Ch. 421 - Different Paths

Rumble---

The sound of the earthquake came from afar. Dust fell from the beam and landed on the head of a black-haired woman wearing a golden robe and a tiara.

Qu Ruyun sat cross-legged in the center of the eight spiritual candles, eyes closed, breathing almost non-existent, concentrating on sending her spiritual energy into a spiritual bead floating by her chest that seemed to reflect the galaxy.

When she was nine years old, she met the former head of the Nangong family, who gave her the name "Fu Xuan" and made her a servant of the Nangong Clan.

She formed her core at the age of twenty-seven and, under the guidance of Nangong Cheng, she received the esoteric teachings of the immortals of the Southern and Northern Regions and began to learn the method of divination.

At one hundred and forty, she passed the tribulation and formed her Nascent Soul. Then, she was ordered by Nangong Cheng to set up the Justice Division to take charge of the internal affairs of the Imperial Sect.

Qu Ruyun was now one thousand three hundred twenty-seven years old.

In other words, she had held the position of Commander of the Justice Division for nearly twelve hundred years.

At the time the Justice Division was first established, it only had a small and shabby pavilion. A few years later, it ranked first among the seven divisions of the Imperial Sect, controlled thousands of miles of the Central Region territory, and had tens of thousands of disciples.

It could be said that Qu Ruyun had devoted her life's efforts to the Justice Division.

However, in the past, most Elders of the Imperial Sect commented on her like this:

---Eating food and not caring about anything, hiding in her cave all day long, leaving everything to her subordinates to deal with; it didn't make any difference whether she was in the Justice Division or not.

For more than a thousand years, the other Elders of the Imperial Sect had impeached her many times in front of Nangong Cheng, wanting him to bestow the position of the Justice Division Commander to someone else.

But, Nangong Cheng never agreed.

And that was because he actually owed her a favor.

The Imperial Sect, which was established by relying on the Nangong Clan's imperial power, was not as free as the Black Star Sect and Bright Star Sect. Nangong Cheng once snatched the position of Emperor of the Central Region from his two sisters and three brothers in the internal struggle of the Four Dragons.

Qu Ruyun witnessed that internal battle, and at the same time, she helped Nangong Cheng.

Relying on the technique of Heavenly Talisman Divination, Qu Ruyun helped Nangong Cheng avoid countless deadly situations and helped him take the dragon throne in Heavenly Gate City.

Until one day...

The trigrams she had divined for Nangong Cheng showed the characters: 'The dragon loses its head, the moon covers the dragon.'

Just as she predicted, Nangong Cheng died at the hands of the Red Moon Immortal about ten days later.

And now...

Qu Ruyun let out a long breath and waved her hand to one side.

Whoosh---

The spiritual energy in the spirit bead on her chest condensed into a golden talisman between her fingers.

It said: 'Commander reaching the sky,  the sky will be destroyed by ghosts.'

"It's still a death trigram..."

Qu Ruyun smiled bitterly as she flipped over the golden talisman in her hand and put it on a table beside her. However, there were already ten golden talismans on the table at this moment.

In the past few days, when Yue Xuanming went to gather the disciples of the Justice Division, she constantly changed the conditions and did ten divinations for herself.

In terms that ordinary people could understand, she had predicted her future after she made ten different choices:

If she surrendered to the demonic cultivators, she would surely die.

If she wrote to the Bright Star Sect and Cold Country for help and led the Justice Division to defend the Great Wall, she would still die.

If she fled with the Justice Division people, she would also die.

...

Nine out of ten were dead ends.

As for the remaining trigram...

Qu Ruyun picked up the golden talisman and turned it over to take a look.

Just like when she had divined before, the golden talisman was blank.

The conditions formulated for this trigram were:

---What would happen if she acted on Ye Anping's arrangement?

But the heavens did not seem to want to give her the answer.

Did she make a mistake? Or did this trigram involve secrets of the heavens?

Qu Ruyun thought it was the latter.

"Ye Anping..." Qu Ruyun couldn't help but sigh again. "No wonder Immortal Matriarch Red Moon thinks so highly of him. Maybe she can't see through his fate either..."

Rumble---

Suddenly, another loud rumbling came, shaking the entire room with creaking sounds.

The next moment, the door of the room opened from the outside with a squeak.

A middle-aged man dressed in the uniform of the Justice Division walked in with a sword hanging at his waist. He came to Qu Ruyun, knelt on both knees and cupped his hands. "Commander."

The visitor was named Zhou Muhe, a middle-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. He was appointed as the "Protector" of the Justice Division.

Qu Yunyun looked at him calmly with a smile. "Well, my friend, how many years have you been with me?"

"Commander, I have been with you since I was in the Foundation Building. Now I am in the Nascent Soul stage. A total of seven hundred and twenty-three years."

"Then, I remembered correctly."

Zhou Muhe cupped his hands. "The Ghost Spirit Sect has already arrived at the city gates. Deputy Commander Yue has already assembled the four teams arranged by you to go to the south gate, and the disciples are ready."

"Well... I'm sorry."

