A Disciple Who Defied His Master and Betrayed His Lineage

Inside Phoenix-Luan Palace, a woman in gold-thread-embroidered underclothes received an urgent dispatch from the Directorate of Celestial Observations. Her delicate brows knitted tightly, and she summoned the palace maids to dress her in everyday robes.

The Nameless Old Matron hurried through the palace and went straight into Empress An's bedchamber. By then, the palace maids had already finished dressing the empress.

"Have you heard everything, Matron?"

Empress An asked.

"Your Majesty, many places in the capital have fallen into chaos. Fortunately, the Directorate of Celestial Observations discovered it in time, and quite a few qi refiners have already gone out to clear the streets and alleys."

The Nameless Old Matron gave her report.

"Why has Demon-Quelling Day come early... It always fell on the thirtieth day of the tenth month in previous years."

Empress An murmured to herself:

"And it came so suddenly. No one noticed anything beforehand."

The Nameless Old Matron immediately asked:

"Your Majesty means... there is more to this?"

Empress An smiled.

"Anyone would be suspicious. Not only must the Directorate of Celestial Observations investigate this, but both the Eastern and Western Depots must be sent to investigate as well. Attendants, draft a decree. Afterward, we will leave for the Directorate of Celestial Observations."

Chen Yi sprinted beneath the night sky.

His fight with Huang Liuqing had taken roughly half an incense stick's worth of time.

That half an incense stick had been enough for Min Ning to take Yin Weiying a sufficient distance away.

Though Huang Liuqing possessed saber skills, his movement techniques were unrefined, and his lightness skills were mediocre. Had Chen Yi exerted himself, he could have escaped right from the start. He had only fought him to buy time for Min Ning and Yin Weiying.

That time had been enough for the two women to flee to the vicinity of Donghua Gate. Prince Jing's Manor would not dare kill anyone outside Donghua Gate.

They had chosen to send men to ambush and kill him on Demon-Quelling Day precisely because they wanted him to die amid the chaos without anyone knowing how, concealing the truth of their murder.

But if they killed someone outside Donghua Gate, the Nameless Old Matron in the imperial palace was not so old that she had gone blind. The Directorate of Celestial Observations could also sense the aura of a fifth-rank expert and would know that Prince Jing's Manor was responsible.

"Where would they go? The Eastern Depot or the Western Depot?"

Chen Yi thought as he sprinted.

After considering it carefully, he decided Min Ning would take her to the Western Depot.

The Eastern Depot still had members of the Ding'an faction, but the Western Depot had almost none. The reason was simple: the Western Depot had been established personally by the empress dowager within the past three years.

When he reached the Western Depot, the guard on duty immediately opened the door for him. Chen Yi stepped inside and reached the main hall, where he saw Min Ning standing ready for battle with her saber pointed downward, while Yin Weiying sat on a cushion, meditating with her hands forming a seal.

"You're hurt?"

Min Ning saw the blood on the web of his hand.

"A minor injury. Any trouble on the way?"

Min Ning shook her head.

"No. It's close to the imperial city. There weren't many demons or ghosts."

Chen Yi nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Yin Weiying.

Yin Weiying raised her face, released her hand seal, and looked at Chen Yi.

"So you didn't die."

Though her voice was ethereal, beneath its unruffled calm lay a measure of loathing, as though she were asking why he had not died.

Chen Yi immediately grinned cheekily.

"I had to stay alive to become your dao companion, Immortal Lady."

At the humiliation of having been deceived, Yin Weiying's composure instantly broke. She lowered her voice.

"Do you realize you've once again committed the offense of disrespecting a Daoist?"

Instead of answering, Chen Yi mocked her.

"So you don't want to become my dao companion, Immortal Lady?"

Yin Weiying was about to curse him, but after some thought, she collected herself and said coldly:

"You are not the Golden Lad. In Mount Taihua's Daoist lineage, the Golden Lad is paired with the Jade Maiden, and the Jade Maiden with the Golden Lad."

After speaking, she lifted her eyes slightly and glanced at Min Ning.

Min Ning frowned and was about to walk away.

Chen Yi considered for a moment, then reached out, wrapped an arm around Min Ning's waist, and pulled her over.

"Immortal Lady, she's mine."

After saying that, Chen Yi even gave Min Ning's well-trained waist and abdomen a firm squeeze.

They were truly springy. When he squeezed, the defined lines of her abdomen instantly tightened.

Min Ning's face flushed scarlet. Her fists tightened a little, and her shoulders trembled slightly, but she endured it.

"What?!"

At the sight, Yin Weiying's pupils shook violently, and unconcealable horror filled her face.

Chen Yi leaned forward and smiled.

"Still don't understand? The Golden Lad dao companion in your prophecy has long since been mine."

Yin Weiying's delicate voice instantly turned angry. More than shock at such an outrageous affront to convention, she felt the humiliation of having her dao companion forcibly stolen.

[Negative emotions: 80]

On the panel, Chen Yi saw that his True Qi had increased by another three years.

A hundred and fifty years of True Qi was enough to condense five units of True Essence. Now he only needed to wait for the little fox to recover.

