The main house of the mansion.

Tianxuan passed through the faint ripples and appeared directly inside the main house, startling Elder Kaixiang, who was waiting there.

"Tianxuan... Sister."

He called out upon seeing Tianxuan and then, with some reluctance, called her "Sister."

"It seems that after your encounter at the Kunxu Immortal Palace, you have learned your lesson and know to call me Sister," Tianxuan said with a cold sneer.

Previously, Kaixiang would either address her by name or call her "woman," and no matter how many times he was scolded, it was to no avail—he was like a pig unafraid of boiling water. Today, his sudden display of respect was obviously because he knew he had nearly become a war criminal and felt guilty.

Moreover, the reason he was startled earlier was that Elder Kaixiang was distracted and restless.

As far as this tough nut was concerned, being tough didn't scare him, being gentle was useless; it was only when he knew he had done wrong and implicated others that he would start blaming himself.

"This... haha," Elder Kaixiang chuckled awkwardly. Under Tianxuan's icy gaze, he gave up any thought of arguing and sincerely said, "I was meaning to apologize to you, Sister. From now on, Kaixiang will definitely treat you with the utmost respect and dare not overstep in the slightest."

However, Tianxuan was not moved and said coldly, "Apologize? It is only because Jiang Li was saved. If anything had happened to Jiang Li, I would have made sure you paid with your life."

Her words were chilling, carrying an unquestionable force that made Elder Kaixiang's face twitch, and he couldn't help but say, "That... surely wouldn't be necessary?"

"My disciple, is he someone you can compare to, a fool who has been defeated twice by Kunxu Immortal Palace?"

Tianxuan felt it was very necessary.

Both were reserves, one an affiliated son-in-law reserve and the other a war criminal reserve. It was clear which was superior. Moreover, the affiliated son-in-law reserve could actually be promoted to official status, while the war criminal reserve truly almost became a war criminal.

Though Elder Kaixiang was unaware of the inside story, he deeply realized that his many years of sibling affection with his sister were indeed far less significant than the master-disciple bond between them.

If anything had really happened to Jiang Li, even though he was one of the Six Hall Elders, Tianxuan would have entertained the thought of making him die along with Jiang Li.

'This woman, her mind is still so narrow.' Elder Kaixiang couldn't help but grumble internally, but outwardly, he still showed a sincere attitude of receiving teachings.

At this moment, Tianxuan's gaze swept around and suddenly she asked, "Where are Yun Jiuye and Ling Wujue?"

Upon hearing this, a jolt went through Elder Kaixiang's heart, but he managed to keep his composure and sighed, "They're injured. I didn't expect Kunxu Immortal Palace to be so cunning, trapping us with the Nine Heavens Gathering Immortal Array. Although I tried my best to protect them, both of them got hurt and are now healing."

"Oh, right, they're healing at the Two Saints Temple. Elder Tianpeng and I thought you had taken Jiang Li to the Two Saints Temple, but we didn't expect you to come directly to this mansion."

Elder Kaixiang said this while showing off his robe, which had several new rips on the green war robe.

Having a "deep-seated hatred" with Kunxu Immortal Palace, Elder Kaixiang would rather die than wear the Cloud Clothes produced by Kunxu Immortal Palace. The vestment robe he wore did not have the automatic repair feature.

But, if it really came down to grade, it was not inferior to the Cloud Clothes of Kunxu Immortal Palace—its defensive power was even higher.

Among the elders of Dinghu Sect, there was one who carried the Lei Zu Dao Fruit and was also adept at crafting vestment robes and various garments. The Divine Wood War Robe that Elder Kaixiang wore was one of his proud creations, which now got badly torn, revealing the peril of the Nine Heavens Gathering Immortal Array.

Tianxuan glanced at the tears and said indifferently, "There must be a connection between Kunxu Immortal Palace and the local government to set up such a large array here. You can try to investigate this matter later."

Setting up an array would involve the flow of Qi, and as the landowner, the Earth Deity might detect something.

On the other hand, if the Earth Deity aided in concealing it, it would be very difficult for others to detect the Qi involved with the array.

Whether or not the Shu County government was involved, it was an excellent direction for investigation.

"Additionally, once we return to the sect, I want you to personally craft a suitable weapon for Jiang Li. Its grade must not be inferior to the swords Tianzhi and Da Huan that were forged during the Sword Discussion Conference," Tianxuan continued.

Not to be inferior to those two swords...

Elder Kaixiang's face instantly turned bitter. Even if he had the skill, the materials for sword casting were extremely valuable.

A sword like that could drain more than half of his wealth.

But who is to blame when he was nearly branded a war criminal?

"Sometimes I truly wonder if Jiang Li has changed his surname to Gongsun, with how well you treat him."

Elder Kaixiang gave a resigned shake of his head, then hurried out, eager to be gone, "I'm off to deal with the trouble from Kunxu Immortal Palace, rather than stay here and incur your dislike."

By his eagerness, one would think he wasn't afraid of falling into Kunxu Immortal Palace's hands again.

