The Ninth Lady is a rebellious person.

Chapter 521 One of us, the Imperial Advisor, is destined to die.

The Yang family ancestral home.

Yang Xiuyong had just narrowly escaped death. Of the seven Seven Star Lamps, six had gone out. The remaining one, the one above his head, was on the verge of extinction. It was only thanks to the spiritual energy emitted by the bone bell that Lang Jiuchuan had temporarily left beside Yang Xiuyong that it was kept from going out, and the fact that Gong Si was desperately maintaining it with his spiritual power, that it was not extinguished. Otherwise, Yang Xiuyong would have breathed his last.

When Gong Si saw Lang Jiuchuan and the others return, he felt relieved and his anger dissipated, causing him to spit out two mouthfuls of dark blood.

Lang Jiuchuan stepped forward to check on Yang Xiuyong. Seeing that his face was ashen and he was breathing more out than in, Lang Jiuchuan made a hand seal and relit the six extinguished lamps. The golden needles inserted into his body were also put back in place. He used his true energy to guide the meridians and unblock the flow of qi in the five internal organs.

After all this trouble, they finally managed to pull him back from the brink of death.

After using up her vital energy in succession, Lang Jiuchuan's face turned pale. She took a step back and almost fell to the ground. She closed her eyes slightly and suddenly felt a warm sensation coming from behind her. She turned her head and saw that Gong Tinglan was transmitting her true energy to her.

"No need, I can adjust my breathing. You also lost your vital energy and suffered a backlash." Lang Jiuchuan smiled.

Gong Tinglan shook her head: "What I did was nothing, it didn't compare to what you did."

“Then give him a wisp of true essence, which can balance the five elements and harmonize yin and yang. In this way, even if his body is weak, his life will still be preserved, and all our hard work will not have been in vain,” Lang Jiuchuan said.

Gong Tinglan listened and did as she was told, guiding a wisp of true energy into Yang Xiuyong's meridians, and then directing it to circulate through his five internal organs, activating the five elements.

Yang Xiuyong's complexion gradually improved; although it was still deathly pale, it had lost its life force.

Seeing this, Lang Jiuchuan said, "It's alright. I'll meditate first, and we'll go to the ancestral graves later."

The puppet still served a purpose, and since it was destroyed during that battle, it was as if 'Yang Xiuyong' had died once, which could be considered a clever way to deceive everyone.

Lang Jiuchuan retrieved the bone bell, found a house, had Jiang Che guard it, summoned the Little Nine Towers, and had the water spirit use the spiritual energy of the bone bells to wrap her body, while her entire soul entered the Little Nine Towers.

This was the first time Muyu had seen Lang Jiuchuan after she had regained her full spirit. Muyu walked around her and tapped her a few times, then led her to the very top of the tower.

"What is this?" Lang Jiuchuan looked at the mysterious talisman floating in mid-air with some confusion.

"This is the most profound insight a monk has ever gained. If your spirit and soul are intact, you can comprehend it. Whether you can comprehend it or not depends on your comprehension," the wooden fish said.

Lang Jiuchuan did not ask why one must be complete in spirit and soul to comprehend it. There was no need to ask. The height determines how far one can see. Some things can only be reached when you stand at a certain height.

She stood atop the tower, looked up, and felt countless mysterious runes rushing towards her. She sat down cross-legged and fell into chaos.

The wooden fish was struck slowly and deliberately, its mysterious and deep sound seemingly dispelling all anxiety and impatience.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Lang Jiuchuan and Gong Tinglan together arranged a simple yet stable feng shui layout for the Yang family ancestral graves to consolidate their vital energy. Although it could not immediately restore the Yang family to its former glory, the most important thing now was to preserve the last bit of bloodline and make plans gradually.

The two buried the last magical artifact and cast the array spell. A cold wind blew in, carrying the crisp scent of winter, but it was not biting.

