The next day, on the way to Xinyao City.

Since morning, Mu Yunjin had felt a heaviness in her chest, as if something inside her was jumping up and down, causing her considerable discomfort.

Thinking about it, she was sure it was the mischief of the so-called black lotus soul.

How unfortunate, she thought. Why had she gotten involved in such a matter for no reason? What if, when they met the old Taoist, he wanted to cut her open? What would she do then?

“What are you thinking about?” Chu Li turned to look at Mu Yunjin, noticing that since they had set out, she had been repeatedly touching her chest, and his brow slightly furrowed.

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips and shook her head, “Nothing.”

Chu Li fell silent for a while.

After some time, when the carriage reached the gates of Xinyao City, it was stopped by the guards.

Ding Xian, who was driving the carriage, took out a token and handed it to the guard who approached for inspection.

…

The guard took the token, looked at it, and his expression changed. He immediately bowed to Ding Xian, then spoke with some difficulty, “The City Lord has ordered that everyone entering Xinyao City, regardless of who they are, must be personally inspected one by one, including… distinguished guests.”

Having accompanied Chu Li to Xinyao City several times, Ding Xian was familiar with its rules. He leaned toward the carriage curtain and said to those inside, “Master, we’ve arrived at Xinyao City.”

“Mm,” came Chu Li’s calm voice from inside. Then, a slender hand with distinct knuckles extended from behind the curtain, holding a jade bead in the palm.

Upon seeing the jade bead, the guard immediately understood. He bowed, making a “please proceed” gesture, then called to the guards at the gate, “Open the city gate!”

The carriage slowly entered Xinyao City.

Mu Yunjin leaned against the carriage wall, curiously taking the jade bead from Chu Li’s hand and examining it. “What is this?”

“It belongs to Qu Xinyao,” Chu Li replied.

Hearing this, Mu Yunjin nodded with an “oh” and raised her eyebrows, looking at Chu Li with a gossip-hungry expression, “Do you also have a relationship with Qu Xinyao?”

“No,” Chu Li shook his head, adding, “Xu Heyu gave it to this prince before he left yesterday.”

“So that’s it. This Xinyao City truly is different from the other cities.” Even the entry procedure requiring individual inspection was strict enough. She wondered what the local customs would be like.

Thinking of this, Mu Yunjin lifted the carriage curtain to look outside.

Not seeing what she had expected, Mu Yunjin sat up and leaned further out to look at the road ahead.

She noticed that the path the carriage was taking was becoming increasingly remote.

“Are we going to find that old Taoist first?” Mu Yunjin asked Chu Li after sitting back down.

“Yes.”

Hearing that they would first meet the Taoist, Mu Yunjin inexplicably became nervous. After taking a deep breath, she sat still, not moving.

In her mind, she suddenly thought of another matter.

If they successfully broke the formation and rescued Concubine Rong, would she have to return to Phoenix Feather Pavilion?

If so, that would indeed be a good thing, since she currently had limited abilities and felt some pressure taking over such a large, mysterious organization.

Moreover, they were all…

Half-human, half-beast.

She simply couldn’t control them!

…

After entering the city, the carriage traveled for about half an hour more, finally stopping in front of an extremely remote thatched hut.

Mu Yunjin had almost fallen asleep in the carriage. After alighting, she looked around and found herself in a barren area where not even a blade of grass grew. The small thatched hut before them had half its roof in ruins, and the outer walls were so broken that they seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

“Someone lives here?” Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Chu Li glanced at Mu Yunjin, “Let’s go inside first.”

The three of them walked toward the thatched hut. At the entrance, Ding Xian knocked lightly. After receiving no response for a while, he slowly pushed open the door.

“Creeeeak, bang—” Two sounds followed in succession as the wooden door fell heavily to the ground upon being pushed, raising a cloud of dust.

Mu Yunjin frowned, muttering about the dilapidated place. Looking inside, she saw that the floor of the hut was covered with nothing but a pile of withered grass, with nothing else.

On the pile of withered grass sat an old man wearing a gray robe, cross-legged with his eyes tightly closed, seemingly in meditation.

At this moment, no one spoke.

Mu Yunjin kept observing the old man, noting his tattered clothes, his white hair casually tied with a strip of cloth, and his shoes with several holes.

Such a ragged person looked more like a vagrant than a Taoist deeply trusted by Chu Li.

How strange.

After standing for a long time, Mu Yunjin’s legs began to ache. She looked around, but seeing that the floor was made of earth, she couldn’t find anywhere to sit, which left her feeling helpless.

“Young lady, already tired of standing?” A voice tinged with mockery came from within.

Mu Yunjin looked toward the source of the sound and saw that the old Taoist, who had been meditating with closed eyes, now had one eye open and was examining her up and down with a hint of derision in his gaze.

Seeing that the old Taoist’s gaze was not particularly friendly, Mu Yunjin snorted, “You’ve been sitting for so long, who are you to criticize me for standing?”

“Oh ho, you dare to talk back?” The old Taoist sneered contemptuously. Suddenly, a current of air shot out from his sleeve directly toward Mu Yunjin.

