38: Chapter 38 The Jiang Family, You Can't Destroy Them

Above Jiangyuan City, ripples spread through the Void Realm, and a figure dressed in blue Daoist robes stepped out from within.

The visitor was a middle-aged female Cultivator. Her hair was tied high with a simple, ancient jade hairpin into a Daoist bun; her face was as cold as frost, devoid of any worldly aura.

She held a snow-white horsetail whisk, her gaze indifferent as she looked down at the ant-like city beneath her feet.

Behind her, four young Disciples, also dressed in the attire of the Qingyun Sect, stood with their hands lowered, their expressions arrogant, as if merely glancing at this Mortal world was a defilement.

The pressure of a Golden Core Cultivator was no longer the crude, crushing weight like mountains or seas, but a Domain—an absolute power that silently altered the laws of heaven and earth.

Where the pressure passed, the wind stopped, the chirping of insects vanished, and even the flow of air stagnated. All the Cultivators in the city discovered with horror that their connection to Spiritual Qi had been forcibly severed, and the True Essence within their bodies seemed to have solidified, rendering them unable to mobilize even a fraction.

Within the Golden Core Domain, all beings are equal.

All are Mortals.

From the direction of the City Lord's Mansion, a disheveled figure walked out—it was City Lord Fang Ming, who had been in seclusion for half a month and looked gaunt.

He dared not fly, only daring to hover at a low altitude a hundred meters away. Using all his strength, he knelt down from afar toward the female Cultivator, prostrating himself, his voice trembling and laced with sobs.

"City Lord Fang Ming of Jiangyuan City in the Yan Kingdom pays respects to the Immortal of the Qingyun Sect!"

The female Cultivator's gaze did not even linger on him for a fraction; the wailing of an ant was not worth her attention.

At the ancestral grounds of the Jiang Family, Jiang Nan's face turned as pale as paper. He roared at all the clansmen, "Everyone, retreat to the ancestral grounds and activate the grand formation! Without my command, no one is allowed to come out!"

As soon as his voice fell, three figures soared into the sky.

Jiang Feng, Jiang Nan, and Lin Yueyao.

The three stood side by side on the highest roof of the Jiang Family, facing the absolute pressure that made their very Souls tremble.

The moment she saw the visitor clearly, Lin Yueyao's delicate body trembled violently and imperceptibly. The color drained from her cold face instantly—not out of fear, but due to a complex mix of admiration, panic, and struggle.

City Lord Fang Ming, kneeling on the ground, dared not withhold anything. He recounted everything that had happened since Senior Brother Qin Feng arrived, point by point. He dared not exaggerate, nor did he dare to shirk responsibility; he acted merely as a narrator, presenting the facts exactly as they were.

He knew that in front of a Golden Core Cultivator, any lie was pale and powerless, and even a provocation.

The female Cultivator listened quietly, the frost on her face not changing in the slightest. Only after City Lord Fang Ming finished speaking did her gaze slowly sweep over the sky above Jiangyuan City, finally landing on Jiang Feng and the other two.

Her gaze swept past the two ants, Jiang Feng and Jiang Nan, and finally, fixed on Lin Yueyao.

In those eyes, which had been as still as an ancient well, a ripple appeared for the first time.

A look of disbelief shattered the dignity of the Golden Core True Lord.

"Yue Yao?"

There was a hint of uncertainty in the female Cultivator's voice, but more than that, it was filled with shock and ecstasy.

"You... you actually had such a monumental fortuitous encounter!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Jiang Feng and Jiang Nan turned their heads in unison to look at Lin Yueyao beside them.

Lin Yueyao took a deep breath, her fingertips turning slightly white. She whispered an explanation to the two, her voice strained, "She... is my master, True Monarch Qingyue."

True Monarch Qingyue's gaze was sharp, as if she wanted to see through Lin Yueyao from the inside out. When she sensed that extremely pure, flawless, and even more perfect ice-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root within Lin Yueyao...

