71: From master and apprentice to sisters?

Purple Heaven Palace, Side Hall.

The fragrance of tea curled in the air, yet it could not suppress the bizarre awkwardness permeating the room.

Su Xuanchen leaned lazily back in his grand armchair, playing with a white jade teacup in his hand. His gaze drifted back and forth between the master and Disciple before him, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"Why are you standing so far away?"

Su Xuanchen pointed to the open space in front of him.

"Come here."

Lu Qingchan was wearing that humiliating maid outfit; the short skirt barely covered the tops of her thighs, revealing a pair of straight, slender jade legs. She gritted her teeth, every step feeling as if she were dancing on the edge of a blade, her cold and stunningly beautiful Face written with humiliation.

Beside her, Chu Yue wore a plain white dress, her head lowered as her hands twisted the hem of her clothes, her cheeks flushed crimson.

The once high-and-mighty Shenxiao Sword Saint now had to stand side-by-side with her own Disciple, undergoing this man's "inspection."

Su Xuanchen set down the teacup, his tone slow and deliberate.

"Since you've entered the same house, you're now one Family."

"But as for the seniority... we need to straighten that out."

He looked at Chu Yue with a gentle smile.

"Yue'er, you are a concubine of the Su Family, which makes you half a master."

Then he turned to Lu Qingchan, his eyes becoming playful.

"Qingchan, you are the 'free gift' that came with the purchase—in other words, a maid."

"By right, you should call Yue'er 'Mistress'."

"However..."

Su Xuanchen stroked his chin, appearing to be in deep thought.

"Our Su Family is a place that values human sentiment. You were master and Disciple, after all; calling her 'Mistress' would be too distant."

"How about this."

He snapped his fingers.

"From now on, you shall address each other as sisters."

"Yue'er is the Elder Sister, and you are the Younger Sister."

"Come, let me hear you say it."

The string of sanity in Lu Qingchan's mind snapped.

She jerked her head up, staring intently at Su Xuanchen, her beautiful eyes almost spitting fire.

He wanted her to call her own Disciple 'Sister'?

And in front of an upstart she had once viewed as an ant?

This was throwing her dignity onto the ground and stomping on it ten thousand times!

"Su Xuanchen! Don't go too far!"

Lu Qingchan's chest heaved violently as she said through gritted teeth,

"I am a Saint King of the Shenxiao Holy Land! A scholar can be killed but not humiliated!"

"Humiliated?"

Su Xuanchen raised an eyebrow, the smile on his Face vanishing.

Hum!

Deep within her Sea of Consciousness, that Emperor-grade Restriction suddenly tightened.

"Ah—!"

Lu Qingchan let out a shrill scream. Her whole body felt as if struck by lightning; her legs gave way, and she fell directly to her knees.

The agony originating from the depths of her Soul instantly drenched her in cold sweat, making even breathing feel like a luxury.

"Understand the situation."

Su Xuanchen stood up, walked over to her, and looked down at her from above.

"Your life is mine, and your dignity is mine as well."

"In front of me, you have no right to refuse."

He reached out and gently patted Lu Qingchan's paper-white Face.

"Say it."

"Or I will strip you bare right now and throw you onto the streets."

Lu Qingchan trembled all over.

Looking at the devilish man before her, the stubbornness in her eyes finally crumbled bit by bit in the Face of fear.

She turned her head to look at her Disciple, who appeared completely at a loss.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Sis... Sister."

Her voice was as faint as a mosquito, filled with grievance and humiliation.

"Louder."

Su Xuanchen impatiently picked at his ear.

"Did you not eat?"

Lu Qingchan closed her eyes, two lines of tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Sister!"

This time, it was shouted out.

After the shout, all strength was drained from her. She slumped to the ground, panting heavily like a dying fish.

"That's more like it."

Su Xuanchen nodded in satisfaction, then turned to look at Chu Yue, who had long been stunned like a wooden chicken.

"Yue'er, why haven't you answered?"

"This is a Sword Saint calling you 'Sister'; what a great deal of Face."

Chu Yue's body trembled slightly as she hurriedly helped Lu Qingchan up, her voice quivering.

"Mas... Little Sister."

This damned seniority.

This damned Shura Field.

Watching this scene, Su Xuanchen felt incredibly comfortable.

This was what training was all about.

If he didn't strip away that layer of arrogance, wouldn't this Sword Saint try to ride over his head in the future?

"Alright, the catch-up session is over."

Su Xuanchen sat back in his chair, his expression returning to normal.

"Now, let's talk business."

He looked at Lu Qingchan.

"You heard what that old man from the Wang Family said earlier, right?"

Lu Qingchan struggled to get up from the ground, wiped away her tears, and regained a bit of her cold hardness.

"I heard."

"The Ling Family, the Blood God Cult, and the White Bone Divine Cult."

"Three groups of rabble."

"Very good."

Su Xuanchen tossed out a Jade Slip.

"This is the intelligence."

"These three are currently surrounding the Wang Family Ancient City, trying to force the Wang Family to hand over their Spiritual Vein, and planning to exterminate the entire Wang Family while they're at it."

"Since the Wang Family sent Yue'er here, they are now in-laws of my Su Family."

"Touching my in-laws is slapping Su Xuanchen's Face."

He pointed outside the door.

"Go."

"Wipe these three forces off the map of the Sacred Ruins Continent."

"I want their Saint heads neatly arranged at the gates of the Wang Family city."

Lu Qingchan gripped the Jade Slip tightly, a chilling Killing Intent in her eyes.

She had a fire suppressed in her heart right now.

A rage sufficient to incinerate the heavens.

