"Could it be that a formidable expert saw something through the avatar I left behind, and thus doubted that I was dead, so they seized Feng Caixuan's Soul Order to deduce my life and death?"

Zhou Yan came to this conclusion, and in that instant, a sudden coolness flashed through his entire body, like taking a sip of Life Soul Spring, it was refreshing and incredibly soothing.

"The deduction is correct."

The anxiety in Zhou Yan's heart disappeared, but the heavy sense of crisis made him realize the danger might be immense, possibly even perilous with his current combat power.

"My combat power currently breaks four and is near five. To increase by two more levels would be breaking six and nearing seven, approaching the power level comparable to Xuanling Sky and Supreme Heavenly Venerate. The opponent making me feel threatened, at the least, must be at the Supreme Heavenly Venerate level."

"In this case, the essence energy I stored is insufficient, not to mention the endless Divine Pills, Soul Pills and Soul Crystals—they might not be enough. Rather, returning to the Sect calls for keeping a low profile, yet I must find a way to boost some part of my combat power."

Zhou Yan immediately made arrangements for his forthcoming actions in his heart.

He contemplated all of this within a single breath.

Then Zhou Yan engraved the array plate, using Soul Crystal as the energy foundation of the array, and activated the array plate, locking the space node onto a desolate area a hundred thousand miles away from Sky Sword Mountain.

When heading to Sky Sword Mountain, Zhou Yan had paid attention to the surrounding environment, allowing him to traverse the void swiftly.

Upon the activation of the array, it suddenly obscured their auras, and after the array fluctuations, the two instantly disappeared.

At the moment of disappearance, Zhou Yan undid the art of changing his form and returned to his original appearance, concealing the Soul Order.

Simultaneously, Mo Yuyao's appearance change was also undone, restoring her to her original look.

The array plate vibrated, and the void wave ceased. As they were about to step out from the array pattern space, Mo Yuyao suddenly stopped, worriedly saying, "Naughty Senior Brother, will it be dangerous for you to return to your original appearance? Maybe you should stay as that ugly form? I promise I won't laugh at you."

"No need, anyway, once back at the Sect there will be no problem, although things might change a little. So, at that point, you should return to the Sect first, and I will come back after finishing my business."

Zhou Yan proposed.

"No, let's die together then, because... you saved my life, and by annihilating the Blue Clan, the great enemy of our Mo family, you essentially saved many cultivators in the Dark God Domain and our entire Mo family. My cousin's affairs, I won't hold against you – call it even. My life that you saved should be returned to you."

Mo Yuyao stubbornly said.

"No—Little Junior Sister, you're mistaken. Think about it, with my combat power, I can kill a Venerable with a punch, so what is there to fear from death? And what cultivator can threaten me? I have my reasons for doing this. You should return and reassure Master, and also check on our two Senior Sisters. I will quietly return later to see them, then leave, and only come back when things with the Sword Emperor Sect and Immortal Dao have calmed down.

Think, if news of my survival gets out, it will bring disaster on the Sect and cause the death of all its cultivators! So after you return, keep it vague with Master and the two Senior Sisters, but say no more, especially since I will use transformation techniques; otherwise, my life would be at risk."

Zhou Yan, slightly musing, explained the reasoning, then uttered some words to coax Mo Yuyao into agreeing with reluctance.

Yet, tears lingered at the corner of her eyes, showing for the first time an outpouring of sentimentality.

"Bad guy, take good care of yourself. In the worst case, next time when you're safe, I'll let you bully me once, but you must take care!"

Mo Yuyao cried. Suddenly, she realized how unwilling she was to part from this bad Senior Brother.

The shared journey might have been really brief, yet so unforgettable.

"Go, dear, even that clown Sun Chengfeng isn't dead, so how could I die!" Zhou Yan chuckled.

"Poof—"

Mo Yuyao burst into laughter through her tears, then abruptly leaned in close to Zhou Yan and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, before quickly turning and running off.

Although Zhou Yan could technically avoid Mo Yuyao's actions—because her movements, however quick, seemed really slow to him—

His legs, as if rooted to the spot, didn't move at all.

Mo Yuyao left, and strings of tears scattered in the wind. Blends of young girl fragrance lingered in the void, echoing and entrancing.

Zhou Yan seemed somewhat dazed, as this scene mirrored the departure of Long Xianyin so closely.

But it was not a farewell; instead, the hidden danger was something Zhou Yan could not guarantee against, and if he took Mo Yuyao along, it might render him powerless to protect her.

Just because Mo Yuyao was so lovable, like a Little Junior Sister, like a sister, Zhou Yan felt protective feelings toward her.

After waiting for a long time amidst the array ripples, Zhou Yan transformed into a stream of imperceptible scent mixed with the girl's fragrance, following Mo Yuyao into the Sky Sword Sect.

Everything proceeded smoothly.

Mo Yuyao soon entered the Sect Protection Array of Sky Sword Mountain.

Zhou Yan, through overhearing conversations among some sect disciples, learned that due to the events at Burial Immortal Land, Sky Sword Mountain had suffered the tragic deaths of many disciples and had yet to direct accusations at other sects; it was somewhat remarkable, and Zhou Yan's matters had not been brought up.

After all, everyone treated the so-called Immortal Dao as a 'trap' of the Sword Emperor Sect, a 'conspiracy' of slaughtering cultivators, and that 'Zhou Yan' was just a victim.

After Mo Yuyao returned to the sect, Zhou Yan followed stealthily, arriving at Gui Die Mountain. On Gui Die Mountain, Feng Yunyan was unusually absent, but Feng Cailing and Feng Caixuan were present, as was Sun Chengfeng.

