"Eldest Senior Brother, why are you looking at me so strangely?" Lan Yue looked over in confusion.
"Lan Yue, are you saying I should choose both?" Yun Xi, on the other hand, understood.
"Perhaps that could work too."
[Lan Yue: Exactly, choosing both is perfectly fine! With my darling daughter Nü E's talent, that's no problem at all, okay?]
As her thought faded, the people fighting fiercely overhead instantly froze.
"What are you fighting for? Look at you-you're about to tear the sect apart!" Yun Chong flew over at just the right moment and sternly addressed the group.
"Since you all want Yun Xi to learn, she can learn both. My daughter won't be walking just one path in the future. It's up to you to seize your chances!" The Sect Master's authoritative voice rang across the entire peak housing the Four Arts Hall. He looked angry on the surface, but inwardly, joy was blooming like flowers.
The little figure inside Yun Chong's mind proudly planted its hands on its hips.
This was his daughter-his own flesh and blood! They could fight to their hearts' content. No matter how hard they fought, she was still his daughter!
"Ahem, in that case, Brother Fang, why don't we shake hands, make peace, and teach Yun Xi together?" The Spirit Artifact Hall Master finally took a step back.
"Brother Yuan, I've offended you considerably over this matter. Let's work together from now on." Fang Ding also put away his alchemy furnace, which was wreathed in blue-and-white flames.
The other elders shook hands and made peace as well. Not a trace remained of their earlier fierce fighting; now it was all smiles and harmony.
Their lightning-fast change of faces left Lan Yue below utterly stunned.
[Lan Yue: Big sects really do know how to play. This country bumpkin who's never been to the city is thoroughly shaken.]
The people overhead shaking hands and making peace almost failed to keep their affected expressions in place.
[Lan Yue: I remember someone mentioning that a person from the Spirit Artifact Hall mysteriously disappeared? I'd better take a good look at what happened. Otherwise, I might join the Spirit Artifact Hall and not even know how my corpse ended up dumped somewhere.]
The Spirit Artifact Hall Master, who had just been about to leave, stiffened all over. He could neither leave nor stay, so he could only remain suspended in the sky.
Across from him, Fang Ding waggled his eyebrows, plainly gloating.
Yuan Su trembled for a long while before finally keeping his mouth shut, because he actually wanted to know what had happened to that disciple who had suddenly disappeared too.
[Lan Yue: Let me see, let me see-holy shit, why is this title so scary? I don't even dare click on it!]
[Midnight Terror: The Hidden Hand You Never Knew About.]
Above the Four Arts Hall, Elder Fang Ding of the Alchemy Pavilion silently took out his furnace and sat back down.
Even Yun Chong and the elders behind him took out their spirit artifacts and stood on them with practiced ease.
"So there really was something sinister behind your Spirit Artifact Hall disciple's disappearance!" Fang Ding looked utterly shocked.
He did not actually know the details either. He had simply thought of the incident earlier and mentioned it offhand.
"The matter has yet to be settled. I won't discuss it." The Spirit Artifact Hall Master's face darkened.
"If my nephew truly was at fault, he'll receive whatever punishment he deserves."
"You? Could you bear to do that?" Fang Ding sneered at him. "Don't end up making every excuse under the sun and trying every possible way to wriggle out of it."
"With so many elders watching up here, how could I wriggle out of it? Use your brain!" Yuan Su ground his teeth.
Seeing the two about to start arguing again, Yun Chong hurriedly stopped them.
"If you keep arguing, my daughter certainly won't consider either of you when choosing her master!" Yun Chong's expression remained mild.
The two elders who had been arguing so fiercely instantly fell as quiet as chickens.
[Lan Yue: Huh, why haven't those elders in the sky left yet? Do they have some meeting to hold?]
The Sixth Elder, who had just taken out a spirit fruit and was planning to sneak a bite, froze. His heart raced, terrified that Lan Yue below would discover they had come to eavesdrop on her thoughts.
