"He's infiltrated?"
The Holy Mistress of Yaochi was instantly furious. These three peak Golden Core prodigies had died, and the Yaochi Holy Land might face repercussions from the other three Holy Lands.
Unexpectedly, they had been outmaneuvered by that demon in the shadows.
This showed how cunning that demon was, to have caused the Yaochi Holy Land to suffer setbacks twice in a row.
At this moment, the Holy Mistress of Yaochi glanced at the Saintess of Yaochi, sensing something was off about her disciple's gait.
Thus, she grabbed the Saintess of Yaochi's hand and was shocked to see that the cinnabar mark on her arm had vanished without a trace.
"What's going on?"
She asked the Saintess of Yaochi. She had personally applied the cinnabar mark to her disciple, and now it was gone.
This also proved that the Saintess of Yaochi was no longer a virgin.
The Saintess of Yaochi said nothing.
Seeing this, the Holy Mistress of Yaochi became enraged. "Whose?"
Despite her repeated questioning, the Saintess of Yaochi remained silent.
"You're too presumptuous!"
The Holy Mistress of Yaochi said, "I made the wrong choice in my past, and I regret it immensely. I thought you wouldn't follow my old path, but I didn't expect you to take this step after all!"
At this moment, she was deeply disappointed in her disciple. After all, one could not inherit the position of Holy Mistress without being a virgin.
Of course, she was an exception. In her era, the Yaochi Holy Land had no outstanding young talents.
Besides herself, there was no one among the younger generation who could carry the banner. Thus, she had overcome all opposition to inherit the position of Holy Mistress.
However, she still faced much criticism. From then on, she was determined to train the Saintess of Yaochi, preventing her from walking the same path.
Unexpectedly, it was too late. As for who it was with, she had no idea, because she knew her disciple's temperament.
If she didn't speak, she wouldn't reveal anything, no matter how much the Holy Mistress of Yaochi pressed her.
At this moment, the Holy Mistress of Yaochi was dealt a blow. The matter of that demon had yet to be resolved, and now this had happened.
Then, she said to the Saintess of Yaochi, "Go and contemplate your mistakes! You are not to come out until that demon is dealt with!"
There was nothing else she could do. For now, she had to conceal this matter. She hoped it wouldn't be discovered later. Otherwise, no matter how stunning the Saintess of Yaochi was, she would not be qualified to inherit the position of Holy Mistress.
After all, in this era, the Yaochi Holy Land had many brilliant young talents. An impure woman, no matter how stunning, would only be relegated to the position of an elder.
But how could she be reconciled? She had placed all her hopes on the Saintess of Yaochi, for her to inherit the position of Holy Mistress.
With the accumulation of all the Holy Land's resources, she hoped that one day, the Yaochi Holy Land would produce a Land Immortal.
This person must be the Saintess of Yaochi.
But the Saintess of Yaochi said, "Master, that demon is a disciple of Heavenly Master of Ghost Valley. You know this. If I go into seclusion, won't that mean I can't fulfill your agreement?"
As soon as she said this, the Holy Mistress of Yaochi found herself in a dilemma. That was right, she had made an agreement with the old Heavenly Master of Ghost Valley back then.
Their grievances would be settled by their disciples. It was just that this sudden accident had caught the Holy Mistress of Yaochi off guard.
Between the agreement and exposure, she ultimately chose to temporarily conceal the Saintess of Yaochi. If the Saintess of Yaochi continued to be seen, she would eventually be discovered.
Now, she could only let the Saintess of Yaochi lie low for a while. After she condensed another cinnabar mark, she would reapply it to the Saintess of Yaochi.
After all, genuine cinnabar marks could only be condensed by powerful cultivators like herself. It wasn't as simple as just dabbing on some vermilion ink.
Therefore, she said, "Let's put the matter of the appointment on hold for now. If this brat can escape the pursuit, then we can continue with the appointment. For now, you will obediently go and contemplate your mistakes. I will deal with your transgression when I return!"
"Yes!"
The Saintess of Yaochi went to contemplate her mistakes, while the Holy Mistress of Yaochi had a lot to deal with. She now had to go to the three Holy Lands to explain.
Otherwise, the Yaochi Holy Land would become an enemy to all.
...
At this moment, Yun Fan had successfully infiltrated the Yaochi Holy Land. To his disappointment, he searched for a long time but still couldn't find any trace of the women.
This made him very annoyed.
But he couldn't directly disguise himself as a disciple of the Yaochi Holy Land to search for clues, as there were no male disciples in the Yaochi Holy Land.
Therefore, he was now hiding in the shadows, not daring to show himself.
"Where could they be locked up?"
Just as Yun Fan was lost in thought, he saw the Saintess of Yaochi approaching. He immediately concealed all his aura.
He prepared to follow the Saintess of Yaochi.
For now, this was his only option. Perhaps he could find some clues about the women by following her.
"Saintess!"
Upon seeing their Saintess, the female disciples of the Yaochi Holy Land all bowed. This showed the Saintess of Yaochi's high status.
