C278

"Mr. Yu!"

A familiar voice whispered, startling Yu Yuan.

"Qin Yun?"

Yu Yuan inquired cautiously.

"Indeed, it is I!" exclaimed Qin Yun joyfully.

"Where are you? And how can you hear my thoughts?" Yu Yuan was astounded. He couldn't grasp how his and Yu Zhu's remnant soul connection had allowed Qin Yun to eavesdrop and intercept their communication.

Since leaving the Moonfall Sanctuary, Yu Yuan hadn't seen Qin Yun of the Midnightshields.

Shouldn't Qin Yun be in the Crimson Sun Empire by all accounts?

"Mr. Yu, may I see you?" pleaded Qin Yun.

"Do you know my location?"

"I'm on my way!"

"Very well."

Yu Yuan quickly reined in his thoughts, fortifying his resolve and remaining vigilant.

Bai Shenshen, Wei Feng, and Ning Ji all gave him curious glances.

"I've run into a bit of trouble," Yu Yuan offered by way of explanation.

Qin Yun, the sect master of the Midnightshields, was at the pinnacle of the Lunar Spirit Stage during his time in the Moonfall Sanctuary.

He had concealed himself within the depths of the forbidden area, aiming to hunt the five moons of the Silvermoon Empire and leverage the Moonfall Sanctuary's wonders to break through to the Spirit Walk realm.

Unfortunately, the Moonfall Sanctuary was unpredictable and teeming with entities like the Sky Fiend, Indigo Wraith, Stormcrowned Emperor, Terra Fiend, Fides, Loong Tianxiao, Ann Jieshan, among others.

Beyond the terrestrial realm, Zhou Cangmin lurked, laying his schemes.

Qin Yun not only failed to gain any advantage in the Moonfall Sanctuary, but his life's work of cultivating Dawn Arrows either shattered or was forcibly imprinted by him.

After his departure from the Moonfall Sanctuary, he was ambushed by three members of the Binders of Shadows, nearly implicating Yu Yuan.

Before Yu Yuan left for the Serpent Spine Mountains, he removed the imprints from the Dawn Arrows, declaring that neither party owed the other anything, thus severing their association.

Yet, against all odds, Qin Yun had managed to track him down.

"Is he still trying to entice me to join the Midnightshields for training? He's quite persistent," Yu Yuan thought with an inward scoff. He had absolutely no interest in Qin Yun's prior proposition.

To him, Qin Yun, a cultivator at the Lunar Spirit Stage from the Midnightshields Sect, didn't offer a sect worthy of even temporary refuge.

Whoosh!

Qin Yun, in his scholar guise, donned in green with a jade belt cinched at his waist, manifested in his real body.

At first glance, he appeared aged and feeble, his once vibrant eyes now tinged with a hue of gray defeat.

Still in the late period of the Lunar Spirit, Yu Yuan sensed that Qin Yun seemed even weaker than when they had met at the Moonfall Sanctuary.

Had a year passed without his injuries healing, perhaps even deteriorating?

"Midnightshields, Qin Yun!"

Upon seeing him, Bai Shenshen from the Sacred Hands softly gasped, her expression changing slightly.

The Serpent Spine Mountains bordered the Crimson Sun Empire, and there was interaction between some sects from both the Sacred Hands and the Crimson Sun Empire.

As the sect master of Midnightshields, one of the seven sects within the Crimson Sun Empire, Bai Shenshen was not only familiar with Qin Yun but had also encountered him several times before. Naturally, she recognized him.

Qin Yun gave her a glance, showing no sign of recognition, and turned to Yu Yuan with a forlorn expression, "Mr. Yu, I had nowhere else to turn, so I sought your help."

His words left even Wei Feng from the Blackfang Legion brimming with curiosity.

When had it become common for a cultivator at the Lunar Spirit Stage to seek the protection of a junior at the Golden Sanctum Stage?

Wouldn't such a notion be preposterous if spread?

Was Yu Yuan from the Yu family, the imperial household of the Songbird Empire on the Aetherius Continent?

Or was Yu Yuan a Hellbreed from the Devil Palace, an Aberrant Soul yet to awaken in the Shadow's Keep?

"What's going on?" Yu Yuan asked with a frown, "You were well-off in the Crimson Sun Empire. Why travel such a great distance to come here? And how could you have heard..."

He trailed off before finishing his thought.

Qin Yun was about to respond when he suddenly turned his gaze to the distant sky, evidently detecting an unusual disturbance.

"Let me check it out."

With those words, his Lunar Spirit silently slipped from his body, drifting off into the distance.

