Chapter 244: Though That May Be So

A few days later, Jiang Yu's injuries were fully healed, and she left the mountains with Jiang Tu to return to Wufang City.

But within just a few days, rumors of internal strife in the Demon Gate spread throughout the city, and the Hehuan Sect had clashed with the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Moreover, many more cultivators appeared on the streets, most of them Daoist sect members, likely because the nearest Demon Gate City had closed its gates, preventing many from entering.

At the same time, arrivals from all sides kept coming, and the teleportation array was so busy that tickets couldn't be bought.

Jiang Yu kept a low profile, still posing as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but her appearance had shifted to that of someone in her thirties.

"What's going on?" Jiang Tu asked her as they tried to find a teahouse to hear news about the two demon sects, but rumors filled the air.

One story said the Hehuan Sect's top beauty had her marriage ruined by a Heavenly Demon Sect disciple, sparking a battle between the sects' disciples.

Another claimed the Heavenly Demon Sect discovered a spiritual stone mine, the Hehuan Sect asserted it lay within their jurisdiction, and the two sects' Nascent Soul cultivators fought for three days and nights over the spirit mine.

A third tale said the Hehuan Sect's senior elder and the Heavenly Demon Sect's sect master fell out over love, fighting to the death, with their disciples also joining the fray.

And so on and on.

Jiang Yu: "There must really be a conflict, otherwise Mo Yizhou wouldn't keep ignoring my letters."

She had been recuperating in a hidden realm and received no messages; after leaving, she saw dozens of replies on the jade talisman but still no response from Mo Yizhou.

She also didn't want to go to the Grand Void Sect's shop in Wufang City, lest the stationed staff mistake her visit for an inspection, so it was wiser to gather information in the market.

Jiang Tu hummed twice inside the Dragon Pearl, intending to say Mo Yizhou fled with a spirit stone, but when he looked up, a silhouette flickered across the Dragon Stele.

"Hey, isn't that Deng Yuanwu and Xue Miao?"

They just came out of the restaurant diagonally opposite.

Thirty years later, Deng Yuanwu and Tang Shixiong had long been healed by their sects, though their Golden Core formation lagged behind Xia Bing's.

"Those two have been scheming against you together before, and now they're colluding again."

"Improper wording," Jiang Yu warned him, looking out the window onto the street; she was on the first floor by a window, and standing up let her see half the street.

Not far ahead, Deng Yuanwu and Xue Miao were indeed together, and farther away she spotted Xu Wu of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, Wen Luo of the Profound Heaven Sect, as well as cultivators from the Taiyi Sect, Lingxu Sect and others who had recently formed Golden Cores, strolling nearby.

It was bustling! Yet her own sect didn't send Xia Shijie or Fang Shixiong, but sent Deng Yuanwu instead.

……

While Xu Wu was looking for an inn, she suddenly felt a familiar gaze on her, but after looking left and right saw no one.

With Daoist and demon cultivators gathering, she couldn't freely project her spirit sense to search.

A junior brother beside her asked, "Sister Xu, what are you looking for?"

"Nothing much, many inns are full; we need to quickly find one with a vacancy." Xu Wu withdrew her gaze and kept walking.

But after only ten breaths, she turned back again, only to be greatly disappointed as that gaze vanished.

"You didn't go say hello? She's one of the few friends you have." Jiang Tu still liked Xu Wu, thinking she was loyal.

Unlike Qi Haohao, who, after Jiang Yu introduced her to stay at the Grand Void Sect, learned Jiang Yu was only a named disciple and then flattered her to become a disciple under the sect master, Sister Gu.

Whether you know it or not, it was Jiang Yu's deliberate protection; the duo who had renamed themselves Xun Shen and Min Yuan refrained from killing her.

It was Jiang Yu's request that prompted Sui Lv Zhenjun to take Qi Haohao home when heading to East Continent.

Achoo—Qi Haohao, far away in the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect on East Continent, inexplicably sneezed several times.

