As soon as Ye Qiuyue took Qin Xiao and his disciple away, the news of Qin Xiao leaving the Tianyuan Sect was sent back to the various factions by their respective scouts.
The Immortal Dao Merchant Association naturally knew first, as Ling Ruoxue had been in the spectator stands watching the entire battle and clearly understood what had transpired.
However, she still conveyed her plans to her father, hoping the Immortal Dao Merchant Association could win Qin Xiao over.
Others might be wary of Yao Tiansheng, but the Immortal Dao Merchant Association was not worried in the slightest. If Qin Xiao joined the Immortal Dao Merchant Association, the one who should be worried would be Yao Tiansheng.
The Mysterious Yin Sect did not pay much mind to this news. Although Qin Xiao had once saved Su Lin's life, that favor had practically been repaid in full. There was truly no need to offend Yao Tiansheng for Qin Xiao's sake.
The Pure Yang Sect was different. Their Sect held two opposing views: one advocated recruiting him, while the other favored ignoring him. After all, Qin Xiao was simply too prone to stirring up trouble.
A number of cities also wanted to recruit Qin Xiao to serve as their deputy City Lord. With the protection of the Supreme Heavenly Dynasty, they would have nothing to fear.
Being closest at hand, Ye Qiuyue naturally had the first chance to recruit him.
"Xiao'er, now that you've left the Tianyuan Sect and regained your freedom, why not join our Heavenly Clothes Pavilion? I'll have your Senior Sister Tianyi grant you a position as an Elder."
Ye Qiuyue asked Qin Xiao atop the flying sword.
"Master's Wife, I think I will hold off for now. It's rare for me to regain my freedom, and I want to enjoy it for a while first. Moreover, if I join the Heavenly Clothes Pavilion now, Yao Tiansheng will definitely use it as an excuse to target you. I am currently drowning in trouble, so it truly isn't convenient for me to join."
Qin Xiao did not refuse directly, but the meaning was practically the same—he did not want to join any faction for the time being.
"No matter. Whether you want freedom or to remain a Rogue Cultivator, the doors of the Heavenly Clothes Pavilion will always be open to you."
Ye Qiuyue did not force the issue. Just as Qin Xiao had said, if he joined the Heavenly Clothes Pavilion, that old dog Yao Tiansheng, unable to deal with Xiao'er directly, would certainly seize the chance to target them instead.
Although the situation was already quite similar, he could only obstruct them in secret. Openly, Yao Tiansheng could not do anything to the Heavenly Clothes Pavilion unless he wanted to start a war with Tianyi City. As a Great Elder, he did not possess that kind of authority.
Meanwhile, Lin Tiancheng caught up with Yao Tiansheng.
"Great Elder, let me offer you some advice. Let this matter end here. Do not provoke Qin Xiao any further. You know Ye Qiuyue's temper. If this blows up, it will trigger a war between our Sects."
Although Lin Tiancheng was highly displeased with Yao Tiansheng, he could only speak in a conciliatory tone.
"I won't trouble the Sect Leader with such concerns. Rest assured, Qin Xiao must die. As for the Heavenly Clothes Pavilion, you need not worry. They can barely protect themselves right now; Grand Commander Chen has been targeting them relentlessly."
How could Yao Tiansheng give up? He had finally chased Qin Xiao out of the Sect, making it much more convenient to act against him. Give up now? What a joke!
"You must realize that Ye Qiuyue is already in the Body Integration stage. If she is dead set on killing you, unless you hide within the Sect forever, even the Supreme Elder will not be able to protect you. Are you sure you want to take that risk?"
Lin Tiancheng wanted to press the issue a bit more. After all, if the situation escalated, it would spell massive trouble for the Sect. If Yao Tiansheng died, so be it, but once the entire Sect was dragged into the fray, it would no longer be a mere personal grudge.
"Sect Leader, allow me to remind you once more. Qin Xiao is no longer a disciple of the Tianyuan Sect, and seeking revenge is my private affair. I ask that you do not interfere."
Yao Tiansheng left behind those cold words and sped away.
"Never mind. I have at least fulfilled my promise; Qin Xiao did not die in the Tianyuan Sect. Elder Qin, I hope your spirit in heaven will not blame me. I have too many matters to consider and could only do this much."
