After discussing things with Leng Jin Yu, Jinde spent a few more days outside before he returned to the lake to continue nourishing his soul. Even though it pained him to be separated from his husband for so long, it was still better to dedicate more time to his recuperation right now so that he would be able to return to his peak state sooner. Then, he would really be able to do as he had said and show Leng Jin Yu their past life together. And after that … Well, it would still be a long time until then.
Jinde was not the only one who was continuously occupied with his own matter. Whether it was the mortal or immortal realms, everybody was going about their own tasks, time passing imperceptibly.
Days went by in the immortal realms, making the fight between Jin Ling and Yong Hai escalate further while other demons joined in the fray, vying for the demon realm's throne themselves. On the other hand, it also gave Nie Huang in the dragon realm time to reach the first stage of cultivation and continue toward the second stage under her fiance's guidance, getting closer and closer to the day when she would finally become immortal just like him.
In the mortal realm, years passed. Shen Qiang was still trying to figure the situation in the Yun Zou Sect out, while Nian Hong Fang was searching for clues regarding Ma Zhi Wu's whereabouts. But with both of them hiding a part of their true thoughts and lives, neither of them was able to get what they wished for. Although … After so much time spent together, they couldn't help but admit that the good feelings between them had grown. Even though Nian Hong Fang would never be able to consider this person as a potential lover, he sometimes had a hard time reminding himself that he wasn't even a friend and instead somebody that was embroiled in his lover's kidnapping.
Meanwhile, the Chun Feng Sect that had brought this awkward situation about was hard-pressed to deal with the lower and middle-tier sects that had somehow all found out about the disciples in their dungeon. They had been able to send most of the smaller ones away but the bigger the sects got, the more difficult it was to deal with them.
Now, more often than not, the Chun Feng Sect's disciples that went out came back notifying their Masters or one of the Elders that there had been more people paying attention to their whereabouts and actions than usual. And some of these people did not seem to hold any goodwill toward them. It was making quite a few of the disciples that were not as steadfast as Sect Master Xian would have liked wonder if there was something amiss about their sect that they should know about, adding to the trouble that was already brewing.
While the situation worsened, the discussions the Jian Yi Sect had organized took place. Because of the sensitive matter and the consequences the decision made in the discussion would have, they didn't hurry. Instead, they took their time having different meetings for different aspects of the situation, letting the participants return home to their families or sects to have more discussions among themselves before they convened again.
With time, they put down rules that they felt should be observed in the future. But even then, their task was not yet done. After all, the ones involved in the discussion had only been the unranked sects and most influential cultivation families. After they were able to reach a consensus, it was still required to inform the first-, second- and lower-tier sects. And then, when those agreed as well, they still had to confront the demon-hunting sects.
Nobody believed that that would be easy. Even though the investigations over the past few years had shown that there were only one or two other demon-hunting sects that had engaged in similar practices as the Chun Feng Sect while the majority was hunting demons exclusively outside of the cultivation sects or at least informed the sects of their suspicions, this matter would still pertain to all of them. They probably wouldn't like it if somebody from outside tried to limit their potential actions and tell them what to do.
Still, Sect Master Fei of the Jian Yi Sect didn't waver at all. Since the day she had been informed of the actions of the Chun Feng Sect, she had always known that the day would come when they had to confront them. It was what the Jian Yi Sect was bound to do by their moral code and it was also what they owed to their sect's Leng Jin Yu if the talk about him returning and marrying somebody who was suspected and hunted by the Chun Feng Sect as well was true. Thus she would never give up and pursue this matter until the end regardless of what happened.
Soon, it would be time to put that determination to the test but before that, she was curious to see what would happen when they would inform the Yun Zou Sect of what they had found out and decided. Because then, they might finally be able to find out just what was going on with that Grandmaster Leng of theirs. And if it was indeed true … she was even more curious to hear the excuse that guy wanted to bring up for not contacting them even a single time since his return.
It was in this tense situation, that Jing Yi and Qiu Ling emerged from the Yun Zou Sect's secret realm.