"No need," Jiang Yu said, not wanting to get tangled in unknown matters, "she arrived suddenly; she may have a mission."

"The teleportation array is busy today; we'll leave tomorrow."

"Aren't you going to ask? Also, where are we staying? My old nest in the Dragon Pearl feels uncomfortable." Jiang Tu hoped Ao Ze would stay nearby for fun, but that guy was focused on secluding himself to train for revenge.

Jiang Yu placed the messenger jade talisman into the Dragon Pearl for him to see: "Mo Yizhou replied; the two sects fought because they discovered a top‑grade spirit stone mine at the border."

They are currently locked in a standoff over the spirit mine and can't meet for now.

He added that Nan Su had also been released from its seal and was at the spirit mine.

Jiang Tu's eyes lit up: "Great, ask where it is; we'll set up an ambush."

"What are you thinking? There are still several Nascent Soul cultivators at the spirit mine.

We'll wait at the Hehuan Sect market." Jiang Yu, now with concrete information, decided to wait until the teleportation array cleared before moving.

The Demon Gate City opposite was closed; she would have to enter the Demon Gate realm through another city.

She gave up flying out of Wufang City with a flying device because the city was crowded inside and out, and a careless encounter with a rogue cultivator would be too troublesome.

"Where are we staying?" Jiang Tu asked, concerned about the matter.

"Inside Wufang City, a cultivation cave." Jiang Yu, no longer lacking spirit stones, bought fresh ingredients from a restaurant and, after the innkeeper's recommendation, quickly rented a cultivation cave in the steward's hall.

However, just as she entered her courtyard, Jiang Tu saw an elderly female cultivator with a wrinkled face opening the neighboring door, and she looked oddly familiar.

"Second of the Five Evils?! What a coincidence.

This female cultivator, being in the Golden Core stage, also chose to lower her cultivation and reside in a low‑level cave.

"Let's go, kill her!" Jiang Tu's eyesight was sharp; the opponent's disguise didn't fool him.

But Jiang Yu didn't act immediately: "It's unwise to duel in the city; there are Nascent Soul cultivators stationed inside Wufang City."

"I'll keep an eye on her." Jiang Tu, understanding the principle of eradicating evil, leapt onto the roof after Jiang Yu set up the cave's formation, watching the neighbor.

Jiang Yu laughed: "Come down quickly; every small courtyard has defensive wards. How can you pierce them to see inside?"

Staring blindly only draws the other's attention.

"She's in the mid‑stage of Golden Core, I'm almost at the great circle of three or two; she can't detect my spirit sense." Though he said that, Jiang Tu still wisely jumped down from the roof, keeping his focus on the doorway outside.

Jiang Yu, repaying its care over the past few days, prepared a large table of meat dishes for it.

The neighboring female cultivator hadn't left for three consecutive days, and Jiang Tu grew impatient: "How about we sneak in?"

"Be patient; she's probably avoiding the city's crowds.

After two days the people disperse, she'll naturally leave.

"I'm not in a hurry to leave now; it's your turn to be eager." Accustomed to a residence brimming with spiritual energy, it's hard to adapt to low‑Qi places, Jiang Yu knows this well.

For the past two days she's been cultivating with spirit stones, yet the neighbor proved more patient than expected, remaining motionless for ten straight days.

Jiang Tu stared until he went numb, "Could she be in secluded cultivation?"

"No, she should be drawing talismans or the like." Jiang Yu judged others by herself; besides her cultivation over these ten days, she had already drawn quite a few high-level spirit talismans.

After forming her Golden Core, her understanding of the Chaos Primordial Talisman became more profound, and high-level talismans now came easily to her hand.

Just as she had finished grinding the ink, Jiang Tu said, "She's gone out! Hurry and chase."

"Not in a hurry." After Jiang Yu finished packing up her belongings, she then locked the door and left.

At that moment, the second-in-command of the Five Evils was already standing in the transmission hall waiting for the transmission.