Gu Tianlin, after reading the imperial decree, retracted his intention to come clean.
If he told Xia Qingshao now and she refused to help him obtain the Qiankun Cover in a fit of rage, all his efforts would have gone to waste. It would be better to secure the Qiankun Cover first, and then explain everything to her once they were back in the Imperial Palace. It wasn't too late.
Gu Tianlin concocted a ruse, deceiving Xia Qingshao to go to Hengshan Sect to steal the Qiankun Cover for him.
At that moment, Xia Qingshao, deeply in love, complied with every request from her lover without a second thought, using her identity as the daughter of the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch to smoothly enter the Nine-story Tower and steal the Qiankun Cover.
Once Gu Tianlin had the Qiankun Cover in his possession, he and Xia Qingshao hastened toward the Imperial Palace on horseback.
Meanwhile, Shen Jinyou, suffering from the bouts of the Ice and Fire Poison, remained in an unconscious slumber.
