Baiyun secretly sighed in relief.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Su Zhiyun had finally lowered her hands that had been covering A Ran and Xiao Mu’s eyes, though her expression still looked somewhat unpleasant.
“Mm, that looks much better.”
Jiu Baiyun nodded, acknowledging their new look.
“From now on, within the sect’s territory, especially when… um, when other humans are around, maintain this form.”
“Yes, Young Lord!”
Zhu Shi and Zhu Le straightened their backs and immediately responded.
They now understood what the Young Lord was worried about.
It was indeed not good for demons to appear in a human sect.
At most, when there were people around, they would just maintain this form, as long as Jiu Baiyun didn’t drive them away!
Bai Ya, seeing this, his small mung-bean-like eyes darted around, and the flattering smile on his face piled up even thicker.
He rubbed his hands together and stepped forward half a step, as if he wanted to strive for a chance to perform, such as leaving a few clever little Mysterious Rat Demons to help with tasks and run errands.
Jiu Baiyun’s gaze swept over the few people with varied expressions in front of him.
However, he didn’t give him a chance to speak and simply raised his hand and waved lightly.
“Alright, that’s settled.”
“Zhu Shi and Zhu Le will stay to guard the gate. The rest of you may leave first.”
His eyes passed over Bai Ya, Qing Ling, and Ku Mu, finally resting on Zhu Shi and Zhu Le, who had already put on the wide white robes and, despite being uncomfortable, were trying hard to stand straight.
This confirmed their new positions.
The sect had just been established, and the system showed many pending matters.
Jiu Baiyun didn’t want to waste time here.
As for Zhu Shi and Zhu Le, since they had already agreed to guard the gate, Jiu Baiyun wouldn’t stand on ceremony and would use them as needed.
When Zhu Shi and Zhu Le heard Jiu Baiyun’s words, they showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever.
Instead, excited expressions appeared on their faces.
“Yes, Young Lord!”
Ku Mu remained as calm as ever, only slightly nodding at the words and responding hoarsely, “Yes.”
Then he said no more, turned around, and walked away with a faltering step.
His figure quickly merged into the shadows among the trees, as if he had never been there.
A hint of imperceptible complexity flickered across Qing Ling’s beautiful face, but she soon regained her respectful expression.
“Qing Ling takes her leave. If the Young Lord has any orders, Qixia Peak is always at your service.”
Her cyan figure leaped gracefully into the air, turning into a streak of light and disappearing into the southeastern sky.
Bai Ya was interrupted by Jiu Baiyun’s wave, and the flattering smile on his face froze for a moment.
But a sharp light flashed in his small mung-bean eyes, and he immediately filled his expression with understanding and compliance.
He quickly bowed, his voice still sharp and enthusiastic.
“Yes, yes, yes! Young Lord, please attend to your affairs! Establishing a sect involves countless threads—we won’t disturb you! We’ll take our leave now! Brothers Zhu Shi and Zhu Le, do a good job! Watch the gate well!”
As he spoke, he winked and gestured at Zhu Shi and Zhu Le, then gave Jiu Baiyun a deep bow before leading his group of clever Mysterious Rat Demons, with a few swish sounds, quickly burrowing into ground holes or bushes and vanishing without a trace.
In the blink of an eye, on the open sect square at the mountaintop, only Jiu Baiyun, Su Zhiyun, A Ran, Xiao Mu, and Zhu Shi and Zhu Le remained.
Jiu Baiyun looked at their tense, ready-for-battle posture, as if they were preparing to charge into combat rather than stand guard, and couldn’t help twitching the corner of his mouth again.
“Alright, just stand in front of the gate. I’m not asking you to fight, so don’t be so nervous.”
Seeing that Zhu Shi and Zhu Le, despite wearing the awkward white robes, were still trying hard to stand straight, one on each side of the ancient and heavy sect gate, Jiu Baiyun nodded slightly, and the tension in his heart eased a bit.
