Jiujiu, who had made a nest atop Tian Ning's head, merely glanced at it indifferently before closing its eyes and falling asleep, uninterested.
Tian Ning was curious about the Fire Phoenix. Unlike the Dragon Clan's thriving population, Phoenix Clan members are reborn after death through Nirvana, keeping their numbers consistently fixed. The number of phoenixes has always remained the same. Unexpectedly, someone from the Beast Taming Sect had actually formed a contract with a Fire Phoenix.
Long Aotien, who was standing nearby, answered Tian Ning's question: "That's Zhou Han, the Chief Senior Disciple of the Beast Taming Sect."
"Little Junior Sister, don't look. He's a generation-defining talented disciple, a future candidate for Sect Leader of the Beast Taming Sect, and the object of countless female cultivators' pursuit." If it were anyone else, Long Aotien might have offered respect or well wishes, but Zhou Han had long ago said he carried a blood feud, so he'd advised against falling in love with him because it would lead nowhere.
Tian Ning sincerely said, "I wasn't looking at him; I was looking at his chicken."
Long Aotien: "..."
"Fourth Senior Brother, how are you now?" It was rare for Tian Ning to be in a slightly better mood, so she planned to settle the score with Long Aotien after he recovered.
Long Aotien didn't dare hide it this time. His self-righteous plan would have resulted in his death if Tian Ning and the others hadn't arrived in time. He had just learned from Long Kangnian that his younger brother had also been given Gu by that scoundrel. It was shameful that while tigers don't eat their young, Long Biao wanted to kill them all! He had thought that as long as Long Kangnian returned to Wanjian Sect for the Sect's protection and stayed away from the Long Clan, he would be safe...
"The Child Gu is dead. The cultivation base it absorbed over the years has all returned, but his body can't handle it all at once, so he needs time to refine it."
There was no longer any serious problem; subsequent recovery was just a matter of time.
The Long Clan's greed caused the entire Long Clan to be wiped out. Except for Long Aotien and Long Kangnian, all the Long Family Members were dead...
Handling the subsequent matters wasn't difficult, but the Long Clan had harmed countless people, so the resulting mess was very time-consuming, and it was all left to Wanjian Sect to resolve.
Sect Leader Gu enthusiastically invited them to recover at the Beast Taming Sect, and they didn't refuse, tacitly avoiding discussion of the Heavenly Dao Blessing.
Tian Ning possessing such powerful abilities is a good thing.
But she is currently at the Qi Condensation Stage of cultivation. Until she reaches a level where she can protect herself, she needs to carefully conceal her talent to prevent exploitation by those with ulterior motives.
Shi Qinxin and Long Aotien deeply understood this.
They couldn't let their little Junior Sister suffer the same hardships they had… Even though Sect Leader Gu seemed to casually mention it, the two pretended to be completely unaware.
Unlike Sword Cultivators' sword flight, the Beast Taming Sect raised countless Immortal Cranes for disciples' daily travel. Tian Ning and her group traveled to the Beast Taming Sect on these cranes. During the journey, Xiao Roushu came to ask if they were injured; she wanted to help, but those insects were truly disgusting.
Fortunately, they hadn't suffered any serious injuries. After the Beast Taming Sect personnel checked their conditions, they simply advised them to get plenty of rest.
Before leaving, the disciple looked at Tian Ning and said, "Junior Sister, our Sect has some spirit fruit that helps with injury recovery. Why don't you come with me to get some?"
The Beast Taming Sect people were surprisingly kind.
Tian Ning got up to follow the disciple.
"I, I, I!" Except for insects, Xiao Roushu was very enthusiastic about everything: "I'll go with Senior Sister."
She hadn't done anything today; she couldn't let Senior Sister Tian Ning go alone to get things.
"She can go alone," the disciple said after a moment of thought. "There aren't many things, and you're outsiders; it's not good for you to move around freely in the Beast Taming Sect."
Tian Ning retracted her foot. Something was wrong with this person!
Offering unsolicited kindness, it must be either a trick or theft. Why did they want her to go alone? They didn't even allow Xiao Roushu to go with her.
Shi Qinxin keenly looked at the disciple and warned, "What are you trying to do to my little Junior Sister?"
