1. Pursuit and capture (Part 1)

"My lord, I am a respectable woman."

At the foot of Biluo Mountain, there is a Xiangyu Wine Shop.

Outside the tavern, two sword cultivators sat with their legs crossed, munching on peanuts. Slightly tipsy, they began gossiping:

Blue-robed swordsman: "Hey, did you hear?" "That female demon has escaped from the Tower of Babel prison again..."

The old man in gray robes: "Hiss—the Tower of Babel Prison? It holds countless evil spirits and is extremely dangerous. How could a cultivator escape from there?"

The blue-robed swordsman scoffed, "No way, brother, how outdated is your information? Heh, let me tell you, that female demon not only escaped, she escaped three times!"

The old man in gray hissed again, "And then?"

The blue-robed swordsman said, "What else can we do? We haven't caught them yet; they're still on the run."

The two were engrossed in their conversation when a pot of wine was slammed onto the table with a loud thud.

The two followed their gaze and saw a young girl dressed in bright red, with a dark brown dragon-skin whip wrapped around her waist, the tip of which was adorned with a silver bell. She raised an eyebrow and a playful smile played on her lips as she said, "Seniors, how about we have a drink together?"

The young woman was strikingly beautiful, yet possessed a friendly demeanor. She promptly filled a large bowl of wine for the two cultivators and said, "Excuse my impertinence, but I've been listening from next door for quite some time. Who exactly is this female demon you're referring to, senior?"

The blue-robed swordsman was quite arrogant: "These young people nowadays don't care about important matters in the world at all. Fine, I'll tell you."

"That female demon is named Ran Qinghe. She was recently imprisoned. Guess what she did? She destroyed a spiritual vein of the Qingxiao Sect! That's a spiritual vein!"

The girl in red leaned closer and chimed in, "It's just a spiritual vein, such a big sect, so stingy."

The blue-clad swordsman rolled his eyes rather inelegantly: "You think it's a cabbage?"

Ran Qinghe thought to herself, in fact, for the Qingxiao Sect, spiritual veins are really like cabbages. As the number one sect in the cultivation world, the Qingxiao Sect is located on the top of Qingxiao Peak where countless spiritual veins converge. For the Qingxiao Sect, a single spiritual vein is probably nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

Despite thinking this, the girl in red still raised her hands in a gesture of surrender: "Alright, alright, go on."

"Then he was arrested and imprisoned, and then that female demon escaped... Oh dear, go away, you little kid."

At this moment, someone at another table chimed in, "They ran away, and then what?"

"The Discipline Hall immediately issued an arrest warrant, offering a reward of 50,000 spirit stones!"

The girl in red clicked her tongue impatiently. "Fifty thousand? So cheap. Who do you think you are?"

The blue-robed swordsman continued smugly, "None of you have seen this wanted poster before, have you? This wanted poster is only issued to cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage. Let me show you."

"The wanted criminal, Ran Qinghe, is about eighteen years old. He always wears red clothes and is wielding a long whip adorned with silver bells. This criminal is cunning and treacherous. We hope that disciples from all sects will cooperate to capture him. Anyone who captures him will be rewarded with 50,000 spirit stones."

The old man in gray at the table listened while glancing at the girl in red beside him. He subtly distanced himself before guiltily interjecting, "Haha, I think this sounds just like this young friend." As he spoke, he stood up and, from a distance of at least ten paces, pointed at the girl who was drinking from a bowl.

The girl slowly put down her wine bowl, her eyes crinkling with a smile: "Old man, what do you mean by 'similar'? I am exactly like you." Her words were full of mischievous glee.

"Ah!" Before anyone could react, a long sword pierced through the air, shattering the wine jar in the center of the table. Shards flew everywhere, and the girl in red dodged them.

"Ran Qinghe! Surrender now!"

Once the crowd in the tavern realized what was happening, they scattered like birds and beasts. The tavern, which had been bustling just moments before, was now empty except for the girl in red who remained standing there.

Ran Qinghe said, "Are you disciples of the Discipline Hall ever going to stop? This jar of wine cost me twenty spirit stones! And you just smashed it like that! Pay up!"

The newcomers were Lou Yu and Lou Qiong, disciples of the Discipline Hall. The two exchanged a glance, then attacked from the left and right with their swords. Their sword energy was so sharp that it even pierced a hole in the roof of the tavern.

Ran Qinghe leaped into the air and stood still in mid-air. She still had the long whip at her waist, but she threw out two talismans with her backhand.

Lou Yu sneered, "A mere immobilization talisman, a piece of cake..." But before he could utter the word "skill," he was already covered in poison powder from the talisman.

"Pah, cough, cough, you vixen, you actually used poison."

This poison powder was specifically made for Golden Core cultivators. She had been forced into the poisonous miasma land many times before, and had also taken a lot of treasures from there.

