Chapter 1961: Suspicious Points

Hetao's expression changed. "Master, don't get any strange ideas!" She knew her master's unpredictable nature and genuinely feared she might follow the example of Azure Devil King Ma Bin and commit evil deeds. Ma Bin had lived a long time, not because evil lives on for centuries, but because he possessed his own secret methods.

"Impudent!" Nan Lian said lightly. "How can a disciple speak to their master like that? Apologize!"

"Master, I'm sorry!" Hetao apologized without hesitation.

"You are the one who is sorry to Master, not the other way around!" Nan Lian said, looking at her.

"Yes, yes, yes, it is your disciple who is sorry to Master," Hetao nodded repeatedly.

Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao watched from the side, dumbfounded, feeling that the bond between the master and disciple was truly strong.

"Please excuse us," Nan Lian said, rubbing Hetao's head as if her disciple were truly an ignorant child. "Where were we just now?"

Lu Ye quickly interjected, "Ma Bin is very old!"

Nan Lian nodded. "This Ma Bin, I don't know what grudges he holds against those realms. Logically, at his age, anyone he had a feud with should have long since passed away. As the saying goes, 'trouble doesn't extend to three generations,' yet he persists, targeting their descendants. However, it's interesting to note that he has his own principles when killing; he only targets those at the Sun-Glimmer level."

Hetao was still a bit apprehensive. "Master, we truly don't have a feud with Ma Bin, do we?"

"If we had a feud, would I still dare to stand here?" Nan Lian retorted, giving her disciple a sidelong glance.

Only then did Hetao truly relax.

Lu Ye remained silent. Nan Lian's words about trouble not extending to three generations were not wrong, but once a feud was established, it wasn't so easy to resolve. How could the realms that had Sun-Glimmer cultivators killed by Ma Bin easily forgive him? Realms capable of producing Sun-Glimmer cultivators were inherently powerful and would naturally not show weakness when facing external enemies. Grudges are passed down through generations in this manner.

"Ma Bin must be seriously injured," Nan Lian suddenly murmured.

Lu Ye's heart tightened instantly, but he dared not show any outward change. He simply asked curiously, "Didn't they say he escaped?"

Nan Lian replied, "He escaped, and he fought one against four, managing to kill one of them. However, the price he paid must have been considerable."

Lu Ye wanted to ask more, but Nan Lian had lost interest in continuing the conversation. She looked at Lu Ye and asked, "Let's not talk about that anymore. Young friend, where are you headed?"

Lu Ye snapped back to attention and quickly said, "The Nine Xuan Star System. Senior, do you know its location?" He had come from the Rainflower Star System, but he wasn't planning to return the same way. Since Yu Yaorao was currently with him, Lu Ye wanted to send her back first. Afterward, he would only need to establish contact with the Soul Clan ancestral land to easily return to Jiuzhou.

Nan Lian shook her head. "I don't know. I'm also still trying to find my bearings."

"Then what is this place?" Lu Ye asked again.

"This place..."

While the two were talking, several figures sat cross-legged at the site of the previous Sun-Glimmer battle, each tens of thousands of miles apart. These individuals were clearly all Sun-Glimmer cultivators, the powerful figures who had just participated in the encirclement and slaying of Ma Bin. At this moment, their vital energy surged, and their spiritual power was turbulent.

After a long while, an old man with white hair and beard finally exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes. "As expected of Azure Devil King Ma Bin, his strength is even greater than rumored!" The four of them had besieged him, yet the outcome was one dead and three injured. Admittedly, the four were only temporarily allied, and their coordination wasn't very skilled. However, given their numbers, the fact that they still ended up in such a state demonstrated Ma Bin's terrifying power.

"Venerable Yu Daoist, he..." In another direction, a woman opened her eyes, her face still slightly pale, with a faint hint of lingering fear in her gaze. The Venerable Yu she mentioned was the Sun-Glimmer cultivator who had fallen in battle. His strength among the four of them was not the weakest, but because Ma Bin had specifically targeted him, he had perished and his cultivation dissipated.

"I will handle Venerable Yu Daoist's posthumous affairs," the old man said. "After this, I will make a trip to his homeland to deliver his belongings and the news."

"Then we'll trouble Fellow Daoist Changfeng," said another Sun-Glimmer cultivator, who appeared as a youth. "Although Venerable Yu Daoist fell, in this battle, Ma Bin also damaged his cultivation foundation. Thus, Venerable Yu Daoist can be said to have died a worthy death."

In such an intense and hasty battle, Ma Bin fought one against four. Though he managed to kill an enemy, how could he himself emerge unscathed? Nan Lian had perceived that Ma Bin's injuries wouldn't be light, but in reality, his injuries were far more severe than she could discern.

"If it were just ordinary injuries, it would be fine, but injuries to the cultivation foundation are not so easily recovered," the woman said, turning to face Changfeng. "Fellow Daoist Changfeng, we must send out a message as quickly as possible to alert the nearby top-tier realms, to prevent Ma Bin from finding an opportunity to recover." To recover from injuries like Ma Bin's, he would only have a chance by going to top-tier realms. However, the major top-tier realms are teeming with powerful cultivators; how could they be easily invaded? Therefore, if this path is blocked, Ma Bin's injuries will never recover and may even worsen. Given his current age, if he cannot heal the damage to his cultivation foundation, he will undoubtedly perish over time.

