Ye Tinglan, feeling refreshed, put away her communication jade token. For years, her attempts to contact her sister had been met with constant rejections, leaving her fuming with frustration. Now that she finally had a chance to decline her sister’s call, she hoped her sister wouldn’t be as utterly frustrated as she had often been.

It was odd that both sisters, despite rejecting each other, had never truly blocked the other, even though they could have completely removed the preset connections in their tokens. Yuan Muyu, in particular, had clearly run away and severed all ties, refusing her sister’s messages and often acting in opposition, yet she had still maintained the connection. What she was thinking, no one knew.

This time, after being “hung up on,” Yuan Muyu could have called back, but she merely raged helplessly at home, knowing that calling again would only lead to further humiliation.

Ye Tinglan was generally upright and reserved, a gentleman who could be predictably managed by following proper etiquette. However, this didn’t necessarily hold true between sisters. Only Yuan Muyu knew that her sister had been quite cunning since childhood; as children, they had frequently fought over things and pulled each other’s hair. Heaven knew why she had grown up to adopt such a ‘motherly elder sister’ persona, which Yuan Muyu found utterly annoying.

Look how precisely timed that hang-up was, knowing exactly when the other person would be most infuriated. And her words were so subtly manipulative! Was that truly the Ye Tinglan others knew?

Her usual demeanor was just an act for others! What a hypocrite!

Meanwhile, Ye Tinglan comfortably put away her jade token, casually picked up the sweet wine on the table, and took a sip, feeling a deeply satisfying coolness.

Lu Xingzhou asked, “Are you done talking with Elder Su?”

“Mm-hmm.” Ye Tinglan leaned comfortably back in her chair, her eyes unconsciously avoiding Lu Xingzhou as she said, looking down, “I just gave some extra instructions…” She thought to herself, Elder Su truly understood. It was Elder Su who had initially suggested that poaching Lu Xingzhou would infuriate the Underworld King, and she had remembered that, hmm… So she was indeed talking to Elder Su just now, nothing wrong with that.

Lu Xingzhou asked, “Is your communication jade token universally compatible? It doesn’t interfere with communication if one doesn’t practice Tianyao Holy Land techniques, right?”

Ye Tinglan glanced at him. “What? Don’t you use this system for information transfer in the Yama Hall?”

“The Yama Hall does have similar items,” Lu Xingzhou replied, “but the requirements are quite high. Rank Three cultivators can’t use them at all, Rank Two can barely manage, and only Rank One can use them smoothly. Previously, top-ranked individuals in the Yama Hall used these, but I can’t. Ordinary disciples still rely on things like paper cranes for messages, which aren’t real-time enough and are easily intercepted.”

Ye Tinglan said, “There’s no difference here from the Tianyao Holy Land; Yuan Muyu simply copied our system. This device uses divine sense for communication. Although Rank Three cultivators possess divine sense, it’s too weak; only Rank One can use it smoothly. Are you asking because you intend to get one for yourself? No, you can’t use it.”

“But Rank Three can at least receive messages, right?”

“Correct.”

“I’ll be there soon. Didn’t your alchemy lessons previously train my divine sense ability? Can you give me one too, so I can see if I can receive?”

Ye Tinglan hesitated slightly. This kind of long-distance communication isn’t something an individual can achieve merely with divine sense; even supreme-ranked cultivators’ divine sense doesn’t reach that far. This effect is actually achieved through the sect’s grand array system, where everyone leaves a divine sense imprint within the array, which then circulates through it. To get one for Lu Xingzhou, she would have to imprint his divine sense into the sect’s grand array, but that was a privilege reserved for core members of the Tianyao Holy Land. Her “teacher-student relationship” with him wasn’t anywhere near that level. Including him as a core member of Tianyao wouldn’t be in line with the rules; she couldn’t just mess around. Unless she truly took him as a disciple… As this thought crossed Ye Tinglan’s mind, she was genuinely tempted. Lu Xingzhou was definitely a talent worth recruiting for the Tianyao Holy Land, and doing so would also infuriate Yuan Muyu to no end. Moreover, it might make him abandon those inappropriate intentions he had towards his master.

But for some reason, Ye Tinglan’s subconscious was somewhat resistant. Immediately, a voice in her head told her he wouldn’t agree.

Ye Tinglan finally spoke slowly, “If you want this, you must become my disciple. Are you willing?”

As expected, Lu Xingzhou immediately replied, “No way.”

Ye Tinglan lowered her eyelids and drank water. “What’s wrong? Is my Tianyao Holy Land beneath you?”

“Well, Master, you still have elders, don’t you? Could you ask them to take me in…?”

As soon as he uttered those words, his ulterior motive became blatantly clear. Ye Tinglan splashed her water cup, snapping, “Scram!”

The splashed water reached Lu Xingzhou, who deftly scooped it with his energy, preventing it from hitting his face. Instead, it all flowed neatly into his own cup.

Lu Xingzhou calmly drank the water. “Thank you for the treat, Master.”

Ye Tinglan recalled that this fellow had said he wanted to drink her water back in the Alchemy Academy, and now it had indirectly come true. She was both annoyed and amused. “Aren’t you utterly disgusting?”

