Chapter 888: Unexpected Guest

Manager Yunyang suddenly looked up.

A smiling, refined, and handsome face appeared before her.

"Jiang Fan?" she exclaimed in surprise.

Then, as if remembering something, her face fell: "Who are you? Do we know each other? Why are you calling me Master so casually?"

Was Master acting coy now?

Jiang Fan took out some resources that the North Sea Demon Emperor had gifted him.

"Disciple was just out searching for resources for my senior brothers and sisters, wasn't I?"

Manager Yunyang took a look. Her eyes lit up. With her discerning eye, she naturally recognized these as rare items from the vast sea. They were enough for Jian Linyuan and the others to break through to the next level. However, maintaining her dignity as a Master, she composed herself and gave a light cough.

"Oh, so it's you, Jiang Fan."

"Next time, you're not allowed to disappear for a whole month without a trace, okay?"

Jiang Fan smiled. He picked up the bamboo slip on her lap and quickly scanned it. Although this was also a high-grade Earth-level cultivation technique, because it was a combined attack technique, it was much easier to comprehend than the Six Heavenly Thunder Arts.

Soon, he picked up a brush and swiftly jotted down his insights.

"Master, here."

Manager Yunyang took it and read it. She immediately stood up in shock. Many of her previously incomprehensible confusions were perfectly resolved in these insights.

"There's hope for the combined attack technique!"

"My disciple, Jiang Fan, you've surprised me so much!"

The commotion here attracted the attention of Jian Linyuan and the others, who realized it was Jiang Fan. They rushed over, looking displeased.

Shang Shiqiu crossed her arms, supporting the weight on her chest, and huffed:

"Junior Brother Jiang, you disappeared for an entire month. Do you even have our Master in your heart? Aren't you going to apologize to Master?"

She had endured so much grievance by recruiting Jiang Fan into Master's lineage! But that scoundrel Jiang Fan just vanished without a trace. In the end, she had to bear everything alone.

Unexpectedly, Manager Yunyang immediately stopped her, softly reprimanding, "Impudence! How dare you speak to my most beloved disciple like that?"

Shang Shiqiu was momentarily stunned. "But Master, I was helping you!" she blurted out, bewildered. "Why are you scolding me instead?"

She couldn't finish her sentence.

Manager Yunyang had already pulled out a disciplinary ruler, lightly tapped it twice on her palm, and said calmly:

"Shang Shiqiu, are you sure I said those words? Would you like me to use the Great Memory Restoration Art to help you recall?"

Shang Shiqiu shivered. She quickly said, "Oh, oh, oh, I remember now."

"Those were all my own words."

Manager Yunyang huffed, "If you dare to spread rumors about me again, I'll expel you, unfilial disciple, from the sect!"

Then she looked at Jiang Fan, her face full of warmth.

"Jiang Fan, distribute the resources to them."

"Shang Shiqiu's share can be omitted."

Jiang Fan smiled slightly. He divided the oceanic resources in his hand into seven portions and said, "Senior brothers and sisters, one portion for each of you, please don't be picky."

Jian Linyuan and the others looked, their faces showing surprise. With the underground world about to open, obtaining such resources was truly a godsend!

They finally understood why their Master, who had been grumbling about Jiang Fan for a month, suddenly had a complete change of attitude. Who wouldn't like a good disciple who can find resources on their own?

The six of them successively received astonishing resources. Finally, only Shang Shiqiu was left, looking pitifully as she approached.

"Junior Brother Jiang, I'm sorry. My voice was a bit too loud just now."

Jiang Fan chuckled and gave her the last portion of resources. Shang Shiqiu immediately beamed with joy:

"Wahahaha, I knew Junior Brother cared about me the most. It wasn't in vain that I recruited you into the sect when no one else wanted you."

Upon hearing these words, Jiang Fan's expression became a little strange. The matter of his recruitment, the more he thought about it, the more something felt off.

He probed, "Senior Sister Shang, in the month I was gone, did Vice Pavilion Lord You and Vice Pavilion Lord Gu do anything to you?"

