"Has Fairy really returned to Gu Ling Mountain?"
Tang Xiangyin and Zhou Lili blurted out their surprise in unison.
Yao Ranran smiled faintly and nodded. "Xiao Rong has already planted all the spiritual herbs. This time I came back to purchase more materials for forging, which I'll bring to the Eastern Wilderness to resell."
"The Eastern Wilderness… it's truly at war already?" Zhou Lili's face was full of worry.
Tang Xiangyin, however, cared only about the situation at Gu Ling Mountain. Whether the Eastern Wilderness was in chaos had never crossed her mind.
"Not only has the fighting started, but other factions have joined in. This time, the Eastern Wilderness will be completely reshuffled."
Yao Ranran thought of the news Lì Luoqi had passed along. By now, Lu Zhiqian should already be on the way. She had used a treasure to conceal his special constitution. That ominous destiny of the Heaven's Calamity Lone Star… could it perhaps trick even the demon race?
Zhou Lili didn't know what a "reshuffle" meant, but she understood Yao Ranran's words well enough. If things were like this, then a new power was bound to rise in the Eastern Wilderness.
She sighed softly. "As long as Longyin Village and my father are safe, I don't care how the other factions fight."
Yao Ranran gave a helpless laugh. "You two really can see things more clearly."
Unlike Xiao Rong and the others—they were practically insane, wanting her to rule the Eastern Wilderness. Please. All she wanted was to make money!
"Then… if they keep fighting, won't countless people die?" Tang Xiangyin asked softly.
Yao Ranran nodded without hesitation. "War is always cruel. Even more so in the cultivation world."
Tang Xiangyin froze for a moment, then murmured, "If those evil sects win, then the cultivators of Yungu Sect… will they all die?"
She lifted her gaze, eyes wide, staring at Yao Ranran.
Zhou Lili blinked. "Fairy, you know cultivators of Yungu Sect?"
Yao Ranran hesitated, then nodded slightly. "Everyone has their own fate. Xiang Yin, you don't want them to die?"
Tang Xiangyin nodded earnestly. "Fairy, could you save them?"
"Yungu Sect is fighting against the three great demon sects and the traitorous Piao Miao Sect. If I had the power to save them, wouldn't that mean I could alter the entire course of the war in the Eastern Wilderness?"
She sighed and asked softly, "Think about it—do you truly believe I have that kind of power?"
Tang Xiangyin and Zhou Lili exchanged a glance, then nodded vigorously. "Fairy, when will we go back to rescue them?"
"I want the righteous sects to win. I don't want the three demon sects or that traitorous Piao Miao Sect to triumph. Fairy Ranran, are we leaving tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow already? I haven't even prepared yet! Then I'll have to pack tonight!" Zhou Lili panicked at once.
Yao Ranran looked at the two of them, utterly speechless. How on earth did they see her as someone capable of contending with the three demon sects and Piao Miao Sect combined?
…
Night was not as long as it seemed.
Yao Ranran and Tang Xiangyin talked until midnight before returning to their rooms.
Morning sunlight spilled into the chamber. A pair of long lashes fluttered gently, and Yao Ranran slowly woke.
"Fairy Ranran, are you awake yet?"
Outside the door, two delicate silhouettes moved about.
Yao Ranran opened the door. Tang Xiangyin and Zhou Lili stood there, while at the courtyard gate were Nie Rong and several Wu Xiang Sect disciples.
Zhou Lili spoke first. "Fairy Ranran, they're here to take us to the grand hall. Sect Master Han is waiting there for us."
"Master… you really came back?" Nie Rong had spent the whole night restless. Even now, seeing Yao Ranran in person, he still found it hard to believe.
Did she really never reach the Eastern Wilderness, but instead turn back midway to return to Wuxiang Sect?
A hundred questions swirled in Nie Rong's heart, but he knew now wasn't the time to ask.
"Yes. I've returned," Yao Ranran answered softly, saying little more.
Together with Nie Rong and the others, she followed the Wuxiang Sect disciples to the grand hall.
"Here are one hundred thousand spirit stones. You can count them yourself." With a wave of his hand, Han Huijun opened ten large chests.
Yao Ranran and the others stared, eyes glued to the neatly stacked, glittering stones, unable to look away.
"Well? Didn't this sect master keep his word?" Han Huijun asked with a smile.
Yao Ranran finally tore her gaze away with effort. "Sect master, your words truly carry weight."
"Hahaha!" After so long interacting with her, this was the first time she'd flattered him. Han Huijun laughed with unrestrained delight.
"Now then, tell me—how did you draw the Sword of Wrath?"
His eyes burned with intensity as he fixed his gaze on her.
Yao Ranran said calmly, "It was simple. No special method was needed. At that moment, as long as someone applied force to the Sword of Wrath, it could be drawn out."
Han Huijun's expression shifted. "You mean… the Sword of Wrath allowed itself to be drawn at that time?"
"Exactly." Yao Ranran looked at him approvingly. As expected of Wuxiang Sect's sect master—sharp and perceptive.
But Han Huijun still couldn't understand. "Why would it do such a thing?"
Yao Ranran glanced at the others being dismissed, then said gently, "Sect master, have you ever heard of the power of faith?"
"The power of faith?" Han Huijun's eyes grew solemn. For once, his expression was grave. "This sect master has heard of it. It's said that one who possesses the power of faith can ascend to godhood without cultivating, and even use that power to bring the dead back to life.
But such things are only ancient legends. Even in the flourishing age of antiquity, scarcely anyone truly wielded the power of faith."
As he spoke, his brows drew tight with concern, clearly treating the matter with gravity.
Yao Ranran marveled at the idea. "Isn't the power of faith simply gained when people worship a statue? Why, in ancient times, would so few obtain it?"
Han Huijun shook his head. "It isn't that simple. If belief alone could grant the power of faith, then no cultivator in the world would need to train…"
"So there are requirements for one who absorbs the power of faith?"
"Yes. According to what I read in an ancient text, the vessel that can contain the power of faith… must already be a god."
"What? Isn't that completely contradictory?" Yao Ranran blinked in confusion. She was no god at all.
Han Huijun didn't know her thoughts. He muttered to himself, "This sect master hasn't unraveled the mystery either. If Master Mingzhi truly managed to harness the power of faith, then he nearly grasped eternal life itself."
Suddenly, his sharp eyes locked onto her. "You destroyed Master Mingzhi's plan and obtained the ancient scroll at Yan Family Fortress. Did you not discover any other secrets?"
"Uh… does the fact that he refined people into abominations count as a secret?"
Han Huijun's face darkened instantly, fury igniting. "He refined humans into evil creatures?!"
…
Yao Ranran told him everything that happened at Yan Family Fortress, carefully omitting only her own fusion with the abomination and how she slew Master Mingzhi.
Listening, Han Huijun was by turns enraged, shocked, and laughing heartily with satisfaction.
"Well done. You've earned great merit. To reward you with only a hundred thousand spirit stones would be stingy of me."
He reached into the void and flicked out a storage ring, smiling broadly. "No need to worry. This is an additional reward from me, not a replacement for your bracelet."