Watching the Mountain

She smiled faintly. "Besides, Junior Brother, haven’t you been troubled by the reputation you’ve built? This is the perfect opportunity to take on a new identity and live a little more freely, without having to walk on eggshells like before."

It dawned on Xu Ran. So the fruit Jiang Ling’er gave him was that precious—a Sacred Object of the Dog Race. It would be perfect for increasing his apparent lifespan.

He was just a little puzzled. How did Jiang Ling’er obtain something so valuable?

He knew she had entered the Dog Race’s Holy Land, but he had no way of knowing what exactly she did inside. ’It seems my apprentice’s fortuitous encounters are more numerous than I imagined.’

As Xu Ran was thinking, he suddenly started, crying out in alarm, "Oh no! If this Sun-Devouring Demon Essence Fruit is so precious, doesn’t that mean that girl, Ling’er, is in danger?"

"No wonder she insisted on leaving. So that was her plan all along."

He then turned to Yue Qingyu and asked, "Senior Sister, is there still a chance to bring that silly girl back?"

After Xu Ran and the others had brought Jiang Ling’er back from the Demon Race, she had only stayed at the Sect for a single night to recover from her injuries before seeking him out to say her farewells.

She told Xu Ran that she couldn’t be sure if she could trust him as her master. Therefore, she wanted to travel the Cultivation Realm to broaden her horizons and reacquaint herself with the world. Only then would she decide on her attitude toward him.

Xu Ran thought about it carefully and felt that this was indeed a good choice for Jiang Ling’er in her current state.

Given her current condition, after being deceived time and time again, her entire world had turned bleak. At a time like this, no matter how others treated her, she would see them as untrustworthy.

Forcibly keeping her by his side might not have been a good thing. She now had a Nascent Soul Stage cultivation and was extremely powerful.

Xu Ran felt that even Zhang Zhentian might not be her match. He could infer as much from the remains of the demons they saw when they first arrived in the Demon Race’s territory.

If she were to suddenly snap one day, it would be a major disaster for the Sect.

Since there was no way to force her to stay, and she had no problem protecting herself, it was better to let her see more of the Cultivation Realm and experience more things. Even if she couldn’t return to her former self, she could at least become a normal person again, not like she was now, with her heart so twisted.

After thinking all this through, Xu Ran had agreed to her departure and hadn’t stopped her.

’But now it seems that girl didn’t tell me the whole story.’

Perhaps she really did want to see the Cultivation Realm, but there was definitely an element of not wanting to implicate him and the Sect.

Yue Qingyu saw his worry and comforted him, "Junior Brother, don’t worry. I’ve already made arrangements. Her situation makes it unsuitable for her to remain in the Cultivation Realm, and the Sect doesn’t have the power to protect her."

As she spoke, she gave Xu Ran an apologetic look. The ones who wanted to capture Jiang Ling’er were major powers within the Demon Race, like the Dog Race. With the Profound Pure Sect’s current strength, they were powerless to protect her even if they wanted to. That being the case, it was better to send her somewhere the Demon Race couldn’t find.

"I sent her to the Overseas Archipelago. Besides her, she is accompanied by three of the Sect’s Supreme Elders, more than ten Core Formation Stage Elders, and several hundred disciples."

Hearing this, Xu Ran was slightly taken aback, but he quickly understood her plan. "Senior Sister, are you doing this to prepare a path of retreat for our Sect?"

Yue Qingyu nodded. "The situation in the Cultivation Realm is getting more and more chaotic. Even the Demon Race, our long-time allies, has broken with us. On top of that, there’s the matter of that Qin Yufeng you mentioned. If he’s so confident and was even able to persuade the Demon Race to turn against us, then we really must make more preparations."

Hearing Senior Sister Yue say this, Xu Ran’s heart was put at ease. He didn’t think this arrangement was cowardly or anything of the sort. As the helmsman of a major power, one naturally had to plan for the long term and prioritize the Sect’s continuation.

Besides, he remembered Supreme Elder Zi Yun saying before that if Shen Wuchen was to break through to the Divinity Transformation Stage in the future, he should go to the Overseas Archipelago. Sending some people over now was like preparing the way for Shen Wuchen in advance.

They could establish a base first, so when the time came for Shen Wuchen’s breakthrough, he could go there directly, and his success would be better assured.

As for how to change his identity, Senior Sister Yue said it was a very simple matter and that he shouldn’t worry about it too much.

All that was needed was for the Sect to wait a few years and then announce that Master Vermilion Bird’s adoptive father had passed away. Then, she would issue Xu Ran a new Identity Jade Talisman, and he would just have to slightly alter his appearance and aura.

After all, thanks to the previous publicity, his life story was well-known throughout the entire Cultivation Realm. He had also always kept a low profile within the Sect, so besides a few acquaintances who knew him personally, most people’s impression of him was based on the official narrative.

In other words, all he had to do now was declare that the "him" from the publicity campaign had died. In effect, he would have a new identity. He could still be himself and maintain his original identity in front of those he trusted, while presenting a new one to the general public.

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"Fellow Daoist Xu, how are you feeling? Any better?"