Chapter 241: One After Another

"Jiang Yu, you just let that demon beast go..." Xue Miao's heart flared with anger, and the fury again surged toward Jiang Yu.

But Jiang Yu flicked her bamboo fan, and with a crack a bolt of lightning struck between her and Xue Miao, effectively cutting off the other's words.

She also drew nearby probing spiritual perception, attracting more; some who recognized Jiang Yu silently hoped the two would start fighting.

Qin Zhuo's heart pounded; he arrived late today, and watching the others fight would be a dereliction of duty.

No one knows why Sister Cui deliberately provoked Xue Miao on the street; she didn't realize that scheming also tarnished the Profound Heaven Sect's reputation. "Brother Jiang, please stay calm, stay calm."

"Jiang Tu is my companion; he represents me. My actions are guided by my seniors, and outsiders have no right to interfere.

"The sword light you just clashed with brushed me; is there something wrong with my passive defense?" Jiang Yu stared straight at Xue Miao.

The latter, struck by her icy gaze, suddenly shivered; the person before her was no longer the nameless, lower-level cultivator she had faced before.

In recent years, Grand Void Sect's Chong Dao and Lin Ze, both true beings, advanced to Nascent Soul; the sect's Nascent Soul cultivators now match those of Gui Yuan Sect, and it's said that Master Hu is also pushing toward Nascent Soul.

Moreover, aside from Xia Bing's generation, the young disciples of Jiang Yu's generation—Lu Chenxia, Lin Yuan, Gu Bingwen, Ye Lian, Gu Cheng, Lu Shan, Xun Shen, Min Yuan, and others—have successively entered Core Formation.

One after another, mid- to high-level cultivators have emerged, and Grand Void Sect's strength has long since changed, becoming the foremost cultivation power in the southwest.

Her Falling Moon Sect currently has only three Nascent Souls, and a Longevity Nascent Soul is also nearing depletion; the advancement of Core Formation cultivators cannot keep pace with the rate of extinction.

Xue Miao felt a slight coolness in her heart; she quietly suppressed her inner fire, "I apologize, I didn't know the sword wind just now swept you.

When I have time later, I will certainly host a banquet to apologize to you, fellow Daoist."

"I accept your apology, Jiang Tu," Jiang Yu signaled her little companion to give the Lingering Image Stone to the other party; Jiang Tu, though reluctant, still tossed it to Xue Miao.

This move left the onlookers nearby, who had wanted to watch the excitement, profoundly disappointed.

After Jiang Yu checked into the inn, Jiang Tu asked why she finally made Xue Miao scared once, yet didn't further suppress her aura and instead gave her the Lingering Image Stone.

"Grand Void, Falling Moon, Hundred Refinement, and Hidden Dragon—four sects sharing the southwest—sometimes need to jointly resist the pressure of the Four Great Dao Gates, so the four sects constantly admonish disciples to watch over and help each other.

Look, today in the market, the Profound Heaven Sect's enforcement squad didn't appear in time to stop the fight; many people deliberately laughed at Xue Miao.

If I don't step in to snap her out of it, she'll keep causing more trouble.

"But you and Xue Miao have a grudge, everyone knows that."

"Just a minor grievance; I gave her the Lingering Image Stone to show that the sects are still as they were before.

And to remind Xue Miao, the Profound Heaven Sect's market also recorded her violating the market rules," Jiang Yu set up the formation flag, then flashed into the Dragon Pearl.

Jiang Tu let out a startled "oh" as if waking from a dream, "Xue Miao understood your meaning, so when she said she'll host a banquet later, is it to apologize for past matters? If you have a chance later, won't you settle the small feud and forgive her?"

"Hmm, she is also a disciple carefully cultivated by the Falling Moon Sect.

As for forgiveness, ha, if the chance arises I'll still take advantage of her, just not on the territory of the Four Great Dao Gates." Jiang Yu's acceptance of the apology does not mean forgiveness; Xue Miao's initial attitude toward her was truly ill‑intentioned.

Jiang Tu replied, "Better to kill her cleanly."

