Chapter 868: I Want to Drink Fish Soup

From that day on, Nian Yuexian would occasionally assign tasks to Lu Ye via the guard order. These tasks were always trivial matters, mostly related to food and drink.

Once, she even tasked him with buying a special local wine from a nearby pass.

Each completed task yielded battle merits, ranging from a few hundred to two thousand points. In just a few days, Lu Ye had accumulated nearly ten thousand battle merits.

While the rewards were good, Lu Ye always felt that something was off.

This wasn't how things were supposed to unfold.

That day, Lu Ye was once again preparing food on Nian Yuexian's spiritual peak. Beast meat was roasting over the fire, hot soup simmered in the pot, and several jars of fine wine were set on the table, awaiting Nian Yuexian's arrival.

Typically, she would only appear suddenly once Lu Ye had everything ready. A burnt smell wafted through the air. Yiyi turned her head, exclaiming, "Lu Ye, it's burning!" She quickly stepped forward, took the roasted meat from his hand, and tried her best to salvage it.

Turning back, she saw Lu Ye sitting there with a deep frown, looking utterly miserable. "What's wrong?" Yiyi asked, puzzled by his distress.

"This isn't right!" Lu Ye shook his head.

"What's not right?"

"It shouldn't be like this."

He had joined the Bingzhou Guard to defend its frontline passes, not to be ordered around like a servant. While it was true that one must obey orders from superiors, what exactly had he been doing these past few days?

He suddenly stood up, kicking over the soup pot in front of him. To Yiyi's gasp, he overturned the table, shattering the fine wine bought from the nearby pass. Looking up at the bamboo building not far away, he cupped his fist and declared, "My Lady, your subordinate has something to say!"

On the third floor of the bamboo building, a beautiful figure appeared. Nian Yuexian floated down, glanced at the mess on the ground, and calmly said, "Speak!"

"My Lady, your subordinate requests that you assign some proper tasks, and stop having me do these trivial chores." "Were the previous tasks... improper?"

Don't you know what's proper?

Lu Ye was filled with unvented frustration. While battle merits were certainly valuable, they shouldn't be earned this way. If this continued, he would become useless.

"My Lady, this is Cangyan Mountain Pass. Both you and I are members of the Bingzhou Guard; we should be fulfilling our duties as guards, not idling away our time as if in retirement."

Nian Yuexian, who had been on the third floor, suddenly appeared before him, only a foot away. Her gaze sharpened. "Am I old?"

"That's how the phrase goes, but that's not what I meant. Why must My Lady fixate on that word?" Lu Ye couldn't help but take two steps back.

Nian Yuexian simply stared at him in silence, making Lu Ye feel uneasy.

After a long moment, she finally spoke: "I understand."

Lu Ye let out a long breath and said in a deep voice, "Since that's the case—" "I want fish soup!" "Huh?"

"Fish soup stewed with Blood-red Scales. I haven't had it in many years."

Lu Ye was suddenly at a loss for words. And... how did she know about Blood-red Scales? This was supposed to be a product of the Blood Sect's Moon Lake, or had she tasted it somewhere else?

"Within five days, I want to drink fish soup made from fresh Blood-red Scales!" Nian Yuexian declared. "My Lady, what I just said..."

"Are you planning to defy an order?" Nian Yuexian's voice was leisurely.

Their eyes met. After a long pause, Lu Ye gritted his teeth and said, word by word, "Your subordinate accepts the order!"

As he spoke, he gestured, and Amber leaped up, intending to land on his shoulder. But in mid-air, it was drawn by a suction force. When it regained its senses, it was already in Nian Yuexian's arms, her slender hands stroking its fur like a small cat.

*Master, save me!*

Amber's tiger-like eyes widened, conveying its plea to Lu Ye. Lu Ye raised a hand and grasped his sword hilt, glaring coldly at Nian Yuexian.

"They two will stay with me; you go alone." Nian Yuexian seemed oblivious to his hostility, turning her back to him, completely unguarded. "Don't worry, I won't eat it." That last sentence, however, made Amber tremble uncontrollably.

Yiyi stepped forward and held Lu Ye's arm, shaking her head repeatedly. "Don't be impulsive. Go quickly and come back. She means no harm."

The main reason was that he couldn't win. With her Divine Sea Realm cultivation, even if she truly left herself unguarded against Lu Ye, he would be no match for her.

Furthermore, insubordination was a grave taboo within the Bingzhou Guard!

"Please take good care of them, My Lady. They... are your subordinate's dearest loved ones!" Lu Ye finished in a deep voice, then shot into the sky. Fiery red spiritual power flowed behind him, transforming into a pair of wings, and he rapidly flew away.

"Dearest loved ones, hmm..." Nian Yuexian's figure paused, a slight smile playing on her lips. She raised a hand and gently poked Amber's nose.

Seeing her expression, Amber became even more panicked. Its eyes rolled back, and it fainted on the spot.

Nian Yuexian pinched its neck and softly said, "If you don't wake up, I might just make a pot of tiger bone soup."

Amber immediately opened its eyes, full of vigor, indicating that it had merely been taking a short nap.

He never expected that after joining the Bingzhou Guard and not encountering a single cultivator from the Myriad Devil Ridge, he would first have to return to his sect.

After several days of interaction, Lu Ye realized that Nian Yuexian was somewhat unreliable. He wondered how he had been so unlucky as to be assigned to her, especially since he was the only one sent to Cangyan Mountain Pass.

