Could it be a debt of love?

On the way back, the atmosphere was a little awkward.

The main problem was that the girl was too talkative.

"Let me tell you, from what I've heard, the Demon Lord is incredibly powerful! I heard he went to the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect a while ago, just stood there and looked around, and the sect leader immediately knelt down!"

Chu Yuan listened expressionlessly.

"And another thing! You all know about what happened at the Water Moon Sect, right? The Demon Lord cleaved a Tribulation Transcending elder in two with a single strike! When will I ever reach the Tribulation Transcending stage?!"

Yun Qingyao cupped her face in her hands, her eyes sparkling.

Chu Yuan's lips twitched.

He had some doubts just now, but now he's certain.

This girl is absolutely a drama queen!

Mistakenly believing that they were

Wang Fang leaned closer and lowered his voice:

"Junior Brother Yuan, are you going to take responsibility for this girl?"

"Why should I be responsible?"

"You're the one who hired me."

Chu Yuan wanted to refute it, but it seemed to be true.

Li Han coughed lightly:

"Since we've already been exposed, let's discuss our missions so we can coordinate better."

The group exchanged glances, which was considered a tacit agreement.

Wang Fang scratched his head:

"I'm from the Lingxiao Sect. My mission is to infiltrate the core of the White Bone Palace and obtain their list of dealings with various demonic sects. I've heard that the White Bone Palace has expanded so rapidly in the past three months; there must be someone supporting them behind the scenes."

Zhao Lian nodded:

"I'm from Hundred Flowers Valley. The task is similar; it mainly involves investigating the source of their funds for recruiting more disciples. Eight hundred people in three months—their food, drink, and even basic necessities require spirit stones. Where did they get the money?"

Zhou Xu rarely speaks:

"Investigate the Divine Body Sect to find out their true backer."

After the three finished speaking, they all looked at Li Han.

Li Han sighed:

"The mission of the Heavenly Dao Sect is to obtain the qualification to participate in the Xuan Tian Sect pilgrimage, and then find an opportunity to get close to the Demon Lord."

Chu Yuan was taken aback:

"Get close to the Demon Lord? And then what?"

Li Han shrugged:

"Then observe. See if the Demon Lord has truly taken that step, or if he's just bluffing. This information is extremely important to the righteous path."

He paused, then smiled wryly:

"However, it seems that to obtain the pilgrimage qualification, one must first make a name for oneself in the Hall of Bones."

The group fell silent.

Chu Yuan probed:

"Has the Demon Lord agreed to this pilgrimage?"

Li Han looked at him as if he were an idiot:

"Of course they agreed, otherwise would the Bone Palace dare to publicize it like this?"

Chu Yuan: "..."

Is there any possibility...?

Does the Demon Lord really not know about this?

Chu Yuan took a deep breath, trying his best to control his expression.

Wang Fang remarked with emotion:

"If the Demon Lord really takes that step, the Xuan Tian Sect will become the sole power in the Cangxuan Realm. Life will be tough for us righteous people."

Zhao Lian sighed:

"That's why the sect was so eager for us to investigate. It's about knowing your enemy and yourself."

Zhou Xu remained expressionless.

"Anyway, I'm just here to coast along. If I can't find anything, I'll go back and get yelled at; if I do, I'll be doing a good job. It doesn't matter."

"By the way, we still don't know the girl's name."

Zhao Lian looked at Yun Qingyao.

"My name is Yun Yao!"

Yun Qingyao gave a name with a grin, omitting the middle character.

Li Han frowned slightly.

Yun Yao?

This name... seems familiar?

He tried hard to recall, but he couldn't remember anything.

"Miss Yun, are you really planning to enter the demonic path?"

Wang Fang asked curiously.

"Of course! I already said, the righteous path is meaningless!"

Yun Qingyao clenched her small fists, her fighting spirit high:

"I will carve out my own path in the demonic realm! I'll show those righteous people that I, Yun Yao, am a hundred times stronger than them!"

Li Han's lips twitched.

After walking for a while, we were almost at the gate of the White Bone Palace.

Li Han stopped and looked at the group:

"Alright, we're almost there. As for our business..."

He paused, then lowered his voice:

"Keep it to yourself. Don't tell anyone. Just continue with your work. Do your job, keep your identity hidden, and pretend today never happened."

Wang Fang nodded:

"clear."

Zhao Lian smiled and said:

"Don't worry, we're not stupid."

Zhou Xu hummed in agreement.

Chu Yuan nodded as well.

Only Yun Qingyao looked completely bewildered:

"Were you just communicating telepathically?"

All four of them looked at her.

Yun Qingyao blinked:

"What's wrong?"