After Mo Yuyao's return, Feng Caixuan and Feng Cailing were very joyful, yet began to inquire about Zhou Yan's situation.

Even though they had already heard about Zhou Yan's 'fall,' the two seemed somewhat incredulous and continued asking.

Mo Yuyao, eyes reddened from a mournful farewell, instinctively lied when asked, "The naughty Senior Brother, left."

"Ah—"

Feng Cailing and Feng Caixuan's eyes both turned dim.

For a long time, the two women merely sighed softly, while not far away, Sun Chengfeng only let out a cold snort, seemingly very disdainful.

However, he surprisingly did not take the initiative to curry favor with Feng Cailing, Feng Caixuan, or Mo Yuyao, which was beyond Zhou Yan's expectations.

Zhou Yan was thoughtful, and he slightly conveyed a message through his divine soul to Feng Cailing and Feng Caixuan, asking them to meet in the forbidden area of the cave mansion.

Feng Cailing agreed immediately, while Feng Caixuan agreed more cryptically.

Feng Cailing suddenly had some emotional changes, which attracted Sun Chengfeng's attention. His eyes flickered with a sharp glint, looking around, but he couldn't find anything.

Yet, he remembered his master's words, and immediately returned to his cave mansion with a nonchalant expression, then used his soul consciousness to transmit a message to his master, the Heavenly Inheritor Venerable.

...

Within the restricted ancient array, Zhou Yan manifested a phantom image, similar to a soul-cutting avatar, without fully revealing himself.

"Little junior brother."

"Little junior brother, it's great that you're okay. We and Little Junior Sister were very worried about you. Master even left the mountain for you, but we don't know where he went."

Feng Cailing and Feng Caixuan were somewhat excited, but Feng Cailing only called out once, while Feng Caixuan was more emotionally stirred.

This pair of sisterly flowers seemed indifferent, but the tenderness in their hearts was the same.

"I'm fine, thank you for worrying about me, senior sisters. However, I'm being watched right now, and it's not suitable for me to come forward. I've appeared to confirm one thing, which is very important to me."

Zhou Yan's expression was serious, and his words were solemn.

"Oh? What is it?"

Feng Caixuan was taken aback, and Feng Cailing's eyes also brightened a bit, with more worry in them.

"Were either of you, Senior Sister Cailing or Senior Sister Caixuan, the one who lost or lent out the Soul Order?"

"Senior Brother, how did you know about this? During a fight with someone, I suddenly suffered an inexplicable injury and lost the Soul Order. But later, we met Senior Brother, who fought the enemy alone and helped me retrieve the Soul Order."

"By the way, little junior brother, since you're okay, why can't we sense your aura…"

Feng Caixuan asked in confusion.

"That aura became a means for the enemy to track me, so I blocked it in a unique way. As soon as you mentioned it, I completely understood. It seems I shouldn't have held back."

Zhou Yan explained, but his tone gradually turned colder.

After learning from Mo Yuyao that the Soul Order can sense his life and death, Zhou Yan put the Soul Order into the Luo Book River Map, and then sank the Luo Book River Map deep into the Nine Apertures Demon Heart.

If even this couldn't suppress the aura of the Soul Order, Zhou Yan would even directly discard it.

Now that Feng Cailing and Feng Caixuan said this, Zhou Yan felt much more at ease.

"Little junior brother, could it be Senior Brother—"

Feng Cailing suddenly seemed to realize something, and immediately spoke coldly.

Her tone already carried a hint of murderous intent.

The two women are not fools. With what Zhou Yan said, it would be surprising if they didn't suspect Sun Chengfeng.

"Don't worry, he will soon not be your senior brother. I'll make him famous in the Dark God Domain! You don't have to do anything, just wait and watch the show. But…it's best to wait until I come back to watch together. Otherwise, if you watch it with excitement, it won't be good."

As Zhou Yan spoke, he couldn't help but smile.

This smile, however, was a bit wicked.

However, this smile did not make Feng Cailing and Feng Caixuan dislike it. Instead, it added a touch of bewitching charm to Zhou Yan, causing both sisters to almost simultaneously feel a slight flutter in their hearts.

After Zhou Yan finished speaking, he disappeared directly.

But at the same time, on this mountain peak, a unique mirror rune ancient array appeared, its aura extremely hidden and not easy to detect.

Not only on this mountain, but many mountain peaks afterward also had such hidden rune ancient arrays appear.

These ancient arrays were mirror ripple ancient arrays and were of a very peculiar and strange design, absolutely not easy to break.

After all, even the powerful sect protection array of the Sword Emperor Sect had many flaws in Zhou Yan's eyes, showing that the arrays Zhou Yan personally set up were not simple things.

Zhou Yan, having access to the vast resources of the Sword Emperor Sect, did not care at all about the rarity and preciousness of the array materials.

He planned to give Sun Chengfeng's 'grand affair' a super powerful live broadcast, to spread this scene to every corner of the Sky Sword Sect, then have countless cultivators record it in the Sword Illusion Realm, making Sun Chengfeng world-famous in the Dark God Domain.

This would become the first thrilling, artistic film in the history of the Dark God Domain, and Sun Chengfeng's fifty seconds would become a tremendous laughingstock that astonished billions of cultivators!

Zhou Yan originally did not intend to deal with Sun Chengfeng this way, but after confirming that the Soul Order was taken by Sun Chengfeng, Zhou Yan was very sure that the one targeting him must be the Venerable behind Sun Chengfeng!

If others want to destroy him, he will first let them suffer disgrace!

Because, sometimes, death is a relief, a blessing for a cultivator. But living, living humbly, enduring humiliation, and being pointed at by thousands is the real torture!

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