"But... Jian Xiao was a Void Refinement Realm cultivator. How had your cultivation reached the Mahayana Realm after merely a few decades apart?" Xuan Li asked.
Yuan Rong stepped forward first. "Fellow Daoist Xuan Li, he excels at disguising his appearance and aura. Back when we headed to the Western Rong Continent, I spent days with him, yet I never realized that he was the enemy I had sought for many years."
Upon hearing this, Xuan Li's willow brows shot upright, and frost seemed to congeal inch by inch within her eyes.
"Yang Yu, it seemed you truly were Jian Xiao."
Yuan Rong's expression did not change, but inwardly, he was delighted to see it happen.
Earlier, Song Wen, Feng Zhongli, and Xuan Li had been walking far too closely together, as though he alone had been isolated outside their circle.
Though the four of them were allies for now and would not erupt into conflict immediately, that might not remain so in the future—especially when they unearthed the dragon corpse or the True Dragon Spirit appeared. At that time, a fierce battle would most likely break out.
Given the current relationship among the four, Yuan Rong was the one most likely to be besieged first.
But if Xuan Li came to resent Song Wen because of this, he could draw her over to his side. Even if Feng Zhongli still stood with Song Wen then, each side would have two people. Once they came to blows, who won and who lost would be far from certain.
Yet the developments that followed were entirely beyond Yuan Rong's expectations, leaving him deeply disappointed.
For some reason, the frost in Xuan Li's gaze toward Song Wen suddenly melted away, replaced by deep resentment.
"You really did me over back then. You took