Xie Man pursed her lips. This was indeed a disturbance. She had been about to enjoy herself for a while before going into seclusion to recover. Her injuries from before still had not yet healed. "Not at all. It is Floral City's honor for you to visit us. Please come inside, Mr. Lu."

After speaking, she lifted her eyes to sneak a glance at him, and then she looked back at Elder Qiu. The old man remained composed as he followed Lu Yin into Floral City.

Xie Man looked up at the starry sky, hoping her master would come. She really did not dare to directly face Lu Yin.

Outside of the megaverse, in a certain direction, Meiren Dan was silently watching Floral City. Why was Lu Yin visiting Little Man? The Immortal felt uneasy and frowned, but she had no intention of finding out why. She had seen Bing Xu’s miserable state. To be honest, if they fought seriously, she might not be Bing Xu's match. If even he had been trounced, she had no desire to try herself.

It would be better to continue solving the puzzle.

She withdrew her gaze and raised a hand. She was staring at a black hexagonal scale in her hands. She refused to believe that she could not figure out what was written on it.

Xie Man followed Lu Yin, her unease mounting. As they walked, Lu Yin considered how to ask her about Jiu Wen's disciples. Elder Qiu's reaction had shown that directly asking would not work, but if he did not ask directly, he would get nothing at all.

"How is your injury?" he asked instead.

Xie Man exchanged glances with Elder Qiu and then replied respectfully, "It is alright."

Lu Yin's voice softened. "Sorry. I hit too hard earlier."

Xie Man was horrified. She recalled Bing Xu being chased and beaten and his Umbrella Dominion being split in two outside of the megaverse. What did Lu Yin’s tone mean? He sounded so gentle... Had he taken a fancy to her?

For a moment, all kinds of thoughts tangled together, leaving Xie Man unsure how to respond.

Elder Qiu coughed, snapping her back to her senses. She hurriedly answered, "It has nothing to do with you, Mr. Lu. I was entirely ignorant of myself when challenging you. Please do not blame me."

Lu Yin looked at Xie Man and smiled. "I went too far. I shouldn’t have treated you like that."

As he spoke, he waved a hand. Elder Qiu understood and withdrew.

Xie Man's heart leapt into her throat. She swallowed. What does this mean? He sent Elder Qiu away. Is he going to do something to me?

Her eyes dropped and caught a flash of snowy white. Her clothes were a bit too revealing.

If he wanted to do something to her, what could she do? She could not resist at all. But how would she explain things to her master? Someone would die.

However, if Lu Yin was willing to take her away, Xie Man’s master probably would not dare to do anything either. Even Meiran Dan might not be his match.

What should she do? Xie Man's face went pale. She did not actually want to refuse.

"Would you like me to help treat you?" Lu Yin asked again, his voice even gentler and suddenly rich with a magnetic pull.

Xie Man looked up. Her face slowly grew flushed, giving her a vivid and alluring appearance. Her eyes were soft and glistening, and even her skin started to grow red. "Thank you, Mr. Lu."

Lu Yin gave Xie Man an odd look. "What is wrong with you?"

Her behavior had just changed drastically from fear to... was she trying to seduce him?

Xie Man bit her lip, her voice so soft it was nearly inaudible. "Sir, this young woman's boudoir is not far away."

Lu Yin was speechless. She really is.

It was all a misunderstanding.

"Ahem. Well, there is something I want to ask you."

"This young woman is very clean. No one has touched me yet."

"...Do you know how many disciples Jiu Wen has had?"

A chill ran down Xie Man's back. The rosy color drained from her face in an instant as she stared at Lu Yin in shock.

Lu Yin met her gaze. "Jiu Wen. How many disciples has he had?"

Xie Man's expression shifted. "Why do you ask that, Mr. Lu?"

"Curiosity. I’ve visited the Stonewall clan and have seen many other clan records. This time, I came to your Floral City to see your records. Next, I want to visit the clans of his other disciples."

