"You should leave now; I need to start preparing." Dugu Qianye said, and then no longer paid attention to Zi Xiao, calling out, "Jiang Yu."
Jiang Yu, upon hearing his na, appeared before Dugu Qianye. His silver hair casually draped over his shoulders, his demonic face, and the bright red clothes made him astonishingly dashing. He looked at Dugu Qianye and asked, "Shall we start now?"
Ever since Jiang Yu appeared, Zi Xiao kept his gaze on him. Was this the man Qie Yue spoke of, the one by Ye’er’s side? The one looking overly delicate? He indeed had quite the looks.
"Ahem." Zi Xiao gave a fake cough and said, "Are you sure you won’t leave first? You haven’t known him for long, have you? How do you know if he’s reliable? If sothing goes wrong, crying won’t help. Better to leave with first."
"I’m not familiar with you either," Dugu Qianye said. "At least I have a contractual relationship with him."
"Well then, since you’re set on going, I’ll just have to follow your lead. ’When you marry a chicken, you follow the chicken; when you marry a dog, you follow the dog,’" Zi Xiao muttered resentfully, "But if anything happens to you, don’t leave all alone and miserable!"
"Who is this?" Jiang Yu ca beside Dugu Qianye, seemingly casual as he draped an arm over her shoulders.
Zi Xiao glanced at that annoying hand and said, "I am her fiancé."
"Fiancé?!" Jiang Yu looked at Zi Xiao in surprised tone, but his eyes betrayed no surprise, "When did she acquire a fiancé that I’m not aware of?"
"Of course, you wouldn’t know." Zi Xiao pulled Dugu Qianye over with a smile, "You hadn’t t her yet when she and I sealed our love with a kiss, right? It’s normal for you not to know about that."
"You—"
Before Jiang Yu could finish, Zi Xiao interrupted, "Right, I’ll leave the comforting of my Ye’er to you today, do look after her well."
"As her servant, I naturally will protect her well," Jiang Yu answered.
"Then I can go about my business with peace of mind," Zi Xiao said, pulling Dugu Qianye’s shoulder, "I’ll be with you throughout today’s ritual. Just call for if you miss and I’ll co."
Dugu Qianye rolled her eyes uncontrollably at the direct confrontation between Zi Xiao and Jiang Yu, having no interest in acknowledging Zi Xiao’s claim of being a fiancé.
"Just have your Divine Temple’s people be prepared," Dugu Qianye said.
"This will be a pleasant collaboration," Zi Xiao said with a smile, then turned and left the room.
"Keke, that person’s scent was very pleasant," Little Baiqiu said.
"Is he really your fiancé? How co I’ve never heard you ntion him?" Jiang Yu asked, watching Zi Xiao’s departing figure.
"He’s not," Dugu Qianye said, too lazy to even explain, "Let’s start."
"Alright," Jiang Yu said, and then started forming seals with his hands, crafting a thin layer of Spiritual Mist around Dugu Qianye’s body...
In the courtyard of the Shen Xingzong, the Masters of the Wind, Fire, and Thunder Temples were gathered below.
"How are the preparations going?" the Divine Master slightly looked up at the sky and asked, "Wind?"
"All the items needed for the ritual have been prepared, and every step has been carefully considered. There should be no problems," replied the Wind Temple.
Shen Xingzong nodded and said, "Fire."
"The elixirs have already been taken by everyone. We told them it was for recuperating from the fatigue of travel. The elixir mixed with Light Star Grass was said to help recover spiritual power, so no one suspected anything. However, the students from the Mors Empire had so questions about the elixir. That Mo Feng even made a special trip to our Fire Temple to inquire," they reported.
"Hmm. Thunder," Shen Xingzong said.
"We’ve been trying our best to capture mbers of the Secret Pavilion in Holy Sea City recently. The Thunder Temple has deployed its people to patrol the city and we’ve also brought in so people from the Rain Hall to ensure the midday ritual proceeds without interruption or disturbance."
"Hmm," Shen Xingzong nodded and then asked, "Why hasn’t Yun Jin arrived yet?"
"There must be sothing that’s delayed him," suggested the Wind Temple Master.
No sooner had the Wind Temple Master finished speaking than Yun Jin arrived at Shen Xingzong’s courtyard.
"Hall Master," Yun Jin greeted Shen Xingzong with a bow.
"We have an hour or two before the grand ritual. How are the preparations over at Rain Hall?"
"All is well," answered Yun Jin.
"All is well," Yun Jin repeated.
"You all know about today’s ritual. The Divine Master has high expectations and places great importance on it. We must not allow for the slightest mistake," Shen Xingzong emphasized again. "Go down and check on things again after you leave."
"Yes, Hall Master," the group answered in unison and then left.
Once everyone had left, Shen Xingzong took out the Divine Stone that Yun Jin had retrieved for him, examining it carefully, his eyes alight with excitent.
In the Yingke Courtyard, people from the Mors Empire returned to their own rooms, getting ready to visit the altar at noon for today’s grand ritual. Mo Ziqing, Ye Canglan, and He Yan went to Xie Ping’s room.
"Principal, when we were out just now, the Wind Temple Master ca looking for us," said Mo Ziqing.
Xie Ping rose from his rocking chair and opened his eyes, saying, "You’ve co at just the right ti. Hand these out."
Xie Ping took several Jade Bottles out of his Space Ring and handed them to Mo Ziqing.
"What is this?"
"This is the antidote to suppress the effects of Light Star Grass," said Xie Ping. "By now, there are so things you should be aware of. The Divine Temple has been raising a Huagui, an ancient Ferocious Beast that, once it reaches maturity, can forcibly consu the Phantom Power within humans, but it requires many conditions. Light Star Grass is one of them. Consuming Light Star Grass makes Phantom Power uncontrollable once the prir is encountered, which allows the Huagui to consu it more easily. The Divine Temple has been feeding everyone elixirs containing Light Star Grass. So of you were stopped by that girl Dugu Qianye, but others ingested it. To avoid any misses, each person should still take one. Also, give so to the students from the other three Empires, but don’t tell them. Just let those who are willing to take it do so."
These were what Dugu Qianye had Fen Jian fetch in the past two days. After returning to Wuyou Island, she didn’t rest but carefully studied the condition of the islanders and developed an antidote for Spirit Transformation. During the search for the antidote, she found an entry about Light Star Grass in "Thousand Spiders and Ten Thousand Poisons", only then did she learn of its effect when added to elixirs and uncovered a thod to counteract it. She experinted for a month in the Refining Demon Pot and finally developed the antidote; she then contacted Xie Ping and Fen Jian, inford them about the situation, and had Qingluan deliver the elixirs to Fen Jian, who was to bring them to Xie Ping and the rest. Of course, she prepared a portion for the Secret Pavilion as well.
Afterward, she discussed the day’s grand ritual plan with Fen Jian. Learning of the plan to use Dugu Qianye as a sacrifice, the Secret Pavilion got wind of it too. Dugu Qianye planned to turn the tables, disrupting the Divine Temple’s plan at the altar. The Secret Pavilion would handle confrontations with the Temple’s people to ensure the safety of the Mors Empire’s students, while the Divine Temple’s Hall Masters would be dealt with by Dugu Qianye’s side.
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