"How did it go? Have you met Tang Xiao before?"

Luo Feng sat across from Zhao Meiyu. "I met him just now, and he’s quite unique."

"Unique?"

"Yes." Luo Feng’s face turned extremely serious, and the aura radiating from his body made Zhao Meiyu tremble, forcing him to pull it back. "I didn’t use this much of my aura before, but it should be enough to suppress him. However, he didn’t seem to be shaking or feeling pressured, and he acted like nothing had happened."

Zhao Meiyu raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean the person who hit me was unconscious four days ago?"

"He denied it," Zhao Meiyu sighed. "I am an elder, and he is an inner disciple. Besides, Huangfu Lingxuan brought him into this sect, so I didn’t do anything to him. Has Huangfu Meizhen contacted you in the past few days?"

"No," Zhao Meiyu shook her head slightly. "Since that night, Sect Master Huangfu hasn’t contacted me again, and I haven’t tried to contact her either. However, I’ve seen her going back and forth to the body cultivation hall in the past few days, and she’s never done that before."

"You are right," Luo Feng agreed with her. "There must be something special about Tang Xiao, and she’s hiding everything from the public for his safety; otherwise, Huangfu Meizhen wouldn’t have gone to such lengths, and Huangfu Lingxuan would not have stepped in to recruit him."

"What do you think is special about Tang Xiao? He joined this sect without going through registration and tests, but Sect Master Huangfu didn’t say anything to all the elders about him."

"Forget it." Luo Feng stood up and took off his clothes, exciting Zhao Meiyu, who immediately followed. "As I said a few days ago, you must refuse Huangfu Meizhen’s order if she asks you to do anything to Tang Xiao again. Although I don’t have much information about him, I’m absolutely certain that he’s no ordinary cultivator. If you try to do anything to him, he probably won’t just knock you unconscious, and he’ll kill you outright. Do you understand?"

Zhao Meiyu didn’t believe that Tang Xiao could do such a thing to her, let alone kill her, especially with the vast difference in their cultivation. However, she never doubted Luo Feng because he always protected her, and he always did his best for her. "Alright, I won’t accept Sect Master Huangfu’s orders anymore, especially regarding that kid."

"Good."

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"Why are you daydreaming to yourself, Elder Tantai?" Tantai Lingyan turned to a male elder. "Is something bothering you?"

The male elder was quite handsome, and he looked much younger than his actual age. Despite his body being quite tall and muscular, Tantai Lingyan had no interest in him at all. "I didn’t think anything, Elder Wu Zhan."

"Is that true?" Wu Zhan asked with a smile.

Tantai Lingyan sighed inwardly and stood up. "I have other matters, so I’ll be leaving now, Elder Wu."

"Wait." Wu Zhan tried to grab Tantai Lingyan’s hand, but she quickly disappeared from his sight. "How can she move so fast? Her cultivation is two minor stages below mine, but her speed is like a cultivator above me."

A glimmer of light appeared in Wu Zhan’s eyes, but no one knew what he was thinking, and he immediately left the place to take care of his business.

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"Why are you here, Elder Yao Rou?" Huangfu Meizhen asked the female elder who had just arrived.

"Sect Master, Tang Xiao left the sect with a few of his women and a few other people." Yao Rou placed a copy of the missions they had taken on Huangfu Meizhen’s desk. "Some of the missions are quite complicated, and I’ve already explained it to them, but they insist on taking them."

Huangfu Meizhen grabbed a copy of the missions and read them one by one. "Hmm? Isn’t Yunhai Town located on the border with the Shenwu Kingdom?"

"Yes," Yao Rou nodded. "All the disciples avoided going to Yunhai Town, but Tang Xiao and the others chose to accept that mission and travel there. If I remember correctly, there were reports of demons appearing at the border a few days ago. Emperor Song’s subordinates have already cleared them out, but the city is still unsafe, as those demons could appear at any time. The most problematic thing was not that mission, but their group’s mission."

"Hmm?" Huangfu Meizhen immediately read it. "Bone Ridge Cleansing, huh? Why did our sect accept this mission? As far as I remember, that place was a den of demons in the past, and there were many powerful beasts in the surrounding area."