What exactly was Haotian City doing?

However, the allocation of personnel was a high-level decision, and Lu Ye was powerless to resist.

The journey to the Blood Sect was not short, and Nian Yuexian had only given him five days. This meant he had to return to his sect within two and a half days.

The task had been issued via the guard order. If he exceeded the deadline, not only would he not receive the battle merits for completing the task, but Nian Yuexian would also very likely seize the opportunity to cause trouble.

Lu Ye strongly suspected she was using this method to force him to leave Cangyan Mountain Pass.

Before his arrival, she had always been alone. His presence might have disturbed the tranquility of her life, making her feel uncomfortable. This could explain why she had constantly ordered him around with trivial tasks these past few days. Otherwise, how could a Divine Sea Realm grand cultivator have so many culinary desires, even sending him to a nearby pass to buy special local wine?

Lu Ye hadn't seen any indication that she actually drank alcohol.

Time was pressing, and he sped along. What gave Lu Ye some peace of mind was that after his cultivation breakthrough to the True Lake Realm, his speed had significantly increased.

Completing a round trip within five days was feasible. Had he not broken through, this task might have truly failed.

He traveled day and night, only occasionally descending to recover his strength before continuing on his way.

After a full two days, he finally arrived at Xiangshan.

He didn't go to Shouzhen Peak, heading straight for Moon Lake instead.

From a distance, he saw Shui Yuan's waiting figure.

Lu Ye had already informed Shui Yuan on the way, so his second senior sister knew he was returning. However, there was another figure beside Shui Yuan. As he got closer, he realized it was Pang Huanyin. She had returned from the Peerless Continent again.

He landed before them like a clap of thunder. "Senior Brother Lu!" Pang Huanyin greeted with a smile.

"Palace Mistress Pang." Lu Ye replied, then looked at Shui Yuan. "Second Senior Sister, I'll catch the fish first, then we can talk." With that, he flashed into Moon Lake, moving back and forth.

In moments, he burst out again, protected by spiritual energy, not a single drop of water clinging to him.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother, on breaking through to the True Lake Realm," Pang Huanyin congratulated. The spiritual energy fluctuations Lu Ye had just emitted made her realize that in such a short time, he had advanced from the eighth level of the Cloud River Realm to the True Lake Realm. She couldn't help but feel envious and marvel at the convenience of cultivation for cultivators in the Nine Provinces.

"Palace Mistress Pang is also not far from the True Lake Realm," Lu Ye nodded.

Pang Huanyin was originally at the peak of the Cloud River Realm, unable to break through to the True Lake Realm due to the limitations of the Peerless Continent's environment. Now that she was in the Nine Provinces, the True Lake Realm would not be the end of her cultivation; her future was undoubtedly the Divine Sea Realm.

However, she had been preoccupied with worldly affairs recently and hadn't had time for secluded cultivation.

Many members of the Ziwei Dao Palace had already arrived at Xiangshan via the Blood Sect's Heavenly Secret Pillar. They were currently building their mountain gate and sectarian foundation on the thirty peaks previously designated by Pang Huanyin. Once everything was ready, the Ziwei Dao Palace could establish its sect in the Nine Provinces and would then announce to Bingzhou that the Blood Sect would be revered as their superior sect.

The news had spread, astonishing many sects in Bingzhou, as there were numerous sects far more powerful than the Blood Sect there. Many people couldn't understand why the Ziwei Dao Palace had chosen the Blood Sect as its superior sect.

Only a few informed individuals understood the reasoning behind Pang Huanyin's decision.

This was a joyful occasion for the Blood Sect, and no one interfered.

"Second Senior Sister, do you know Nian Yuexian?" Lu Ye asked, looking at Shui Yuan again.

When he had messaged Shui Yuan earlier, Lu Ye had mentioned the reason for his return, naturally bringing up Nian Yuexian and complaining extensively about her.

Shui Yuan hadn't replied much, only telling him to discuss it when they met.

However, from Shui Yuan's tone, it seemed she knew Nian Yuexian.

"Yes, I know her. By rights, I should even call her Senior Sister," Shui Yuan nodded.

Lu Ye was surprised. "She's also from our Blood Sect?"

If that was the case, Yiyi hadn't been wrong to call Nian Yuexian "Sister" earlier. In contrast, it had been incorrect for him to address her as "Senior" upon their first meeting.

"Of course not," Shui Yuan chuckled. "She has never formally joined any sect. Strictly speaking, she's a rogue cultivator."

"A rogue cultivator!" Lu Ye exclaimed in surprise.

He had some idea of how harsh a rogue cultivator's growth environment could be. On the path of cultivation, rogue cultivators had to put in far more effort than sect disciples. For a rogue cultivator to reach the Divine Sea Realm, it was almost unimaginable how many hardships she must have endured on her cultivation journey.

From this point alone, Lu Ye felt a sense of admiration.

"Did she have an old grudge with our Blood Sect?"

"No, she didn't."

"Then why is she tormenting me like this?"

At first, Lu Ye hadn't realized it. He was simply pleased to receive battle merits for completing tasks. But after interacting with her for these past few days, Lu Ye had finally discerned some clues: Nian Yuexian was indeed deliberately toying with him. Otherwise, how could she assign such tasks to him, a True Lake Realm cultivator?