As more and more cultivators passed by the mound, Yan Ji understood that she couldn’t stay here for long. If she didn’t quickly move from this place, someone would eventually discover her.

After taking out a simple Appearance Changing Mask and putting it on, Yan Ji carefully removed the Concealment Array Disc. She knew that the Appearance Changing Mask was of a low grade, so someone with higher cultivation would eventually see through it.

Yan Ji had just put away the Concealment Array Disc and hadn’t brought out a flight-type weapon when a black ray of light suddenly shot towards her. Yan Ji risked her life all year round, which meant that she had developed a habit of keeping vigilant to any changes around her. This habit had even transformed into a second nature now that she was a wanted person.

The moment just before that black ray of light slammed into Yan Ji, Yan Ji reacted and immediately brought out a defensive shield.

“Bang….” The black ray of light then exploded on Yan Ji’s defensive shield. However, the powerful counter-shock formed by the celestial essence contained in the attack pushed Yan Ji back. The already-badly wounded Yan Ji also spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yan Ji’s vigilance and swift action allowed her to escape disaster temporarily. But it also allowed her to see the person who attacked her, a male cultivator at the late-stage Undead Realm.

“Haha, I guessed that you hid somewhere around here, you are this Si Long’s great opportunity….” As this male cultivator spoke, he also raised his hands. He unleashed a circular net about a few hundred feet in diameter.

This large net sealed every inch of space within its range. If not for Yan Ji’s injuries, she could have escaped this weapon’s encirclement easily. Unfortunately, Yan Ji had severe injuries, so even if she wanted to run away, it would prove almost impossible.

Yan Ji understood that if she couldn’t escape this net’s encirclement, suicide might turn out to be the best-case scenario. Caught by this bastard, nothing good would ever happen to her.

But Yan Ji also felt desperation welling up inside of her. Although she had managed to bring out her weapon, the Thousand Mile Chart, she didn’t have the strength to activate it. Her spiritual consciousness and celestial essence had almost hit rock bottom, and her injuries were just too severe.

Seeing the net about to close in on her, Yan Ji sighed and decided to commit suicide.

But before her hand made contact with her forehead, the male cultivator attacking Yan Ji suddenly screamed. The next moment, this person fell into the swamp below, before bursting like a clump of blisters.

Without the male cultivator’s control, the net suddenly lost all its power, even the spacial suppression also weakened. It allowed Yan Ji to escape from the clutches of the net closing in on her. The next moment, the net shrank to less than a tenth of its original size and landed in front of Yan Ji.

A female cultivator in a grey robe suddenly appeared out of thin air. She raised her hand and grabbed at a bamboo arrow that had suddenly shot out from the swamp with a ring attached to it. The bamboo arrow paused over her open palm, and she immediately put it away.

Only then did Yan Ji understand that this grey-robed woman had shot that male cultivator with the bamboo arrow. Although she didn’t know the purpose of this grey-robed woman, Yan Ji still said, “Thank you for saving me.”

At this moment, she also saw several flight-type weapons flying towards them from a distance. Seeing that, the grey-robed woman suddenly said to Yan Ji, “If you continue to stay in Thorn Tooth Lake, you will die. Someone gave the order to seal the Orchid Restraining Star, so you can’t get out at all.”

“Do we know each other?” Yan Ji stared at this female cultivator and asked in doubt. If she knew her, why would she help her? Wouldn’t it be the best just to catch her and turn her in for the reward? Although Yan Ji didn’t know what the compensation for her capture was, she knew that it wouldn’t be too low.

But she also understood the implications. How could an ordinary person comprehend the wealth of a Celestial River King? Comparing her life to the wealth of a Celestial River King, one couldn’t even put the two on the same scale.

The grey-robed woman nodded, “Yes, we know each other. Besides, only I can save you from this situation. Thorn Tooth Lake has a place, and apart from me, even Shangguan Xiang, who you hate to the core, wouldn’t find it.”

