The Tang Sect's Ownership Changes?! Ren Zhu Challenges Tang Ya?

(Tang Ya beautiful image)

The Scarlet King could no longer hold its composure.

It spun around abruptly, all four legs pushing off the ground simultaneously as it hoisted the weak Auspicious Beast onto its back and bolted toward the depths of the forest!

Its speed was even faster than when it had arrived.

In the blink of an eye, the dark red figure vanished into the night.

Once he was certain the Scarlet King was far away, Lin Ye felt as though his body had been hollowed out, his internal organs screaming in protest.

His strength rapidly ebbed away, and the Three-Headed Eight-Armed Dharma Image in the sky gradually faded and shattered, like a mirror being smashed to pieces.

His vision went black, and he plummeted from the sky, losing all consciousness.

He did not know how much time had passed.

Lin Ye opened his blurry eyes, his vision slowly sharpening.

What came into view was an unfamiliar room, simply furnished yet clean and tidy.

A wooden bed, a wooden table, a soul-guided lamp, and a small, nameless flower on the windowsill swayed gently in the breeze.

Someone seemed to be beside him, asleep at the bedside.

Powder-blue short hair, slender shoulders, and that familiar face bore clear signs of fatigue and haggardness. Her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she could not set her mind at ease even in her dreams.

It was Wang Dong'er.

Just then, someone walked in through the door, her footsteps light and cautious, as if afraid of waking someone.

"Lin Ye, you're awake?!"

The person who arrived was none other than Tang Ya.

She seemed to have lost her usual liveliness; although her voice carried a hint of pleasant surprise, her beautiful face wore an indescribable sorrow, and even her gait seemed heavier than before.

Wang Dong'er was startled awake and jerked her head up.

She was visibly much thinner, her eyes rimmed with dark circles and bloodshot, as if she had lost a whole layer of weight.

"Lin Ye... you're awake..."

She wept with joy, throwing herself into Lin Ye's arms. Her hands gripped his lapels tightly, her shoulders trembling slightly, and tears quickly soaked the fabric over his chest.

Tang Ya stepped forward quickly, reaching out to support Wang Dong'er. "Wang Dong, why are you crying like this, a man should be strong."

Though she said this, her own eyes were slightly red, and she was merely forcing herself not to let the tears fall.

Wang Dong'er raised her head and wiped her eyes, her voice still choked with sobs.

"Senior Sister Tang Ya, I thought Lin Ye would never wake up again..."

Lin Ye opened his mouth, his throat feeling dry. "Dong'er, Senior Sister Xiao Ya? What happened to me?"

Wang Dong'er sniffled, steadying her emotions before speaking.

"Lin Ye... you fell into a coma during that soul-hunting mission. It has already been two months since then."

"Two months?!"

Lin Ye's voice rose sharply. He instinctively tried to sit up, but a wave of intense dizziness forced him back onto the bed.

He felt the Soul Power within his body, which was almost entirely empty; his meridians felt like fields scorched by a wildfire, a scene of utter devastation.

He slowly recalled the process of burning his Soul Power that day to forcibly manifest the Three-Headed Eight-Armed Dharma Image. It had indeed been too reckless.

That violent energy had overdrawn too much of his essence.

"It's okay, it's good that you're awake." Wang Dong'er took his hand, her thumb gently stroking the back of his hand.

Lin Ye looked at her red, weary eyes, and his heart warmed. "Dong'er, you've worked hard."

"It's nothing," Wang Dong'er shook her head.

"Fortunately, there was Xiao Xiao, Senior Sister Xiaotao, and them, as well as Senior Sister Tang Ya, who came to visit you every day."

Lin Ye turned to look at Tang Ya. "Senior Sister Xiao Ya, thank you as well."

Tang Ya forced a smile. "Lin Ye, there's no need for us to say such things."

Wang Dong'er had been weeping with joy, but there was clearly a different emotion on Tang Ya's face.

Shouldn't she usually be cheerful and generous? Why was she so full of sorrow now? She hadn't even shown much of a reaction when he woke up.

Lin Ye's gaze rested on Tang Ya's face as he asked earnestly, "Senior Sister Xiao Ya, is there something weighing on your mind?"

Tang Ya's expression was deeply sorrowful, her eyes slightly red, yet she held back her tears.

She stood there, twisting the corner of her clothes, looking as if her soul had been drained away.

Watching her, Lin Ye's heart sank.

He had only just woken up and his body was still very weak, but his mind was already racing.

"Sister Xiao Ya, if you're facing any difficulties, just say the word. I will certainly help if I can." Lin Ye's voice was not loud, but it carried a sense of certainty.

Tang Ya bit her lip, hesitating for quite a while before she spoke:

"Little Ye, you just woke up, so I really shouldn't be telling you these things... but..."

Before she could finish two sentences, her eyes turned red and her voice began to choke up, the lively and cheerful spirit she usually possessed completely vanished.

"I... I... I..."

She opened her mouth, but it was as if her throat were blocked, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Lin Ye frowned: "Sister Xiao Ya?"

Tang Ya took a deep breath and finally forced the words out: "The Tang Sect... the Tang Sect, I have failed my parents..."

"What happened to the Tang Sect?" Lin Ye pressed.

"I am no longer the Sect Master of the Tang Sect... and I am no longer a member of the Tang Sect either."

Tang Ya's voice dropped, carrying an indescribable bitterness.

Lin Ye was stunned: "Huh?"

Tang Ya bit her lip, as if trying to crush the grievances and anger in her heart and swallow them whole:

"A while ago, Huo Yuhao brought that transfer student from your class, Ren Zhu, saying she also wanted to join the Tang Sect. I was quite happy at the time, thinking the Tang Sect would finally have one more person.

But who would have thought, the moment that Ren Zhu stepped through the door, she started spouting nonsense about 'how did the Tang Sect end up like this,' and she insulted me in such a nasty way... What the hell does the state of the Tang Sect have to do with her?!"

The more Tang Ya spoke, the more agitated she became. Her voice rose, and her chest heaved violently; it was clear she had been holding back her anger for too long.

Lin Ye also felt it was strange. In the original story, there was no such person as Ren Zhu; he couldn't have remembered it wrong.

Tang Ya continued: "She even clamored about restoring the Tang Sect, challenged me, and made a bet that if she won, I would have to hand over the position of Sect Master to her."

Lin Ye's mouth twitched: "...So you agreed?"

"She was just a first-year student acting so arrogant, of course I had to teach her a lesson!"

After Tang Ya finished speaking righteously, she deflated like a punctured ball, "But I really didn't beat her..."

"I don't think she's eleven or twelve at all!" Tang Ya grew angrier as she spoke.

"With the way she looks, people would believe she's forty! And can you believe it? She's already a four-ringed soul master!"

Wang Dong'er had been sitting quietly to the side listening, and at this point, she couldn't help but interject:

"What? She was only a three-ringed soul master when she first arrived, and now she's already at four rings?"

"A four-ringed soul master in the first year—she's destined to be a core disciple and will definitely enter the Inner Court!"

Tang Ya's voice carried a hint of helplessness and self-mockery.

"Moreover, she actually knows Tang Sect techniques! She's even more proficient than I am! Those hidden weapon methods... I haven't even seen them before!"

As Lin Ye listened, his heart was already churning with massive waves.

No way?

Could it be that his appearance had caused the timeline to shift?

The true identity of this Ren Zhu...