Chapter 425: The Bai Family’s Sincerity

The council hall.At this moment, quite a few members of the Evil Moon Sect’s Linjiang Branch had already gathered at the entrance.

These individuals were all hall master-level figures, handpicked by Luo Yuebai.

However, despite their status, they were relegated to serving as mere guards at the entrance, a clear indication of how seriously Luo Yuebai took this matter.

Inside the council hall, a group of about ten people was seated.

Their extraordinary presence made it evident that they hailed from a powerful faction.

The leader of the group, Bai Ying, was someone Su Jingzhen was quite familiar with.

Bai Ying was the very Soul Formation stage cultivator Su Jingzhen had encountered in the peculiar land.

Behind Bai Ying stood about ten young members of the Bai Family.

Among them, Su Jingzhen recognized two from the peculiar land, while the rest were unfamiliar faces.

Bai Susu was also present, seated beside Bai Ying.

As Su Jingzhen followed Luo Yuebai into the hall, he immediately understood the purpose of today’s gathering.

Upon their entrance, Bai Ying glanced at them without saying much.

However, the younger members of the Bai Family looked at Su Jingzhen with curiosity.

“Is he the legendary Chief Acolyte of the Evil Moon Sect’s Linjiang Branch? The one who made a name for himself at the Alchemist Conference in Yunmeng City?”

“He’s rather handsome, but the Sect Master beside him, Luo Yuebai, seems a bit too young. Do all people in the demonic path have such remarkable ways of maintaining their youth?”

As this was the first time the younger members of the Bai Family had seen Su Jingzhen and Luo Yuebai, a few of the women whispered among themselves, clearly intrigued by them.

After Su Jingzhen and Luo Yuebai took their seats, Bai Ying turned her attention to Shen Yifeng, who was already in the hall.

“This time, us old folks should probably stay out of this, right? Why not let the young ones handle everything?”

Bai Ying’s only focus in the council hall remained on Shen Yifeng.

Hearing this, Shen Yifeng smiled and nodded, “I left everything to Yuebai and the others earlier, so it’s only right for us to step back now.”

With their remarks, Bai Susu stood up.

A cold yet stunning smile appeared on her face as she looked at Luo Yuebai, “Sect Master Luo, apart from myself, the Bai Family has a total of ten members who will enter the peculiar land for training. These are the people you see before you.”

“Each person is allotted a one-month training period.”

“This storage pouch contains three thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Please, Sect Master, verify them.”

It’s worth noting that one day in the peculiar land was one thousand low-grade spirit stones, equivalent to ten mid-grade spirit stones.

The three thousand mid-grade spirit stones are equivalent to three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.

If taken out at once, it would be a considerable fortune for the forces in Qingzhou.

For some of the weaker forces, whose strongest members are only at the Golden Core stage, they might not even earn three thousand mid-grade spirit stones in a year.

This highlights the Bai Family’s wealth and status as a top-tier power.

However, upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the ten young members standing behind Bai Susu became momentarily stunned.

They only knew they were going to a peculiar place for training.

They hadn’t realized that it was secured at such a high cost.

Each of them grew increasingly shocked and curious.

After speaking, Bai Susu handed the storage pouch to Luo Yuebai.

Luo Yuebai weighed it briefly but did not count the stones.

She knew that in matters like these, neither Bai Susu nor the Bai Family would attempt any deceit.

After all, the control of the peculiar land was in the hands of the Evil Moon Sect’s Linjiang Branch.

Before Luo Yuebai could say more, Bai Susu suddenly turned her gaze to the ten young disciples behind her.

“Heavenly Dao Oath!

Remember what I taught you on the way here, right?”

With those words, the expressions of the ten became solemn.

“I, Bai Miao, swear by the Heavenly Dao that I will not divulge any information about the training location to anyone. If I violate this oath, may my Dao heart collapse and may I face divine retribution!”

“I, Bai Sen, swear by the Heavenly Dao…”

One by one, the ten made their solemn vows before Su Jingzhen and the others.

Seeing this, a smile tugged at the corner of Luo Yuebai’s mouth. “It seems the Bai Family is indeed sincere about cooperating with our Evil Moon Sect.

Miss Bai, your efforts are appreciated. As long as the Bai Family remains open and honest, as I’ve mentioned before, our Linjiang Branch will not let the Bai Family down.”

Bai Susu smiled back. “Since so many from the Bai Family have sworn by the Heavenly Dao, you can rest assured that we will not overstep our boundaries.”

In the cultivation world, when there is a disparity in strength, the stronger party can easily bully the weaker one.

Only when both sides are of similar strength can they discuss rules and regulations.

After discussing the specific details further, Luo Yuebai and Bai Susu concluded their conversation.

Bai Susu was preparing to lead her group directly to the Peculiar Land in the canyon.

