Accompanied by the unwilling and utterly incredulous gaze of the purple-robed man in his dying moments, the crowd that had just survived a calamity instantly fell silent.

Without paying any heed to the frightened looks from a certain direction, An Ning casually tossed the Marrow-Cleansing Fruit into her jade ring and quickly led her people away.

“Yi’er, you must remember, those who are willing to sacrifice themselves to save others, who possess a moral standard far surpassing the masses, are respectable at any time. But to use that as a standard to demand of others, to morally coerce unrelated individuals to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others…”

Under the blazing sun, a hint of chill involuntarily seeped from the corner of An Ning’s lips.

“…is nothing more than another shameless person!”

By the end of her sentence, An Ning’s tone had even inexplicably lightened considerably.

Xiao Yi beside her: “…”

The rogue cultivators not far away, who were as quiet as chickens and secretly pricked up their ears: “…”

“Actually, what Miss Shen said just now isn’t without reason!”

Only after the figures of the two had completely disappeared did the group of rogue cultivators who had survived the calamity cautiously poke their heads out from under the spiritual tree not far away. One rather lean and thin fellow cultivator couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

“Indeed!” Another person nodded.

“The Xuanming Sect is indeed domineering and brutal in their actions, but what does that have to do with Miss Shen, a rogue cultivator? Didn’t those major sects also shrink back and not step forward earlier?”

Moreover, unlike Miss Shen who grew up in the mountains, those major sects had genuinely received a lot of tribute!

Of course, the most important point was that no matter how evil the Xuanming Sect was, it had little to do with poor, low-level rogue cultivators like them. If they came looking, they would only target those established sects and families with solid foundations.

As for killing to seize treasures, as if those righteous sects would show any mercy if a real treasure truly appeared!

There really wasn’t much difference!

“Ah, Brother Zhou was different from us. His entire family was slaughtered by the Demonic Sect years ago. It’s understandable that he got emotionally worked up and was sharp-tongued…”

To take a life over just a few words was truly going too far…

Looking at the person not far away whose eyes were wide open as if they had died with grievances unredressed, another person sighed as if in lament.

Unfortunately, before he could finish, he was interrupted by a blue-robed man beside him.

“Look at what Brother Wang is saying, ’emotionally worked up, sharp-tongued’…” The man couldn’t help but snort coldly.

“All these years have passed, why haven’t we seen him get ’emotionally worked up’ or ‘sharp-tongued’ in front of the leaders of the major sects? Why didn’t he go spout righteous rhetoric in front of the Demonic Sect? He specifically picks on a young woman traveling alone, and one who just saved his own life at that!”

Muttering a curse about an ungrateful wretch under his breath, as if thinking of something, the blue-robed man’s lips twitched slightly, and his tone became even more biting and sarcastic.

“Could it be that this ’emotion’ actually discriminates between people!”

“Pfft, hahaha! What ’emotion discriminates between people’? Brother Lu, you’re being too polite! This is clearly bullying the weak and fearing the strong… ah no, bullying the good and fearing the evil is more accurate!”

From within the crowd, someone else burst into laughter from time to time.

In these times, survival wasn’t easy for rogue cultivators. Even when occasionally teaming up for travel, they mostly guarded against each other. As for feelings, there really weren’t any.

Some clever individuals among them even secretly shook their heads.

Idiot, didn’t even realize he was being used as a pawn by those major sects for nothing!

He didn’t stop to think that the very fact certain news could spread so rampantly among them was itself a huge problem.

Hah, if the news was truly valuable, where would it be the turn of poor, powerless rogue cultivators like them…

Paying no mind to the various right and wrong happening behind her, An Ning continued to leisurely wander around with her little nephew, stopping and going as they pleased. During this time, they even harvested quite a few rather good spiritual medicine materials.

Furthermore, as a top-tier genius in the art of artifact forging, Xiao Yi, aside from pondering spatial principles, had already started contemplating how to upgrade the spirit sword in his hand.

Unlike the Green Rainbow in An Ning’s possession, which was personally forged by Xiao Tan, a top master of artifact forging, A-Yi’s current spirit sword was crafted by An Ning herself.

As for its effectiveness… ahem, let’s just say everyone has their own strengths.

Technique can be refined, theory can be accumulated, but when it comes to that innate talent and spiritual energy for forging, An Ning admits that in this area, she really didn’t allocate many talent points.

