When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

The icy blue spiritual patterns between Yi Chen's brows and eyes lit up slightly, then dimmed again in an instant. The next moment, his pupils, which had been faintly revealing a demonic appearance, returned to normal.

He remained silent, glancing at Qiao Yu with downcast eyes, seemingly unaffected by her words.

"Hahahaha... What a... utterly ridiculous joke!" Qiao Yu coughed up blood, completely giving up. "You've been hiding your true colors, Immortal Lord Jixue? Ha, Immortal Lord... How laughable! With such ugly eyes, and the same filthy blood as us, you're actually aiding and abetting evil! They treat half-demons like monsters, wanting nothing more than to exterminate them, and you, cough, you're helping these people fight against your own kind?"

They were both half-demons despised by the world, and both beings intolerable to heaven and earth.

Yet she lay there in such a wretched state amidst the blood and filth, while Yi Chen, dressed in pristine white robes, remained untouched by the dust, posing as a lofty and aloof immortal lord.

Why should I?!

The spiritual barrier shut out all sound, and no one heard the girl's heart-wrenching question.

Thinking of her years of wandering, the cold looks and pursuit she suffered because of her identity, and the fact that she was about to die here, and that even this plan would fail, Qiao Yu felt a surge of hatred in her heart.

Where is he?

A cold voice rang out.

Qiao Yu was immersed in her resentment until a chilling coldness seeped into her body from the wound in her chest, causing her to whimper in pain and be forced to face Yi Chen's gaze again.

Yi Chen looked down at her, the last trace of warmth completely fading from his eyes. "Where is Chu Xianlan?"

From the moment he arrived, his divine sense had covered the entire Cliff of Contemplation, searching everywhere, but he could not find any trace of his disciple.

He wouldn't have spared Qiao Yu's life if he didn't need to find out Chu Xianlan's whereabouts.

Qiao Yu was stunned.

Suddenly, she snapped out of her madness, raised her bloodshot eyes, and a strange smile bloomed on her face, like a child who had successfully pulled off a prank.

"Oh, you mean Senior Brother Chu."

Qiao Yu's tone was full of pity as she looked at this seemingly lonely and aloof person, and scoffed. "Tsk, he's really fulfilling his duty as a master. You're here to see him?"

"What a pity... Senior Brother Chu was poisoned by my Gu, and he fell off the Cliff of Contemplation before you arrived."

"From such a height, there wasn't even a foothold. Falling straight down—bang! By now... he should be dead by now."

The girl's smile was serene and beautiful, and her voice was soft and gentle, but the deep malice and mockery within it could not be concealed, as if she wanted to turn into a needle and pierce into Yi Chen's heart.

As someone of the same kind, she knew the inherent ferocity and malice of half-demons. Even if Yi Chen remained calm and restrained, he might not be able to maintain his perfect immortal lord facade under such stimulation.

She hoped that cracks would appear on that perpetually aloof face.

However, she was disappointed.

After listening, Yi Chen's face remained expressionless, and he looked at her as if she were a dead object.

The untethered boat stuck in her chest trembled slightly, and Qiao Yu suddenly felt afraid, her body curling up uncontrollably.

"No, no," her voice trembled with panic for the first time, her words incoherent, "Yi Chen! You can't kill me, you can't kill me...! We are the same kind, I... I have a very important mission..."

The next moment, the extremely sharp and icy sword intent froze Qiao Yu's heart. Her whole body stiffened, her pupils dilated, and she died on the spot.

The ice-based spiritual energy barrier surrounding them dissipated.

Just then, Pei Fang'an, along with several elders and some elite disciples, hurriedly arrived at Siguo Cliff to clean up the mess.

"Junior brother!" Pei Fang'an had just finished dealing with the commotion in various parts of the sect when he arrived and saw that the half-demon had been executed on the spot by Yi Chen. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The disciples all felt lingering fear.

After the great battle, the Cliff of Contemplation was in complete disarray. If it weren't for Immortal Lord Jixue's intervention, the Spirit Gathering Array would have been broken, and the half-demon would have run rampant. Not only would the Thousand-Gathering Cold Iron have been lost, but the entire sect would have suffered heavy losses.

"Immortal Lord Anhe, we found a storage pouch on her! The Thousand-Condensed Cold Iron is indeed here!" a disciple reported loudly.

Pei Fang'an took the storage pouch, then leaned closer to Yi Chen and looked him up and down. "Junior brother, thank goodness you were here. You weren't hurt, were you? Sigh, with the sudden appearance of a half-demon, the turmoil of the demon race during the lunar eclipse, and the destruction of the array eye stone, tell me, how did such a commotion suddenly arise..."

Yi Chen shook his head slightly, his silver hair obscuring most of his face, making it impossible to see his expression.

He walked to the edge of the Cliff of Contemplation, closed his eyes and focused his mind on sensing something... until he detected a faint, yet palpable, scent of blood.

Yi Chen's eyes flickered slightly as he glanced down the cliff. Without the slightest hesitation, he leaped off.

Pei Fang'an was still rambling on about analyzing the situation when he turned around and found that his side was empty. He only vaguely heard a sentence, "This place is yours," before his junior brother disappeared.

Where is he?!

The disciples looked at each other in bewilderment, and remained completely silent.

Jump...jump off a cliff? Is that something I can say?

Below the Cliff of Contemplation, thick, withered trees and ancient vines clung to the rock face, and a figure in pure white silently landed on a relatively flat platform on the cliff.

A broken half of the Immortal Binding Rope hung beside the withered tree, picked up by a slender, jade-like hand.

Another section of the Immortal Binding Rope was loosely wrapped around the boy's wrist. Chu Xianlan leaned against the corner of the mountain wall, curled up with his eyes closed and breathing softly. Stray hairs on his forehead clung to the edge of the small mole under his eyebrow, and his robes were torn in several places by the gravel.

It's clear that they struggled to save themselves during the fall, which is how they landed on this barely shelterable platform.

Yi Chen placed his fingertips on the other person's pulse, and felt a little more at ease.

Fortunately, it's just a temporary coma, nothing serious.

The reason why the master-disciple contract could not be sensed earlier was because Chu Xianlan lost consciousness and was unable to maintain the master-disciple contract with spiritual power.

Remembering the Gu poison that Qiao Yu mentioned before she died, he dared not delay any longer and stepped forward to take the person away from this place first.

Yi Chen bent down, not minding that the other person was covered in sand and blood. His fingertips touched the boy's waist, preparing to pick him up horizontally. However, Chu Xianlan's body trembled slightly, his eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes slowly opened.

At first, his gaze was unfocused, but after a moment it settled on the other person's face, which was so close to his.

"...Master?" The boy's voice was soft and hoarse.

"it's me."

"What are you doing here?"

Such a question and answer might seem a bit silly, but Yi Chen still patiently replied, "You fell off the cliff and were injured. Your master will take you back to heal your wounds." As he spoke, he reached out again to pick the person up.

The faint, hazy moonlight pierced through the layers of withered branches above, falling on the handsome, godlike face of the white-robed swordsman.

Chu Xianlan seemed to be a beat behind, still staring intently at Yi Chen with her moist and slightly misty eyes.

After staring at it for a while, he chuckled foolishly.

Then, without warning, he raised his hand and boldly cupped the other person's cheek.

Yi Chen was startled, suddenly feeling a rapid breath on his lips. He subconsciously stepped back, only to see Chu Xianlan lean closer, scrutinizing him closely with their noses almost touching, and murmuring, "Master, your eyes... are so beautiful."

The tone was as if he were praising something priceless.