213: A disciple from the southern branch of the Beastmaster Sect?

The young girl looked up and saw a few Black Crystal Bees flying toward the center of the lake, eventually disappearing into an invisible Formation barrier.

"Buzz, buzz~"

There was not just this one group of Black Crystal Bees; they were scattered all around White Crane Lake gathering honey, and she quickly discovered another small swarm of Black Crystal Bees.

"This is..."

"Black Crystal Bees?!!"

A look of shock appeared on the girl's face as she extended a sliver of Divine Sense to carefully observe the Black Crystal Bees.

"Jet-black and shiny, possessing the ability to interfere with the Divine Soul, and having a trace of a bloody Aura—this truly is the Black Crystal Bee!"

"A Rank 2 top-tier Bloodline spirit bee. I never expected the Heavenly Sword Sect to have such a capable person!"

Although the Black Crystal Bee's Bloodline Rank was only at the top of Rank 2, they were bloodthirsty and violent, belonging to the most difficult type of spirit insect to control.

A fully mature Black Crystal Bee Queen had a volatile and violent temperament, capable of backlashing even a Golden Core True Person, so many Cultivators simply dared not raise such creatures.

"Late Stage Qi Refining worker bees; this Bee Queen is at least at the Perfection of Qi Refining, or perhaps even the Foundation Establishment Realm."

The girl looked at the Big Black Bear beside her and asked, "Dashan, can you sense the Bee Queen's strength?"

The Big Black Bear sniffed, shook its head slightly, and replied, "I can only sense that it is above the Foundation Establishment Stage; I am not sure about the specifics."

"It really is a Foundation Establishment Black Crystal Bee!"

"This Fellow Daoist in the lake has extraordinary beast taming talent."

The girl took out a healing Medicinal Pill, consumed it, turned around, and headed back, arriving once again at the Vast Gathering Pavilion.

"Shopkeeper, I want to buy some black crystal honey!"

Wang Yuwan was just about to go to Lake Heart Island to report that massive Medicinal Pill transaction to Liu Xuan when she happened to bump into the returning girl at the entrance.

"black crystal honey?"

"I apologize! We do not sell that in our shop!"

black crystal honey had a low yield and a high price; the Vast Gathering Pavilion only occasionally stocked some from the Sect, and it just happened to be sold out right now.

The girl pointed toward the center of the lake opposite them, "You are from the Foundation Establishment Family here, right?"

"Since you raise Black Crystal Bees here, you must have black crystal honey. Please inform your Old Ancestor; the price is negotiable!"

Wang Yuwan carefully examined the cute girl in front of her. To be able to take out over ten thousand Spirit Stones without changing her expression and to want to negotiate with a Foundation Establishment Ancestor—judging by her tone, could it be...

"Senior, please wait a moment!"

She turned and instructed a maid beside her, "Go quickly and report this to my Husband."

"Yes! Madam."

After the maid left, Wang Yuwan smiled and said to the girl, "Senior, allow me to take you to the guest hall to wait for a moment, would that be acceptable?"

The girl did not answer but instead frowned and asked, "Your husband?"

She wanted to see the master of the local Foundation Establishment Family, not merely the husband of a Martial Artist shopkeeper!

The only reason she had been speaking nicely was because she had a good temper; if anyone dared to fool her and waste her time, the consequences would be dire!

The girl's Aura changed instantly, and Wang Yuwan felt as if she were being stared at by a fierce beast, her mind suppressed by an invisible force.

"Senior, you have misunderstood. My Husband is the master of White Crane Lake; the Black Crystal Bees you saw are indeed raised by our family," Wang Yuwan explained.

The girl suddenly realized. No wonder this woman was only a Martial Artist but could serve as a shopkeeper; it turned out she was a Concubine of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Taking a wife and having children was something many Foundation Establishment Cultivators only did after losing hope of breaking through; a middle-aged or elderly image surfaced in the girl's mind.

A quarter of an hour later.

The Vast Gathering Pavilion guest hall.

The girl sat upright in her seat drinking tea, while the Big Black Bear sat crouched beside her, head tilted to the side, snoring.

Suddenly! She placed her teacup on the table and looked toward the entrance, where a man and a woman walked in side by side.

The man was tall with a handsome face and an extraordinary bearing, wearing a profound black dharma robe with a deep texture. In a daze, the girl felt as if she were seeing the shadows of those geniuses from within her own Sect.

