"It's perfectly normal for me to want to recruit a genius into the Misty Cloud Sect."
Yun Yun's face grew hot under Queen Medusa's gaze.
"It is quite normal," Queen Medusa nodded slightly, her red lips parting. "It's just that this person is the one whose engagement was annulled by the Misty Cloud Sect's sect leader's disciple. It does seem rather amusing."
Yun Yun felt her cheeks burning even hotter. "Who told him to use a fake name? How could I possibly have guessed he was Xiao Yan?"
"Mhm, it's all because someone used a fake name," Medusa nodded in agreement, her tone playful as she uttered two words: "Yun Zhi."
If her toes could curl into the ground right now, Yun Yun felt that even a Dou Emperor showing up wouldn't save her from this embarrassment.
It was simply too mortifying!
Fortunately, the Journal was still updating and could divert her attention.
…
[Brother Yan, who originally felt some goodwill toward "Yun Zhi," instantly exploded with rage.]
[Nalan Yanran, a mere junior, came to his door to annul the engagement, trampling his, his uncle's, and the entire Xiao family's faces into the dirt.]
[In Brother Yan's view, the root of all this was Yun Yun's indulgence toward her disciple Nalan Yanran.]
[Everyone had their own stance on this matter; there was no so-called perfect solution.]
[But a junior personally showing up to annul the marriage and grinding both the Xiao and Nalan families' faces into the ground caused his grandfather's old injuries to relapse and damaged the Misty Cloud Sect's reputation as well.]
[To choose the worst possible option among all solutions… Nalan Yanran and Yun Yun truly were… hard to describe in a single word.]
[With Brother Yan's personality, as long as Nalan Yanran had privately written him a letter, he would have let his uncle go negotiate with the Nalan family himself.]
[Instead, Brother Yan formed a grudge against the Misty Cloud Sect, and the conflict was ultimately intensified.]
…
"Tsk." Queen Medusa looked at Yun Yun and scoffed. "Your way of handling things really does have problems."
"If I were you, the moment that brat shouted 'thirty years east of the river, thirty years west,' the Xiao family would have been wiped out."
Yun Yun's pretty face twitched. She couldn't help retorting, "If there was no Xiao Ting, then what I would have faced should have been Gu Xun Er having the Gu Clan slap the Misty Cloud Sect away with one palm."
"And if there is Xiao Ting, then the Misty Cloud Sect will sooner or later be liquidated by him."
Queen Medusa thought the same in her heart, but her mouth was just as stubborn. "At that time, you didn't know the Xiao family was backed by such a powerhouse."
The implication was clear: Yun Yun's style of handling matters was still too soft.
"The Jia Ma Empire isn't the Black-Corner Region," Yun Yun felt that Queen Medusa was simply used to being tyrannical. "Although the Misty Cloud Sect is strong, it is clearly at a disadvantage in front of the Ancient Clan. The empire has its own laws."
"The marriage alliance between the Nalan and Xiao families was meant to form a bond between the two and achieve shared interests."
"If the Xiao family declined and the Nalan family annulled the engagement, it would only make people think they were kicking someone when they were down."
"However, Yanran did want to dissolve the marriage after learning about it."
"I used the name of the Misty Cloud Sect to forcibly annul it—that was already pushing it. If we had really wiped out the Xiao family, things would have fallen into chaos."
It was true that the strong were respected, but on the surface everyone still followed rules.
In the end, the Misty Cloud Sect still needed its reputation and couldn't degenerate into an evil sect that everyone condemned.
"Sister Medusa, aren't you also restrained by several elders in the Snake-People Tribe?" Yun Yun subtly pointed out that Medusa wasn't as absolute as she made herself sound.
"Hmm?" Queen Medusa's phoenix brows furrowed slightly. "This isn't the attitude you should have toward someone helping you."
"I apologize." Yun Yun's tone was sincere and her expression serious. "I spoke without thinking."
"Hmph!" Queen Medusa snorted coldly and shifted her attention back to the Journal.
…
[Yun Yun's suggestion to help Brother Yan join the Misty Cloud Sect caused some unpleasantness between the two.]
[But after Yun Yun's injuries recovered, the two still cooperated to steal the Purple Spirit Crystal.]
[Yun Yun outwardly restrained the Amethyst Winged Lion while Brother Yan sneaked into its cave to steal the Purple Spirit Crystal.]
[During the theft, the Child of Fate's luck activated. He discovered a young Amethyst Winged Lion cub and its accompanying Purple Crystal Source.]
