The disciples guarding the gate all lowered their heads, suppressing their laughter. Everyone knew that this peak master, a once-in-a-generation genius who had formed her Nascent Soul before the age of two hundred, had just returned from her travels to learn that her own disciple had nearly died. Her fury was enough to make anyone who saw her tremble.
Before Ye Lingtian could bow, Xie Ningshuang raised a hand and flicked him on the forehead. "You brat, do you think having Nascent Soul Stage divine sense makes you invincible among Golden Core cultivators?"
"When you were risking your life against a Nascent Soul demon saint, why didn't you remember you were a true disciple of Sword-Seeking Peak? I've been away from the sect for over ten years with no one to keep you in line, and now you dare run this wild?"
As she spoke, she caught sight of the lingering poison injury on Su Mingyue's shoulder. She casually handed her two pearly white bottles of supreme-grade healing pills, and her expression softened somewhat.
"The disciple that old stick-in-the-mud Yan Song taught has some backbone after all. You haven't disgraced the Primordial Sect's name."
The two were just about to thank her when they saw Daoist Qingxu stroll out, followed by Yan Song-Su Mingyue's master-with a face as black as charcoal.
Yan Song also raised a hand and smacked his disciple on the forehead, scolding her fiercely. "If you ever dare throw your life away for someone else again, I'll send you to the back mountain to tend medicinal fields for three hundred years!"
Yet he quietly slipped her a brand-new celestial silkworm silk dharma robe, glowing with a soft light. Its stitches were fine and close, and he had clearly prepared it especially for his disciple in advance.
On this side of the sky screen, everyone on the Douluo Continent watched with envy written all over their faces. Ning Fengzhi could not help sighing. "The bond between masters and disciples in the Primordial Sect is what a sect should truly be like. Unlike our side, where masters and disciples are either scheming against each other or eyeing each other with suspicion."
Yu Xiaogang was just about to jump in and sourly accuse the Primordial Sect of favoritism, rewarding disciples instead of punishing them for causing trouble, when Gu Rong slammed his teacup onto the ground and glared at him, making him shrink back.
"What the hell do you know? When Baihuaxiang was about to attack, you wanted us to hand Tang San over. So because he wasn't your own disciple, someone else's life didn't count, is that it?"
"If I were a peak master, I'd protect a disciple willing to risk their life for a fellow disciple too. That's better than some old bastard with nothing but self-interest in his head!"
Those words left Yu Xiaogang's face the color of pig liver, unable to squeeze out so much as half a word.
The group entered the sect master's hall. Daoist Qingxu tossed Ye Lingtian the record of their merits and tapped the words on it with a fingertip.
"This was an accident, so we won't hold it against you. Instead, you each have a share of the credit for restraining Baihuaxiang. Go to the sect treasury and choose three treasures apiece."
"After this battle, the sect won't assign you any more tasks. Focus on breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage."
"Thank you, Sect Master." Ye Lingtian and Su Mingyue exchanged a glance, then hurriedly bowed.
After a pause, Ye Lingtian told the sect master what he had discovered earlier.
Daoist Qingxu stroked his chin and nodded. "I know a little about the uses of a half-demon body."
"If I'm not mistaken, Huaxiang wants to use the half-demon body to cultivate anew. Her origin was merely a rare flower in the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, nothing compared to those ancient exotic beasts."
"Although she held a territory of her own in the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons, she was still oppressed by the other tribes, so she had no choice but to seek Demon Venerable Wanhai's protection."
"The half-demon body was probably an idea she came up with on the spur of the moment as well. Demon Venerable Wanhai has wives and concubines in droves, so he won't be much help to her."
"Although she'll have to cultivate anew in a half-demon body, once she returns to the Nascent Soul Stage, the speed of her breakthroughs will increase greatly."
"Since this half-demon body is so important to him, why don't we issue a wanted notice now and have the disciples search for him?" Su Mingyue asked hurriedly.
After learning how important Tang San was, Su Mingyue was somewhat worried that a formidable enemy might appear in the future.
However, everyone who heard her looked at Su Mingyue strangely.
"Wh-what is it?" Su Mingyue hesitated at the sight. Was there something wrong with what she had said?
"Senior Sister Su, leaving aside the time it takes to cultivate anew, given Baihuaxiang's nature, wouldn't she run straight back to the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons after the Body Possession? What need is there for a wanted notice?" Ye Lingtian explained helplessly.
Only then did Su Mingyue realize it, and her pretty face reddened.
"All right," Daoist Qingxu said. "Leave Baihuaxiang's matter alone for now. Return to your respective peaks and recuperate. It won't be too late to deal with it after you've broken through."
At this, Daoist Qingxu deliberately glanced at Ye Lingtian, a hint of exasperation in his eyes.
With that, Daoist Qingxu turned and left. What followed was between the two pairs of masters and disciples; he was off to slack.
After Daoist Qingxu left, Ye Lingtian let out a long sigh and glanced toward Su Mingyue.
But she could barely look after herself at the moment. After giving him a look that said she was powerless to help, she followed Yan Song out with a long face.
As they left, Yan Song was still berating her, but his divine sense never withdrew. Clearly, he was afraid Su Mingyue might have some hidden injury.
Law Enforcement Peak had finally produced a heaven's chosen. If she suffered a severe injury that kept her from advancing to the Nascent Soul Stage, he would have nowhere to go to weep.
If anything really happened to Su Mingyue, he would risk this old life of his to grind the flower demon tribe's bones to dust.
With that, Ye Lingtian turned awkwardly toward Xie Ningshuang.
"Master..."
"Let's return to the peak first." Xie Ningshuang was brief and to the point. With that, she turned and headed toward Sword-Seeking Peak, deliberately refraining from riding her sword for Qian Renxue's sake.
Ye Lingtian and Qian Renxue hurried after her.
"Young Master, you weren't injured, were you?" Qian Renxue glanced toward Xie Ningshuang and asked quietly.
"I made sure to set aside plenty of pills beforehand, so I wasn't badly hurt. A spell of recovery in the spirit spring afterward will be enough." Ye Lingtian shook his head.
His words finally put Qian Renxue completely at ease.
The group walked along the flagstone path toward Sword-Seeking Peak. Xie Ningshuang did not say a word along the way. Usually, that meant Ye Lingtian was in for a rough time later.
Ye Lingtian swallowed silently, hoping that Xie Ningshuang would remember he was still injured and go easy on him later.
Not until they reached the entrance to Sword-Seeking Peak did Xie Ningshuang finally lose the stern expression she had worn the whole way. She burst out laughing and reached back to pull a storage pouch from her own.
Ye Lingtian accepted the storage pouch with a bewildered look. Then he heard Xie Ningshuang say, "Why keep pretending? Did you really think I could bear to punish you?"
"This is gold essence I found in a secret realm in the northern desert. Use it to nourish your Clear Profound Sword, so the next time you risk your life fighting someone, your sword won't give out and shatter first."
At those words, Ye Lingtian fell silent. Seeing this, Xie Ningshuang could not help frowning. That was not an expression she would expect to see on his face.
"What's wrong?"
Ye Lingtian silently took the broken Clear Profound Sword out of his storage pouch. His meaning was clear.
Qian Renxue and Xie Ningshuang could not help frowning at the sight.
"It broke?" With a casual gesture from Xie Ningshuang, the broken sword flew into her hand. Sensing that the Clear Profound Sword had lost all its spirituality, she froze.
Once a dharma treasure lost its spirituality, it was very difficult to repair, no matter how good its materials were. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator could not fully restore a ruined artifact unless it was reforged.