52 Return to the Heavens Ridge Villa

\"See you again next time,\" Ling Chong bade Lu Qingyun and the rest of his party farewell.

Lu Qingyun replied heartily, \"Brother Ling Chong, see you soon.\"

\"Farewell…\" Fairy Ling Xiu muttered with a heavy heart. This adventure had ended a little too soon…

She took a last forlorn look at Lu Qingyun before she departed with her brother Ling Chong. Now that they had exited the Misty Desolate Valley, it was time for them to return home.

Although her glances upon Lu Qingyun were subtle, it was not totally lost on Ouyang Xue, Leng Qiuyue and Lie Xingyuan. Maybe they had viewed her as a competitor and that was why they were paying more attention to her.

With Qin Keqin around, Fairy Ling Xiu really did not dare to say much. Moreover she was also quite shy as this was the first time that she had liked someone.

With a melancholy heart, she had left and wondered when would be the next time that she would see him again…

Qin Keqin turned to say to Lu Qingyun, \"Qingyun, I will be staying at your abode when we return to the Heavens Ridge Ville. Aren't you glad?\"

Lu Qingyun was startled and was really happy. So he said excitingly, \"I've much to learn from my master.\"

Qin Keqin chuckled softly, \"But don't say I didn't warn you first. I won't teach you my alchemy skills until you have shown some improvement in your martial levels.\"

Lu Qingyun smiled awkwardly as he thought wryly, \"Hmm, I think my alchemy skills are much better anyway…\"

Qin Keqin turned to look at Lie Xingyuan, \"Xingyuan, someone wants to see you. You should go and talk to her.\"

Lie Xingyuan was startled. There was no need for Qin Keqin to say more. That someone was her master. She was thinking, \"They have met again?\"

While Lie Xingyuan was thinking about her master, Ouyang Xue and Leng Qiuyue had a quiet disappointment on their countenances. \"Sect leader is going to stay with Senior Brother Qingyun from now onward?\"

This fact alone killed off any chances of them ever visiting him…

Ouyang Xue had wanted to forget about him so she had a determined thought, \"Isn't that good? Then I can truly forget about him from now onward…\"

After they had returned to the Heavens Ridge Villa, the experiential party made a quick report to Elder Bu Ming who received them with a startled expression, \"What? This is the essence spirit of a fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast? You have actually killed it?\"

Bu Ming was starting in disbelief at the bounty that was collected as he muttered, \"I will record all your contributions down. All of you may return to your dwellings first.\"

He took a glance at Qin Keqin as she departed with Lu Qingyun and Lie Xingyuan as he wondered, \"Is it considered to be cheating if our sect leader helps them in this manner? Alas, I can't complaint against Grand Elder Ouyang Xue or Sect Leader Qin. They are my seniors…\"

As Lu Qingyun left with Qin Keqin, he whispered to her. \"Master, I've noticed that my divine sword seems to have a strange dull on it. I wonder why it is so?\"

Qin Keqin chuckled, \"You mean ever since that day when I've borrowed it from you to defeat Supremacy Wen Hongguang?\"

Lu Qingyun nodded as he replied, \"Yes, that's right.\"

After a quick paused, he said. \"The first time that I've seen it, it was a godly divine sword and then it is now a half-step divine sword?\"

Qin Keqin gave him a sly look as she laughed jovially, \"When I had borrowed from you that day, I had purposely used my profound aura to suppress the sword aura. So when you have taken it out, it had the aura of a half-step divine sword. Divine swords are sentient swords that can recognize their masters. Although I had given the divine sword to you, it is still able to recognize me as its former mistress.\"

Lu Qingyun asked, \"Huh? Why should you do that? I mean why did master intentionally suppress the aura of the divine sword to make it appear as though it is weaker?\"

Qin Keqin chuckled, \"It is always not a good idea to flaunt off something so precious, am I right? Although a half-step divine sword is still extremely rare but it is still not good enough to cause everyone to steal it from you. But if it is a godly divine sword…\"

\"Master, you have the better foresight than me. Now I know the reason.\" Lu Qing smiled. His master was indeed thinking three steps ahead of everything.

Qin Keqin smiled, \"It seems that you have been using it quite well during the experiential mission.\"

Lu Qingyun nodded, \"The result is much better than I've expected. If it isn't for the divine sword that master had given to me, I won't be able to kill that fifth rank Hundred Eyes Beast.\"

\"That is good. Keep up the good work, my good disciple!\" Qin Keqin chuckled.

Lie Xingyuan who had been following them was gasping secretly, \"Senior brother actually has a godly divine sword and no one has noticed?!\"

\"Although the aura of the divine sword is suppressed, it is still nevertheless a godly divine sword. Please use it with care. This divine sword will aid you in the future as you slay demons and gods.\" Qin Keqin said casually.

Lu Qingyun nodded as he asked, \"What is the name of this divine sword?\"

\"Mm, Fairy Jade Light.\" She replied.

