Chapter 315: Boat Sailing on Dry Land

The two entered the cabin, but not to do that kind of thing.

With so many elders present, Ye Tinglan could not bring herself to act recklessly in the room; Lu Xingzhou did not want to strip away her modesty either... though perhaps he couldn't strip it away anyway.

Ye Tinglan had even only slightly closed the cabin door to show her upright character, then turned her head and spoke in a low, pleading voice: "Not here, okay? I'll reward you when we get back."

Seeing that she had just grabbed his ear with great momentum but turned into this the moment they entered the room, Lu Xingzhou felt extremely satisfied: "Look at what you're saying; am I that kind of person?"

A hint of seduction appeared in Ye Tinglan's eyes: "Aren't you?"

"Don't be like that... I won't be able to hold back."

"Tsk, and you say you aren't."

Lu Xingzhou smiled, took out the Soul Banner, and sat down beside Ye Tinglan: "There's a prisoner here; I can barely control it. Give me a hand."

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner was originally specialized in countering yin souls, and combined with his Red Lotus Tribulation Flame which purified and suppressed such things, the dual effects still failed to bind this yin soul. Now the banner had begun to shake wildly, showing signs of breaking, with wisps of black qi diffusing from it; the scene was very demonic.

It looked as if a righteous companion had been locked up by a great demon king and was trying to break free...

Ye Tinglan would normally be extremely disgusted seeing such a scene, yet now she showed no reaction at all; instead, she pointed a finger at the banner.

The struggling yin soul inside immediately fainted.

Ye Tinglan asked: "Is this the one that possessed Duan Ning?"

"Yes, and it's a male soul. It's a pity he dared to possess her."

"He was probably forced into it. His divine soul is very weak, far from the level a Huiyang should have; he's merely hanging on by a thread. In such a state, he probably couldn't possess someone more stable and powerful like Fang Qihao, so he aimed at that girl. Similarly, if he were strong enough, your Soul Banner and Red Lotus Tribulation Flame would be useless... a Super Grade is ultimately a Super Grade. You must not be so lacking in reverence in the future. This yin soul is weak; that doesn't mean other Super Grades are so useless."

"Okay, okay, okay, I know." Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but laugh; seeing her motherly lecturing now felt cute.

So, people's feelings toward the same things differ depending on their position. If he were truly a disciple, being lectured would only make him secretly curse the old hag; Yuan Muyu's rebelliousness was probably related to this... but when you are someone who can seal her chatty little mouth and nibble on it at any time, her lecturing becomes nothing but cute.

In the end, regardless of whether he is a disciple or a lover, her intention in lecturing is always good.

Ye Tinglan examined his Ten Thousand Souls Banner, somewhat puzzled: "Your Soul Banner's level has risen too; otherwise, the gap would be too great to bind it... strange. I've been with you for the past half year and haven't seen you touch the banner. When did you secretly upgrade it?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "The Soul Banner upgrades based on the main soul. Back in the Demon Subduing Domain, on the sand between the first and second layers, Chen Yu and the others used the desert fire seed there to trick me. I fed that fire seed to the Flame Demon; the Annihilation Golden Fire was collected later from the volcano on the second layer."

Ye Tinglan realized: "So you actually took two fire seeds at that time!"

"Yes. Others thought I only obtained one, but I had fed the other to the Flame Demon long ago. It advanced, so naturally the Soul Banner advanced too."

Ye Tinglan did not understand such evil cultivators very well and found it somewhat rare. Simply from an energy reaction perspective, the Soul Banner itself had almost no ability; it would be hard for it to even punch a hole in a wall. But against yin souls, it was an absolute counter, possessing power comparable to the top three grades.

Against normal cultivators, its soul-summoning and soul-controlling abilities were also very strong, making it a terrifying treasure for breaking through levels. Yet he rarely needed to nurture it, and this upgrade happened so silently and quickly.

Evil path demonic arts indeed have their extraordinary points, especially suitable for demonic cultivators who seek quick success and instant benefits.

Ye Tinglan somewhat wanted to tell him to give it up... Demonic path items have obvious advantages, but they also carry great flaws. For instance, cultivating a Soul Banner easily makes the owner's temperament gloomy. It was said that the former Judge was quite gloomy; when Lu Xingzhou first arrived in Xiazhou, he wasn't much better, looking like a completely different template compared to his current smiling self.

But then she thought again, his Soul Banner had never stopped, yet it didn't seem to hinder him from becoming more and more cheerful. Was it unrelated to this? He had his own opinions and didn't need too much interference.

So she didn't mention it further, instead saying: "Give this yin soul to me. Your Soul Banner's level still struggles to control him; there's no guarantee he won't turn on you. Better give him to me. After I pry his mouth open, I'll tell you whatever conclusions I reach."

