For the next few days, Yang Ze didn't dare to come out of the room, much less leave the house.
Every time he thought about getting out, he would be greeted by the sight of Lin Yue, who quietly kept staring at him. During the past few days, he didn't hear her speak once. She just sat there in silence without any emotion on her pretty face. If one didn't know any better, they would have thought of her as a realistic doll.
As for Xiao Ruolan... she didn't pay any attention to him. Even though he could see occasional bursts of anger in her eyes when she looked at him, other than that, she didn't make things difficult for him.
She once tried to step out of the house, but the moment she opened the door, she was greeted by the stern shouts from the guards who warned her not to do it again.
Perhaps for a man, getting locked in a house with two such extraordinarily beautiful women might be a dream come true, but for Yang Ze, it was a nightmare. The only thing he could do was to meditate in his room quietly. Though he wasn't able to gain any new talents, the internal energy strands in his body were now more than eighty. If he were to get another Pulse opening pill, he could directly step into the late-stage Pulse opening.
He thought about using his sign-in on the talents of the two women standing beside him, but after taking a look at their faces, he gave up the idea.
"Forget it... Just a few more days." Shaking his head, he quietly closed his eyes before focusing back on meditation.
----------
While Yang Ze was spending his days peacefully, the rest of the world was in turmoil.
With both the Duality Sect and the Heavenly Sword Sect declaring war on each other, there were constant skirmishes, resulting in massive losses from both sides. As for the two kingdoms... their fate wasn't good either. Both Royal families were merely puppets, unable to do anything by themselves. As for their armies... those armies might be good against mortals or even low-level cultivators, but against powerhouses in Foundation Forging and above, they were absolutely useless.
With the help of internal energy, any of the cultivators could easily mow them like weeds.
Thus, the two Royal families were only good for providing resources and intel.
On the other hand, both sects were constantly deploying a large number of their members. As for the Elders and Grand Elders... none of them made any move. They were all silently observing the changes.
Inside the Grand Hall of the Duality Sect, seven women of different ages were sitting around a large bamboo table, discussing about the current state of affairs.
"I say, we launch a direct attack on them." One of the Grand Elders gave this suggestion while gritting her teeth. The seven of them have been discussing their next course of action, but they didn't seem to come to a conclusion. In the end, she just made a simple and direct proposal.
"YEAH!? And how sure are you?" Another Grand Elder chimed in. "Even though our numbers are the same, those wenches from the Sword Sect have the protection of the Sword Array. It would be a miracle if we could come back alive."
"Hmph!" The Grand Elder who gave the suggestion just snorted in response.
Almost two hundred years ago, a few Grand Elders of the Duality Sect tried to launch a sneak attack on the Heavenly Sword Sect. Even though they were successful in killing a few Grand Elders by surprise, they weren't able to leave that place.
Even though she didn't see it herself, one of the Grand Elders vividly described it and even painted the scenes from that date.
Those seemingly weird and out-of-place mountain peaks of the Heavenly Sword Sect all lit up before forming a barrier around the Sect, completely trapping the Grand Elders of the Duality Sect. In the end, one of those sword peaks flew in the air before crashing on the trapped Grand Elders, completely turning them into meat paste.
From that day onwards, no one from the Duality Sect dared to think about launching an assassination.
"It's the fault of that useless daughter of yours." Grand Elder Shen Yue immediately cursed at the enchanting woman who was sitting there lazily. "She couldn't even perform such a simple task."
"...." Yun Ning opened one of her eyes, took a look at Shen Yue before letting out a cold snort.
"She wasn't useless. I just got the words from the spies that one of the Grand Elders of the Sword Sect was already waiting for Cang Yue."
"Tell me, Shen Yue..." This time, Yun Ning pulled back her soft, creamy feet off the table and changed her position to sitting as a dangerous glint flashed past her eyes. "How did their Grand Elder know about her arrival?"
"Huh!?" Shen Yue just snorted in response. "How would I know? Maybe because she was careless."
"Oh, please." Yun Ning shook her head in response. "The only people who knew about her mission other than my daughter were us. And my daughter sure as hell wouldn't put herself in danger."
"YUN NING... What are you trying to say?" Shen Yue patted the table beneath her in anger, sending invisible shockwaves in the entire hall.
"You know exactly what I am trying to say." Yun Ning's voice didn't change as she kept on speaking. "My daughter wouldn't tell anyone about it. I wouldn't put her life in danger, and the Sect Leader wouldn't do something like this."
"And amongst the Grand Elders, who else hates my daughter?"
Even though she didn't take a name, the meaning behind her words couldn't have been more obvious.
