Chapter 42: Yunzhou and the Talent Recruitment Assembly

One week later.

The situation in Liangzhou had changed dramatically.

The Bafeng Sect officially declared war on the Tianshuimen, but with the loss of Duan Xinyuan and Su Cheng, how could the Tianshuimen possibly compete with the Bafeng Sect?

Unsurprisingly, the Tianshuimen chose to surrender, and the Old Sect Master of the Bafeng Sect was “generous” enough to go with the flow, accepting the leaderless Tianshuimen and merging it with the Bafeng Sect, officially becoming the largest power in Liangzhou.

Meanwhile, the news of the deaths of the twin heroes of Yizhou, Li Tianhan and Wanhai Jiu, spread throughout the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

However, both the Cold Sword Sect and Wanhua Hall had deep foundations.

After the fall of their sect masters, successors quickly took their places, so the situation in Yizhou remained unchanged.

The world was filled with doubts about the deaths of these two.

Why did they both die together on the cliffs outside Jintang County?

What were they planning to do there?

Various mysteries stirred many people’s speculation and conjecture.

Yet, it was as if an invisible hand was controlling everything behind the scenes.

All the rumors and guesses about the cause of death of Li Tianhan and Wanhai Jiu were completely suppressed, and to this day, including within the Cold Sword Sect and Wanhua Hall, no one spoke of the matter anymore.

And the “culprit” behind all of this, Yu Yi, was at this moment leisurely drinking clear tea Among the Colorful Clouds, listening to Huang Doudou report the week’s investigation results one by one.

“Most likely, the Yan Emperor used some means to shut everyone’s mouths.”

Yu Yi said calmly.

“He desires Su Cheng so much—what could his intentions be?”

“This… disciple truly couldn’t find out.”

Huang Doudou said guiltily.

“Master, you know as well as I do. Though there are many unique factions in the world, the land they tread is still the territory of Great Yan.”

“No matter how proud a cultivator is, they have to show some respect to the Imperial Family of Great Yan. But no one dares to discuss palace matters lightly…”

“No matter.”

Yu Yi waved her hand.

“As your master, I don’t have time to deal with him right now. The urgent matter is still to find Chi Ming and remove the Frozen Sword Intent from Su Cheng’s leg.”

Just as Yu Yi said, compared to investigating why the Yan Emperor covets Su Cheng, the most important thing now was to save Su Cheng’s leg.

This was also a chance Yu Yi was giving to the Imperial Family of Great Yan.

If, during her search for Chi Ming, the Imperial Family of Great Yan chose to withdraw, she didn’t mind pretending nothing had happened.

But if the Imperial Family of Great Yan still had designs on Su Cheng, then Yu Yi would have to take certain necessary measures.

“As for little junior sister, ever since she parted ways with Sixth Junior Sister, her whereabouts have been erratic. It won’t be easy to track her down in the short term.”

Huang Doudou continued to report.

Yu Yi frowned at this.

It was not hard to see that Chi Ming was very lost right now.

She wandered the world, not knowing where her true home was, not knowing where she should go, or where she could go.

Her movements were unpredictable, making it not only difficult to find her, but also hard to even predict her next steps.

Fortunately, over the past week, Su Cheng’s leg showed no signs of worsening, and she herself seemed to “enjoy” the feeling of being confined, so there was no need to be overly anxious in searching for Chi Ming.

“And?”

Yu Yi asked Huang Doudou for more information.

“That ordinary family almost wiped out by Sixth Junior Sister, I’ve tracked them down.”

Huang Doudou reported.

“The family name is Fang. Back then, the whole family betrayed and sold out Sixth Junior Sister. In the end, only the daughter living elsewhere survived. The daughter is a martial cultivator named Fang Xiaoyu.”

“Go on.”

Yu Yi said calmly.

Indeed, this family betrayed Su Cheng, but in truth, they were also victims.

Yu Yi didn’t care whether they were innocent or not.

Since Su Cheng’s arrogance at the time prevented her from handling the matter properly, causing Fang Xiaoyu to lose her family, Yu Yi felt responsible for compensating her.

“As a martial cultivator, Fang Xiaoyu’s talent isn’t outstanding, and her cultivation is low. Because of this, she hasn’t joined any faction over the years, and is still a scattered cultivator.”

Huang Doudou said:

“However, Fang Xiaoyu is well-liked. Wherever she goes, she makes friends easily, so it was simple for me to trace her whereabouts.”

“So where is she now?”

“Yunzhou.”

Huang Doudou explained:

“Word is, in a few days, Yunzhou will host the once-in-a-decade , attracting many scattered cultivators. Fang Xiaoyu is among them.”

“Yunzhou… Recruitment Assembly…”

Yu Yi muttered softly, as a revived memory flooded her mind.

Yunzhou—a place no demonic path disciple dared to set foot in lightly.

There, righteous factions flourished; the Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang Sects of all levels existed.

They allied with each other, united, and together maintained the harmony and stability of Yunzhou.

Because so many righteous factions guarded it, demonic path forces found it hard to gain a foothold in Yunzhou.

Even common bandits and thieves dared not target Yunzhou Commoners, only fleeing to other prefectures to commit crimes.

Being able to live in Yunzhou was the dream of countless ordinary people.

The Recruitment Assembly, as the name implied, was a large-scale event where Yunzhou’s factions recruited fresh blood according to their needs.

From Huang-level factions to Heaven-level factions, all sent representatives to welcome scattered cultivators from all over.

Held once every ten years, the event must be truly grand.

Just as Yu Yi reached this point, seven blurry figures suddenly flashed through her mind.

She tried to see their faces clearly, but a stabbing pain exploded in her head.

Yu Yi clutched her head in agony.

Huang Doudou rushed over.

“Master, master, what’s wrong?!”

“It’s nothing… just a bit of a headache.”

“Is it the aftereffect from your previous breakthrough acting up again?”

“Mm… something like that.”

Yu Yi felt unwilling, trying to recall the memory again, but another wave of pain stopped her.

That memory was like a forbidden land. Before fulfilling certain conditions, Yu Yi could not approach it.

The arrival of the Recruitment Assembly awakened memories of those seven shadowy figures.

Could it be that the original owner of this body, Yu Yi Jue, had also participated in the Recruitment Assembly many years ago?

Could those seven people have a special connection to me?

“That area… can only be explored later.”

Yu Yi thought silently.

When she first took over the original body, she looked to be about twenty years old, but now she realized this could not be her true age.

The original Yu Yi Jue’s past must be far richer than she had imagined.

Yu Yi felt no need to dig into the past eagerly.

Let it come naturally, and wait for the memories to surface.

When she returned to normal, Yu Yi found that little Huang Doudou was lying on her knee, eyes brimming with tears, looking up as if deeply worried about her health.

“I’m fine.”

Yu Yi gently stroked Huang Doudou’s little head and smiled.

“Doudou, you were worried about me.”

“Whew… that’s good.”

Huang Doudou let out a long sigh of relief.

“If Master isn’t well, my reward would be lost…”

Yu Yi: “…”

“So that’s what you were worried about?”

Yu Yi’s smile turned sinister.

“Uh… no, Master, let me explain. While I am looking forward to the reward, I do care about Master too…”

“No need to explain. Take off your pants.”

“Eek! M-Master… your face is scary… wait, I’ll do it myself…”

“Pa! Pa!! Pa!!!”

“Master, it hurts! S-so painful—I’m going to split into eight pieces—”

Listen, how happily she screams.