Volume 1, Chapter 76 – Gu Han’s Little Secret

Ye Zhenyue’s pupils contracted as his sharp gaze shot toward the Ye residence.

In one of the courtyards stood an exquisitely beautiful woman with hair as silver as snow. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she calmly looked up at the sky.

Beside her, a little girl in a pale yellow dress was peering upward with curiosity. Ye Ling’er stood nearby as well, visibly nervous but forcing herself to remain composed.

“Are you Gu Han?”

Ye Zhenyue asked in a deep voice as his divine sense swept toward her without the slightest courtesy.

However, his divine sense vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea the moment it came within a foot of her.

It did not even stir the faintest ripple!

Ye Zhenyue was shaken to his core.

Her cultivation was clearly above his own!

But as an elder of the Ye family acting under the family head’s orders, he could not show weakness now.

“I am Ye Zhenyue, Third Elder of the Ye family!

“By order of the family head, I have come to bring Ye Ling’er back to the clan and invite Senior to visit the Ye family in Tianfeng City for a discussion!”

He deliberately emphasized both “the Ye family” and “the family head’s orders,” declaring his status while also implying a threat.

Upon hearing this, Gu Han gently shook her head, as though she had heard something amusing.

“Invite me?”

“Barging into another person’s residence aboard a flying vessel with such an aggressive display hardly resembles the proper way to invite a guest.”

“Ye Ling’er has already joined my Yaochi Immortal Palace and become my disciple.”

“Her coming and going are mine to decide. Since when was it an outsider’s place to ‘invite’ her away?”

Her tone was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable dominance.

Ye Zhenyue’s expression darkened.

“Senior! Ye Ling’er carries the bloodline of my Ye family!”

“She possesses a special constitution tied to the family’s future. She should rightfully be nurtured by the family!”

“Senior, forcibly taking her as your disciple and removing her from the Eastern Region hardly seems proper, does it?”

“Not proper?” Gu Han smiled faintly.

“Why should I follow the rules of your Ye family when accepting a disciple?”

“For sixteen years, no one in your Ye family recognized her constitution or knew how to treat it. I was the one who helped her awaken it and bestowed a cultivation technique upon her.”

“And now the Ye family wants to swoop in and reap the fruits? What kind of reasoning is that?”

“You!”

Rеaⅾ оո КаtRеaԁіոɡСаfе

Ye Zhenyue was left speechless. A moment later, he snapped angrily,

“Senior! The ancestor of my Ye family is a true disciple of Empress Qingxuan, and the Ye family itself is a first-rate clan of the Eastern Region!”

“If you insist on taking Ye Ling’er away, you will be making an enemy of the Ye family!”

He invoked the Ye family’s greatest backer, Empress Qingxuan, hoping to intimidate her.

“Empress Qingxuan? A true disciple?”

Gu Han raised an eyebrow and replied indifferently,

“Those are certainly impressive titles. Unfortunately, why should I care what she thinks when I act?”

“Ye Zhenyue, I will give you two choices today.”

She raised two fingers. Her voice remained calm, but an invisible pressure spread through the air.

“First, take your people and return whence you came. The matter of Ye Ling’er ends here.”

“Second, if you insist on this so-called invitation, then let us see whether you and the people behind you are capable of carrying it out.”

The contempt and confidence in her words instantly caused Ye Zhenyue and the Qingfeng Guards behind him to blanch with fury.

Just as the atmosphere grew so tense that conflict seemed ready to erupt, determination flashed across Ye Ling’er’s face. She stepped forward and placed herself in front of Gu Han.

She lifted her pale yet resolute face, her icy blue hair fluttering gently in the wind.

“Elder Ye.”

Her voice was not loud, but it rang clearly through the air with a courage she had never shown before.

“Master gave me my life.”

“Without Master, I would still be a cripple unable to cultivate, someone destined not to live past thirty.”

She enunciated every word clearly.

“Now that you see I can cultivate and have value, you want to take me back?”

“For sixteen years, in the eyes of the main family, I was nothing more than the ‘disgrace of the Ye family,’ a worthless branch descendant you could not even be bothered to glance at!”

“My father sought medicine for me, traveling to every city he could reach in the Eastern Region and consulting every physician he could find. Did the main family ever spare us even half a medicinal pill? Did you ever ask about me even once?!”

Ye Ling’er’s voice trembled slightly, but she forced the words out with even greater strength.

“Now that I have Master and have been given a new life, you come to ‘take me back’?”

She drew a deep breath. The light in her eyes burned like a flame sealed in ice.

“If you insist on forcing me today, if you demand that I leave Master and return with you…”

A cold gleam suddenly flashed in her hand. A short sword appeared and pressed against her fair neck.

Rеaԁ oո ΚаtReаⅾiոgCаfе

“Then I, Ye Ling’er, will prove my resolve with my blood today!”

“Even in death, I will never return with you!”

The short sword was incomparably sharp. It was the profound-rank supreme-grade artifact Gu Han had given her.

With only the lightest touch, it sliced a thin line into the delicate skin of her neck.

A bright red drop of blood slid down the icy blue blade, reflecting a piercing light beneath the sun.

“Ling’er!”