Jiang Yu wasn't that reckless, thinking she could easily kill Xue Miao, "And then be pursued by Ancestor Xue?"

Jiang Tu said matter‑of‑factly, "Then wait until you become a Nascent Soul Ancestor before killing."

"Thanks for the good wishes. Weren't you wanting to eat fish? Have you peeled it already?" Jiang Yu said, having not seen any fish in the kitchen.

"I'll go catch fresh ones now," Jiang Tu said as he flew to the riverbank to catch fish, while someone was talking about it.

For example, in a restaurant opposite this inn, three Core Formation cultivators were discussing:

"For that Dragon Turtle, someone offers several million spirit stones plus a Core‑Forming Fruit for it."

"Not worth it. Jiang Yu is no longer in the Foundation Establishment stage; although she doesn't travel outside, she surely has many protective artifacts."

If we can't kill it in one blow, we'll be the unlucky ones later.

"It's a Seven‑Stage Dragon Turtle; Jiang Yu has already entered Core Formation, so it's not easy to snatch."

"Damn, Jiang Yu is so young yet already in Core Formation, and Grand Void Sect doesn't announce it publicly.

Made me always think she was still in Foundation Establishment.

"Is it a tribulation or not? It's said that Sui Lv Zhenjun went to the East Continent."

"The key is, how strong is Jiang Yu?"

"She's in mid Foundation Establishment, yet dares to clash with an Eight‑Stage Dragon King; now her cultivation is on par with ours."

They exchanged glances and finally decided that, since they've encountered her, they'd trail her for a while and decide based on the situation.

Thus, the three also lodged in the same inn, constantly monitoring Jiang Yu's movements.

However, Jiang Yu felt that using a spell for disguise today, being seen through at a glance, wasn't ideal; switching to a disguise artifact would be better.

So after the meal, she put on the Thousand Illusion Mask, "Using spiritual perception to probe, can you identify me?"

Jiang Tu stared at the completely unfamiliar, foundation‑establishing female cultivator in low‑level robes, "An artifact‑level mask worth a million spirit stones—can't tell, why make yourself look old?"

"You said you'd rest here for a night, why are you leaving again?"

"I don't want Xue Miao to track me down; you stay and play inside the Dragon Pearl." Jiang Yu flashed out of the Dragon Pearl, ending the formation.

"It's not fun inside the Dragon Pearl; the Dragon Soul stays in the soul‑nurturing tree root all day without emerging." Especially after years of careful cultivation, the Dragon Soul and the soul‑nurturing tree root Jiang Yu planted have sprouted, and the Dragon Soul prefers to stay inside, unmoving.

But Jiang Yu firmly refused its reappearance; she alone left the inn, then sensed spiritual perception brush across her face.

Although it flashed by in an instant, she still captured that it came from the inn and its intensity should be at the Core Formation realm.

Jiang Yu, now pretending to be in Foundation Establishment, thought it might be someone searching, so she pretended not to notice and left.

Meanwhile, the three cultivators who had agreed to track her did not recognize that the female cultivator was Jiang Yu; they continued sweeping each departing female cultivator with spiritual perception.

Soon after, the three saw Xue Miao hurrying to the inn's entrance and immediately withdrew their spiritual perception, no longer spying.

But when Xue Miao asked the innkeeper for Jiang Yu's room and knocked at the door for a long time without any reply, Jiang Yu had already boarded the teleportation array and arrived at the Five Directions City on the Dao‑Demon Border.

And after sending a message, she headed toward the famous teahouse in the city and others.

At dusk, her private room's door was knocked; when it opened, outside Mo Yizhou stared wide‑eyed, "You... aged? No, no, you changed in a different way."

He realized his thought slipped out, quickly turned aside; women hate being called old.

Jiang Yu closed the door, performed a hand technique to remove the mask, revealing a figure still in her twenties.

Mo Yizhou smiled awkwardly, "I didn't recognize you at first."

If it weren't for Jiang Tu on her shoulder, I would never have recognized Jiang Yu while walking down the street.

"Is Nansu's Soul Lamp still fine?" Jiang Yu didn't want to waste half a day's effort; that person died in the seclusion chamber.