Jiang Huan had no idea his master was secretly calling him unworthy of being an undercover agent.

Had he known, Jiang Huan would have bolted from the Demon Sect on the spot. Let whoever wanted to be the mole do it.

After all, every piece of intelligence he delivered had been paid for with his life.

At this moment, Jiang Huan stood with head bowed, punished alongside Lu Xiao in the Demon Sect’s grand hall.

It wasn’t so much punishment as sheer paralysis—neither dared move.

The reason was simple: before them stood Wen Jue, the Great Demon Lord who held their very lives in his hands.

Wen Jue sat upon the Demon Sect Master’s throne as if it were his own.

He sat relaxed, legs crossed, idly twirling the pendant at his waist. The last time anyone dared act so brazenly in the Demon Sect… was Wen Jue himself.

“Nothing to say to me?” Wen Jue merely glanced at them with a sidelong look. More accurately, he glanced at his beloved nephew.

How dare he track him to the lower realms with his divine soul?

What else was Lu Xiao incapable of?

With no one else around, Lu Xiao saw no need to maintain his sect master’s demeanor. Besides, he stood at the foot of the steps while the sect master’s chair was occupied by his Uncle Wen.

“Uncle Wen hasn’t been seen in the Demon Sect for years. Now you appear to trade fifth-tier elixirs for Spirit Marrow. Naturally, your nephew is curious. With my father absent, it’s only right for me, as his nephew, to show concern for Uncle Wen.”

Such noble words.

Wen Jue turned to him, his gaze dangerously sharp. “Then I suppose I should thank you for your concern.”

Jiang Huan’s heart trembled. Was the great demon about to lash out?

Beside him, Lu Xiao bowed his head pitifully: “Uncle Wen, for my father’s sake… please spare me this time.”

Jiang Huan: “…”

So Lu Xiao had been telling the truth. When Wen Jue lashed out, he could only invoke his father to play the victim.

Jiang Huan felt an inexplicable tightening in his chest.

Over the years in the Demon Sect, he’d heard whispers of Lu Xiao’s prowess. Though he’d never witnessed Lu Xiao’s actions firsthand, the fact that Lu Xiao maintained his position as Sect Master amidst the wolves of the Demon Sect spoke volumes. His cultivation and strength were undeniable.

Yet even such a Lu Xiao had to grovel before Wen Jue?

What sort of power did Wen Jue possess?

“For your father’s sake, I ought to teach you a lesson,” Wen Jue snorted coldly.

“Uncle Wen, please spare me!” Lu Xiao pleaded urgently.

“What did you witness that day?” Wen Jue’s tone carried a hint of unease as he spoke. Then he barked, “Whatever you saw, you’d best erase every last memory of it from your mind!”

Recalling the events of that day, Wen Jue desperately wished he could steal a few of those so-called memory-erasing pills from Qin Zhou and force them down Lu Xiao’s throat.

He dared not imagine how loudly that bastard Lu Qi would laugh if word of someone touching his face reached his ears.

He really wanted to kill the witness.

Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, Lu Xiao quickly assured him, “Uncle Wen, rest assured. We saw nothing. What happened that day will be buried deep within us. We won’t mention it to anyone!”

“Right, Jiang Huan?”

Jiang Huan, the mole who’d already delivered the letter back to the Sword Sect: “…”

“Yes, Senior Wen, rest assured.” Jiang Huan bowed his head in response.

Wen Jue sneered. “Swear an oath to the Heavenly Way.”

Jiang Huan felt a chill in his heart.

It was over.

What Heavenly Oath could he possibly take? If he dared swear, heavenly thunderbolts would strike him instantly.

He hadn’t actually told anyone about that day. He’d merely sent a letter back, publicly announcing that Wen Jue had a lover.

He dared not imagine how many bolts of heavenly lightning would rush to strike him if he took such an oath.

Jiang Huan stared expressionlessly at his toes, his mind in utter chaos.

He would die.

This time, he truly would die.

“Uncle Wen! Don’t you trust me anymore?” Lu Xiao spoke up beside him at just the right moment. “I’m your own nephew!”