Yin Weiying nearly ground her teeth to pieces. She forced herself to swallow her fury, abruptly stood up, and made to storm out of the Western Depot into the night.

Chen Yi raised his saber slightly. Yin Weiying walked straight into its spine, making her chest sway. Even through the saber, he could feel that handful of softness.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Yin Weiying turned her head and demanded icily.

"Your princely father wants to kill me, and I've been injured. As his child, you ought to offer some compensation."

Chen Yi spoke unhurriedly.

"I told you, I have nothing to do with this."

Yin Weiying said gravely.

"What you said doesn't matter. If I think you're involved, then you're involved."

Chen Yi said.

Yin Weiying's expression grew colder still. Seeing the gleaming blade, she realized she would have to hand something over. Suppressing her anger, she said:

"I only have an alchemy manual that I carry with me. Do you want it or not?"

An alchemy manual. After a moment's thought, Chen Yi's eyes lit up.

With an alchemy manual, he could refine pills himself to nourish his body and temper his sinews and bones. Previously, he had only obtained an alchemy manual after reaching Shangqing Dao.

"Hand it over."

As his words reached her ears, Yin Weiying drew a book from inside her Daoist robe. Chen Yi took it and saw its yellowed pages and chipped corners, knowing she must have leafed through it many times.

"Purple Medicine Pill Compendium."

Chen Yi opened the book. After he read a few passages, a new cultivation art appeared on the panel.

"Go on. Want me to escort you back?"

Chen Yi asked.

"Prince Jing's Manor isn't far from here."

Yin Weiying refused coldly.

"A word of advice: do your best to stop your father."

Chen Yi said softly.

Yin Weiying gave no reply and walked straight out of the Western Depot's main hall.

Once the white-robed Daoist woman's figure had disappeared from the Western Depot, Min Ning quickly pushed away the arm Chen Yi had wrapped around her waist.

She turned toward him, embarrassed and angry.

"Do that again, and I'll chop off any hand or foot you put on me."

Chen Yi gave a sinister smile.

"You can't stop me."

Min Ning shivered and glanced at Chen Yi apprehensively, then said quietly:

"Give... give me some time, so I can accept you..."

Chen Yi looked at her for a while, then gave a hum of assent.

Min Ning let out a breath of relief. Looking at the wound on his hand, she took some wound medicine from beside her belt and placed it in his hand. Rather than concern, it was more an attempt to please him of her own accord.

Chen Yi did not tease her further. He scooped out some ointment and spread it over the split web of his hand.

As he applied the ointment, he heard Min Ning suddenly say:

"You can't beat that man, can you?"

"I can't. Huang Liuqing of the White Willow Sect, at least a fifth-rank martial artist. Why? Do you want him to kill me?"

Chen Yi asked with a smile.

"I'm not that sort of person. Besides, you've done me a kindness."

Min Ning added inwardly, If I wanted you dead, I'd kill you myself. Then she took a deep breath and said:

"I have a saber move. I only just comprehended it."

Chen Yi gave her a curious glance and asked:

"You want to teach it to me so I can fight my enemies?"

"Yes. You can't die. I... I need you."

Min Ning's voice was very soft toward the end, but Chen Yi still heard her.

"What do you need me for?"

"To investigate my grandfather's death together."

Min Ning turned her face toward the outside of the hall.

"My father often suspects there was more to it. My grandfather shouldn't have had to die in the Chancellor Case. I have no friends in the Eastern Depot. You're the only one I could call... fairly close."

Chen Yi nodded.

"All right."

Min Ning turned back, considered for a while, then spoke:

"By the rules of the martial world, if you learn it, you'll count as my True Disciple, and I'll be your master from now on. We can dispense with kneeling and kowtowing, but from now on, we must address each other as master and disciple in private."

Chen Yi raised his eyes and carefully studied her face.

Min Ning shuddered, her heart pounding. She did not know whether Chen Yi had seen through what she was thinking.

Between master and disciple, one had to observe "Heaven, Earth, sovereign, parents, and teacher," and honor loyalty and filial piety. Once she became his master, she could use that to sever Chen Yi's desires and cut off this ill-fated bond.

"You're trying to use moral principles to stop me?"

Chen Yi asked mockingly.

Min Ning realized he had seen through her. Her ears burned, and after a moment's hesitation, she nodded.

"Do you think that can stop me?"

Chen Yi asked in amusement.

At first, Min Ning thought little of his words, but then she froze in surprise.

That was right. He did not care about moral principles or worldly judgment in the first place. Otherwise, he would never have treated her...

Chen Yi swung his saber and casually stretched his limbs. Min Ning's words had reminded him of his previous life.

Then Chen Yi spoke:

"Moon Pond, I won't take you as my master. It's not because of any moral principles. I don't care about those."

Min Ning stared at him and asked in momentary confusion:

"Then why?"

"Because I have only one master... Zhou Yitang."

"The Yinjian Mountain Sword Armor?! But you... why aren't you on Yinjian Mountain?"

Remembering the past, Chen Yi lowered his eyes and sighed.

"Because I often defied my master... and I was a disciple who defied his master and betrayed his lineage."