Xie Man's eyes flickered as she became fully alert. "This young woman knows nothing about Sect Master Jiu Wen's situation, but Elder Qiu understands it well. He has always remained in the Sect of Dispassion and is also on very good terms with Acting Sect Master Ba Yue. He would know."

"There’s no need to ask him. You are right here, so just tell me," Lu Yin pressed.

Xie Man clenched her teeth and bowed low. "This young woman does not know."

Lu Yin frowned. "You don’t know?"

"I do not."

Lu Yin's voice turned cold. "As the sect master of the Sect of Dispassion, when Jiu Wen accepts a disciple, it should be a major event for the entire Crimson Starshade Civilization. How could you not know?"

Xie Man blanched. "This young woman... does not know."

Pressure fell upon her. Xie Man was already injured, which made it even harder for her to endure. Even so, she clenched her teeth and insisted that she knew nothing. No matter what happened, she remained stubborn.

Lu Yin did not actually intend to hurt the woman. He saw that she had the same attitude as Elder Qiu.

After a while, Lu Yin went to Floral City’s archives to take a look at their records.

Xie Man let out a breath. While Lu Yin was reading the city’s records, she went straight to Elder Qiu, her eyes fierce and filled with intense killing intent. "Old thing, you did this to me!"

Elder Qiu helplessly protested, "Mr. Lu wanted to come here, and I could not stop him."

"You didn’t bring him to me on purpose?"

"I swear, I absolutely did not."

Xie Man panted and then suddenly coughed. A trickle of blood ran down the corner of her mouth.

Elder Qiu told her, "Treat your injuries as soon as possible. You are still not fully recovered."

Her eyes grew icy. "If an old thing like you hadn’t stirred up trouble, how would I have brought trouble upon myself?"

Elder Qiu knew that he was in the wrong and did not dare say anything more. He had also paid a price. If he had not purposely shared the location of Canglan Valley, Lu Yin would have never come looking for him.

Xie Man moved close to Elder Qiu and, in a low voice, asked, "Did he ask you about Sect Master Jiu Wen's disciples?"

Elder Qiu was not surprised to hear this question. Lu Yin had sent him away, and Xie Man had made some assumptions about Elder Qiu. However, he truly had not sent Lu Yin her way.

The old man had already known that Lu Yin wanted to ask this question, and he had also planned out how he would handle the aftermath.

He put on an expression of surprise. "What? Sect Master Jiu Wen's disciples? He asked about that?"

Xie Man hissed, "Lower your voice!"

Elder Qiu looked alarmed. "You didn’t say anything, did you?"

Xie Man eyed Elder Qiu suspiciously. "He didn’t ask you?"

"No."

"Impossible." Xie Man stared at Elder Qiu.

He spread his hands. "Truly, he did not ask me. How could he ask about that? What did you tell him?"

"I said nothing, of course."

"And what about your behavior? You can’t let him think that you’re hiding anything."

Xie Man opened her mouth, and her face grew ashen.

Elder Qiu panicked. "You didn’t let him realize that this is being concealed, did you? Fool! You could have given any casual answer! How could you let him guess?"

"I-"

"Enough! Hurry up and think of a way to make up for this."

Xie Man did not know what to say. She could not help but feel that there was something off about Elder Qiu's reaction, but the old man refused to admit anything.

Elder Qiu was not stupid; of course he would not admit to anything.

There is no wall that never leaks. If news of this matter ever spread out, he would not be able to escape responsibility. Thus, he intended to clean himself of all responsibility with this move. No matter what people might eventually claim, it would have nothing to do with him. Xie Man was the one who had let matters slip.

As for what Xie Man said, that would also have nothing to do with Elder Qiu. He had been following Lu Yin for quite some time, so naturally, outsiders would not believe that Lu Yin had not asked the old man. Still, as long as he refused to admit to anything, it would be enough.

He needed to maintain a low profile and refuse to admit to anything no matter what.