"Commander, you're being too serious. I will lead more than a hundred of my subordinates to stall for time as much as possible. The Eastern Great Wall has a strong protection formation. Even if Seven Ghost Tomb personally takes action, I can last at least three days."

"...Good."

"I'm here to bid farewell. May you have a safe journey!!!"

"..."

Zhou Muhe cupped his hands and bowed deeply. Then, he turned around and left without hesitation. He summoned his flying sword from the fence and took off, heading towards the Great Wall that was full of beacons.

Qu Ruyun watched his figure land on the Great Wall and then waved her hand to condense a little flame, which fell on the books scattered all over the house.

Woosh---

In just a moment, the finger-sized flame turned into a raging fire, engulfing everything in the room.

Qu Ruyun closed her eyes and stood silent for a while. Then, she waved her sleeve and put the blank golden talisman into her storage bag, turned into a little spiritual light in the sea of ​​fire, and headed toward the south gate tower.

...

Rumble---

Dark clouds pressed down on the city as purple snakes danced wildly in the sky.

Thousands of disciples of the Justice Division, divided into hundreds of rows, stood neatly under the south tower of the city. All of them had solemn expressions as they looked at the dragon-like magic flames in the direction of the Great Wall. Their mood was extremely depressed.

Thunderbolt---

With a flash of lightning, four flying swords swept over their heads before landing in front of the tower of the city gate.

After Ye Anping landed, he looked at the disciples of the Justice Division neatly lined up, and then he was ready to go to the city gate tower to meet Yue Xuanming and the others, and finally explain his plan.

But just as he turned around and was about to push open the gate of the tower...

"Whoa! Feng Yu Die!!! Damn you!"

A loli's voice roared from beside them.

Turning their heads, they saw Yun Jiujiu running toward them with her short legs.

Feng Yu Die was startled, and before she could react, Yun Jiujiu rushed to her, grabbed her collar, and lifted her above her head.

"Damn you! Feng Yu Die!!"

?

Confused, Feng Yu Die found herself held by the collar and asked, "Jiujiu, why are you scolding me again?"

"You fucking betrayed me!!!" Yun Jiujiu's eyes widened in anger. Her entire face was covered in twitching veins. "You're still acting innocent, aren't you?!"

Ye Anping hurried forward and gently grabbed Yun Jiujiu's wrist. "Second Miss Yun, harmony brings wealth, don't be violent. What's the matter?"

"Harmony my ass! This bitch..."

Just as Yun Jiujiu was in the middle of cursing...

Pah---

Yun Yiyi came behind her and gently slapped Yun Jiujiu's butt, making her jump up on the spot.

"Ouch! Sister, what are you doing..."

"Second Sister, why are you arguing at this time? You'll be with Miss Feng from now on, anyway."

Yun Jiujiu pouted and hugged her chest, turning her head away. "Hmph!"

Yun Yiyi sighed slightly, then walked to Feng Yu Die and bowed. "I'm sorry, Miss Feng. After my father came back a few days ago, he spanked her butt until it was swollen because of the thing she gave you last time. She can't even sit down these days."

?

Feng Yu Die didn't seem to understand and tilted her head. "Ah? Why?"

"Uh, you can just ask her when the time comes."

Yun Yiyi smiled and looked at Ye Anping. Seeing him wearing a black brocade robe, she inexplicably wanted to rush up and hug him, but she knew that the occasion was not right and it was not a good idea.

So, she also walked in front of Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo and bowed to Pei Lianxue first. "Miss Pei, long time no see."

"Hmm..."

Then, she raised her head, deliberately puffed up her chest, which was two sizes bigger than Xiao Yunluo's, and nodded slightly. "Nice to meet you. I am the Eldest Lady of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, Yun Yiyi. If you don't mind, you can call me Yiyi or sister, Young Master Xiao."

Xiao Yunluo heard her call Ye Anping "Anping", and after staring at her chest for a while, she raised her head slightly and nodded.

"Xiao Yunluo, hum~"

Ye Anping looked at the two who seemed to give a somewhat hostile vibe, and he was about to step forward to separate them when a cheerful voice came from behind. "Oh~ Master Ye, long time no see, Miss Pei and Miss Feng too..."

Turning his head, he saw Zhang Yihe waving to them from a distance.

Yun Xi walked beside him expressionlessly. Although she was no longer in a wheelchair, it was as if there was a ghost behind her, full of resentment...

"..."

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Ye Anping nodded to them. "Yunluo, you and Yiyi follow me. Third Miss and Brother Zhang, you follow my sister. Second Miss Yun, you follow Sister Feng."

Yun Xi nodded, replying, "Sister Yiyi has told us."

"Very good... After leaving the city, try to keep in touch. Before coming here, we informed the Hundred Lotus Sect and some of their disciples should be waiting for us at the Sword Gate Pass."

Ye Anping smiled faintly and swept his gaze over everyone who was looking at him at the moment.

Actually, he was a little surprised.

After all, he had already told Yun Yiyi about the dangers this time, but now, neither Yun Xi nor Yun Jiujiu showed any nervousness on their faces.