"YUN NING" Shen Yue's eyes were almost spitting out flames while she glared at the woman in front of her. "Be very careful of what you say."
"Yes, I hate your daughter." She didn't deny the claim, but added further, "But this doesn't mean that I would rat her out."
"Heh." Yun Ning just let out a mocking laugh.
"Silence." It was at this moment that the Sect Leader Lin Zhanyuan spoke up.
"Our Saintess is caught, more than three hundred members of our sect have died, and you two are bickering here?" With every sentence she spoke, her voice grew increasingly cold.
"Have the two of you lost your goddamn mind?"
"Hmph!"
"..."
Both Shen Yue and Yun Ning averted their gaze. None of them dared to talk back or make any remarks. Now that the sect leader has spoken, it is better for them to shut up.
"Our priority is to get back Cang Yue." Lin Zhanyuan spoke slowly as her old-aged voice trembled occasionally.
"She is the Saintess of our sect. She represents the face of our sect, and every day she is kept in captivity is a slap on our face."
Speaking till here, she went silent for a while.
"Now then..." She ran her gaze across all the Grand Elders sitting there before speaking further, "If any of you could come up with a bright idea, I would love to hear it."
"..."
"..."
This time, no one dared to give any hasty suggestions. Just like the sect leader said, it was now a matter of their pride and reputation.
"How about we talk to them?" This time, it was Shen Yue who spoke.
"It is impossible for us to directly barge in there. Even if we managed to win the war, there is no guarantee that the Saintess would be unharmed."
"And god knows how long the war would last. Just like us, they too don't seem too intent on making any big moves."
Listening to her, one of the elders voiced out her concern, "Then how about sending a rescue team?"
"It won't work." This time, it was Yun Ning who spoke.
"They were already waiting for my daughter before she even reached there. It is clear that there is an informant. Even if we send a rescue team, there is no guarantee that they wouldn't be captured the moment they get there."
"Not to mention that my daughter is mostly being kept in that damn prison."
The hall plunged into a deathly silence once Yun Ning finished speaking. Just as she said, even if they sent a rescue team, there was no guarantee that the news about them wouldn't be leaked.
Even though none of them voiced it out, they all were beginning to have doubts about the identity of the so-called Informant.
Just like Yun Ning said, it was impossible for a Grand Elder of the Duality Sect to wait for Cang Yue there without any prior information. The only plausible explanation was that the news about her had already leaked.
It couldn't have been the sect leader or Yun Ning, as for the rest of the Grand Elders... the only person that came to their mind was Shen Yue. She was the only one hostile towards the mother and daughter pair.
As if aware of their gazes, Shen Yue just snorted in response, but her heart was already full of murderous intentions.
*Tap... tap... tap...
The sect leader kept on tapping the bamboo table with her furrowed brows. Unlike the ordinary members and the elders of the sect, who were constantly shouting about a full-scale invasion of the Heavenly Sword Sect, the people in the room knew the gravity of the situation.
In the case of a full-blown war, both sides would suffer greatly. It is even possible that the Grand Elders and even she herself would fall. In that case, the fate of the two major sects would be miserable.
The Heavenly Sword Sect already knew about it; thus, they never sent any Elders from their side in the skirmishes.
'Why do I feel like something's not right...' Lin Zhanyuan kept on tapping the bamboo table. Things spirled out of control so suddenly that even she was taken aback.
The Heavenly Sword Sect ambushed them out of nowhere for no rhyme or reason. It was so abrupt that she didn't even have time to react. And before she could plan ahead or find out more, the members of the Duality Sect retaliated in response, escalating things further.
She couldn't help but feel like something was amiss. It felt like a scheme... a trap. But she wasn't fully sure.
In the end, she could only grit her teeth and nod in response.
"Shen Yue... You will be the one responsible for heading to the Heavenly Sword Sect and bringing back the Saintess. Agree to their demands if they aren't too excessive."
She wasn't worried about the safety of Shen Yue. Unless both sides were out for blood, one wouldn't take action against the other faction's elder who came just to talk.
"I..." Shen Yue was stunned for a long time. She didn't think that she would be the one to go there. Had she known this, she would have never suggested it.
"What? Don't wanna go?" The sect leader merely let out a gentle smile, but it was enough to send a shiver down Shen Yue's spine.
"Fine." With a sigh, she agreed before standing up and walking out of the hall.
"Let's end this meeting here." The sect leader didn't waste any more time before disappearing from the hall. She was going to investigate the events that led to this personally.
"....." Yun Ning, on the other hand, gently smiled while looking at the two departing backs before crushing a paper bird in her palm.