Xie Man made several attempts, but Elder Qiu simply refused to admit to anything, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

She felt that she had brought trouble upon herself by letting Lu Yin realize that this matter was a secret. If news of this reached Sect Master Jiu Wen's ears, Xie Man would be held responsible, despite the fact that she was confident that he had already known about it. It has to be Elder Qiu who told him. The old bastard’s just pretending. Despicable!

After some time, Lu Yin finished reading Floral City's records. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The city had not existed for very long. Its so-called records were essentially Xie Man's biography. The woman had lived for quite a long time. After all, she was someone who had achieved the pinnacle of strength beneath the Immortal realm. That was not something that could be attained overnight.

Lu Yin did not see much concerning Jiu Wen. At most, Floral City's records were about what happened in the Sect of Dispassion. There was nothing that could be used to analyze Jiu Wen.

But over the years, Lu Yin had read through many of Crimson Starshade’s clan records, and he could almost confirm one thing: Crimson Starshade had joined Obscura.

His expression grew heavy. Yes, this was practically verified.

When he had spoken with Elder Qiu, much of what had been said directly and indirectly involved Jiu Wen and the Path of Dispassion. While Lu Yin did need to learn about those details, they were not all that he was after. He also wanted to learn about Obscura.

In the various clan records, he had found references to a gate, as well as a few scattered records concerning battles with Obscura. Of course, it was not with Obscura itself, but rather with civilizations that had come through that gate.

These records were vague due to how ancient they were, and there were also only a handful of lines referencing such events in all of the clan records that Lu Yin had read over the course of twenty years. However, those few lines were enough.

He was certain that Crimson Starshade had once fought against Obscura, and it had happened after the fall of the Nine Ramparts, as it involved the current Crimson Starshade Civilization. However, if they had previously fought with Obscura, why had there been no more fights over the course of so many years?

Those vague scattered records were from the extremely distant past, and they were even older than the recorded history of the Tianyuan Megaverse. Over the course of so much time, why had there never been any further mentions of a conflict with Obscura?

Obscura had clear characteristics, and if either a gate or someone from Obscura had appeared, then divine energy would inevitably be present. And yet, such things were missing from all of the clan records.

That meant that, over the long ages, Obscura had never returned.

Had Crimson Starshade driven Obscura away? Had it made Obscura afraid to come back?

Impossible.

Lu Yin was slowly learning about Obscura, and it was an absolutely terrifying collective. With the strength of Crimson Starshade, there was no way the civilization could have broken free of Obscura. That left only one explanation: just like Lu Yin’s own civilization, Crimson Starshade had been abandoned by Obscura, and the only reason why they would abandon a civilization was that someone from it had joined Obscura.

When Lu Yin had first made contact with Crimson Starshade, he had thought that he would face the Path of Dispassion and Immortals who were completely devoid of humanity, even a possibility of a future war between their civilizations. In reality, it appeared that he had been far too ignorant.

If his conjecture was correct, then who from Crimson Starshade had joined Obscura?

The answer already seemed obvious: Hong Xia.

No. Lu Yin frowned. It might not be Hong Xia. In principle, whoever joined Obscura should be the strongest from their own civilization, but Lu Yin was the one in his own civilization who had been invited to join Obscura, while Green Lotus had not. It was possible that Crimson Starshade was in the same situation.

In that case, Jiu Wen?

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. There were more and more secrets surrounding Jiu Wen the deeper he dug.

"Mr. Lu." Xie Man bowed. When she saw Lu Yin come out, her heart had risen into her throat. She was afraid that he would ask that question again.

Lu Yin gave a short response. "Let’s go. I’m done reading."

Elder Qiu agreed and quickly followed after him.

Xie Man did not even dare to even politely offer to let them stay. She helplessly watched as Lu Yin and Elder Qiu left Floral City and disappeared from sight. Only when she could no longer see them did she finally let out a full breath.

"What did he come here for?" A voice sounded behind her, startling Xie Man.

She turned back, her face pale. "Greetings, Master."