Enduring humiliation for three years, seizing the elixir, the treasure, and the holy maiden.

Su Chen nodded.

"become."

"The specifics will be discussed later by someone from Luoyan City."

He stood up and shook his sleeves.

He didn't touch a single one of those peaches.

"It is inconvenient for me to stay any longer."

"Now that we're returning to Xuanhuang, we must get back to Luoyan City as soon as possible."

Li Huaizong quickly got up as well.

"Are you leaving already, senior?"

"Um."

Li Huaizong cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, then suddenly remembered something important.

"Then... my sect's Holy Maiden is now a disciple of you, senior..."

"My disciple."

Su Chen interrupted him.

"Of course she cannot be considered a saintess of your sect."

Li Huaizong's face paled slightly.

"She is now my disciple, and a resident of Luoyan City."

Su Chen glanced at Ying Ning'er.

"However, I will leave her here for the time being."

"He can be considered an envoy dispatched by this Lord of Luoyan City to Baoguang Pavilion."

"From now on, in all matters concerning the appraisal of treasures in your sect, her words shall be my words."

Li Huaizong bent his waist even lower than when he had greeted the emperor earlier.

"This junior obeys."

Ying Ning'er raised her head.

The girl took half a step forward, her hand twisting slightly inside her sleeve.

"Master."

"Let Ning'er be as you wish..."

Before she could finish speaking, she lowered her voice.

Su Chen looked at her.

Su Chen understood what the girl was thinking.

That trip to the black market, that Nascent Soul soft armor, and the half-pool of spiritual energy I survived from Meng Yuan.

Further ahead lies the Heaven-Mending Pill.

Further ahead was the maid on the top floor of Qinghuan Pavilion, who had been given aphrodisiacs and had slave markings carved on her.

From these scenes, Su Chen could somewhat sense the girl's feelings for him.

Su Chen has had quite a few people around him over the years.

Furthermore, several of her Daoist partners could not grant her any official status.

This girl knows her place very well.

Only when things are clearly laid out will people be less willing to stray far away.

"I still need to make arrangements in Luoyan City."

Su Chen put his hands behind his back.

"I'll come pick you up after you're settled in."

"You have just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, and your primordial spirit is as weak as paper."

"Staying here is a clean place, and the people are familiar with it."

"First, solidify the foundation for my early Nascent Soul stage."

Ying Ning'er lowered her head.

"Disciple will obey Master."

Li Huaizong stood to the side, his old eyes darting around twice.

The old fox's lifelong skills are all contained in this one sentence.

"My lord!"

He turned around and bowed to Ying Ning'er.

"Your Excellency, please remain in our sect. We will take care of all your needs..."

"metropolitan."

Ying Ning'er frowned slightly.

"Don't call me that."

"The sect leader has treated Ning'er well since she was a child."

"Ning'er came to the mountain at the age of seven. The first batch of Warm Spirit Pills issued that year was taken from the sect leader's own share."

Ning'er can't stand hearing the words "Your Excellency the Envoy".

Li Huaizong's hand froze in mid-air.

"This...this is unacceptable."

"Now, you are stationed in Luoyan City..."

"What are your names?"

Su Chen took over the conversation.

"I will not interfere."

Li Huaizong's hand finally came down.

He wiped his forehead and smiled more naturally than before.

"Then... Ying Ning'er."

"Then you should move to live on the main peak."

"The spiritual energy in that quiet room behind the main peak is 30% richer than in your original place."

"Your teacher... cough."

Li Huaizong swallowed half of the word "teacher" back.

"I'll get it ready for you."

...

At this time of day, Dan Market in Luoyan City is at its busiest.

At the entrance of the alchemy shop at the end of the street, there were twenty or thirty cultivators gathered.

Several rows of shelves were kicked over, and porcelain bottles were shattered all over the ground.

Hundreds of pills rolled out.

"Manager Wang."

A young monk stood on the steps.

He wore a reddish-brown brocade robe, with seven or eight items hanging from his waist, making a clattering sound with every step he took.

He held a folding fan in his hand, waving it slowly and deliberately.

"Our Taiyan Sect has a considerable foundation in the Xuanhuang Continent."

"A top-tier sect, with two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators presiding over it."

"I am the sect leader's only son."

He pointed the folding fan at himself.

"Why don't you tell me?"

"In what way am I unworthy of you?"

Inside the threshold of the alchemy workshop stood a female cultivator.

He wore a plain white Taoist robe, with the cuffs rolled up half an inch, revealing a wrist so thin it looked as if it would break at the slightest touch.

The belt around her waist was tied very tightly, creating an arc that accentuated the curves of her body.

That face was so cold and aloof, devoid of any warmth.

Among the onlookers, several cultivators had their eyes glued to her, unable to look away.

Wang Mei held the sword horizontally in front of her.

"I've said what you said three times already, young master."

Her voice was not loud.

"I am here, waiting for my master."

"Apart from my master, I will not seek a Daoist companion in this life."

"Please return, young master."

The folding fan stopped.

"Owner."

The young cultivator chuckled.

"hehe."

"Manager Wang."

"What do you mean by 'master' or 'owner'?"

"Call him here."

He waved his folding fan across the street.

"Since he's here, I'll naturally let him witness the majesty of my Taiyan Sect."

"Didn't you disagree?"

That smile instantly turned cold.

"He's clearly a rogue cultivator."

"A rogue cultivator who doesn't even belong to a sect."

"What right do you have to refuse me?"

Among the crowd of onlookers, someone was whispering among themselves.

"This is the fate of rogue cultivators."

"So what if you've reached the Nascent Soul stage?"

"If you have no backing, people will come and smash your shop, and you won't even have a place to cry out for justice."

"What a pity."

"Looking like this, he's probably going to be taken away by these guys today."

"That young master of the Taiyan Sect kidnapped a Nascent Soul female cultivator in the West Market two years ago."

"Three months later, the female cultivator was found in a mass grave outside the city."

"Shhh."

"Stop talking."

"Be careful not to let someone hear."

No one took a step forward.

On the steps, the young monk closed the folding fan.

"Since Manager Wang is so ungrateful..."

"Then I'll have to use some methods."

He stepped back.

Four figures walked up the steps behind him.

All four were at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

"Please come back to the clan with me, Manager Wang, so we can talk at length."

He tucked the folding fan into his waistband.

"rest assured."

"I know best how to cherish and pity a beautiful woman."

Four beams of light rose up simultaneously.

Wang Mei flicked her sword upwards.

The barrier at the entrance of the alchemy workshop was dispelled with a hiss as four streams of spiritual energy squeezed it from four directions.

It was scattered cleanly, even the spirit stones protecting the formation were blasted into powder.

Wang Mei's figure disappeared through the door.

A beam of white light shot straight up into the sky above Luoyan City.

Four beams of light followed and chased after it.

"Above!"

"A battle of wits!"

The twenty or thirty people on the street all looked up.

...

The battle above Luoyan City was extremely ugly.

Four initial stages of Nascent Soul, four attributes.

The metal element flung out a net of blades, pressing down from above.

The earth element erected three stone walls in the void, driving Wang Mei towards the center.

Water and fire came up from the left and right respectively.

Wang Mei's swordsmanship is extremely fierce.

With a single sword stroke, he cleaved through the net of blades, slipped through the opening, and the sword energy swept backward, slicing off half of the stone wall.

But she couldn't control four of them.

The spiritual power of someone in the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm is only enough to support one direction.

On the thirtieth move, the fire-attribute spiritual flame clung to her back.

The plain white Taoist robe was burned open from the shoulder down, revealing a back that was dazzlingly white.

...