The Saintess of Yaochi remained expressionless.
Yun Fan continued to follow and discovered that the Saintess of Yaochi had arrived at a hot spring within the Holy Land to bathe. Yun Fan, hiding in the shadows, had no intention of peeking.
After all, he had seen what he should see, and what he shouldn't see. Now, he just wanted to know where the women were.
Just then, a sarcastic voice rang out, "Our Saintess is usually so majestic, but surprisingly, she couldn't even handle a mere demon, and the Holy Mistress had to go and explain!"
Upon hearing this, the Saintess of Yaochi submerged herself in the water. When she surfaced again, she was already dressed.
The person who had arrived was a woman. Her strength was not weak, being infinitely close to peak Golden Core. She was also extremely beautiful.
But compared to the flawless beauty of the Saintess of Yaochi, there was still a significant gap.
She was the disciple of the Yaochi Holy Land second only to the Saintess of Yaochi, Saintess Qing Ling. She harbored great animosity towards the Saintess of Yaochi.
In her opinion, she could have been more outstanding than the Saintess of Yaochi. But because the Saintess of Yaochi's master was the Holy Mistress of Yaochi,
she had more resources, which was why she hadn't been bestowed the title of Saintess of Yaochi and would have no right to inherit the position of Holy Mistress in the future.
In fact, their starting points and resources were similar. It was just that the Saintess of Yaochi's talent was more outstanding, so her cultivation was also much higher than hers.
The Saintess of Yaochi did not reply and prepared to leave.
It had to be said that although she had lost her virginity in the secret realm, she had also benefited from it. She realized that her strength was close to breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.
She had a congenital weakness: whenever she was about to break through to the next realm, she would enter a weak phase.
Of course, it wasn't entirely a weakness, because once the weak phase passed, she could easily break through to the next realm, much easier than others. She was currently at the early Golden Core stage, and she had to go contemplate her mistakes, which was equivalent to entering seclusion.
But at this moment, Qing Ling was relentless and directly stepped forward to provoke her, "If not for the Holy Mistress's favoritism towards you, do you think you could have surpassed me?"
The Saintess of Yaochi still did not reply and continued to walk forward.
But at this moment, Qing Ling suddenly said, "If you ignore me again, I'll kill those women you captured!"
"What do you want?"
The Saintess of Yaochi rarely spoke.
Yun Fan, hiding in the shadows, felt a surge of anger at this moment. He knew what Qing Ling meant.
She wanted to kill some women.
Qing Ling said, "Tell me the supreme secret technique of the Yaochi Holy Land, or I will kill them while you are contemplating your mistakes! They are just prisoners in your hands anyway!"
"If you dare to touch them, I will kill you!"
The Saintess of Yaochi said coldly.
"Hmph! Who's afraid of whom!"
Qing Ling immediately attacked, lunging directly at the Saintess of Yaochi. With just one move, the Saintess of Yaochi was forced back repeatedly.
"You're indeed in your weak phase!"
Qing Ling said, "I don't know where you got your luck, but you're about to break through again. It's fortunate that you're in your weak phase, and the Holy Mistress isn't in the Holy Land!"
"Oh? What do you want to do?"
Even though she was in her weak phase, the Saintess of Yaochi showed no fear.
Qing Ling said, "Before, I only wanted to extort your supreme secret technique, but now I've changed my mind. If I kill you, I can become the heir to the Holy Mistress!"
She said this ambitiously. If the Holy Mistress were present, she wouldn't even dare to entertain such ambitions, let alone extort the Saintess of Yaochi. But now, she had become even more reckless.
However, it couldn't be entirely blamed on her boldness. This was her only chance. Once the Saintess of Yaochi passed her weak phase and entered the Nascent Soul stage,
she would never have another opportunity. Therefore, this was an opportunity for her, and she was not afraid of death for it.
Yun Fan, hiding in the shadows, was also taken aback by Qing Ling's ambition. However, he had seen many such people in the mortal world, so he was not surprised.
The Saintess of Yaochi said, "Your ambition will not succeed!"
"How do you know if you don't try?"
The next moment, Qing Ling attacked again, lunging directly at Yaochi. She unleashed her full power. Yaochi, being in her weak phase, was no match for her.
At this moment, Yun Fan, hiding in the shadows, was puzzled. Yaochi could handle him like a dog, so why was she so weak when fighting her own people?
However, he still did not intervene. This was an internal struggle, and it had nothing to do with him.
During the fight, the silk scarf wrapped around her arm fell off, and Qing Ling happened to see it.
Qing Ling smiled playfully, "So you've lost your cinnabar mark. And you call yourself a chaste fairy. It seems the world has been blinded. You're just a lustful woman!"
Qing Ling hadn't expected to stumble upon Yaochi's secret by chance. Before, she had been worried about how to cover up the truth after killing Yaochi.
Now, she had no worries. Because a Saintess without a cinnabar mark was no longer a Saintess, no matter how brilliant she had been before.
The Saintess of Yaochi's eyes were filled with murderous intent. However, at this moment, she was no match for Qing Ling.