Changfeng nodded. "That's natural. However, compared to this, I am more concerned about something else." As he spoke, he turned to look in the direction Ma Bin had initially fled. "Don't you two find things a bit strange? Ma Bin clearly could have escaped, so why did he suddenly turn back and attack?"

The other two hadn't considered this angle, but with Changfeng's reminder, they immediately realized there was indeed something unusual about the situation. If Ma Bin hadn't turned back and counterattacked, he should have been able to escape smoothly with his speed. After the Shura Arena closed, the four of them had gathered by chance, without any specific prior deployment. Therefore, if Ma Bin had simply shaken them off, their numbers would have been useless.

The youthful Sun-Glimmer cultivator pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Was there something ahead that made him feel threatened or apprehensive?"

Changfeng pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Perhaps... but if that were the only reason, Ma Bin could have simply changed direction and avoided it. Furthermore, for a powerful cultivator like Ma Bin, who in this starry sky could possibly make him apprehensive now?"

"Fellow Daoist Changfeng, do you mean..." the woman mused thoughtfully.

Changfeng's gaze sharpened. "If there was someone over there whom Ma Bin cared about, then his strange actions would make perfect sense!"

The woman immediately understood. "He feared the aftershocks of the conflict would affect that person! He suddenly turned back and counterattacked to protect them!" At this point, her thoughts expanded. "If that's the case, then the person he cares about is definitely not a Sun-Glimmer cultivator!" If they were a Sun-Glimmer cultivator, Ma Bin wouldn't have needed to be so cautious.

It must be said that the Sun-Glimmer cultivators' minds were extremely sharp; Ma Bin's slightly contradictory action allowed them to deduce so much.

The youth asked doubtfully, "I haven't heard that Ma Bin has any descendants, and the realm he came from has long since shattered. What else in this world would he care about?"

Changfeng replied, "Whatever it is, we'll know once we go and see."

The three Sun-Glimmer cultivators exchanged glances across the distance and then set off.

"The Shura Domain..." On the other side, Lu Ye fell into deep thought.

According to Nan Lian's conjecture, their current location should be the Shura Domain. This is a vast star region; no one knows its true size or has ever seen its real appearance because, for a long time, the entire Shura Domain was shrouded and concealed by the power of the Shura Arena, a supreme treasure of the starry sky. The moment anyone stepped into the Shura Domain from outside, they would enter a trial scenario, just as Lu Ye had experienced during his first entry. If a cultivator passed the trial, they would directly enter the Heavenly Shura Realm. If they failed, they would naturally return to where they came from and could only re-enter after ten years. Therefore, no one has ever known what the true Shura Domain looks like until now, and there are no star maps of it.

Now that the Shura Arena is closed and the mysterious power of the supreme starry sky treasure has vanished, the Shura Domain, which had always been shrouded by its power, has been revealed. The nearly ten million cultivators who were originally within the Shura Arena are now dispersed throughout this area. This was Nan Lian's conjecture, but it was likely correct. Therefore, even a Sun-Glimmer powerhouse like Nan Lian didn't know which direction to go; she could only choose a random path and hope for the best. As long as she exited the Shura Domain and reached any known star system, she would be able to find her way home. Furthermore, as a Sun-Glimmer cultivator, she could infer the general direction of her homeland by observing the surrounding celestial phenomena. However, this would require some time, and Nan Lian hadn't managed it yet.

"As for Nine Xuan, I have heard of it," Nan Lian said. "It's not very far from my home, Wanxia, and roughly in the same direction. Young friend, if you don't mind, you may travel with me."

Lu Ye glanced at Yu Yaorao, who nodded repeatedly. Only then did he cup his fists and say, "Then I thank you very much, Senior." Traveling with a Sun-Glimmer cultivator would undoubtedly be more convenient and faster. As long as Nan Lian located Wanxia, she could roughly determine the position of Nine Xuan, allowing Yu Yaorao to be sent back. As for himself, it wouldn't be too late to search for a passage to the Soul Clan ancestral land afterward.

"It's no trouble at all!" Nan Lian said with a slight smile, not thinking much of it. She still thought highly of Lu Ye, the junior who had previously allowed her to indulge her gambling addiction and make a substantial profit. Especially since Lu Ye had demonstrated extraordinary talent and potential in the Combat Arena, Nan Lian didn't mind investing some goodwill in him in advance. Someone like Lu Ye, once he ascended to the Sun-Glimmer realm, would certainly not remain obscure. Perhaps he could assist her in some way in the future. This was also a gamble, a gamble on her own foresight!

"Hmm?" Nan Lian suddenly looked up towards the depths of the starry sky, her brows furrowing slightly.

"What's wrong?" Hetao asked.

"Everyone, stand behind me," Nan Lian instructed. Hetao was already standing behind her master, so the instruction was clearly for Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao. Lu Ye and Yu Yaorao did not hesitate, swiftly moving to stand behind Nan Lian.

A few breaths later, a figure suddenly appeared silently not far ahead. Their majestic gaze swept over the group, and upon seeing Nan Lian, they were slightly taken aback, clearly not having expected another Sun-Glimmer cultivator here.