Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

As time went by, the hourglass inside the ancient tomb turned over dozens of times.

On this day, Yang Guo lay flat on the cold jade bed and slowly opened his eyes.

He exhaled a breath of stale air, stretched languidly, and his bones cracked and popped, sounding particularly crisp.

The red and black bead in the lower dantian stayed obediently in its original place, no longer causing any disturbance.

This thing became a transit station, purifying all the incoming true energy before sending it back to the Crimson Palace and the Niwan Palace.

His dilapidated body has fully recovered.

The damaged meridians were reconnected and became twice as wide as before.

His martial arts skills were not fully restored, and his internal energy from the past sixteen years was diminished, so he could only exert about 70% or 80% of his former level.

However, it's more than enough to deal with those old Taoist priests from the Quanzhen Sect.

Huang Rong sat on the left, her palms closed.

She opened her eyes, her gaze bright. After dozens of days of dual cultivation, her Nine Yin True Qi had become extremely thick, showing faint signs of a breakthrough.

Little Dragon Girl sat on the right and withdrew her Jade Maiden True Qi.

She stood up from the cold jade bed, straightened her white skirt, and her expression remained aloof.

Li Mochou leaned against the foot of the bed, her originally pale face now flushed with color.

Surprisingly, a small ball of extremely pure Yin energy accumulated in her ruined dantian, and her dried-up meridians regained their vitality.

Yang Guo sat up and moved his right hand.

Lu Wushuang's sword cut was very deep, but after applying the ancient tomb's wound medicine, not a scar was left.

Looking at the three stunningly beautiful women in front of him, he couldn't resist his old habit and started teasing them.

"My three female bodhisattvas, you've worked so hard these past few dozen days. Seeing each other so openly every day, my eyes can hardly keep up!"

Yang Guo grinned, his gaze lingering on Huang Rong's chest and Li Mochou's waist. "Chief Huang, your Taoist robe is too big, it's such a waste to hide your great figure. Technician Li, your legs are so long, let me touch them a couple of times every day, I guarantee your meridians will recover faster."

Huang Rong glared at him and scolded him irritably, "You can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth. Get up as soon as you're healed. There's a ton of mess in the Quanzhen Sect waiting for you to deal with. Stop with your glib talk."

Hearing Yang Guo praise her long legs, Li Mochou was pleased, but to avoid giving herself away, she maintained her persona, feigning a cold snort as she stood up, supporting herself on the edge of the bed: "If you keep looking around with those thieving eyes of yours, I'll gouge them out and feed them to the dogs."

Xiaolongnu ignored Yang Guo's nonsense and turned to walk out of the tomb.

"Teacher Long, wait for me!" Yang Guo rolled out of bed and put on his coat.

Lu Wushuang walked in through the passageway carrying a basin of water. When she saw Yang Guo standing on the ground, full of energy, her eyes welled up with tears, and she almost knocked over the basin.

She placed the basin on the stone table, ran over, and hugged Yang Guo's waist.

"You're finally done." Lu Wushuang buried her face in Yang Guo's chest, her voice muffled.

Yang Guo patted her back and gave her a quick pinch on her pert bottom: "Alright, stop crying. Go pack your things, we're leaving the pass. I'm going back to Chongyang Palace to be the boss."

Lu Wushuang blushed, let go of her hand, and obediently went to organize the package.

Half an hour later, the five people walked out of the ancient tomb.

The sunlight was so bright it made it hard to open one's eyes. Yang Guo closed his eyes for a while to adjust, then took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air.

Huang Rong changed into a clean blue cloth dress and put her hair up, exuding a capable air. Li Mochou was still wearing that thin white undergarment, with Yang Guo's long robe draped over it; she was still very weak.

Lu Wushuang took the initiative to walk over and support her arm. After the two talked things out, Lu Wushuang's attitude towards Li Mochou improved a lot.

Yang Guo walked at the front, heading straight for Chongyang Palace along the mountain path.

The front courtyard of the Quanzhen Sect, on the bluestone square.