Tianxuan's eyes were profound as she watched Elder Kaixiang leave. Then, she retreated, not even waiting for Elder Tianpeng to come, and directly withdrew into the space ripples.

...

...

Faint ripples appeared, and with a single step, Tianxuan emerged in Jiang Li's room.

She summarized their earlier conversation for Jiang Li, omitting the parts that reflected the affection between master and disciple, focusing mainly on Elder Kaixiang's words and actions.

In the end, Tianxuan said, "Kaixiang dares not bring Yun Jiuye and Ling Wujue to see me, which suggests that his disciples have done something inappropriate."

It wasn't necessarily that they took part in the night raid on Jiang Li by Kunxu Immortal Palace, they just had to know about the situation and deliberately take risks, detaining Elder Kaixiang, to prevent him from breaking the formation.

If they really were involved in the matter, given Elder Kaixiang's character, he would not cover up their actions once he found out. However, if it was just some mistakes, or even things that could hardly be called mistakes, Elder Kaixiang would likely protect them to some extent.

"It must have been Fifth Brother who acted, Big Brother isn't that stupid, or rather, he wouldn't personally do something inappropriate."

Jiang Li shook his head and said, "It seems I need to find some evidence now."

"Are you looking for evidence that Ling Wujue has harmed you?" asked Tianxuan, her voice tinged with a mocking smile.

"No, I'm looking for evidence that I couldn't possibly have killed Fifth Brother," Jiang Li stated matter-of-factly.

Once he was certain that Ling Wujue was indeed involved, there was no need to look for evidence. Killing him would suffice.

Jiang Li wasn't seeking to convict Ling Wujue; he simply wanted revenge.

If he really needed evidence, it would be to prove his own innocence. In other words, to fabricate evidence and disassociate himself from the matter.

[This forthright attitude greatly pleased Tianxuan, who seemed to enjoy the feeling of a master and disciple sharing a heart with no secrets between them. It also indicated that the Old Demon possessed a certain possessiveness towards Jiang Li; she did not want Jiang Li to keep anything from her.]

[If one day, Jiang Li betrayed her, then...]

A blood-like stain appeared on the Karma Collection, and Jiang Li's heart thudded nervously.

On one hand, she did not want to reveal her identity and confirm her relationship with Jiang Li, but on the other, she did not want Jiang Li to hide anything from her. She aspired to be the teacher whom Jiang Li trusted the most, to whom he could confide anything.

Jiang Li could only marvel at how high maintenance this woman was.

It was only because of their master-disciple relationship and Gongsun Qingyue standing between them that Tianxuan hadn't already devoured Jiang Li.

However, on the flip side, had they not become master and disciple, they would not have reached this point at all.

Within the Sect, there were two sycophants serving as cautionary examples.

Also, he had to thank a certain good elder brother for playing matchmaker.

Speaking of good elder brothers, it was impossible not to mention the Feng family.

Jiang Li extended his hand, and a blue butterfly danced gracefully in his palm, "I discovered traces of the Heluo God just now, so I intercepted him and heard a piece of news from him—the Heaven Creation Device."

Considering the consequences of keeping secrets from Tianxuan, and since the matter wasn't too critical, Jiang Li divulged all secrets of the Heluo God, sparing no detail from their earlier conversation.

Now was the time to demonstrate the importance of being a kept man. Information that the Heluo God had kept hidden could be learned through Tianxuan.

The Heluo God likely never imagined that Jiang Li, the prospective affiliated son-in-law, could gain such trust from Tianxuan. Their master-disciple relationship was transparent; she knew his strengths and weaknesses, and he knew her depth and breadth.

Even though Tianxuan did not know what depths and breadths Jiang Li knew of her...

"Provocative words," Tianxuan said calmly after listening, "mentioning Heaven and the Two Clans, aiming to stir your ambition, and moreover, he concealed the existence of the Feng family. The Heaven Creation Device is a collaborative effort of the Three Clans, and the device itself is derived from the Feng family's calculations. They possess the most primal Yi Dao heritage in this world, which far exceeds that of our Two Clans."

"If the Great Venerable inherited the Book of Luo River Map, then he himself could deduce the device and would not have needed to learn about it from the Drought Demon Ba."

This meant that Heluo God had indeed spoken truth through lies.

It wasn't that the Great Venerable coveted the Heaven Creation Device, but rather the Heluo God did. His previous visit to Dinghu Sect was not on the Great Venerable's orders; Heluo God took the initiative on his own.

The Great Venerable might or might not have known about it, but he ignored Heluo God's actions and may even have encouraged them.

At the same time, Jiang Li truly confirmed one piece of information—the news of Heaven's creation.

"Heaven... is actually man-made..."

He muttered to himself, looking up toward the sky as if his gaze could penetrate the eaves and seek the utmost boundaries of the heavens for the existence of Heaven.

"No wonder Ji Jiji attempted to replace Heaven with man. If the Heavenly Heart is man-made, then why can't human will substitute for the Heavenly Heart?"

It wasn't just Ji Jiji; even Jiang Li harbored thoughts of taking his place.

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