Yue Xiaochan of the Star Moon Sect, Please Advise Me

The Star Moon Sect's main objective in entering the Capital City this time was to rescue Yin Ye, who had been captured by the Six Fan Gates.

The Star Moon Sect had many disciples, with hidden pieces scattered across the land. Disciples of Meng Lan's rank were as numerous as carts and measures, spread throughout the Divine Continent. It was one of the Demon Sect's foremost great sects. Yet because its cultivation methods were difficult and its selection stringent, it did not have many inner disciples, and its core true disciples were fewer still. In Xue Qingqiu's generation, there had only been three direct disciple sisters. The eldest sister had vanished for some reason, so Xue Qingqiu had helplessly begun shouldering the pillar of the sect from her tender teenage years. After that came the youngest, Yin Ye.

The eldest sister had many disciples, but none of them inherited her direct lineage. Yin Ye had not yet begun taking disciples either, so Yue Xiaochan was the only seedling of the next generation's direct lineage. She had long been raised as the prospective Sect Master.

Other than several elders and guardians currently stationed to defend the sect, Yin Ye, as Xue Qingqiu's junior sister, could be said to be one of the sect's soul-level figures—the absolute core. On top of that, her cultivation method was unique, and the sect truly could not do without her. It was precisely because such an important person had been captured that Xue Qingqiu set aside her cultivation and left the Ling Province headquarters, bringing her beloved disciple into the Capital City overnight. On the way, she encountered Xue Mu.

As for losses in their businesses and the like, those were not the main purpose of this trip, merely matters to settle along the way. Xue Qingqiu had also intended to use this journey to cultivate her disciple's business skills and ability to deal with the Imperial Court.

Over the past two days, Yue Xiaochan had been busy devising plans to revive their businesses. Xue Qingqiu had watched it all. Though she felt her disciple was getting too close to Xue Mu, she also felt Yue Xiaochan was still young, her heart's first buds not yet opened, so there should not be any trouble. Seeing Yue Xiaochan's efforts achieve considerable results, she felt somewhat gratified. That night, when she went to negotiate with the Six Fan Gates, she did not bring her disciple along, letting her continue working on the businesses while she went to the Six Fan Gates herself.

She had simply never expected the talks to collapse...

Xue Qingqiu gathered the sect members indoors for a meeting to discuss countermeasures. Xue Mu clearly had not yet earned enough trust to participate in such a discussion, so he helplessly returned to the Bamboo Pavilion to sleep.

Yue Xiaochan turned to look at Xue Mu's retreating back and tugged at her master's sleeve. "Master..."

"Mm?"

"I think it might be better to call Xue Mu over..."

"..." Xue Qingqiu said irritably, "Have you gone mad? For such a core matter, you want some outsider we picked up on the road to listen in?"

Yue Xiaochan puffed out her cheeks. "Xue Mu is very capable. He'll definitely have good insights."

Xue Qingqiu said coolly, "Precisely because he is so clever, Chan'er... You and I once thought he was no more than grass and dust, so even though his origins were unknown, we did not take it to heart. But now that we know he is no ordinary man, can you still not keep an extra eye open?"

Yue Xiaochan opened her mouth, unable to reply. After her master put it that way, she too felt that she might have become a little too reliant on Xue Mu lately. Whenever anything required thought, her first instinct was to have Xue Mu come up with an idea. That seemed rather bad—it would turn her stupid...

If they could not come up with any solution, she could quietly ask Xue Mu tomorrow. As for keeping an extra eye open, the girl simply ignored that part.

When Xue Mu returned to the Bamboo Pavilion, he was broad-minded about it. He knew that trying to gain the trust of the leader of a generation's Demon Sect in such a short time was sheer wishful thinking. Ever since crossing over, other than the night he had fainted, his mind had been running at high speed nonstop. He was truly exhausted now, so he might as well get a good night's sleep, restore his strength, and think of everything else afterward.

So he fell asleep almost the instant his head touched the pillow.

In a daze, he seemed to see two people fighting in the sky. He could not make out their faces, but every punch and kick turned wind and clouds pale and shifted stars and constellations. A Bronze Cauldron floated between them. With an earth-shattering clash, the Bronze Cauldron nearly shattered and came crashing down from the sky, smashing into the ground and forming a deep pit several miles across. Groundwater welled up from the pit and swiftly became a pool of icy water.

That world-shaking collision seemed to carry the terrifying force to shatter dimensions. At the instant the Bronze Cauldron fell, an extremely tiny patterned piece was jolted free from its body. With a sharp whistle, it passed through who knew how many dimensional spaces and who knew how many ages of time, finally becoming a streak of light that entered

the palm of Xue Mu, who was watching from some unknown place, bringing a stabbing pain.