Li Han coughed lightly:

"It's nothing. Miss Yun, from now on you will follow Junior Brother Yuan and he will show you around the sect."

Yun Qingyao immediately looked at Chu Yuan, her eyes sparkling:

"Senior Brother Yuan! Please take care of me from now on!"

Chu Yuan:

"......good."

Can I say it's bad?

The five people parted ways in front of the mountain gate and returned to their respective lodgings.

Chu Yuan pointed to the empty room next door:

"You'll stay in this room."

Yun Qingyao peeked out and looked, then said disdainfully:

"It's so rudimentary."

"Um."

"Couldn't you have said just one more word?"

"It is indeed rudimentary."

"..."

Yun Qingyao took a deep breath and decided not to argue with this taciturn man.

She went inside to tidy up.

Chu Yuan stood at the door, withdrew his gaze, and rubbed his temples.

To be honest, he didn't really want to have anything to do with this girl.

He deliberately concealed his cultivation level and arranged a grand drama; it was definitely not as simple as just questioning himself.

What exactly happened?

Just then, Yun Qingyao poked her head out of the house:

"Senior Brother Yuan! What are we going to do next?"

Chu Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth.

I don't know either!

He's just here to infiltrate, not to actually become a disciple.

But his expression remained calm, and he said indifferently:

"Let's familiarize ourselves with the sect first."

"Okay, okay! Let's go shopping!"

Yun Qingyao skipped and hopped out, then grabbed Chu Yuan and left.

Chu Yuan was pulled forward, his face expressionless.

This girl... is really not afraid of strangers.

The two walked along the mountain path.

Yun Qingyao looked at this for a while, then touched that for a while, curious about everything.

"Senior Brother Yuan, what is that hall for?"

"Hall of Enforcement".

"What about that one?"

"The Library of Scriptures".

"Can we go in?"

"cannot."

Why?

"You are a new disciple."

"oh......"

Yun Qingyao pouted, but quickly regained her energy.

She leaned closer to Chu Yuan and whispered:

"Senior Brother Yuan, have you met the Palace Master?"

Chu Yuan shook his head:

"no."

"I heard the Palace Master is at the Nascent Soul stage! That's amazing!"

"Um."

"Don't you want to see him?"

"think."

"Then why don't you go and request an audience?"

"Insufficient cultivation level."

"...What you said makes a lot of sense."

Yun Qingyao was speechless.

She found that chatting with this senior brother Yuan always ended after just three sentences.

But she was not discouraged.

After walking for a while, Yun Qingyao suddenly said:

"Senior Brother Yuan, do you wish to see the Demon Lord?"

Chu Yuan paused slightly.

He looked at Yun Qingyao:

"You want to see him?"

"Of course!"

Yun Qingyao's eyes sparkled:

"The Demon Lord is the strongest in the world! I came to the White Bone Palace to obtain the pilgrimage qualification, and then go to the Xuan Tian Sect to see the Demon Lord!"

Chu Yuan stared at her:

"Why do you want to see the Demon Lord?"

Yun Qingyao blinked and smiled innocently:

"Hehe, of course it's to pay homage to the great!"

Chu Yuan remained expressionless.

This is a lie.

He knew it was fake without even needing the Eye of Truth.

The girl was all smiles, but her eyes held a different kind of emotion.

Chu Yuan didn't expose him, he just nodded lightly:

"Then I wish you success."

Yun Qingyao tilted her head to look at him:

"Doesn't Senior Brother Yuan want to see him?"

"In no mood."

Why?

"Seeing it won't increase my cultivation level."

"...You're so boring!"

Yun Qingyao walked forward angrily.

Chu Yuan followed behind, silently calculating in his mind.

Could the original owner have really incurred some kind of emotional debt back then?

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose ahead.

Many disciples poured out from all directions and ran towards the mountain gate.

Chu Yuan stopped a disciple who was running past:

"What's wrong?"

The disciple was beaming with excitement:

"The Lord of the Palace is back! Go and greet him!"

Palace Master?

The mysterious Lord of the Bone Palace?

Chu Yuan narrowed his eyes.

He really wanted to see what kind of person this temple master, who could train eight hundred disciples, was.

Before he could even take a step, Yun Qingyao had already run back and grabbed his sleeve:

"Senior Brother Yuan, hurry! Let's go see the Palace Master!"

P.S.: Happy Lunar New Year's Eve everyone!

I'm still laying the groundwork and brainstorming for this part of the story. My writing skills might not be quite up to par, but once I finish writing it, I'll share my little tricks with you all, hehe.

Hope you enjoy watching! Wishing you all great success in the new year!