Wen Jue sneered coldly. “I knew you wouldn’t dare. What? Planning to wait for your father’s return so he can enjoy the show?”

Lu Xiao: “I…”

“No oath? Fine. Then accompany me in practice.”

Lu Xiao: “…”

He didn’t want either option.

After a second’s hesitation, Lu Xiao glanced at Jiang Huan, who stood with head bowed beside him, then turned back to Wen Jue. “Then… practice?”

“You’ve got some guts.”

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past Jiang Huan’s ear. He looked up and froze.

Lu Xiao was grabbed by the collar by Wen Jue and flung out of the Demon Sect’s main hall, quickly vanishing from sight.

This is going to be brutal.

But… he seems to have survived.

Jiang Huan silently encouraged in his heart: Sect Master, hold on.

…

What could Wen Jue possibly do to Lu Xiao?

This is Lu Qi’s son.

His own flesh and blood.

Lian Lian is genuine, but she absolutely couldn’t kill Lu Xiao.

…

A quarter of an hour later, Lu Xiao lay on the ground covered in wounds, feigning death. Wen Jue coldly declared, “This beating wasn’t for nothing. Do you know what your little spy has been feeding the Sword Sect?“

Lu Xiao lay on the ground, lifting his eyelids slightly, a smile playing on his lips. ”He reported that Uncle Wen has a weakness—he’s about to have a consort.“

”Nonsense!“

Lu Xiao chuckled. ”If Uncle Wen says it’s nonsense, then it is.”

Wen Jue’s expression shifted uncomfortably.

“In any case, Lu Xiao, if anything happens to Qin Zhou, I’ll hold your little spy responsible.” Wen Jue narrowed his eyes, his warning clear.

Lu Xiao replied innocently, “With Uncle Wen’s strength, who could possibly harm Mr. Qin? Never mind whether the Sword Sect believes this rumor—even if they did, they wouldn’t dare lay a finger on Mr. Qin.”

Unless, of course, the Sword Sect truly doesn’t fear plunging the cultivation world into chaos.

The righteous and the wicked have operated independently for millennia, their conflict stretching back centuries. If they were to finally break through this thin veil… they might just be unable to contain the consequences.

Wen Jue snorted, his tone ambiguous—whether in agreement or scorn.

Only after watching Wen Jue vent his frustration and leave did Lu Xiao slowly raise his body, clutching his chest as a violent cough seized him.

Truly worthy of the top spot on the Heaven Piercing List.

Only after the spar did he realize that he, the master of the Demon Sect, couldn’t even withstand ten moves. And that was with Uncle Wen holding back, fighting in his spiritual form.

That little spy, Jiang Huan.

“This is deadly,” Lu Xiao sighed, looking up at the sky with a helpless smile.

How dare he send a message to the Sword Sect?

But…

What baffled Lu Xiao even more was that Uncle Wen would come knocking because of this.

“Father, if you don’t return soon, chaos will erupt across the land.” Lu Xiao stroked his chin, wondering how he’d explain to his father that Uncle Wen had taken a fancy to an ordinary Qi Cultivation Stage 2 mortal?

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Ordinary mortal Qin Zhou remained quite busy.

After tShisi returned, he discovered that each summon actually had a cooldown period. This was likely tied to the level of his small mountain village.

So his original plan—to summon each of his villagers one by one for a real-life meetup, bridging the gap between game and reality—was temporarily shelved by Qin Zhou.

Even without summoning villagers, he still needed to tend to the spirit fields, keeping him quite occupied.

After activating the Spirit Spring Well, Qin Zhou channeled its waters to irrigate his fields. With this spiritual water nourishing them, the Spirit Heart Fruits grew at an accelerated pace.

Of course, harvest time was still some way off.

Meanwhile, after unanimous approval from the three Qin family members, they decided to accept Qin Zhou’s earlier proposal: expanding the elixir business to the provincial capital.

This time, Qin Zhou planned to go with Qin Haishan.

Notably, after undergoing the Marrow Washing ritual, Chen San’s innate talent had reached a level sufficient for admission into a cultivation sect.

