Sage of Humanity

In the bamboo house, Hua Ci smiled serenely while Lu Ye looked on with dissatisfaction.

It was a while before Hua Ci chuckled and said, "You saved me once, I saved you twice, so by that account, you still owe me one. If anyone is to offer themselves, it should be you offering yourself to me!"

"Your point makes perfect sense!" Lu Ye nodded incessantly. Why would he refuse such an appealing proposition? Saying so, he took two steps forward and began to loosen his clothes.

Hua Ci's smile remained on her face as she simply watched him.

Just as Lu Ye was undoing his top and about to remove his pants, Hua Ci's eyebrows twitched.

"Sister Hua Ci!" Ruan Lingyu suddenly pushed open the door and was met with the sight of Lu Ye, his top open and hands on his trousers.

The atmosphere suddenly quieted down.

"I'm interrupting!" Ruan Lingyu quickly exited, gently closing the door behind her. Her heart thumped erratically, and her cheeks heated up. She had no idea when Sister Hua Ci and Senior Brother Yiye...

No wonder Senior Brother Yiye had returned from so far away to find Sister Hua Ci.

Inside the room, Lu Ye methodically redressed, then nodded towards Hua Ci: "Well played!"

Picking up a cup of water, Hua Ci took a leisurely sip and lazily asked, "So, what brings you here this time?"

Lu Ye composed himself and explained his purpose.

Hua Ci nodded, "I see... I'll think about it."

Lu Ye didn't press her; this kind of matter couldn't be forced: "Alright, take your time to think it over."

He turned and walked out the door to find Kong Niu standing there. As their eyes met, the normally stoic Kong Niu managed to force out a smile uglier than crying. Ruan Lingyu, blushing, stood off to the side, seemingly too embarrassed to look at Lu Ye, though she stole glances at him now and then.

Lu Ye felt it was necessary to explain to her, as she seemed to have been frightened by what she saw earlier, but before he could speak up, Ruan Lingyu beat him to it: "Senior Brother Yiye, are you feeling better so quickly?"

After she spoke, she realized her words might be inappropriate and quickly added, "I mean, don't you need to spend more time with Sister Hua Ci?"

Lu Ye took a deep breath and decided not to speak.

The door behind him opened, and Hua Ci stepped out: "I've made up my mind."

"That was fast," Lu Ye said in surprise.

"Weren't you quick as well?" Hua Ci retorted.

Lu Ye stared at her slender and fair neck, holding back the urge to strangle her, and suddenly realized it was a big mistake to come looking for Hua Ci this time.

A woman like her should simply be left to her own devices.

Hua Ci explained to Ruan Lingyu and Kong Niu, "As you've heard before, Yiye is a Disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect. He's come to take us back to the sect. I've decided to go with him. If you two are willing, you can come along. If not, you're free to make your own way."

Ruan Lingyu finally understood the purpose of Lu Ye's visit and immediately nodded excitedly: "I want to!"

Kong Niu didn't say a word, just nodded slightly to express his stance.

"Shall we go then?" Hua Ci looked at Lu Ye.

"Let's roll!" Lu Ye beckoned with a wave.

Things went unexpectedly smoothly. Lu Ye had thought he might need to persuade Hua Ci if she refused, but to his surprise, she agreed so readily.

It was probably related to the ordeal with the Independent Wanderers Society. Of the eleven members, only three remained after the slaughter. This time, Lu Ye happened to be there to help Hua Ci kill that Level 7, but there was no guarantee she wouldn't encounter such dangers again in the future.

She couldn't always be this lucky.

But if she went to the Righteous Blood Sect with Lu Ye, situations like that shouldn't happen again with his protection.

The giant eagle's back was spacious enough for four people to sit comfortably. As the eagle soared high into the air, Kong Niu's face turned instantly pale, and Ruan Lingyu screamed repeatedly, while only Hua Ci seemed calm, though her tightly clenched fists betrayed her inner unease.

After getting past the initial discomfort, Ruan Lingyu quickly became excited, occasionally stretching out her arms and shouting loudly. Even Hua Ci leaned over from time to time to peek downwards, looking like a girl who had never seen the world before.

Kong Niu sat upright, pale as a sheet.

Seeing his poor condition, Lu Ye asked with concern, "Kong Niu, are you alright?"

Kong Niu's lips moved stiffly as he uttered a few hard-won words: "I'm fine, it's just too high."

Both Hua Ci and Ruan Lingyu looked at Kong Niu in surprise, having never imagined that this solid, quiet man had such a vulnerable side.

The journey that took Lu Ye almost five days to complete on the way there took just as long on the return.

Days later, the giant eagle landed in the plaza of the Righteous Blood Sect's headquarters. One by one, they dismounted. Kong Niu fell to his knees with a thud, gasping for breath as if he had just climbed ashore from a near-drowning.

The young girl Ruan Lingyu softly patted his back.

Hands poised in front of her, Hua Ci looked around: "Is this the Righteous Blood Sect headquarters?"

While Lu Ye rewarded Little Gray with a few Blood Red Trout, he nodded: "It's a bit run-down since it hasn't been managed for decades."

After eating the trout, Little Gray spread its wings and flew away, perching on a nearby mountain.

Next, Lu Ye activated his battlefield marking to send a message, reassuring his Second Senior Sister. Only then did he lead Hua Ci and the others around the headquarters.

Speaking of which, Lu Ye wasn't too familiar with his own residence. He hadn't visited many places there, and the place he frequented most was the training room, where he mainly focused on cultivation.

