"What do you think you’re doing?" Yuelan asked, her expression turning even more fearsome. "For someone who’s just a puny Spirit King, you sure have more than two balls to be trying this shit?"

"Aha. Yuelan, was it? It’s a pleasure to finally meet you," Luo Lian said, bowing slightly. "Your friend here has done some irreversible damage, so I’m just doing a little correcting."

"Is that so? Well, you can correctly fuck off then," Yuelan replied, pointing her swords at him. "I don’t care if you’re stronger. If I unleash my Domain, this whole dungeon’s going to fall apart, and then you’ll disappear too."

She had a Domain now? More importantly, was she actually planning on collapsing the dungeon?

Hearing that though, and knowing how problematic a dungeon collapse could be, Luo Lian lowered his sword. "Fine then. Let’s talk it out."

With that, he went ahead and stabbed his sword into the ground, leaning against it. "Yuelan, would you like to become a Core Disciple of the Thunder Sect?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Does this position come with the added bonus of being able to make a church?" Yuelan asked right off the bat.

Xuan already knew where she was going, but Luo Lian didn’t.

"A church?"

"Yep. I want followers, and I need a lot of money. If you can give me enough money to buy 10 churches, or actually, build 20 churches, then I agree," Yuelan said matter-of-factly once again.

Obviously, any sane person would find this deal ridiculous. Even Xuan knew how much bullshit she was currently spewing. And yet, no matter how either of the two looked at it, Luo Lian seemed to be genuinely contemplating this offer.

"Hmm..."

On a broad stance, this offer was ridiculous. Luo Lian knew she was only doing this just so he would refuse and they’d fight. But truthfully... A church wasn’t that expensive to build, considering the Orthodox Faction and the Heavenly Faction funded most church builds.

And as it so happens, the Thunder Sect were contributors. They’ve built so many churches from their own funds, and thus, they could build many more at a price that was barely negligible to their budget.

Then setting someone in charge? That was even easier. Alas, despite her giving such an outlandish idea, he was not against it. In fact, Luo Lian let out a chuckle and glanced straight into her eyes before saying:

"Will do. I’ll also give you our ancestor’s sword manual to learn. Not to mention, you get to be instructed by the finest swordmasters in our sect. Of course, you may think I’m tricking you, which is why I’d like to make something clear..."

Just then, Luo Lian placed a hand over his Dantian and muttered:

"I swear an oath under the heavens that I am being truthful, and my intentions are pure."

In the next instant, a wave of Qi washed over him, shining down as though it was bathing him. In reality though, it was just the Heavenly Tribulation checking whether what he had said was a lie, and once it confirmed that it wasn’t a lie, a small halo formed over his head for a brief moment, then vanished.

Neither Xuan nor Yuelan had ever seen something like this before. But even so, this did seem genuine, to an extent.

"Hmm... What about Xuan, then?" Yuelan asked. "I want him to come with me. He’s a good fighter too, but I feel like you lot would experiment on him. Anything we could do about that?"

Luo Lian thought about it for a moment, then sighed. "To be honest with you, he is someone whose boundaries seem like they’d crush our sect. If I let him be, I know I’ll regret it. I’ll regret it a lot..."

But he also knew if he refused, she wouldn’t accept him. In fact, she would go ahead and deny his request, saying that they were a package deal. Alas, he was once again forced to make a choice that was way out of his station.

Yet she was way too important to pass up, which was why he decided to make a compromise.

"Fine. No one will touch him. I promise that on the heavens as well," he said.

A halo appeared like before, then vanished. He didn’t even do the oath in the same way, but it still worked. What an odd party trick. Could Xuan do that too?

Maybe I shouldn’t try. If it’s linked to the Heavenly Faction, they’d probably strike me down instead of bless me.

He was sure of it, in fact.

So with that in mind, he glanced over at Luo Lian and after a brief moment, said:

"We’re currently with the Serene Blossom Valley. We plan to be there for a few months, or maybe years at minimum. Is it fine if we come and join you a bit later than planned?"

Luo Lian nodded. "In the world of cultivation, we don’t care much about days or years. It only starts being a long time when you promise decades. It’s fine. We can wait, and we’ll also know where you are during your stay, so no worries. We’ll be able to get in touch whenever possible."

With that, Luo Lian gave both of them a bow and suddenly vanished, peering through the portal as it was time to actually go back to his sect and discuss what he had just promised. There were many things he could likely not do, but even more that were in his jurisdiction.

For one... he needed to try really hard to convince the sect master and the other elders that Xuan wasn’t that big of a threat, even though he really was. So with that in mind, he continued his journey back to his sect, while Xuan and Yuelan just stared at the portal for a few moments.

Then, once Xuan noticed the lad from the Sun Sect steadily approaching in the distance, he decided to go through the portal, winning the tournament for Hanbi’s sect.