“How do you know that I have a vendetta against Shangguan Xiang?” Yan Ji stared at the grey-robed woman with a little more caution. She believed that even if Shangguan Xiang wanted to capture her, Shangguan Xiang would never reveal the reason.

The grey-robed woman calmly spoke up, “Because I was cultivating in Thorn Tooth Lake when I saw you kill Shangguan Man’er. I only gave you a suggestion; if you don’t want to come with me, then I’ll leave first.”

Yan Ji agreed after a moment of silence and said, “Okay, I’ll come with you.”

She knew that even if she didn’t leave with this grey-robed woman, she couldn’t escape her either. Besides, if she wanted to kill her, she wouldn’t go about it in such a roundabout manner.

The grew-robed woman seemed to know that Yan Ji would agree. She stepped forward and grabbed Yan Ji’s hand before speaking, “Don’t move, I have a Transfer Talisman, which can immediately teleport the two of us away.”

Sure enough, after she finished speaking, she took out a jade talisman. Activating the Transfer Jade Talisman, it immediately transformed into a white light that swept the two away.

Shortly after they left, several Daoist shadows reached the place. But because these cultivators did not have high cultivation, they couldn’t find out what had happened here.

……

After a short spell of dizziness, Yan Ji’s feet touched solid ground and stumbled a bit. As soon as she stepped onto solid ground, Yan Ji immediately started to look all around her in caution.

From the looks of it, this area felt like a cellar. No, it shouldn’t be a cellar. Yan Ji quickly noticed stone passageways branching out of this ‘cellar’ through her spiritual consciousness. Moreover, despite having many Clear Light Arrays installed in the ‘passageways’ and the ‘cellar’, she couldn’t see anything with a clear focus.

She then carefully looked around the cellar and only found a stone bed, a stone table and two stone piers along with a praying mat. It didn’t look anything different from the most unadorned cultivation cave, with nothing extra.

“Where is this place?” Yan Ji asked subconsciously.

The grey-robed woman took out two glasses and filled them up with some spirit tea before handing Yan Ji a cup. She then said, “This place still is within Thorn Tooth Lake. But there’s no way for anyone else to find this place. You’re severely injured so have some spirit tea first.”

Yan Ji didn’t hesitate. She took the spirit tea and finished it in one gulp before putting the cup down. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Striking Order Starry Sky, how come you came to Nine Jewels Starry Sky?”

“You know who I am?” The grey-robed woman looked at Yan Ji in shock.

Yan Ji raised her hand and took off her mask before replying with a calm voice. “I didn’t know it back then, but I realised it when you held my hand.”

Not only did she know this woman, but she also knew that there were a few grudges between the two of them. This woman was also from Le Continent, and one of the darlings of heaven. Moreover, the two were even known as the Le Continent’s ‘twin lotus flowers on one stock’. However, the two didn’t share a good relationship; rather, the two had a lot of conflicts.

Moreover, the conflicts between the two originated because of Ning Cheng.

The grey-robed woman sighed after hearing Yan Ji’s words and also took off her mask, revealing a pretty face no worse than Yan Ji. If not for Yan Ji’s currently pale face, with the two women standing together, they truly would look like ‘twin lotus flowers on one stock’.

She was Nalan Ruxue, who like Yan Ji, came from the Le Continent.

“Nalan Ruxue, why did you save me? If I remember correctly, didn’t you hate me?” Yan Ji spoke with a calm voice and even looked at Nalan Ruxue with a steady gaze.

“Yan Ji, do you think that I’m someone who dwells on taking revenge?” Nalan Ruxue spoke with a someone dejected tone.

Yan Ji remained silent. Yeah, she did think that Nalan Ruxue was a person who chased after revenge. It’s just that Nalan Ruxue had saved her, so she didn’t want to be an ungrateful person.

“Why are you in the Night Essence Celestial River?” After a long silence, Yan Ji didn’t directly answer Nalan Ruxue’s words but instead chose to change the topic. In her opinion, Nalan Ruxue was a person who chased after revenge, so she couldn’t figure out why Nalan Ruxue wanted to save her.

