Moments later, when Yuan Ming and Xi Ying reached the site where the last soul leech was located, the sight of the Golden Dawn Fairy left him visibly astounded.

"Xi Ying, you've finally come. I thought you had forgotten about me," the Golden Dawn Fairy said with a sigh of relief as she saw Yuan Ming and his companion arrive.

Yuan Ming's thoughts shifted, and he suddenly recalled that the Six Desires Venerable had particularly placed a soul leech on all the Nascent Souls to reclaim them.

Due to the Golden Dawn Fairy's unique stance among the Nascent Soul cultivators, along with her care along the way, Yuan Ming naturally could not treat her as he had the other Nascent Souls by eliminating her. Since Xi Ying hadn't spoken of it either, it had slipped his mind.

Now, it appeared that Xi Ying's omission of the matter had deep implications.

"How could that be? If you hadn't bravely fed yourself to the tiger by deliberately having the Six Desires insert a soul leech onto your Nascent Soul, how could we have located all his soul leeches? If we were to forget anyone, it certainly wouldn't be you, the great hero," Xi Ying said with a smile.

"Don't sugarcoat it. The old thief Six Desires is dead now, right? Hurry and get rid of this soul leech; having it attach to my Nascent Soul has been utterly disgusting," the Golden Dawn Fairy rolled her eyes.

Then, she pinched a spell with her right hand, and immediately countless golden light characters flew from her body, condensing into a Golden Scroll in midair before falling into her palm.

Xi Ying also touched her forehead, and a Three-legged Golden Crow instantly flew out, entering the Golden Dawn Fairy's body in a flash to eradicate the soul leech attached to her divine soul before flying back into Xi Ying's Sea of Consciousness.

After the Golden Dawn Fairy's divine sense swept through her body and confirmed that the Six Desires soul leech had indeed been removed, she felt a rush of clarity and refreshment.

At the same time, sensing Yuan Ming's confusion, Xi Ying took the initiative to explain:

"Jin Xi is my close friend from girlhood. She came to Shura Palace at my invitation to help. Without her using the Heavenly Talisman Strategy to seal the soul leech and the sensing technique to detect the locations of the others which ultimately reached me, we would not have easily killed the Six Desires."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming finally understood; however, sadness tinged the Golden Dawn Fairy's face:

"Alas, the several elders I brought from the sect had unfortunately perished before Six Desires even made a move, and I didn't even have the chance to protect them."

"I'll compensate you for this afterward," Xi Ying said proactively.

"It's alright. I had already informed them of the risks before they came. Now that they are dead, it is not due to fighting against Six Desires, no one else is to blame," the Golden Dawn Fairy sighed softly and shook her head.

The three remained silent for a moment, but then the Golden Dawn Fairy took the initiative to break the rather heavy atmosphere.

"Well, let's not talk about this anymore. Since the matter here is settled, I need to return to the Spirit Talisman Sect to deal with the aftermath. Once this storm has passed, Xi Ying, come find me to fulfill the agreement to help me recover the other half of the Heavenly Talisman Strategy," the Golden Dawn Fairy said.

Xi Ying nodded silently, then signaled Yuan Ming to open the passage. The Golden Dawn Fairy nodded to Xi Ying in farewell, gave Yuan Ming a mysterious smile, and was then enveloped by a white light activated by Yuan Ming, leaving the Shura Palace.

"Ni Mu has also dealt with the Six Desires' main body on his side. Do you want to go over and say a few words to them?" After seeing the Golden Dawn Fairy off, Yuan Ming suddenly remembered something and proposed.

"I'd rather not. Though Ni Mu is our ally, he has his own agenda and is not wholly with me. Besides, our deal with them isn't over yet; just free them all," Xi Ying shook her head and said.

"I heard Six Desires previously address Ni Mu as the Dawn Alliance Leader, and you mentioned before that he is a member of the Wu Yue Sect. Does that mean Dawn is also part of the Wu Yue Sect?" Yuan Ming asked in surprise.

"Indeed, Dawn is considered an affiliate of the Wu Yue Sect. Although the sect has remained hidden these years, in reality, they have gained control of numerous Scatter Alliances and even some minor sects, their influence far greater than you imagine," Xi Ying explained.

"Has the Wu Yue Sect truly revived? What exactly are their objectives?" Yuan Ming frowned and inquired.

"Thousands of years ago, the Wu Yue Sect reigned over the entire Yunhuang Continent. Now, their revival aims merely to return to the glory of those days," Xi Ying shook her head.

"And you..." Yuan Ming hesitated, looking at Xi Ying.

"Me? Ha, thousands of years ago, our Xi Family ancestor was one of the six Venerables of the Wu Yue Sect. After it was destroyed in a joint effort by Chang Chun Temple along with the Central Plains, East Sea, Western Region, and Southern Border regions, our ancestor managed to escape and settled at the borders of the Northern Desert. To this day, our family has grown to possess several Nascent Soul elders, even three Mid-stage Sleep Witches. Now that the Wu Yue Sect is resurging, they are looking to actively recruit the Xi Family again, not only offering a high position as Venerable but also presenting the mnemonic of the Seventh Layer of the Moonlight Technique," Xi Ying explained slowly.

"The Seventh Layer? I remember you only had the Sixth Level," Yuan Ming was somewhat moved now.

"Indeed, for a long time, the Moonlight Technique passed down in our Xi Family contained only the first six levels. This time, the Wu Yue Sect recovered the lost Seventh Layer, which holds great attraction for the old members of our family. Moreover, they already favored the Wu Yue Sect's plan to unify the continent and were greedy for the rewards promised by the sect, readily joining it. Now they have completely been pulled aboard and have solidified their identities as followers of the Wu Yue Sect," Xi Ying's eyes flashed with a barely noticeable fury.

