Chapter 490: My Master Wants to See You

Lu Sangjiu’s expression suddenly changed. She looked up in surprise and confusion. “What’s happening?”

Lie Rufeng frowned. “The Secret Realm is unstable. I’m afraid it’s going to close early.”

‘Everything was fine. Why would it suddenly become unstable?’

This immediately reminded Lu Sangjiu of Yan Yu chasing after that male Demon Cultivator moments earlier.

‘I can’t shake the feeling… Could this have something to do with those two?’

Normally, Demon Cultivators couldn’t enter a Secret Realm meant for Immortal Cultivators like this one. Those two must have used some method to hide their identities to get in.

‘But their identities were just exposed, without a doubt. A fight most likely broke out, and the leaking Demonic Qi might have damaged the Secret Realm somehow?’

Lu Sangjiu figured that was probably what happened. Still, leaving early was fine, too. Otherwise, with this Array still in place, they would have had to just sit around and wait for another two days.

Just as she was thinking this, Lu Sangjiu suddenly felt a hand grab her wrist.

She looked up blankly at the person who had grabbed her wrist. “Uh… Mr. Lie?”

Lie Rufeng glanced at her calmly and said, “This isn’t over between us. Cultivator Lu, you’re far too capable. I’m afraid if I don’t hold on to you now, I’ll lose you for good once we leave the Secret Realm.”

Lu Sangjiu: ???

Before she could say another word, a flash of white light appeared before her eyes, and she was instantly teleported out of the Secret Realm!

Soon, Lu Sangjiu found herself outside the Secret Realm. Beside her… huh? Lie Rufeng was nowhere to be seen!

A wave of joy washed over Lu Sangjiu. It seemed the Secret Realm’s teleportation was random, and Lie Rufeng hadn’t been sent to the same spot as her.

So she immediately changed her appearance again, blended into the crowd, and prepared to leave quickly.

‘It’s not that I’m afraid of Lie Rufeng, but… I just have this feeling that getting entangled with him would be a huge hassle. Better to make a quick getaway!’

After leaving, Lu Sangjiu went directly to a nearby city and sold everything she had obtained in the Secret Realm.

As expected, although the items were a motley collection and many weren’t particularly valuable, their sheer quantity made up for it. In the end, everything added up and sold for eighty-four Immortal Stones.

And so, adding that to what she already had, Lu Sangjiu finally scraped together enough Immortal Stones to meet the one hundred starting bid!

‘Since no one has bid on it yet, the starting price should be enough.’

The only thing that still troubled her was whether the auction for the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones was a trap.

Of course, she was already pretty sure it was a trap; she just couldn’t bring herself to give up on it.

While eating, Lu Sangjiu mulled over the matter distractedly. Suddenly, she sensed someone sit down across from her.

She looked up, somewhat surprised, and was then even more stunned… ‘Lie Rufeng?’

She froze for a split second, then composed herself and looked at the man before her with feigned confusion. “Fellow Cultivator, is there something you need?”

Lie Rufeng looked at her calmly. “We’re well acquainted by now. There’s no need for such formalities… Cultivator Lu.”

Lu Sangjiu: “…”

Unwilling to give up, she tried one last time. “What are you talking about? ‘Cultivator Lu’…? I think you have the wrong person.”

Lie Rufeng watched her calmly. He suddenly reached out, took her wrist, and lifted it slightly. “You didn’t really think I was just naively trying to hold on to you back there, did you?”

Lu Sangjiu froze, hurriedly looking at her wrist. Sure enough, there was a faint white mark there, currently emitting a weak white Light, as if it had sensed something.

Lu Sangjiu: “…”

‘Damn it. I was careless.’

She looked deflated. “So, what do you really want?”

Lie Rufeng said bluntly, “My master has a connection to you and wishes to meet you.”

“Huh?” Lu Sangjiu was completely baffled. “Your master? Has a connection with me?”

‘She thought back carefully. ‘Since I arrived in the Immortal Spirit Realm, I don’t think I’ve had any dealings with High-level cultivators, have I?’

She said uncertainly, “Your master… couldn’t be Ji Li, could he?”

Lie Rufeng: “…”

He seemed speechless for a moment, then said helplessly, “If my master were Ji Li, would you still be alive and sitting in front of me right now?”

Although he didn’t know the exact grudge between Lu Sangjiu and Ji Li, judging by the desperate way the latter had put a bounty on her, it was definitely a matter of life and death.

Hearing this, Lu Sangjiu breathed a sigh of relief, then thought sheepishly, ‘I’m really being a bit paranoid.’

‘Lie Rufeng is from the Qiyue Sect; he and Ji Li are completely unrelated.’

But that just made her even more curious. “So, who exactly is your master? And what’s this connection he has with me?”

This time, Lie Rufeng answered her directly. “My master’s title is Li Huo Sword Venerable. He… ascended from the same small world as you.”

Lu Sangjiu was surprised to hear this. “Are you sure? I never told you which world I came from. How can you be certain we’re from the same small world?”

Lie Rufeng replied, “I saw you use Spirit-killing Water last time. Master said that it’s a specialty of the Spirit Void Realm, not found anywhere else. That’s why I made that guess.”

When he mentioned the Spirit Void Realm by name, Lu Sangjiu no longer had any doubts… It seemed they truly were from the same world.

Out of curiosity, Lu Sangjiu then asked Lie Rufeng a few more things about this Li Huo Sword Venerable.

From this, she roughly understood that the Li Huo Sword Venerable had probably achieved Ascension after Xie Ningyuan went to the Lower Realm and the Xuantian Sect was wiped out.

At that stage, Ji Li had just obtained Xie Ningyuan’s Magic Treasure, and the World Origin had just been sealed, so it hadn’t yet had a major impact on the Spirit Void Realm.

Thus, the Li Huo Sword Venerable was very lucky to have ascended to the Upper Realm at that time.

It was just a pity that the Xuantian Sect had already been destroyed by then, so there was no one to guide him into the Xuantian Sect, and he became a Loose Cultivator.

Later, relying on his own talent, he managed to join the Qiyue Sect, and has now achieved Immortal King Cultivation.

‘Li Huo Sword Venerable…’ Lu Sangjiu thought long and hard but couldn’t recall ever hearing that name. ‘Perhaps he was already a Loose Cultivator in the Lower Realm, so even after his Ascension, his name never became famous throughout the Cultivation World?’

Lu Sangjiu didn’t dwell on it for too long. She was just contemplating whether or not she should go and meet this Li Huo Sword Venerable.

‘Even though we’re from the same world, he’s still a complete stranger. And with my current problems with Ji Li, it’s hard for me to just trust that someone has no ill intentions toward me.’

‘But Lie Rufeng seems like a decent person. His master probably isn’t a bad guy either, right?’

‘Right now, I’m isolated and helpless, not to mention worried sick about the Ten Thousand Fusion Stones. If I could get help from an Immortal King, it would be an incredible stroke of luck.’

‘So, should I meet him, or not?’

As if sensing Lu Sangjiu’s indecision, Lie Rufeng said calmly, “My master is a good person. He won’t harm you. Besides, if he meant you harm, I wouldn’t be the one sitting here talking with you for so long.”

‘That makes sense…’ Lu Sangjiu thought. ‘If he wanted to harm me, an Immortal King could have just come and captured me himself, right? He really wouldn’t need Lie Rufeng to waste his breath.’

She wasn’t one to dawdle. Once she understood this point, she gave a crisp nod. “Alright. Then I’ll trouble you to lead the way, Mr. Lie!”