"..."

In the end, he simply threw away the long speech he had prepared before, leaving only one sentence. "I won't say more. Travel safely!"

Yun Jiujiu, Zhang Yihe, and the others all bowed in return, and without saying anything, they were ready to go and find their own teams.

But at this time, Pei Lianxue hesitated, then suddenly ran to him. "Brother..."

"Hmm?"

Chirp~

As if declaring her sovereignty, she tiptoed and kissed Ye Anping on the lips.

She then smiled, narrowing her eyes, turned around, and dragged Yun Xi to the left side of the city wall.

"Hehe... Sister Yun, let's go."

"Ah..."

"Huh?" Zhang Yihe came to his senses, and he quickly cupped his hands, bidding farewell. "Eldest Miss, Second Miss, Miss Feng, Young Master Ye, and Young Miss Xiao, I'll take my leave as well...!"

Then, he turned around and chased after Pei Lianxue and Yun Xi. "Miss Pei~ Don't run so fast, Third Miss will break her leg again..."

"..."

After the three of them ran away, the rest of the crowd remained frozen on the spot and did not speak for a long time.

Xiao Yunluo and Yun Yiyi's gaze involuntarily shifted from Ye Anping's eyes to his lips. However, considering that they would be traveling with him later, they decided not to make a fuss.

But...

Feng Yu Die looked at Ye Anping's mouth, moistened her lips, and her eyes couldn't move away...

---The lips that Sister Pei just kissed.

---Sister Pei just kissed!

---Just kissed!!

...

She was silent for a while before mustering her courage and saying, "Ye..."

"Let's go! Feng Yu Die, let's go too..."

"Hey?"

But before she could finish, Yun Jiujiu lifted her on her shoulder and ran towards the square in the east.

Xue Tianqiao, who was hiding in her hat, was almost thrown out by Yun Jiujiu and hurriedly pounced onto Feng Yu Die's face.

"Ouch! Don't scratch me..."

"Ah? What the hell is this?"

"A fox... Young Master Ye asked me to bring... Oh, no!" Feng Yu Die shook her head and looked at Ye Anping, who was gradually moving away from her. She reached out and shouted, "Young Master Ye... Hey!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Yun Jiujiu carried her and jumped down from the edge of the city wall, which was nearly two hundred feet high. A loud bang sounded on the square below.

Ye Anping pinched the bridge of his nose, not at all curious about what she wanted to say, and looked at Brilliance City from the tower.

A firelight caught his eye. The nine-story building in the north of Brilliance City had already been set on fire. It was likely that Commander Fu Xuan had already gone to the south of the city to meet Yue Xuanming and the others.

At this moment, a golden figure descended from the sky and landed beside him, patting his shoulder.

"Kid..."

Ye Anping turned his head and smiled. "Patriarch Yun, why are you here?"

Yun Tianchong's eyes were quite serious. Maybe because of the balls that he lost and recovered, the expression on his face was much sharper than before.

Actually, he was already there just now but didn't show himself because he saw everyone chatting and saying farewell and didn't want to interrupt.

A few days ago, when Yun Yiyi told him about Ye Anping's plan, he was quite reluctant. After all, Ye Anping wanted him to follow Fu Xuan and other cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage.

But he wanted to protect Yun Yiyi, Yun Jiujiu, and Yun Xi.

However, Yun Yiyi brought up the incidents on the way to the Great Wall, leaving him with no way to refute...

Yun Tianchong came here mainly to ask Ye Anping how a Core Formation cultivator like him could protect Yun Yiyi?

Seeing him coming out, Yun Yiyi frowned. "Father, shouldn't you be in the south of the city..."

"Yiyi..."

Yun Tianchong raised his hand and suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed on the bandage-wrapped spirit sword behind Ye Anping's back.

He looked at it for a long time and felt that this sword was extraordinary. He even felt that it had a familiar smell, but after all, it was wrapped in bandages. He thought for a long time and could not remember where he had seen it before...

"Hmm..."

After a while, he simply raised his hand and reached out to the hilt on Ye Anping's shoulder.

However...

Ding---

An ice spike appeared out of thin air and directly pressed against his finger, blocking his hand in front of the hilt.

!

"..."

Ye Anping smiled as he touched the hilt, and wiped off the ice spike with his hand, soothing the spirit sword. "Patriarch Yun, please forgive me. This sword has its own personality, and it doesn't like others to touch it."

Yun Tianchong couldn't hide his astonishment. He looked up and down at the bandaged sword again and shook his head, sighing. Without saying anything, he took two steps to the side, turned into a golden light, and zipped toward the south of the city to meet Fu Xuan and others.

"..."

After watching Yun Tianchong leave, Ye Anping walked to the side of the wall and took out a jade talisman from his storage bag. He raised his head and faced the Justice Division disciples at the Foundation Building stage, neatly lined up below, as well as a few disciples of the Sword Sect at the edge. Using the talisman to amplify his voice, he said:

"Attention all the Justice Division guards! We are setting off on our swords now!"

"Yes, sir!!"

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