Chapter 23: The Face of the Master

  Lu Xueqi left the Huan Yue Cave and originally wanted to return to Xiao Zhu Peak to meet with her master, but at this time, the beast demons had already approached Heyang. Yesterday, outside the Huan Yue Cave, she heard many distress signals, and the situation was critical. Although the old man always said that as long as Dao Xuan was there and the Zhuxian Sword was there, the beast demons would be calm, Lu Xueqi still felt a sense of unease. Judging from the current situation, her master should also be at Tongtian Peak's Yuqing Hall discussing matters with the alliance, so she went directly to Tongtian Peak.

  She retracted the white sword tip, and as her slender figure landed, someone behind her exclaimed in surprise. Turning around, it was Zeng Shu Shu. Among the many male disciples of Qing Yun, there were those who had a crush on this beautiful fairy-like fellow disciple, and Zeng Shu Shu was one of them. When Lu Xue Qi's white figure flew over, he had already taken notice, but why the blue light transformed into white was truly beyond his comprehension.

  Zeng Shu has been obsessed with the first half of "The Great Master" for several days. The events recorded in the book seem to allow him to know the past and future, making him unable to stop reading. If it weren't for Zeng Shuchang sending someone to inform him today that he was still immersed in his reading, he wouldn't have known about Lu Xueqi's death being reported by Fa Xiang and others yesterday or the day before.

  "Lu Shi Mei, I heard you went to Nanjiang, what did you gain from it?" Zeng Shu Shu asked with a smile.

  Lu Xueqi glanced at Zeng Shu, a hint of smile in her cold eyes, acknowledging the shared experience as fellow disciples. She immediately returned to her icy demeanor and said: "The three major sects of the Demon Cult were completely annihilated at the Wan Du Men's main hall!"

  Zeng Shu was shocked, and after a moment of great joy, he suddenly said: "The demon is dead, good, good, fortunately Zhang Lao escaped!" As he spoke, he ignored Lu Xueqi and walked straight towards the Rainbow Bridge.

  Lu Xueqi was startled, and Zhang Xiaofan's safety had always been her concern. Although she knew it was Zeng Shushu's trap, she quickly followed up and asked in a gentle tone: "Please, Master Zeng, how can we find out about Xiaofan's whereabouts?"

  Zeng Shu secretly rejoiced, wanting this beautiful junior sister to take the initiative to talk to someone, and there was no other way but to talk to Zhang Lao. Although he thought so in his heart, his feet didn't stop for a moment. This flirting also required strategy, intentionally prolonging his tone, saying: "Him? I saw him five days ago in Heiyang City, this person is really good, even the little girl who tells fortunes seems to be infatuated with him... it seems that being handsome naturally brings luck with women..."

  Who knew that as soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xueqi let out a cold snort and took two steps forward, getting on the rainbow bridge before him. As they crossed paths, Zeng ShuShu clearly felt the icy aura emanating from this beautiful woman who had appeared in his dreams countless times, an aura that could be described as murderous.

  At this moment, several Qingyunmen disciples walked over from the opposite side of Hongqiao Bridge. Among them were two of Xiao Zhufeng's junior sisters. As soon as they saw Lu Xueqi, everyone let out a cry of surprise, with some being shocked, frightened and even ecstatic.

  "Master Lu!" The two female disciples of Xiao Zhufeng exclaimed in unison as soon as they saw Lu Xueqi. Although Lu Xueqi was not good at expressing herself and had a somewhat aloof personality, everyone respected and admired her without resentment. Just the other day, they heard that she had encountered trouble in Nanjiang and were deeply saddened by the news. Today, seeing her return alive, the two women were overcome with emotion and rushed forward together.

  Lu Xueqi was shocked and didn't know what had happened, patted the two juniors behind her, and said: "What's wrong with you two sisters, why are you so sad?"

  Only one of them said: "Master... Master... he..."

  Lu Xueqi heard the two words "Shifu" and suddenly felt at a loss, thinking that something had happened to Shuiyue Dashi, and hastily asked: "What's wrong with Master?"

  Another person spoke up, somewhat coherently, and hastily said: "Master is fine, he just heard that you've had an accident. Although he's still discussing things with the Master Aunt, he hasn't eaten anything for three days."

  Lu Xueqi's face turned white and she took a step back, stumbling slightly, and asked in a low voice: "Where is Master now?"

  "Master has just left the Jade Clear Palace to rest in his quarters, sister will take you!" With that, the two of them pulled Lu Xueqi along as they walked towards the back of the Jade Clear Palace.

  Looking at the three elegant figures gradually disappearing into the distance, Zeng Shu Shu knocked on her head and muttered to herself: "What exactly happened in these five days? Why did I always not know? It's all because of that crooked-nosed Zhou Yi Xian, who actually tore up the second half of the Heavenly Book! How infuriating! If not for that, wouldn't we have known about Qing Yun's fate by looking at the book? That old man is really wicked, and I'll definitely teach him a lesson when I get the chance!"

  Behind the Jade Clear Palace, outside the wing room.

  "Sister, we've arrived. Master is inside, but for the past two days, she's been in a bad mood and none of us dare to disturb her. We don't even dare to say more than necessary, not even big sister dares to speak much, and was even scolded by Master!"

  "Sister, let's stop here, we should also leave!"

  Two fellow female disciples said they were going out to play and left the room, leaving Lu Xueqi alone.

  Lu Xueqi stared blankly at the tightly closed door, speechless for a moment. Master, you're so worried about your disciple, but this unfilial son has treated you like this, making you worry and toil in vain. Lu Xueqi is truly sinful! She knelt down and ignored the other disciples passing by the hall, softly saying: "Master's disciple has returned, the unfilial son Lu Xueqi has come back to pay respects to Master!"

