Chapter 90: She Comes

At this moment, those cultivators whose bodies had been invaded by violent spiritual energy, whose eyes had long grown dim and who could see no hope, finally welcomed hope again.

At this moment Su Chen stood in the most conspicuous position, ordering all cultivators to cultivate without worry, not lacking resources, for there were not only spirit stones but also breakthrough pills.

From then on.

The disciples of the Heavenly Profound Dao Sect were all revived to full health, unstoppable.

Yet the Sect Master Liu, still holding a bottle of pill, wore a sorrowful face, occasionally sending mental transmissions to Su Chen's ear, every so often lowering her voice: "Little nephew, my poor Liyan!"

"How come the Black Dragon side still has jade slip transmissions? They must not have found my daughter yet?"

"If anything happens to her, how could I go on living?"

"Little nephew..."

Su Chen, all the way he had nothing but "little nephew" on his mind.

And the miserable image of Liu Liyan conjured by the Sect Master Liu's imagination made him unable to meditate peacefully; as soon as he closed his eyes, Liu Liyan's figure automatically appeared in his mind—thrown into the heavenly prison to eat rotten rats day after day.

Also unknown how the Black Dragon and the Cheng Family are faring.

Have you found Liyan yet?

Thinking of his fiancée—pure, lovely, innocent—though her talent is extraordinary, she is merely a flower raised in a greenhouse, having never performed any sect duty.

Moreover, the Sect Master Liu's daily shouts in his ear made Su Chen ever more worried, fearing that Liyan would fall into Ye Xuan's hands, be thrown into the heavenly prison and suffer all kinds of torture.

"Aunt Liu, could you please calm down? You're making me panic. If something really happened to her… forget it, I daren't even think about it."

"I'll have my father arrange the cultivators; let's go to Qianyuan City right now to find her!"

While Su Changfeng was discussing with the elders, his son pulled him away; seeing his son's solemn expression, Su Changfeng immediately guessed: "Chen'er, go to Qianyuan City without worry—I'll be here."

Su Chen said anxiously: "Father, up to now there's been no word from Liyan on the Black Dragon's side."

"At the Ziyang Sect she lived a life of luxury and privilege, never undertook any sect duties, has no combat experience, yet possesses cultivation."

"Now that the Ziyang Sect has fallen, I fear she will encounter Ye Xuan, who will take her as a hostage to force me to hand over the inheritance."

The Sect Master Liu beside him nodded repeatedly. She understood her own daughter best, having raised her from childhood.

Liyan had been frail since childhood; after Su Chen broke off their engagement, she could not tolerate even a bit of outside gossip, and upon hearing another unpleasant remark she almost jumped into the Spirit Sea Lake to kill herself.

The poor Sect Master Liu was unaware of this.

That time Liyan fell into the water was not a suicide attempt but Su Chen, to avenge Lin Jianran, mercilessly shoved Liyan—who was suffering menstrual pain and on the verge of her Bodhi Sacred Body erupting—into the bone‑chilling Spirit Sea Lake.

Because of this, the Sect Master Liu increasingly felt her daughter's constitution was innately frail, to the point that even within the sect she dared not speak ill of Su Chen.

Worried that her daughter would find out and cause another lake‑jumping scene.

"Father, the spirit stone resource problem has been solved."

"Next is settling the score with Ye Xuan and our Heavenly Profound Dao Sect—it hasn't been cleared yet."

"Having used the inheritance, Ye Xuan will certainly be wary, or rather greedy to seize what I hold, so he won't give the Heavenly Profound Dao Sect much time."

"Before I leave, I will leave you a batch of talismans and mystic weapons sufficient to resist the Qingming Divine Sect's disciples, and lay down more killing formations; in these days you pick those with talent, and I will teach them talisman crafting and alchemy."

"……"

After everything had been arranged.

Su Chen then ordered the Black Dog to leave a batch of talismans sufficient to counter the cultivators Ye Xuan might send, and then he led his people out to find Liu Liyan.

Meanwhile, Qianyuan City was already near frantic.

It's been days—why can't we find any trace of her?

