492: Chapter 492 Mother-Daughter Crisis

The cold wind high in the air blew Saintess Yan Xueyuan's beautiful hair, a few strands brushing past her cheeks. She narrowed her eyes slightly, gazing at the continuous mountain ranges in the distance, but her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to that night—

Tianyuan Capital City, Nine-Story Tower.

That man in green robes had silently appeared in her guest room and caught her... removing her fake breast pads.

She would never forget the shame of that moment for the rest of her life.

And that handkerchief that was handed over.

And those words—

"You wouldn't want the whole world to know... that you're flat-chested, right?"

Dammit!!! Why does she always think of this scene!!!

Saintess Yan Xueyuan gently bit her lip and pulled back her thoughts.

"What do you all think of the Sect Master of Moon Shadow Sect?"

Her sudden question startled both Junior Sister Tang Yuanxiang and Senior Brother Han Wuji.

Senior Brother Han Wuji was the first to react, his tone respectful with a hint of flattery:

"The Moonshadow Sect and the Golden Crow Holy Land are sworn enemies. That Moon Shadow Sect Master, Ling Hao, is nothing but a lucky madman. Relying on a bit of strength, he looks down on everyone. I heard he is also a—"

"A debauched and unrestrained Devil Head?"

Junior Sister Tang Yuanxiang took over the conversation with a sneer,

"It's spread all over Fusang Province that the Moonshadow Sect is a devil's den for women; entering it is a fate worse than death. That Sect Master is even said to have a green face and fangs, sleeping with a hundred women a night, specializing in dual cultivation for his own benefit..."

Saintess Yan Xueyuan let out a cold snort, her gaze sweeping coldly over the two.

Junior Sister Tang Yuanxiang and Senior Brother Han Wuji's hearts both skipped a beat.

Was this reaction... wrong?

Could the Saintess... like that Moon Shadow Sect Master?

Junior Sister Tang Yuanxiang's mind raced, and she quickly changed her tune:

"However, there are also rumors that Moon Shadow Sect Master is extremely handsome and his strength is unfathomable. It is said he even killed a Mahayana Cultivator of the same Realm..."

Senior Brother Han Wuji also quickly chimed in:

"Yes, yes, yes, the system of the world-suppressing monument and the resonance dao tower is said to be quite wondrous. If our Fusang Province could obtain it..."

Saintess Yan Xueyuan withdrew her gaze, looking into the distance expressionlessly.

Fence-sitters, tailoring their words to the listener.

What of value could be asked from the mouths of such people?

She stopped speaking, letting the cold wind blow her long hair, a trace of bewilderment hidden deep in her eyes.

...

Outside Qingmu Cliff, on a quiet and secluded mountain peak.

In the small courtyard at the peak, the stream gurgled, and the bamboo shadows swayed.

An Ruosu pushed open the door and saw her mother, Sect Master An Suxin, sitting on a stone bench. A bamboo scroll was spread before her, but she was clearly not reading it. The afterglow of the setting sun spilled over her voluptuous figure, casting a warm golden hue over her deep green gown.

Sect Master An Suxin raised her head, her gaze falling on her daughter, and she frowned with mock severity.

"You ran out again? Didn't I tell you that you couldn't leave the Sect before making a Breakthrough to the seventh level of the Nascent Soul Stage?! A seventh-tier Erosion Source Blood Tree, if you hadn't happened to encounter..."

An Ruosu stood at the doorway, pursing her lips.

Mother and daughter looked at each other, with only the sound of the flowing stream in the courtyard. The setting sun stretched their shadows very long, overlapping like two trees leaning on each other.

In the end, Sect Master An Suxin did not continue. She only sighed softly and patted the stone bench beside her.

"Come and sit."

An Ruosu lowered her eyes, walked over slowly, and sat down beside her mother.

Mother and daughter listened quietly to the sound of the stream for a moment.

"Tell me about you and your three Seniors..."

Sect Master An Suxin spoke first. She had learned some things from Senior Sister Bai Zijin, but not everything. At least, she didn't know the specific details of her daughter's encounter with those three Cultivators.

An Ruosu hesitated for a moment before starting from the Erosion Beast Tide in Qixia City. She spoke of how Ling Hao had secretly guided her via voice transmission to kill the Nascent Soul Erosion Beast, and how the little girl Senior on the wasteland had destroyed Lihai and the seventh-tier blood tree with a single palm strike, flying into a rage on the spot after being mistaken for his daughter.

