Wenren È had originally planned to go right out and kidnap Zhongli Qian after finishing the sword, but seeing Dubhe shining in the sky, he was abruptly reminded that he had a sect to run. Xuanyuan Sect had sustained heavy losses from the Great Sect War, with many experts having died and been sent on. Out of the four Altar Masters, three were severely injured and the fourth had run off to Shangqing Sect to become a wandering immortal. With the Left Protector and the Sect Master missing, the only person who was still capable would've been the Right Protector.
"Come to think of it, even if this Venerable captured Zhongli Qian, I still need a place to imprison him," Wenren È said. "The Right Protector knows more on matters of love than we do, so the matter of making Zhongli Qian fall in love with Baili Qingmiao must also be assigned to her."
Now that he'd obtained his sword, Yin Hanjiang recognized that he wasn't supposed to be the Venerable's yes-man, but help him and ease his burdens.
He thought about it hard and said, "The Right Protector has high ambitions. The Xuanyuan Sect is currently without a leader, so I fear it has fallen into chaos."
"It looks to me like she's living large right now," Wenren È said, glancing at Dubhe overhead. "Oh well. There's still several decades until Baili Qingmiao and Zhongli Qian are meant to meet. We have plenty of time, so let's return to Xuanyuan Sect and sort things out first."
"Understood," said Yin Hanjiang.
Before they departed, Wenren È glanced down at the Ice Plains, whose flames had all but dissipated under the force of the heavenly lightning. Originally, the flames would've been covered by ice again after a hundred years or so, forming a new Ice Plains, but now the lightning had expended much of the underground fires' power. Mountains had been pulverized into dirt, slowly burying the dormant flames.
In their clash, the lightning and fire had filled the land with immense spiritual energy, enough to give rise to new living beings.
Soon, the land beneath them would be transformed into a vast grass plain.
With only a glance, Wenren È left in a flash of crimson light, paying it no more mind. Yin Hanjiang flew on the Army Crushing Sword and caught up to him. Wenren È had held back his speed for him, but Yin Hanjiang's sword flight had become significantly faster. Wenren È, seeing that Yin Hanjiang kept up easily, sped up some more.
Yin Hanjiang urged his sword on and was still able to follow at a steady distance an arm's length behind Wenren È. It was only until Wenren È reached twice his original speed that Yin Hanjiang started falling behind.
It had taken them half a day to arrive at the Ice Plains, but this time it only took three hours to return to the outskirts of Xuanyuan Sect. Wenren È didn't arrive directly to the main hall, instead stopping outside. Pleased, he said to Yin Hanjiang, "You've finally understood the true meaning of sword flight, as opposed to letting swords fly you."
Yin Hanjiang's speed had always been slow, not only because of his low realm, but also because the demonic sword didn't obey his will. He was always distracted with keeping it under control, which slowed him down.
"Sword cultivators are the strongest among all cultivators. Previously, you were able to exert power beyond your realm because the demonic sword was using you, not due to your own strength or sword will. Now that you've bonded to a weapon of your own, this Venerable looks forward to seeing your true strength as a sword cultivator." Wenren È looked at Yin Hanjiang with encouragement.
Yin Hanjiang, however, only looked at Wenren È's missing arm which had yet to regrow, his face rather pale.
"Don't worry." Wenren È covered his shoulder with one hand. "Since I cut off a part of my soul, it'll naturally take a while to recover. A minor injury like this won't prevent this Venerable from taking back Xuanyuan Sect."
Yin Hanjiang gripped his sword tightly, determined not to let the blade his Venerable had forged with his own soul go to waste. He cupped his hands and said, "The sect array has been completely changed from before. This subordinate will break through and open a path for the Venerable!"
"That's not necessary," Wenren È said, holding back Yin Hanjiang's fighting intent. "I'd like to see what Shu Yanyan has gotten up to these days. If we barged in directly, someone as shrewd as her would surrender immediately, which wouldn't be fun."
Wenren È used an illusion to hide them both and after making a circuit around the barrier, found some people entering and leaving. They were all strangers, and who knew where they had come from.
Wenren È possessed one of them and entered with the group, quickly learning the new array password. He left that body without a trace and returned to the outside, where he opened a small entrance and beckoned Yin Hanjiang through.
Xuanyuan Sect had no restrictions forbidding flight or duels within its grounds. Everyone picked fights whenever they wanted, and whoever was stronger got their way. Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang went directly to Shu Yanyan's cultivation grounds, a mountain peak dense in spiritual energy on which she had built a palace resembling that of a mortal emperor. Its inside was filled with bedrooms, hot springs, grass fields, and so on, so Shu Yanyan could cultivate wherever she pleased.
When she wasn't carrying out orders or out looking for promising subordinates to raise, Shu Yanyan spent most of her time cultivating in her palace. But today, not only was she nowhere to be seen, but not many of her subordinates were around either.
Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang entered the palace and found most of the rooms were empty, with even the beds missing. Hearing someone approach, they both hid, and saw Shu Yanyan's most favored subordinate leading a few underlings with both middling cultivations and looks, directing them, "You two go to the Moon Embracing Hall, you three to the Star Plucking Hall, and put everything in storage bags. Make sure you're careful with the Right Protector's beds—you better not knock or bump them. If the Protector were to get injured in cultivation, the fault would be on your heads!"
He ordered everyone around left and right while sitting in the main hall like he owned the place, eating from a plate stacked with spiritual fruit.
Yin Hanjiang saw this clearly and knew there was only one tree in the sect that grew these spiritual fruit, the one in the Venerable's back garden.
