Hidden Life Mountain, Tongtian Peak.

The Tongtian Saint Emperor, Li Chengshi, looked down from a high vantage point, surveying the hidden splendor between the countless clouds, and said to Ji Shuang, "If it weren't for Shangguan Qizheng and the others borrowing the momentum of the Heavenly Dao to set up the barrier, even if Zheng Dongliu were in his prime, there wouldn't be so many issues.

You've suffered at Lin Yuan Sword Sect."

"Thanks to the Holy Emperor, Your Majesty." Ji Shuang bowed slightly: "If it weren't for Hidden Life Mountain's cultivation heritage being far deeper than the Lower Realm's, I wouldn't have been able to successfully counter Qi Huizu…

Blame him for taking so many years of feelings seriously."

"It's just…" Ji Shuang hesitated for a moment before continuing, "But do you think Qi Huizu might be faking it?"

"Heh…" Li Chengshi glanced at her with a hint of arrogance in his eyes: "Have you stayed in the Lower Realm so long that you've lost even this bit of confidence?

The strong ones are Zheng Dongliu and the future survivor Lu Jin'an, not that so-called 'world's' First Sword Immortal."

Ji Shuang's eyelids lowered slightly: "You're right."

"In just over a month, it'll be that kid's ceremony to inherit the position of Sect Master…" Li Chengshi chuckled lightly, "The skills of the Qingqiu Fox Clan are not limited to charm, no matter how strong his talent and physique, he'll still be stripped to the bone by the blade of temptation."

Ji Shuang was taken aback for a moment: "Can a group of Tribulation Crossing Realm Fox Demons really drain the strongest Dual Cultivation Immortal ever?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"The Qiu Family alone isn't enough, but add Hua Ruojin's pupil skill, and it certainly can." Li Chengshi's tone was calm: "Don't be misled by Yu Yunzhou still being the strongest among the Fox Clan today, but when indulged in Hua Ruo Jin's tender embrace, quite a bit of his cultivation was siphoned away by her using that pupil skill.

Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it?"

"Uh…" Hearing this for the first time, Ji Shuang was momentarily speechless: "Can it really be like this?"

"Anyway, Lu Jin'an won't survive."

"But what if Qiu Qingtang falls for Lu Jin'an?" Ji Shuang couldn't help but ask, "If that happens, wouldn't the plan be useless?"

"Heh…" Li Chengshi chuckled ambiguously: "Is the heavenly pupil skill something a mere Fox Emperor can fully control?

Once she starts using it, it's out of her hands."

"I see." Ji Shuang nodded: "But the Four Great Fox Clans are currently embroiled in internal conflict…"

"If Zhu Tianqi can't even handle such a minor issue, all those years as Demon Lord would have been for naught, right?" Li Chengshi interrupted her, "Alright, as for the matter on Qi Huizu's side, I'll handle it.

Acting under the guise of caution to create chaos, as long as it's not excessively exposed, if Wandao Sect starts a massacre, it would exactly serve my purposes."

"You may leave."

Ji Shuang performed a sword salute and quietly retreated.

Li Chengshi looked again at the Lower Realm for a long while and snorted: "Three years later to ask the sword of Hidden Life Mountain? I might just offer thirty minutes at your tomb as a token for being of the same clan."

"Summon someone."

"At your service."

"Take my orders and go to Xuanri Mountain, see if that ever-elusive pinnacle of Xuanri Mountain is willing to make a move.

If unwilling, then they will find no sanctuary in this world."

"I accept the order."

Once Li Chengshi was alone, he withdrew his gaze and turned to look eastward, toward Cloud Sky Mountain.

With a fleeting coldness in his eyes, Li Chengshi took a step forward, causing his surrounding Qi to surge.

······

Taichu Peak, by the lake.

As the weather warmed, Zhu Nanzhi sat on a stone, taking off the light gauze she wore, exposing two fair jade arms to the sunlight.

Dressed in the Hezi skirt, she looked at the clear lake water, and as she bent down to throw feed, the skin at the neckline of the Hezi skirt reflected a pale, creamy glow in the sunlight, like the gentle ripples of the lake water.

"After sparring with Lu Yunzhu that day, you've spoken even less…" Zhu Nanzhi turned to Mu Qingyue, who was sitting cross-legged nearby: "Could it be you were hit into silence?"

Mu Qingyue shook her head: "If I were silenced by a defeat, why would I practice swordplay, it's just…"

She hesitated, and Zhu Nanzhi couldn't help but inquire further: "Just what?"

Mu Qingyue stared at the lake surface: "She is incredibly familiar with my Black Phoenix Nirvana Sword Scripture, which is one of the relics my mother left me, my aunt has seen it, but none are as familiar as Lu Yunzhu."

"Did she use the Time Path to look?"

"She did say that, but…" Mu Qingyue turned to Zhu Nanzhi, her red eyes slightly unfocused: "She claimed she learned it from someone else."

"Hmm?" Zhu Nanzhi paused for a moment: "Someone else? Your missing father?"

"That's my thought too, but do you think Lu Yunzhu would deliberately focus on men other than her junior brother?"

"Indeed…" Zhu Nanzhi nodded, unable to resist posing another question: "Do you think what she said…"

"You actually believed it?" Mu Qingyue smiled faintly: "Really? You're suspicious to this extent? The truth is obvious at a glance, why have you learned to emulate that paranoid 'older sister'?"

Zhu Nanzhi gave her a sidelong glance: "Then why have you been silent these days? Isn't that suspicion?"

Mu Qingyue shook her head: "I suspect she did it deliberately… she's trying to be the main palace by sowing discord to make me stand on her side."

"That's all there is to it?"

"That's all!" Mu Qingyue said firmly: "I still want to be with my junior brother forever, so her remarks are mere illusions, don't overthink it.

Without me, you'd stand no chance against that woman."

"Oh." Zhu Nanzhi retracted her gaze: "Are you curious about your father…"

"Not curious!"

Mu Qingyue said indifferently: "Not to mention he never appeared, and besides, a man who can't even protect my mother would be a waste of food if alive, better off dead."