Hua Gu held a bamboo basket filled with little yellow and white flowers, standing some distance away as she watched Su Che. There was no excess emotion in her eyes.
The two were now less than twenty paces apart. To Void Step cultivators, that distance was equivalent to holding a blade to the other's throat.
Too close.
But closeness had its reasons, and its advantages.
"Senior Sister's escape art is indeed exquisite. I heard that the Heavenly Firmament Sect possesses the marvelous art of 'Lone Step, Heart Shadow; Myriad Transformations in the Vast Sky.' It truly is extraordinary."
"You noticed me the moment you left that building. It cannot be called particularly exquisite."
Hua Gu shook her head. "Moreover, I am a disciple of Elder Mu Changfeng of the Heavenly Firmament Sect. I entered the Longevity Sect under the command token of my sect's leader in the first place, so there is no need to call me Senior Sister."
"The Primordial Sacred Dao reaches everywhere without exception. We are all of the Holy Sect lineage, and if one traces things further back, we all came from the Earth Origin Devil Palace. There is reason enough for this 'Senior Sister.'"
Su Che smiled faintly.
"Did Senior Sister come looking for me today to see how much your junior brother has improved?"
"Yuwen Jian, the Duke of Sui, came from the Beimang Ghost Ancestor Palace. He is a secret expert raised by the Ghost Ancestor, a rare Void Step Ghost Cultivator. You spoke with him for so long. What sort of transaction were you discussing?"
"The Grand Tutor of the Northern Dynasties is impotent, and the Empress Dowager is deeply dissatisfied. The harem is discordant, and ruler and ministers are out of tune. That is why she sent him out to seek