Sima Jiao had known all along that Master Qianlu wasn’t so simple. In their previous encounter, he’d noticed that Master Qianlu hadn’t used his full strength.

Perhaps because during those earlier confrontations, not only were there Shi clan members but also other palace masters and elders present. Master Qianlu could deal with the Sima clan, but he naturally had to guard against the forces of other palaces, so he hadn’t revealed his full abilities.

Moreover, at that time, Sima Jiao hadn’t crossed his bottom line. Master Qianlu still thought there was room for balance, which was why he hadn’t used his full power.

But now things were different. The fruits of many years of labor by the Shi clan were within this barrier. If Sima Jiao went mad and destroyed it, Master Qianlu wouldn’t be able to bear it no matter what.

No longer hiding his true self, Master Qianlu’s actual cultivation level surprised even Sima Jiao slightly. Master Qianlu had indeed concealed himself deeply—his cultivation had likely reached the Grand Completion stage.

Once past Grand Completion, reaching Tribulation meant ascension. Whether one passed or not, it was simply a matter of death.

Sima Jiao understood why the usually composed Master Qianlu was so visibly angry—it all came down to immortality. Master Qianlu knew the secret of ascension and also knew the function of the spirit fire. He had seen a living example, so of course he wanted to remain in this world for tens of thousands of years, just like Sima Jiao.

The dozen or so people Master Qianlu brought were all direct bloodline members of the Shi clan and his most trusted individuals. When the two began fighting, those other Shi clan members could only avoid the conflict while guarding the barrier, watching the storm clouds in the sky with reverence and fear. This was a battle they couldn’t possibly get involved in.

Sima Jiao ultimately had the upper hand, though he couldn’t immediately kill Master Qianlu, who proved more tenacious than expected. But Sima Jiao wasn’t in a hurry. As he maneuvered around Master Qianlu, their battle occasionally affected the area below, impacting the barrier.

Sima Jiao seemed to deliberately use his attacks to impact the barrier below, while Master Qianlu tried every means to shift the battle zone to prevent the barrier from being affected.

For a time, they reached a stalemate.

…

Liao Tingyan returned to Master Yu Xiang’s Wind Flower City. She felt somewhat uneasy. For cultivators, such unease often foretold events that would affect them personally.

Could it be that Sima Jiao would encounter some accident on this journey? She hadn’t asked much earlier, but from Sima Jiao’s expression, she knew that place wasn’t simple and held secrets. Those who seek out secrets are destined to face dangers.

Liao Tingyan then reconsidered—with Sima Jiao’s level of cultivation, those in this world capable of killing him probably hadn’t been born yet. So even if he were injured, he shouldn’t face any major problems.

Thinking this, she felt somewhat relieved and sat by the jade window carved with birds and flowers, facing a large flower garden outside. Master Yu Xiang loved flowers and birds, with the palace corridors surrounded by blossoms.

Usually, at this time, she would lean here to watch the streaming mirror, eat some snacks, and flip through that compendium of arts to learn one or two interesting techniques. For those she couldn’t master, she could always seek help from Sima Jiao—there was nothing he didn’t know. The little black snake would come over at this time, wagging its tail, digging out some treats from her snack pile to feed the birds. Wherever the little black snake went, it liked to keep different pets, particularly enjoying feeding them.

Speaking of which, where was the little black snake?

Since her return, she had been thinking about Sima Jiao’s situation and hadn’t noticed the little black snake. Though playful, its personality was truly similar to a dog’s. When they returned, the little black snake would always appear, wagging its tail to greet them.

“Little Black?”

“Snake-snake?”

Liao Tingyan called out a couple of times, feeling something was wrong. There was a tense atmosphere around as if something was gradually tightening. If she had to describe it, she felt as if something was sucking the air from this place, trying to create a vacuum.

She stood in place, pinching the ornate necklace hanging at her chest, thinking, don’t panic, maybe I’m just being paranoid.

“Hiss—”

The sound of tightening silk strings. Perhaps for the first time in her life, Liao Tingyan reacted so quickly. She darted backward, seeing the crisscrossing silk strings before her in the reflected light.

Liao Tingyan stopped: “Damn!!!”

Continuous sounds arose not only from in front of her but also from behind and even above. Liao Tingyan stood still now.

Countless strings had sealed off all her escape routes. If it were Sima Jiao, he might simply reach out and tear away these strings like spider silk, but for Liao Tingyan… well, she thought if she tried to pull them, she’d be cut into many pieces—no, with the defensive armor on, being cut to pieces wasn’t possible, but she’d probably be bound into an egg shape.

She twisted her head to look at the group of people appearing around her, visually estimating more than a hundred. All of them had the bearing of great masters, surrounding her in the middle for inspection.

Well, she couldn’t discern any of their cultivation levels—all were higher than hers. She felt like a pitiful level 50 player surrounded by a circle of level 90s. How miserable. Was such a grand formation necessary just to capture her?

“Just her alone? Sima Jiao isn’t here?”

Liao Tingyan heard someone ask.

“The sect leader said, if we can’t capture Sima Jiao, we must bring back that Liao Tingyan by his side.”

“What use is a mere woman?”

“We can’t say that. Someone whom Sima Jiao takes pains to conceal and brings along to protect must certainly be useful.”

Liao Tingyan: “…” Here it comes! The classic hostage scenario! Next, she would be tied up and brought before Sima Jiao, with someone holding a blade to her throat to threaten him into surrendering! If that were the case, she would feel relieved—as long as she saw the Ancestor, nothing bad would happen to her. So she wasn’t panicking at all.

“Let’s capture her first and discuss later,” said an elder with sharp eyes.

