After making the necessary arrangements, Yi Tianyun and Shi Xueyun mounted the Black Dragon and flew directly toward the Cyan Profound Mansion at incredible speed. After the recent battles, the Black Dragon’s cultivation had skyrocketed. It had now reached the third level of the Spirit Pill Stage, making it far stronger than before. As a result, its flight speed was also much faster.

"Aunt, do you not plan on asking me why my cultivation is suddenly so high? Or how it’s improving so fast?" Yi Tianyun suddenly brought up the question. Aside from the first time she’d asked, she hadn’t mentioned it since.

His initial explanation—the cliché excuse of receiving help from a powerful expert—was one thing, but the speed of his breakthroughs was simply unbelievable. It defied all common sense. Within a single month, he had become strong enough to kill cultivators at the Core Formation Stage.

"Why should I ask?" Shi Xueyun said with a faint smile. "As long as you’re still my Tianyun, that’s enough. No matter what you do, I’ll be with you... If you were to die from a cultivation deviation, I would watch over your grave until my own death. I would never leave your side."

Her calm tone belied the depth of her words.

"Aunt..." Yi Tianyun was stunned. He never thought Shi Xueyun would say such a thing, that she would trust him so unconditionally.

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy. The topic was clearly a sorrowful one.

Shi Xueyun glanced at him, then looked ahead and said casually, "I had considered dying with you, but if I did, who would be left to burn incense for you? Who would pay their respects? ... Just being able to watch over you is enough."

Yi Tianyun was deeply moved. He reached out and gently pulled Shi Xueyun close, a lump in his throat preventing him from speaking. Shi Xueyun said nothing, simply leaning quietly against his side. Suddenly, she looked up with a radiant smile. "I’m not sure when it happened, but your chest has gotten so firm. It wasn’t like this before."

"Is that so? Then rest here a while longer." Yi Tianyun, not knowing what to say, just threw out a casual remark.

"Mmm..." Shi Xueyun hummed in response and continued to lie in his arms, closing her eyes and seemingly savoring the tranquility.

Carried by the Black Dragon, the two of them returned to the Celestial Realm Continent and flew straight toward the Cyan Profound Mansion. Yi Tianyun had asked about its location before, so he had a general idea of where to go.

"Aunt, we’re almost there," Yi Tianyun said, his expression turning grim as a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Mmm..." Shi Xueyun murmured softly, not moving from her position against his chest.

Down below, people looked up and were stunned by the sight. A man and a woman riding a massive black dragon, looking for all the world like a celestial couple.

"A Black Dragon! Someone is actually using a Divine Beast as a mount! I’ve never seen anything like it in my life..."

"To use a Divine Beast as a mount, they must be at least a disciple from a fourth-grade faction... That’s terrifying..."

"Which Empire could they be from? What are they doing here?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

...

The Cultivators they passed below pointed and stared, utterly stunned by the scene. Even though Yi Tianyun had chosen a remote flight path, they still inevitably encountered some people.

「Meanwhile, at the Cyan Profound Mansion.」

It was a day like any other.

"I wonder how the Mansion Master and the others are doing. Merak Palace is probably finished by now... Hehe, I hear Merak Palace has a lot of female disciples. If they’re all brought back, we’ll be in for a treat, won’t we?"

One of the deacons, a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, smirked with a lecherous look on his face.

"Hehe, you’re right. All those young girls, so fresh and tender. We can bring them back and ’play’ with them for a bit, then sell them off to the brothels. Female disciples who can cultivate fetch a very high price..." another deacon chimed in with a sinister laugh, already imagining what he would do to the captured women.

It wasn’t just the deacons. The other disciples were all convinced that Merak Palace was about to be completely overrun.

"I heard Merak Palace used some despicable trick to kill our elders. Hehe, with so many of our elders on the attack, there’s no way they’ll survive! We’ll capture all of them and turn them into our slave girls!"

"’Slave girls’ is so crude. Let’s call them our personal handmaidens. They can be a reward for us Core Disciples—one for each of us... Just the thought of it is thrilling. All of them are tender young Cultivators, so much better than commoners."

"Exactly! It’s their own fault for provoking our Cyan Profound Mansion. We’ll stomp Merak Palace flat and show them our power! Making them slave girls is letting them off easy. Their entire line should be enslaved for generations to come!"

They were incredibly arrogant and looked down on a worthless sect like Merak Palace. The difference between a first-grade and a third-grade faction was like the distance between heaven and earth—an unbridgeable chasm.

"’Slaves for generations to come?’ Such big words. Do you really think becoming a third-grade faction makes you the strongest in the world?"

Just then, a black dragon descended from the sky, landing with a heavy THUD in the Cyan Profound Mansion’s Martial Arts Plaza. The ground shook from the impact, drawing everyone’s attention. The sight of the enormous Black Dragon terrified them.

"A D-Divine Beast... a Black Dragon?"

They had never seen a member of the Dragon Race in person, but they had heard descriptions and seen them in illustrated books. The Black Dragon before their very eyes dredged up those memories.

"W-who are you?" they stammered, their bodies trembling under the terrifying pressure. The sheer force of its landing was overwhelming.

"Us?" Yi Tianyun and Shi Xueyun dismounted as he summoned the giant Snow Wolf to his side. He stared at them, his voice like ice. "Aren’t we from that ’worthless’ Merak Palace you were just talking about? Your elders and your Mansion Master are all dead. Now, only you remain... I was actually debating whether or not to spare you. But now... I’ll just say this: if you manage to escape, it’ll be by your own skill. If you can’t, then this place will be your grave!"

"Attack!"

With a wave of Yi Tianyun’s hand, the two Divine Pets—the Black Dragon and the Snow Wolf—pounced. The Black Dragon’s massive body was especially effective at demolishing buildings.

As his pets charged, Yi Tianyun exchanged a smile with Shi Xueyun. "Let’s go clean out the Cyan Profound Mansion’s vaults. We’ll take every Treasure and all of their Martial Arts. These are our spoils of war!"

They had to hurry and grab everything before it was taken. Otherwise, it would be a repeat of last time, when the three factions were annihilated, but by the time they got there, everything had been looted clean. This time was different. The remaining disciples at the Cyan Profound Mansion were still in the dark, so they still had time.

[Ding! Successfully killed a Cyan Profound Mansion disciple. Obtained 10,000 Experience, 200 Madness Value...]

[Ding! Successfully killed a Cyan Profound Mansion deacon. Obtained...]

As they headed for the vaults, notifications continually popped up, netting him a steady stream of experience. He’d always had a particular thought. ’If I have enough pets, I won’t even have to lift a finger. I could lie at home sleeping and still rake in countless experience points. Now *that* would be the ultimate way to level up!’