Seeing this, Ding Xian was about to step forward but was stopped by Chu Li’s outstretched hand.

Mu Yunjin showed no fear of the air current heading straight for her. She easily dodged it with a sidestep. Just as she steadied herself, two more air currents came toward her.

Mu Yunjin dodged each one. After stopping, she became angry and drew the phoenix-tail whip from her wrist, holding it in her palm, “You old fool, are you sick in the head?”

Hearing this, the old Taoist lifted his eyelids, a gleam in his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, he sent several pebbles from the ground flying toward Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin bit her lip, her expression tense. Seeing how rude this old Taoist was to her, she felt no need to hold back.

Swinging the whip in her hand, she shattered each of the pebbles, then lashed her whip through the air toward the old Taoist.

The old Taoist didn’t even raise his eyelids. He maintained his cross-legged meditation posture and, as Mu Yunjin’s whip came down, he moved his body back and forth, his expression relaxed, not even blinking an eyebrow.

Mu Yunjin’s whip missed several times, infuriating her. This old codger was deliberately toying with her.

“Your whip technique is still lacking. You’re not qualified to fight me,” the old Taoist suddenly lifted his eyelids, his tone full of contempt and disdain.

Mu Yunjin was becoming frantic.

Her hand holding the whip suddenly infused it with true energy. A faint purple light flashed around the phoenix-tail whip, and Mu Yunjin raised her chin, slightly lifting her eyebrows, “Old man, don’t say I don’t respect my elders.”

With those words, Mu Yunjin’s phoenix-tail whip danced in the air, making a whistling sound like a gust of wind as it lashed toward the old Taoist.

The old Taoist initially tried to dodge, but Mu Yunjin had prepared for this. With one hand wielding the whip, her other hand gathered true energy and sent it toward the old Taoist. The true energy surrounded the old Taoist, temporarily immobilizing him, and he took a solid hit from the whip.

“Oww—” The old Taoist cried out in pain after being struck by the phoenix-tail whip.

As Mu Yunjin was about to deliver a second lash, Chu Li stepped forward and grabbed the whip, stopping her.

Mu Yunjin glanced at Chu Li, saw him shake his head at her, and pursed her lips, retracting the phoenix-tail whip and winding it around her wrist.

“Young lady, not bad. You’ve got skills. Why don’t you become my disciple?” The old Taoist rubbed the spot where the whip had struck him and joked to Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin glanced at the old Taoist with disdain in her eyes, “You probably can’t even beat me. How dare you presume to be my master?”

“Hmph, I was deliberately going easy on you, and now you’re getting cocky. But that technique you just used is no ordinary skill,” the old Taoist said to Mu Yunjin with a deeply meaningful tone.

Mu Yunjin was startled, her expression momentarily frozen. She had almost forgotten that in the heat of the moment, she had used the energy-condensing method from the Xuanling True Scripture.

Oh no…

Chu Li also glanced at Mu Yunjin, his eyes slightly darkening. Seeing that the old Taoist and Mu Yunjin had finished their banter, he spoke softly, “Elder Fengxuan, the black lotus soul was drawn out yesterday and is now within Yunjin’s body.”

Upon hearing this, the old Taoist named Fengxuan immediately burst into laughter, doubling over, “You’re saying the black lotus soul is inside this girl’s body?”

Chu Li nodded.

“Hahaha, oh my, how amusing! I was just wondering how to get revenge for that whip strike, and this girl has delivered herself to me.” Taoist Fengxuan could not contain his laughter.

Mu Yunjin bit her lip, barely restraining the urge to whip the old man a few more times. With a straight face, she said, “Be serious. Quickly tell me how to remove this black lotus soul from my body.”

“Hmph,” Taoist Fengxuan snorted, saying dismissively, “Girl, this black lotus soul is no simple thing. If you don’t extract it in time, it will merge with your blood, turning it as black as ink, and then you’ll die a miserable death…”

Mu Yunjin’s heart sank, and she frowned. Ignoring Taoist Fengxuan, she turned to look at Chu Li with a pitiful expression, “Chu Li, this is all your fault…”

Seeing her pouting face, Chu Li couldn’t help but find it both amusing and exasperating. He gave Taoist Fengxuan a half-smile and said, “I request Elder Fengxuan to show us a way out.”

“It’s simple. Let this girl become my disciple, and I’ll teach her the technique to break the formation. Once she masters it, she can break the formation herself,” Taoist Fengxuan said.

After speaking, Taoist Fengxuan looked at Mu Yunjin and added, “All my Taoist techniques are exclusive. If this girl doesn’t become my disciple, she can forget about learning the method to break the formation from me.”

“So, little girl, will you become my disciple?” Taoist Fengxuan raised his eyebrows triumphantly.

Mu Yunjin gritted her teeth, her gaze fixed on Taoist Fengxuan. This hateful old man, why was he so annoying?

Become his disciple? With his slovenly appearance, he hardly looked like someone capable of teaching. No wonder the black lotus came from him—none of it seemed legitimate at all…