84: Chapter 84 I want your disciple, and I want you too!

Tianhuo Sect, backyard of the main peak.

Ancient pines twisted with vigor, spiritual mist swirling.

Song Lushan stood in the pavilion with his hands behind his back, watching Wu Chunhua walk over gracefully.

"The envoy from the upper state is arriving half a year early; surely you are aware of this, Xiao Hua?"

Wu Chunhua sat on the stone bench opposite him, her expression normal, maintaining a sense of closeness while keeping a well-judged distance:

"Naturally, I am aware. Eighty percent of the tribute resources for the Earth Flame Sect are already prepared, and the remainder will be gathered within the next half month. How are the preparations on your side?"

Song Lushan nodded slightly, "The Tianhuo Sect is also ready."

"And what about those rare treasures specifically for 'honoring' the envoy? Have you prepared them as well?"

What Song Lushan was referring to were several rare items capable of making even Nascent Soul Cultivators feel tempted—a thousand-year-old Nine-Orifice Fire Cloud Ganoderma, and three pieces of Melting Heart Jade Marrow containing pure Earth-Fire power.

"Rest assured,"

Wu Chunhua picked up the spiritual tea and took a light sip, her eyelids drooping slightly, "The Earth Flame Sect still has this much of a foundation. The items have already been sealed and stored properly."

Song Lushan frowned.

The woman before him still had the same familiar features and the same familiar tone, but the distance between the two, which had begun to narrow, seemed to have widened once again.

As a former Dao Companion, Song Lushan was extremely familiar with Wu Chunhua. Both were originally Elders of the same Sect, the Tiandi Sect, and after both reached the Nascent Soul Realm, they became Dao Companions and jointly managed the Sect.

That was until Song Lushan absurdly suggested she could seek another Dao Companion for pleasure, which led to Wu Chunhua scolding him as "insane." After that, Wu Chunhua mocked and ridiculed him, never giving him a pleasant look, and even angrily split the Sect to found the Earth Flame Sect.

In the early years, friction between Tianhuo and Diyan was constant. Aside from interests, this resentment was a major cause, which allowed Liuyun Temple to rise in the meantime. It wasn't until their son, Song Qingfeng, grew up and Song Lushan apologized and sought reconciliation that their relationship eased and began to grow closer, though the division of the Sects was already a settled matter.

Since returning from the Demon Subduing True Venerable's Immortal Cave, Song Lushan had vaguely felt a sense of inexplicable incongruity about Wu Chunhua, as if there was an invisible veil between them.

Could it be... that his secret of colluding with his son Qingfeng and his secret Dao Companion Qiu Chi to Cultivate the evil "Green Crown Immortal Art" had been exposed? This thought made his heart sink slightly.

Suppressing his thoughts, Song Lushan diverted the topic: "After the Wending Assembly ends, we will begin dealing with Liuyun Temple and the Moonshadow Sect. Liuyun Temple is not worth fearing; the Moonshadow Sect has two Nascent Soul True Lords. Shall we each deal with one when the time comes?"

Wu Chunhua put down her teacup. "That is no problem, but... I heard that besides the two Nascent Soul Cultivators we encountered that day, the Moonshadow Sect seems to have a reclusive Deputy Sect Master? Her Realm is unknown, and she is quite mysterious."

"Deputy Sect Master? You mean that cold woman?" Song Lushan scoffed, his eyes filled with complete contempt and disdain. "A mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator over a year ago. Even if she had the dumb luck to achieve a Breakthrough, how strong could she possibly be?"

"If their Moonshadow Sect truly has a third Nascent Soul... then I will deal with two. As for the remaining one—"

Song Lushan turned his gaze to Wu Chunhua, wearing a meaningful look, "Shall I leave that to you, Xiao Hua? The Opportunity you obtained in the Demon Subduing True Venerable's Immortal Cave must have greatly improved your strength, right?"

Wu Chunhua replied blandly: "The biggest harvest is in your hands, after all."

Song Lushan was noncommittal.

"Then, in correspondence, I will deal with two. With this distribution, taking seven and leaving you three is not excessive, is it?"

"Agreed!"

Wu Chunhua agreed directly and stood up.

"The envoy will arrive soon, and there are still many matters to attend to in the Sect, so I shall take my leave."

Watching Wu Chunhua's crisp and decisive retreating back, that sense of incongruity surged into Song Lushan's heart once again.

She agreed so readily this time?

Just then, the Grand Elder of the Tianhuo Sect hurried into the backyard with a worried expression:

"Sect Master! Just received an urgent report: the erosion qi windstorm on the periphery of the mountain domain has suddenly intensified, with a frequency far exceeding the past. More than a dozen small Sects attached to us have suffered heavy losses and are struggling to hold on. They beg the Sect to allocate some resources or send experts to help them stabilize their Sect gates and resist the Erosion Tide..."

Song Lushan frowned slightly, then turned impatient:

"erosion qi wind? Why would it suddenly become frequent? Hmph, a bunch of low-lives who can't even pay their annual tribute in full—their life and death are determined by heaven; why should my Tianhuo Sect worry? Let them fend for themselves." He waved his hand, as if shooing away a fly, "Right now, preparing to welcome the envoy from the upper state is the top priority."

