Yan Lingzhi raised his hand and gave her a light smack on the head. "Though you are not my disciple, you are the sole heir of the Starry Sky in this generation."

"So don’t worry. Even if it’s just for that, I won’t leave you to fend for yourself."

"In any case, don’t get bullied again. You’re embarrassing me."

Lu Sangjiu hadn’t expected to stumble into the protection of such a powerful figure. Her confidence immediately swelled, and she grinned, nodding repeatedly. "Alright, alright! Don’t you worry, Senior. I’ll remember that!"

Yan Lingzhi shot her a disdainful look. "...Your smile is really ugly."

As he spoke, he tossed her a mirror. "This is to save your life. When activated, it can block a full-force attack from a Divinity Transformation Stage cultivator, but it can only be used once. I suggest you don’t use it unless it’s a last resort."

"Also, if anything urgent comes up, you can use it to contact me."

After speaking, he waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, go on back."

Lu Sangjiu held the mirror and bowed gratefully to Yan Lingzhi. "Thank you, Senior!"

When she looked up again, Yan Lingzhi was already gone.

Lu Sangjiu glanced at the mirror again and couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. ’I finally have a powerful backer to rely on... It really wasn’t easy!’

That being said, Lu Sangjiu certainly had no intention of relying completely on Yan Lingzhi.

But now, with this newfound assurance, she felt much more secure.

The next morning, Lu Sangjiu told Duan Xingyun and the others about her plans to go to Qingyun State.

Of course, she couldn’t say she was going to investigate the Qilin Sect. Fortunately, Gu Jue and his companions were also in Qingyun State, which gave her a reasonable excuse.

"I promised to help Gu Jue before, and I was the one who asked Chi Yan and the others to help him too. Now that I’m fine, I should go and check on them."

Duan Xingyun was a little worried. "But you’ve only just recovered from your serious injuries..."

"Don’t worry, Master. It’s not that serious. Aren’t I alive and kicking right now?"

"Besides, hasn’t the news about the domination map being in my hands been suppressed? There won’t be any danger, so please don’t worry!"

Luo Linlang, at her side, was itching to go. "Little Junior Sister, I’ll go with you!"

The moment the words left her mouth, three people turned to look at her and shouted in perfect unison, "No!"

Li Qiancheng glared, his eyes wide. "Go where? You’re staying put right here in the sect!"

"How many years have you been at the Golden Core Early Stage? Your Third Junior Brother is about to catch up to you, and you’re still not trying to make any progress."

"You’re not going anywhere until your cultivation reaches the Late-stage Golden Core!"

Luo Linlang looked aggrievedly at Duan Xingyun. "Master..."

Duan Xingyun nodded calmly. "Qian Cheng has a point."

Unconvinced, Luo Linlang looked at Lu Sangjiu. "Little Junior Sister!"

Lu Sangjiu cleared her throat. "First Senior Brother is just looking out for you."

Luo Linlang: "..."

She immediately became withdrawn, shrinking into a corner and whimpering softly.

Of course, she knew they were all doing it for her own good.

After her Word Spirit Technique was exposed last time, she feared many people were watching her from the shadows. It would be quite dangerous to go out at a time like this.

’But...’ she thought, ’I’m only at the Golden Core Stage now. Am I supposed to cower in the sect and cultivate until the Divinity Transformation Stage before I dare to step outside?’

Seeing that she was genuinely upset, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t help but console her. "There, there, Senior Sister. Besides, you haven’t fully recovered yet, have you?"

"Once you’re better, we’ll go out adventuring together next time!"

Luo Linlang looked pitifully aggrieved. "...Really?"

"Absolutely!"

Just as she finished coaxing Luo Linlang, Li Qiancheng spoke up from the side. "Little Junior Sister, I’ll go with you!"

Lu Sangjiu quickly waved her hands in refusal. "There’s no need! My friends are over there anyway. I can just go and meet up with them myself."

She tried her best to persuade him. "Look, Third Senior Brother is in seclusion, and Second Senior Sister hasn’t recovered yet. If you’re not here to stay by Master’s side, how can I possibly be at ease? Right?"

After a good deal of persuasion, she finally managed to dissuade Li Qiancheng from his idea of accompanying her.

Finally, amid their repeated warnings and watched by their gazes, Lu Sangjiu left the Seven Emotions Sect alone on her sword.

However, she didn’t head straight for Qingyun State. Instead, she first took a Teleportation Array to the Luoyan Mountain Range.

Her cave abode had been cleaned up by cultivators from the Seven Emotions Sect last time, but the location itself was still quite good.

The place was remote and quiet, with no High-level cultivators lurking about, making it perfect for her breakthrough.

Now, without Xie Ningyuan’s help, she would have to face the mysterious Qilin Sect on her own. To do that, she had to become as strong as possible and have enough power to protect herself.

Arriving at the cave, Lu Sangjiu scanned the vicinity with her Divine Sense. Finding no one nearby, she set up an Array inside the cave to conceal her aura and then placed a simpler Mist Tracing Formation over a large area outside to prevent anyone from getting close.

Once everything was ready, she returned to the cave to prepare for her breakthrough.

After absorbing Spiritual Power to her absolute limit last time, her cultivation had now reached a critical point. She didn’t need much more preparation; all she had to do was absorb a certain amount of Demonic Qi to summon the Heavenly Tribulation.

She sat down cross-legged and first took out the mask Xie Ningyuan had given her from her storage bag.

The Magic Treasure had already acknowledged her as its master, and she now knew its name: Thousand Faces of Life.

Once she formed her Golden Core, she would be able to use it to transform into three fixed appearances.

Moreover, as her cultivation increased, the number of appearances would gradually increase as well. It was truly a rare treasure.

This was her first time attempting to advance her cultivation after beginning her Immortal Demon Dual Cultivation. She didn’t know what to expect, so to be on the safe side, she decided to disguise herself first.

After putting on the Thousand Faces of Life, Lu Sangjiu pictured the image of an ordinary-looking young man in her mind.

Three breaths later, her appearance and aura had completely changed.

Lu Sangjiu carefully sensed the changes and once again marveled at what a good item the Thousand Faces of Life was.

’Although it appears to be a top-grade magic treasure, I don’t know why it’s so powerful. With this disguise, even someone at the Divinity Transformation Stage wouldn’t be able to see through it, right?’

’Xie Ningyuan is truly an enigma.’

The thought of him caused her mind to wander for a moment, but she quickly forced herself to calm down.

’After all, worrying is useless. It’s better to be practical and increase my strength.’

’If I encounter something like this again in the future, I won’t need someone else to risk their life for me.’

Then, Lu Sangjiu took out a Demon Essence Stone and began to absorb the Demonic Qi from within.

After a day and a night, the Demonic Qi inside Lu Sangjiu’s body also reached its peak. Outside the cave, tribulation clouds began to gather in the sky...

A Heavenly Tribulation for the Golden Core Stage shouldn’t have been particularly strong. However, the oppressive dark clouds and the pressure from the Heavenly Dao’s might clearly told Lu Sangjiu that things were not that simple...

A resolute look flashed in Lu Sangjiu’s eyes. ’Now that I’ve taken this step, there’s no turning back.’

’Come hell or high water, I will get through this!’

As the first bolt of purple lightning crashed down, Lu Sangjiu finally felt just how ridiculously powerful this Heavenly Tribulation was!

’This has already reached the intensity of a Nascent Soul Thunder Tribulation, hasn’t it? It really is determined to kill me.’

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