The disciple hadn't expected to be suspected so easily. He explained nervously, "Nothing… The Beast Taming Sect and Wanjian Sect have good relations; how could I do anything to this Junior Sister… I just wanted her to get the spirit fruit…"
Shi Qinxin and Long Aotien didn't believe him at all. The disciple clearly couldn't lie; his nervousness was written all over his face.
Just as the few were at an impasse, a man of extraordinary bearing entered from outside.
"I have something I need to talk to her about," said the newcomer, who was none other than Zhou Han, the one who had contracted the Fire Phoenix. He told the flustered disciple, "You can leave now."
Tian Ning hadn't expected it to be Zhou Han. Could it be that Zhou Han's Fire Phoenix had sensed Jiujiu?
But there was no proud rooster following behind Zhou Han. Instead, Shi Qinxin and Long Aotien's expressions simultaneously became somewhat subtle.
"What do you want with my little Junior Sister? You don't even know each other." Shi Qinxin protectively guarded Tian Ning against Zhou Han.
Zhou Han ignored the two. He spoke directly to Tian Ning: "I know you're a newly accepted disciple of Sword Protecting Mountain. But as far as I know, Immortal Venerable Jing Shu is still in a coma. A disciple who hasn't been acknowledged by their Master doesn't count as a member of Sword Protecting Mountain."
"Since you're not a member of Sword Protecting Mountain, I'll kindly remind you that if you don't want to die, leave Sword Protecting Mountain as soon as possible. Your current position will attract unnecessary trouble and get you killed!"
Tian Ning: "???"
She didn't understand what this person was saying at all.
If she hadn't sensed any malice from this person, Tian Ning would have thought Zhou Han was threatening her. But Zhou Han spoke as if stating facts. Before leaving, he said to Shi Qinxin, "Shi Qinxin, if you want to restore your Golden Core, follow the guiding disciple here tomorrow."
He was like a riddle-speaker, leaving everyone present bewildered.
And he just left after saying that, not giving anyone a chance to ask questions…
Tian Ning had only been curious about the Fire Phoenix. Now, seeing that the other party seemed to have some connection with Sword Protecting Mountain, and looking at her senior martial siblings' expressions, what else was there to misunderstand? It's just that, as a Beast Taming Sect disciple, how could Zhou Han be connected to Sword Protecting Mountain?
Shi Qinxin sent Xiao Roushu, Long Kangnian, and Zhizi away, telling them to go rest.
"Little Junior Sister, this has nothing to do with you." Shi Qinxin said directly.
Tian Ning nodded. She wouldn't misunderstand anything; it was better to talk things out openly.
After all, she had long since gotten used to the fact that her senior martial siblings all had a bunch of stories behind them. If put into a storybook, each of them would definitely be the protagonist.
Long Aotien began to explain Zhou Han's connection with Sword Protecting Mountain: "Zhou Han has a sister named Zhou Mengya, and Zhou Mengya was our fifth senior sister who betrayed the Sect five years ago and became a Demonic Cultivator."
"Little Junior Sister, you don't know this, but when the Devil Realm invaded the Eastern Continent five years ago, Zhou Han's parents were the first to lead the charge in eliminating demonic cultivators. They took the safety of the world as their responsibility, killing the invading Devil Race and securing the lives of the people. They ultimately died on the battlefield fighting demonic cultivators, leaving behind only their two children, Zhou Han and Zhou Mengya."
Tian Ning was somewhat surprised: "A girl whose parents sacrificed themselves for the world actually became a Demonic Cultivator?"
Shi Qinxin seemed to remember something and also found it unbelievable: "Zhou Han's parents were such upright and noble people. Their children should have all been like Zhou Han. Who would have thought that someone like Zhou Mengya would appear!"
Long Aotien continued: "Zhou Mengya fell in love with Master at first sight and used all sorts of methods to enter Sword Protecting Mountain. To be accepted as a disciple, she used her parents' connections to have the Six Sects' Sect Masters intercede on her behalf, forcing Master to agree to take her in as a disciple, making her our… little Junior Sister at the time."
"She had an unusual obsession with the position of little Junior Sister," Long Aotien tried to recall the past. "She always said that she was the youngest, and we, her senior martial siblings, should pamper her and give her the best things…"
"Even if we gave other junior martial siblings something, she would get involved, saying that we had the same Master and that we shouldn't let outsiders benefit from it. But it was my stuff! I could give it to whomever I want! Why would she get involved?" Long Aotien still felt speechless when he thought about it.
"