And Qing Ling continued to provoke her, trying to enrage Yaochi so that it would be easier for her to kill her.
She said to Yaochi, "Your master has already disgraced our Yaochi Holy Land. Unexpectedly, you are even more licentious than your master!"
Yun Fan, hiding in the shadows, felt a pang of guilt. The current situation of Yaochi was, to some extent, his responsibility.
Originally, Qing Ling thought that Yaochi would fall into despair, perhaps even kneel and beg for mercy. She could then vent her anger.
However, at this moment, the Saintess of Yaochi said, "Aren't you coming out yet?"
"Who?"
Qing Ling instantly became vigilant. Yun Fan, hiding in the shadows, was startled. He had hidden so well, how could the Saintess of Yaochi have discovered him?
Could it be that she was trying to bluff Qing Ling?
Qing Ling sensed carefully. After finding no one around, she smiled playfully at Yaochi and said, "No one can save you tonight. You can die now!"
To avoid any further complications, she suddenly unleashed a killing blow, intending to finish Yaochi quickly. But at this moment, Yaochi's figure flickered and appeared next to Yun Fan, pushing him out at the same time.
"Damn!"
Yun Fan was speechless.
He asked the Saintess of Yaochi, "How did you find me?"
"Just now, I sensed your breathing!"
Although Yaochi was in her weak phase, her cultivation was still at the peak Golden Core stage. Therefore, as long as Yun Fan revealed the slightest flaw, she could detect it. This was why Qing Ling hadn't discovered him, but she had.
At this moment, Qing Ling saw this and sneered again, "Yaochi, you're too bold! Not only did you take a lover outside, but you even dared to bring this man into the Holy Land. Now you're beyond redemption. Even if I kill you, the Holy Mistress won't say anything?"
Now, she had even more reason to kill Yaochi. For her, it was like finding a windfall.
However, Yaochi remained unmoved and said to Yun Fan, "It's up to you. Don't let her leave alive!"
"Sorry, I have no obligation to help!"
Yun Fan said directly.
However, Yaochi continued, "If you help me deal with her, I'll let you take some women away! A fair trade!"
"Besides, if you don't kill her, I guarantee you won't be able to leave the Holy Land. Once the Holy Land's formation is activated, you'll face a siege of more than ten powerful cultivators!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Fan realized the gravity of the situation. Although he had reached the peak Golden Core stage, he couldn't withstand a group attack.
Moreover, there was the even more terrifying Holy Land formation. Therefore, the situation left him no choice.
"Die!"
Qing Ling suddenly attacked. She not only wanted to kill Yaochi but also Yun Fan, and then present their bodies to the elders. Only then would even the Holy Mistress of Yaochi be unable to do anything to her.
However, she underestimated Yun Fan's strength.
The next moment, Yun Fan decisively attacked, drawing his sword, Han Guang, and slashing down.
"Pfft!"
Instantly, Qing Ling was severely injured and vomited a mouthful of blood. She hadn't expected Yun Fan's strength to be so formidable.
Realizing she was no match for him, Qing Ling decisively chose to flee.
But Yun Fan wouldn't give her that opportunity. With another sword strike, Qing Ling lost all ability to resist, falling to the ground, looking at Yun Fan in terror.
"If you two dogs kill me, the elders won't let you off!"
At this moment, she still didn't realize the seriousness of the situation. It wasn't until Yaochi took Han Guang from Yun Fan and walked towards her that she panicked.
"Yaochi, you can't kill me! As long as you don't kill me, I promise not to reveal your secret. Besides, we are fellow disciples. You can't be so ruthless!"
She immediately caved, saying fearfully to Yaochi.
However, Yaochi did not respond. She knew how despicable Qing Ling was. If she didn't kill her, she was sure that the next moment, Qing Ling would expose the matter.
"No, no!"
Qing Ling pleaded desperately, as she could feel Yaochi's killing intent.
Yaochi said coldly, "Don't provoke me in your next life!"
The next moment, she pierced Qing Ling with her sword.
Qing Ling struggled a few times and then breathed her last.
Yun Fan, seeing the situation, said to her, "You killed her. Can you take me to find the people now?"
"I didn't kill her. You did!"
She said to Yun Fan.
As soon as she said this, Yun Fan instantly understood her meaning. That's right, he was taking the blame again, and he had to take it. If he didn't, the women would be in danger.
"Alright, I admit it!"
Yun Fan nodded, feeling extremely dejected. He had no idea how many times he had been blamed along the way.
"Can you take me to find them now?"
Yun Fan urged. He already knew what would happen next. Soon, the news of him killing Qing Ling would spread.
However, Yaochi said, "Before that, you must help me with one more thing!"
"Don't push it too far!"
Yun Fan asked displeased, "What is it?"
"Do it again. I want to have more confidence in entering the Nascent Soul realm!" Yaochi said with a blush on her face. Even she hadn't expected to say such a shameless thing. But she had to admit that she had indeed benefited greatly from Yun Fan.
"You're quite addicted!"