Chapter 285: Invitation
Dark Fiend Valley.
Sisters Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan were called into the valley’s Procedural Hall by the new valley master, Sheng Meilan.
“I have talked with Gold Fiend Valley and Fire Fiend Valley. As long as you two sisters are willing to marry Li Zhongzheng and Bu Xiang, your Ling Family can still stay in Seven Fiends Valley. Otherwise, no matter how large the world is, there won’t be a place for the Ling Family!” Sheng Meilan said with a cold face.
She had been Jiu Liuyu’s junior sister and had a cultivation of the early Netherpassage Realm. Furthermore, she had never been on good terms with Jiu Liuyu. Since her cultivation and personal reputation were lower than Jiu Liuyu’s, her status in the valley had always been under Jiu Liuyu.
After Jiu Liuyu was killed by the Terminator Profound Bomb at Armament Sect, she became the eldest person of the valley. In order to quickly stabilize the state of Seven Fiends Valley, she managed to get the position of valley master of Dark Fiend Valley.
When Jiu Liuyu had been alive, she had not liked the Ling sisters nor Lu Li. Now that Jiu Liuyu was dead, she was naturally even less polite.
Selling the Ling sisters as concubines to Li Zhongzheng and Bu Xiang was a secret agreement she had with Gold and Fire Fiend Valleys. It was to repay the valley masters of Gold Fiend Valley and Fire Fiend Valley for supporting her ascension to the position of Dark Fiend Valley Master.
“Valley Master, we…” Ling Yushi raised her head. She looked at Sheng Meilan and wanted to argue.
“Do not speak!” Sheng Meilan waved her hand and said impatiently. “I do not care if you are willing, this will be the result! Either you sisters and the Ling Family are destroyed together, or you marry Li Zhongzhen and Bu Xiang as concubines and accept this low status. Serve them well and maybe your Ling Family will manage to survive.”
Ling Yushi’s and Ling Xuanxuan’s expressions were ugly. Suppressing the anger they felt inside, the two sisters walked out of the hall.
“Tch, I knew this would happen one day. Two country bumpkins that managed to ascend to Dark Fiend Valley with one step… do they really think they are something special?”
“Ling Town? Ha, a little place that isn’t even Limestone rank. Can the people that come from it be allowed in public?”
“I think that it is a step up for them to be concubines for Li Zhongzheng and Bu Xiang. If it weren’t for Dark Asura Hall meddling, they should have died with the other members of the Ling Family already.”
Outside, Sheng Meilan’s female disciples spoke with scorn and looked disdainfully at the sisters.
“You!” Ling Xuanxuan was furious, and her eyes seemed to sprout fire. “When Master had been here, did you dare to say such things?”
“Little whore, if it wasn’t for that old crone protecting you, would you sisters have been able to survive in Dark Fiend Valley until now?” One person walked forward and shouted with a hateful expression.
“What are you chatting about?” At this time, Lu Li walked over from the side. Her icy eyes swept across the aggressors and she said in a harsh voice, “If I hear someone disparaging my master again, do not blame my sword for being blind!”
Sheng Meilan’s female disciples changed expressions when they saw Lu Li come over. They did not say anything else.
Presently, Lu Li had stepped into the early stages of the Manifestation Realm. Because of her exceptional talent and her own astounding power, all the valley masters thought of her highly.
Even Sheng Meilan, who was now the valley master of Dark Fiend Valley, did not dare to go overboard when interacting with Lu Li.
“Senior Sister Lu,” Ling Yushi and Ling Xuanxuan called softly.
“Let’s go.” Lu Li looked coldly at the crowd before her brow furrowed and she walked towards the outside of the valley.
When they were far from Dark Fiend Valley, Lu Li suddenly stopped beside a clear pond. She turned her head and said, “I have already relayed your predicament to Xie Jingxuan of Dark Asura Hall and that Second Hall Master Tu Shixiong. Xie Jingxuan is presently at Profound Heaven Alliance and does not know of this matter, but her subordinate Liang Zhong has returned a message saying that he will tell her as soon as possible. Tu Shixiong replied saying that he will arrange for his son and a commander to come and take you to live in Dark Asura Hall.”
“Many thanks, Senior Sister Lu.” Ling Yushi bowed slightly.
Ling Xuanxuan’s face was also full of gratefulness.
“Truthfully, you should not have returned. When Tu Shixiong gave the invitation, you should have gone to Dark Asura Hall. At that time… Qin Lie was still here and the people of the valley would not dare to bully you.” Lu Li’s expression was as cool as usual. “Now that Qin Lie has died in the Nether Realm, the people in the valley do not have any more reservations. It is fortunate that Xie Jingxuan, Tu Shixiong, and others have come out. Otherwise, your situation would be even worse.”
“I…” Hearing her mention Qin Lie, Ling Yushi bent her head, her eyes dim. She said softly, “At the time, I did not know how to face him. Master treated me well. Even though I knew that there would be great trouble in returning to the valley, I had to come back to mourn for Master. I had not expected that… that something would happen to him…” Ling Yushi started to choke up and tears came out of her eyes.
“Big Sis, don’t feel sad. Maybe Qin Lie is still alive? It has only been half a year without news of him. Maybe no one can prove that he has died in the Nether Realm?” Ling Xuanxuan comforted.
But Ling Yushi’s shoulders still shook.
Both she and Lu Li knew just how inadequate Ling Xuanxuan’s comfort was.
