Kunlun’s Profound Spirit Valley, which had always valued its reputation, was inexplicably drawn into this conflict. Although the outcome eventually proved its innocence and Wind Blade Valley publicly apologized, Profound Spirit Valley appeared particularly resentful about the matter.

Thanks to Heartbreak Valley, after this incident, Profound Spirit Valley’s stance became a bit nuanced, although on the surface, it seemed to maintain its neutrality.

However, in several events afterward, they started to lean towards Profound Spirit Valley more or less, and ultimately began to openly take sides, which severely weakened Wind Blade Valley, leaving it struggling to recover to this day.

However, the Sect Leader of Wind Blade Valley was a ruthless person. After the "scandal" involving his son broke out, he beat him so severely that he couldn’t get up for half a year and also disqualified him from being the next Sect Leader.

That’s not all; just as Tao Zhenghao was able to move around, with his status reduced to that of an ordinary disciple, Tao Ruili made another shocking announcement, declaring he would select his successor from among the disciples to be the next Sect Leader of Wind Blade Valley.

No matter their background, as long as they were exceptional and outstanding, everyone had a chance to be favored, leaping from obscurity to become a focal point of attention and ascend to the peak of life.

Although a few believed this was merely one of Tao Ruili’s tactics to motivate his disciples to study hard and improve their strength while being cornered by the other two major sects,

many more people flocked to this opportunity. Even though those of humble origins harbored doubts about Tao Ruili’s words, it was indeed a rare opportunity.

Even if it were a complete hoax, having a chance is better than having none. What if it turns out to be true?!

This situation however was bitter for Tao Zhenghao, who fell from being the dazzling future Sect Leader to an ordinary disciple overnight, evoking endless sighs.

Yet, this was merely the perspective of outsiders. As for Tao Zhenghao, he didn’t show much intense reaction, instead showing a bit of acceptance.

According to Wind Blade Valley’s regulations, once a disciple reaches a certain level of strength, they are allowed an opportunity to train outside. Tao Zhenghao planned to use this opportunity to find Sun Miaohan — the woman he regarded as worthy of his lifelong affection.

Given the fate of being Tao Ruili’s biological son, no need to mention Sun Miaohan, whom he considered the "culprit".

It is said that Tao Ruili had secretly instructed the elite disciples within Wind Blade Valley that whoever could capture or kill Sun Miaohan alive would be prioritized as the successor under equal conditions.

Additionally, he offered generous personal rewards, substantial enough to drive most people insane!

Although it was just a rumor, every rumor has a basis, and at the very least, it indicated how deeply Tao Ruili despised Sun Miaohan.

This was also the source of worry for Xu Ming and Ji Dantong.

...

"Master, do you know who Wind Blade Valley has sent this time?" Ji Dantong couldn’t help but ask.

Xu Ming smiled wryly and revealed the answer, "Tao Zhenghao."

"Tao...?"

Ji Dantong was stunned and said after a while, "It can’t be such a coincidence?!"

"Regardless, if it is Tao Zhenghao, there shouldn’t be any major problems on Miaohan’s end." Xu Ming didn’t respond to Ji Dantong’s exclamation but continued speaking to himself.

After speaking, he added, "At least, regarding personal safety, there wouldn’t be any life-threatening danger!"

Even so, both were very clear that this was merely a deduction based on common logic. After all this time, no one could guarantee whether Tao Zhenghao would become so resentful towards Sun Miaohan due to his love, leading him down an extreme path.

But neither master nor disciple considered the possibility that Sun Miaohan might not have encountered Tao Zhenghao.

However, this was only human nature. Xu Ming had just received the news during the daytime, and Ji Dantong came to him in the evening, making it difficult not to correlate the two events.

——

Lying on the ground, Xiao Tian looked at Sun Miaohan, who was stitching clothes stitch by stitch by the dim candlelight in the tent, and couldn’t help but speak, "If you don’t sleep, it’ll be dawn soon."

Focused on sewing, Sun Miaohan didn’t lift her head to look at Xiao Tian and casually replied, "It’s okay, you sleep first."

Xiao Tian looked at the very focused Sun Miaohan and shook his head speechlessly, then turned away, ignoring this unconventional person.

...

The next morning, when Xiao Tian woke up, he found Sun Miaohan absent from the tent and curiously walked outside.

Seeing Sun Miaohan appear again as a pregnant woman, Xiao Tian was dumbfounded and said, "You already got caught last night, are you going to keep pretending?!"

"Of course!" Sun Miaohan nodded earnestly and said, "What if someone tries to harm me again? This disguise might produce unexpectedly amazing effects!"

Xiao Tian, however, disapproved, thinking, who would have the time to target you all the time?!

Just as this thought appeared, a clear voice came from not far away...

"Han, Hanhan..."

The voice was filled with disbelief, with a slight tremor, showing the speaker was currently very emotional!

Sun Miaohan’s reaction was even more exaggerated. At the utterance of these three words, she nearly leaped up, anxiously looking at Xiao Tian asked, "Did you hear something just now? I think I heard things."

Xiao Tian truthfully replied, "You didn’t hear things; I also heard it. It seemed like that person called you... Hanhan?"

These words made Sun Miaohan’s face turn incredibly pale. She staggered two steps back and nearly twisted her ankle.

Yet, before Sun Miaohan could speak, the previous voice rang out again, this time laden with hostility.

"How dare you call her Hanhan?!"

Just as these words settled, Xiao Tian sensed a powerful aura assailing him from the left, instinctively stepping aside.

The next moment, as Xiao Tian barely moved from his original position, a deafening sound exploded, causing his ears to buzz uncontrollably.

Moreover, after this sound, the sound wave strangely avoided Sun Miaohan’s position, heading solely towards Xiao Tian.

Xiao Tian’s expression changed. Just from this technique, it was clear the opponent was a master, distinct from regular ones. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

As expected, after Xiao Tian channeled his energy to counteract the shockwave, he saw a crater where he had been standing.

The crater was only three feet in diameter and just five centimeters deep, but bear in mind, this was the ever-frozen Kunlun Mountain, where the ground’s hardness rivaled rocks.

Even for Xiao Tian, achieving this wouldn’t be an easy task.