She scoffed. That was enough to deal with the trash from the Discipline Hall.

The two men instantly lost their strength and fell from mid-air, their swords clattering to the side.

Ran Qinghe approached with a smile, deftly pulled off the hemp rope from the wine jar next to her, and tied the two people up tightly. Then she groped them all over.

Both of them were flushed with embarrassment. Lou Yu said in shame and indignation, "You female demon, don't even think about it. We will definitely fight to the death to resist you."

Ran Qinghe stopped, took out two storage bags, slapped one of them, her face turning cold again, and mocked, "You? What are you thinking? You're not worthy!"

Ran Qinghe rummaged through her storage bag for a while, pulled out twenty spirit stones, and then poured all the remaining spirit stones, without leaving a single one, into the hands of the two boys who had been hiding behind the wine vat. She then smashed the storage bag into their faces.

“Recite the forty-eighth rule of the Discipline Hall.”

"I won't carry it!" Lou Yu shouted angrily.

Ran Qinghe picked up the two men's swords, pointed them at their throats, her expression turned cold, and she repeated, "Not going to carry it?"

Lou Qiong immediately calmed down and said, "I'll recite it. Article 48: During the execution of a mission, unless necessary, one shall not damage the property of other cultivators."

Ran Qinghe then smiled, moved the tip of her sword up, and patted the two of them on the face. "That's better now. Remember? Next time, don't hit my wine jar. It's very expensive."

Having said that, he turned and left, waving his hand, his voice carried away by the breeze: "Then kneel for another two hours. Once the time is up... the poison will be neutralized."

*

Inside the Discipline Hall.

"Uncle, Tinglan has been in seclusion for three months and has now broken through to the late stage of the Golden Core realm." A tall and elegant young man stood in the hall and reported in a calm and unhurried voice.

Hall Master Lou Yi lifted his robe and sat down, earnestly advising, "Tinglan, I know that you have always been diligent in your cultivation. However, the most taboo thing in cultivation is to be impatient for quick results. Haste makes waste. Don't follow in your father's footsteps."

Lou Tinglan remained silent.

Seeing this, Lou Yi changed the subject and continued, "There are many tasks in the Discipline Hall right now. You can choose a few to train and improve. Theoretical knowledge is not advisable."

Lou Tinglan accepted the order, "Yes."

Just then, a swallow fluttered in from outside. The Discipline Hall keeps many swallows, and each disciple who enters the Discipline Hall can take one with them. The swallows can monitor the movements of the disciples in the hall at any time, both to prevent the disciples from encountering danger and to supervise the enforcement of the law.

Lou Yi opened his palm and used his spiritual power to recreate the events Fei Yan had recorded through Fei Yan's eyes.

"Outrageous!" Before he could finish reading, Lou Yi slammed his fist on the table and roared in anger.

Lou Tinglan asked, "Uncle, is there some difficult case?"

Lou Yi sighed and projected the scene that Fei Yan had seen onto the center of the main hall, playing on a loop: In the bustling tavern, two disciples of the Discipline Hall were kneeling on the spot, unable to move.

"This is Lou Qiong's law enforcement record. Previously, in the Tower of Babel prison, Ran Qinghe escaped. I ordered him and Lou Yu to capture him. As a result, Ran Qinghe was not captured. These two good-for-nothings were poisoned first and are now kneeling in that tavern, being ridiculed by everyone."

His Discipline Hall, the highest law enforcement hall in the cultivation world, has never lost such a great deal of face!

Lou Yi suddenly realized, "Oh right, you were in seclusion three months ago, so you probably didn't know that after you went into seclusion, one of Qingxiao's spiritual veins was blown up. I sent people to capture it for a long time before I finally brought Ran Qinghe to justice."

"But in just three months, Ran Qinghe has already escaped from prison three times! She is truly lawless and incorrigible!"

Lou Tinglan repeated: "Explode the spiritual vein?" His tone seemed to be one of disbelief.

Lou Yi said, "Since you've come out of seclusion and happened to arrive just in time, this task will be entrusted to you: capture Ran Qinghe and bring those two good-for-nothings back to me while you're at it."

Lou Tinglan accepted the order: "Yes."

Inside the tavern, two teenagers were trying to cover their faces to avoid the prying eyes of those around them.

Lou Tinglan waved his hand from behind, freeing the two from their restraints.

Lou Qiong and Lou Yu realized they could move again, got up and turned around. Upon seeing who it was, they were almost moved to tears and began to chatter on and on about what had happened:

"Senior Brother Lou, we were ambushed by that demoness. She openly used a talisman, but secretly mixed poison powder into it, which is why we were caught off guard."

"Senior Brother Lou, you have been in seclusion for many days, so you must not know about that demoness's evil deeds."