Qin Lie wasn’t someone strong in the Fulfillment Realm or the Fragmentation Realm. Suddenly falling into the Nether Realm, the core lands of the evil races… was there any hope of survival?
Because of this, in the minds of Ling Yushi and Lu Li, Qin Lie had already died.
In the southeastern part of the Scarlet Tide Continent, there was a vast, misty purple sea. The surface of the sea that was shrouded in purple mist and there was an island—Ghost Isle.
At the very center of Ghost Isle, there was an enormous, dry well. The well was several acres large and was so deep that the bottom could not be seen.
On this day, as strong howls came out, two people emerged from this enormous, dry well.
It was Qin Lie and Song Tingyu.
“We finally see the light of day.” Song Tingyu landed gracefully beside the well and looked at the bright stars in the sky. She sighed emotionally. “It is this sky that looks the best. A sky without a sun, a moon, and stars looks dead. It feels stifling.”
Both the Nether Realm and the Nether Battlefield did not have any of these. The sky was forever gray and without light.
The two had been forced to stay in the Nether Realm and the Nether battlefield for half a year. Under such a heavy and stifled environment, they had missed the sky with their own celestial bodies, and fresh air filled with the spirit energy of the world.
Now, under Yi Yuan’s help, they went through the tornado that connected the top and bottom layers of the Nether Battlefield to finally return to the Scarlet Tide Continent.
“That Yi Yuan isn’t bad. He doesn’t just have very good cultivation potential. He is also very smart and has good skills.” Song Tingyu breathed the fresh air and took out a jade crystal from her spatial ring to summon the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly. As she channelled power into the crystal to activate it, she said, “Our Profound Heaven Alliance once created a list of the martial practitioners with the most potential in the subordinate forces of Eight Extreme Temple. We either tried to tempt them to join Profound Heaven Alliance beforehand or we tried to kill them. Yi Yuan is one of the people on that list, and I have a deep impression of him…”
Qin Lie’s face was dark. Looking at the dots of light in the sky, he said, “You and I have endured hardship together in the Nether Realm, after you summon the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly, bring me to Seven Fiends Valley first.”
“No problem.” Song Tingyu did not take off the mask on her face so her appearance was still average. Her eyes, however, flickered brightly. “I won’t just take you to Seven Fiends Valley. I will help you save your little lover and resolve the conflict.”
“On what conditions?” Qin Lie reflexively asked.
“Conditions?” Song Tingyu was shocked and she shook her head. She said with a smile, “Conditions are unnecessary. For me, this is only a minor matter. Seven Fiends Valley is a subordinate power to Profound Heaven Alliance and I have more influence than Xie Jingxuan…”
“You heard all of it?” Qin Lie snorted.
“Ah… accidentally. I really wasn’t doing it on purpose.” Song Tingyu stuck out her tongue.
“I don’t believe you.” Qin Lie glared at her.
“Let’s go to a more remote place. This is the entrance to the Nether Battlefield and there will be people occasionally entering and exiting. There are many boats on the north side of Ghost Isle that go to the mainland, but we have the Flowing Cloud Rainbow Butterfly, so we do not need to go there. You can just follow me.” Song Tingyu beckoned to him and walked towards a denser part of the forest.
Qin Lie followed immediately.
An hour later, they arrived at the southeastern corner of Ghost Isle. At an enormous cliff face, the two of them overlooked the surface of the sea shrouded in purple mist. With the stars glittering above their heads, they sat down next to each other.
Looking at the sea and the sky filled with constellations, Song Tingyu was silent.
A distracting fragrance slowly spread from her body and mischievously creeped into Qin Lie’s nose. Under the starlight, listening to the roar of the sea and smelling the fragrance, Qin Lie felt emotional thinking about what he had experienced in the past six months with Song Tingyu.
Song Tingyu was definitely a woman who knew how to scheme. She had high status, astounding charisma, immense personal strength, and extraordinary skills.
On the journey, as his understanding of this woman deepened, Qin Lin increasingly realized how scary this woman was. He believed that if this woman wanted to reach a goal, she would have countless ways and would definitely succeed in the end.
This woman was not one that any man could control…
“What are you thinking about?” Just as Qin Lie was deep in thought, Song Tingyu turned to look at him and smiled brightly.
The mask on her face had been taken off some time before then. That peerlessly beautiful face that could seduce anyone gave off a holy light under the shine of the moon and stars. It astounded Qin Lie.
“No-nothing…” Qin Lie stammered.
“There is one thing that Yi Yuan was right about.” Song Tingyu laughed softly, her eyes glittering. “Ying Xingran and the three reverends of Armament Sect only have Armament Sect in their minds. To secure the sect and let it prosper, they are willing to sacrifice those that have no value. Truthfully, I do not have any good feelings about artificers. All the artificers that I know are cunning people that have strange habits, are selfish, and only think about themselves at crucial times…”
Qin Lie sighed lightly.
“But you… are not the same as them.” There was a complex expression deep in Song Tingyu’s clear eyes.
“How am I different?” Qin Lie said cooly.
“Haha,” Song Tingyu did not respond and gave an invitation with a slight smile. “Qin Lie, Ying Xingran has once again become the sect master of Armament Sect and they have not done anything while your little lover is in danger. In their minds, you are ‘dead’ and have no value at all, so it is not worthwhile to do anything for a ‘dead’ person. Since that is the case, you do not need to work for Armament Sect. After you take care of matters at Seven Fiends Valley… why don’t you come with me to Profound Heaven Alliance?”