Chapter 77: Guest Elder

After flying for a while longer, the scenery of Penglaixian Dao became increasingly clear.

The Protective Sect Array was not activated, and several streaks of multicolored light appeared before them.

Soon, the two sides met.

The streaks of light retracted, and several beautiful young women appeared before them; they were slender and plump in different ways, each with a unique appearance, yet without exception, they were all Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, the leader among them being a woman in purple who had already reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

"Greetings, Martial Aunt."

Their gazes swept over Leng Ruyue as they bowed respectfully.

The eyes of the young women all revealed looks of shock, and they hurriedly bowed respectfully.

"Enough."

Leng Ruyue waved her hand without a word of nonsense; the Hehuan Sect had over ten thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators, so there was no way she could recognize them all one by one, and given her status, she had no need to pay them any mind.

"Fellow Daoist, let us continue."

"Martial Aunt, please wait a moment."

The girl in purple revealed a look of trepidation.

"What is it?" Leng Ruyue said, her tone clearly somewhat displeased.

"Martial Aunt, please forgive me, but according to the sect rules, men are not permitted to set foot within the bounds of Penglaixian Dao."

"Hmm, the sect rules do indeed have this clause, but my friend can naturally be an exception; are you trying to block me?"

Leng Ruyue spoke with a calm expression.

"I would not dare!"

"Since you dare not, then why haven't you moved aside for me yet!"

Not only the girl in purple, but the other patrolling female cultivators also had their expressions change, and they dared not say another word of nonsense.

Martial Aunt Leng was a great cultivator at the Golden Core Late Stage; if they angered her, what good would come of it for them? The women dared not offer the slightest obstruction and stood respectfully to the side as Su Zhangqing, with light flickering around his body, followed Leng Ruyue as they flew inside.

After passing through several arrays in succession, they finally set foot on Penglai Island, where pavilions and towers stood in five-colored splendor, and flowers grew in profusion, competing in beauty.

This island was vast in area, and although there were many people in the Hehuan Sect, they only occupied a small portion of it; with Leng Ruyue leading the way, she brought Su Zhangqing directly to a place where hundreds of flowers were in full bloom.

Su Zhangqing swept his gaze around the surroundings, and a look of amazement appeared on his face; the spiritual energy on this Penglaixian Dao was extremely dense, which could be said to be very rare.

After only a moment, they stopped at a celestial pavilion.

The entire celestial pavilion emitted the radiance of Shenguang, and one could tell at a glance that it was built from a relatively rare Spirit Material.

"Fellow Daoist, please come in and sit."

Ruyue Xianzi smiled slightly and gestured for Su Zhangqing to sit on a chair in the celestial pavilion; after a short while, a cultivator dressed as a maid walked forward and served Spirit Tea.

"May I ask where you cultivate, Fellow Daoist?"

After a few simple polite exchanges, she went straight to the point and spoke.

"Hehe, I am but a loose cultivator."

Su Zhangqing smiled faintly and did not say much more; when traveling abroad, one naturally would not reveal one's true background.

"Oh? I wonder if you have any intention of joining my Hehuan Sect, Fellow Daoist?"

Upon hearing this, Leng Ruyue's beautiful eyes brightened.

"Hehe? I am accustomed to being a free spirit and have no intention of joining a sect faction."

Su Zhangqing smiled faintly.

Leng Ruyue's brows could not help but furrow slightly, and after pondering for a moment, she continued to speak.

The Hehuan Sect was currently in a troubled time, and if she could recruit a Golden Core combatant, it would be a great help to her sect.

"Since that is the case, I wonder if you would be interested in becoming a Guest Elder of the Hehuan Sect? You would only need to take action when the sect is in danger; at other times, you may do as you please."

"Oh? I do not know why you are so insistent on having me join the Hehuan Sect, Fellow Daoist; please speak plainly."

Su Zhangqing revealed a look of confusion.