The Grand Elder wanted to say more but held back, finally bowing and retreating.

In the pavilion in the backyard, only Song Lushan remained, looking at the rolling sea of clouds in the distance, his eyes deep.

"After wiping out the Moonshadow Sect, who is next? The Earth Flame Sect? Destroy them, or bring them to heel?"

---

Xuanyin Peak

The peak was covered in deep snow, with a few cold plum blossoms blooming in the frost, their faint fragrance drifting. A huge blue stone lay in the snow, and beside it was the source of the Sheng-Sheng Creation Spring. The spring water flowed with a gurgling sound, steaming with warm white mist, forming a small world of warmth in this frozen land.

Ling Hao stood by the blue stone with his hands behind his back, looking at the cold plums and the spiritual spring, his face lost in thought.

"Sect Master."

A voice as cold as an ice spring came from behind, breaking the silence of the snowy peak.

Ling Hao turned around, and seeing the person who had arrived, a gentle smile bloomed on his face:

"Ling Shuang, you have finally arrived."

The person who arrived was none other than Yu Lingshuang. She was dressed in a plain white long dress, her figure slender, like a Fairy in the snow. Her ink-black hair was coiled into a simple and elegant bun, and a small cinnabar mole under the corner of her left eye added a touch of cold beauty.

Her nose was exquisite and straight, her lips were as light as cherry petals, but those eyes, at this moment, seemed like deep water in a cold pool, with a trace of hard-to-detect... resentment hidden in the depths?

"Sect Master, you summoned me here because of the people from Liuyun Temple earlier?"

"Yes, and no."

Ling Hao informed Yu Lingshuang about what Liuyun Temple had said regarding the early arrival of the envoy from the upper state and the relocation of the Wending Assembly to Mieyan Mountain.

"So, Sect Master, what do you intend to do?"

For some reason, Ling Hao heard a hint of unusual bitterness in her words. It seemed... to have started after he became close with Huang Yutong?

"I intend to go to the Wending Assembly myself."

Yu Lingshuang frowned slightly.

"Is the Sect Master going to offer tribute to the Cangmu Kingdom?"

Ling Hao shook his head, "How could my Moonshadow Sect bow to them?"

Yu Lingshuang nodded. Indeed, the Moonshadow Sect, with a Void-Piercing True Emperor sitting in command, had a foundation comparable to a seventh-rank Sect; how could it bow to a fifth-rank immortal nation?

No, the foundation was more than a seventh-rank Sect...

"Then, Sect Master, this trip..."

The corners of Ling Hao's mouth curled into an arc: "This is exactly the reason I summoned you... one of them."

He looked at the majestic scene of the Sect vaguely visible below the mountain, his voice steady and powerful:

"I intend to use this Opportunity to wipe out Tianhuo and Diyan in one fell swoop and unify the Qing State!"

"I need you to start preparing immediately."

Speaking of which, this also had to do with the question of why there was no one in the Sect when he first responded to Yu Lingshuang. Since he had founded the Sect, he had to climb to the top step by step.

The Qing State was just the starting point. Those who blocked the way, if they knew when to retreat like Liuyun Temple, could be taken as subsidiaries; if they were stubborn like Tianhuo and Diyan, delusional about destroying Moonshadow, then there was only one option—complete erasure!

"Good."

Yu Lingshuang looked at Ling Hao, who was radiant and confidently looking down upon the world, a glimmer of light flashing in her cold eyes, and she agreed decisively.

Sect Master, is this finally going to lead the Moonshadow Sect to officially step onto the stage of this Qing State and even the wider world?

"I will go and handle it immediately." She turned to leave.

"Ling Shuang, wait."

Ling Hao called out to her.

He walked closer, his gaze falling on the cold plums in the snow and the steaming spiritual spring, his tone softening:

"Look at this Xuanyin snow scene, is it beautiful?"

Yu Lingshuang's figure paused slightly, she did not look back, she could understand the subtext in Ling Hao's words.

"Since the Sect Master has already... provoked others, why come and ask me?"

"Naturally, because I want you!"

Ling Hao said frankly, his burning gaze locking onto her cold profile.

Yu Lingshuang's back trembled, "Huang Yutong... she has a sincere heart for the Sect Master."

Ling Hao stepped forward, standing in front of Yu Lingshuang, his gaze burning hot, directly revealing his heart:

"I want your disciple Huang Yutong, and I want you, Yu Lingshuang!"

Yu Lingshuang was forced to hold her breath by his burning gaze and domineering declaration, and that jade face, which had been frozen for ten thousand years, could finally no longer hold, instantly stained with a layer of thin red.

She turned around abruptly, and scolded coldly: "Sect Master, watch your words!"

Before the words fell, her figure had turned into a stream of light, fleeing away from Xuanyin Peak at high speed, with quite a sense of fleeing in panic.

Ling Hao watched the direction she disappeared in, smiling knowingly.

Next time, just the next Opportunity.