Xuan Qinghong met her gaze, but after only a few seconds, he averted his eyes. "I dislike being disturbed."
Bai Ran didn't doubt him, assuming her master was famous in the upper realm and disliked being bothered.
However, to her surprise, Wen Yan and Jiang Ye voluntarily stood guard at the entrance of the residence, acting as sentries.
She narrowed her eyes, sensing something was amiss.
"I'm going out. You continue your usual cultivation in the residence," Xuan Qinghong instructed Bai Ran before leaving.
"Master! Have we arrived in the upper realm?" Zhu Que exclaimed excitedly, eager to explore.
Bai Ran waved her hand, releasing Zhu Que. "As you wish, let's go for a stroll."
First, to understand the differences between the middle and upper realms, and second, to learn about the major powers in the upper realm.
Just as they were about to step out of the residence, Wen Yan spoke up, "I advise you to stay inside."
Hearing this, Bai Ran let out a soft laugh. "What? Are you going to stop us from leaving this residence?"
Wen Yan turned around, looking at her coldly. "We are no longer under your control."
No longer under her control... Bai Ran's smile vanished. "What do you mean?"
His gaze was utterly indifferent. "The verbal restraints on us have been lifted."
In the middle realm, their powers were limited by the laws of heaven to the peak strength of that realm, the Void Refinement stage.
Upon reaching the upper realm, however, they had ascended to the upper realm's highest cultivation level, the Tribulation Transcending stage.
This meant that Wen Yan and Jiang Ye were now immeasurably stronger than Bai Ran.
"As far as I know, lifting a verbal restraint requires the blood of the person who cast it, meaning the Divine Emperor's blood," Bai Ran's mind raced with a terrible suspicion. "But... there's another possibility."
"One only needs someone stronger than the Divine Emperor to forcibly break the verbal restraint."
During this time, they had been following her and her master...
Bai Ran's face changed drastically. It was her master... Xuan Qinghong had lifted their verbal restraints!
But wasn't his cultivation only at the Tribulation Transcending stage? How could he break a restraint set by the Divine Emperor?
The answer was self-evident... Xuan Qinghong was stronger than the Divine Emperor.
Bai Ran's expression turned grim. This was bad... Wen Yan and Jiang Ye's powers had greatly increased, and their verbal restraints were gone, trapping her here.
From the looks of it, the two in front of her were acting on Xuan Qinghong's orders. But why... had Xuan Qinghong alone lifted their restraints, causing them to abandon the Divine Emperor and defect to him?
Piece by piece, the clues converged in Bai Ran's mind, leading to an unbelievable conclusion.
She lowered her head, gritting her teeth. "That Xuan Qinghong... he's someone under the Divine Emperor... isn't he?"
Or rather... was he truly Xuan Qinghong?
Wen Yan chuckled and began to clap. "As expected of the young master, you've perfectly inherited the Divine Emperor's intelligence."
Zhu Que glared at him. "We want to go out, what about it!"
Just like the first time she saw him, Wen Yan's smile was incredibly gentle. "With your abilities, you can't defeat us two."
Jiang Ye stood silently beside him, his gaze never leaving Bai Ran.
...
Meanwhile, on another side, no one expected that 'Xuan Qinghong' would once again teleport to the middle realm.
His expression was grave as he rapidly flew towards the bamboo forest where they had originally resided.
Bamboo whizzed past on either side as 'Xuan Qinghong' pushed his speed to the limit.
"Looking for him?"
A cold voice, brimming with fury, rang out. 'Xuan Qinghong' was startled and stopped abruptly, looking down.
He saw Long Jinhan staring directly at him, and beside Long Jinhan lay the real Xuan Qinghong.
"Where is she?" His expression was icy, suppressing an unknown emotion.
'Xuan Qinghong' landed in front of Long Jinhan, his face grim. "Demon Lord..."
He had come here to move the real Xuan Qinghong, but the Demon Lord had gotten there ahead of him.
"I will ask you one more time, where is she?" Long Jinhan slowly walked towards him, his violent spiritual energy surging, carrying a terrifying killing intent.
'Xuan Qinghong' tensed, choosing silence in response to Long Jinhan's question.
"Only one person in this world can affect my cold ailment," he said word by word. "Baili Xiao, I truly underestimated you."
Decades ago, the Divine Emperor had dispatched the strongest person in the divine realm, Divine Lord Baili, to lead an army in attacking the demon realm. The divine realm had suffered a crushing defeat in that battle.
Divine Lord Baili had absorbed all of Long Jinhan's memories and abilities. He had spent half his lifespan and, at the cost of his life, pierced the Demon Lord's right heart with an ice-condensed nail formed from spiritual energy.
Only then was he able to save his life and barely crawl back to the divine realm.
The ice-condensed nail was difficult to remove and had remained lodged in Long Jinhan's heart. Fortunately, the ice-condensed nail was merely a mass of spiritual energy and not fatal, but it had left him with a cold ailment.
It was also after that incident that the demon realm learned of Baili Xiao's terrifying abilities.
Therefore, the only person in the world who could affect the Demon Lord's cold ailment was Baili Xiao.
Baili Xiao smiled bitterly. There was no significant reaction even after being exposed. He simply shook his head slightly. "Demon Lord, I will not tell you her whereabouts."
At this, it was like adding fuel to the fire. The entire bamboo forest instantly turned to ash!
Long Jinhan waved his massive hand, and a torrent of violent black spiritual energy surged towards him!
...
"Bang—!"
Bai Ran stared at the scene before her, her mind momentarily unable to process what was happening.
Zhu Que pointed at Jiang Ye and looked at Bai Ran foolishly. "Master... just now... he knocked this person out?"
Not long ago, a battle between Wen Yan and Bai Ran and Zhu Que was about to erupt. But at that moment, Jiang Ye suddenly launched a surprise attack from behind, knocking Wen Yan unconscious.
"What are you looking at!" Jiang Ye pouted. "Aren't we leaving?"
Bai Ran looked at him, unsure of what scheme he was up to. "You... what exactly do you mean..."
Jiang Ye tilted his head, gesturing for her to talk outside.
Uncertain of when the fake Xuan Qinghong might return, Bai Ran decided it was best to leave the area for now.
"Master! It turns out this barrier wasn't to stop us from leaving the residence!" Zhu Que exclaimed in surprise as they stepped outside and looked at the surroundings.
The residence that had been situated there was now empty, as if it had vanished into thin air.
Bai Ran nodded. "It seems the barrier was only to conceal the residence."
Afterward, Jiang Ye led her to a wine house.
He casually poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it leisurely.
"Speak," Bai Ran said, noticing he had also poured a cup for her. "What exactly do you mean?"
Jiang Ye looked at her mischievously. "Little master, I am your man."
Bai Ran's face darkened, and she suddenly felt like punching his face.
Zhu Que was so angry she almost spewed fire. "What nonsense are you spouting! Watch out, or I'll burn you to death, you pervert!"