Among the insect race, the breeding mother was the weakest in defense. Barely after meeting the "Heaven's Punishment" squad head-on, it was hacked into countless pieces. What followed was everyone's time to collect its golden blood.
Once the fight was settled, the group gathered again. Jian Mao casually tossed a jade bottle to Jian Dan.
"Thanks for the gift, Senior Brother."
Jian Dan accepted it without hesitation, placing the white jade bottle straight into her storage bracelet.
"Senior Brother is quick, but I've also prepared a bottle for you, Junior Sister."
Jian Jing's brisk voice rang out as she tossed a storage bottle, smiling at Jian Dan.
"Many thanks for the thought, Senior Sister. I won't be greedy. I've already accepted what Senior Brother gave me. Yours, keep for yourself."
Jian Dan's eyes crinkled with a smile.
"Fine then. I'll hold onto it for you, but don't say I wasn't thinking of you later."
As Jian Jing put away her bottle, Jian Dan's gaze swept outward. Someone was attacking her barrier.
"Chuan!"
Liu Chuan instantly drew back his branches from the mountain range, retracting them into Jian Dan's wrist in a flash.
"Senior Brothers, Senior Sister, wait here a moment. I'll take a look. Use this time to restore yourselves."
After all, even a clean battle still consumed energy.
Everyone nodded in agreement. With Jian Lu's barrier up, they could not leave for now anyway.
Jian Dan, with Yue Liang by her side, stepped through the barrier and emerged before the intruders.
A single glance told her it was an old acquaintance—Hao Meng from the Nine Fiends Hall. His cultivation had reached late-stage Divine Soul peak. Behind him stood a group of Nine Fiends Hall Nascent Soul cultivators.
Hao Meng froze at the sight of a female cultivator walking out of the barrier, especially one who was clearly a high-level Dao cultivator. Then he caught sight of her robes and immediately recognized her as a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
"I am Hao Meng of the Nine Fiends Hall. I did not know a senior was here. I feared an ambush and thus intruded rashly…"
Hao Meng knew his place. He bowed with cupped fists, speaking with extreme caution.
Jian Dan merely glanced at him, not bothering to answer. Instead, she asked directly:
"This isn't Nine Fiends Hall's territory."
Sweeping her divine sense out, she realized they were within the Chimei Mountain Range. If she recalled correctly, this was the outermost range belonging to the Heavenly Demon Palace.
Behind the Chimei Mountains lay the Chonglin Mountains of the Heavenly Sword Sect. They were already very close to sect territory.
Moreover, this range contained a spirit vein that stretched across both ranges, currently co-mined by the two sects. After confirming the location, Jian Dan condensed a flying sword message in her hand and sent it to Mo Su, summoning him here at once.
Ever since returning with Mo Yao Zhenzun of the Heavenly Demon Palace, Mo Su and Mo Yi had met with Palace Master Mo Lie, reporting in detail about his encounter with Jian Lu Zūnshàng and the extermination of the evil cultivators.
When Palace Master Mo Lie learned that something foreign had been placed inside his disciple—even if it was an immortal artifact—he was unsettled.
He immediately probed with a wisp of demonic qi, but found nothing. So he took Mo Su to see Mo Yan Zhenzun.
Mo Yan, seeing Mo Lie's overly cautious face, felt sour amusement. He decided against revealing that Jian Lu was actually Mo Yue.
Instead, Mo Yan extended a thread of demonic power, but this time he struck directly at Mo Su's heart meridian. The instant the attack landed, the half-red Everlasting Heart Knot within Mo Su manifested, shielding his entire heart.
Far away in the Heavenly Sword Sect, Jian Hu felt the resonance. The half-Everlasting Heart Knot at his chest faintly surfaced. His chest tightened, and the flames under the black insect shell he was refining wavered. Mo Su was under attack?
Startled, Mo Su blurted out: "Shizu!"
The moment the Everlasting Heart Knot appeared, Zhenzun Mo Yan withdrew his power. Turning to Mo Lie, he said:
"No harm. This simply means Mo Su has gained another life."
