Profound Heaven Soul Sovereign

Zuo Yuan's brow furrowed in thought. He knew what Yang Xiu was getting at.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he laughed. "I have a suggestion, but I don't know if you two would be willing to hear it."

He got straight to the point. "Yang Xiu, you wish to make young Xuan Ye your master so you can learn the art of Soul Refining."

"And you, young Xuan Ye, you must have your own reasons for refusing. After all, taking on such a special disciple is a complicated matter."

"Since that's the case, Yang Xiu, why not become young Xuan Ye's follower? That way, you can both learn from him and stay by his side at all times. Wouldn't that be a wonderful solution?"

Zuo Yuan laughed after he finished speaking.

Yang Xiu's eyes immediately lit up.

Generally speaking, powerful Soul Refiners or Alchemists all had followers. These followers were often the Soul Refiners' trusted confidants, and the closeness of their relationship was not much different from that with a disciple.

At this thought, Yang Xiu hurriedly said, "Thank you for the reminder, Tower Master Zuo Yuan. I am willing! Please, Young Master Ye, accept me as your follower. I will give my all until my dying day."

"Of course..."

Here, Yang Xiu added, "If Young Master Ye is truly unwilling to accept me as a disciple or even as a follower, I am still willing to become a member of the Profound Light Pavilion and offer my counsel."

He had decided to use his determination to slowly win Ye Xuan over.

After hearing everything Zuo Yuan and Yang Xiu had said, Ye Xuan was slightly moved. His earlier hesitation stemmed from the question of loyalty and reliability. A disciple was a special case, after all, but a follower didn't come with so many requirements.

'If this Yang Xiu is truly reliable, what's the harm in taking him on as a follower?'

'The Profound Light Pavilion is currently in a period of major growth; having a Seventh Grade Soul Refiner join would naturally be a good thing.'

With that thought, Ye Xuan nodded slightly. "Master Yang Xiu, I truly cannot agree to the matter of accepting a disciple, but as for a follower... we can give it a try. Seeing your sincerity, I will agree to let you be my follower. If, after some time, you wish to go back on your word, feel free to speak up. Of course, if I feel that it is not a good fit after a while, don't blame me for being blunt. What do you think?"

Ye Xuan didn't close the door completely. Ultimately, he still needed to assess Yang Xiu's character and personality.

Yang Xiu was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately knelt on the ground. "Thank you, Young Master Ye, for granting my wish."

Seeing that Ye Xuan had agreed, Yang Xiu could hardly contain his excitement.

Seeing this, Ye Xuan moved to help Yang Xiu up, saying at the same time, "Master Yang Xiu..."

"No! Young Master Ye, you mustn't call me that. From now on, just call me by my name, or Old Yang is fine too. Calling me 'Master' does me too much honor. And since you've agreed to let this Old Yang be your follower, you must accept my three kowtows. This is a matter of etiquette and cannot be skipped."

Yang Xiu's attitude was firm, and he kowtowed respectfully three times.

"Er..."

Ye Xuan was a little speechless. Although he had held a high status in his previous life, he was now just a young man. Receiving three kowtows from Yang Xiu still felt a bit awkward.

'But Yang Xiu has a point. A follower has to follow the rules of a follower; it's a matter of etiquette, after all.'

After performing the follower's etiquette, Yang Xiu quickly said, "Young Master Ye, if you have any orders, just tell me. This Old Yang has a Soul Refining Pavilion here in the Celestial Capital Prefecture, and I have several Martial Emperor Level experts by my side. I will have them all join the Profound Light Pavilion immediately to serve you."

Although Yang Xiu was only a Loose Cultivator, he was still a Seventh Grade Soul Refiner with some powerful experts following him. Now that he himself was following Ye Xuan, this force would naturally be absorbed into the Profound Light Pavilion.

Seeing the Profound Light Pavilion's power grow once again, Ye Xuan was also quite pleased.

"Young Friend Xuan Ye, see what I've brought for you this time."

Now that the matter with Yang Xiu was settled, Zuo Yuan took out a badge.

"A Seventh Grade Soul Refiner badge..."

Ye Xuan immediately exclaimed in surprise.

"Correct," Zuo Yuan said with a smile. "Normally, to apply for this badge, a Soul Refiner must go to the Divine Capital in person, or someone from the Divine Capital must come to assess them. But this old man pulled a few strings and managed to get one for you, young Xuan Ye. However, it wasn't possible for the other person in your Profound Light Pavilion. I saw he was only a Peak of Sixth Grade Soul Refiner, so I only applied for a Sixth Grade Soul Refiner badge for him."

Ye Xuan quickly waved his hands. "It's no problem. Master Zuo Yuan, the fact that you could get me a Seventh Grade badge is already a huge surprise. Thank you so much, Master Zuo Yuan."

Ye Xuan knew very well how strict the rules of the Divine Capital were. While they weren't completely inflexible, bending them was extremely difficult. Zuo Yuan must have paid a high price for this badge, perhaps even using Gongyang Yu's name, to get it approved so quickly.

With this Seventh Grade Soul Refiner badge, Ye Xuan could act almost without restraint in a second-tier power like the Celestial Capital Prefecture.

Not even the Yuchi family or the Xiao family would dare to casually kill a Seventh Grade Soul Refiner registered with the Divine Capital. If such a person were to fall, people from the Divine Capital would certainly come to investigate, and the punishment would be extremely severe.