Although Qingyao could be considered a peerless masterpiece in this era, it wasn’t to the point of being impossible to improve.

Actually, given A-Yi’s talent, forging a new sword from scratch would be the best. But since it was personally crafted by his aunt, unless absolutely necessary, Xiao Yi had no intention of abandoning it.

Although it was many years earlier than before, thinking of that world-shaking spirit sword from his previous life, which attracted lightning tribulation the moment it was born and made the entire cultivation world green with envy, An Ning naturally raised both hands in support!

Because of this, the two had recently settled down quite contentedly. With no shortage of money, An Ning even specifically bought a small courtyard to serve as their temporary residence.

However, unlike the leisure of the two.

Within the Tianxuan Sect’s council hall, the leaders of various major sects were currently gathered together, seemingly discussing something.

The atmosphere unconsciously felt somewhat heavy.

During this, a middle-aged man of about thirty-something, dressed in a dark cyan crane-patterned robe with a gentle and scholarly appearance, suddenly let out a long sigh.

“Ah, originally thought that after decades, our righteous immortal sects had finally produced a peerlessly talented hero, one who could even rival that person in battle. With her here, we could have some confidence when facing the Xuanming Sect in the future, and the cultivation world could regain peace a day sooner. Never expected…”

The man sighed lightly again, a trace of worry almost imperceptibly appearing on his face.

“Now it seems this humble one was asking for too much. Indeed, Miss Shen is, after all, a disciple from beyond the mundane world, taught by a reclusive master. It’s normal for her to look down on the likes of us.”

As his words fell, the other two at the same table remained silent, quietly sipping their clear tea.

For a moment, the atmosphere seemed somewhat awkward.

However, from further down the table, someone soon spoke up in agreement.

“Look at what you’re saying, Sect Leader Ren, you are too self-deprecating. The Tianxuan Sect has a thousand years of heritage and is publicly acknowledged as the leader of the righteous path. Even if she is a disciple of a reclusive master, now that she has entered the mundane world, she must follow our worldly rules.”

“I’ve heard this person is not only arrogant and unruly, looking down on several sect leaders, but also takes lives over mere verbal disputes. This shows her character is hardly that of a righteous person. In the long run, in the future, she might very well become another great scourge of the cultivation world, following in the footsteps of the Xuanming Sect Leader!”

Yet, despite this person’s impassioned speech, the responses from below the table were sparse.

Nonsense! Whether she becomes a demon in the future is another matter. Right now, the Xuanming Sect is already powerful. Are we crazy to go provoke another troublesome figure with an unknown background?

What if, by some misstep, we push her to join the Demonic Sect? With two figures like Nangong Ding, how would any of us survive?

Besides, recently, everyone has tried various methods to test her to some extent. This person is truly impervious to both soft and hard approaches. Not only does she regard the conventions of the righteous path as nothing, but the key point is she acts decisively and fiercely. She’s a tough nut to crack.

If pushed to the extreme, these major sects might be fine, but us smaller sects wouldn’t gain any advantage.

Among them, the Sect Leader of the Azure Cloud Sect, also one of the three leaders of the righteous path, remained silent without uttering a word.

As the sect closest to the Xie Family, he now reasonably suspected that the great formation enveloping the Xie Family from seven years ago until now was this person’s handiwork.

Such a figure must possess extraordinary depth.

She must not be rashly offended.

As if discerning these people’s thoughts, the Tianxuan Sect’s Sect Leader Ren at the head of the table seemed to let his gaze pause briefly on a certain spot. Instantly, someone from below the table spoke up.

“It’s rather strange, speaking of it. That day, I saw with my own eyes that Miss Shen was indeed only at the early Foundation Establishment late stage, still young in years. In terms of depth of spiritual energy, she couldn’t compare to the various sect leaders present. But, not hiding it from everyone, during that battle, I witnessed with my own eyes that Miss Shen’s swordsmanship was extraordinarily powerful. Vaguely, it seemed similar to that of the Xuanming Sect Leader, capable of glimpsing the power of the laws of heaven and earth.”

Finally, facing the suddenly widened pupils of those present, the man added as if with emotion.

“No wonder Miss Shen is so arrogant. It seems the cultivation methods of reclusive masters must have aspects beyond our reach!”

As his words fell, many people at the table unconsciously straightened their postures.

In the darkness, it seemed as if endless, dark glints continuously flickered.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep