Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

The two left the viewing pavilion and walked along the corridor toward the back mountain.

After passing through a garden of spiritual fruits and around a pool of emerald green spiritual spring, we finally arrived at a secluded courtyard.

The words "Appreciating Plum Blossoms" are hung above the entrance, written in a sharp and vigorous style.

The courtyard is small, with three elegant rooms and several old plum trees planted in front of the door.

The environment is serene and filled with spiritual energy.

"Brother Ye, you'll be staying here for the next few days." Lu Huai'an pushed open the courtyard gate. "If you need to find me, you can have a servant disciple announce my arrival. I'll head back to my cave now."

"Take care, Brother Lu."

After watching Lu Huai'an leave, Lin Ran closed the courtyard gate and set up a shielding array in the room.

The array patterns disappeared into the wall, their brilliance flashing and then vanishing.

"I can try to get in touch with Yunmo tomorrow to make things easier for future arrangements," Lin Ran thought to himself.

"As for now, the most important thing is to focus on cultivation as soon as possible."

He sat cross-legged on the bed and took out a high-grade spirit stone, holding it in his palm.

Guided by spiritual power, pure spiritual energy slowly flowed into the meridians.

After leaving the guest room courtyard, Lu Huai'an went straight to the outside of Lu Wangchuan's cave.

"Disciple Lu Huai'an requests an audience."

The restrictions outside the cave slowly dissipated, and Lu Wangchuan's voice rang out: "Come in."

Lu Huai'an entered the cave and bowed, saying, "Disciple greets Grandmaster."

Lu Wangchuan sat on the futon, toying with a jade slip in his hand, without looking up: "Have you asked everything clearly?"

"Reporting back to my grandmaster, he claimed that he came down the mountain this time to subdue a demon."

"Exorcise demons?" Lu Wangchuan paused in his movements.

"Having heard within the sect that demons were lurking in Cangyan Continent, he went down the mountain on his own to travel and kill the wandering demons."

"Hmph." Lu Wangchuan snorted coldly, "I didn't expect that such a shameless person would actually have a sense of justice."

"Perhaps it was Senior Brother Liu who struck first, injuring his spirit pet and thus angering him," Lu Huai'an tentatively analyzed.

"Very well." Lu Wangchuan waved his hand. "Since he didn't come for that matter, let's leave him alone for now."

"However, you should still send someone to keep an eye on him while he stays in the mountains these few days."

"Disciple understands." Lu Huai'an replied and withdrew.

Three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Ran spent his days sightseeing and his nights cultivating in his guest room, but he never managed to find Yun Mo.

Finding a Foundation Establishment cultivator within such a vast mountain gate is still too difficult.

The Qingxuan Sect has thousands of disciples, scattered across dozens of mountain peaks.

Yunmo was just an outer disciple with a limited range of activities, but Lin Ran couldn't openly inquire about him.

On the fourth day, he changed his strategy.

With a wave of his hand, dozens of spirit seeds were scattered from his sleeve.

In a flash of light, golden-armored warriors, each the size of a palm, appeared out of thin air.

These miniature golden-armored warriors have round heads and are gilded all over. They are about a foot tall and look quite comical.

When using the "Scattering Beans to Create Soldiers" technique, as long as the five elements of spiritual power are replaced with water-based spiritual power, a golden-armored warrior identical to Lin Zhiyao can be constructed.

Although small in size and lacking in combat ability, it is indeed very useful for reconnaissance work.

"Go, find this person." Lin Ran took out a jade slip, imprinted Yun Mo's appearance and aura on it, and distributed it to the mini golden-armored warriors.

Dozens of small, golden-armored warriors scattered in all directions, clinging to the walls, disappearing into the grass, and climbing onto the eaves.

That afternoon, a little golden-armored warrior found Yunmo in a corner of the herb garden.

Upon receiving the feedback, Lin Ran immediately concealed his presence and quietly sped towards the medicine garden.

The medicine garden is located in the back mountain of Qingxuan Sect and is where outer disciples work.

Large tracts of medicinal fields were cultivated along the mountainside, planted with various low-grade spiritual herbs, their shimmering light quite pleasing to the eye.

Yunmo was squatting by a secluded medicinal herb field, sleeves rolled up and trouser legs in hand, holding a small shovel, loosening the soil around the medicinal herbs.

His face was covered in mud, beads of sweat hung from his forehead, and his expression was utterly lifeless.

Lin Ran almost burst out laughing when he saw this scene from afar.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet he's treated worse than a menial servant in the Qingxuan Sect.

