The old man chuckled and said, "So it's Miss Lu the Seventh of the Lu family and the beloved disciple of the Lu family patriarch. I'm so sorry for not welcoming you properly! I am Zhao Wuque, an elder of the Five Elements Sect."
A Yao clasped her hands in a fist salute to Zhao Wuque.
Zhao Wuque smiled and said, "Please come in, distinguished guests! The sect leader is already waiting for your arrival!"
As he spoke, he made an inviting gesture, and the barrier behind him slowly opened a gap.
————
Qi Yun, the sect leader of the Five Elements Sect, was a middle-aged man of average height and appearance, neither handsome nor ugly. Although he was plain-looking, as a master who had cultivated to the late stage of the Void Refinement realm and was also a member of a sect, he still possessed the necessary imposing presence.
For some reason, A Yao sensed a guilty conscience in him when he saw her and Lu Yin, which made her worry about the Lu family's Mingyu Cauldron. Was her Mingyu Cauldron still there? Why did she say her Mingyu Cauldron? After A Yao agreed to Lu Xiuwen's task of retrieving the cauldron, she had no intention of handing it over to him.
She will keep the Mingyu Cauldron herself after taking it.
“My dear niece has long heard of your great name. Back in the Burial Dragon Mountain Secret Realm, it was thanks to you that my sect’s worthless disciples were saved. At that time, you had only just condensed your Nascent Soul, and in just over twenty years, my dear niece had already reached the mid-stage of the Deity Transformation Realm. It’s truly astonishing.”
"I am so excited to see my niece. And my nephew Lu Yin, I have heard your master often mention you. Now that you two have come to my Five Elements Sect, I, as the sect leader, must give you a good welcome."
Inside the main hall, the sect leader of the Five Elements Sect sat at the head of the table, smiling as he looked at A Yao and Lu Yin.
Lu Yin always had that icy expression. He often had the same expression even when facing his master, Lu Xiuwen, so it was even more obvious when facing others. It was always A Yao who spoke, and he was happy to be left alone.
Ayao looked at Qi Yun, the sect leader of the Five Elements Sect, and said:
"Sect Master Qi is very busy, how dare my senior brother and I disturb him here? Why don't we take the Mingyu Cauldron now so that we can go back to report to our father as soon as possible?"
"No rush! No rush! My dear niece, you need to change your impatient nature. Xiu'er, why don't you take our two distinguished guests to rest first?" Qi Yun said to his apprentice He Wenxiu.
A pretty woman in red standing to the side clasped her hands in a fist salute to A Yao and Lu Yin and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoists, please follow me!"
Before A Yao could speak, Qi Yun transformed into a long rainbow and shot out of the hall, disappearing instantly.
Ayao: "...?"
Did they slip away?
————
After arranging accommodations for A Yao, Lu Yin, and their guards, He Wenxiu spoke with A Yao for a few words and then left.
Ayao moved her little hand, and the Golden Jade Cicadas flew out in hiding. Of the dozens of Golden Jade Cicadas, one followed He Wenxiu, while the rest scattered and flew to various places in the Five Elements Sect.
Lu Yin rarely spoke a few words to A Yao. He said, "It seems that the sect leader of the Five Elements Sect doesn't want to train Ming Yuding."
Ayao said, "What is borrowed must be returned. If you don't hand it over, then we'll take it back."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yin stared intently at A Yao. He knew that he and A Yao could both fight against Void Refinement cultivators based on their artistic conception, but the Five Elements Sect Master had been stuck in the late Void Refinement stage for thousands of years. The further one progressed in cultivation, the more difficult it became. However, even if he hadn't broken through his bottleneck, his magical power would definitely become more and more profound with the accumulation of time.
Even with his arrogance, Lu Yin still believed that with only a few hundred years of cultivation, he couldn't possibly defeat the old man, the Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect. Besides, this was Five Elements Sect territory, with other Void Refinement stage experts guarding it besides the Sect Master. Taking it back? How easy was that?
However, he sensed from A Yao's tone just now that she clearly didn't take the Five Elements Sect seriously. Where did she get her audacity and confidence?
After giving A Yao a few deep looks, Lu Yin withdrew his gaze. He returned to his room to meditate and cultivate. As for what A Yao wanted to do, and what she would do, he would wait and see.
————
The three great supernatural powers of the Golden Jade Cicada are healing, concealment, and sonic attack. Each Golden Jade Cicada released by A Yao carries a wisp of her divine consciousness. After seeing He Wenxiu leave, she went to report back to her master, Qi Yun.
Without attacking, the Golden Jade Cicada concealed itself, making it difficult even for a Nascent Soul cultivator to detect, let alone a late-stage Void Refinement cultivator like Qi Yun. Through the divine sense on the Golden Jade Cicada, A Yao saw He Wenxiu bow to Qi Yun:
"Master, I have already arranged accommodations for the Lu family."
Qi Yun nodded, but his face was filled with worry. He Wenxiu lowered her eyes, her brows furrowed, her eyes also revealing undisguised concern. She bit her lip and asked:
"Master, my senior brother..."
“Your senior brother will be alright! He will definitely be alright!” Qi Yun said, as if he were trying to convince himself.
“But the Lu family has already come to ask for Ming Yuding. What will happen to Senior Brother Ming Yuding if we lose him?” He Wenxiu said worriedly.
"Let's drag it out until they lose patience, which means the Jade Cauldron is gone. At worst, we can let that bastard Lu Xiuwen rip us off again. Does he really think he can start a bloody battle with our Five Elements Sect over a magic weapon?" Qi Yun said.
Hearing this, He Wenxiu lowered her head and remained silent, but the worry on her face did not diminish at all.
Then He Wenxiu took her leave. Qi Yun stood by the window, gazing into the distance for a long time without saying a word. A Yao withdrew her divine sense, thinking: He Wenxiu's senior brother? That must refer to Qi Yun's son, Qi Shaofeng!
Qi Shaofeng is over three thousand years old, about the same age as A Yao's mother. He is also at the Refinement stage. However, this young sect master of the Five Elements Sect has not appeared since a hundred years ago. This did not surprise the crowd. It is normal for a Refinement stage cultivator to go into seclusion for several hundred years!
However, recalling her past life, she had never heard of the Five Elements Sect's young master appearing in the public eye until she left the Canglan Realm. Qi Shaofeng, A Yao knew of this person, but had never seen him.
With doubts in her mind, she focused her divine sense on the other golden cicada.
Because she is currently an avatar, not her original body, she needs to be careful. If she were her original body, she could know everything about the Five Elements Sect with her divine sense. But as an avatar who is only at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, even though her divine sense is comparable to that of the Void Refinement stage, she must be careful not to trigger the array formations and restrictions within the Five Elements Sect.
Especially since A Yao already knew that the Five Elements Sect might be hiding a demon.
Golden jade cicadas flew through mountains, valleys, rivers, and magnificent palaces. Ayao sat cross-legged on the bed, her consciousness following each golden jade cicada.
————
Night enveloped the entire Five Elements Sect. A figure concealed their tracks, speeding through the mountains surrounding the sect, heading towards the forbidden area. This hidden figure evaded guards and carefully avoided restrictions, penetrating deep into the forbidden area.
Inside this forbidden area was a cave, guarded not by humans, but by alchemical golems. The hidden figure entered the cave without alerting the alchemical golems, and after going in for about several hundred feet, the concealed figure was revealed.
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