However, his cultivation Aura was very poor, only at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. On the other hand, the woman beside him wearing a purple dress had an Aura that reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

As she sized up Liu Xuan, Liu Xuan was also sizing her up.

The girl's appearance leaned toward a youthful loli, but it was not the round face of a child; rather, it was refined and carried an air of Immortal Qi and nobility.

How should one put it? She did not look like a typical soft and cute loli, but rather like a stunning, cold, mature woman when she was a child! A tender-enough-to-drip-water mature-woman loli...

Liu Xuan could not help but swallow his saliva; his heart was moved!

It was not that the girl was much more beautiful than Liu Xuan's many women; the reason he was moved was mainly because of the novelty. Novelty was very important; just like watching movies, no matter how high the quality, one could not watch them forever. What was most attractive were the ones one had not seen before...

A black vortex appeared deep within his pupils; Liu Xuan intended to see more clearly.

"Hmm?!!" One look and it was shocking; the girl was actually at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment!

Looking again at the Big Black Bear beside her, it was even more shocking—it was actually a Peak Foundation Establishment Realm Yao Beast!

Not only that, but both the girl and the Big Black Bear had sustained non-trivial injuries; the Qi and blood within their bodies were chaotic, and their magic power was depleted.

The girl's condition was slightly better; her dao foundation was merely dim, and she had simply lost too much magic power.

The Big Black Bear was in a more miserable state, with thirty percent of its bones shattered and a strand of black Qi entangled within its Qi and blood. If not for its strong recovery ability, it would likely have died long ago.

'One Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, one Peak Foundation Establishment Yao Beast—where did they come from?'

'With such heavy injuries, who inflicted them? What is their purpose in coming to White Crane Lake?'

Suppressing the countless questions in his heart, Liu Xuan cupped his hands and said politely, "I am Liu Xuan, the head of the Liu Family here. I heard that Senior wishes to buy black crystal honey?"

The girl did not pay attention to Liu Xuan but instead looked at Zi Lan beside him, "Fellow Daoist, is he your male pet?"

She reached out and pointed at Liu Xuan.

The doubts in the girl's heart were no less than Liu Xuan's. She had confirmed that Liu Xuan's cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Stage, yet when they entered just now, Zi Lan, who was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, had lagged half a step behind, acting like a follower.

Zi Lan covered her mouth and chuckled, "Fellow Daoist, you have misunderstood; I am merely my Husband's Concubine."

She stepped forward and hugged Liu Xuan's arm.

"A Concubine!" The girl's expression was extremely strange. A Foundation Establishment Cultivator acting as a Concubine for a Qi Refining Cultivator?

She used a secret technique to probe Liu Xuan's Aura again; it was indeed undoubtedly the Qi Refining Stage!

"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to doubt. My Husband and I are in mutual agreement, and I serve him of my own volition."

"This matter has already spread far and wide. You must be from out of town, right? May I ask how to address you?" Zi Lan asked.

"My name is An Yunxi, a Disciple of the Beast Taming Sect Southern Branch," the girl replied.

Beast Taming Sect!

"The Beast Taming Sect from the Spirit Transformation Immortal Sect?"

The Beast Taming Sect was one of the largest Spirit Transformation Immortal Sects in the Cultivation World that Liu Xuan was currently aware of.

It was said that the Beast Taming Sect was even a few points stronger than the Azure Profound Sect that stood above the Heavenly Sword Sect, powerful to the point of exceeding Liu Xuan's imagination.

If An Yunxi was not lying, then things were getting quite interesting!

"Miss An, I have heard that the Beast Taming Sect is tens of thousands of miles away from here. You say you are a Disciple of the Beast Taming Sect—aren't you lying?"

Liu Xuan was more inclined to believe she was from the Peach Blossom Sect, and there was a high probability that she had been suppressed by a local Sect and had fled here.

Liu Xuan had stayed at White Crane Lake for over a decade; regarding the nearby Golden Core Sects like the Nether Fire Sect, including the several Golden Core Sects next to the Red Pine Sect, even if he had not met the Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he had seen the relevant information.

None of them matched An Yunxi. Only the Peach Blossom Sect had mixed components, and he had not yet thoroughly investigated it, making it the most likely possibility.