Just then.
Clink—
From the pavilion ahead came the unusually crisp sound of a teacup touching its saucer, drawing both women's attention.
Ji Qingtang froze. She stopped without thinking and looked toward the pavilion.
A young man in purple sat beside the stone table, dressed in those familiar clothes. His fair, handsome face was calm, and an exquisite tea set stood before him.
Ji Qingtang's eyes widened. The tension in her face eased at once, and she cried out, "Senior?!"
"I heard you were in seclusion, so I waited here for a while."
Before Qingyuan could react to Lu Yuan's quiet reply, Ji Qingtang said urgently, "Senior Lu, you must leave this place! If the people from Nine Nether Hall see you..."
Lu Yuan shook his head slightly, cutting her off. "It's all right. I came here to drink tea as a guest elder. Now that someone has come looking for trouble, I won't stand aside."
With that, he set down his teacup.
The next moment, a vast aura spread through Sunset Glow Valley like rolling mist.
Silent, yet majestic and overwhelming.
Both women's breathing quickened.
Black clouds surged across the sky like spilled ink, blotting out every trace of the earlier sunshine.
Riding the wind, the old demon in brocade led dozens of Nine Nether Hall's senior elders and direct disciples, all of the Extreme Realm, toward the Azure Mist Sect—the sect that apparently had a death wish.
As Nine Nether Hall's strongest supreme elder, the old demon had long since earned the right to study the hall's Dao Scripture. Through it, he had reached the Half-Step Heavenly Realm and formed the embryonic Dao Abyss Dharma Aspect!
Given another few thousand years, he could stabilize his Dharma Form completely and build the foundation to challenge the Heavenly Realm!
At