"And you? Do you agree with them?" Yuan Ming took the initiative to ask, though he already had an answer in his mind.

"Haha, the people of the Wu Yue Sect are no good; they only want to use us as cannon fodder. Moreover, though the Wu Yue God has revived, his methods are outdated and lacking in strategy. It's been ten thousand years, yet he still acts according to the old ways, allowing his followers to kill and harvest souls at will. Furthermore, although the Wu Yue Sect seems unified, in reality, there is severe infighting among the different factions within, with the old members suppressing the newcomers. Even someone like Ni Mu isn't valued. The Wu Yue God still relies on those few decrepit subordinates of his, showing uneven rewards and favoritism. With the sect in such a rotten state, if they could unify Yunhuang, it would indeed be a miracle," Xi Ying said with a cold laugh.

"What are your plans moving forward?" Yuan Ming nodded thoughtfully and then asked.

"Unfortunately, I don't have much say within the clan. For now, I can only outwardly agree with the family's judgment while secretly gathering my own forces, planning to turn against them in the future and completely sever ties with the Wu Yue Sect," Xi Ying said calmly.

Then, she suddenly looked at Yuan Ming, "Actually, I've traveled around Yunhuang these past few years and found that whether it's the Central Plains, the East Sea, the Western Region, or the Southern Border, each place is brimming with talents and prodigies. Though I had a plan, I lacked confidence, until I met you and realized you could even be a potential rival to the Wu Yue God, and that's when I finally settled on my plan."

"Me? Right now, at best, I'm merely a love witch, and even with the Stealing Heaven Tripod, I can only forcibly elevate myself to mid-stage Sleeping Witch. It's already so hard to kill a Six Desires Venerable, how could I be a rival to the Wu Yue God?" Yuan Ming pointed to his nose, somewhat surprised.

"You're thinking in the wrong direction, it's not about being a rival in cultivation, but a rival in gathering Desire Power! The reason why the Wu Yue God can attract so many soul cultivators is because of the magic treasures he bestows, which can gather Desire Power for soul cultivators to use in their cultivation. Otherwise, who would want to spend all day worshiping spirits?" Xi Ying said irritably.

"Ahem, I see, but how did you know I could gather Desire Power?" Yuan Ming was surprised.

"Silly, have you forgotten who told you the name of the Stealing Heaven Tripod?" Xi Ying looked at Yuan Ming as if he were a fool.

Yuan Ming scratched his head awkwardly, but quickly remembered something and hastily asked, "Speaking of which, since you know about the Stealing Heaven Tripod, could you tell me about its origins?"

"I've only seen the appearance and name of the Stealing Heaven Tripod in one of the Wu Yue Sect's classics. It mentioned that it possessed the ability to collect Desire Power, but beyond that, I don't know much more, just like that space you brought me into, I had never heard of it before," Xi Ying spread her hands, somewhat helplessly.

"What about the Wu Yue God then? Who exactly is he, and how did he come to possess the secret skill for absorbing Desire Power? Could it be that he also has a Stealing Heaven Tripod?" Yuan Ming asked again.

"I'm not sure about that either, only that he has existed for over ten thousand years, lived longer than the Six Desires, and his cultivation has reached unfathomable depths, able to kill with a single word. However, he has mostly been in a dormant state and only recently revived, so his strength might not be as formidable as before," Xi Ying said.

"But you don't have to worry. The Wu Yue God seems to have suffered a severe injury and can hardly leave the core sacred site of the Wu Yue Sect. He also doesn't usually care about anyone outside his old subordinates; otherwise, he would have come after us for killing the Six Desires long ago," Xi Ying continued.

Yuan Ming nodded, thought for a moment, then asked, "Speaking of which, your killing of the Six Desires was meant to weaken the Wu Yue Sect's strength?"

"...Not only that, but also because the Six Desires once killed my brother," Xi Ying's mood suddenly dropped, and she only uttered one sentence before falling silent.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming didn't want to rip open her old wounds and opted to change the subject, "Since we are destined to be enemies with the Wu Yue Sect eventually, Ni Mu and his two companions will sooner or later become our enemies. Why not take advantage of our current position and just kill them now to eliminate future problems?"

"Ni Mu is too cunning to deal with that easily. We are currently allied, and there are some things left after killing the Six Desires that need his attention. It's not good to completely burn our bridges yet, and besides, he may not be entirely loyal to the Wu Yue Sect. There might still be opportunities for cooperation in the future," Xi Ying shook her head.

"Wrap things up?" Yuan Ming was puzzled.

"The Six Desires was cautious; even if his main body entered the Shura Palace, he would leave a few soul leech clones outside as a backup. Ni Mu's delay in arriving was to capture those clones. If we kill him here, the Six Desires might still be able to resurrect from those soul leeches, so we can only let him go," Xi Ying explained.

Yuan Ming finally understood. No wonder Ni Mu dared to collaborate with Xi Ying without fear of being silenced; he had always kept a life-saving talisman for himself.

Next, he sensed the location of Ni Mu and his two companions through the forbidden restrictions, ready to open a pathway for their departure, but suddenly, Ni Mu unexpectedly looked up and made eye contact with Yuan Ming, who was observing them through the restrictions.

However, Ni Mu seemed not to actually see Yuan Ming, only nodding slightly in that direction as a greeting before continuing to converse with his companions.

Even so, his response sent a chill through Yuan Ming's heart, and he no longer waited for them to leave on their own, directly using the forbidden restrictions to eject the three from the Shura Palace.

(Sorry, Wang Yu was a bit busy yesterday, which delayed the update time. I apologize for any inconvenience to my fellow Daoists!)

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