[This accompanying Purple Crystal Source was extremely rare and precious. Even when Yao Lao was a Dou Venerate, he had raided dozens of Amethyst Winged Lion nests and never found one.]
…
All the women: !!!
…
[This accompanying Purple Crystal Source helped Brother Yan possess a Heavenly Flame and became the foundation for him to raise and take away the newborn Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python.]
…
"Newborn Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python!" Medusa's eyes narrowed sharply.
She had a strong premonition that this was referring to her.
The next moment, the answer was slapped directly onto her face by Xiao Ting's record.
…
[Queen Medusa borrowed the Green Lotus Core Flame to evolve. Her accompanying snake soul transformed from the Quiet Purple Flame Serpent into the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python. She herself successfully broke through to Dou Ancestor and fell into slumber, her body taken over by the newborn Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's soul.]
[The accompanying Purple Crystal Source made the newborn Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python extremely dependent on it, and after Queen Medusa's consciousness awakened, it became the leverage for Brother Yan's third visit to the Misty Cloud Sect.]
….
"Hmm?" Yun Yun frowned deeply.
"What?" Medusa narrowed her long, narrow eyes. "Are you afraid?"
From Xiao Ting's records, it wasn't hard to see that she would stand on the opposite side of the Misty Cloud Sect.
"No." Yun Yun was extremely calm at this moment. She didn't have any special thoughts just because Medusa had helped Xiao Yan in the original trajectory.
"These are all things that would have happened originally. But now that we know in advance, whether it's you, sister, falling into slumber after breaking through, or the newborn Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python being lured away by the accompanying Purple Crystal Source…"
Medusa: We really don't need to say this out loud.
"Or even Xiao Yan's third visit to the Misty Cloud Sect—none of these may necessarily happen anymore."
"I'm just puzzled why it would require your accompaniment."
"After breaking through, you would be a Dou Ancestor!"
Queen Medusa was currently at the peak of Dou Emperor and could still transform into a sixth-tier Quiet Purple Flame Serpent to fight. In a one-on-one situation, Yun Yun was no match for her and could only rely on speed to fight and flee.
Inside the Misty Cloud Sect, she could temporarily boost her strength with formations and fight Medusa to a draw.
But against a Dou Ancestor, that wouldn't be enough at all. Only someone like her teacher—an eight-star Dou Emperor controlling the formation—could resist for a bit.
At this thought, a sudden realization dawned on Yun Yun. "Could it be… Teacher succeeded!?"
Only if her teacher Yun Shan successfully broke through to Dou Ancestor would everything make sense.
Medusa also thought of this point.
The corners of her lips curved into an ambiguous arc. "That old fellow Yun Shan's luck isn't bad. He actually broke through to the Dou Ancestor level too."
"But with his personality that loves quiet cultivation and dislikes meddling in worldly affairs, he shouldn't have pushed people to the point of wanting to destroy the Misty Cloud Sect."
"Tell me, who exactly intensified the conflict to a life-or-death level?"
Hearing this, Yun Yun couldn't help recalling her own guess.
She had originally been afraid she was overthinking out of narcissism. Now it seemed it really might be that Xiao Yan loved her but couldn't have her, and love turned into hatred.
In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, he had witnessed her elegance and even helped her. It was easy for him to develop some unrealistic fantasies.
"What a headache." Yun Yun rubbed her brows.
At this moment, Xiao Ting wrote the final sentence.
…
[The Amethyst Winged Lion was slain by the powerhouse beside Xun Er. Brother Yan and Yun Yun's acquaintance, as well as the opportunity to befriend Queen Medusa, were gone.]
[The Little Fairy Doctor was also taken in early.]
[The future has been completely thrown into chaos.]
[My observation records will become even more meaningful.]
[The flying Dou Technique made from the Amethyst Winged Lion's wings is called Purple Crystal Wings. It is comparable to a low-tier Earth-rank technique.]
[The Amethyst Winged Lion possesses purple fire and sealing energy, which are also reflected in the Purple Crystal Wings.]
[Once I master this flying Dou Technique, I can naturally advance my cultivation to eight-star Dou Master and break through to the late Mortal State in soul level.]
[I can also add a layer of Purple Crystal Sealing Power to my fire-attribute Battle Qi. Perhaps I can even try to comprehend a sealing Dou Technique myself.]
[If there's a chance in the future, I might ask Queen Medusa for guidance. She also plays with purple fire and is skilled in sealing.]
…