The frost on her face finally melted, and the coldness belonging to the Golden Core True Lord was replaced by an indescribable gentleness and excitement.

Heavenly Spiritual Root!

A flawless ice-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root!

Such Aptitude, even in the entire Qingzhou, was a leader in the Dao of Immortality, rare in a thousand years. What she had regained was not just a Disciple, but the Luck of the Qingyun Sect for the next five hundred years!

With a "thump" sound.

Lin Yueyao knelt in the air before True Monarch Qingyue, performing a respectful grand bow, her forehead touching the Void Realm.

"Disciple Lin Yueyao pays respects to Master."

"Good, good, get up quickly."

True Monarch Qingyue lifted her wrist slightly and waved her horsetail whisk. A force of extreme gentleness steadily lifted Lin Yueyao's half-kneeling body.

She looked at her beloved Disciple whom she had regained, the satisfaction and appreciation in her eyes almost overflowing.

"Yue Yao, come back to the Sect with me. Regarding the previous matters, Master will personally explain to the Sect and give you the most satisfactory settlement."

A flicker of struggle flashed in Lin Yueyao's eyes, but it was immediately replaced by an unprecedented resolve.

She did not rise as intended, but instead bowed again, meeting her master's gaze, her words ringing out clearly and firmly.

"Master, that this Disciple has reached this day, with my Spiritual Root reshaped and my cultivation advanced, is all thanks to my husband, Jiang Feng."

She raised her head, looking at her master with an incomparably firm gaze, "I ask that Master, for the sake of this Disciple, spare the Jiang Family and spare my husband. Yue Yao is willing to return to the Sect with Master and serve for a lifetime."

The word "husband" caused the gentleness that had just risen in True Monarch Qingyue's eyes to instantly extinguish. Her complexion lost its warmth bit by bit, once again covered by that aloof coldness.

"Nonsense!"

She scolded coldly, her voice not loud, but it made everyone's heart numb, "You possess the Aptitude of a Heavenly Spiritual Root and are destined to reach the Nascent Soul stage and bring glory to the Sect in the future. How can you be shackled by a small Family in this mundane place, by a dying Mortal?"

True Monarch Qingyue's gaze swept contemptuously over Jiang Feng—a Qi Refining Stage 6 Cultivator who was over half a hundred years old with white hair and beard. Her eyes were filled with disdain.

"If you return to the Sect with me, I can pretend that nothing has happened. As for this husband of yours, considering you pleaded for him, he may live. Your fates end here."

True Monarch Qingyue changed the subject, the temperature in her voice dropping to freezing, filled with chilling killing intent.

"But, the Jiang Family must be destroyed!"

"The life of an Inner Sect Disciple of the Qingyun Sect is not something anyone can touch. The dignity of the Sect brooks no provocation from ants. This matter must be settled with the blood of the entire Jiang Family to tell everyone that Qingyun Sect Disciples cannot be touched."

"Master..." Lin Yueyao's face was deathly pale, her delicate body swaying, on the verge of collapsing.

A calm voice, laced with a hint of mockery, interrupted her without warning.

"True Monarch Qingyue, is it?"

Jiang Feng stepped forward, standing side by side with Lin Yueyao.

He did not look up, but simply looked straight ahead, as if the aloof figure in the sky was an existence equal to him.

There was not a hint of fear on his face; instead, he wore an inscrutable smile.

"What great might, what Sect dignity."

Jiang Feng gently patted Lin Yueyao's cold hand, and then, in front of the Golden Core True Lord, pulled her into his embrace, ignoring everyone else. His movements were gentle yet domineering.

"Yue Yao, you cannot take her away."

Jiang Feng finally raised his gaze, looking directly into True Monarch Qingyue's cold eyes. His smile remained, but deep in his eyes lay a bottomless pool of cold water.

"My Jiang Family, you also... cannot destroy!"