Since she couldn't vent it on this man, those unlucky bastards would just have to suffer her misfortune.

"This servant... accepts the command."

"Wait."

Just as she turned to leave, Su Xuanchen suddenly called her back.

"One more thing."

Su Xuanchen looked at her graceful back, a wicked smile appearing on his lips.

"When you're done, remember to come back early."

"Tonight..."

"Come to my room to attend to me."

Lu Qingchan's steps faltered.

She whirled around, looking at Su Xuanchen in disbelief.

"You..."

"What? Unwilling?"

Su Xuanchen spread his hands.

"It was 'buy one, get one free', after all. I have to inspect the goods, don't I?"

"Besides, don't you want to save your precious Disciple?"

He pointed to Chu Yue beside him.

"Yue'er has the Grand Beginning Sword Physique. For this Physique to achieve Awakening, it requires extremely vast resources and special guidance."

"I can help her."

"But the prerequisite is..."

Su Xuanchen stared intensely at Lu Qingchan.

"You have to serve this Young Master well."

Shameless!

Vile!

Taking advantage of her peril!

In her heart, Lu Qingchan cursed eighteen generations of Su Xuanchen's ancestors.

But when she saw Chu Yue's expression of longing to become stronger, she ultimately gritted her teeth and swallowed her anger.

"I understand."

She coldly left those words behind, her figure transforming into a streak of cyan sword light as she fled from the Purple Heaven Palace.

If she stayed any longer, she feared she wouldn't be able to stop herself from trying to die together with this bastard... At the Wang Family Ancient City, dark clouds loomed over the city.

The sky for a hundred miles around was shrouded in dense corpse Qi and the smell of blood; even sunlight could not penetrate through.

Outside the city.

Three battle Formations were laid out in a triangular pattern, surrounding this ancient city that had stood for thousands of years so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.

On the left was a group of Cultivators wearing blood-red robes, their bodies wreathed in thick blood Qi.

The Blood God Cult.

On the right were uniform white bone chariots, and the creatures pulling them were actually living Yao Beast skeletons with flickering ghostly fires in their eyes.

The White Bone Divine Cult.

And in the center was the Ling Family's warship, its flags fluttering and its Killing Intent surging.

"Old man Wang!"

A sharp and piercing feminine laugh rang out before the two armies.

From within the White Bone Divine Cult's camp, a white bone throne constructed from countless skulls emerged.

Upon the throne leaned a woman dressed in white gauze, her appearance seductive.

She toyed with a pale human bone flute, her eyes sweeping contemptuously over the ashen-faced Wang Family members on the city walls.

Madam White Bone.

It was said that the one standing behind her was the notoriously fierce Great Sage White Bone.

"Have you considered it?"

Madam White Bone blew into the flute, producing a hair-raising wail.

"Hand over that top-grade Spiritual Vein, and send over those two delicate girls from your Wang Family."

"If I am in a good mood, I might even leave your corpses intact."

On the city wall.

Wang Tianba's Face was livid, his fingers gripping the railing so hard they had turned white.

"You white bone hag!"

"In your dreams!"

"Xi'er and Chu Yue are already daughters-in-law of the Su Family!"

"If you dare touch them, Old Ancestor Su will never let you off!"

"Old Ancestor Su?"

Madam White Bone was taken aback for a moment.

Then, as if she had heard the world's biggest joke, she clutched her stomach and began to laugh wildly.

"Hahahaha!"

"Su Xuanchen?"

"That upstart who only relies on women to rise up?"

She laughed so hard her whole body trembled.

"Wang Tianba, have you gone senile?"

"Do you really think that pretty boy can save you?"

"Let me tell you."

Madam White Bone's gaze turned cold as she licked her crimson lips.

"This time, besides the Spiritual Vein, I also want Su Xuanchen's head!"

"I hear that boy is quite good-looking, and his skull must be top-grade."

"If I can turn his skull into a wine cup, the taste..."

She took a breath, a perverted look of intoxication appearing on her Face.

"It must be very smooth."

"Arrogant!"

Wang Tianba was so angry his whole body shook.

"Old Ancestor Su is a Great Sage expert! He could crush you with a single finger!"

"Great Sage?"

From the side, an old man shrouded in blood-red robes stepped out from the Blood God Cult's camp.

The Blood God Cult Master.

He gave a sinister laugh.

"Family Head Wang, stop deceiving yourself."

"Crimson Venerable was only defeated because he underestimated his enemy and was ambushed by a Formation; that boy just got lucky."

"You really think he's a Great Sage?"

"He can only fool country bumpkins like you who haven't seen the world."

"Furthermore..."

The Blood God Cult Master turned to look toward the Ling Family.

"The Sea Race army will be landing in a matter of days. When that time comes, let alone a single Su Family, the entire Sacred Ruins Continent will Face a cataclysm!"

"Su Xuanchen is like a clay bodhisattva crossing a river—he can't even save himself, so how could he care about you?"

As soon as these words were spoken,

The members of the Wang Family on the city wall, who had been barely holding on, immediately lost most of their spirit.

Despair.

Endless despair.

Three major forces joined together, with five Saints presiding over them.

How could they block this?

"Sister White Bone."

Ling Xiaotian spoke, his tone filled with high-and-mighty arrogance.

"Why waste words with these dead people?"

"Attack the city directly."

"Kill the men, and keep the women to serve as camp followers."

On the city wall, Wang Tianba's eyes were bloodshot, his teeth nearly shattering from clenching them.

"This is too much!"

"We'll fight them to the death!"

"To the death!"

The Elders and Disciples of the Wang Family were also filled with grief and indignation. They all summoned their Magic Treasures, prepared to make a final stand.