[Lan Yue: Never mind. Those elders must have something very important to discuss. After all, anything is possible when it involves my darling daughter! She's the female lead, after all. She has the female lead's halo!]
She was just about to scroll down when she felt someone gently tug at her.
Turning her head, she saw Yun Xi beside her discreetly offering her a freshly washed, bright red spirit fruit.
"This is for me to eat!" Lan Yue was delighted. The female lead had actually taken the initiative to give her food. That meant she liked her!
She happily took it and chomped into it.
*[Lan Yue: Why does this feel like sharing juicy gossip with a bestie? But I can't tell my darling daughter Nü E this secret. What a shame!*
It's fine. Once I've really learned Divination, I'll secretly share gossip with Nü E under the guise of divining things!
*Those people don't know what divination actually is or what it can accomplish anyway. This skill was practically tailor-made for me!]*
At the summit of the Four Arts Hall's peak, Yun Chong quietly shifted over to make room for his Ninth Junior Brother, who had just arrived.
"Junior Brother, that was an excellent idea. Having Lan Yue study Divination makes everything fall naturally into place."
Yun Chong had been struggling with this problem for some time, because many people could hear Lan Yue's thoughts.
Although the Immortal Artifact prevented those people from explaining the specific reason, certain behaviors could still provide clues from which to deduce it.
Take this brawl between the Spirit Artifact Hall and Alchemy Pavilion elders, for example. Lan Yue below had only just revealed in her thoughts that his daughter would become a Ninth-Level Alchemist and could even repair Immortal Artifacts, and they had immediately launched into a heated fight. Anyone would think something was wrong, wouldn't they?
All he could say was that little Lan Yue was remarkably carefree. Even now, she had not caught on, merely assuming everything was normal because the female lead was so impressive.
If it had been him, he would have grown wary long ago.
Yun Chong sent everything he had been thinking to his Ninth Junior Brother through voice transmission and successfully caught a thoughtful expression on her face.
"All I can say is, there's a reason the Immortal Artifact chose my disciple rather than you." Guangji lifted her head aloofly and replied through voice transmission as well.
Yun Chong: "..."
"Fairy Guangji, why don't you tell your big brother about what happened in the Northern Region?"
Yun Chong did not use voice transmission for that remark. The other elders all heard him and turned their heads in unison, wearing identical gossip-hungry expressions.
Guangji could no longer maintain her aloof expression and could only shake her head helplessly.
"Don't ask about things you shouldn't!" She immediately turned her head away, the tips of her ears flushing scarlet.
That reaction only made the other elders unbearably curious.
Could there be a few more stories that simply had to be told?
At that moment, they desperately wished they could possess an Immortal Artifact like Lan Yue's, so they could freely investigate exactly what had happened.
They all sighed, filled with regret.
Guangji: "..."
What was wrong with these people? How had the whole atmosphere suddenly changed during her time in seclusion? Apart from Sixth Brother, hadn't they all been very serious before?
Guangji pressed her lips together, puzzled.
Now she suddenly wanted to know what else had happened while she was in seclusion.
In fact, she had only learned that her disciple had obtained an Immortal Artifact when she emerged from seclusion a few days earlier.
Along with her surprise, she had resolved to train this little disciple properly rather than let her lie around all day. Otherwise, if someone hunted her down in the future, she would not even know how to run.
That was why she had watched over Lan Yue's training for so many days. Guangji had practically worried herself sick over this little disciple.
Other people could at least use Sword Flight when fleeing. This girl could not even fly on a sword. Was she supposed to escape on a spirit tortoise?
She would probably be caught before she even got started!
*[Lan Yue: Here we go, here we go. Let me see just what kind of juicy gossip this is.*
Holy shit, so that missing disciple really was the Spirit Artifact Hall Master's nephew's fault!
To name names, everything was done by this person called Steel Egg!
*Outrageous! This guy is actually riding on someone else's name-my Er Dan's name!]*
Lan Yue angrily patted the spirit tortoise beside her, and the spirit tortoise waved all four claws, looking positively ferocious.
Before you continue