Lin Tiancheng smiled bitterly and shook his head. He had tried his best to mediate, but he was weighed down by too many considerations. This was all he could manage.
He still had another difficult problem to handle. Following this battle, the Tianyuan Sect would likely face considerable criticism.
After all, Qin Xiao had just secured first place for the Tianyuan Sect in the Secret Realm Quota competition, only to be cast out by the Sect immediately afterward. In the process, they had also lost a disciple with a Heavenly Spirit Root. He had to clean up all of this mess.
Upon returning to the Sect, Yao Tiansheng's first course of action was to find the Supreme Elder. After all, his actions had caused Yun Man to leave the Sect as well. By taking the initiative to admit his faults, he could retain the upper hand; if Lin Tiancheng complained first, he would be forced onto the defensive.
"Foster Father, your child has come to admit his mistakes."
Yao Tiansheng lacked all of his previous arrogance, resembling a child who had done wrong.
"I am already aware of the matter. You were indeed at fault. However, Qin Xiao and his disciple never had much sense of belonging to the Sect in the first place, so their departure was only a matter of time. Even so, you are the reason they left today, and you must bear the responsibility. I will give you three years to find another Heavenly Spirit Root disciple. If you fail, severe punishment will be unavoidable."
Although Yao Zhan was in Secluded Cultivation, he naturally had his own channels for gathering information. He had received the news immediately. After all, voice transmissions were much faster than physical travel.
"Thank you, Foster Father. Your child will certainly accomplish this. I shall take my leave now."
Yao Tiansheng carefully backed out of Yao Zhan's Secluded Cultivation chamber.
Although Yao Tiansheng was already at the peak of the half-step Soul Formation stage, he still did not dare act presumptuously in front of Yao Zhan. After all, Yao Zhan was already at the late stage of Body Integration.
Just as Lin Tiancheng arrived at Yao Zhan's Secluded Cultivation chamber, he saw Yao Tiansheng coming out. He instantly knew he was too late.
However, he went in to pay his respects as usual and made no mention of Qin Xiao's situation.
With this, the Tianyuan Sect's stance regarding Qin Xiao was officially settled. There was no room left for compromise.
As for Qin Xiao, riding atop Ye Qiuyue's flying sword, they were about to cross into Tianyi City territory.
Suddenly, Ye Qiuyue came to a halt.
"You two have been following us this whole way. Come out."
Ye Qiuyue called out directly to the empty air behind them.
As soon as she finished speaking, two figures materialized from the void.
"As expected of a Senior at the Body Integration stage. We two mean no harm."
The two were none other than the Rogue Cultivators who had been commenting in the arena earlier.
"No harm? You tailed us all the way from Tianyuan City to here, and you're telling me you mean no harm?"
Ye Qiuyue was already prepared to strike.
She had noticed her two pursuers a long time ago. However, because they were still in Tianyuan City's territory, she had worried that initiating a fight might give Yao Tiansheng an opening to exploit, so she did not expose them. Now that she had reached her own turf, she no longer had anything to worry about.
"Senior, it truly is a misunderstanding! We are simply very interested in this young friend Qin Xiao, which is why we followed you. We only wanted to find an opportunity to introduce ourselves. We harbor absolutely no other motives."
The two of them knew it would be difficult to explain themselves properly on such short notice, but to prevent Ye Qiuyue from striking, they could only try their best.
"Which faction do you belong to? Tell the truth, or do not blame me for striking you down."
Ye Qiuyue naturally wouldn't believe them so easily. Furthermore, these two looked incredibly unfamiliar. She might not personally know every Soul Formation cultivator in Qingzhou, but she had at least seen most of them. These two were the sole exceptions; she had absolutely no impression of them.
"Hold on! We brothers are not from Qingzhou, nor do we belong to any Qingzhou faction. We are both Rogue Cultivators. We sought out young friend Qin Xiao solely to invite him into our Rogue Cultivator Alliance."
Seeing that Ye Qiuyue was about to attack, the two could only confess the truth.
Upon hearing their answer, the name sounded familiar to Ye Qiuyue.
"The Rogue Cultivator Alliance?"
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