Xue Mu abruptly woke, only then realizing it had been a dream.

He leaned against the headboard and gasped heavily several times. He realized that this was probably not a dream, but the origin of the Bronze Fragment that had brought him across worlds. As his connection to this world grew closer, the Bronze Fragment's energy had finally resonated with his sea of consciousness in some fashion, revealing its origin.

If that was the case, then appearing in midair above the pool when he crossed over had not been accidental. He had crossed into the very spot where the Bronze Fragment had finally separated from the cauldron.

The fact that that master and disciple pair had been bathing there—that had been the real coincidence. Otherwise, he truly would have died.

Xue Mu sighed, rose, and washed up. He had just splashed water over his face when he heard a noisy commotion outside, accompanied by clashes of force and the crisp ring of weapons.

Naturally... either the Righteous Path had come knocking, or the female constable uniforms had caused trouble.

Xue Mu quietly ran to the back gate of the Hundred Flowers Garden to watch the excitement. Sure enough, several groups stood arrayed in the main hall, all wearing uniform outfits. As they looked at the matching outfits on the Hundred Flowers Garden girls, their eyes practically spat fire.

Qingqing and Meng Lan stood before them, both with gauze veils over their faces and relaxed demeanors, utterly unconcerned by the drawn swords and bent bows before them. The various Righteous Path factions each occupied their own territory. They had no major figures in the Capital City, and their own Sect Masters were still behind them, so how could they possibly take these little shrimps seriously...

A long-bearded Daoist who seemed to be the leader raised his sword and shouted angrily, "Zhuo Qingqing, your Star Moon Sect has humiliated my Mysterious Heaven Sect like this. Do you think my sword is not sharp?"

So those robes really were from the Mysterious Heaven Sect. Clouds, mountains, and green bamboo were embroidered along the edges, the patterns highly distinctive. Xue Mu glanced at the girls within the Hundred Flowers Garden wearing the same Daoist robes and could not help laughing aloud.

Zhuo Qingqing said leisurely, "Daoist Dongfeng, Qingqing does not understand those words. Girls may wear whatever they like. Which law of the Imperial Court have they violated?"

"You impersonate disciples of our sect and engage in such lewd, filthy acts, yet you still think you are in the right?"

"We already explained clearly to the guests that these girls are not truly from your various sects. If you do not believe it, you may ask them... How about this? Our Hundred Flowers Garden can put up a sign stating that every girl has nothing to do with any of you."

"Bastard!"

"My, my, you are a cultivator of the Dao—why such a violent temper?" Zhuo Qingqing smiled sweetly. "I heard that when Daoist Dongfeng was young, you professed your love to someone from the Sword Inquiry Sect and were cruelly rejected. Since then, your preferences became twisted, and you developed a fondness for threesomes... What do you think of our Qianqian compared with that person? Perhaps she could fulfill Daoist Dongfeng's dream. Half price only..."

"Pfft..." A great many of the watching Hundred Flowers Garden girls burst out laughing. Even among the Righteous Path disciples, some could not help their shoulders shaking as they snickered.

Then again, quite a few Righteous Path disciples really were looking at the girls in the outfits they fancied, their hearts stirring with springtime desire and their eyes darting about. Who knew whether they were considering secretly coming by tonight?

Daoist Dongfeng was so furious that even his beard stood on end. With a sweep of his longsword, he said, "Words are useless! If your Star Moon Sect remains stubbornly obsessed, we will tear down your Hundred Flowers Garden today!"

"Who wants to tear down our Hundred Flowers Garden?"

A clear voice like a yellow oriole came from nowhere. Then a slender figure drifted past, swift as a ghost. Where the fragrant breeze passed, a spray of blood suddenly burst from Daoist Dongfeng's throat, and he fell backward to the ground.

The slender figure made another nimble turn and landed between Qingqing and Meng Lan, revealing Yue Xiaochan's sweetly smiling face. "Yue Xiaochan of the Star Moon Sect is officially making her debut in the martial world. I hope all my senior brothers and sisters will offer me much guidance."

Her pretty face was beautiful and adorable beyond reason. Dressed in spotless white, barefoot, she smiled sweetly amid the blood mist filling the air. This monstrous sense of incongruity left the scene silent as a grave. Even the Mysterious Heaven Sect members whose leader had been killed stood dumb as wooden chickens, unable to react for a time.

Watching in secret, Xue Mu covered his forehead. Like master, like disciple—she was a big shot too...

Seriously, with the Demon Sect recklessly carrying on like this and offending both the authorities and the Righteous Path to the death, how had they survived until now? They could even openly run businesses. It made absolutely no sense...