Long Shuyun didn’t believe it. She’s seen too much deception in people. Someone who helped others, but didn’t ask for anything in return — people like that simply didn’t exist! Was Nie Li just that confident that Long Yuyin would help him?

Nie Li tried his best to persuade Long Shuyun. “Regardless of what Auntie thinks, there’s no harm in waiting a few years to see how things turn out. Right now, Aunty thinks that my talent is extraordinary; however, there are many talents who have fallen. Aren’t you afraid that after I marry Long Yuyin, that I would not longer strive to improve myself? Of course, Auntie could tear up the engagement between us, the same way you plan to with Hu Yong’s. But if you keep breaking promises, then I’m afraid it won’t be very good to reputation!”

Long Yuyin nervously looked at Nie Li as she tried to explain that her engagement with Hu Yong was made between her mother and the Hu Clan. Back then, she was still young and didn’t know anything about it. She’d never seen Hu Yong as her fiancé!

However, she still swallowed the words that welled up in her mouth. Nie Li had probably never seriously considered the engagement anyways. Right?

Long Shuyun glanced at Long Yuyin, sighed inwardly, and said to Nie Li, “No matter what your motives are, I’ll admit that you’ve persuaded me. From now on, I’ll do my best to help you, as long as what you do is beneficial to my daughter.”

Nie Li sighed a breath of relief at Long Shuyun’s words. She’d finally agreed. With help from a 9-stage Dao of Dragon Realm, his future endeavours would be much easier.

Simultaneously, in the Skycloud Hall

Hierarch Skycloud pulled his intent away as he was seated down with a solemn expression. A while later, he sighed and said, “How funny it is that I, who was born and raised in the Divine Feathers Sect, began rejecting the world because of some vexing matters. But, because of that, it seems that I can no longer see the world clearly, certainly not as well a youth.”

“Long Yuyin, Gu Bei, and Li Xingyun are indeed excellent individuals among the younger generation. They aren’t that bad in terms of character, either. If those three can take control of their respective families, then perhaps the Divine Feathers Sect could become united and face the enemy as one. In addition, there are many rising geniuses in recent years; the Divine Feathers Sect may even be able to recover its former glory!” Hierarch Skycloud could vaguely see the traces of hope.

Before Nie Li came to the Divine Feathers Sect, the sect’s future was dull and the members of the younger generations from the various families had been deceiving and competing against one another. None of them had cared for the bigger picture. Back then, Gu Bei was still concealing his strength and Long Yuyin hadn’t stood out to fight for the Patriarch’s seat of Dragonseal Family. After Nie Li’s arrival, he’d affected Long Yuyin, Gu Bei, and Li Xingyun. The entrances of those three made slight changes to the situation.

These successors of the three major families weren’t related to each other; however, they had been brought together by Nie Li.

‘Since you’re determined to accomplish your goal, then allow me to lend you a hand as well!’ Hierarch Skycloud thought to himself. After being a recluse for so many years, he couldn’t help the slightly throb in his heart.

The other four intents had also swept past. Hierarch Skycloud lightly smiled, if someone is sincere, then the other party would definitely be affected by their sincerity. He wondered what the other four thought about this, and whether Nie Li’s sincerity could move them.

However, the Divine Feathers Sect was still a place ruled by the strong. If Long Yuyin, Gu Bei, and Li Xingyun couldn’t claw their way up to the top, then it’d still be useless.

Nie Li was inside his room, after he’d seen Long Yuyin and Long Shuyun off. He sat there and stared at nothing in particular.

A 9-stage Dao of Dragon Realm had appeared in his room. He wondered whether the five major figures of the Divine Feathers Sect had noticed. Usually, none of them would bother to pay any attention to what happened inside the Skysoul Institute. However, the presence of such a powerful aura within the institute should’ve attracted their attention. After all, the Skysoul Institute was one of the most important places within the Divine Feathers Sect; all of their young geniuses were gathered there.

Of course, that was all Nie Li’s speculations. He’d have to be a little more careful from now on. Luckily, Long Shuyun hadn’t planned on killing him; otherwise, the consequences would’ve been very severe. He had to hurry to the Soul Hall and place his fate soul within. He also had to be much more careful; if Venerable Flameless really sent an assassin, things could get dangerous.

He thought about it a little. Since he had so many spiritual stones right now, he should go ahead and buy a few courtyards within the Skysoul Institute grounds. As they say, “a crafty rabbit has three burrows”[1. A smart person has several backup plans.].That way, he wouldn’t be so easily found and killed by others.

Dawn gradually arrived and Nie Li left to take care of those matters. Even Xiao Yu and Lu Piao didn’t know where he’d gone.

Nie Li placed his fate soul in the Soul Hall. He could finally head out to the outside world again.

Everyone was gathered in Li Xingyun’s courtyard, including Gu Bei, Lu Piao, Xiao Yu, and Nie Li.

Nie Li saw Xiao Yu and was about to exchange a greeting with him. However, Xiao Yu’s face darkened and he turned his head away.

Nie Li awkwardly scratched his nose. Even Ning’er didn’t say anything when Nie Li interacted with other girls. Wasn’t Xiao Yu being a little too concerned about this? Nie Li didn’t know what to say.

Gu Bei reported, “Thanks to He Gui, we’ve managed to hunt down Gu Heng a total of three times. However, since Gu Heng is a Heavenly Star Realm expert, he can recover his fate soul after about five days. He’s probably leaping and frisking about, right now. However, his cultivation should’ve dropped a lot. He should be around the 3-stage Heavenly Star Realm right now. Furthermore, thanks to our meticulous setups, Gu Heng is getting more and more suspicious of Chai Yue!” Gu Bei turned towards Nie Li and said, “Since your fate soul has recovered, let’s go take down Gu Heng’s Deity’s Lakes!”

“Alright!” Nie Li nodded, looked at Gu Bei, and smiled. “How’s the Demon League doing recently?”

“After the East District’s competition, we announced that you’re a member of the Demon League. After that, we got an endless torrent of applicants. Quite a few of them are Heavenly Star or even Heavenly Axis Realm experts. We already have more than six thousand people!” Gu Bei lightly smiled and continued, “Although we’ll still need to test the newcomers’ loyalties, the Demon League’s overall strength has risen rather quickly!”

Even Li Xingyun was speechless at the report, as he listened from the sidelines. The Demon League had recruited so many people in such a short amount of time. Its expansion was simply too great. In terms of strength, it was already on par with the Heavenly Path League.

Of all the powerful forces held by the talented younger generations, the Demon League could definitely claim to be in the top ten in terms of strength.

In addition, Li Xingyun had heard that Long Yuyin had established the Profound Note League. Rumors claimed that hundreds of Heavenly Axis Realm experts had joined upon its establishment. Several Dao of the Dragon Realm elders and grand elders were also obvious with their support for her force. The Profound Note League had rapidly surpassed the Heavenly Path League and was now ranked among the top five among forces.

Although the Profound Note League was a little inferior to the forces controlled by Long Tianming, Li Yufeng, Situ Beiyan, or Gu Heng, the speed at which it rose to power certainly surpassed everyone’s expectations.

What stirred Li Xingyun even more was that the Profound Note Sect had already secretly formed an alliance with his Heavenly Path League and Demon League. The successors of the three major families had banded together — this was an unprecedented move. It’d be hard to imagine what future developments would look like.

><