\"Huh?! Isn't this the name of our founder and your mother consort?\" he said weakly.

Qin Keqin looked a little sheepish. At that time she had used the name of this sword as her alias when she was being forced to accept the position of founder as goodwill. She did not want anyone to really know who she was and therefore she had hastily made up an alias on the spot.

Lie Xingyuan smiled and said, \"This divine sword must have belonged to our founder and it was later given to our acting sect leader.\"

Qin Keqin muttered sheepishly as she took a quick glance at Lie Xingyuan, \"That's right…you're right…\"

\"Oh I see!\" said Lu Qingyun with a knowing nod. Now that made perfect sense to him.

Lie Xingyuan was thinking, \"I know that you are faking your current identity. Fairy Jade Light Yuhuan and Qin Keqin is actually the same person…\"

Qin Keqin smiled as she looked at Lie Xingyuan, \"Mm, don't forget to go meet your friend. She is anxious for you. Take your own sweet time and you may stay out overnight. I've no issue with that.\"

Lie Xingyuan: …

Lu Qingyun said respectfully, \"Master, this won't do. I rather that Xingyuan will be back as early as possible. You may not know about this but there was an accidentally some time ago…\"

Lie Xingyuan was smiling bitterly to herself, \"Your master certainly knew about that. She was the one that had kidnapped me.\"

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When Leng Qiuyue had returned to the Red Heaven Sword Hall, her master Celestial Shi Guanyin had a look of relief on her countenance as she rebuked her gently, \"This is too reckless. I hope that you will learn you lesson the next time. It is lucky that our sect leader is there to aid you. Look at you. You have injuries everywhere. What if your cultivation were to impair in the future?\"

Nangong Yu and Li Chen were also presented. They were her senior and junior brothers respectively as well as the core disciples of her master.

Leng Qiuyue said nonchalantly, \"Master, I thank you for your deep concern but your disciple is really alright now. Compared to the injuries of some of the protégés that are with me, my injuries are nothing at all.\"

Shi Guanyin said with a heavy disapproval, \"I don't care about the ordinary protégés. I care for you because you are my disciple. Please get your priorities right. In the future, you will be expected to step over the corpses of hundreds of ordinary protégés just to reach to a higher realm level. Your life is to your master and the Heavens Ridge Villa! This time, you are lucky to be alive. I hope that you will not make the same mistake ever again.\"

Leng Qiuyue moved her lips silently but there were no words. She knew that her master was really concerned about her and was upset with her for making such a rush act.

As she hung her head in shame, she said quietly. \"This experiential mission is a success because of Senior Brother Lu who is with us. I owe it to him that I am alive.\"

Nangong Yu, initial fourth realm immortal celestial as well as the oldest disciple of Shi Guanyin said mockingly, \"My junior sister, he is only a lowly first realm cultivator and can't amount to anything great. You are exaggerating too much.\"

Leng Qiuyue stared coldly at him and said, \"I'm not. He is already a third realm cultivator. If you don't believe, you can have the testing stone to validate his cultivation level.\"

Nangong Yu smiled wryly, \"He is only a first realm cultivator as recently as a month ago. The testing stone won't be wrong. Moreover you know the rules of the clan. You are only allowed to take the testing stone examination every three years. The only exception is when an ordinary protégé thinks that they may have breakthrough to the third realm and wants a re-examination. However if the claim turns out to be false, the ordinary protégé will be severely punished.\"

Then he laughed coldly, \"I am sure that Lu Qingyun knows about this more than anyone of us here. He is just eager to impress you in order to make that claim. Just think about it, if he is really a third realm cultivator now, why didn't he inform the elders about it and request for a re-examination? That is because he is only trying to make a good impression out of you.\"

Leng Qiuyue said coldly, \"He has killed a fifth rank desolate beast and the Flying Armament Sect can be his witnesses.\"

\"Oh?\" Nangong Yu smiled coldly, \"But do we have any protégés from the Heavens Ridge Villa seeing that account? If I am not wrong, he must be in cahoots with the Flying Armament Sect and they are just giving him the credit in order to groom their future spy in the Heavens Ridge Villa. You are still too young and do not know the evils of the world, especially the world of cultivators.\"

Li Chen nodded and said, \"Senior brother here is right. Junior sister, you ought to exercise caution and never trust anyone so readily. He is just a handsome face and a good-for-nothing cultivator-\"

\"That is enough!\" Leng Qiuyue said coldly as she turned around to storm off.

Even Shi Guanyin was startled as she looked at Nangong Yu and Li Chen. It was because Leng Qiuyue had always maintained a cold and quiet demeanor. She was not someone who would lose her composures or emotions so readily. But lately she was acting too strange?

Nangong Yu had a look of jealousy in his eyes as he cursed silently, \"This Lu Qingyun. How dare he try to steal the heart of my junior sister. I will surely make him pay dearly for this. She can only belong to me and only I am fit to be her future companion.\"