"I am Jiang Yue, a junior. Thank you for guarding me, Senior."
Luo Yue rose and bowed toward the sky in thanks.
She did not know who that person was, but they were definitely a mighty cultivator, and no weak one at that-at least a supreme mighty cultivator on par with the Jiang Family Holy Lord!
She ruled out Old Master Luo first, because the divine sense fluctuations just now had carried a scorching heat.
It was not that Old Master Luo lacked Holy Lord-level combat strength. Rather, Old Master Luo of the Luo Family was in truly dire condition. Not only did he have little time left, but his soul had also been eroded by curses and ominous forces.
And curses and ominous forces happened to be restrained by Luo Yue's Divine Body. She could sense them as soon as they drew near.
She guessed it was probably a Dao Protector the Jiang Family had assigned to her.
The person hidden in the shadows said nothing more, merely giving a faint grunt. Then that scorching divine sense vanished without a trace.
At the same time,
a scorching ancient scroll, bright red as phoenix blood, appeared out of thin air before Luo Yue.
"The Hengyu Scripture"!
Luo Yue stared, dumbstruck.
An Emperor Scripture had simply dropped right there, and it even seemed to be a complete version!
Th-this... who put an ancient scripture in my hands?
This sudden, sky-flooding windfall had struck her senseless!
Luo Yue's small hands tightly clutched the ancient scripture, which seemed cast from molten phoenix blood red gold and radiated an enduring, scorching aura. An incredulous delight flashed deep in her ice-blue eyes.
The Jiang Family's core Emperor Scripture had fallen into her hands just like that.
"Good gracious~"
Luo Yue sucked in a cold breath. Quick of eye and hand, she hurriedly tucked the ancient scripture into her sea of consciousness.
She was afraid it would be taken back if she delayed even a second.
This wasn't some case of honestly returning lost money. I picked it up fair and square. Whoever gives it back is a complete idiot.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Deep within the Cold Pool Cave in the mountains behind the Luo Residence, the withered figure sitting cross-legged beside the deep-blue cold pool seemed to sense something. His eyes, once weary and clouded but now sharp as a hawk's, snapped open.
His powerful divine sense pierced space like an invisible arrow, instantly locking onto the source of the divine sense fluctuations that had just dispersed, carrying the Hengyu Scripture's distinctive scorching aura.
"You certainly spared no expense. That complete Emperor Scripture you usually treasure so dearly-you just handed it over."
Old Master Luo's voice carried a trace of mockery and scorn, as though he were speaking to empty space.
Unfortunately, the other man ignored him entirely.
"Why put on that cold, aloof act?"
"That commotion just now—you stepped in to suppress the backlash from the Vision inside the little girl, didn't you?"
"What, afraid this precious darling you've only just acknowledged would perish at my place before she could shine?" Seeing that the other man remained hidden and silent, Old Master Luo sneered repeatedly and continued his taunts:
"You certainly were quick to protect your calf."
"Where's that cold indifference you showed my Yue'er when you changed her surname? Now you've learned to sneak around as her Dao Protector."
"You couldn't be bothered when little Yue was born. Now that you know she has a Divine Body, you've finally realized you should make amends."
"No wonder those brothers, Jiang Zhe and Jiang Yi, rebelled against the Jiang Family back then."
The old master's words bombarded the other man like a barrage of cannon fire, every syllable laden with contempt and ridicule for the Jiang Family's conduct.
Perhaps the other man finally could not endure the old master's incessant mockery and taunts.
A scorching divine sense rippled outward!
"Old bastard, you're already a spent arrow, yet your mouth still stinks!" The voice remained cold, but now it carried a trace of anger born of humiliation.
"Oh my, getting worked up! Haha!"
Old Master Luo burst out laughing.
"Did I hit the Jiang Family where it hurts? Which word I said wasn't true?"
"If those snobs in your Jiang Family hadn't meddled and made things difficult at every turn, how would Qing Peng and Xiao Qing'er have died so young!"
"Honestly! With that rotten business your Jiang Family pulled back then, and the foul behavior of those aristocratic brats now, I really worry Yue'er will be bullied if she goes to your place!"
"The Jiang Family today is nothing but a pack of rats!"
Old Master Luo kept running his mouth, firing off one barb after another.
He had thoroughly enjoyed his tirade, but the other man in hiding was itching to plant a great big foot in his face.
"Come out! Fight me outside the city!"
The man in hiding spoke through gritted teeth.
"Not going! You turtle-spawned bastard, trying to take advantage of these curses on me to finish me off? Not going, not going!"
"If you've got the ability, kill me right now!"
Old Master Luo shook his head like a pellet drum.
He looked every inch a brazen, shameless rogue. It was hard to imagine that this was a mighty cultivator at the Holy Lord level.
"Kill me if you've got the guts! I don't have much time left anyway. Worst comes to worst, we'll take that final road together and settle our old grudges!" Old Master Luo kept firing away.
"You motherfucker!"
Faced with his utterly obnoxious tone, the man in hiding finally could not help swearing.
"You swore! You're mad!! Jiang Yun, you're mad! After all these years, you finally let it out! Hahaha!" Old Master Luo laughed heartily and without restraint.
It seemed he had not laughed so freely in a very long time.
"You lunatic! Are you trying to force me to kill you?"
The man in hiding was furious.
Yet he did not truly dare to attack here. He knew perfectly well that unless he wanted jade and stone to burn together, picking a fight with a dying man was utterly irrational.
He simply shut off all six senses, remaining unmoved no matter how Old Master Luo cursed and humiliated him.
He really was afraid that a moment's loss of restraint would end with them both dying.
He was just like Luo Yue back when she muted voice chat while gaming...
"Heh heh~"
The other man had sealed his six senses and raised the white flag of retreat. Old Master Luo stopped his endless mockery and taunts, merely smacking his lips, still not quite satisfied.
At least he had vented another mouthful of resentment before dying.
Elsewhere.
Naturally, Luo Yue knew nothing of this, utterly unaware that two Holy Lord level old monsters had almost come to blows over some decades-old grudges.
After learning her lesson, she was noticeably better behaved and no longer dared to cultivate recklessly.
She planned to perfect her [Life Spring] before considering her next step.
By then, the night was deep.
After all that trouble, Luo Yue felt none of the vigor that should have followed a breakthrough. She only felt exhausted in body and mind, and fell flat onto her bed to sleep.
Only just now-
the Hengyu Scripture she had obtained, she had not even had time to examine closely.
Strangely enough, despite all the commotion in her courtyard and the enormous disturbance from her Divine Body opening its Bitter Sea, no one had noticed. Presumably, the person in hiding had concealed it all.
The night passed without further incident.
"Little Yue, little Yue~"
In the middle of the night, Luo Yue suddenly heard someone softly calling her in the darkness.
It roused her from her drowsy sleep.
Turning to look, she saw a woman with disheveled hair outside the window, craning her neck to peer inside.
Luo Yue jolted in fright on the spot. In the dead of night-a ghost!
"It's me, your aunt. Shh~"
Seeing how startled she was, Luo Qingluan got a fright herself. She hastily climbed inside and gestured for her to keep quiet.
Once she saw the woman's face clearly, Luo Yue could not help rolling her eyes and speaking with some irritation.
She really had scared her half to death.
What kind of aunt stayed up in the middle of the night to come lurking at her niece's window?