At this moment, Su Jingzhen reluctantly stood up.

From the moment he entered the hall and saw the members of the Bai Family, he knew what his mission was.

It was simply to escort the Bai Family members into the Peculiar Land.

After all, the permissions he had given her previously only allowed her to enter on her own; she couldn’t bring others along.

“Don’t look so glum. It’s not like you’re working for free,” Luo Yuebai said, rolling her eyes at him.

She then tossed the storage pouch, which still hadn’t even warmed in her hands, containing the three thousand mid-grade spirit stones to Su Jingzhen.

“This task’s main credit goes to you, so the first payment should naturally be yours.”

After a brief pause, she added, “Besides, there are more rewards coming later—you know…”

Hearing Luo Yuebai’s last words, Su Jingzhen suddenly became excited.

Although three thousand mid-grade spirit stones weren’t much to him now, it was still the first time he had acquired such a substantial amount.

But what thrilled him even more was what she said afterward.

It seemed that tonight, Luo Yuebai wouldn’t be able to escape.

After all, there were many techniques he hadn’t used last time.

Their slightly intimate conversation was conducted openly in front of the Bai Family members. Neither of them felt the need to hide anything, nor did they see anything wrong with it.

This only made Bai Susu and the others more curious about the relationship between the two.

…

Yesterday, while Su Jingzhen was sleeping, Luo Yuebai had already led people to establish a route directly from the Evil Moon Sect to the canyon.

This route was unlikely to attract the attention of other forces in Linjiang City.

Of course, even if the major forces in Qingzhou eventually became aware of this, there was still a barrier protecting the Peculiar Land.

They would have no way of probing into what lay within.

As for the collaboration between the Linjiang Branch and the Bai Family, Luo Yuebai had never intended to keep it a secret from the start.

In fact, at the right time, she even planned to publicize it. Searᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

After all, the landscape of the cultivation world in Qingzhou was constantly changing.

Many of the once top-tier righteous factions had formed alliances.

Some forces were even secretly aligning themselves with the increasingly powerful Evil Moon Sect’s Longyan Branch.

So, it was not surprising that some would seek to cooperate with the Linjiang Branch.

As the two branches of the Evil Moon Sect rose in power, and as Longyan City and Linjiang City continued to develop, the lines between demonic and righteous paths seemed to blur under the influence of profit.

Moreover, the recent actions of the Linjiang Branch did not fit the long-held stereotypes about demonic cultivators.

However, for sects like the Free and Unfettered Sect, whose leader had died at the hands of the Evil Moon Sect, the enmity was irreconcilable. One side would have to be completely annihilated.

Back to the main point, under Luo Yuebai’s personal guidance, the group quickly arrived at the gorge via the exclusive route.

When Su Jingzhen was not present, the barrier remained hidden, making the area appear as it usually did.

However, this time, Su Jingzhen noticed that several positions were now guarded by Linjiang Branch’s demonic cultivators, clearly arranged by Luo Yuebai over the past two days.

Su Jingzhen mentally controlled the sword-shaped mark at the entrance of his Niwan Palace, causing the barrier to reappear. A swirling vortex passage materialized above it.

The young members of the Bai Family were visibly shocked, their curiosity piqued as they followed Bai Susu into the vortex.

After the barrier dissipated again, Bai Ying turned her gaze to Shen Yifeng.

“I trust your Linjiang Branch will honor the previous agreement.

I, too, will uphold my end of the bargain and shall return now. In the future, only the younger generation of the Bai Family will be in contact with you in Linjiang City.”

As Bai Ying spoke these words, her previous assertiveness was noticeably absent. At this moment, she still believed that everything within the peculiar land was under Shen Yifeng’s control.

Without waiting for a response, she took a step forward and vanished into the gorge.

“This Bai Ying seems to have significant authority within the Bai Family. She managed to convince them so quickly and brought so many young elites with her.

Perhaps we can explore deeper collaboration with the Bai Family in other areas as well,” Su Jingzhen said to Luo Yuebai with a smile after Bai Ying’s departure.

Without waiting for Luo Yuebai to respond, Su Jingzhen continued, “Let’s head inside too. Xuening and the others should be running low on medicinal herbs by now. I’ve already arranged a market for the pills they don’t need.”

Luo Yuebai nodded. She knew exactly what Su Jingzhen meant by “market,” but she didn’t say anything more. After all, she needed to check on Xuening and the others’ progress and send in the second group of alchemists.

As they discussed, Su Jingzhen, Luo Yuebai, and Shen Yifeng entered the peculiar land.

Meanwhile, a young man in black quietly approached the gorge from the dense forest above. Holding a crumpled map, he carefully compared it to his surroundings.

“After several days of searching, I’ve finally pinpointed the exact location. The sword mark from back then should be here. I hope what I seek is still there…”