Chapter 1560: The Sect, Then and Now (Part Two)

“He is indeed a Spirit Transformation cultivator!”

Yu Banjiang also had no doubts as to why his master and the other had not sensed the arrival of Li Yan and his companion at this time.

If no one deliberately released a powerful aura, his master and martial uncle would not be constantly probing the inside of the sect. Wouldn’t that mean that every action of every disciple was seen by the two of them?

After carefully sensing, the feeling Li Yan gave him was still that of a Late-stage Nascent Soul. He couldn’t help but sigh in his heart. This Li Yan had never revealed his cultivation from beginning to end.

Back then, it must have been because he was afraid of usurping the host’s role, afraid of making them wary.

Soon, Li Yan also learned about some of the current situation of the Broken Army Sect. The Broken Army Sect was now the number one subordinate sect of the Blood Lantern Sect.

Not only had Ren Yanyu also broken through to Spirit Transformation, but they had also accepted many outside cultivators, especially those at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realms.

However, although many cultivators of various types had come, attracted by their fame, Shangguan Tianque required Yu Banjiang to thoroughly investigate their backgrounds.

If it was found that their character was problematic, they were absolutely not to be accepted!

In the past, when the Broken Army Sect was on the verge of collapse, they couldn’t find a single person no matter where they looked. Now, of course, they could not let those opportunistic people enter.

So until now, the sect had only added two guest elders at the Nascent Soul Realm and more than thirty outside Golden Core cultivators.

On the contrary, the majority were disciples at the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment stages. They wanted to cultivate a new generation of disciples who belonged completely to the sect.

Now that the Broken Army Sect had grown powerful, Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu rarely showed themselves. They didn’t want to give people the impression of a petty person finding success.

Yu Banjiang also made the Broken Army Sect even more low-key, ordering all disciples not to take the initiative to cause trouble outside.

After hearing all this, Li Yan couldn’t help but think more highly of Shangguan Tianque. This man’s mind was steady, he knew when to advance and when to retreat, and he always kept the principle of “a tall tree attracts the wind” at the forefront.

But if someone were to take this situation as a sign of Shangguan Tianque’s cowardice, they would surely suffer a great loss. Li Yan knew that this man was extremely ferocious at heart.

After understanding the sect’s situation, Li Yan was finally relieved. He didn’t want to come back to a pile of trouble.

After roughly understanding the situation, the three of them got up and headed towards the back mountain…

Under the great pine tree on the back mountain, surrounded by ethereal clouds and mist, Shangguan Tianque looked at Li Yan with a joyful expression.

Just now, after receiving the voice transmission from his eldest disciple, he had been overjoyed. He then immediately called out Ren Yanyu, who was cultivating.

“Junior Brother Li, you… you’re finally back! By the way, who is this fellow Daoist?”

Seeing the three of them fly through the air and land, Shangguan Tianque hurriedly took a few steps forward and spoke eagerly. Ren Yanyu also followed closely with a smile.

As the three of them landed before them, their robes fluttering, Li Yan immediately performed a Daoist salute to Shangguan Tianque as soon as he landed.

Seeing the genuine smiles on the faces of the two before him, Li Yan also felt a sense of a long-awaited reunion. Although the Broken Army Sect was just a temporary stop for him, it was here that his journey in the Immortal Spirit Realm began.

The people here, their relationship with him had gone from mutual vigilance at the beginning to frankness later on, which made Li Yan feel that the Great Dao was not emotionless.

He was able to stay here because he valued Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu’s ability to share hardships together. Even in times of crisis, the two could stand back-to-back and fight to the death for the Broken Army Sect!

“Hahaha, greetings to the First Supreme Elder and the Second Supreme Elder!”

Li Yan chuckled. Behind him, Mu Guyue and Yu Banjiang also came to a stop.

“What First Supreme Elder, Second Supreme Elder? Since when did Junior Brother become so polite? If that’s the case, the First Supreme Elder just asked you a question, you know.”

Standing beside Shangguan Tianque, Ren Yanyu heard this and smiled, her red robes fluttering in the wind, still giving off an air of chivalry that soared to the heavens.

Then, her beautiful eyes looked towards Mu Guyue behind Li Yan, and they immediately lit up, and she praised in her heart.

‘What a wonderful person, like an immortal and a demon!’

Hearing Ren Yanyu speak, with the same pugilistic air as always, Li Yan couldn’t help but smile too. He slightly turned his body, revealing Mu Guyue completely.

“Mu Guyue, an ascended cultivator from the Lower Realm like me! We happened to run into each other in recent years. She has been living as a rogue cultivator outside. After I invited her, I plan to have her join the sect!”

