Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Yun Xiang City Blocks the Way

The moment Ye Chu Xue and Bai Yang appeared, a message talisman snapped out from someone’s hand and flew into the sky.

Not good.

They exchanged a single look.

Then they turned to flee—

A gust of force struck from behind.

Bai Yang spun, raising his sword to block.

The attacker was a Golden Core cultivator.

A fierce, metal-attribute gale shrieked forward like a blade, slicing apart the sword light Bai Yang swung. The remaining shockwave slammed into him, forcing him back several zhang. Pain punched through his chest.

The gale brushed past Ye Chu Xue, snapping her clothes violently. She raised her arm to shield her face, fighting to keep her vision clear.

One exchange.

And they were already losing.

“Hmph.”

The Golden Core cultivator flashed forward, cutting off their retreat. The others shifted, tightening into a circle until Ye Chu Xue and Bai Yang stood trapped at the center.

Their hearts sank.

They moved back-to-back instinctively, shoulders nearly touching.

“Who are you?” Ye Chu Xue demanded, even though she already knew. “Are you people from Yun Xiang City?”

Her mind raced, looking for a seam—any seam—in the trap.

Both she and Bai Yang were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage. The other side had a Golden Core cultivator.

Breaking through would be extremely difficult.

Worse, that message talisman had already been sent. Reinforcements would arrive soon, and escaping would become even harder.

Ye Chu Xue’s anxiety spiked. She swept her spiritual sense through her storage ring again and again, searching for anything that could crack the deadlock.

Behind her, Bai Yang’s expression was grim.

Usually, they could fight above their realm.

But between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core was a vast gulf. And he was only mid Foundation Establishment.

They had no chance.

Right now, they could only rely on the sect.

He sent a voice transmission to Ye Chu Xue, tight and urgent. “Junior Sister Ye, I remember you have a Yin-Yang Talisman. Can you send a message back to the sect?”

The Yin-Yang Talisman could connect both ends of yin and yang. Two matching talismans formed a pair and could serve as a medium for communication.

Gu Qing Yuan had given it to Ye Chu Xue, hoping it would save her if she ever faced danger.

Martial Uncle Gu was unconscious now, but An Ze—the one caring for him—was still there.

“Right.” Ye Chu Xue’s thoughts had been full of spirit weapons and treasures. She’d nearly forgotten it.

She found the inconspicuous talisman tucked away in a corner, poured her spiritual sense into it, and hurriedly described the situation.

Then she told An Ze, as fast as she could, to find someone to save them.

If it were any other time, they could have gambled—fought their way out, even if it meant bleeding for it.

But now she carried the pill.

She couldn’t risk it being stolen.

Five hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones would go down the drain.

The price was too high for them to bear.

The Yin-Yang Talisman burned to ash inside her storage ring in moments.

Delivered.

Ye Chu Xue frowned, praying the sect would send help quickly.

—

The Heaven-Questioning Sect.

An Ze was taking care of Gu Qing Yuan when someone called him from outside.

He went out without thinking. Gu Qing Yuan was in the palace hall anyway, and nothing dangerous would happen.

Not long after An Ze left, a Yin-Yang Talisman on Gu Qing Yuan’s body suddenly rose, ignited, and turned to ash in an instant.

Ye Chu Xue’s anxious voice poured out—

But Gu Qing Yuan, unconscious, couldn’t hear anything outside.

Even after the voice faded, the room remained still.

No response.

No movement.

—

“Bunch of bastards!” An Ze stormed back, cursing under his breath, rage boiling over. “Just wait. Someday I’ll settle all these scores with you!”

Someone had taken over his room in the Inner Sect and thrown all his belongings out like trash.

When Martial Uncle Gu woke up, he would go back and deal with those people.

Fuming, An Ze reached the bedside and spotted ash scattered on the floor.

He frowned. “What is this?”

He stared at it for a moment, confused. Then he shoved the thought aside.

Ash was ash. There were bigger problems.

—

“Master,” the shopkeeper reported, face dark as a pot bottom, “just as you expected—A Yue really did secretly follow them.”

He looked ashamed. A Yue had worked under him for years, and he’d never noticed anything.

“These past years, he was often interested in pills. I thought it was simple appreciation. Who knew he was hiding evil intentions?”

As an auction house employee, secretly tailing customers with harmful intent—if this wasn’t handled properly, it would ruin the auction house’s reputation.

Song Wan Ning listened, then curled her lips slightly, as if the matter didn’t concern her at all.

“Since he wants to go,” she said, “we won’t stop him.”

Her gaze was calm, almost amused. “Maybe he’ll even bring us a surprise.”

As the male and female leads, Ye Chu Xue and Bai Yang might not be easy for Yun Xiang City’s group to take down.

After all, they always escaped desperate situations. Sometimes they even turned disaster into fortune, snatching opportunities from the teeth of death.

So Mo Yuan would become the one waiting in the shadows—ready to deliver the final, crushing blow.

No matter the outcome, it would still make trouble for them. It would still make them bleed.

Bit by bit, it would wear down their luck.

“Yes!” The shopkeeper straightened, conviction burning. “I’ll follow Master’s arrangements in everything.”

—

“So it really is you.”

Yun Jin Yue appeared with her people, and Ye Chu Xue’s heart sank, deeper and deeper, until dread filled her mouth.

She tightened her grip on the storage ring.

The Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill inside had become a death warrant.

“Since everyone’s smart,” Yun Jin Yue said lazily, “hand over the pill.”

She took out a storage pouch and tossed it onto the ground in front of Ye Chu Xue.

“There are three hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones inside. I’m buying your Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill.”

“In your dreams!” Ye Chu Xue’s face darkened enough to drip water.

Leaving aside the fact that Master needed the pill to survive, the Heaven-Origin Heart-Nourishing Pill’s value alone meant she could never sell it at a loss.

Three hundred thousand?

What a joke.

“Heh.” Yun Jin Yue laughed, anger sharpening her expression into ice. “If you weren’t true disciples of the Heaven-Questioning Sect, you wouldn’t even get these three hundred thousand spirit stones.”

This was the Heaven-Questioning Sect’s territory.

If Yun Xiang City killed them, the sect would hunt them down immediately—and they still might not be able to take the pill away cleanly.

But if they didn’t kill them, it would become a deep feud. And they could end up facing revenge from a Nascent Soul True Lord of the Heaven-Questioning Sect.

So spending a little spirit stone to “buy” it was the safest option.

“I don’t want your spirit stones,” Ye Chu Xue said, voice shaking with hatred, “and I won’t sell you this pill!”

She despised people with power and status—people who relied on their families to bully others whenever they pleased.

Song Wan Ning was like that.

And Yun Jin Yue was the same.