Let me explain, it's not what you think.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Yue Qinglan had already refined most of the pills and recovered considerably from her injuries. Although she hadn't returned to her peak, she was no longer the pure mortal she once was.

Dan Chenzi squatted down beside her and took out seven or eight jade bottles from his sleeve and placed them in front of her.

After hesitating for a while, he picked out the best one, held it in both hands, and handed it to Yue Qinglan.

"Sect Master, the pills that kid Lu Chen gave you are of too low grade and too mild in effect, making recovery too slow."

"Try this one of mine, a fifth-grade Healing Pill. It's far superior to his lousy pill. I guarantee you'll recover 70% of your cultivation within half an hour."

Yue Qinglan didn't even open her eyes.

Dan Chenzi leaned forward again, his tone somewhat ingratiating: "Sect Master, look how good this pill is, the patterns are clear, the aroma is rich, you can tell at a glance..."

"Take it."

Yue Qinglan's voice was soft, yet it carried a chill that Lu Chen had never heard before.

"Sect Master, did you not see clearly? This is a fifth-rank..."

I said take it away.

Yue Qinglan opened her eyes. There was no anger or disdain in those gentle eyes, only a condescending indifference.

Dan Chenzi was stunned. The hand holding the pill froze on the spot, and the expression on his face changed from confusion to grievance, and then from grievance to embarrassment.

"It was my rudeness, Sect Master. Please continue to rest."

Yue Qinglan ignored him, closed her eyes, and continued to refine the medicinal power within her body.

Dan Chenzi retreated to the side in a huff, his gaze falling on Lu Chen, who was bandaging Li Fei outside the cave, a sinister glint in his eyes.

……

The five elders of the Li Huo Sect formed a combined attack formation, forcing the Golden Mane Mountain-Splitting Lion to retreat step by step.

Several more cracks appeared on its golden scales, and blood seeped out from the wounds.

Upon seeing this, the White-Browed Elder, who was in charge, quickly rallied everyone to exert their power simultaneously, and in an instant, the area around the cave was filled with a brilliant spiritual light.

The Golden-Maned Mountain-Splitting Lion was pushed backward several feet by the spiritual light, its four paws carving deep furrows into the rocks.

Then it stopped.

It wasn't forced to stop; it stopped on its own.

The Golden-Maned Mountain-Splitting Lion raised its head, opened its blood-red maw, and let out a deafening roar towards the sky.

That roar was different from the previous ones; it wasn't anger or intimidation, but a call.

The five elders looked at each other, wondering what it was doing, but its attacks did not stop.

Forget about this and that, killing it is the only right thing to do.

However, things didn't go as planned, and a purple light appeared on the horizon.

The light was extremely faint, as if it had been projected from a very, very far place.

But in just a moment, the purple streak appeared before everyone's eyes from the horizon.

No one saw how she arrived; all they knew was that one moment there was nothing on the horizon, and the next she was standing there.

It was a woman.

She wore a purple dress with a slit in the hem, revealing a section of her fair and slender legs.

Her features were extremely beautiful, with eyes like cold stars, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. Her face was expressionless, exuding only a natural aura of authority and nobility that made people afraid to look directly at her.

She just stood there, and the whole world seemed to shrink in size.

She floated in mid-air, looking down at the battle below. Her indifferent eyes held no emotion, as if she were watching a group of ants fight.

When the Golden-Maned Mountain-Splitting Lion saw her, it stopped roaring at the sky, lowered its massive body, and bowed its head, behaving as obediently as a dog seeing its master.

The woman raised her hand and slapped someone from a distance.

That palm strike had no spiritual energy fluctuations, no warning whatsoever, and was as light as a breeze.

However, the white-browed elder of the Li Huo Sect was struck in the chest by an invisible force. He flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing into a distant mountain wall. Blood gushed from his mouth, and his aura instantly weakened.

The remaining four elders were terrified. They abandoned their attack on the Lion King and retreated in unison, forming a defensive formation and keeping a close eye on the woman in the purple dress in mid-air.

At that moment, no one dared to speak, and no one dared to move.

They didn't know who this woman was or what her cultivation level was, but they knew that with a casual wave of her hand, she had severely injured an elder in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

This level of strength is at least at the combined form level, or even higher.

Seeing this, the Golden-Maned Mountain-Splitting Lion straightened up behind her, its amber vertical pupils sweeping over everyone, no longer showing its previous disheveled state.

The five elders dared not move, the lion king remained still, and the woman did not move either.

She floated in mid-air, her purple dress fluttering gently in the wind, her indifferent gaze sweeping over everyone present.

His gaze swept over the five pale-faced elders, over Lu Chen supporting Li Fei at the cave entrance, and over Tantai Qingxue and Yue Qinglan.

Then her gaze stopped.

It stopped on Lu Chen.

A flicker of emotion finally appeared in those indifferent eyes.

It wasn't anger, nor was it murderous intent, but rather... a glint of light!

That light was blindingly bright.

Lu Chen felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze, and cold sweat instantly broke out on his back.

He didn't know why this woman was targeting him. He was certain he had never seen her, never offended her, and had never even heard of her.

But when her gaze fell on him, he could sense that she recognized him.

It's not that I know them, it's that I recognize them.

An unfounded suspicion welled up in Lu Chen's mind.

The Joyful Union Sect... surely they're not going to give all their business to this Nascent Soul stage woman? No, what gives them the right? Their sect's strongest member is only at the early Nascent Soul stage, what gives them the right?

The woman in the purple dress in the sky slowly landed.

She was barefoot, her feet as white as jade, with a string of tiny gold bells tied around her ankles, which made a crisp sound with her movements.

Everyone held their breath.

Only Tantai Qingxue stood in front of Lu Chen, her spiritual power pushed to its limit, but her hands were trembling.

Yue Qinglan also came out of the cave.

Her injuries had not healed, and her cultivation had only recovered to 30%.

But she still walked step by step to the front, blocking everyone behind her, and looked up at the woman in the purple dress, her back straight.

"Zi Yao," Yue Qinglan called out her name.

The woman in the purple dress looked down at her, her gaze devoid of any emotion, as if she were looking at a stone.

Then her gaze passed over Yue Qinglan's head and landed on Lu Chen at the very back.

In an instant, Lu Chen felt as if he were being watched by a ferocious beast.

Like a rabbit seeing an eagle, like a deer encountering a lion, a lioness.

The woman named Ziyao finally showed emotion in her indifferent eyes—not greed, not possession, but a more primal, instinctive scrutiny.

Like a lioness evaluating a male lion.