"Yes, I accept my punishment!"

Fang Chuanyu lowered his head in acceptance, his eyes involuntarily glancing at Miao Miaomiao seated above.

"You’re looking at me, grand-disciple. Is there something you wish to say?"

Miao Miaomiao’s gaze turned cold as she asked directly.

"You beast!"

Enraged, Master Qingshan struck him with his palm. The blow sent him flying backward.

"I wouldn’t dare! I thank Grand Uncle Master for the mercy of sparing my life. I am ashamed, for I have failed the Sect Leader, my Martial Uncle, and my Grandmaster. I will turn over a new leaf and become a new man."

Fang Chuanyu’s confession was thorough. He knew the main reason for his punishment was for coercing and harassing his "Grandmaster."

The matter simply couldn’t be brought into the open, and he knew his grandfather’s status had secured him a more lenient punishment.

Had it been any other disciple, they would have been skinned alive, if not killed outright.

Miao Miaomiao hadn’t expected him to admit his wrongdoing so readily.

’He’s not an idiot.’

And so, she said no more.

"What are you still doing here? Get out."

Master Qingshan snapped irritably.

Fang Chuanyu hastily kowtowed to everyone a few times, then hurried down the mountain to face his punishment in the rear mountains.

"I have failed in teaching my grandson..."

Master Qingshan said, his face filled with guilt.

"This matter has nothing to do with you, Senior Brother. To be honest, I didn’t want to say anything, but now that I have pledged myself to my master, I naturally have a responsibility to the Taishan Sect..."

Miao Miaomiao said with a solemn expression.

"Junior Sister is absolutely right. If the sect’s rules are lax, and those in positions of trust abuse their power for personal gain, the Low-Tier Disciples will live in constant fear. How could the Taishan Sect endure under such conditions?"

Very satisfied with Miao Miaomiao’s dedication, Master Qingxu immediately issued an order putting her in charge of the Profound Law Department, tasking her with cleaning up the disorder within the sect.

Miao Miaomiao, having no objections, readily agreed.

With the official business concluded, Zhao Rui wasn’t in a hurry to leave. Having no urgent matters to attend to, he decided to stay on Taishan for a while longer.

He spent his days either admiring the scenery of Taishan with Miao Miaomiao or sparring with Master Qingyang, Mu Hua Zi, and the others to practice their Martial Arts.

After hearing of Zhao Rui’s abilities and learning that his junior brother, Master Qingyang, had grasped a sliver of Domain Power, Master Qingxu—who had long been seeking a breakthrough—decided to abandon his secluded cultivation.

He went straight to Zhao Rui, hoping for his guidance.

Naturally, Zhao Rui wouldn’t refuse such a welcome request.

On the pretext of offering guidance, he immediately called over both Master Qingyang and Master Qingshan to join them.

The masters began to spar with one another, each at the Dharma Realm level of Cultivation.

When it came to the Martial Arts of the world, with masters as numerous as clouds in the sky, it was hard to say who was the greatest.

But when it came to *teaching* Martial Arts, Zhao Rui was without a doubt a leading expert.

Having mastered hundreds of different Martial Arts, it was no exaggeration to call him a living repository of techniques.

His teaching experience was truly vast.

This exchange and sparring session between them lasted for three full days.

The session only ended when both Master Qingxu and Master Qingyang attained an insight and immediately entered a state of meditative comprehension right where they stood.

"Master, please rest assured. I will discipline that beast of a grandson strictly. If he dares to cause trouble again, I will strike him dead with a single blow."

Although Master Qingshan didn’t experience a sudden epiphany, he had gained the most. Having only recently entered the Dharma Realm, his foundation was still shallow, and the three days of sparring against three experts had granted him an immense amount of experience.

He took advantage of a moment alone with Zhao Rui to make a solemn promise regarding his grandson.

As the youngest True Dharma Master in the Taishan Sect, he had a long road ahead of him. Offending Zhao Rui would bring about far more loss than gain.

Zhao Rui smiled but said nothing more. He had handled the matter with Fang Chuanyu as a gesture of respect toward the Taishan Sect.

’If the Taishan Sect can’t discipline him, I will naturally take matters into my own hands.’

After staying on Taishan for a few more days and teaching two High-tier Martial Arts to Miao Miaomiao, Zhao Rui left the mountain.

Tai Mountain Stone Guardian was a formidable defensive Martial Art, and mastering it would be of immense benefit to Miao Miaomiao.

With her aptitude, along with the full effort of Master Qingyang’s instruction, it likely wouldn’t be long before she mastered it.

Advancing to the Divine Void Realm was only a matter of time.

In these chaotic times, with the future so uncertain, he could rest a little easier knowing the Taishan Sect was guarding Dongqi.