Lu Xingzhou felt helpless and amused: "You sisters are really..."

"Hmm?" Ye Tinglan's expression turned dangerous: "You can give one to her, but not to me, right?"

"What are you talking about." Lu Xingzhou directly pulled the unconscious yin soul out of the Soul Banner and handed it over: "The value of these things lies in exploring the Ancient Realms. For you, there's the added benefit of figuring out the root of how they dealt with the Tianyao Holy Land. Anyway, the affairs of the Ancient Realms are a bit distant from me for now; they aren't my business to manage temporarily, so they should naturally be yours."

Ye Tinglan produced some kind of bag and put the yin soul inside. She then looked at Lu Xingzhou, somewhat hesitant.

The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart.

His exploration of the Ancient Realms was indeed relatively distant. As a third-grade cultivator, he still had many things to practice to solidify himself. For instance, his advancement in alchemy had been interrupted by various matters, leaving him with almost no progress; he would definitely need to continue his studies. Given the current situation, with waves rising in the sea and Zhao En's whereabouts unknown, Ye Tinglan would certainly need to hold the fort in the East Sea and wouldn't run around recklessly in the short term. So... could he also stay here to study further instead of returning?

She felt he wouldn't agree. His heart didn't truly belong to the Tianyao Holy Land; he had never been a disciple of the Holy Land.

Besides, Ye Tinglan had never approved of sitting still and cultivating; she had always encouraged experiencing the world. Raising Bai Mao had been to let her experience the Cold River from a young age. She had previously told Lu Xingzhou, suggesting he cultivate and experience the world alone, not follow her, and even advised that A'Nuo shouldn't be brought along. How could she now force him to stay at the Tianyao Holy Land just because she couldn't bear to let him go?

Lu Xingzhou noticed Mr. suddenly fell silent, feeling somewhat inexplicable. No matter how smart one was, it was impossible to fully fathom a woman's twisting heart. One moment she was lecturing like a mother, and the next she was thinking of parting sorrows...

He thought she was worried about the sea situation triggered by this yin soul, so he comforted her: "Their plan to quickly establish a human foothold has failed. Now that you have a yin soul to interrogate, the initiative is entirely in your hands. Why worry?"

Ye Tinglan came back to her senses, smiled, and said softly: "I know... Hmm, we've arrived. Let's talk about it later."

The Phoenix Carriage had returned to the Tianyao Holy Land. Ye Tinglan stepped out of the cabin, and the elders secretly exchanged glances, all breathing a sigh of relief.

The doors were only slightly closed, and there were no strange sounds inside; occasionally heard conversations were about proper topics.

Who said the Holy Master and the little puppy were doing this or that? Is the Holy Master that kind of person! Nonsense!

The elders had already informed the sect via jade slips about the incident during the Great Competition in the sea. Now that the sect saw their return, there was a wave of celebration.

The Holy Master had led everyone to fight another beautiful battle, aweing the East Sea, and the prestige of the Tianyao Holy Land continued to rise. The disciples felt honored; wherever the Phoenix Carriage passed, everyone bowed deeply toward Ye Tinglan at the bow of the ship and stepped aside along the road.

Ye Tinglan remained expressionless, merely transmitting her voice everywhere: "The matter of Golden Wind Island is the Holy Land's top priority at present. The disciples' training missions in the near future will be arranged in this direction."

"Yes."

Ye Tinglan stopped the Phoenix Carriage and walked straight toward her sleeping hall without looking sideways: "Lu Xingzhou, follow me. We haven't finished talking about what happened earlier."

Lu Xingzhou followed, and the elders didn't feel there was any problem at all.

Dugu Qingli and A'Nuo sat together hugging their knees on the bridge leading to the sleeping hall, watching the dragon-ao eat below. After a long while, Dugu Qingli said: "A'Nuo, it seems your master isn't paying attention to you after finding your mistress."

A'Nuo said: "Your master is the same."

Dugu Qingli: "..."

A'Nuo took a piece of candy from her pocket, tossed it into the pool for the dragon-ao to eat, and said casually: "What, do you think I'm asking you because of this?"

Dugu Qingli said: "Don't you feel very unaccustomed? I'm used to acting alone and still feel unaccustomed. You're used to being glued to your master; how can you be so cheerful instead... I'm sincerely asking for your advice."

"Because when Master was with Sister Yu before, it was just like this... I've been used to it for a long time..." A'Nuo touched her chin: "But now it's not good; there are too many... Bai Mao sister, let's form an alliance."

Dugu Qingli said: "What do you mean?"

"I need to find a way to drag Master's legs down; we can't add any more mistresses."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to stay away from my master."

Dugu Qingli: "..."

After feeding the dragon-ao, A'Nuo finally stood up and wobbled away: "Let's go. My master won't be coming out tonight..."