Therefore, Qin Zhou intended to bring Chen San along.

“Me…?” Chen San’s face was deathly pale. The reason was simple: after consuming several Marrow Cleansing Pills, he was already teetering on the brink of death.

Having only just recovered yesterday, he was now told he’d be accompanying Young Master Qin to the provincial capital. Naturally, Chen San was taken aback.

“The talent assessment in the provincial capital—don’t you want to try it?” Qin Zhou asked.

“Young Master, this year’s talent assessment has already passed. Even if I registered now, I’d have to wait several years,” Chen San reminded him softly.

“You can use connections. The Yaoyue Sect should be more than willing to help.”

“Well… if the Young Master wants me to go, I’ll go.“ Chen San didn’t object. Having endured the trials brought by the Marrow Cleansing Pill, he could feel his body had undergone a profound transformation compared to before.

Since Young Master said to test, then he would go.

”I only hope the results won’t disappoint Young Master…“

Qin Zhou nodded. ”Rest assured, you won’t be disappointed.”

In truth, Qin Zhou could see Chen San’s stats panel. Probably due to the activation effect of the Small Village tier, he could clearly see the panels of anyone he interacted with.

Chen San’s talent growth had already reached 3.2.

When Qin Zhou first saw this, he was quite surprised. It had taken him over a dozen Marrow Cleansing Pills to raise his own talent to 4.0. Chen San had only consumed five pills and was already at 3.2. What did this mean?

Chen San’s innate talent was inherently superior to Young Master Qin’s.

Qin Zhou wasn’t truly surprised. Frankly, a body with an initial talent rating of 0.1, like Young Master Qin’s,s was practically a ‘rare treasure’ in the entire cultivation world.

That said, even after seeing Chen San’s stats, Qin Zhou still hoped he would take the talent assessment.

Securing admission to a sect would be ideal.

Chen San needed growth—not just in cultivation.

Even former villagers were frequently sent out by Qin Zhou for trials.

As a veteran of cultivation simulation games, no one understood cultivator development better than Qin Zhou.

“Son, that gentleman… isn’t he accompanying you to the provincial capital?”

On the day of their departure from Ping City, Qin Haishan glanced around but saw no one following Qin Zhou. His curiosity got the better of him.

It took Qin Zhou a couple of seconds to realize his father was referring to Wen Jue.

“He… has other matters to attend to,” Qin Zhou replied as he climbed into the carriage.

Qin Haishan: “I’ve discussed this with your mother.”

Qin Zhou:?

Qin Haishan cleared his throat. “The matter of the immortal hiding in your room.”

“That day is past, but you should introduce him to your parents. Neither your mother nor I is narrow-minded. Keeping it hidden isn’t right.” Qin Haishan probed cautiously.

Qin Zhou never disclosed the nature of his relationship with that immortal, and Qin Haishan couldn’t help but be curious.

Even if Qin Zhou were the slowest to catch on, he understood his father’s meaning now.

“His name is Wen Jue,” Qin Zhou said. “He’s my benefactor.”

“And beyond that?”

Qin Zhou’s fingertips twitched slightly. “I don’t know.”

Hearing this, Qin Haishan actually smiled. Speaking with the wisdom of experience, he said, “When you do find out, don’t forget to tell your mother. No matter how many years you live, your father and mother would like to meet your future partner.”

In his words, there was not a hint of disapproval regarding the gender of this future partner.

In this world, it was the cultivators who had lived hundreds or thousands of years who were open-minded about same-sex partners, not the Qin family’s mortal parents.

In his previous life, he had spent half his existence without gaining his father’s understanding.

It turned out that whether someone loved you or not was truly visible at a glance.

Unfortunately, back then, he hadn’t grasped this truth and had been trapped by the strange cycle of familial affection.

Now, though he was not the original Young Master,

He still heard Qin Haishan’s words clearly.

Qin Zhou lifted his eyes to the window as the scenery slowly receded.

After a long pause, he finally replied—

“…Alright. Once I know, I’ll definitely bring them before you both.”