Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

Upon seeing Hei Yu, Lu Yingqiu was stunned. Her petite body immediately knelt down, her face stern, and she gave a respectful shout in a slightly childish voice.

"Disciple Lu Yingqiu greets Martial Uncle Ye!"

After speaking, Lu Yingqiu, still with a stern face, directly pinned Ning Xuchen to the ground with his hands behind his back, and then the two of them kowtowed to the silver-haired woman in front of them.

Upon hearing the title "Uncle-Master," Ye Yuchan was so delighted that the ahoge (a stray hair on her head) almost stood up.

Her face was beaming with joy, and she quickly stepped forward to help the two of them up, saying with a smile:

"Alright, alright, don't be so serious. We people from Yuntian Academy don't really care about etiquette."

—Apart from a certain cherry-haired female swordswoman.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yingqiu pulled Ning Xuchen, whose head was almost throbbing from the banging, to his feet, and then bowed respectfully to Ye Yuchan, her face filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Uncle Ye, why have you come here? Are you looking for Master and Uncle Lin?"

Uncle Lin—clearly referring to Lin Yuan.

Ye Yuchan nodded slightly in acknowledgment, and then asked, "Do you know where they went?"

"I don't know... but Chen'er and I both came from the Extreme Heaven Domain. If nothing unexpected happens, Master and Uncle should still be in the Extreme Heaven Domain."

The Extreme Heaven Domain...

Ye Yuchan recalled that when Yun Ping tasted the blood to identify the information, he seemed to have mentioned that Jiang Yuetian had a trace in the Extreme Heaven Domain.

Therefore, it seems highly likely that Jiang Yuetian is still with Lin Yuan in the Extreme Heaven Domain at this moment.

Just as Ye Yuchan was still pondering, Lu Yingqiu turned her attention to Yunping.

She frowned, as if she found it a little strange.

A maturity beyond her years appeared on her youthful face. She turned to the side, her expression slightly serious, and asked Ye Yuchan solemnly, "Speaking of which, Uncle-Master Ye, who is this...?"

"he……"

Ye Yuchan glanced at Yun Ping, only to see that the old rogue was standing with his arms crossed, his face full of confidence, as if he was looking forward to the scene of his grand-disciple bowing to him.

Seeing his smug look, Ye Yuchan had nothing to say, and instead asked Lu Yingqiu, "Did your master ever tell you what kind of person your grandmaster was?"

"This..." Lu Yingqiu was startled, then carefully examined Yunping for a while. "Master didn't say that, but Uncle Lin said... Grandmaster is a gentleman, elegant and dashing, with an otherworldly temperament. He roams the three heavenly domains, is unparalleled in his elegance, and is proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and is omnipotent."

After saying that, he looked at Yunping again, and then blinked blankly.

"So, Uncle Ye, why are you asking this? What does it have to do with this gentleman's identity?"

……

Yunping lost his balance and almost stumbled and fell.

Lu Yingqiu's meaning was very clear—the Yunping who appeared in front of her now was not even a hair's breadth away from the grandmaster that Uncle Lin Yuan had mentioned.

Ye Yuchan suppressed a laugh, glanced at the old rogue whose expression was full of helplessness, and then waved her hand: "It's nothing, it's nothing, I was just asking."

"As for him..."

As she spoke, Ye Yuchan gave Yunping a smiling look, meaning that Yunping should talk to Lu Yingqiu himself.

The old rogue shrugged, glanced at Ning Xuchen, whose expression was extremely complicated, and Ye Yuchan, who was suppressing a laugh, and sighed.

He pointed at Ye Yuchan and said irritably, "I'm his little brother, to put it bluntly, just a follower. You don't need to care about me."

"...I see."

Lu Yingqiu nodded, and couldn't help but mutter, "It does look quite similar."

*Pfft*

Ye Yuchan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

She coughed twice quickly, and then, under Yun Ping's deadpan gaze, slowly straightened her expression.

"So, what brings you to this Broken Wood City?"

If it weren't for something important, Ye Yuchan wouldn't believe that anyone would cross the Heavenly Realm to come to this godforsaken place, Broken Wood City, for no reason.

Lu Yingqiu's next words made Yun Ping and Ye Yuchan tense up.

Upon hearing Ye Yuchan's question, she didn't try to hide anything and immediately explained the reason.

"Actually, it's because Master and Uncle-Master had important matters to attend to and couldn't leave, so they sent us down to investigate some information. We were originally supposed to go back seven days ago."

"But there were too many wounded here... so I wanted to stay and heal them. Who would have thought... while I was gathering herbs, a demon general named Wang Xiaomo suddenly appeared and severely injured me..."

As she spoke, she clutched her abdomen—the spot where the corpse poison had been applied.

Ye Yuchan's eyebrows furrowed as she realized the key point in her words.

"Intelligence? What intelligence?"

"Information from my martial uncle..."

"Uncle-Master?"

"Yes."

Lu Yingqiu nodded and said:

“Junior Aunt Zhang Ruoxue... seems to be near Broken Wood City.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The update was originally scheduled for 3:30 AM on the 20th, but it's been released early.

I want to get over 3000 monthly votes... (Please!)

6. Background and Development

Let's rewind to seven days ago.

Shattered Wood City remains Shattered Wood City, and the Demon Dynasty remains the Demon Dynasty.