With Sima Jiao absent, facing a Void Refinement cultivator without any sharp aura, what concerns did they have? Any one of them could step forward and easily apprehend her.

The silk strings surrounding Liao Tingyan tightened. She felt her disguised appearance being brushed away, revealing her original features. Two crisscrossing silk strings charged toward her arm with fierce killing intent.

The one using the silk strings was a female Shi clan cultivator holding a zither, named Shi Qiandu, Master Qianlu’s sister. Her status in the Shi family was not low, so she naturally knew what Sima Jiao had done.

Not to mention other things, just the slaughter at Hundred Phoenix Mountain and the ruination of the Shi clan’s grand plan was enough to make her gnash her teeth in hatred. The Hundred Phoenix Mountain generation was under her management, and now it had been destroyed by Sima Jiao! If they wanted to rebuild, who knew how much effort and time it would take?

She had been dispatched by Master Qianlu some time ago to search for Sima Jiao’s whereabouts, but Sima Jiao was too cautious and left no trace. Unable to find him, it wasn’t until Master Qianlu found some clues from Yue Churen’s death that she was able to trace step by step to this place.

In previous confrontations with Sima Jiao, they had returned empty-handed each time, sacrificing many people in vain, causing resentment to boil within Gengchen Immortal Mansion. After all, those people didn’t know what the Shi clan was secretly doing; they only saw the clan’s apparent protection of Sima Jiao on the surface.

This time, Shi Qiandu brought people to investigate. Besides Sima Jiao, her target was the woman named Liao Tingyan by his side.

Although Shi Qiandu didn’t believe that someone like Sima Jiao would care for any woman, the evidence she uncovered forced her to believe that Sima Jiao was exceptionally good to this woman. He had taken her with him several times during his escapes and had once deceived Master Qianlu by creating the illusion that she was dead.

Looking at this woman’s cultivation level—this little disciple who hadn’t even completed three years of training yet had already reached the Void Refinement stage. Such a meteoric rise in cultivation made these cultivators who had painstakingly practiced for hundreds and thousands of years both envious and jealous. With such treatment, even if not greatly cherished, she must be cared for to some extent.

Before coming here, Master Qianlu had instructed her that she must bring Liao Tingyan back. As long as they had this person in hand, it would give Sima Jiao something to consider.

Although Shi Qiandu was prepared to bring the person back alive, the resentment in her heart was difficult to suppress. So at this moment, she wanted to sever one of Liao Tingyan’s arms to vent her anger.

With Sima Jiao absent, wouldn’t it be interesting if he returned to see Liao Tingyan’s severed arm? At this moment, Shi Qiandu was still unaware that soon after she had set out for Wind Flower City, Master Qianlu had been alarmed by the disturbance at the blood river and had confronted Sima Jiao there.

Standing here, Shi Qiandu thought to herself, if they couldn’t deal with Sima Jiao, surely they could still manipulate such a plaything.

Her silk strings sliced toward Liao Tingyan’s arm but stopped a foot away from her body, unable to advance another half inch.

Shi Qiandu: “!!!”

Liao Tingyan: “…”

Defensive armor, the Ancestor’s product—it was just that impressive.

Shi Qiandu refused to believe it. The silk strings moved at her will, cutting toward Liao Tingyan from various angles, and indeed managed to bind her into an egg shape.

Unharmed but immobile, Liao Tingyan had already accepted her fate. Whatever, do as you please—capturing her was fine, but harming her wasn’t possible.

Shi Qiandu was about to act again when someone stopped her. It was an elder from the Shadow Palace, who had considerable insights into artifact forging. He examined Liao Tingyan and said, “She’s wearing a defensive immortal artifact. You can’t break through it. Don’t waste time here; let’s take her back first.”

Only then did Shi Qiandu lower her hand with a sour face, sweeping her sleeve to grab the person to her side.

“I need to take her back to report to my brother. Do you all want to leave first, or stay here to wait for Sima Jiao to return and capture him in one fell swoop?” Shi Qiandu asked.

Hearing these words, many people inwardly sneered. Capture him in one fell swoop? If they really could, why had they suffered losses again and again? If it weren’t a matter of life and death requiring people from every palace to handle, how many would be unwilling to come?

“We should all return together. If Sima Jiao returns to find this person captured, with his temperament, he will surely attack the main peak of Taixuan. We might as well go prepare first,” someone suggested.

The rest nodded in agreement. “Indeed, we should set up a killing formation, using this woman as bait to lure him there.”

“This time, we’ll gather our elite disciples and lay a net of heaven and earth at Taixuan Peak. Sima Jiao should still be injured; we can succeed.”

“Even if he’s a Master Ancestor, we can’t allow such a person who slaughters the innocent to continue wreaking havoc in the immortal mansion. It’s time for a resolution.”

Everyone solemnly discussed quickly assembling their disciples, preparing to use human wave tactics. Each person’s expression was grave, with many showing worry and fear.

Liao Tingyan observed everyone’s demeanor through the gaps in the silk strings and felt something was odd. Perhaps it was the solemn feeling of justice about to triumph over evil, the heaviness before dawn breaks through darkness—as part of the villain’s camp, she couldn’t sense it.

She was now a hostage. Since others couldn’t do anything to her, they ignored her, and she remained silent, thinking about what to do.

Honestly, this was beyond her capabilities. Breaking through and escaping from such an imposing encirclement? In this world, perhaps only Sima Jiao could accomplish that.

If she didn’t escape… the only thing she cared about now was that before leaving, Sima Jiao had told her not to stay in the central area of the inner mansion. There must be some danger there.

But she had no choice. She couldn’t even send out a message now. She could only pray that when the Ancestor discovered she had been captured, he wouldn’t be too angry.