Li Zhiqing was leading dozens of inner disciples on patrol. These past few days, following Yang Guo's instructions, he had been locking Shen Zhifan and his gang in the woodshed, giving them only one meal of stale water a day. Panic gripped Chongyang Palace; everyone was waiting for Yang Guo to emerge from seclusion.

Wang Tieniu, shirtless and holding a chipped butcher's knife, sat under the big locust tree, eating a steamed bun. The foremen and their ilk were living a comfortable life now, eating meat at every meal.

A sharp-eyed disciple pointed towards the archway and shouted, "Sect Leader! The Sect Leader has returned!"

Li Zhiqing was startled and looked in the direction the disciple was pointing.

Yang Guo strode into the square, followed by four women. He wore an ordinary Taoist robe and didn't even carry a sword, but his aura was so overwhelming that it was hard to breathe.

Li Zhiqing's eyes reddened, and he rushed over in three steps, kneeling down on the bluestone slab with a thud.

"Li Zhiqing, the chief steward of the inner hall, respectfully welcomes the sect leader upon his return from seclusion!" Li Zhiqing's loud voice echoed across the square.

The dozens of disciples accompanying him on patrol knelt down in unison, shouting, "Welcome, Master!"

Wang Tieniu threw down the half-eaten steamed bun in his hand, grabbed a pig-slaughtering knife, ran over, knelt on one knee in front of Yang Guo, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Wang Tieniu from the kitchen greets the Sect Leader! Sect Leader, you're finally back! We brothers have been talking about you every day!"

Yang Guo stopped and looked at the crowd kneeling on the ground, then casually waved his right hand.

"Get up, all of you," Yang Guo said calmly.

Li Zhiqing stood up, wiped the sweat from his face, and went to Yang Guo's side to report the situation.

"Sect Leader, things have been quite chaotic in the sect while you were away. Uncle Qiu and Uncle Hao are still recuperating in the backyard, and Uncle Wang is in seclusion in the alchemy hall. Shen Zhifan and his gang are all locked in the woodshed. A few of them tried to run away, but Brother Tie Niu broke their legs."

Yang Guo nodded. This kid is reliable.

"You did the right thing." Yang Guo patted Li Zhiqing on the shoulder. "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Go and summon all the third and fourth generation disciples to the main hall, and bring Shen Zhifan and the others there as well. Today I'm going to clean house."

Li Zhiqing accepted the order and led his men off to carry it out in a flurry of activity.

Yang Guo turned to Wang Tieniu and said, "Tieniu, go to the kitchen and prepare a good meal, and stew plenty of meat. My family members are hungry from their journey, so arrange a good guest room for them to rest."

Wang Tieniu readily agreed and happily ran back to the back mountain.

Huang Rong walked to Yang Guo's side and whispered a reminder: "Guo'er, the Quanzhen Sect is a reputable and righteous sect. When you deal with Shen Zhifan and the others, you must act with propriety and legitimacy, so as not to give others cause for criticism."

Yang Guo smiled and reached out to pinch Huang Rong's waist.

"Don't worry, Chief Huang, I have plenty of ways to deal with these old fogies."

Yang Guo leaned close to Huang Rong's ear and whispered, "After I'm done with my work tonight, I'll go to your room to discuss the Nine Yin Manual. You'd better leave the door open for me."

Huang Rong blushed, slapped his hand away, and led Xiaolongnu, Li Mochou, and Lu Wushuang towards the guest rooms in the backyard.

Yang Guo straightened his collar and strode towards the main hall of Chongyang Palace.

The atmosphere inside the main hall was oppressive.

Hundreds of Quanzhen Sect disciples stood on both sides, not daring to even breathe loudly.

They looked at the Grand Master's chair in the very center of the main hall, their hearts pounding with apprehension.

Yang Guo walked out from the back hall, plopped down on the armchair, crossed his legs, and glanced at the crowd below.

Li Zhiqing, along with several disciples, brought Shen Zhifan and a dozen or so others who had led the disturbance forward.

Shen Zhifan was bound hand and foot, his hair disheveled, and his once-new silk Taoist robe was now stained with blood and dirt, emitting a foul odor. Li Zhiqing kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him to kneel on the ground.

"Yang Guo! What right do you have to arrest me!" Shen Zhifan yelled, "You colluded with outsiders and wreaked havoc on the Quanzhen Sect! You have no right to sit in that position!"