Shang Shiqiu immediately puffed up with anger upon hearing this: "Don't even mention those two old things... *cough cough*, I mean, those adorable old folks! I was seriously listening in Vice Pavilion Lord You's class. She said I put her in a bad mood and asked me to leave. Vice Pavilion Lord Gu was even worse. When she was teaching, she said I stepped in with my left foot first, which was disrespectful to her, and kicked me out. What the hell? How did I offend them?"

Jiang Fan's mouth twitched. He instantly understood most of what happened.

Manager Yunyang, however, had a smile playing on her lips. Clearly, she already knew some inside information. The thought of snatching Jiang Fan, this prized recruit, from the jaws of the four Vice Pavilion Lords immediately made her feel delighted.

"Alright, alright, I'll teach you a combined attack technique. Jiang Fan, you too. I'll first assess your strength, so I can arrange your position among them."

"Assess me? Manager Yunyang is still at the Ninth Level of Core Formation, right? If I'm really assessed, what if I accidentally make her lose face in front of everyone? She might not be able to withstand my full-power attack."

Jiang Fan rubbed his nose and said, "Master, I have my own team. During this trip to the underground world, I might not even encounter Senior Brother Jian and the others. So, let's skip the combined attack technique."

Manager Yunyang scoffed, "I know you're powerful. The news of you single-handedly destroying the Giant Sect has already spread throughout the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. But, I have been cultivating at the Ninth Level of Core Formation for many years; I'm not comparable to those elders of the Giant Sect. Assessing your strength is more than enough for me. Don't worry about making me lose face."

As the disciples of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion swarmed to the Nine Sects to search for infernal desolate beasts, they had all, more or less, come into contact with people from the Nine Sects. The matter of Jiang Fan destroying the Giant Sect naturally couldn't be kept secret and spread thoroughly.

With his thoughts exposed, Jiang Fan was helpless. He could only say, "Alright. Then, Master, please be careful. My strength has had a slight improvement recently."

Manager Yunyang smiled confidently: "Bring it on! If I can't even suppress my own disciple, then I'm not fit to be a Master!"

Helpless, Jiang Fan could only follow Manager Yunyang to the center of the square.

***

In the Grand Hall of the Pavilion Lord.

"So it's Venerable Yunhuo and Fairy Qianlan, it's been twenty years!" The Heavenly Secret Pavilion Lord showed surprise. There was a hint of happiness, but also some astonishment. These two were once members of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, apprentices under the former Pavilion Lord, just like him. Later, they left the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, traveled far to Taicang Prefecture, and both joined the Fire Worship Sect. Now, it was their first meeting after twenty years.

Venerable Yunhuo was still courteous, rising with a smile to greet him: "Tianzhu, it's been twenty years. You've also broken through to the Nascent Soul realm."

In contrast, Fairy Qianlan, over forty years old, still possessed a charming demeanor, faintly revealing her past extraordinary elegance. She expressionlessly glanced at the Heavenly Secret Pavilion Lord and said:

"After all these years, you're still a One-Aperture Nascent Soul. The old Pavilion Lord's judgment wasn't that great after all."

Venerable Yunhuo's face immediately hardened upon hearing this.

"Qianlan, don't be rude!"

Fairy Qianlan said expressionlessly, "I'm just speaking the truth. If the old Pavilion Lord had given the opportunity to break through to Nascent Soul to Junior Brother Tianzhu, and left the two of us to fend for ourselves back then... What's the result? Twenty years later, not only have we broken through to Nascent Soul, but we've also achieved Two-Aperture Nascent Souls. And Junior Brother Tianzhu, whom the old Pavilion Lord valued most, is still a One-Aperture Nascent Soul."

Yun Tianzhu smiled indifferently. Not bothering with her sarcasm, he said, "Senior Brother and Senior Sister, you've traveled thousands of miles from the Fire Worship Sect. I presume you have something important to discuss?"

Fairy Qianlan didn't waste words and said, "We want that bottle of True Spirit Blood."