How can a living person possibly evade their detection?

They turned Qianyuan City and the Ziyang Sect inside out, yet found not a trace of Liu Liyan, such a weak female cultivator with no combat experience.

Without sect protection, how miserable must her life be?

"The master will arrive at East City shortly."

"After passing through East City and going a bit further, you reach Yunhai City."

"Here lingers the aura of cultivators' battles, such vast and dense spiritual energy—there must have been a great battle… strange, where are the people of Ye Xuan and the Qingming Divine Sect? Why is no one guarding?"

Qingxia took off her green long robe and put on the coarse black hemp garb that only loose cultivators in the market would wear.

Her divine sense spread out, carefully sensing the residual traces of battle in the air.

Everywhere the ground was shattered by terrifying thunderous power.

Moreover, there were traces scorched by raging fire.

What surprised Qingxia most was that East City possessed a spatial teleportation array, and after its destruction the array lines remained.

"Master??"

Qingxia, having received no response, instinctively turned her head to look.

That glance almost made her lose her wits.

What did she see?

Liu Liyan stood upright, her eyes full of tenderness and affection as she sensed the lingering dense thunderous qi in the air, the corner of her mouth unconsciously curving upward.

In secluded meditation she was perceiving something.

"Master, have you grasped something, about to break through?"

"No, look." Liu Liyan raised her delicate jade hand and caught a strand of hair; though she wore only the coarsest, cheapest hemp cloth, paired with that peerless face she still bore an unmistakable noble air and beauty.

This second.

Qingxia felt that even if the master changed into cheap commoner's clothes, it would hardly matter.

Because the first thing Liu Liyan saw upon looking at Liu Liyan was not her coarse hemp attire but that peerless face!

Would such a disguise really make the Young Sect Master Su feel heartache?

Why did she feel that something was off?

After a pang of sorrow, Qingxia glanced over, following Liu Liyan's hand, and said: "Isn't this just a strand of hair, Master?"

"No, this is A Chen's."

"A Chen left behind a strand of hair."

"You see, this hair still retains the aura of the dragon‑phoenix hairpin I personally polished for him back then."

"Qingxia, do you think A Chen is also thinking of me, missing me? Otherwise why would he always keep the hairpin I made for him?"

"Qingxia: "……""

"She's truly speechless at this mind filled entirely with Su Chen's love‑brain."

"What happened to that once bold, scheming, capable, and icy‑cold mistress who kept men at a distance? Upon meeting the Young Sect Master Su, she's acting as if possessed!"

"Isn't a hairpin meant to be worn?"

"Moreover, there's another strand of hair; the master's soul power isn't used to sense danger, yet it's being wasted on such a trivial matter."

"And yet, gazing at a single strand of hair, his eyes are full of tender, water‑like affection."

"Just as Qingxia wore an expression of helplessness, a voice suddenly came from afar: 'Isn't the territory ahead that of Su Changfeng? Yunhai City?'"

"That's right, another thirty li ahead."

"When we reach Yunhai City, we must absolutely not give ourselves away; that old fox Su Changfeng is sharp, so we'll say we're acting on the young lady's orders, bringing a batch of spirit stones to support them."

"Understood… hiss, what's going on in the eastern city? There's a strong thunderous aura, plus residual spiritual power from cultivators' battles—it seems a major fight just took place."

"First came the discussion of two male cultivators."

"Then followed by."

"Dozens of people arrived on swords."

"A flicker of coldness passed through Liu Liyan's blood‑red eyes."

"Su Yao, Su Chen's elder sister, left the sect three years ago and has been traveling ever since."

"Su Yao's personality is fiery and stubborn, completely unlike Su Lingxue's."

"Three years ago, Su Yao had a huge falling out with her brother Su Chen over the matter of Lin Jianran; she was utterly disappointed in him and declared that she would never return to the sect as long as Su Chen and Lin Jianran remained on good terms for even a day."

"Thereupon, in a fit of anger she left, and by chance encountered the Holy Son of one of Zhongzhou's three great holy lands; not long after, she defied everyone's objections in the sect and became his Dao companion."