Take Rongyang, for example. If Zuo Yuan hadn't written an explanation to the Divine Capital, Ye Xuan would have inevitably faced some trouble.

"Haha, there's no need to be so polite, young Xuan Ye."

Zuo Yuan laughed heartily. It was clear that successfully applying for the Seventh Grade Soul Refiner badge for Ye Xuan had put him in an excellent mood.

"By the way, Master Zuo Yuan, I have some questions I'd like to ask you." Ye Xuan's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Please, ask away, young Xuan Ye."

Seeing Ye Xuan's serious expression, Zuo Yuan's own expression grew solemn.

"I wonder if Master Zuo Yuan has heard of a person named Huangfu Xiuming?"

"Huangfu Xiuming?" Zuo Yuan's brow furrowed slightly as he shook his head. "Never heard of him."

Ye Xuan felt a pang of disappointment. Huangfu Xiuming wasn't some major figure famous throughout the continent, so he hadn't held out much hope, but Zuo Yuan's answer still left him with a sense of regret.

Zuo Yuan asked, puzzled, "Is this person also a Soul Refiner? What is his relationship to you, young Xuan Ye? If needed, this old man can make some inquiries in the Divine Capital. I'm sure I could find some news."

Ye Xuan quickly waved his hands. "No, there's no need."

For now, it was inconvenient for him to expose himself. If Zuo Yuan were to make a big show of asking about Huangfu Xiuming in the Divine Capital, it would inevitably attract the attention of Infinite Mountain. Then he would be in danger.

'Some things are better investigated secretly on my own.'

And while the Profound Light Pavilion was steadily developing, the situation in the Celestial Capital Prefecture had grown inexplicably tense.

This tension stemmed mainly from the two great families, the Yuchi family and the Xiao family.

Some keen observers discovered, to their surprise, that there seemed to be a hostile atmosphere between the Yuchi and Xiao families these days. Cooperation between the two great families had come to a near-complete standstill.

This would have been almost impossible in the past.

Although the two families had always been competing openly and fighting secretly, undermining each other behind the scenes, they had at least maintained a decent facade. They even had occasional business collaborations.

But these past few days, the atmosphere between the two families had become rather strange, and this strangeness was also affecting the other families in the Celestial Capital Prefecture.

「The Yuchi Family Estate.」

In a massive conference room, Yu Chi Bugong sat with a cold, sinister gaze. Below him, more than ten Martial Emperor Level experts were arrayed, exuding a dense aura.

"Patriarch, the Xiao family's actions these past few days have been rather strange. Not only have they completely halted all cooperation with our Yuchi family, but they have also sent many experts to that secret location. We suspect they may have already learned that we were the ones who killed Xiao Ping."

A middle-aged man was now respectfully reporting to Yu Chi Bugong, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

If Ye Xuan and his group were here, they would have recognized him at a glance. This was the very man who had killed Xiao Ping—Yuchi Jie.

"How could the Xiao family know we killed Xiao Ping?" Yu Chi Bugong said in an icy tone.

"We do not know, but there must have been a problem somewhere for the news to leak. Moreover, this only happened recently," Yuchi Jie said with certainty.

Yu Chi Bugong's brow furrowed slightly. He asked, puzzled, "It only happened recently?"

Suddenly, he seemed to think of something. A sharp glint appeared in his eyes as he abruptly looked at Yuchi Jie and asked, "I remember you said that when you killed Xiao Ping, someone was secretly watching. And that person even killed our Yuchi family's Mo Qianshan?"

A trace of shame appeared on Yuchi Jie's face. "That is true. Patriarch, do you suspect this person told the Xiao family? That seems unlikely. After I returned, I immediately put the city gates of the Celestial Capital Prefecture under surveillance and also secretly investigated the various major families, but I found no clues."

Yu Chi Bugong said decisively, "Bring me the records of everyone who entered and exited the major city gates during that period of time. Immediately."

"Yes, Patriarch! I have the records right here!"

After speaking, Yuchi Jie took a jade slip directly from his Storage Ring. The investigation had yielded no results, so he had kept the entry and exit records in his Storage Ring the whole time.

Yu Chi Bugong immediately swept his Profound Sense into the jade slip. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a fierce glint shot from his eyes as he said angrily, "So it was them..."

Yuchi Jie was startled and quickly asked, "Patriarch, does this mean you know who killed Mo Qianshan?"

"That's right." A look of hatred appeared in Yu Chi Bugong's eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, the ones who killed Mo Qianshan were that group from the Profound Light Pavilion—Xuan Ye's people."

"What?" A shocked expression instantly appeared on Yuchi Jie's face. "Them? How could it be..."

The Profound Light Pavilion's reputation had grown too great recently. Although Yuchi Jie wasn't responsible for affairs within the Celestial Capital Prefecture, he had still heard quite a bit about them.

"Hmph, see for yourself in the entry and exit records," Yu Chi Bugong snorted coldly, tossing the jade slip over.

Yuchi Jie caught the jade slip and looked at it immediately. Sure enough, he found the entry and exit records for Ye Xuan and his group. The timing corresponded exactly with the period when they killed Xiao Ping.

Although Ye Xuan and his group had intentionally taken a detour at the time, the jade slip still contained a record of them entering and exiting the city during that period.