He wanted to charge in, but was held back by Wenren È. While everyone else was busy moving furniture, Wenren È transformed into blood mist and entered the body of Shu Yanyan's subordinate. He said to Yin Hanjiang, "Disguise yourself, and let's go have a chat with the Right Protector."
Yin Hanjiang considered using a disguising technique, but Shu Yanyan was a high-level cultivator and would be able to see through it easily. He was worried he would ruin the Venerable's plan, and so took a black ghost mask from his storage bag and put it on.
Wenren È's heart skipped a beat when he saw that mask. He was about to ask when he saw several of the subordinates returning. "Master Helian," they said to him, "we've already cleared out everything."
Wenren È held back his questions and replied, "Follow me."
He glanced at the masked Yin Hanjiang and said, "You too."
Several of the men shot suspicious glances at Yin Hanjiang. Wenren È said in a harsher voice, "What are you looking at? The Protector's new disciple doesn't want to be seen. Keep your heads down."
There were some people who weren't willing to show their faces when Shu Yanyan first brought them in. The underlings didn't dare to question any further and hurried to follow "Master Helian" as they flew toward the main peak where Wenren È's residence was.
They ran into Shu Yanyan right in the sect's main hall, wearing a set of lavish red robes and currently talking to another subordinate.
They were in time to hear him say, "My Lady, the four Altar Masters have all been brought to the main peak. What should be done with them?"
Shu Yanyan considered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Let's see, Altar Master Yuan is too ugly. I don't know why he likes to walk around with all that fat. I don't like him, so seal his powers and throw him in the underground water prison. Altar Master Miao doesn't look bad, but who knows if he's keeping one or two of his bugs around for emergencies. I don't want to get bitten, so throw him in the water prison too. As for Altar Master Ruan and that new Altar Master Shi... take them to my room for me to enjoy thoroughly."
"Understood," her subordinate said, nodding.
"Oh, wait!" Shu Yanyan called. She held him by the chin and kissed his handsome face, saying in a soft voice, "I forgot I'm currently moving out. Take them to Wenren È's bedroom and stay there yourself too. In a moment this Protector... no, this Venerable will take good care of you."
Hearing that she wanted to use the Venerable's bedroom for such things, Yin Hanjiang couldn't hold back anymore and drew his sword, charging at Shu Yanyan. Shu Yanyan's red robe was a top-grade defensive item, so she disregarded the masked man who suddenly appeared, assuming he was one of the Altar Masters' underlings. She raised a sleeve to block, but the blade cleaved through the robe and her arm alike.
"Who are you?" Shu Yanyan demanded, furious, as a spider lily bloomed in the palm of her hand.
Her subordinate rushed to pick up her severed arm, which she could reattach after she was done fighting.
"That's a strong sword will! Are you from Heavenly Sword Sect? How did you get into the Xuanyuan Sect main hall?" Shu Yanyan circulated her spiritual essence and spider lilies blossomed across the hall, forming a blood-red carpet under Yin Hanjiang's feet. They transformed into twelve heavenly demons, who seductively approached him.
The heavenly demons could awaken someone's inner demons and destroy a cultivator's dantian. If one let their guard down for even a moment, they would fall under the demons' manipulations. Yet Yin Hanjiang treated their alluring figures as no more than clumps of dirt. He paid attention only to Shu Yanyan, his current enemy.
The stars of the Big Dipper shone on the Army Crushing Sword's blade. Its black light filled the hall, and the twelve heavenly demons were instantly nailed to the walls, the spider lilies shredded by the sword's aura and their petals drifting through the air in a flurry of crimson.
Shu Yanyan saw her adversary face the heavenly demons without wavering and decided to bring out her full power. After fully absorbing Hè Wenzhao's Nascent Soul, she had risen to the fifth level of Mahayana, and could freely command natural spiritual energy. With a wave of her hand, the flower petals transformed into red silk, which wrapped around Yin Hanjiang's body and immobilized him.
The spider lilies were demonic flowers which would suck away the spiritual essence of anyone they touched. Yin Hanjiang had been plastered with them head to toe, and his essence was continuously being drained.
Wenren È sighed inwardly. Even if Yin Hanjiang had awoken to his own sword will, there was still a realm of difference between Void Boundary and Mahayana. It seemed his help was still needed...
Right when Wenren È was about to jump in, the twelve swords that had pinned the heavenly demons to the walls flew to Yin Hanjiang, forming a sword array around him, ringing in unison and making the flower petals tremble. Within them, Yin Hanjiang made a hand seal, and the swords split into innumerable small blades, blasting the flowers away with their aura.
The masked man leapt out of the flower petals, the tip of his blade aimed for Shu Yanyan's heart.
Shu Yanyan didn't have enough time to avoid, and even though she dodged a vital blow, the sword still impaled her through her left shoulder.
Gritting her teeth, she called to her subordinate, "What are you waiting for? Set up an array!"
Yet a cloud of blood mist suddenly emerged from Helian's body, and solidified into the shape of a one-armed figure, standing behind the masked man. Calmly, he said to Shu Yanyan, "Right Protector, did you have any problems managing the sect in this Venerable's absence?"
Seeing he had shown himself, the other also removed his mask, revealing Yin Hanjiang's frosty expression.
Upon seeing the two, Shu Yanyan fell to her knees on the spot. "Venerable, you've returned at last!" she cried. "The four Altar Masters were conspiring together, and only with great difficulty did this subordinate manage to bring them in line!"