"For someone with such unfathomable strength, you seem awfully fixated on my dao companion." Cang Yue wasn't defeated by Xiao Ruolan's insults; instead, she fought back verbally. She knew she was no match against the woman in front of her, so instead of making futile efforts of trying to get into a fight, it was much better to get into an argument with her; perhaps she could uncover some of the truth this way.

As for how much truth Xiao Ruolan had been telling her… heh.

"Oh, you have no idea." Xiao Ruolan merely let out a smirk.

"Is that so?" Raising an eyebrow, Cang Yue asked again. "And why is that?"

Cang Yue knew perfectly well that the only thing these two bitches knew about Yang Ze was his otherworldly appearance and his talented persona.

They were clearly not aware of his physique, otherwise it wouldn't have been her kneeling here naked like this.

"You wouldn't understand." Xiao Ruolan merely shook her head, clearly not interested in talking about the reason behind her fixation on Yang Ze. Instead, she merely gazed towards the direction of his room, as if seeing through the wall in front of her.

"Try me." Cang Yue wasn't the type of person to give up this easily; she was still trying to get something out of Xiao Ruolan. But to her disappointment, Xiao Ruolan merely shook her head and got up from the chair, clearly not interested in this topic.

"Sleep." With a whisper, she merely waved her hand, and with that, the world around Cang Yue began to blur as she fought desperately to stay awake.

"Sleep, and when you wake up, it will all be over." Xiao Ruolan's soft whispers were like a lullaby, making it almost impossible for Cang Yue to resist. With every passing second, her eyelids grew heavier as the exhaustion from the past few days overwhelmed her mind.

She wanted to keep her eyes open… She wanted to stay awake… but no matter how hard she tried, it all was for naught and in the end, she simply closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"What a pity." It wasn't clear whether Xiao Ruolan was talking about Cang Yue or someone else as she uttered those words. Waving her hand, the figure of Cang Yue floated in the air before landing directly beside the unconscious Lin Yue as the two sisters lay in the same cramped bed, side by side… one completely naked… and one covered in a thin grey robe.

Xiao Ruolan merely glanced at them once before strengthening the seal of internal energy around the room and walking out. There were still a few things that she needed to take care of.

—--------------------------------

On the other side of the Heavenly Sword Sect, there was an entirely different scene going on.

Inside one of the most luxurious buildings in the entire Sword Sect, the current sect leader of the Sword Sect, Jian Yu, was sitting comfortably while holding a long paper scroll with a woman clad in black kneeling beside her.

Initially, there were no changes in her expression, but the more she read it, the darker her face got. By the time she finished reading it entirely, she couldn't help but crumble the scroll before using her internal energy to turn it into dust.

"What galls." These were the only words that she managed to utter after a long time.

"What happened?" Beside Jian Yu was the figure of a white masked woman clad in white robes. If Cang Yue were to see her, she would have definitely identified her as one of the Grand Elders of the Sword Sect who put her in prison.

"....." Jian Yu didn't seem to have heard her as her gaze seemed lost.

"What happened?" The white masked woman asked again.

This time, Jian Yu finally replied with a heavy tone.

"It's Yun Ning." Her voice had a hint of solemnity in it as she spoke in a grave voice.

"For some reason, she has decided to advance the date of her Dao Lecture to next month."

"Huh!?" The white masked woman couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. "Wasn't she going to hold the Dao discussion six months later?"

"She was going to tell the way towards the Heaven Realm then, right?" She could still remember the news about the Duality Sect making announcement about how their new sect leader was going to lecture on the path to becoming the Heaven Step.

In the entire Azure Dragon continent, perhaps there wasn't a single soul who wasn't aware of this matter.

"That's what's puzzling." Jian Yu couldnt help but let out a frown. "Why would she do something like this so abruptly?"

"....." The white masked woman sat there in silence for a while before asking abruptly.

"Didn't you two reach to an arrangement? In that case…"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Jian Yu raised her hand, silencing her mid-sentence, and speaking to the kneeling woman clad in cold.

"You can leave now."

The kneeling woman simply gave her a respectful bow before disappearing from there.

It was only then that Jian Yu spoke further, but this time her old voice clearly contained a hint of uncertainty.

"I…"

"What was the arrangement between you two even about?"

"Sigh." Listening to the question, Jian Yu merely let out a heavy sigh. She knew it was impossible for her to suppress it any longer. She could hide it from the world outside, but couldn't from the woman beside her.

"It's a long story." She muttered under her breath, still struggling with whether to say it aloud or not.

"Do we have something else to do?" The reply came swiftly.

"...."

"...."

"Fine." This time, Jian Yu finally let out a defeated sigh as she let out a mouthful of turbid air before speaking in a solemn voice.

"The arrangements between us were about me supporting her, providing her resources and making her acquire the position of the Duality Sect's sect leader."

