the reckless Ji Lingyun, and the two of them, along with the disciples of the Hehuan Sect and the Heavenly Demon Sect, stopped in their tracks.

The next moment, the pillar of light within the Ancient City suddenly expanded, engulfing everything in its path in light.

On the Great River, Huangfu Feng slowly straightened up. With the activation of his True Essence, the knife wounds on his body stopped bleeding rapidly and began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Before him lay the battered corpse of Yue Qianren. Thanks to the residual True Essence energy within his body, the small wounds on Yue Qianren's body had stopped, but one knife wound pierced through his brow Spiritual Platform, robbing him of his Nascent Soul and Souls. This wound was fatal and could not be healed no matter what.

The Souls that once occupied Yue Qianren's body was absorbed into the treasured sword forged by Yue Qianlian and sealed within it.

Huangfu Feng held his sword horizontally in front of him, a glimmer of light flashing from the green Soul-Collecting Stone on the hilt. He stared at it for a moment, then slowly sheathed the sword.

"Da Yuezi."

He picked up Yue Qianren's body from the ground, looked at it for a while, and then sighed, "May you rest in peace."

The river breeze seemed to carry a sob. Huangfu Feng, carrying his friend's body, was about to head back when, in the direction of the ancient Ancient City in the distance, the pillar of light suddenly grew several times larger, illuminating the entire sky.

Above the sky, as if the sky had been pierced by a beam of light, a strange Vortex formed by clouds and Spatial Fault appeared, slowly rotating and continuously expanding.

Within this Vortex, a colossal, majestic mountain rose upside down, slowly descending to the horizon and stopping several miles above the ruins of the Upper Ling Kingdom.