Du Yanran was no fool. She quickly realized that the string of misfortunes she had encountered was no coincidence. Someone was deliberately making trouble for her. She didn't need to guess long to figure out who it was. Her teeth clenched with fury as she set trap after trap, hoping to force her stalkers into revealing themselves.
Meanwhile, Cao Chenfeng and the Hua siblings lingered in the shadows, watching Du Yanran flail about in frustration. Hua Xi was biting into a century-old white pear. Its juice cooled the throat and refreshed the lungs—a delightful treat they had conveniently acquired thanks to Du Yanran's missteps. She casually tossed one to her younger brother.
"Junior Brother, Du Yanran has already noticed us. She's doing everything she can to lure us out."
"I saw. She even tried to set a trap and have us deal with that Black Mountain brown bear so she could sneak off with someone else's treasure."
"Shameless. That bear went through a lot of effort to steal that hive, too."
Cao Chenfeng said nothing. He simply stepped into the open, appearing right in front of Du Yanran. Shocked, she instantly crushed her last teleportation talisman, but it was too late. His sword strike had already taken form and slashed across her cheek again—right in the same spot.
With a scream, she vanished, reappearing a hundred li away.
From the nearby cave, the Black Mountain brown bear stormed out in fury, eager to see which reckless fool dared to cause trouble on its turf. Cao Chenfeng, clad in Heavenly Sword Sect white robes, turned and calmly faced the massive beast. His gaze was cool and detached.
Sensing danger, the bear halted abruptly. The pressure radiating from this human was stronger than its own. With surprising tact, it sat down ten steps away and scratched its head with a paw, wide eyes staring at Cao Chenfeng.
Cao Chenfeng reached into his storage ring and pulled out a five-hundred-year-old Crocodile's Tear flower. He tossed it to the bear.
"In exchange for the hive you stole yesterday."
The bear knew its worth. That herb could aid its cultivation, while the hive had only satisfied its appetite. Without hesitation, it took the flower and scurried back into the cave. Moments later, it returned, dragging out a honeycomb the size of a cubic meter and placed it in front of Cao Chenfeng.
He split it in three, taking a share for himself and tossing the rest to Hua Xi and Hua Lei.
Neither sibling stood on ceremony. Each swept their portion into their storage rings. Then Hua Lei pointed in a direction, and the trio continued onward. The siblings whispered to each other through their plant-bonded familiars.
"Jiejie, did you see that? You really can't go teasing men casually."
"I'm not blind. That old wound on Du Yanran's face hadn't healed yet, and now it's been slashed again. I wonder if her 'Flower Radiance Cream' is enough to fix it."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is?"
"If you like someone, take responsibility. Don't play around."
Hua Xi nearly stumbled off her flying artifact. She shot her brother a glare.
"Don't lump me in with her. I've never drugged someone or stolen their essence. But with the way things are going, this Cao daoyou is going to drive her mad. We'll just sit back and enjoy the show."
"Just don't forget our task. We're here to watch over her fortunes."
"Of course."
Far away, Du Yanran reappeared and reached up to touch her cheek. A flash of murderous intent passed through her eyes. Unwilling to give up, she meticulously examined herself from head to toe, even checking every strand of hair. But still, she found nothing. Clenching her jaw, she turned and continued wandering the secret realm.
From then on, Cao Chenfeng and the Hua siblings never let her out of their sight. Over the next year and a half, she didn't gain a single stroke of fortune.
As the secret realm neared its end, Du Yanran took another sword strike from Cao Chenfeng. This time, he didn't hold back. The attack would have been fatal, but a magnolia pendant she wore blocked the blow at the last moment, saving her life. Then, all participants vanished from the realm as the Chengli Secret Realm closed.
Cao Chenfeng, Hua Xi, and Hua Lei were immediately locked onto by lightning tribulations. The three quickly fled, drawing their thunderclouds to safer locations to transcend their tribulations. Seizing the chaos, Du Yanran shattered her final teleportation talisman and disappeared.
When she reappeared, she collapsed unconscious in a field of flowers. She was discovered by a small-time leader from Tianya Haijiao who had just completed a mission. He rescued her and took her back. Fate repeated itself—only in her past life, it was Du Yanran who had saved An Chang, and he had pledged himself to her. This time, the roles were reversed.
After overcoming his Nascent Soul tribulation, Cao Chenfeng swiftly returned to the Heavenly Sword Sect. He turned over part of his gains, sold another portion, and kept just one drop of True Dragon Essence Blood and a chunk of honeycomb. When he went to fulfill a promise, he heard from Qi Hua that the Mo Yue Zhūnzhǔ had gone missing.
At that time, Jian Dan was still deep beneath the lake, healing and completely unaware of the outside world.
She had cultivated for an entire year in the spiritual spring within her space. Meanwhile, the fusion of the magnolia space in her sea of consciousness with her Purple Mansion continued smoothly, albeit slowly. One-fifth of the magnolia space had already merged into the Purple Mansion stele.
When Jian Dan opened her eyes, a flash of blue-violet light shimmered before settling into a deep black.
Leaving the spring, she checked her body. Her meridians surged like mighty rivers, spiritual energy roiling through her. The Yin-Yang Taiji diagram in her dantian spun steadily. The Mò Xī Jiàn and Mó Yuè Zhǎn floated beside her, nourished by spiritual and demonic energy respectively.
Jian Dan knew that the Mó Yuè Zhǎn had expended a sliver of its source power during the battle against the insect, which was why it had severed the limb so decisively. Though she had poured in all her demonic energy to assist, it had not been enough. The Mó Yuè Zhǎn would now require time to recover. She would not appear on the cultivation continent under the identity of Mo Yue for a while.
Once everything was in order, Jian Dan decided it was time to leave the space and find out where she had ended up. She needed to begin her journey back to the sect.
Cotton Candy clung to her tightly, afraid she would leave it behind. Jian Dan transformed it into a red cloud and nestled it atop her hair, where it contrasted strikingly with her white ribbon.
Jade, who had never left the space since arriving in this world, looked on with envy. Seeing this, Jian Dan waved a hand, leaving Mo Ran behind to oversee the space's upgrade, and took Jade along to experience the outside world.
With a leap three zhang high, Jade coiled around Jian Dan's wrist like a flawless jade bracelet.
Jian Dan dressed in a crisp white robe with subtle patterns. It was the simplest garment in the Void Refinement hall's offerings, once gifted to her by Jian Wu when she visited the Heavenly Sword Sect in her identity as the Mo Yue Sovereign.
The silver-armored spirits returned to their ornament form, hanging quietly on her chest. Once all preparations were done, Jian Dan swept her divine sense and stepped out of her space.
Hovering over the lake, she immediately noticed that the largest lotus in the center of the pond had developed a faint spiritual awareness and had begun absorbing the essence of the sun and moon.
Jian Dan frowned and calculated the cause. It turned out to be her doing. She pressed a hand to her forehead. It seemed she would have to meet the abbot here.
She placed her favorite blood jade table and chairs by the lotus pond and brewed herself a cup of peach blossom tea, quietly waiting for the sunrise.
Jiekong was hauling his bamboo cage on his way to complete his morning task when he looked up and saw her—Jian Dan, bathed in golden light beneath the dawn sky.