As Li Yan made the introduction, a faint smile appeared on Mu Guyue’s cold face, and she performed a Daoist salute to the two of them.

“Greetings to the two seniors!”

When Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu heard Li Yan’s words, their eyes lit up.

With their cultivation surpassing Mu Guyue’s, they could already sense her strength, which had reached the peak of the Late-stage Nascent Soul Realm.

Moreover, the aura emanating from Mu Guyue’s body, even Ren Yanyu, who had just entered the Spirit Transformation Realm, felt was not inferior to her own.

They could be considered to have seen a lot of the world. At the same time, they could sense an aura other than Spirit Power on Mu Guyue’s body—that was Demonic Qi.

‘This is a fierce general of the Demon Clan!’

A thought immediately flashed through Shangguan Tianque’s mind. He and Ren Yanyu had roamed the world their whole lives and had been in countless battles, large and small.

Of course, they also knew about Demon Clan cultivators. The combat power of this race’s cultivators was astonishing, and fighting above one’s rank was commonplace.

This meant that the other party’s strength at the Late-stage Nascent Soul was not necessarily weaker than an Initial-stage Spirit Transformation. Ren Yanyu might not be able to defeat her easily.

This was where the two of them were sharp. They had been able to survive all their adventures, so their ability to judge people was naturally extremely formidable. Otherwise, a single misjudgment could have gotten them killed.

Hearing Li Yan say that the other party was also an ascended cultivator from the Lower Realm, and that she wanted to join the Broken Army Sect, the two of them first exchanged a quick glance, and they both saw the pleasant surprise in each other’s eyes.

A fierce general of the Demon Clan, and one introduced by Li Yan. This was much stronger than the two current Nascent Soul guest elders.

And they knew Li Yan’s character even better. This meant that although it was their first time meeting this fierce general of the Demon Clan, she should be completely trustworthy.

Seeing Mu Guyue salute, before Shangguan Tianque could speak, Ren Yanyu had already pulled him aside and floated to the side, saying at the same time.

“Fellow Daoist Mu, no need to be so polite. Don’t say anything about senior or not senior. We have also just advanced not long ago. I see that Fellow Daoist Mu’s cultivation is not far from a breakthrough. We’ll have to change how we address you soon anyway, wouldn’t that be too troublesome? In the future, we will call you Junior Sister Mu. You can either call us fellow Daoist, like Junior Brother Li, or Senior Brother and Senior Sister.”

“Whether Guyue can break through, who knows when that will be? Then many thanks to the two elders!”

Mu Guyue also said quickly.

With the character of the Demon Clan, they didn’t like too much ceremony. But since it was their first meeting, she really couldn’t address them so casually, so she still addressed them as elders.

As Mu Guyue spoke, she thought to herself.

‘This Li Yan only broke through in the “Earth-True Domain,” but from the looks of it, he was very casual with these two Spirit Transformation cultivators before. I wonder how he made friends with such heroic and informal people.’

“Mu… oh, Guyue, since that’s the case, then there’s no need to be polite. Just do as Senior Sister Ren says!”

Li Yan hadn’t spoken since he had said that sentence at the beginning. He just watched everything before him with a smile. Seeing the two sides being polite, he interjected.

But at this time, it was no longer just him and Mu Guyue. The words “you” and “I” were no longer appropriate.

But when he said this, Mu Guyue at the side was stunned. This was the first time Li Yan had called her that.

At the very beginning, he had called her “Fellow Daoist Mu.” Recently, the two of them had been calling each other “you” and “I.” But it was clear that Li Yan was deliberately calling her that.

Immediately, she understood Li Yan’s intention. This was to show these people that he was very familiar with her, to let them quickly know how to treat her.

But as for this form of address, she had a different feeling in her heart.

Between the two of them, ever since the matter of Mu Sha was brought up, Mu Guyue seemed to have let go of the heavy pressure in her heart that she could never let go of.

And Li Yan also seemed to have some inexplicable emotions towards her. Mu Guyue could feel it. Li Yan wanted to act relaxed, but it was clear that he was just covering up.

And it was clear that Li Yan also didn’t know how to handle these complicated emotions.

So, on the surface, the two of them had just been pretending to be relaxed on the way here, but in their hearts, they were unwilling to bring up the matter of emotions.

“That’s right, Junior Sister Mu, since we are all one family, then there is no need to be polite. And with Junior Brother Li here, there is even less need to be a stranger.”

Shangguan Tianque also had a smile on his lips.

At the same time, with her red robes fluttering, Ren Yanyu walked up to Mu Guyue and gently took her jade hand.