So it turned out that that day, after Di Shen learned that Ye Lingyue had gone to the Qiulin Ruins, he ditched Senior Sister Wan Yun and rushed straight toward the Qiulin Ruins with the Qing Bai Demon.

Senior Sister Wan Yun couldn’t catch up with Di Shen, and she didn’t know where the Qiulin Ruins were, so she revealed her identity to the Old City Lord and went together with him to the Qiulin Ruins.

When they arrived, they were only half a day later than Di Shen; who could have guessed that in just that half day, Tan Su would set up a scheme to imprison everyone, and Di Shen, in order to save Ye Lingyue, would be trapped in a Virtual Space for ten days and ten nights.

The Qing Bai Demon saw that something was wrong and secretly escaped to go get reinforcements.

Who knew Tan Su had actually set up a Prohibition around the Qiulin Ruins, making it hard for outsiders to enter the ruins.

It was only after Tan Su self‑destructed and died when Cauldron Breath entered her body that Wan Yun and the Old City Lord could get close to the Qiulin Ruins.

"Senior Sister Wan Yun, you’re here."

When Ye Lingyue saw Senior Sister Wan Yun, joy showed on her face.

Back when she and Senior Sister Wan Yun were accidentally separated, Senior Sister Wan Yun had said that once she figured out the matter of Zhao Tianlang, she would hurry over.

She just hadn’t expected that delay to last several months.

"I originally came together with Di Shen. The moment that kid heard you’d gone into the Qiulin Ruins, he went crazy and dumped me. Ling Yue, you really have to give him a good scolding." Senior Sister Wan Yun seized the chance to complain about Di Shen; in this world, if anyone could keep Di Shen in line, it was only Ye Lingyue.

Ye Lingyue listened, then gave a playful, reproachful smile and rolled her eyes at Di Shen.

Di Shen could only sullenly rub his nose, looking completely innocent.

Only then did Senior Sister Wan Yun glance at the man under Di Shen’s feet. With that one look, she froze.

"This fellow... why does he look a bit like Lord Mu from the Jiu Provinces Alliance?" Senior Sister Wan Yun muttered as she stared at Lord Mu’s face, caked with a mix of dirt and blood.

"Peh—cough cough, I—I am." Lord Mu had been tormented by Di Shen so badly that his mouth was full of blood and soil. He spat several times, then started coughing violently.

"It really is Lord Mu. Di Shen, how could you... Hurry up and let Lord Mu go."

Senior Sister Wan Yun and the Old City Lord exchanged looks, then hurried forward to help Lord Mu up.

Damn, in the Ancient Nine Provinces, the only person who’d dare beat someone from the Jiu Provinces Alliance into this state was Di Shen.

Senior Sister Wan Yun came and went in the Ancient Nine Provinces, so of course she knew Lord Mu.

Earlier she had repeatedly warned Ye Lingyue and the others that after arriving in the Ancient Nine Provinces, they must not offend people from the Jiu Provinces Alliance; who knew these two little troublemakers not only offended them, but even beat one into such a state.

"Just you wait. If you don’t hand over the Divine Artifact, I won’t let you off."

Lord Mu covered his face, got to his feet limping, and still wanted to show off with his tongue.

But Di Shen shot him a cold look, and Lord Mu’s tongue was like it had been snatched by a cat—he instantly shut up.

When Senior Sister Wan Yun heard this, she guessed that Lord Mu must have clashed with Ye Lingyue and the others because of what happened inside the ruins, and she grew anxious.

Ye Lingyue and the Di Shen kid were still in the Newbie City and didn’t know how terrifying the Jiu Provinces Alliance was; once they left the Newbie City, they’d probably be suppressed at every turn.

"Lord Mu, the kids are ignorant; please be generous and forgive them. May I have a word with you in private?"

Senior Sister Wan Yun sighed. As an elder of the Lonely Moon Sea, she had no choice but to clean up after these little brats.

Lord Mu was full of indignation. Once they moved to the side, Senior Sister Wan Yun first stuffed a storage bag into his hand, then whispered a few words in his ear.

"Taixu Tomb Realm—this information is real?"

Ye Lingyue and Di Shen vaguely caught a few words.

After hearing it, Lord Mu’s face showed ecstatic joy.

"Fine. If this information is true, it can be considered as making up for their mistake. But next time, don’t let me run into them again, or hmph!"

Lord Mu snorted and made a gesture with his eyes. Several of his subordinates quickly came forward to support him, and he limped away.

Only then did Senior Sister Wan Yun finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Senior Sister Wan Yun, what did you just say to that old hag from the Jiu Provinces Alliance to make her leave in such a hurry?"

Qin Xiaochuan was curious.

"You’re all injured. Let’s go back to the city first, then I’ll explain." Senior Sister Wan Yun hesitated, swallowing her words.

Earlier, Ye Lingyue had heard Di Shen mention what happened when he passed through Yanmen City.

Senior Sister Wan Yun had already found out that Zhao Tianlang’s death was related to Yue Mubai. It seemed that back then they were investigating a place called the Taixu Tomb Realm, but the exact location of the Taixu Tomb Realm still needed further investigation.

Everyone returned together to Huangquan City.

This upheaval at the Qiulin Ruins, with Tan Su’s death, was, for Huangquan City, an enormous piece of good news.

Besides Ye Lingyue, Huang Jun and Si Xiaochun had also gained blessings from misfortune and passed the newbie assessment.

The three of them together became the first batch of newbies in years to pass the assessment in Huangquan City, officially becoming Demon Hunters.

Once this news spread, it caused quite a stir in Huangquan City and even across the nine new cities.

The Huangquan City Lord stepped forward and made the truth about the Qiulin Ruins public, but when it came to the secret treasure of the Qiulin Ruins, the Huangquan City Lord glossed over it vaguely.

At the same time, the Huangquan City Lord also announced to the citizens that she would officially pass the position of City Lord to Ye Lingyue.

When this news was announced, it didn’t cause much of an uproar inside Huangquan City. After all, this young Acting City Lord had, in a short period earlier, used thunderous methods to establish a certain level of authority in Huangquan City.

Besides, in the past few years, Huangquan City had been the same with or without a City Lord.

On the contrary, after this Acting City Lord arrived, public order improved, even the largest underworld force, the Heroic Society, had been recruited and surrendered; both the city’s common folk and the passing Demon Hunters were very satisfied.

However, the appearance of this not‑yet‑twenty new City Lord of Huangquan City stirred up a huge storm somewhere else.

That was the nine new cities. As the nine new cities that served as the training ground from the New Nine Provinces to the Ancient Nine Provinces, they enjoyed extremely high prestige throughout the Ancient Nine Provinces.

The Newbie City Lords of the nine new cities were all people of great virtue and prestige, and extremely strong as well.

So when they learned that this new city lord, who had no prestige to speak of and supposedly no strength either (it was said this new City "Zhu" wasn’t even in the Reincarnation Realm), the other eight new cities were in an uproar.

Several of the more old‑fashioned, stubborn Old City Lords were even so furious that they jointly petitioned the Jiu Provinces Alliance to dismiss this unqualified new city lord.

Of course, that’s all later. Ye Lingyue had no way of knowing any of it.

Because after returning to Huangquan City, Ye Lingyue went into seclusion, and the reason for her seclusion was precisely the Cauldron Name she had accidentally obtained in the Qiulin Ruins.

She didn’t even know that the Huangquan City Lord had taken it upon herself to hand over the position of Huangquan City Lord to her.

It wasn’t until she came out of seclusion that Ye Lingyue learned the Huangquan City Lord had dumped Si Xiaochun, then taken her elderly father and bolted.