After leaving a way to be contacted, Zhao Rui gracefully descended the mountain.

Watching his retreating figure, Miao Miaomiao felt a pang of sadness. In just one or two years, the gap between them had become as wide as the sky and the earth.

She had desperately tried to catch up, but instead of closing the distance, she had only fallen further and further behind.

A sense of helplessness welled up inside her.

"Junior Sister, heroes have always been born of chaotic times. To have known him before his rise to prominence is a great fortune. Why be so fixated on what the outcome might be...?"

Master Qingyang stroked his beard and mused with a smile, having clearly seen what was on Junior Sister Miao’s mind.

His voice trailed off as the red sun on the horizon sank between the clouds, erupting in a blaze of magnificent light.

...

「New Blue Star, Pangu Continent!」

「Weishui City!」

Mo Ling’Er sat barefoot atop a high, stone mountain, attended by two maids. One fanned her, while the other placed small, exquisite-looking fruits into her lovely mouth.

"Seventh Miss, please don’t run off again. Otherwise, the Old Ancestor will definitely get angry."

The maid attending her crouched down, trying to persuade her with a look of concern.

"Run where? I haven’t gone anywhere. There are people all around here, guarding me like I’m a common thief."

Mo Ling’Er grumbled in dissatisfaction, reached out to squeeze the maid’s ample chest, and teased, "Tell me, have you been secretly eating meat again? How else could you have gotten fatter!"

"Seventh Miss, I really haven’t."

"Oh? I heard a saying in the Central Plains that if a man touches a woman’s... assets... a lot, they’ll get bigger."

Mo Ling’Er said with a smirk.

As soon as she said this, the maid’s face turned deathly pale. She immediately dropped to her knees, kowtowing and begging for mercy. "You wrong me, Miss! This servant has done no such thing! I wouldn’t dare, not even on pain of death..."

"Is that so? Or should I call Feng Shuyu over to confront you?"

Mo Ling’Er said coldly. Although the people of the Great Zhou were generally quite open-minded about relations between men and women, within the Yun Mansion, all maids had to be virgins.

If they lost their Primordial Yin, they were considered impure and could no longer serve the nobles of the mansion.

"Spare me, Miss! Please, spare me!"

Hearing this, the maid’s face turned ashen, and she prostrated on the ground, begging for mercy without end.

"Spare you?"

"I can spare your life... but it all depends on what you’re willing to do!"

A cunning glint flashed in Mo Ling’Er’s eyes as she looked at the prostrating maid with a smirk and spoke lightly.

「A few hours later.」

Deep within a dense forest, a lovely figure darted rapidly through the trees. Beneath a fluttering skirt, a pair of long, slender legs flashed, fair and smooth.

On closer inspection, it was none other than the Seventh Miss of the Yun Mansion, Mo Ling’Er.

’The Returning Ruins Blue Star actually merged into one!’

’I never would have expected this! This time, no one can stop me from going back.’

Mo Ling’Er had escaped more than once or twice, so she knew the surrounding environment like the back of her hand.

This time, she came prepared. The path she took was no conventional escape route; instead, she made a wide detour, avoiding all possible checkpoints.

It would cost her some time, but at least she wouldn’t be discovered by the Old Ancestor.

She raced onward!

Mo Ling’Er began to travel by imitating the way Zhao Rui had once fled, and the image of that "scoundrel" Zhao Rui kept appearing in her mind.

’He must hate my guts!’

’When I get back to the Central Plains, will he kill me? Maybe I should go back to Central Asia first?’

’My brother and father are busy preparing for war... I wonder when this fight will end...’

Lost in her thoughts as she traveled, Mo Ling’Er unknowingly covered over a thousand kilometers and reached the border between the Great Shang and the Great Zhou.

Seeing the territory of the Great Shang just a stone’s throw away, Mo Ling’Er beamed with joy and couldn’t help but speed up.

"I can keep your body here, but not your heart. Ling’Er..."

Just as she was about to reach the border, an old, familiar voice suddenly rang in her ear.

"Old Ancestor!"

Mo Ling’Er’s face went white, and she froze in place!

"Sigh... Go on, then. You have the same temper as your mother; I can’t stop you. I just don’t know if you’ll ever see this old woman again."

"Old Ancestor!"

"Go on, go on!"

Mo Ling’Er hesitated, a pang of reluctance welling up in her heart.

"The Celestial Secret is in turmoil. A world ruled by eight families cannot last. The world will inevitably be unified... Ling’Er, trust no one!"

The Old Ancestor’s voice echoed faintly, growing more and more distant. By the time her final word was spoken, she was already a hundred *li* away.

"Old Ancestor!"

Ling’Er dropped to her knees and kowtowed deeply several times. Only then did she slowly rise and step into the territory of the Great Shang.