Yun Dehe looked at Lin Fang struggling desperately, her face pale and powerless. After a brief hesitation, he resolutely stepped aside as if nothing were happening.
Lin Fang: "..."
The hatred in her eyes was sharp enough to cut Yun Dehe to pieces.
Xiao Fengyi was furious.
"Sect Master Yun, if not for our Miao Yun Sect's intervention, you would have died long ago. How can you bear to stand by and do nothing, watching Lin Fang perish while Hao Yinqin's demonic power grows stronger?!"
Yun Dehe gazed at the half-crippled Xiao Fengyi, shook his head, and replied calmly, "Elder Xiao is mistaken. This is not standing by, but rather a wisdom of survival."
Xiao Fengyi: "…This is nothing but cowardice! Sect Master Yun, you are utterly shameless!"
Unmoved, Yun Dehe regarded him with a look of pity.
"Elder Xiao, we both know I am no match for him. At this very moment, he could snuff out our lives with the twitch of a finger. If I rush to save Elder Lin, would that not simply hasten all three of our deaths?"
Xiao Fengyi clenched his teeth so hard his jaw creaked. "Do you mean to wait for your so-called hidden master to save us? Stop dreaming. Even Tianshan Laozu fell before him. What use is some hidden Divine Transformation cultivator? In this world, no one can compare to the strength of Wuxiang Sect!"
"So if you truly wish to live, hurry and save Lin Fang. For the sake of peace in the Eastern Wilderness, Miao Yun Sect will bow its head and beg Wuxiang Sect's ancestor to come forth and save us!"
Yun Dehe was struck dumb by his words.
Miao Yun Sect really had no backbone!
"Elder Xiao… you don't mean you already sent a transmission talisman to Wuxiang Sect, do you?"
He asked in shock.
A trace of unease flashed across Xiao Fengyi's face. "It was for the peace of the Eastern Wilderness! When the Eastern Wilderness is in turmoil, with demon cultivators rampant, how can the cultivation world have peace?"
Yun Dehe looked at him with a complicated expression, then placed a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Elder Xiao, you've worked hard."
Xiao Fengyi: "…"
"Save your words. Who do you think you are?"
If he had the strength, he would have shaken Yun Dehe's hand off. But at this point, even speaking caused blood to rise in his throat; he had no strength left to resist.
Yun Dehe stroked his beard and smiled. "Do you think the friend of a benefactor has no right to say such words to you?"
Xiao Fengyi: "…"
He stared at Yun Dehe for a long time, then sneered. "If the hidden master you speak of truly slays Hao Yinqin, I will call you benefactor, and I will even offer top-grade spirit stones in gratitude."
Yun Dehe's eyes lit up. "Elder Xiao's words… in Miao Yun Sect…"
"Even if it were Miao Yun Sect's sect master, he would still need to address me as Senior Brother!" Xiao Fengyi answered firmly.
Suddenly, Yun Dehe tilted his head toward the sky, delight on his face. "She's here!"
Xiao Fengyi and Hao Yinqin both turned their eyes upward.
A flying boat descended, hovering steadily above the plaza.
Xiao Fengyi's eyes widened. "This can't be a hidden master. Could it be Wuxiang Sect's people have arrived already?"
Yun Dehe chuckled. "Wuxiang Sect's flying boats are nowhere near this refined, nor this fast."
Hao Yinqin stared at the vessel with a playful expression, though deep within his eyes a thick murderous intent flashed.
"You are the hidden Divine Transformation expert of Gu Ling Mountain?"
His hoarse voice rumbled like thunder, suffused with oppressive might.
From the boat stepped a woman in a violet dress. Her beauty was stunning, her demeanor serene and transcendent. Her slender hands were immaculate, her entire being untouched by even a speck of dust, as if she stood apart from the mortal world itself.
Hao Yinqin froze, unable to even recall when Lin Fang slipped from his grasp and crumpled to the ground.
"Impossible… impossible! You cannot be merely a Divine Transformation cultivator. Could it be… you are a Fairy from the Spirit Realm?"
A trace of fear crept into Hao Yinqin's heart.
This woman was too beautiful.
Her very aura was flawless, clashing entirely with the filth of this world. Especially before him, he was like the stagnant mire of a pond, while she was a lotus blooming pure above the mud.
There was no way someone like her could have been nurtured by the lower world.
In the span of a few breaths, he had already imagined every terrible possibility.
His fear mounted, yet Yao Ranran had not spoken a single word.
Yun Dehe, puzzled, quietly caught Lin Fang, wondering what madness gripped Hao Yinqin this time. Likely the aftereffects of his rapid advancement.
But Hao Yinqin was not the only one stunned into silence. Xiao Fengyi was equally dumbfounded.
His thoughts, however, differed. He did not believe this woman could defeat Hao Yinqin. Rather, he feared such a woman would fall to Hao Yinqin's grasp.
"Fairy, this is not a place you should be. Leave at once. The farther you flee, the better!"
Xiao Fengyi, heedless of his torn organs and searing pain, shouted with all his might toward Yao Ranran. He feared that if he were even a step too late, this woman would be seized by Hao Yinqin. His desperate cries drowned out Yao Ranran's reply.
Lu Ziqian stepped out of the cabin, gazing at Xiao Fengyi's robes with a flicker of familiarity.
"Master, do you know that man?"
Yao Ranran studied Xiao Fengyi's face, then shook her head. "No."
Lu Ziqian tilted his head curiously. "But he seems to care a lot about you. Just saying those few words nearly cost him all his strength."
Yao Ranran frowned slightly as she looked at the man screaming himself hoarse. "He must be a good person."
"Go, leave this place! My death alone is enough, do not drag down more innocents!"
Xiao Fengyi coughed blood with every shout, his voice growing weaker and weaker.
Lin Fang, barely clinging to life, was roused by his cries. She fixed her eyes on his face for a long while, then forced herself to speak.
"Senior Brother… When we first arrived, you didn't say that. You said no matter the sacrifice, Hao Yinqin must not leave Dongman City alive!"
Xiao Fengyi spat one last mouthful of blood and collapsed unconscious.
Yun Dehe: "…Was that fainting not a little too perfectly timed?"
Lin Fang: "…I thought so too."
Yao Ranran stowed away the flying boat and descended with Lu Ziqian into the plaza.
Hao Yinqin no longer speculated. He fixed his eyes on Yao Ranran.
"Who exactly are you? Did the Spirit Realm send you, or did you come of your own accord?"
Yao Ranran was briefly taken aback.
What did this have to do with the Spirit Realm?
But come to think of it, mentioning the Spirit Realm did make her identity sound much loftier.
And given that her current strength was so far beneath her original body's reputation, placing the cause on the Spirit Realm would make her identity easier to accept, even if doubted.
"You know too much. Matters of the Spirit Realm are not for those of the lower world to discuss. How could I possibly tell you my true identity?"