Then he looked to Mo Su:
"The hidden danger in your body has been resolved. The immortal artifact won't harm you. In fact, it benefits you. Use it with caution."
Mo Su immediately bowed deeply.
"Many thanks, Shizu. Mo Su will remember."
Thus, the matter was settled. From then on, Mo Su busied himself assisting his master with Heavenly Demon Palace affairs.
Meanwhile, Mo Yi, mission complete, slipped away to find Senior Sister Mo Qi to gossip. He had heard she just emerged from seclusion and had missed a great battle. Mo Yi was determined to brag.
One day, as Mo Su was reviewing jade slips in the Heavenly Demon Hall, a guard entered with a flying sword.
"Mo Su Zūnzhǔ, this is a sword message for you."
Mo Su read it, brows furrowing. He looked up at Palace Master Mo Lie.
"Master, Jian Lu Zūnshàng is currently in the Chimei Mountains. It seems she has discovered something and requests my immediate presence."
"Her again?"
Mo Lie's tone soured. He already harbored irritation toward this Heavenly Sword Sect cultivator rumored to wield two ancient weapons. Yet, his current strength was slightly lacking, leaving him unable to confront her directly.
Mo Su knew well his master's temperament. He shook his head helplessly and said:
"Palace Master, please dispatch a squad of Black Robe Guards with me. I will go see the matter through."
This time, Mo Lie did not refuse. He raised his command token and issued the order.
Moments later, the "Mo" squad of nine departed the Heavenly Demon Palace with Mo Su.
Mo Su tore through the void and arrived before Jian Dan, startling Hao Meng.
"Mo Su greets Jian Lu Zūnshàng!"
Mo Su and his team saluted. Jian Dan raised her hand in a light gesture and smiled.
"No need for formality. I was escorting my sectmates back to the sect when a mishap in transmission sent us here. By coincidence, we uncovered something."
Hao Meng, who had been standing with head bowed, caught Mo Su's words and froze. So this was the very cultivator rumored to be a Heavenly Sword Sect powerhouse in possession of two ancient artifacts. His mind turned quickly, calculating.
Jian Dan, however, only spared him a fleeting glance, thinking to herself that a dog never changes its nature.
Then, in front of all, she raised her right hand and dissolved the barrier.
The magnolia flower that had been in full bloom returned to a bud in her palm. Behind her, Jian Mao and the nine squad members appeared, along with the ravaged mountain range.
Hao Meng and his Nascent Soul demon cultivators gasped. Intimidated by the sheer aura of the Heavenly Sword Sect, they instinctively stepped back several paces. Hao Meng immediately dropped any lingering schemes.
Mo Su looked upon the overturned mountains and the heaps of insect corpses. Nothing more needed to be said.
"Many thanks for Zūnshàng's intervention."
Jian Dan waved a hand dismissively.
"The insect race is our common enemy. Once discovered, how could we not act?"
By then, the Heaven's Punishment squad had finished restoring their energy. When the barrier fell, they gathered beside Jian Dan.
"Mo Su of the Heavenly Demon Palace greets the Zūnshàngs."
Mo Su and his squad bowed.
Jian Mao nodded, then turned to Jian Dan. "All handled?"
"Yes. This is Heavenly Demon Palace territory. They will handle the aftermath."
"Then we return to the sect."
Jian Dan gave Mo Su a nod and was just about to leave when he handed her a jade slip.
"Zūnshàng, I must trouble you to deliver this to Chen Feng. A few days ago, my Everlasting Heart Knot was triggered. I fear it may have alarmed him."
Jian Dan chuckled and accepted the jade slip with a wave.
"I'll see to it."
"Thank you, Zūnshàng."
Jian Mao had already torn open the void. The squad stepped through one after another, leaving only Jian Dan and Jian Jing.
Jian Dan let her gaze sweep twice over Hao Meng and his men. The hair on his back stood on end. The Nascent Soul cultivators behind him didn't even dare to breathe.
Finally, Jian Dan cast Hao Meng one last look, then turned and stepped into the void, vanishing from sight.