Gong Tinglan stood beside Lang Jiuchuan, watching the faint morning light pierce through the thin mist and fall on the ancestral graves, dispelling the last trace of coldness and bringing them back to life. She said with relief, "The surge of life force, though it took a lot of effort, has managed to preserve the Yang family's bloodline. Thank you for your help this time."

Lang Jiuchuan said calmly, "Saying thank you would be too formal. It was just a coincidence that I managed to break the Grand Preceptor's plan. Although the process wasn't ideal, I managed to snatch back this bit of luck and life force from him, so I've won. Are you wondering why I, who is clearly his disciple, insist on being his enemy?"

Gong Tinglan turned to look at her and nodded gently: "I do have this doubt. The Imperial Preceptor holds a prestigious position and his cultivation is unfathomable. To be his enemy is like an ant trying to shake a tree. I have only known you for a short time, but from your actions, I know that you have your own standards and you are not someone who speaks without reason."

He paused, then looked at the collapsed hill in the distance and said mockingly, "Moreover, after this incident, it's hard to say whether he is the revered and righteous figure he is, as the world sees him to be!"

Stealing someone else's fortune, is that something a righteous person should do?

Lang Jiuchuan smiled faintly, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He said sarcastically, "The Grand Preceptor is a man of high status, profound cultivation, and an otherworldly demeanor like a god. That is the impression the world has of him. But little do they know what kind of wicked heart lies beneath this glamorous exterior, a heart that will stop at nothing to achieve its goals."

Before Gong Tinglan could ask, she recounted the cruel truth: "He instructed the Rong family head to take me away as soon as I was born. The Rong family head, for his own selfish reasons, placed the child of Fourth Master Rong, Ren Yaosheng, under my parents' names and raised him as me. That's the truth behind the switch. As his personal disciple, I was raised under his wing and carefully taught. Just over thirteen, I had already passed the Foundation Establishment Tribulation. Immediately afterwards, he set a trap and suppressed me in the imperial mausoleum of the Tantai clan to nourish the fate of the Great Dan Kingdom and its dragon veins. My soul was scattered before I was able to break free from the mausoleum. With the help of a noble person, I defied fate and reconstituted my soul. I was then reborn by possessing the bodies of Fourth Master Rong's children. Finally, I accumulated merit and was able to be reborn. Isn't that dramatic?"

She recounted her past in a concise manner, not even hiding anything about Pancheng, her voice as calm as if she were telling someone else's story.

Gong Tinglan's face turned pale, her fingertips trembling uncontrollably, her expression filled with disbelief: "As everyone knows, the Grand Preceptor's disciple is the Holy Maiden, this..."

"Yes, I'm invisible. He's the only one who knows whether I'm alive or dead. Who in this world will clear my name? And how could they know about his evil deeds? Isn't that part of his caution?" Lang Jiuchuan said with a self-deprecating smile.

What is his intention in doing this?

"He's seeking immortality, isn't he? He's already quite old. If he can't overcome the Heavenly Tribulation and condense his Golden Core, his lifespan will come to an end." Lang Jiuchuan pursed his lips and said, "This is just my personal speculation. Only he himself knows whether this is true or not."

Gong Tinglan was shocked and looked at her with complicated eyes. She spoke calmly, but the pain of betrayal, the suffering of suppression, and the difficulty of rebirth were not something a teenager should have to endure.
He couldn't imagine how the Grand Preceptor, revered by the world as a god, could harbor such horrifying schemes and cruelty, suppressing his own disciple whom he had personally raised. How could his heart be so ruthless?
"So, whether it's you or the calamity that befell the Qian, Li, and Yang clans, it was not accidental, but a carefully planned scheme!" Gong Tinglan's voice carried a hint of anger.

"No one gets up early without a reason; scheming always yields results—that's the true nature of Tantai Qing." Lang Jiuchuan's eyes were icy as he said, "He and I are destined to die! Young Master Gong, are you willing to help me?"

(End of this chapter)