After storing the spirit stones in his storage pouch, Ye Anping took a deep breath. He soared into the air on his flying sword and quickly scanned the surroundings with his divine sense, making sure there were no witnesses nearby. Then, he took out a stack of Fire and Lightning talismans from his storage pouch.

Just like the question Feng Yudie had asked earlier.

Feng Yudie was taken captive after she followed him.

Bai Yue knew about this, and the Profound Star Sect disciples who patrolled the area should have seen Feng Yudie when she left Profound Star Sect.

So, once the news of Feng Yudie’s abduction reached Profound Star Sect and they began their investigation, he would become the prime suspect, and the only suspect at that.

This wasn’t something Ye Anping could simply talk his way out of or use his status as the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect to evade.

If he returned like this, he would undoubtedly be arrested by the Profound Star Sect’s Crime Division for questioning. His father and mother would also be summoned from the Hundred Lotus Sect as witnesses.

Therefore, in order to erase his suspicion…

Ye Anping took a moment to prepare himself, opened up all his meridians, and then waved his hand, sending the two stacks of talismans around him.

Two hundred talismans fell like autumn leaves, scattering in all directions.

Ye Anping gritted his teeth and poured all the spiritual energy from his dantian into these two hundred talismans.

In an instant, thunder and fire engulfed the entire sky over Willow Moon Lake.

Although these were low-level talismans that he had drawn himself, the cumulative effect of two hundred of them was enough to mimic the spell traces of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was almost impossible to detect.

As his sea of energy was emptied by these talismans, Ye Anping didn’t have the strength to control their direction anymore.

Boom!

Countless lightning bolts and fireballs, like the tentacles of an octopus, plunged into the blocked lake below, causing Flying Fish Pavilion to collapse.

In an instant, even the azure sky, which had been illuminated by the sun, darkened due to the lightning and fire.

Naturally, Ye Anping himself was also affected by the fire and lightning talismans that were close to him.

Bang!

After the commotion subsided, he free-fell from his flying sword and smashed into the ground, creating a crater with flying debris.

He gasped heavily, lying on the ground. His clothes were riddled with holes from the residual lightning energy that had struck him, and he looked disheveled.

After recovering a bit, he quickly touched the ground with his palm, directing the remaining lightning elemental energy on his body into the earth. Then, he rolled around a couple of times to extinguish the flames on his clothes.

After completing these actions, he completely relaxed and rested for a while, finally regaining some strength to stand up.

Ye Anping shakily climbed out of the crater and looked at his handiwork. The pavilion where he and Feng Yudie had been had collapsed completely. The surrounding trees were now in disarray, and the most dramatic change was the lake, which covered about two or three acres in size.

The surface of the lake was filled with white-bellied carp, some of which had been stunned by electricity, while others had been roasted.

The entire lake looked like a giant pot of fish soup, with steam rising from it, and the water was nearly boiling.

“I think I overdone it a bit…..”

Ye Anping took a deep breath, then forcefully reconnected his dislocated right hand by supporting it with his left arm. He quickly took out a middle-grade Gathering Spirit Pill from his storage pouch, sat cross-legged on the spot, and closed his eyes to recover his energy.

Thud, thud…

At this moment, heavy footsteps reached his ears.

Ye Anping opened his eyes and saw an adult brown bear staring at him from a short distance away, seemingly angered by his earlier actions that had inadvertently affected the animals in the area.

However, he had no strength left to fight a bear right now.

After thinking for a moment, Ye Anping raised his hand and pointed to the lake, saying, “I made fish soup for you all, go!”

The brown bear seemed to understand and looked at the fish belly-up on the lake, then back at Ye Anping. It figured that eating fish was a better deal, so it turned and walked towards the lake.

… …

Willow Moon Lake was still a considerable distance from Profound Star Sect’s market, and the market was bustling. While some people did hear the loud explosion from the southwest, most of them didn’t pay much attention, thinking it was probably a clumsy cultivator who had exploded his furnace while refining pills.

Bai Yuelin was currently crouching in front of the entrance to the massage center, eagerly waiting for Ye Anping to return and reopen the business.

“Bai Junior Sister, why are you waiting at the door?”

“Hmm? Senior brother Chen,” Bai Yuelin explained upon seeing a fellow sect member, “Anping is out right now, he’s not here. If you want a massage session, you might have to wait a while.”

“He’s out? Alright, I don’t have anything urgent anyway.”

Senior brother Chen shrugged and stepped across the threshold, only to find that there were already five or six people inside the massage center’s lobby.

And all of them were familiar faces.

One of the junior sisters greeted him, “Senior Brother Chen, are you here for massage today?”

“What’s going on? Has Young Master Ye been gone for a long time?”

A junior sister took a sip of tea and said, “Sister Bai said that Young Master Ye just went for a walk with that person and will be back shortly.”

“That person?”

Another junior brother whispered, “It’s the girl who challenged Sister Bai in the sword-trial before, the one with silver hair. I think her name is Feng something…”

Senior brother Chen suddenly realized, “No wonder Sister Bai has such a troubled look on her face… Ah.”

He turned to look at Bai Yuelin, who was guarding the door. Then, he found an empty seat and sat down, waiting for Ye Anping to return for a massage.

However, just as he had barely settled onto the chair, Bai Yuelin, who had been squatting at the door, suddenly stood up in a panic and rushed out.

“What? Anping?!”

Hearing her panicked voice, the people inside the massage center exchanged glances and immediately realized that something must have happened. They all stood up and ran outside.

Then, everyone saw Ye Anping, who was now covered in wounds, with several large holes in his clothes.

Ye Anping’s face appeared calm, but his legs were wobbly, and he could only barely stand with the help of a thick branch in his hand.

Bai Yuelin hurriedly supported him and asked, “Anping, how did you get such severe injuries? Who did this to you?”

“Yeah, Young Master Ye, who could have harmed you like this? Profound Star Sect’s rules strictly prohibit cultivators from fighting privately in this area. Who could be so lawless?”

A senior sister who had followed them also frowned, looking as if she wanted to avenge Ye Anping, rolling up her sleeves in readiness.

Senior brother Chen, being the highest-ranked among them, quickly calmed down the other junior brothers and sisters and approached Ye Anping to check his injuries.

“It’s fortunate that your foundational bones aren’t damaged,” he said, helping Bai Yuelin support Ye Anping. He asked, “Young Master Ye, what happened?”

Ye Anping, who hadn’t expected so many people to show up, paused for a moment and then blurted out the pre-planned explanation.

“Just now, Miss Feng and I were taking a walk and chatting by Willow Moon Lake when suddenly a masked person attacked us. Miss Feng and I resisted, but in the end, Miss Feng was abducted by that person.”

Everyone looked shocked, and Senior brother Chen said, “What?!”

Senior brother Chen lowered his head in thought for a moment and then arranged, “Bai Junior Sister, please take Young Master Ye to the sect and find Physician Zhou to treat his injuries. I’ll take the other junior brothers and sisters to Willow Moon Lake to investigate. Perhaps we can find something.”

“Ah- Alright.”

Bai Yuelin nodded anxiously. She then carefully lifted Ye Anping, but seeing his body covered in wounds, she was unsure where to hold him to avoid causing him pain.

Even though it was Ye Anping who was injured, she felt the pain as if it were her own.

Biting her lower lip, Bai Yuelin cradled Ye Anping with utmost care, summoned her flying sword, and flew in the direction of Profound Star Sect’s main peak.