Chapter 583 510: Qing Yueqiu, Do You Want to Reunite with Pei Yuhang?

Yuan Tianming took a deep breath. His gaze was heavy as he looked at her and said slowly,

"One month ago, the Dao Sect was attacked... and Yuhang and Xiaojin were both captured..."

"What?!"

Qing Yueqiu's pupils contracted violently. She froze in place as if struck by lightning.

Her lips trembled, and the words were practically forced from her throat.

"Grand Ancestor... what... what did you say?"

Yuan Tianming shook his head and said softly,

"The one who took them was Ji Shenyun... The seal on the Kunlun Secret Realm has been broken, and the Asura Empress has been released.

"Perhaps she went to the Dao Sect looking for you. When she couldn't find you, she took Yuhang instead..."

Qing Yueqiu's face turned deathly pale in an instant. The light in her eyes wavered violently, as if her entire world was collapsing.

The joy of her recent breakthrough to the Void Refining realm vanished completely, leaving Qing Yueqiu feeling as though she had been plunged into chaos.

'Master... he was captured by that ruthless Female Demon, Ji Shenyun.'

'She hates me so much, and Master repeatedly ruined her plans to possess my body. What kind of cruel methods will Ji Shenyun use for revenge against him?!'

'A whole month... Master has been in that Female Demon's clutches for an entire month!'

'What terrible state must he be in after a month of her cruel abuse!'

'He might... he might even be dead already...'

'From now on... I have no home...'

Two streams of clear tears flowed down her face. The once vibrant and beautiful young woman was suddenly shrouded in an ashen aura of despair.

Seeing this, Yuan Tianming's eyelid twitched. He hadn't expected his grand-disciple to be so fragile.

Or perhaps, that Pei Yuhang's place in her heart was so incredibly important.

He worried that if she couldn't overcome this despair, she might kill herself to follow her love in death.

He quickly said, "Little Yueqiu, Yuhang isn't dead! He's alive and well!"

"...What? Master's still alive?!"

Qing Yueqiu looked up, a spark of starlight slowly igniting in her dim, beautiful eyes.

'Yeah, I didn't expect it either. Not only is Yuhang still alive, but he's even managed to get someone as proud and domineering as Ji Shenyun to spend her nights in pleasure with him...'

'I really underestimated this boy's effect on women.'

Yuan Tianming lamented inwardly. Of course, he couldn't tell a junior like Qing Yueqiu about these adult matters.

He sighed softly and said, "Little Yueqiu... The truth is, I've known Ji Shenyun for a long time."

"I contacted her when she took Yuhang and Xiaojin... I was only able to rest easy after she assured me she wouldn't harm them."

"What..."

As Qing Yueqiu watched her Grand Ancestor begin to reminisce, she felt she had experienced more emotional turmoil tonight than in the entire past year.

She listened in a daze as her Grand Ancestor spoke, only then understanding. He had been to the Kunlun Secret Realm long ago, and the crack in the Grand Array that had suppressed Ji Shenyun was one he himself had left behind.

'It feels like... Grand Ancestor has so many secrets.'

'I thought it was shocking enough that he had secretly replaced the Hall Master of Yama Hall and taken control of the Cultivation Realm's largest intelligence and assassination organization. To think he has even more secrets...'

"Little Yueqiu, do you want to see Yuhang again?" Yuan Tianming asked suddenly.

"Of course I want to be reunited with Master... But Grand Ancestor, do you have a way to make Ji Shenyun let him go?"

Seeing her Grand Ancestor seemed to have a plan, a hopeful light shone in Qing Yueqiu's beautiful eyes.

Yuan Tianming nodded and said in a low voice,

"In a few days, I will send experts from Yama Hall to the Demon Race Forbidden Area to retrieve an item. Ji Shenyun will be sending Yuhang and Xiaojin as well. Yueqiu, if you join this mission, you will see Yuhang again."

...

...

In an Underground Palace that could not be located by any detection-type Magical Treasure.

Nangong Jin sat on a chair, staring blankly at the flickering candlelight before her.

She suddenly felt her throat tighten, a dry lump forming within it.

In the past few days, she had become certain... Brother Pei was deliberately avoiding her.

Even his tone and gaze had grown distant. He acted polite on the surface, but it was a facade to keep her at a great distance.

It was as if Brother Pei constantly cutting his fingers to feed her his Essence Blood in the dungeon—that warmth, that feeling of security... had all been nothing but a dream.

'But why?'

'Why did Brother Pei's attitude toward me change so drastically?'

"Did Jin'Er do something wrong?"

