A horse-drawn carriage moved slowly along a mountain road outside Du Chun City.

Inside the carriage, a young girl in a black long dress leaned her head on the shoulder of a handsome young man. Her eyes were squinted, and she occasionally made a soft “hmm” sound, seemingly lost in pleasant dreams.

The carriage driver, with some free time on his hands, struck up a conversation, saying, “Young Immortal, you see, that’s Du Chun City up ahead. In just two months, the Chi Dragon Mansion on the nearby Immortal Mountain will hold the once-every-five-years Chi Dragon Conference. It’s going to be quite lively.”

“Hmm,” replied Ye Anping.

“I heard that the Chi Dragon Mansion Master is celebrating his 1,200th birthday this time and has even offered the renowned sword ‘Heaven Splitter’ from Chi Dragon Mansion as the top prize. I wonder if it’s true or just a rumor. When I was young, I heard that Heaven Splitter once slew nine giant serpents. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see the sword in my lifetime.”

Ye Anping chuckled, “The current Chi Dragon Mansion Master, Li Feng, is only at the early stage of Core Formation. Living to 1,200 years is already quite remarkable. Who knows, this birthday celebration might turn into a funeral.”

The carriage driver wore an awkward smile and shook his head, “Young Immortal, you say such things… I don’t know how to respond.”

“No need to respond. If I were you, I’d take my family and leave this place quickly in the next few days. When one’s lifespan comes to an end, most cultivators will do anything to try to prolong their lives…”

The carriage driver was taken aback and turned to look at Ye Anping with a frightened expression. He chose not to say anything further.

Ye Anping had no intention to continue the conversation with the carriage driver. He rested his elbow on the window sill and turned his head to look at the fairy palace shrouded in clouds and mist on the peak of Chi Dragon Mansion. At the same time, he reorganized his plan in his mind.

In about half a month, Sima Xuanji would send Xiao Yunluo as her representative to Chi Dragon Mansion to offer birthday wishes to their mountain master, “Li Feng,” and participate in the Chi Dragon Conference. Just as Ye Anping had mentioned to the carriage driver, when someone knows that their life is about to end, fear can trigger a strong desire for survival.

In this situation, a disciple from the Heavenly Demon Sect had found Li Feng, claiming they could extend his life using the sect’s secret blood sacrifice method. They also offered him a position as an elder in the Heavenly Demon Sect. And so– Li Feng willingly fell into darkness.

Perhaps even Sima Xuanji hadn’t anticipated that her close friend of over eight hundred years, who had once shared a toast with her and accompanied her, would ultimately choose to betray her and the righteous path.

This was the root cause of the Chi Dragon Mansion incident, different from the previous Seven Killers Sect incident. In the game, this incident was originally resolved by Feng Yudie alone, and players followed her perspective to meddle in murky waters.

So theoretically, Ye Anping could completely refrain from getting involved and let Feng Yudie handle everything with Xiao Yunluo. However, the problem was that the bond between Feng Yudie and Xiao Yunluo had not reached the level it should have at this point in the game.

Ye Anping felt that if it were just the two of them, this situation might turn into a “Bad End.” Moreover…

He had discussed this with Sima Xuanji before and reevaluated himself. He used to think that neither he nor Pei Lengxue were the kind of people who had the ambition to shoulder the fate of the Three Realms and its living beings.

But now, perhaps he could try to become that kind of person. Being capable but not taking action was not a good habit.

Feng Yudie might have the ability to solve this incident on her own, but his involvement could certainly lead to a better outcome for the situation.

Of course, the premise of his involvement was that…

—He and his junior sister wouldn’t have to take any risks.

Ye Anping turned his head to look at his junior sister, who was leaning on his shoulder, and gently brushed aside the strands of hair stuck to her cheek.

If he were asked to choose between the lives of a hundred thousand people and his junior sister’s life, he would unhesitatingly choose his junior sister.

And if he were asked to choose between his own life and his junior sister’s life, he would also unhesitatingly eliminate anyone who might pose that question in advance.

“Ugh…” Pei Lengxue groggily opened her eyes, seeing Ye Anping looking at her. She blinked for a moment and asked, “Senior brother, what’s wrong?”