With the Heaven Soul's ability to capture movements, Bai Shenshen, who had reached the Subtlety realm, could also perceive a bit.

Neither Ning Ji nor Wei Feng could sense anything.

Even though Qin Yun's Lunar Spirit had left his body, his dominant soul and Heaven Soul remained intact, allowing him to speak. "I must admit, when you imprinted a remnant soul on the Dawn Arrow, I retained a trace of it with my cultivation mystique, even after its extraction. This trace didn't affect you in the slightest, as your realm wasn't high enough for you to notice."

"Using that remnant soul, I was able to tune in to your heart's voice and, with the mystique, create a bridge for us to communicate."

Qin Yun was filled with admiration and a sense of awe.

At the Golden Sanctum level, he could establish a connection with an unknown soul hundreds of miles away. Yu Yuan's skills were so impressive that Qin Yun couldn't help but respect them.

This only reinforced his resolve.

"You dared to retain a trace of my thoughts!" Yu Yuan exclaimed angrily.

Qin Yun quickly apologized, then continued, "A seventh-level Silverfrost Dragon, along with more than ten Dragon Attendants and a warrior in heavy armor, are clashing in the distant skies. That person..."

He paused, then exclaimed, "That person must be the legendary commander of the Blackfang Legion from the Sunblessed Empire!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Feng's body quivered, and her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Yu Yuan's eyebrows shot up as he echoed in surprise, "The commander of the Blackfang Legion!"

Through Ning Ji and Bai Shenshen, he learned that the commander of the Blackfang Legion was an exceptionally formidable individual.

The commander had emerged out of nowhere in the Sunblessed Empire, first aiding the then-prince to ascend the throne, and then subduing all the unruly elements within the empire, leading to its flourishing state.

This individual, with a mysterious origin and extraordinary cultivation, was deeply trusted by the emperor of the Sunblessed Empire.

His position in the Sunblessed Empire was akin to Zhou Cangmin's in the Crimson Sun Empire, second only to one, with immense authority.

Yu Yuan had previously sensed that the seventh-level Silverfrost Dragon had met a formidable opponent, yet their identity remained a mystery to him. When Qin Yun broached the subject, it became clear to Yu Yuan that the Dragon Attendant and the Silverfrost Dragon at Dragon Lake were not targeting the Thunder Sect or Winter's Bite, but rather the commander of the Blackfang Legion.

Qin Yun glanced at Wei Feng with a look of surprise, seemingly recognizing her affiliation with the Blackfang Legion, but refrained from inquiring further. Instead, he offered a wry smile and confided in Yu Yuan, "The Crimson Sun Empire can no longer tolerate my presence, and I've been ousted as the sect master of Midnightshields. The emperor may not have spoken, but his silence has given his consent for the empire's people to turn against me."

"I'm well aware that if I remain in the Crimson Sun Empire, I'll eventually be targeted and killed."

"Even within the sect, several of the emperor's old friends had already begun conspiring against me before my departure."

Qin Yun, looking visibly aged, shook his head in dismay. "As I distanced myself from the empire, my movements were discovered. I faced several confrontations along the way, and another Dawn Arrow was destroyed in the process."

He sighed deeply, "After much deliberation and upon hearing of your whereabouts, I decided to seek your protection."

Once he finished, Bai Shenshen from Sacred Hands hesitated before speaking to Yu Yuan, "His words are true. Before coming here, I also heard that some cultivators from the Crimson Sun Empire had laid traps to assassinate Mr. Qin. Rumor has it that Mr. Qin had slain numerous empire elites in the Moonfall Sanctuary."

Qin Yun spread his hands and addressed Yu Yuan, "You know I wasn't the one responsible."

Yu Yuan nodded in acknowledgment. He had witnessed the events himself; the Duan brothers were the actual perpetrators, and the state preceptor of the Crimson Sun Empire was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. Qin Yun was likely just a scapegoat for Zhou Cangmin.

"You mentioned seeking refuge?" Yu Yuan stroked his chin, his gaze curious and perplexed. "Weren't you the one eager to recruit me to Midnightshields? It's only been a year, and now you've changed your tune, seeking refuge with me instead. What's the meaning of this?"

"If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to offer my services as a counselor to the Yu family," Qin Yun stated earnestly.

Yu Yuan was completely taken aback.

Qin Yun, a cultivator of the Lunar Spirit realm, had sought them out specifically to become a counselor to the Yu family?

Even Yuan Lianyao, the mayor of Asvetaesi, was merely in the late stages of Subtlety and hadn't yet ascended to the Lunar Spirit level!

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