"And in turn, she would help us take care of this vile disease haunting the ruins under our control, as well as the path to the Heaven step."

"You mean…" the white masked woman's voice raised a pitch as she couldn't help look in the direction of one of the Ruins that came directly under them… to the place where the giant sword was plunged deep into the ground and the place where Cang Yue took Yang Ze to save his life.

"Hmm…" Jian Yu simply nodded slightly. "She already fulfilled one of her promises of getting rid of that damned thing by sending us Cang Yue."

"As for the way to reach the Heaven Step… I am afraid I won't be able to monopolise it for the time being."

Speaking till here, the past events flashed past Jian Yu's eyes as she remembered her meeting with Yun Ning.

She could still remember the careless expression as well as that confidence on Yun Ning's face as she told her that she had a way to get rid of that damned thing in the ruins.

The moment Jian Yu heard that they could get rid of the thing inside, she didn't even hesitate to make a heavenly oath.

And thus the two of them made a heavenly oath.

She would help Yun Ning in various ways… provide her with support, resources and help whenever necessary, and ultimately help her take control of the entire Duality Sect, and in turn, Yun Ning will help her get rid of that damned thing in the ruins as well as the path to the Heaven Step.

To Jian Yu, it was a gamble worth taking.

If she were wrong, then at most she would lose some resources and time. But if she were successful… completing the mission that her lineage has been wanting to accomplish for tens of thousands of years, as well as the Heaven step, was within reach. On one side was the loss of resources and possibly some scorn once the truth got out, and on the other side was eternal glory and tens of thousands of years of life span.

Even an idiot would know what to choose.

So, she took the offer… Helped Yun Ning from time to time and, in the end, even launched an attack on the Duality Sect when the time was ripe.

And sure enough… Yun Ning didn't betray her expectations. Not only was she able to take out the previous sect leader of the Duality Sect, but she was also able to step into the Heaven Step… a realm that no one has been able to reach in the history of the Azure Dragon Continent. And if that wasn't enough, she was also able to take control of the entire Duality Sect in one full sweep.

At that time, even she was terrified of Yun Ning and her strength at the Heaven step that was far beyond her understanding. She was even afraid that Yun Ning wouldn't care about the Heavenly Oath and would directly silence her.

Thankfully, her worries were unnecessary. Yun Ning didn't forget her promise and told her the way to get rid of that damned thing in the ruins.

Just to complete that process, she even sent her daughter, Cang Yue and even told her the entire process.

Now the only thing she needed to do was wait.

Wait and let things play out as they are meant to be. And the plague that her lineage had been taking care of tense of thousands of years would be taken care of.

For a long time, Jian Yu felt like she was still in a dream.

Who would have thought that it would be in her generation that this curse would finally be lifted? Who would have thought that she, who has ten years at most to live, would have a shot at the Heaven Step?

"Haha…" Just thinking about it, Jian Yu couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

She then glanced at the white masked woman beside her, who was supposed to be her successor. The one who would take care of the ruins and the things inside them for the upcoming generations.

She had been training her for as long as she could remember. But now…

She wouldnt even need to do any of those things.

Though Jian Yu felt a sense of loss, she just shook it off.

"What are you thinking about?" It was the white masked woman's pleasant voice that brought Jian Yu out of her trance.

"Just thinking about the future." Jian Yu merely let out a smile as her old, cloudy eyes gleamed with a spark of hope and ambition.

"Do you think she will succeed?" The masked woman finally asked the question she wanted to ask for the longest time.

"The process was to let Cang Yue enter the ruin and let her handle everything."

"If she were stuck there, then we would have gone inside, but since she came out and will head again in the next fifteen or so days… Do you think we still need to head in with her?"

"...."

"...."

"No." Jian Yu's answer was simple as she shook her head in response.

And just when she was about to speak further, she stopped mid-way while her gaze turned in the opposite direction as a frown appeared on her face.

"What is she doing here?"

Looking in the direction of the door, she seemed to look through it at the incoming guest.

In less than ten breaths, there was already a curvaceous figure standing in front of the door who, after announcing her arrival, directly walked inside.

Jian Yu merely glanced at the woman walking towards her before raising an eyebrow.

"Took you long enough to come here after completing the mission."

"What is it, this time?" Jian Yu's first thought was that the other party was here to ask her for help.

But to her surprise, the woman in front of her merely shook her head with a smile before speaking in a charming voice.

"I am just here to tell you that I am getting married."

"Huh!?"

"Huh!?"

Both Jian Yu and the white masked women exclaimed at the same time. They couldnt understand what this woman was talking about now.

"Don't get excited." The woman simply shrugged in response before speaking further.

"As I said, I am getting married."

"...."

"...."

The scene plunged into a brief silence as Jian Yu's furrowed brows relaxed as she thought about something before breaking out in a smile.

"In that case…"

"Congratulations on finding your better half, Grand Elder, Cang Yue."

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