Nangong Jin anxiously bit her lower lip, her pearly teeth leaving faint marks on the pale pink flesh.

A sudden heat flared in her lower abdomen. Beneath her clothes, the faint outline of a sinister datura tattoo pulsed with an eerie purple light.

It was the Curse Seal Ji Shenyun had placed on her, one that amplified emotions.

The Curse Seal spread like a living entity, tearing the anxiety in her heart into a raging tide. Under its influence, Nangong Jin's unease was infinitely magnified.

Even the crystal-clear, immaculate Dao Heart of a Forgetfulness Dao Cultivator was gradually being stained black, corroded by the strange and overbearing negative emotions amplified by Ji Shenyun's Curse Seal.

In her memories, a single deliberately evasive glance from Pei Yuhang would send Nangong Jin's thoughts spiraling into chaos.

'Does Brother Pei despise me now? Does he hate that I'm a burden, that I'm stopping him from returning to the Dao Sect to see Ye Liyuan...?'

'It's all my fault. My Cultivation is clearly higher than Brother Pei's, but I'm completely useless.'

'In the dungeon, I needed Brother Pei to endure his own weakness and feed me his blood to save me...'

'After my Cultivation recovered, I became Ji Shenyun's servant because of the Soul Contract, unable to help Brother Pei escape.'

'Maybe... one day, Brother Pei will decide to abandon me and leave this Demon Cave by himself.'

'His coldness toward me now is a sign of what's to come.'

Just as Nangong Jin's mind was in turmoil, an indifferent female voice echoed in her head.

*Nangong Jin, come. I have a mission for you and Pei Yuhang.*

...

Pei Yuhang had a beautiful plan. He would keep his distance from Junior Sister Nangong, allowing her to smoothly pass her Red Dust Tribulation. Then, she could fully embrace Forgetfulness and ascend to the Mahayana realm.

However, he never expected Ji Shenyun to backstab him at this crucial moment.

In Ji Shenyun's bedchambers.

The Empress sat high upon her jade dais, looking down on the senior and junior disciples below.

"Nangong Jin, Pei Yuhang, I have a mission for you."

"In the realm of the Endless Sea Demon Race Forbidden Area, there is a place called the Temple of Ten Thousand Demons. Enshrined within is half of a skull, said to have come from the rift to the Abyss that was torn open ten thousand years ago."

"An old fellow made a deal with me. He wants my help retrieving it, but I am currently conserving my strength for the upcoming journey to the Abyssal Sea Palace, so it's inconvenient for me to act.

"So, I'm sending the two of you to get it."

Ji Shenyun's fingertip flashed as she pointed at Pei Yuhang.

In an instant, Pei Yuhang felt his sealed power come rushing back like a tidal wave.

Furthermore, thanks to several consecutive days and nights of tireless "intimate exchanges" with a supreme expert, this extreme yin-yang complementation had caused Pei Yuhang to feel his Dao Foundation strengthen to its absolute peak.

With just the right catalyst, he might be able to ascend to the Mahayana realm at any moment!

However, regaining his power—now far stronger than before—brought Pei Yuhang no joy.

He shot a look at Ji Shenyun and sent a mental transmission.

*We agreed to keep me away from Junior Sister Nangong so she could pass her Red Dust Tribulation smoothly!*

Ji Shenyun lazily raised a jade-like finger, nonchalantly twirling a silver strand of hair by her ear.

*I didn't want to send you, either... But the old fellow's offer was too good to refuse.*

*Besides, with the opening of the Abyssal Sea Palace so close, I'm worried the old fellow might be setting a trap. That's why I can only send you two to test the waters.*

*Even a vicious tiger doesn't eat its own young. Surely that old fellow wouldn't set the two of you up, right?*

'Old fellow? A vicious tiger doesn't eat its own young?'

Pei Yuhang's brow furrowed as he mulled over these two pieces of information.

"Wait, Ji Shenyun! Don't tell me you know where my master is..."

Before he could finish, Ji Shenyun clapped her hands.

Pei Yuhang and Nangong Jin's vision blurred. When they came to, they were no longer in the Underground Palace, but in the middle of a desolate wilderness.

"This woman..."

Pei Yuhang clenched his fists in frustration.

'Ji Shenyun was definitely being vague on purpose!'

'Still... Master has been missing for so long. How could he possibly have a connection to Ji Shenyun?'

Just as Pei Yuhang was lost in confusion, he felt a tug on his sleeve.

He turned to meet Nangong Jin's hopeful gaze.

"Brother Pei, now... it's finally just the two of us~"