"Spirit Grass?"

"What do I need that for? What I want... is your corpse."

Splurt!

The three corpses below suddenly rose, their claws like knives, piercing through the loose cultivator’s chest in an instant.

Blood splattered, and Yang Qiu took a deep breath, as if he had smelled a peerless delicacy.

"The third one... barely usable."

His fingers moved slightly, and in the next second, the freshly dead loose cultivator’s corpse stood up straight, green ghost flames burning in its eye sockets, joining the corpse puppet army.

"Still need nine... no, twelve more."

The young man muttered under his breath.

Wang Fu and other cultivators from Lingyin Sect’s faces changed, as there were exactly twelve disciples from Lingyin Sect entering the Luoxiao Grotto Heaven!

"Damn it, our sect is at war with Duqing, most true and core disciples have gone to Qi Kingdom..."

Wang Fu muttered in his heart, looking worried.

"And among the nine core disciples entering Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, only four are in the Foundation Establishment Middle Period, the highest cultivation level is just the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer! As for Instructor Chen’s three disciples... Alas, I don’t know what Instructor Chen is thinking. And the elders, are they so confident? Could there be a hidden strategy?"

This time.

The Medicine King Valley and Ten Thousand Puppet Sect each have several true inheritors personally entering Songyang Cave Heaven.

The Spirit Treasure Sect, on the other hand, sent as many as twelve... Of course, it sounds intimidating, but unlike other sects, the Spirit Treasure Sect has a large number of true inheritances with low quality; in this generation of young disciples, those in the Foundation Establishment Fifth Layer are few and far between.

As for Lingyin Sect.

This time, they only dispatched twelve core disciples.

And the true disciples, either killed by Duqing, severely injured, or occupied with other duties and unable to break free... There are already very few true disciples, none could be found to participate in the Luoxiao Grotto Heaven.

"Originally thought Yang Qiu was in seclusion, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Late Period; had I known he was coming, I would have persuaded the sect to abandon this time’s Luoxiao Grotto Heaven!"

Wang Fu lamented in his heart; his fortunes were tied to Lingyin Sect’s, so he naturally cared about the sect’s development.

The crowd in the outside square watched with their scalps tingling.

"Sure enough, it’s Songyang’s Demon Path!"

Some cultivators, hearing of the Luoxiao Grotto Heaven’s prestige, came specially from Ruins Country.

Now witnessing this scene, they were indignant, cursing inwardly.

Slaughtering the Human Race, refining them into corpse puppets—if such conduct occurred in Ruins Country, it would certainly be pursued relentlessly by the court.

But strangely, this Demon Path openly spreads its doctrine in Yan Kingdom.

Yet the other four sects of Yan Kingdom implicitly approve of this.

Even Lingyin Sect—the reason for their enmity with Ten Thousand Puppet Sect wasn’t even because Ten Thousand Puppet Sect was refining corpse puppets.

Soon, the screen shifted.

The image moved from the bloody, dark marshes to a barren and desolate rocky area.

Compared to the fierce battle and brutality on Yang Qiu’s side, this place was excessively quiet, even rather bleak.

As far as the eye can see, it is filled with strange and jagged stones, with not a blade of grass, unable to sense even a hint of spiritual qi.

"Isn’t this the Dead Stone Forest?"

On the square, an old cultivator who knew the way exclaimed in surprise.

"Did Lingyin Sect’s three kids take the wrong path? This place is notorious as a dead end; forget treasures, there’s not even a mouse here!"

"Tsk, probably scared to death, trying to find a place to hide."

Jeers arose.

The three people and one fox in the image were clueless to the outside chaos, and stopped in front of a massive black stone resembling a crouching tiger.

From the backpack, the little white fox looked at this barren black stone in front of it, despairingly using its two front paws to cover its eyes.

It’s over.

Completely over.

Is this the path that big-talking master pointed out?

It’s familiar with this Dead Stone Forest!

Back when it first entered Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, it was chased, and hid right here!

The Dead Stone Forest—because of it, outsiders came to know of the place!

This is just an abandoned wasteland of rocks—nothing but rocks!

Of course, with good luck, one might find its buried treasure from back then... But that’s its treasure, it’s not going to tell these three girls!

Chen Ye, oh Chen Ye, your bragging has pierced the sky, now let’s see how you clean up this mess!

The light curtain flickered and quickly shifted to another scene.

But in the square, some people were still whispering.

"Strange, why are we seeing these three girls for the second time? Although... they are quite beautiful, it’s not enough to attract the attention of the Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, is it?"