Located on the border of the Lantian Empire, Broken Wood City is constantly in a state of unknown crisis. No one knows when the bloodthirsty and brutal demons or demonic cultivators of the Demon Dynasty will arrive.

Maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow... or maybe today.

"There were too many wounded five days ago."

Lu Yingqiu took a deep breath, her young face filled with the solemnity and gravity of an old man. She gently tapped the bamboo slip in front of her—it was a message from the city lord's mansion.

Five days ago, the Demon Dynasty launched an attack on the city walls surrounding Broken Wood City. To ensure that the walls would not be breached, the city lord's mansion dispatched a large number of guards and even requested assistance from Sansang City, a hundred miles away, from which a few elite cultivators were obtained as combat support.

Even so, Broken Wood City still could not withstand the attack of the Demon Dynasty.

In particular, the hundreds and thousands of Blood Spirits, whose destructive power was comparable to that of a cultivator at the Kaiyuan Realm, were a catastrophic threat to Broken Wood City. It was only after the arrival of reinforcements from Three Mulberry Cities that the Demon Dynasty's offensive was forced back at an extremely heavy cost.

This is why the number of injured people facing Lu Yingqiu now is such a terrifying figure.

There are very few doctors in Broken Wood City. Most of them can only treat superficial injuries and minor illnesses. As for demonic energy, the only ones in Broken Wood City who are capable of healing demonic injuries are probably Lu Yingqiu and her apprentice Ning Xuchen.

However, Lu Yingqiu was overwhelmed with other matters, and the medicinal herbs were also running low. If this continued, more than 70% of the wounded in Broken Wood City would be eroded and die from demonic energy.

Thinking of this, Lu Yingqiu couldn't help but feel irritated and started biting her nails. She squatted on a stool in the room, staring intently at the bamboo slip from the city lord's mansion in front of her.

Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Lu Yingqiu put away the bamboo slips in front of her and then stood up.

At that moment, Ning Xuchen pushed open the door and entered. As soon as he entered, he saw Lu Yingqiu, who was about to leave.

"Master? Where are you going?"

"Go gather herbs." Lu Yingqiu glanced at the herbs Ning Xuchen was holding, said nothing, and strode out: "You stay here to take care of the wounded. I'll be right back."

"Gathering herbs...?"

Ning Xuchen was taken aback and quickly shouted loudly behind Lu Yingqiu, "Master, this area within a hundred miles is a dead land. Once you leave Broken Wood City, you'll be in the territory of the Demon Dynasty. Where are you going to gather herbs?"

"Don't worry about that, just focus on taking care of the wounded."

After leaving those words, Lu Yingqiu ignored Ning Xuchen's advice and walked out of the alley.

"master……"

Watching Lu Yingqiu's departing figure, Ning Xuchen suddenly felt a series of inexplicable and ominous premonitions. He wanted to chase after her, but stopped because of his master's words.

There are still patients to take care of...

Thinking of this, he hesitated for a few moments, then sighed and went inside to fetch medicine for the injured person he had just been caring for.

In fact, there was no need for him and Lu Yingqiu to stay here.

Their purpose in coming here from the Extreme Heaven Domain was simply to gather information about their martial uncle. Once they made any discoveries, they were to immediately return to the Extreme Heaven Domain—this was what Ning Xuchen's grandmaster, Jiang Yuetian, had personally instructed them to do.

Jiang Yuetian also knew that the Desolate Heaven Domain was full of dangers at this time, and the longer he stayed, the more likely something bad would happen.

Even so, Lu Yingqiu and Ning Xuchen still stayed.

They couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Seeing the lifeless atmosphere of Broken Wood City, the wounded struggling to walk by the roadside, the sword cultivator whose chest was pierced by demonic energy and who was weeping uncontrollably, and the people who knew they were doomed and cried as they left their last words to their loved ones and family...

They didn't have the cold heart to stand by and watch someone die, so they stayed.

Because they are doctors, nothing more.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Inside Sansang City.

Located about a hundred miles from the imperial border, Sansang City enjoys a much better geographical location.

There's no need to worry about being harmed by the Demon Dynasty. Its prosperity is almost the same as before. Compared to the deserted streets of Broken Wood City, the commercial streets of Sansang City are full of people coming and going, laughing and playing.

The restaurant was open as always, and the aroma of wine wafted from the tables in front of the private rooms on the second floor.

The city lord's mansion was decorated with unparalleled luxury. From a distance, it looked like a nobleman dressed in gold and silver, resplendent in gold and jade. Just one glance was enough to make one feel its extravagance and magnificence. There were no guards in front of the city lord's mansion—because they knew that the Demon Dynasty would not invade.

A group of richly dressed young men sat on the second-floor pavilion, gazing at the scenery beyond Sansang City. They smiled and sipped fine wine. One of them chuckled:

"Speaking of which, have you heard of that Woodbreaker City next door lately?"

"Shatterwood City? That's not exactly next door, is it? It's quite far away."

"Hey, hey, I've heard of it!" The long-haired youth in the purple-gold robe stood up, his face flushed, carrying a wine jug. He looked drunk and shouted, "Shattered Wood City, isn't that the city-state that was beaten to a pulp by the Demon Dynasty? It's on the border!"