Night had fallen deep.

Lai Li’an sat alone on the porch steps, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold.

He had changed back into his previous gray robes, and his belongings were all spread out to dry nearby.

He looked up at the moon, feeling that he was likely the most pathetic Honored Master in the entire Cultivation World.

Inside the room lay his disciple and another young woman.

Meanwhile, he, the Honored Master, had been kicked out to sit in the cold wind.

Even though he had walked out on his own, that wasn’t the point.

The point was, he had nowhere else to go.

Lai Li’an sighed and drained the cold tea in his cup.

As the cold tea slid down his throat, a bitter taste spread across his tongue. He smacked his lips, finding it wasn’t so bad after all.

He set the empty teacup on the step beside him, rested his head on his hands, and leaned against a pillar, closing his eyes.

Next, he needed to focus on his cultivation, tackling those Heaven-Grade Cultivation Techniques one by one to truly stabilize his cultivation base. And then… what?

He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He had always been struggling just for the sake of the words “staying alive.” Now that he finally had a little breathing room, he found himself unsure of which way to go.

Forget it, he would just take it one step at a time. After all, the thing he was best at was playing it by ear.

The night wind grew chilly, and he let out a yawn as his eyelids began to grow heavy.

At the very moment he was about to drift into a dream.

Knock, knock, knock.

Three knocks sounded exceptionally clear in the silent night.

Lai Li’an’s brow twitched slightly. Who would be knocking at this time of night?

Knock, knock, knock.

Another three knocks, slightly more urgent than before.

Lai Li’an stood up, straightened his lapels, and walked unhurriedly toward the courtyard gate.

His right hand reached discreetly into his sleeve; there was nothing left in the System Inventory that was particularly useful.

However, the Life-Protecting Pearl of the Great Void was still there.

Then again, since the party was knocking, they probably weren’t here to kill him. What kind of villain would honestly knock on a door, right?

Lai Li’an reached the door and pulled back the bolt.

The moonlight illuminated a silhouette. The person stood outside the door, covered in blood.

Their clothes were tattered, and blood dripped from the hem of their robes. The moment that person saw Lai Li’an, a sudden burst of light erupted in their eyes.

Lai Li’an’s pupils constricted sharply. He recognized this face.

Shao Jiao. He was currently standing before him soaked in blood, like a torch that was about to burn out.

“Senior,” Shao Jiao said in a low voice, “forgive my offense.”

His hand suddenly shot out from his sleeve, lunging toward Lai Li’an’s forehead.

Lai Li’an instinctively wanted to dodge, but before his body could react, a talisman had already been slapped onto his forehead.

A cold sensation spread from his brow, and a single thought flashed through Lai Li’an’s mind—

In the next second, the talisman suddenly flared to life.

Blinding white light erupted from the paper, instantly swallowing Lai Li’an’s vision.

He felt his entire being being jerked upward by an irresistible force.

His feet left the ground, and his body rose rapidly through the void.

The wind howled in his ears, and the white light exploded before his eyes; everything was happening too fast for him to think.

“Holy sh—!”

Lai Li’an managed one last curse before his vision went black, and he completely vanished into the white light.

At the courtyard gate, the white light dissipated.

Shao Jiao stood before the empty gateway, covered in blood and swaying on his feet.

He looked toward where Lai Li’an had disappeared, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled into an arc.

“Great…” His voice was as light as a wisp of smoke. “The sect… is saved.”

After saying those words, he seemed to be drained of his last bit of strength. His legs gave way, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

Blood gushed from his wounds, slowly spreading across the floor.

The words his master had spoken before passing away surfaced in his mind.

“Jiao’er, you are the last hope of the Misty Moon Sect. Live. As long as you are still alive, the Misty Moon Sect has not perished.”

He did not listen. From the moment the Blood Lotus Sect attacked the Misty Moon Sect, he knew he would not survive.

He only wanted to do one last thing for the sect before he died.

Now, he had done it.

That person—the one who had seen through all his disguises with a single glance—could surely save the Misty Moon Sect.

Shao Jiao slowly closed his eyes, waiting for the darkness to swallow him.

“Shao Jiao?”

A voice came from afar, blurry and indistinct.

Shao Jiao no longer had the strength to respond.

“Shao Jiao! Wake up!”

Shao Jiao felt his body being turned over. His back touched the cold bluestone ground, the pain making his brow furrow slightly.

A cool hand pressed against his wrist, and a strand of spiritual power probed into his meridians.

“The injuries are severe… but he can still be saved.”

The voice carried a hint of coldness. Shao Jiao felt it sounded familiar, yet he could not remember where he had heard it.

He struggled to open his eyelids, his vision a blur.

Amidst the blur, he saw a green figure.

The figure knelt by his side, took a pill from their sleeve, and placed it into his mouth.

The pill dissolved as soon as it touched his throat, and a surge of warm medicinal power rose from his abdomen.

Wherever that power passed, the pain from his wounds eased slightly, and his consciousness began to gradually clear.

Shao Jiao blinked and finally saw the person crouching by his side.

“Ruan… Se?”

“Don’t speak.” Ruan Se’s voice was cold, but her hands did not stop moving.

She took out another pill from her sleeve, crushed it, and sprinkled it evenly over Shao Jiao’s bleeding wounds. The moment the powder touched his flesh, the bleeding stopped.

Shao Jiao lay on the ground, gasping for breath, letting Ruan Se treat his injuries.

His gaze fell upon the empty courtyard gate.

Senior Lai was gone.

The teleportation talisman… had it worked?

Before he could confirm it, a voice came from the direction of the main house.

“Master? Master, are you out there? I heard something.”

Su Wan’er poked her head out from the doorway. The moonlight fell upon her face, making her delicate features look exceptionally beautiful.

She thought she had heard a noise in her sleep; waking up in a daze, she realized Ruan Se was not beside her, so she got up to take a look.

Su Wan’er dashed out of the room. Her bare feet pressed against the ice-cold bluestone floor as she reached the courtyard gate in just a few strides.

“Where is Master?” Her gaze swept across the entrance before settling back on Ruan Se’s face. “Where did my Master go?”

Ruan Se was about to speak, but Shao Jiao, who was lying on the ground, spoke first.

“Senior Lai… was teleported to the Misty Moon Sect by me.”

Su Wan’er froze. As her gaze fell upon Shao Jiao’s face, the light in her eyes grew cold, bit by bit.

“What did you say?”

“The Misty Moon Sect is being attacked by the Blood Lotus Sect. My master told me to use a Teleportation Talisman to escape.”

Shao Jiao paused. “But I couldn’t just live on in dishonor. The Blood Lotus Sect was hunting me everywhere, and I was gravely injured… When I broke through the encirclement, I was constantly looking for someone, someone who could save my sect.”

He shifted his gaze away from Su Wan’er’s face.

“He saw through what no one else could. If it’s him, he can definitely save my sect.”

Su Wan’er’s expression darkened inch by inch. She crouched down, grabbed Shao Jiao by the collar, and hauled him off the ground.

“So you just sent my Master over there?!” She hissed with a suppressed fury. “By what right do you have to make decisions for him?!”