He concealed himself, quietly approached, and gently tapped Yunmo's shoulder from behind.

Yunmo stiffened and slowly turned around.

He was taken aback when he saw Lin Ran's unfamiliar face.

Immediately, he saw the Xuan Yang Sect token waving in Lin Ran's hand, and his pupils shrank.

"host……"

"Shh." Lin Ran raised his index finger and transmitted his voice: "Don't make a sound, let's find a place where no one is around to talk."

Yunmo suppressed his wildly beating heart, looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, and then responded in a low voice.

"Come with me."

He got up and walked quickly toward the back of the herb garden, with Lin Ran following behind at a leisurely pace.

The two walked through a bamboo grove and arrived at an abandoned woodshed.

Yunmo closed the door, turned around, and looked at him with a complicated expression.

"My lord, you've finally arrived!"

Lin Ran asked casually, "How are things going for you at the Qingxuan Sect?"

"It's relatively safe." Yun Mo breathed a sigh of relief: "I followed the master's instructions and fabricated an account of encountering the Golden Eagle Clan. Although the sect had some doubts, they couldn't find any flaws."

"So, they arranged for you to be assigned to the herb garden?" Lin Ran looked around and raised an eyebrow.

"This..." Yunmo smiled awkwardly, "After all, everyone else died and I was the only one who came back alive. It's normal for the sect to be a little cold to me."

"Yes, that makes sense." Lin Ran nodded.

If it were him, he would probably also doubt the sole survivor.

"Has my lord come to testify on my behalf?"

"My current identity is that of a true disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect, and I cannot help you prove it, so you will have to wait a while longer."

Since Yunmo is not at risk of being exposed, Lin Ran still intends to play it safe.

After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, we'll join forces to take down Lu Wangchuan.

After that, without a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge of the Qingxuan Sect, he could freely change his appearance using his illusion techniques without worrying about being exposed.

Then, he would use his identity as a member of the Xuan Yang Sect to testify for Yun Mo, completely shifting the blame to the demon race.

To preserve the secret of the spatial entrance, the Qingxuan Sect cannot be directly eliminated; otherwise, other sects will inevitably come to occupy its territory.

Only when Qingxuan Sect is stable will other sects refrain from interfering.

Once he has complete control of the Qingxuan Sect, he can also accept awakened individuals from Blue Star into the Qingxuan Sect.

In a few decades or a hundred years, the entire Qingxuan Sect will become the main base of Blue Star.

Even if Blue Star still cannot break through to the eighth rank, it will still be able to find a path to the upper realm through the Azure Profound Realm.

Yunmo tentatively asked, "How did you become a true disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect again, Master?"

Lin Ran feigned mystery: "I naturally have my own methods. You just need to focus on your undercover work, and after I take over the Qingxuan Sect, I will find a way to promote you."

"Take down the Qingxuan Sect?" Yun Mo's pupils contracted slightly, and his voice unconsciously lowered a few decibels.

"Not bad." Lin Ran patted him on the shoulder: "You'll be glad you made that choice later."

Yunmo opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

He wanted to ask Lin Ran how he managed to take down the Qingxuan Sect, how to deal with that Nascent Soul Grand Elder, and what kind of ship he had boarded.

But in the end, he just nodded emphatically.

"Understood."

Lin Ran turned and walked out of the woodshed, disappearing into the depths of the bamboo forest.

Back in his room, he summoned a servant disciple and asked him to inform Lu Huai'an.

Before long, Lu Huai'an arrived as dusk fell.

"Brother Ye, are you not used to living here? If you need anything, just tell the servants to take care of it."

"That's not the case." Lin Ran cupped his hands in greeting. "I've troubled you for many days; it's time to take my leave."

Lu Huai'an was slightly taken aback, then spoke up to persuade him to stay.

"Brother Ye, why the rush? Our master will emerge from seclusion in a few days and will surely receive you personally. Why don't you stay a few more days, so that I can show you some hospitality?"

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow: "Well, it's not impossible."

"This..." Lu Huai'an was speechless with embarrassment.

"Hahaha...just kidding." Lin Ran laughed loudly, "The scenery at the mountain gate is beautiful, but there will eventually be a time when you've had enough. I have other things to do, so I can't stay any longer."

"Hehehe..." Lu Huai'an breathed a sigh of relief and stopped pretending to try to keep him: "In that case, I'll see Brother Ye down the mountain."