Yang Guo sat on the armchair, picked at his ear, and blew on his finger.

"Senior Brother Shen, your voice is really loud, it hurts my ears." Yang Guo said casually, not taking Shen Zhifan seriously at all.

He pulled out the sect leader's token made of black iron from his pocket and casually tossed it onto the table in front of him. The token hit the solid wood table with a dull thud.

The main hall was completely silent.

"This plaque was personally passed down to me by the sect leader." Yang Guo leaned back in his chair, looking at Shen Zhifan. "If you don't acknowledge this plaque, you're betraying your master and ancestors."

Shen Zhifan glared at him and retorted defiantly, "Who knows if you used some underhanded tricks to get this position! What qualifications do you, a third-generation disciple, have to be the sect leader!"

Yang Guo stood up, walked up to Shen Zhifan, and looked down at the Taoist priest whose face was full of resentment.

"Qualifications?" Yang Guo sneered. "When the Mongols attacked, you hid behind and played dead. When the Golden Wheel Monk wanted to demolish Chongyang Palace, you didn't dare utter a sound. I risked my life to drive the Mongols away and preserve the reputation of the Quanzhen Sect. You ask me what qualifications I have?"

Yang Guo turned around and faced all the disciples in the main hall.

"I, Yang Guo, have never been one to follow grand principles in my actions. In this Quanzhen Sect, I'm the one who calls the shots. Anyone who disagrees, step forward!" Yang Guo's voice echoed in the main hall.

No one dared to move.

Yang Guo walked back to the table and picked up the sect leader's token.

"Li Zhiqing!" Yang Guo shouted.

"Disciple is here!" Li Zhiqing stepped forward.

"Shen Zhifan colluded with foreign enemies, plotted a rebellion, embezzled food from the kitchen, and lined his own pockets," Yang Guo listed the charges one by one. "According to the rules of the Quanzhen Sect, his martial arts are abolished, and he is expelled from the sect!"

Shen Zhifan was terrified and struggled desperately: "Yang Guo! How dare you! I am Qiu Chuji's disciple, you have no right to cripple me!"

Yang Guo ignored him completely and gave Li Zhiqing a wink.

Li Zhiqing drew his longsword, walked behind Shen Zhifan, raised the hilt, and slammed it down hard on Shen Zhifan's acupoint on the back.

Several muffled thuds of flesh colliding rang out, and Shen Zhifan screamed repeatedly. His Quanzhen internal energy was forcibly dispersed, and he collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud, unable to even crawl up.

The dozen or so people who had joined Shen Zhifan in causing trouble were trembling with fear and desperately kowtowed and begged for mercy.

"Sect Leader, spare us! We were all forced into this by Shen Zhifan!"

"Please have mercy, Master!"

Yang Guo looked at this group of spineless cowards with disgust in his eyes.

"Send them all to the back mountain to work with the Fire-Worker Monk, carrying manure and chopping firewood. Anyone who dares to slack off will have their legs broken and be thrown down the mountain!" Yang Guo ordered.

Li Zhiqing waved his hand, ordering his inner disciples to drag all these people away.

The hall returned to silence.

Yang Guo sat back down in the armchair and looked at the remaining disciples.

"From today onwards, I will set the rules for the Quanzhen Sect," Yang Guo said firmly. "The inner hall will be entirely under Li Zhiqing's control, and no one is allowed to interfere. The head monk of the kitchen on the back mountain will receive double his monthly salary, and his food rations will be improved. Anyone who dares to cut back on their pay and rations will suffer the same fate as Shen Zhifan!"

The disciples shouted in unison, "We will obey the Sect Leader's decree!"

Yang Guo waved his hand, signaling everyone to disperse.

He leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

The internal problems of the Quanzhen Sect have been temporarily eliminated. He needs to thoroughly investigate the case of the massacre of the Lu family in Lu Village and also spend some time relaxing with his confidantes.

He recalled Huang Rong's shy and bashful appearance just now, and his heart burned with desire.

These past few dozen days of abstinence have really made him feel stifled.

I have to give it my all tonight.