Chapter 72: Return to Phoenix City

All cultivators who witnessed Snowy let the Heavenly Blood Sect's disciple go at the restaurant a few weeks ago felt their scalp tingling as they realized what drove Snowy to make that decision was not an act of mercy but an attempt to lure more expert from Heavenly Blood Sect by making them a bait.

"Is there anyone who still wants the treasure?"

There was only silence that responded to Feng Xue's question.

'My little ancestor, even if we have nine lives, still won't have any guts to desire your item after what happened earlier!'

Almost all of the cultivators present shared the thought, but at the moment, they could only keep it to themselves and swallowed their words.

"Well, the show is over, and there's nothing to see here any more. It's time to get out of here."

Everyone hastily scattered and left the lake since they didn't dare to linger any longer.

Most of them had already felt satisfied even though they didn't get the treasure; Everything they had experienced today was worthy of their time.

"It seems like you still have something in your mind…."

Feng Xue caressed Snowy's hair to comfort her as she saw her troubled expression.

"Xue… Was my action wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"That… If I didn't let them go and didn't play a farce when facing Ming Xiong earlier, then there wouldn't be any innocent who lost their life…."

Feng Xue's eyes widen for a second, but then it turned more gentle as she warmly smiled.

"You're so kind, Snowy. I know you must have felt guilty about it. While it's true that you could have done it differently, it won't guarantee that it will yield a better result. You must accept that there's always something you can't control even if you have unimaginable power."

The tale of the Alchemist Goddess and the old man's figure flashed in Feng Xue's mind as she spoke. And then, she continued,

"Although I'm still young and haven't experienced a lot of things yet, I know that it's better to make our mistake as a lesson rather than dwell on it and be depressed. And we still have a long time ahead of us, and we will face more failures and setbacks in the future. So cheer up, Snowy!"

Feng Xue pinched Snowy's cheek and gave her a little peck on the forehead. Snowy blushed a little before a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Un. Thank you, Xue."

"Let's go back. My mom must be worried about us. It had been more than two weeks since we left home."

Feng Xue resummoned her Flying Sword and grabbed Snowy's waist as they mounted it.

Meanwhile, Rong Hua leisurely sat on top of Snowy's head, looking at both of them with a gentle gaze.

She could have given Snowy advice but decided to go against it because she knew that Snowy needed to get the answer with her own effort, which would be beneficial for her dao heart.

In a blink of an eye, the trio ascended to the sky and went toward Phoenix City in a flash.

***

After the trio leaving the Blackwood Forest, a shadowy figure appeared near the spot where they took off.

The moonlight illuminated the figure and revealed a middle-aged man whose body was covered in a black robe, and a blood-red band encircled his arm.

There was no doubt that he was a member of the Heavenly Blood Sect.

If Snowy and Feng Xue were still here and get a glimpse of the middle-aged man, they would instantly recognize him, for they had been facing him before.

The middle-aged man was indeed Wu Qing, the elder involved in Yan Family's coup d'etate.

Wu Qing took a transmission jade from his ring.

Buzz. Buzz.

Ding.

[Sect Master, our plan is failed]

[Hmm. It seems that they are stronger than we thought. What about Ming Xiong, Elder Wu?]

A guttural voice came out from the other side of transmission jade.

[I'm sorry, Sect Master. When I'm about to save him, I felt a dread feeling that something wrong was happening. It seemed that their true intention was to lure us in. Furthermore, there seems to be an unfathomable expert who protected them from the dark. They could even cancel the life-saving treasure. It was a shame for me to say this, but I didn't think I could handle someone on that level. So, I could only let them be.]

[Hmm. Can you identify the expert? I don't think Feng Family or Heaven Sword Sect have someone that powerful.]

The voice sounded slightly agitated, and Wu Qing could imagine that the Sect Master must be frowning very hard right now.

[No, Sect Master. I couldn't detect any spiritual aura beside them. It might be because the expert had some means to conceal their aura. The expert was very likely to be the veiled woman's master due to a similar technique they deploy.]

[Have you get the woman's identity? If there's even a half-truth from what you had reported before, it was puzzling that someone who has a unique ability more so it's an ability to control spirit beast, to remain hidden for so long.]

[I can't see through her concealment. But if I had to take a guess, she was Snowy, the woman that Feng Xue had brought home. And from the information I got, the timing impeccably matches with the appearance of the two Earth-rank techniques rumored to come from another region. I doubt it was merely a coincidence.]

There was no reply for a quite long time, and then the voice appeared once more with a solemn tone.

[You mean that that woman was the previous owner of the technique, and she somewhat has a connection to another region?]

[I'm afraid so.]

[If that's true, then we should focus our effort to capture the woman! It's our opportunity to strengthen our sect if we can get the method to reach another region.]

Wu Qing's face turned solemn. It was the dream of every expert in the Eastern Region to experience the wonder of another region, said in the legend.

"The Land where Immortal reign," that was how another region was dubbed to be, inciting every cultivator's desire to trod the miraculous land.

[Are we going to send another Elder or Demon Prince to keep an eye on them?]

[No, we should lay low for a moment. There had been a lot of accidents involving our sect, so it can trigger them to retaliate with full force if we keep messing around.]

The sect master turned quiet; he was seemingly pondering about something.

[If I'm not mistaken, there should be the Soaring Dragon and Phoenix Competition next year? We can use that time to execute our plan. Tell all of our disciples to return, we would do closed-door cultivation until then.]

[I understand and will obey.]

Wu Qing stored the transmission jade back and then disappeared into the forest.