Logically speaking, the Hehuan Sect was so powerful that they shouldn't need him to join, right?

"Since that is the case, I will speak plainly: our sect is about to go to war with the Yin Corpse Sect, and we are in urgent need of high-end combat power to support our sect."

"The Yin Corpse Sect?!" Su Zhangqing's expression tightened.

He had nearly died at the hands of Kulu Laomo; the enemy of an enemy is a friend, and if there was an opportunity, he would settle this score no matter what.

If it were any other sect, Su Zhangqing would not have hesitated in the slightest and would have refused directly.

However, if they wanted him to join them, their price was not high enough; at the very least, he was not that cheap yet.

"What does Fellow Daoist think?"

After Leng Ruyue gave a light smile, she looked at Su Zhangqing with her beautiful eyes and said.

"You are indeed straightforward, Fellow Daoist; joining the Hehuan Sect is not impossible, but..."

Su Zhangqing pondered for a moment before speaking.

"As long as you are willing to join our sect, this piece of refined gold will be yours, and in addition, you will be given fifty thousand Spirit Stones every month as a monthly stipend."

As she spoke, Leng Ruyue waved her hand, and a piece of refined gold, crimson-gold in color and the size of an infant's fist, appeared in her hand.

"Gold Essence?"

Su Zhangqing's eyes brightened, and he revealed a look of being moved.

This piece of Gold Essence was of extremely high value, worth one million Spirit Stones; for the other party to be willing to take out a piece of Gold Essence as a condition, it could be said that they had gone all out.

"Good, I agree to this matter!"

"You are decisive, Fellow Daoist!"

Leng Ruyue's eyes brightened, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on her face.

"May I be so bold as to ask a few questions? The strength of the Yin Corpse Sect is not weak, right? I wonder if our sect has a strategy to deal with them?"

Su Zhangqing's brows could not help but furrow tightly as he asked the question that was in his heart.

"By rights, this is a secret of our sect, and I should not speak of it, but since you are one of our own, fellow Daoist, I will not hide it from you."

Leng Ruyue pondered for a moment, then continued to speak.

"Although our sect occupies the advantages of timing, location, and personnel, the final outcome depends on the high-end combat power of both sides; the Yin Corpse Sect's strength is somewhat greater than ours, so it is not so easy to defeat the opponent."

Speaking to this point, Leng Ruyue's tone softened.

"Looking at you, fellow Daoist, although I cannot say you are fully confident, you clearly have a plan."

Su Zhangqing smiled lightly and said.

"That is correct, fellow Daoist truly has eyes like torches."

Ruyue smiled faintly.

"Naturally, it is to find allies; only in this way can the Hehuan Sect have a chance to emerge from this crisis."

Su Zhangqing's expression shifted slightly, revealing a thoughtful look.

"Could it be the 'He Yuan Assembly'?"

Su Zhangqing revealed a look of sudden realization.

Although some Golden Core cultivators would come to the He Yuan Assembly, those cultivators were not fools; how could they possibly do something like making an enemy of the Yin Corpse Sect just to marry a female Disciple of the Hehuan Sect?

Even if they had this layer of connection with the Hehuan Sect, they would mostly choose to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, never easily getting involved in it.

Many people had this kind of thinking; those who came to the He Yuan Assembly were mostly quite scheming individuals.

"Hehe... what is the use of counting on those cannon fodder? This move is merely to release some smoke bombs."

"Smoke?"

Su Zhangqing was slightly stunned, then a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

"Could it be that you have other plans, fellow Daoist?"

"Correct. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Before the Yin Corpse Sect attacks our Hehuan Sect, they will certainly send spies to probe for various intelligence clues before their main forces arrive. I am using the smoke of the He Yuan Assembly to confuse their eyes and ears, while secretly uniting with another force..."

"Another force?"

Su Zhangqing's expression shifted slightly, and after pondering for a while, he said.

"Could it be the Demon Race?"

(End of this chapter)