  There was no sound in the room, and after a long time, the door creaked open. The one who opened it was Wen Min. As soon as she saw the overjoyed look on Lu Xueqi's face, she exclaimed: "Xueqi, is that you? You're not dead, you've really come back! Am I dreaming? Master, it's Xueqi, it's Xueqi! Master, you're not dreaming, it's really her!"

  Lu Xueqi knelt down and entered the room, her body trembling slightly as she said: "Master, I'm back. It's your unfilial disciple Lu Xueqi coming to see you!"

  Shuǐ Yuè Dà Shī sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at his most cherished disciple's face filled with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow. He thought of a thousand words but in this moment they all converged into one sentence: "Just come back!"

  Lu Xueqi excitedly said: "It's the disciple who is unfilial and has caused Master to worry!"

  The crisis in front of him, and the news of Lu Xueqi's death in the south, had made his face look very haggard due to days of exhaustion. Now seeing Xueqi appear unscathed before his eyes, he was overjoyed. Shuǐ Yuè Dàshī's expression gradually improved. "You didn't do anything wrong, no need to blame yourself like that!"

  "Master, I was wrong!" Lu Xueqi said again, still kneeling on the ground.

  Shuǐ Yuè Dà Shī and Wén Mǐn were both stunned at the same time, unsure what Lù Xuě Qí meant by her words.

  "Disciple, you've ruined Tian Que!"

  As soon as this statement came out, both the master and apprentice were shocked at the same time. Their line of sight moved to the Tian Jue on Lu Xueqi's back, only to see that the originally all-dark-blue Tian Jue had not only turned into a jade white color, but also had a dark blue gemstone fused into the sword hilt. The blue and white colors seemed to have been transformed by some kind of power.

  However, Master Shuǐ Yuè was shocked. This object was the ultimate treasure passed down by her true master, Zhēn è Dàshī. Now it's completely unrecognizable, which is really heart-wrenching. But although Master Shuǐ Yuè looks cold and icy on the outside, she actually has a more open mind than the other senior brothers.

  "Bring me the sword and let me see it!"

  Lu Xueqi nodded and knelt down to worship Tian Zhuang.

  The Water Moon Master grasped the sword in his hand, saying "You come first" before carefully examining the strange sword. The body of the sword was ancient and simple, with a glossy color, but originally, the Tian Jue had killed countless people and had an extremely heavy aura. However, this white Tian Jue did not have even a hint of that aura. There was only one thing - the blue gemstone's faint glow made people feel a slight chill, refreshing their spirits and having a stimulating effect. To be precise, after being refined with the blue gemstone, this sword formed into a white Tian Jue, its quality far surpassing the blue Tian Jue by ten times, with a hint of righteous energy seeping out. Can this be considered a ruined sword?

  Lu Xueqi remained standing beside him without getting up.

  Shui Yue Dashi suddenly exclaimed with great joy: "Xue Qi, quickly get up, you have not passed but have merit!"

  Wen Min was stunned, and Lu Xueqi was even more shocked.

  "You are all cultivators, can't you even tell the difference between good and bad treasures? Things are dead, people are alive. Tianyue was created by someone and can be refined into a new Tianyue by someone else. Following established rules is not necessarily good!" said Shuixue Dashi.

  Lu Xueqi and Wen Min were both shocked at the same time. Master Shuiyue was usually very strict with them, and they couldn't believe that these words came from their master's mouth, but the two people still let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

  "Xue Qi, aren't you getting up yet?" Master Shui Yue said again.

  Wen Min tugged at his hem, and Lu Xueqi knew she couldn't kneel anymore so she stood up.

  Shuǐ Yuè Dà Shī's complexion improved a lot, and his stomach growled. Wén Mǐn hastily said: "Master, you've been worried about your disciple for three days, and she hasn't eaten anything. Let me go prepare some food for you!"

  Shuǐ Yuè Dà Shī smiled and waved his hand: "Alright then, you can go!"

  Wen Min came out of the house, and as soon as he walked a short distance, he ran into two people, Li Xun and Xiao Yicai. The two were overjoyed to see him coming out of Shuiyue Dashi's room.

  Li Xun spoke up first: "Wen Min sister still has to stay behind!"

  "What's going on!" Wen Min said, he had never had a good impression of this Li Xun.

  Li Xun smiled and asked: "I heard that Lu Shimei is back, is it true?"

  "Don't you want him back?" Wen Min shot him a disdainful glance.

  Li Xun knew that Wen Min and he had a deep understanding, and he was also two years older than her. If it weren't for Lu Xueqi's relationship, he wouldn't have spoken to her in such a humble tone. He smiled: "Sister, where are you going? I've already discussed marriage with Lu Shimei, and we both dream of him coming back!"

  Wen Min glanced at Xiao Yi Cai, and her heart was even more annoyed. The false report had caused Master to worry for nothing, but after all, he was the eldest disciple of Tongtian Peak's master uncle, so she couldn't speak too harshly. However, she still didn't give him a good face, and coldly said: "Brother Xiao, aren't you also here to visit Xue Qi?"

  Xiao Yicai's body shook, and he naturally understood the meaning behind her words. He hastily said: "Yicai has come to report back, I heard that Shuishi Shu uncle is unwell and has specially come to pay his respects!"

  Wen Min hummed and didn't say a word, heading straight for the kitchen.

  The two men exchanged a glance and obviously already knew the answer.