After leaving the sect's Main Peak, where the council met, Xiao Jixue took Tang Yan straight back to his own peak.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect occupied an immense expanse of land.
The Sect Leader, the three grand elders, the Peak Masters, Deputy Peak Masters, and elders all had separate peaks and cave residences.
The personal disciples of these venerable cultivators also had peaks of their own.
Xiao Jixue was the eldest disciple of Sect Leader Fu Shouci.
His talent was exceptional. He stood among the finest of the younger generation, not only in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect but across the entire Immortal Spirit Continent, and was the sect's chief disciple.
His standing was a cut above that of ordinary personal disciples, second only to the venerable cultivators.
As such, his Purple Dawn Peak had the richest and most abundant spiritual energy of any peak outside theirs.
Purple Dawn Peak towered into the clouds, its summit hidden year-round amid swirling mist.
From the foot of the mountain to just below the summit, the trees, flowers, and grasses remained lush and green throughout the year, as though the seasons had never turned here.
In truth, Purple Dawn Peak's exceptionally rich spiritual energy, together with the Spirit-Gathering Formation laid upon it, kept the entire mountain verdant year-round.
Xiao Jixue's cave residence stood halfway up the mountain, where the spiritual energy was most concentrated.
The moment the two settled onto the plaza halfway up the mountain, three Foundation Building cultivators in the uniforms of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's servant disciples came forward to greet them.
"True Lord." The three bowed respectfully to Xiao Jixue.
He nodded impassively and instructed them, "This is my friend, Tang Yan. He will be staying on Purple Dawn Peak for an extended period. Treat him as you would me."
"Yes." Their expressions grew solemn, and they hurried to acknowledge his orders.
All three were deeply shocked.
With their cultivation, they could naturally tell that the young master Tang standing before them was an ordinary person with no cultivation whatsoever.
For an ordinary person to receive such regard from the True Lord, surely his background must be extraordinary?
Having reached that conclusion, the already cautious trio treated Tang Yan with even greater respect.
Once he finished giving instructions, Xiao Jixue turned to Tang Yan.
"You've had a tiring day. Let me take you to your room to rest."
His voice softened without his noticing, quite different from the tone he had used with the three servant disciples.
The servant disciples beside them were speechless. ...Since when did the True Lord start playing favorites?
"Sure, I'm tired anyway. Thank you for going to all this trouble, Senior Brother Xiao."
Not long ago, Tang Yan had been struggling on the brink of death before Xiao Jixue saved him, brought him back, and nursed him for a while.
Most of his injuries had healed, but he was still weak as hell on the inside.
He had spent half the day traveling with Xiao Jixue, then gone through a series of intense emotional upheavals. Now, he was so exhausted that all he wanted was to get to sleep.
Xiao Jixue took Tang Yan to the bedchamber next to his own.
Like his own room, the adjoining chamber had the most abundant spiritual energy. For Tang Yan, who was still weak and needed further care, it was practically heaven.
[Waaah, Xiao Jixue is so nice. He really is a wonderful person. I was way too prejudiced against him before.]
Tang Yan flopped onto the soft bed and yawned repeatedly, warmth filling his heart as he promptly awarded Xiao Jixue a good-person card.
Next door, Xiao Jixue heard that thought, and a soft chuckle escaped his thin lips before he knew it.
All I did was arrange a room for him, and he's this touched? He thinks I'm a wonderful person now?
He's so easily satisfied. He really is incredibly easy to look after.
As for that bit about prejudice?
Well, in the past, I really was cold and indifferent. I would never have bothered with something like this, much less brought someone home to nurse him back to health.
[Ding—Xiao Jixue's affection +5. Total affection: 15.]
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Xu You rushed out of the Council Hall in a panic.
He took out a Jade Pendant, used his spiritual energy to cut his fingertip, and let a drop of blood fall onto it.
Two breaths later, the Jade Pendant suddenly blazed with light. A dazzling beam shot into the sky and vanished from Xu You's sight.
Ha!
He had originally given this Jade Pendant to Xu Zhenzhen as a last resort.
If Xu Zhenzhen encountered danger while away, she could drip blood from her fingertip onto it to send a signal, allowing him to know her location in an instant.
He could then go to her rescue.
By the same principle, a drop of his own blood would also allow him to find Xu Zhenzhen immediately.
He had never imagined that one day, it would become the key to finding his biological daughter.
His expression dark, Xu You pressed his lips together, transformed into a streak of radiant light, and followed the beam out of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
Ten days later.
Somewhere in the empty sky above the Outer Divine Seclusion Mountains.
A handsome middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties, sporting a short beard, suddenly appeared.
He was none other than Xu You, Peak Master of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's Medicine Peak.
Ten days earlier, after learning about his biological daughter, he had followed the direction in which the Jade Pendant's light had vanished, frantically tracking it all the way here from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
For those ten days, he had not rested once, terrified that if he arrived too late, his biological daughter would already be dead.
"Whew..."
Xu You let out a heavy breath and once again poured spiritual energy into the Jade Pendant in his hand, activating the long-dried drop of blood.
Instantly, the Jade Pendant released another beam of light, which shot toward the western side of the forest.
Xu You's eyes lit up. "Over there!" Beside himself with urgency, he hurried after it.
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