This exploration, however, turned out to be quite enjoyable.

After finding a place for Hua Ci and the others to stay, he led them around the marketplace.

It was Lu Ye's first visit to the marketplace. Chen Yu, who had somehow learned of their arrival, hurried over to receive them. He seemed to think that Lu Ye was there to inspect the marketplace, so he was very careful in every aspect, and even more attentive to Hua Ci and others who were clearly close to Lu Ye.

The marketplace run by the Righteous Blood Sect was not small; in fact, it was larger than any marketplace Lu Ye had seen before, located on the outermost edge of the residence. Independent cultivators were cautious by nature, and even though no one had come to the sect headquarters for decades, they dared not venture into the inner parts of the residence.

Therefore, despite the bustling activity here, it actually didn't affect the main residence that much, but rather added a bit of liveliness.

Having a marketplace nearby was also convenient for Lu Ye, as his cultivation mainly consumed elixir pills, but he had more Spirit Stones on hand, which he could use to buy elixir pills here.

When Chen Yu learned that Hua Ci was a healing cultivator, his attitude became even warmer. The number of healing cultivators among independent cultivators was very scarce. If they got injured in a fight, the better-off ones would take healing pills, while those less fortunate would have to rely on a slow self-healing process.

It was foreseeable that if Hua Ci set up a medical treatment place here, the business would certainly flourish.

After going around, Hua Ci and the others had some understanding of the place. Lu Ye let them act on their own and then took his leave.

He hadn't returned to the sect headquarters for more than ten days. Although he had previously sent a message to Second Senior Sister to report his safety, she was still somewhat worried.

When he returned to the sect headquarters through the Heaven's Augury Pillar, Second Senior Sister had already prepared a table full of medicinal cuisine.

Lu Ye then started to eat voraciously, but without his Fourth Senior Brother around, the atmosphere was somewhat less lively.

Shui Yuan didn't eat much; the meal was prepared for Lu Ye. While serving dishes to Lu Ye, she said, "The few people you brought back, if you think they are trustworthy, then bring them into the sect."

With food in his mouth, Lu Ye responded vaguely, "Is that okay?"

Shui Yuan smiled gently, "You are the Governor, and you have the right to decide on admissions. We didn't recruit people before due to the circumstances, but now that we've started, it doesn't matter anymore. Not only should we recruit, but we should also recruit more. This relates to some future matters of the sect, and those independent cultivators who wish to join us can all be welcomed.

In this way, if anything happens at the residence later on, like if we are declared war upon, you will have useful people at your disposal."

"Understood."

"You can consider the recruitment yourself, the old man and I don't have any objections. The independent cultivators don't matter much, but if you want to bring them into the sect, you need to bring them back to the headquarters. I need to register them and verify their backgrounds," said Shui Yuan.

"Understood."

While eating, Yiyi ran over and sat next to Lu Ye, looking at him with a smile.

"Got some good news?" Lu Ye looked at her.

"No, nothing." Yiyi shook her head, "I just haven't seen you for a few days and came to check on you."

"So mysterious!" Lu Ye swallowed his food, "By the way, I have something to tell you. Do you remember that girl Ruan Lingyu?"

"Yes, I do. And Sister Hua Ci and the others." Yiyi nodded, suddenly getting nervous, "What happened to them?"

"They ran into some trouble at the Independent Wanderers Society, and only three members survived. Don't worry, both Hua Ci and Lingyu are fine. I've already brought them to our residence," Lu Ye reassured her.

Yiyi's eyes widened in shock, "You brought Lingyu to the residence?" Then she dashed off, her voice trailing behind her, "I'm going to see Lingyu!"

Soon after, Yiyi's calls could be heard: "Amber, Amber!"

"Wait for me!" Lu Ye called out back, but there was no response. He couldn't help but shake his head, "Always in such a rush."

After gobbling up the rest of the food on the table, Lu Ye patted his belly and stood up, "Second Senior Sister, I'm going to bring her into the residence."

"Go ahead," Shui Yuan replied, cleaning up the dishes and utensils.

Lu Ye went out for a walk but couldn't find Yiyi or Amber anywhere.

Eventually, he concluded they were no longer at the headquarters.

Upon entering the residence, Lu Ye finally found Yiyi, who was cheerfully chatting with Lingyu.

Lu Ye looked at her, befuddled, "How did you get in here?"

Yiyi was a minion spirit born alongside Amber, who was Yiyi's beast pet. Logically, without Lu Ye, they shouldn't have been able to enter the residence.

Yiyi proudly raised her right hand, and as she channeled spirit force, a battlefield marking appeared on the back of her hand!

Lu Ye was astonished, "You can have a marking too?"

"The sect master branded it on me," Yiyi giggled, "I'm also a Disciple of the Righteous Blood Sect now!"

That was possible? Lu Ye was somewhat taken aback.

But then, thinking about it, this was actually good; if Yiyi had the battlefield marking, she could enter and exit the residence at will with Amber, not needing to rely on Lu Ye.

"So that means... you are my Junior Sister now?" Lu Ye suddenly realized.

Yiyi stood up, bowed respectfully to Lu Ye, "Righteous Blood Sect Disciple Lu Yiyi greets Senior Brother Yiye!"

Lu Ye immediately raised his hand, "Looks like someone is asking for a spanking!"

Yiyi let out a yelp and quickly hid behind Hua Ci. Then she peeked out her little head and stuck her tongue out at Lu Ye.