The more Sect Master An Suxin listened, the more solemn her expression became. Void Tempering?

As a Cultivator of the Void Refinement Stage herself, she knew how vast the destructive power of that stage was. Judging solely by the destructive power her daughter described, it would only be reasonable if they were at least one Realm higher.

An Ruosu continued in a low voice:

"Mother, about the auxiliary cauldron. I said... the zhen cauldron is in our hands."

"What?!"

Sect Master An Suxin stood up in shock,

"Do you know what that zhen cauldron..."

"Of course I know!"

An Ruosu plucked up her courage:

"Mother, I want to give him the zhen cauldron in exchange for his protection."

Sect Master An Suxin frowned:

"Protection? What do you need his protection for?"

An Ruosu looked straight into her mother's eyes,

"Mother, I know what you want to do. That night when you were drunk, you said a lot."

Sect Master An Suxin was startled, remembering how she had previously drowned her sorrows in wine due to excessive pressure.

Ahhh, drinking really ruins things!

"Mother, you know that the Golden Crow Holy Son is collecting the Eight Great Auxiliary Cauldrons, and you want to use the zhen cauldron to exchange for his protection."

"But..."

An Ruosu stood up excitedly,

"The Golden Crow Holy Son cannot be trusted! Mother, with his way of doing things... he won't truly help us at all. He might, after getting the cauldron..."

Sect Master An Suxin looked at her daughter's anxious state with a complex expression—her daughter was rarely this agitated.

Sect Master An Suxin walked to the stream, her back turned to her daughter.

"Ruosu, do you know what the visit of the Golden Crow Saintess means this time?"

An Ruosu shook her head.

Sect Master An Suxin said, "Supreme Elder Jin wants to announce the deposition of my Sect Master position in front of the Golden Crow Saintess."

"The Supreme Elder regards you and me as the greatest stain on Qingmu Cliff. Now that the Golden Crow Saintess is visiting, drawing everyone's attention, it is the perfect time to clean house and make it public. Not only will she depose me from the Sect Master position, but she also wants to cripple my cultivation to purge the Sect's atmosphere. Your cultivation, Ruosu... is also to be crippled."

An Ruosu was stunned.

Sect Master An Suxin turned around, a bitter smile on her face:

"She said she would guarantee our safety for the rest of our lives, but only after our cultivation is completely crippled."

"Safety? Without our cultivation, how long can we survive in this Fusang Province?"

An Ruosu bit her lip, finally understanding why her mother was willing to use the zhen cauldron to exchange for the Golden Crow Holy Son's support.

It wasn't that she was greedy for power, but that she wanted to grasp a life-saving straw before disaster struck.

"Do you still think that three Void Tempering Cultivators, or in the best-case scenario, three Tribulation Transcendence Stage Cultivators, would be of any use in protecting the two of us?"

Sect Master An Suxin sighed.

"Our Qingmu Cliff has more than three Undergoing Tribulation Supreme Elders, and Supreme Elder Jin is a Great Heavenly Venerate of the seventh level of Undergoing Tribulation. Those three Undergoing Tribulation Seniors of yours... are useless, useless."

"They are useful!"

Sect Master An Suxin frowned.

"Ruosu, you..."

An Ruosu interrupted her, "Mother, that portrait you hid... it depicts Moon Shadow Sect Master, doesn't it? The Senior I mentioned is him!"

Sect Master An Suxin was shocked,

"You saw Moon Shadow Sect Master? He has come to Fusang Province? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

An Ruosu walked up to her mother,

"Mother, give it to Moon Shadow Sect Master. The Golden Crow Holy Son cannot be trusted, but him... I trust him."

Sect Master An Suxin looked at the light in her daughter's eyes and asked softly, "Why do you trust him?"

An Ruosu unconsciously lowered her eyes and said,

"Mother, you should meet him first. Once you meet him, you will understand. I have settled them at Suxin Peak."

Sect Master An Suxin fell silent for a moment,

"Alright."

Then she would go and meet him, to bring some closure...

She looked at her daughter:

"You've been running around this time, and there is still some erosion qi remaining in your body. The Five Spirits Divine Water has been prepared in the backyard; go take a soak first."