Nalan Ruxue took in a deep breath and said, “Do you know what school I joined at Tian Continent?”

Without waiting for Yan Ji to answer, Nalan Ruxue voluntarily replied, “It’s the Battle Devil Palace.”

At this point, her tone turned a bit self-deprecating, “Haha. I came from Le Continent’s Thoughtless Academy, but joined Tian Continent’s Battle Devil Palace.”

“You, because he was a devil cultivator, you joined a devil sect? Why, was it to relieve your guilt?” Yan Ji suddenly asked.

Although Nalan Ruxue answered Yan Ji’s words, it felt like she was talking to herself. “I don’t know. In the eyes of everyone in Le Continent, devil cultivators are a taboo existence, treated as poisonous weeds that need rooting out. But he became a devil cultivator, not because he wanted to, but because of me. Maybe because I almost killed him….”

Yan Ji spoke up with a rather chilly tone, “You didn’t just almost kill him. Did you forget that when he entered Law’s Way, he almost died because of you? When Hang Jiaojiao and others ganged up on him, you could have stood up and set the record straight. But instead, you almost let Que Penghai kill him.”

“At that time, replaced with anyone else, they would have stood up and at least tried to set the record straight. Yet, it was you. If not for you, would Hang Jiaojiao ever dare to target him? He saved you from Hang Jiaojiao and Si Kongkai, yet you almost killed him to help the enemy.”

Nalan Ruxue lowered her head but remained silent. Yan Ji spoke the truth. If it weren’t for Yan Ji coming forward and speaking up at the right time, Ning Cheng, who went under the pseudonym of Cheng Xiaoning back then, would have died under Que Penghai’s hands. As for a reason, of course, it was because she stood up for the injustice.

After coming out of Law’s Way, she already suspected that Ning Cheng was her life-saving benefactor, yet she still used Ning Cheng as a shield. In the end, because of Ning Cheng’s grassroots origin, she did not care much about his life or death.

The Thoughtless Academy was a prestigious and upright faction within the eyes of people. But her master had drilled into her head that the world only cared about strength. One could only enjoy freedom corresponding to one’s power and influence, which meant that people would only listen and look up to the strongest individuals. Besides, she only suspected that Ning Cheng helped her back then, and did not know for sure. Yet, instead of sitting down and thinking it over with a calm mind, she had accused Ning Cheng of something he hadn’t done. By the time she realised it, it was already too late.

Only after being influenced by Meng Jingxiu and Yue Ying’s words and coming to Tian Continent, did she realise that Ning Cheng had already surpassed everyone. Despite his grassroots origin. In contrast, none of Le Continent’s so-called geniuses could even come anywhere near to Ning Cheng’s achievements. Only at that point did she start reflecting over all her past actions.

She grew up under the heavy influence of her master, and as such, had also developed an intense hatred towards devil sects and devil cultivators. Ning Cheng’s use of Devil Qi, coupled with her dirty little secret, naturally formed an extreme distrust and hatred towards him. At the very least, she had felt apathetic to Ning Cheng’s plight and situation back then. But the truth she learned later created a psychological shock so massive that it almost destroyed her mind and even her foundation. The uncomfortable guilt that emerged within her heart then led her to join a devil sect as a means for atonement.

However, Tian Continent and Le Continent held vastly different views. Tian Continent never treated devil sects as mortal enemies, and in fact, treated them as equals. After Nalan Ruxue joined the devil sect, her temperament started to change gradually. After spending some time in the sect, she no longer was the same person as in the past. She now fully believed what Yue Ying had said to her when she left. That is, sometimes even if you see it with your own eyes, it may not necessarily be the truth.

Eventually, after years of gruelling training and hardships, she managed to shed her past self. Moreover, because she now walked the path of a devil cultivator, she wanted to head to the Devil Domain Grand Starry Sky. But while passing through the Night Essence Celestial River, she accidentally came across this place. As it helped her cultivation a lot, she decided to make this place a temporary home for now.

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