“No, just feeling a bit nostalgic. The ugly crybaby who used to pick on me has grown up and become so good-looking,” Ye Anping remarked.

Pei Lengxue’s cheeks reddened, and she bit her lip, then replied in a parallel structure, “The ugly brat who used to have a runny nose and bully me has grown up and become good-looking too.”

Ye Anping paused for a moment, then shook his head helplessly. “Alright, let’s close our eyes for a while. We’ll have a fight to deal with later.”

“Okay…”

…

Du Chun City, Jiang Residence.

A middle-aged woman dressed in colorful attire was sitting in the main seat of the hall. Standing beside her was a stern-faced man in black attire with a cultivation level at the late stage of Foundation Establishment. He appeared like a statue, with his hands crossed in front of his abdomen.

The middle-aged woman was named Hua Qinyu. Originally, she was the branch master of the Dragon-Slaying Society, with an early stage Foundation Establishment cultivation. After the leader of the Dragon-Slaying Society, Jiang Tianfeng, passed away, she temporarily took over as the leader of the society, overseeing its affairs.

Hua Qinyu scanned the various branch hall masters below and grinned, saying, “About ten days ago, I received a letter from Young Master Jiang Yu, stating that he would return to the Jiang Residence soon and take up the position of Young Master. However, since Young Master Jiang is still young, only sixteen years old, when it comes to handing over the accounts in the future, I will need to review them first. Do any of the branch hall masters have any objections?”

Her words caused an uproar among the crowd. Then, a scar-faced man stood up, pointed at Hua Qinyu, and questioned, “Hua, what do you mean by this?”

“What do I mean? I don’t mean anything…” Hua Qinyu smiled faintly. “I’m just considering the overall situation for the Dragon-Slaying Society. After all, when Elder Jiang passed away, he entrusted me to oversee the organization.”

“Now that Young Master is returning, it is only natural for him to assume the position of the Society’s leader,” Scarface scolded angrily. “Even if Young Master is young, it should be us, the branch hall masters, who assist him. Why should you be the one to review the accounts first? You’ve got quite the audacity!”

“Yeah, Hua, we follow Elder Jiang, not you, Hua Qinyu.”

As tempers flared among the crowd, Hua Qinyu gave a subtle look to the black-clad man standing beside her. Subsequently, he took a step forward.

Among the group of cultivators at the early and middle stage of Foundation Establishment, the man’s cultivation at the late stage of Foundation Establishment stood out like a crane among chickens. His spiritual pressure silenced them all, leaving them speechless.

Only one branch hall master had the courage to step forward and said, “Senior Zhuang, you are an outsider in this matter concerning the Dragon-Slaying Society. Please…”

However, the black-clad man interrupted him, saying, “I’m here to collect the spirit stones from Miss Hua.”

The branch hall master hesitated for a moment and quickly offered, “Oh, about that— I’ll give you double what she offered. Senior Zhuang, is that acceptable to you?”

Zhuang, the black-clad man, hesitated for a moment and glanced at Hua Qinyu. Seeing her nod, he turned back to the man and raised an eyebrow, saying, “Hmm… that works.”

The man who had previously demanded double reluctantly returned to his seat with a wary expression.

Seeing this, Hua Qinyu couldn’t help but smirk and asked, “Does anyone still have any objections?”

The crowd remained silent, unable to voice their objections.

At that moment, a Jiang Residence servant rushed in, looking excited, and shouted, “Branch hall masters, Young Master Jiang Yu has returned!”

The branch hall masters stared at him with a mixture of annoyance and blame, as if scolding him, “Can’t you see our expressions right now? What are you so happy about?”

However, Hua Qinyu appeared pleasantly surprised and stood up from her seat. “Oh? What a coincidence! All the branch hall masters are here. Please go and bring Young Master Jiang to us.”

The servant hesitated for a moment and asked, “Aren’t we all going to welcome Young Master together?”

Hua Qinyu repeated her request with a smile, “Just go and bring him here.”

Seeing that no one else spoke up, the servant could only bow and reply, “Very well, I’ll go and invite Young Master over.”