The morning came as the chill was chased away while the sun raced behind the moon, and birds began to chirp as the deathly quiet city became lively once again.
A guard of the Bing estate could be seen frantically running into the Bing Residence as he arrived outside of Bing Mei Shi's courtyard.
"Young Miss, some disciples of the Cloud Chasing Sect are trying to find trouble with us!" He screamed in a panic.
Bing Mei Shi walked out with long strides as her hair tussled in the wind, the glow of the morning illuminated her face as her willow-like brows furrowed.
'The rumours haven't even spread far. . .they couldn't have known it was us so why are they here of all places?'
Her thoughts raced as she began to think of why these disciples were here.
Soon she arrived at the guest area where she saw a group of three disciples, two males and one female sitting as she entered.
Their heads turned towards her as she recognized two of them.
The younger cunning looking male disciple was Li Jihai, he seemed worse for wear as he was bruised and looked furious as his gaze carried a faint sense of threat while the female who sat beside him was his cousin Li Qiu Yi who was regarded as quite the talent, reaching 16 acupoints of the Meridian Opening Stage before the age of 18.
Her gaze glanced over them as she greeted them before asking in a questioning tone, " Li Qiu Yi, Li Jihai how may I be of assistance and this young master is. . .?"
Li Qiu Yi was the first to reply as she proudly introduced the male beside her.
"This is Senior Qiang Xi, the adopted son of the sect leader, 20 Meridian Opening and young heaven pride, 'Cloud Chasing Saber Xi'."
Her tone was laced with pride as her nose turned to the sky, seemingly speaking like these were her titles and achievements.
Li Jihai stood up and pointed his finger at Bing Mei Shi's nose while speaking in an accusatory manner.
"Where is Bing Yuhei!" He raged as he looked around the area.
"You all sent that demon from the Blood Gate Cult's Carefree Valley, didn't you!?"
His eyes were bloodshot as he continued, " If it wasn't for the others sacrificing themselves so I could run to inform Young Master Qiang, I'd have died too!"
Bing Mei Shi's countenance turned pale as she frantically shook her arms, her eyes focusing on Young Master Qiang.
"Young Lord Qiang, this is all baseless accusations! Just last night even though we were attacked, the person killed three guards before leaving into the night!" She explained.
"What are three guards worth compared to the lives of our Cloud Chasing Sect disciples?!" Li Jihai continued.
"Ptui" He spat on the floor with disgust.
" I'm more infuriated you'd even compare the likes of our sect's disciples to mere commoners!" Li Qiu Yi followed as she looked at Bing Mei Shi with disgust.
"...Enough..."
A sudden deep voice was heard as the tall, stalwart figure of Qiang Xi stood up.
He had saber-like brows and a slightly tanned countenance while his shoulders were broad and his figure filled with masculinity.
His hair was like a waterfall as it crashed over his shoulders while his well-proportioned body was like he was carved by God as he gave off a free and unrestrained aura.
"We won't get any answers here. . ."
" Bing Mei Shi, you'll follow us to the site of the atrocities. . ."
Qiang Xi said as he swished his sleeve before leaving the guest area, the other two disciples following him out directly.
Bing Mei Shi answered politely as she too followed behind...
* * * * * * * * *
Xiao LingYue awoke from his cultivation as he noticed the sunlight peering between the cracks of the window.
His cultivation over the previous night was quite fruitful as he had already begun nourishing the 14 Meridian while almost reaching the 15th but it wasn't good enough.
LingYue frowned as he noticed his speed slowing even though he was using spirit stones; the speed couldn't even be compared to using the human cultivators making him rather regretful that he didn't take any cultivation resources from those he had slain the night before.
His focus then shifted towards his neidan, though it still spun, the size still hadn't increased from before as he had also run out of the ferocious beast's blood.
'The only choice now us to use the cores of ferocious beasts . . .' His mind completely focused on increasing his battle prowess.
LingYue stood as he changed his outer robes as he wore the purple and black robes of the Phantom Gu Valley while also removing his mask and taking the crown out of his hair.
To further change his disguise, he took the Gu he stole from one of the disciples as he made use of their signature Gu control method, The Infinite Gu Mantra.
This Mantra was an easy way to hatch and control Gu which was used within the Phantom Gu Valley.
It wasn't a full cultivation method to turn a Gu into a vital Gu but only a control method which could be learnt by anyone with talent, which was mostly used for weapon Gu's.
One of the Gu's he stole was named the Snake Shell Gu, which gave a layer of snake-like scales which served as a protective membrane along one's skin.
The Snake Shell Gu looked like a small black snake with beady red eyes as flicked its tongue menacingly.
Upon using the Infinite Gu Mantra, the Gu began to smoke and wriggle as the smoke slowly coiled around LingYue's hand before following up his body.
Upon covering him, it slowly settled into a snake-scale membrane that covered his body, similar to that of inner armour while a red snake-like insignia could be seen coiling around his left arm.
LingYue smiled at his success as he continued to control another Gu which would complete his disguise.
This Gu was named the Myriad Mask Silkworm . . .