"Senior Brother Lou..."

Lou Tinglan coldly replied, "I am aware of the situation, but your constant use of the term 'witch' is utterly inappropriate. This is against the rules of the hall."

Lou Qiong and Lou Yu were speechless for a moment. Their senior brother had been in seclusion for three months, and they had almost forgotten that he was such a serious and unsmiling person who enforced the law like a mountain. Knowing that they were in the wrong, they were about to apologize and leave when Lou Tinglan called out to them: "Where did Ran Qinghe go?"

The two answered in unison: "North." "West."

"What does Ran Qinghe look like?"

The two answered in unison again: "Ugly as a toad." "Transcendent and refined."

Lou Tinglan: ...Copy it ten more times.

Lou Qiong and Lou Yu replied with long faces: Yes.

The tavern was indeed a good place to escape, as the spiritual energy there was mixed together. However, it was ineffective against Lou Tinglan. He listened intently, knowing that since Ran Qinghe had fought with Lou Qiong and Lou Yu in this tavern, the traces of spiritual energy must be chaotic and disordered.

After searching for a while, Lou Tinglan opened her eyes again: She found it.

Not long after Ran Qinghe headed north from the tavern, she turned a corner and changed direction again, heading towards the Qingxiao Sect. Last time, she was captured after only destroying one spiritual vein—what a loss! This time, she was determined to destroy several more to atone for the three months of suffering she endured in the Tower of Babel.

Having dealt with two henchmen, the Discipline Hall should be too ashamed to bother her now.

She hummed a tuneless melody, casually plucking and scattering the flowers and leaves by the roadside, one by one.

Suddenly, a whooshing sound came from behind. Just as she dodged, a flying sword pierced past her ear and became firmly embedded in a beech tree behind her.

What a sharp sword aura! Ran Qinghe turned around and drew her long whip. The tip of the whip swept across the ground, making a silvery sound and kicking up a cloud of dust.

She retorted sarcastically, "You Discipline Hall are all the same; your swords come to greet you before you even arrive."

Lou Tinglan walked out slowly through the dust.

Ran Qinghe glanced at him briefly and was surprised to find that he was a handsome young man. His eyes were upturned, but the corners of his eyes drooped slightly. His face was calm and composed, truly a picture of serene beauty. A red mole between his eyebrows added an indescribable charm to his appearance.

Lou Tinglan said, "Lou Tinglan, a disciple of the Discipline Hall, has been ordered to capture the fugitive Ran Qinghe."

Upon seeing that the young man was quite handsome, Ran Qinghe couldn't help but tease him, "Oh my! So you are this good-looking, Immortal Lord. If I had known, I wouldn't have dodged you."

"Immortal Lord, I'll go back with you. Your sword really scared me," Ran Qinghe said, tilting her head and clutching her chest.

As she spoke, she clenched her fists and crossed her arms, appearing resigned to her fate. But when Lou Tinglan approached with the shackles, she suddenly opened her palms and scattered all the poison powder.

Lou Tinglan frowned slightly, then used the most basic dust-removing technique to sweep away all the poison powder in front of her.

Ran Qinghe: ...

Seeing that he had easily neutralized the poison, Ran Qinghe immediately stopped smiling and distanced herself: "Immortal Lord, this isn't fun anymore."

Lou Tinglan raised her hand and recalled her longsword: "Jingxin, go back!"

The two attacked simultaneously, their sword flashes and whip shadows instantly shattering the silence of the forest. Ran Qinghe's whip technique was incredibly fast, but Lou Tinglan's longsword repeatedly deflected the tip of her whip, preventing her from getting close for even a moment.

Ran Qinghe thought to herself: This person's cultivation level is probably above hers, but it's easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark.

She curled her lips slightly, harboring a mischievous intent. She turned around and used the momentum to her advantage, her long whip slicing through the air. However, she did not aim directly for his vital points, but instead attacked his lower body, forcing Lou Tinglan to leap backward.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ran Qinghe directly released the long whip from her hand: "Whip, break."

The long whip that was originally sweeping down towards the lower body suddenly rose up like a serpent, its tip curling upwards at an extremely tricky angle.

"Sizzle—"

The crisp sound of tearing fabric was exceptionally clear.

Lou Tinglan glanced down and saw that a long slit had been precisely cut from the collar to the waist of her long robe, the fabric parting to reveal her well-defined, muscular chest. A gentle breeze caused the slit in her robe to sway, revealing more than she could conceal.

Ran Qinghe retracted her whip and gently patted the end of it: "Why are you so disobedient? Look, even the Immortal Lord's clothes are torn."

"Oh dear, Immortal Lord, I am a respectable woman. You should put your clothes on first."

[Author's Note]

The first day, three chapters, the first chapter