Ye Nantian’s eyes nearly split with alarm as he prepared to rush forward.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Ye Ling’er shook her head at her father, but her gaze remained fixed on Ye Zhenyue in the sky.

“Master saved my life, Master bestowed my cultivation technique upon me, and Master gave me my future!”

“Whoever dares lay a hand on my Master or force me to betray and leave my sect…”

Her voice abruptly rose, carrying the anguished determination of someone prepared to stake everything on a final stand.

“I will die here immediately! Then your Ye family will gain nothing!”

The entire area fell deathly silent.

Inside and outside the Ye residence in Falling Star City, everyone stood frozen in shock.

No one had expected this usually gentle and quiet girl, who had even seemed somewhat timid, to erupt with such fierce and unyielding resolve.

She was threatening them with her own death!

She would rather die than submit!

Ye Zhenyue’s expression became exceedingly ugly, shifting between livid green and ashen white.

He had been ordered to “bring her back,” not drive her to her death!

Most importantly, Ye Ling’er was suspected of possessing some kind of powerful constitution. Should she truly die here and the family head hold him responsible…

A cold gleam flickered in Ye Zhenyue’s eyes as fury surged within his chest.

He was the dignified Third Elder of the Ye family, a great cultivator at the peak of Body Integration. When had he ever been threatened like this?

And by a little girl who had only just entered the Qi Refinement realm!

But… he did not dare gamble.

The determination in the girl’s eyes was real.

She truly dared to die!

Reаd οո KαtRеаdіոɡСаfe

More importantly, there was the silver-haired woman behind her, whose expression had remained calm from beginning to end…

Ye Zhenyue’s gaze returned to Gu Han.

At that moment, Gu Han was quietly watching Ye Ling’er, who stood in front of her.

She looked at the girl’s slender yet perfectly straight back and at the hand that trembled faintly but refused to lower the sword.

A complicated ripple passed through the depths of her eyes, which were usually as tranquil as a deep pool.

Surprise? Gratification? Emotion?

Perhaps all of them.

This was a child who had once endured nothing but cold looks and had only just received a new life.

Gu Han had believed that taking Ye Ling’er as her disciple meant granting her an opportunity and changing her fate.

She had never expected this seemingly fragile disciple to turn around at the crucial moment and try to “protect” her in her own way.

That devotion, that courage, that nearly pure desire to defend her…

It gently stirred Gu Han’s Dao heart, which had long remained undisturbed.

It felt a little warm and a little… unfamiliar.

Gu Han slowly extended a hand and rested it gently on Ye Ling’er’s tense shoulder.

The motion was light, yet it carried a gentle strength that brooked no refusal.

“Ling’er.”

Gu Han’s voice held a little more genuine warmth than usual.

“Put down the short sword.”

“Master, but the Ye family…”

Ye Ling’er’s body trembled, but she did not move. Her eyes remained fixed on Ye Zhenyue.

“Listen to me.”

Gu Han’s voice was still calm, but it carried a strange, soothing power.

“The Ye family means nothing. With your master here today, even if Empress Qingxuan came in person, I would not fear her.”

At Gu Han’s casual declaration, Ye Ling’er’s entire body stiffened, and her mind went blank.

Empress Qingxuan…

She was a legendary supreme existence who had lived for tens of thousands of years, whose might dominated the Eastern Region, and whose single word could decide the life and death of billions!

She was the Ye family’s greatest support, the lofty deity whom every cultivator in the Eastern Region looked up to!

Rеaԁ оո ΚatReαⅾingCαfе

Her Master…

Had actually said that she would not be afraid even if Empress Qingxuan came in person?

“Master!”

Ye Ling’er suddenly turned around, her eyes filled with urgency and worry. She even forgot that the short sword was still pressed against her neck.

“You may not fully understand. Empress Qingxuan is a legendary Immortal Ascension powerhouse. She has dominated the Eastern Region for tens of thousands of years, possesses boundless divine abilities, and commands immeasurable magical power!”

“The ancestor of the Ye family is her…”

She believed that because her Master had long resided in the Southern Region, she might not know much about the Eastern Region’s supreme experts.

Ye Ling’er feared that her Master would provoke an overwhelming calamity because of her.

“Silly girl.”

Seeing Ye Ling’er explaining so anxiously with tears in her eyes, Gu Han’s heart softened.

She reached out and gently brushed her fingertips across the thin bloody cut on Ye Ling’er’s neck.

The wound healed instantly, leaving not even the slightest trace.

At the same time, Gu Han gently removed the short sword from Ye Ling’er’s hand with her other hand.

“No more crying.”

Gu Han’s voice carried a rare tenderness as she gently wiped away the tear sliding from the corner of Ye Ling’er’s eye.

“You won’t be pretty if you keep crying.”

Those words, spoken as though she were soothing a child, left Ye Ling’er momentarily stunned.

Strangely, the panic in her heart faded a little, though her worry remained.

“But Master, Empress Qingxuan truly is…”

“Ling’er.”

Gu Han interrupted her, leaned close to her ear, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.

“Your master will tell you a little secret.”

She paused and looked into Ye Ling’er’s puzzled eyes, which were still glistening with tears.

The corners of her lips curved into an extremely faint smile, one beautiful enough to captivate all living beings.

“Your master… is also at Immortal Ascension.”

Also… at Immortal Ascension?!