"The strongest beast in that area has strength equivalent to a cultivator with cultivation at the Lower Tyrant Level, and it commands many beasts with cultivations above Tang Xiao and the others. If they encounter that beast, I’m sure they’ll be in serious trouble, and they might even die there."

Huangfu Meizhen pondered for a while. "You don’t need to worry about them, Elder Yao."

"But—"

"Tang Xiao’s cultivation is still in the Lower King Realm, but he is not an ordinary cultivator. I’m sure they are already aware of the situation, and they probably already have a solution to complete this mission." Even though Huangfu Meizhen said that, Yao Rou was still worried about their safety. "Do you think my grandfather would have recruited them himself if they were ordinary cultivators? I can’t explain anything to you about them because my grandfather already promised them, but I assure you that they will be fine, so you don’t need to worry about them. You can wait for them to come back, and I’m sure they will complete all these missions."

Yao Rao sighed inwardly. "If you say so, I’ll wait for them to return. However, I won’t be responsible if anything bad happens to them, and you’ll have to explain everything to their families yourself."

"Leave now." After Yao Rao left, Huangfu Meizhen leaned back in her chair as she looked at the mission paper. "Am I too confident about Tang Xiao’s abilities? Will they be fine if they go to the Bone Ridge Cleansing?"

Since she couldn’t leave the sect, Huangfu Meizhen immediately contacted someone and asked them to follow Tang Xiao’s group. She forbade that person from openly helping them, and she instructed that person to only move if they were in grave danger.

Huangfu Meizhen sighed to herself. "I hope I didn’t make the wrong decision on this matter; otherwise, my sect will lose talented cultivators like Tang Xiao, Xing Xing, and Tang Yin. With their cultivation aptitudes, they are the future of this sect, but they won’t thrive if I help them, and they will have to struggle on their own to develop themselves."

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Time passed quickly, and night finally arrived.

After they had flown for a full day, Tang Xiao and the others decided to stop and rest. They did not go to the nearest town; instead, they spent the night in an open area near a flowing river.

Tang Yin, Xing Xing, Mu Yan, Sun Xiang, Huo Yan, and Yao Meiqing hurriedly went to the river to clean themselves. Fortunately, the rivers in the Canglan Realm were unlike those on Earth; the water was crystal clear and free of dirty debris.

Meanwhile, Tang Xiao and Fei Cangyu built a campfire to warm themselves as the temperature continued to drop, and they were sure it would get very cold. Even though they were cultivators, they didn’t want to waste qi just to warm their bodies, and they were conserving it for unexpected situations.

"Hey, Brother Xiao! How did you convince them to become your wives? What is your real relationship with Tang Yin? You two have the same surname, and your faces are so similar too."

Tang Xiao looked at Fei Cangyu. "Tang Yin is my big sister. Xing Xing is my childhood friend. I met Sun Xiang and Mu Yan a few months ago, and we often spent time together then."

"Huh?" Fei Cangyu was shocked when he heard that. "Are you serious?"

"Do you think our relationship is strange?"

"Not really." Fei Cangyu looked towards the river. "I’ve heard of many cultivators having such relationships, and I’ve met some of them. In fact, Meiqing and I are related, but we’ve liked each other since childhood. She was cute and adorable when we were little, but she changed as we grew up, and she’s now a demoness."

"Haha." Tang Xiao laughed at that. "Why do you call her a demoness?"

"Haish!" Fei Cangyu smiled bitterly. "She was very lady-like when she was little, but she became so tomboyish when she grew up, and her attitude became unpleasant. She often went here and there and fought with many people, and she beat them black and blue. Many clans complained to her father, but he turned a deaf ear. She frequently scolded and beat me, even though I had done nothing wrong."

Tang Xiao nodded slightly. "Perhaps she experienced something in her childhood that you don’t know about, and that experience changed her character. You are her future husband, so you should try to talk heart to heart with her, and you might be able to understand her better at that time."

"You’re right," Fei Cangyu sighed. "I love Yao Meiqing, but I don’t like her current character. My mother has often told me to talk to her, but I’m at a loss to ask her, and I’m afraid she’ll beat me up."

Tang Xiao patted his shoulder. "Brother Fei, you’re a man, so you should act like one. If you love her, you should try to get to know her better, and two-way communication is the best way to do it."