Without saying more, Jiu Baiyun turned and faced the enormous door made of unknown spirit wood, raised his hand, and gently pressed it.
Creak—
The heavy sect gate emitted a long groaning sound as it slowly closed inward, finally shutting tightly without a gap.
The moment the doors closed, the protective formation runes carved on the door flickered faintly and then faded, and an invisible barrier separated the inside from the outside.
Inside the sect, only mist-like spirit qi flowed quietly among the buildings, along with the solemn and majestic aura emanating from the Core Hall.
With the doors closed, it isolated not only Zhu Shi and Zhu Le outside but also any possible prying eyes.
The atmosphere immediately became much lighter.
Sigh—
Su Zhiyun also let out a long breath, her tense shoulders relaxing.
The pressure from those great demons earlier was considerable, even though they were very respectful to Jiu Baiyun and didn’t release any power or hostility toward them.
But if high-level cultivators didn’t deliberately restrain themselves, they naturally exerted an invisible pressure on those of lower cultivation.
Having endured for so long, she could finally relax now.
Jiu Baiyun also breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, he wasn’t familiar with those great demons, and his own strength was currently not that great.
If they hadn’t regarded him as the bloodline of the Fox Demon Lord, facing these great demons would have been quite dangerous.
Rubbing his slightly weakened ears, Jiu Baiyun turned and signaled to Su Zhiyun, A Ran, and Xiao Mu.
“Come on, let’s go take a look inside.”
The sect was established very quickly, and they had only taken a rough glance.
They still needed to see the interior with their own eyes.
The four walked along the newly appeared square ground, which glowed with a warm luster of green jade, toward the Core Hall at the center.
The hall’s doors were tightly shut.
The golden characters “Spirit Nurturing” on the plaque above were restrained in their glow, yet still emanated a reassuring pressure.
Just as they reached the steps in front of the hall, A Ran and Xiao Mu, who had been holding back a lot of questions, could no longer contain themselves.
Xiao Mu raised her little face, her big eyes full of disbelief.
She tugged at Jiu Baiyun’s sleeve, her voice filled with doubt and amazement.
“Brother Baiyun, this… this big house, and these paths, and this mist… did you make all of this appear?”
Her little hand gestured in the air, trying to describe the earth-shattering scene that had just happened in an instant.
A Ran took a deep breath, still a bit nervous.
“Big Brother Jiu… why did those people call you Young Lord?”
Su Zhiyun had felt the pressure too, and of course she had.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have stayed silent and hidden behind Su Zhiyun all along.
When she heard A Ran’s question, Su Zhiyun also turned her gaze over.
There had been too many things happening just now, and with other people around, she was actually a bit curious, but she had more important matters, so she didn’t ask.
‘Could it be that Jiu Baiyun has some hidden identity?’
Looking at the gazes directed at him, even with a hint of anticipation, Jiu Baiyun felt a mix of laughter and frustration.
‘What’s so interesting about this gossip!’
Shaking his head, Jiu Baiyun first looked at Xiao Mu.
He also understood that Su Zhiyun didn’t want to expose her golden finger, so he simply said:
“Yes, I did it. Xiao Mu will be able to do this too once she becomes a powerful cultivator in the future!”
As he spoke, he patted Xiao Mu’s head and gave her an encouraging look.
Then, Jiu Baiyun turned his gaze to A Ran and Su Zhiyun and said a bit helplessly:
“What else could it be?”
“Didn’t I mention it before… I share the same bloodline as the Fox Immortal.”
This made Su Zhiyun pause slightly.
It seemed like he really had said something like that.
“So, it’s because of the Fox Immortal?”
“Has the Lord Fox Immortal been here?”
Su Zhiyun and A Ran asked almost simultaneously.
Hearing their repeated questions, Jiu Baiyun said somewhat grumpily:
“How could the Fox Immortal have come here… It’s because some other elder of our clan beat them up here before, and they still have psychological trauma.”