"Indeed... ordinary Third Tier Spiritual Artifacts all possess spirituality. Although Luoxiao Grotto Heaven is merely a grotto heaven, under the refining of the Songyang Sect, it has secretly developed spirituality. If it had a rank, it would be more than just Third Tier. Luoxiao Grotto Heaven is particularly fond of focusing on the spiritual power fluctuations of cultivators. Yet, these three girls clearly didn’t make a move this time, but still caught the attention of Luoxiao Grotto Heaven. How strange."

...

At the top floor of the Guanfeng Pavilion.

Gu Tangyin listened to the discussions below, the amusement in the corner of her mouth becoming more playful.

She withdrew her gaze, turned her head, and looked at Chen Ye, who was still sitting calmly opposite her. She deliberately emphasized the words "obedient" with a contemptuous tone:

"Instructor Chen. Your disciple is indeed an obedient child. Ignoring all the opportunities everywhere, he insists on diving into that barren stone forest where not a single blade of grass grows... Could this also be one of your brilliant strategies, Instructor Chen?"

Gu Tangyin gently tapped the table with her slender finger, as if suddenly enlightened,

"I see. No wonder earlier, Instructor Chen was sure that the disciple would be fine. Turns out you had long planned to have him hide in the barren stone forest. Your clever plan, I’m afraid, has made too much noise. Though it preserved life, if this cowardly reputation spreads, your disciple’s Dao Heart might become tarnished."

No wonder.

This person was not afraid of her threats at all, it seems he had already planned to have the disciple hide away.

When Chen Ye saw the image of his disciple appearing on the light screen, he was somewhat surprised.

This was beyond his expectations.

He also didn’t think that his disciple would attract the frequent attention of Luoxiao Grotto Heaven... In such a way, it is not conducive to hiding secrets and laying low.

Fortunately.

He had informed his disciple in advance, trusting that with his cleverness, he would proceed cautiously.

Moreover, before catching the attention of Luoxiao Grotto Heaven, a cultivator would receive a subtle premonition, which made him less worried about secrets being leaked.

As for explaining to Gu Tangyin?

Why bother explaining.

In this Cultivation Realm, misunderstandings are often more protective than the truth.

Since Gu Tangyin believed he was making his disciple hide like a turtle, then let her think so.

Chen Ye didn’t even glance at Gu Tangyin, gently blowing the tea froth and sipping it lightly.

"..."

Gu Tangyin watched this scene, the playful smile originally hanging at the corner of her mouth gradually stiffened and finally turned into a trace of irritation.

This person dared to ignore her?

Heh... Such a minor country’s cultivator indeed doesn’t understand manners!

As for how Gu Tangyin ignored Chen Ye earlier, she found it only natural; with her status, there was no need to explain anything to Chen Ye.

"Interesting, Instructor Chen has such self-control. Then I hope the instructor remains calm."

Suppressing her irritation, Gu Tangyin smiled faintly.

She inwardly examined her Sea of Consciousness.

In the Sea of Consciousness, there floated an ancient, tarnished bronze soul lantern.

The soul lantern was unimaginably ancient, with a three-legged mythical bird holding a thread of eerie blue wick in its mouth.

The wick had been dim for hundreds of years, but this year, it inexplicably ignited... According to her master, this signified the revival of the Songyang Ancestor, which is why the master was assigned by Huayue Mansion to personally come to the Yan Kingdom to investigate.

Regarding the Songyang Ancestor, Gu Tangyin didn’t know much.

But she knew, this lantern had a significant connection with Luoxiao Grotto Heaven; it could ignore the rules of Luoxiao Grotto Heaven for internal messaging, and at the same time, it could obscure the spirituality of Luoxiao Grotto Heaven!

This meant she could use this lantern to hide the actions of the Four Heroes of Huayue.

Earlier.

The reason she made a statement in front of the Heaven-Suspended Tower was actually to intentionally frighten the cultivators of the Yan Kingdom, making them pay more attention to the Huayue cultivators, thereby serving as witnesses.

"Just obscure the unfavorable ones, along with numerous witnesses... As long as I don’t wipe them out completely, let’s see what that real person of Yan Kingdom can do to me?"

Gu Tangyin’s heart was filled with smugness.

This was also the command of her master.

Although her master didn’t specifically assign her a task when entrusting her with the bronze soul lantern.

But from various hints from Huayue Mansion, she understood that her return to Yan Land this time was to make Huayue Mansion disrupt the upcoming generation of the Yan Kingdom!

This served as both a warning to the Yan Kingdom’s cultivation world and a punishment!

With this thought.

Gu Tangyin’s divine soul subtly touched the soul lantern, causing the eerie blue flames to surge.

The girl’s pupils faintly shimmered with spiritual light, casting a somewhat eerie and terrifying reflection on her stunning face.