“No, no,” Lu Xingzhou said, ingratiatingly placing a piece of meat into Ye Tinglan’s bowl. “Master, you were just on a call and haven’t eaten. Come, try a bite of this, it’s quite good.”

“I told you I have no desire to eat.”

“But the last few times Ah Nuo gave you food, you didn’t refuse, did you, Master? Cultivators are supposed to act as they please; there’s no such thing as ‘must not eat’.”

“Because that was given by Ah Nuo, and this was picked by you.”

Lu Xingzhou was speechless.

Ye Tinglan picked up a piece herself and ate it with relish. “If you want a communication jade token, I can make a private one for you. As long as someone imprints divine sense on you beforehand, you can then connect and communicate via divine sense. However, you can’t be too far apart; the specific distance will depend on the strength of the sender.”

Lu Xingzhou quickly said, “That’s excellent.”

Ye Tinglan held a jade token and altered its internal structure. Glancing at Lu Xingzhou’s eager expression, she couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t Yuan Muyu make a private one for you back then?”

Lu Xingzhou was stumped by the question. “No, you just said that only Rank Three can receive messages. What would have been the point of making one for me back then?”

Ye Tinglan immediately realized her slip of the tongue, wondering why she had asked such a pointless question. She quickly tossed the jade token over. “I’ve imprinted my divine sense; I can use this to find you later.”

It inexplicably became a tool for one-way contact with him, almost like secretly keeping a pet. Watching Lu Xingzhou happily studying the jade token, Ye Tinglan, in an exasperated mood, ate some exotic beast meat and casually asked, “There was something I wanted to ask you earlier: why didn’t you let Si Han directly list the Tianyao Holy Land as a Holy Land of the Tianshuang Kingdom?”

“Two reasons,” Lu Xingzhou said, putting away the jade token with a smile. “First, it’s not yet time for you to openly fall out with Gu Zhanting.”

“And the second?”

“Second, whether Tianyao becomes a Holy Land should be Si Han begging us to take the position, not us eagerly seeking the title.”

Ye Tinglan pondered for a moment and nodded. “How do you see the aftermath of this matter?”

Lu Xingzhou said, “On the whole, I actually agree with you that Si Han needs to consolidate Tianshuang Kingdom’s power. A fragmented Tianshuang Kingdom could easily become a breeding ground for rampant demons and a fertile ground for Gu Zhanting to cultivate additional forces, which would be disadvantageous to the Tianyao Holy Land. However, when it comes to Si Han himself, we can’t rely solely on favors or just on restraint. We need to make him realize that associating with us is truly beneficial.”

“How do we do that?”

“First, we dangle the goal of becoming a second Great Gan before him. He can only achieve such an ambition with our full support. Once he loses that support, let alone becoming a Great Gan, even his own Listening Snow Pavilion would be enough to cause him significant trouble.”

Ye Tinglan fell silent.

Lu Xingzhou asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Tinglan said with a tense face, “What?”

“Yes, it will,” Lu Xingzhou said calmly. “But wouldn’t that further highlight the Holy Land’s value? Currently, Gu Zhanting doesn’t dare to fall out with you because of the demons. However, the demon menace will be resolved sooner or later. Have you considered how the Tianyao Holy Land will position itself after that? I dare say, based on the signs Gu Zhanting is showing now, the day the demons decline will be the day Great Gan sharpens its knives against the Tianyao Holy Land.”

Ye Tinglan was silent for a moment, then whispered, “Supporting external powers… if handled poorly, it could lead to rivers of blood.”

“Frankly speaking, regardless of whether it’s handled well or not, conflicts are bound to arise,” Lu Xingzhou said, still calmly. “But I am planning for your benefit. Why should I care if others bleed?”

Ye Tinglan looked up at him, her feelings somewhat complex. It clearly went against her moral values, but she had to admit, hearing it felt somewhat exhilarating. It was like those fantasies in mortal tales, where one would say, “For you, what does it matter if I betray the whole world?” While such values were rotten upon closer inspection, they could genuinely make the recipient’s heart tingle. He hadn’t reached that extreme yet, but she could now understand the feelings Yuan Muyu, and now Shen Tang, must have experienced.

“Also, I think you should change your perspective on what constitutes an external enemy. The Tianyao Holy Master is not a subject of Great Gan; you don’t receive a single grain of his stipend. On the contrary, you’ve always been protecting Great Gan. So who is ‘internal’ and who is ‘external’? The Tianyao Holy Land is internal to you; everything else is external.”

“What about you then? Aren’t you a subject of Great Gan?”

“I only know that my family’s blood feud was orchestrated by the Grand Tutor of Great Gan. And my beloved had her legs broken by the Great Gan Emperor.”

Ye Tinglan was speechless. “When you talk about your beloved, could you speak a little softer? The waiter who just came in is looking at me strangely now.”

“Am I the mistress?”

Lu Xingzhou waited a moment for the waiter to leave again before continuing, “For the Tianyao Holy Land, being above all nations, commanding influence, and mediating disputes is the true objective a Holy Master should pursue. Spending your days cooped up in Great Gan as a State Preceptor, constantly preoccupied with restraining the Gan Emperor and maintaining the people’s livelihood, burdened with worries—aren’t you afraid of being laughed at?”

Ye Tinglan glared at him angrily. Lu Xingzhou immediately raised his hands in surrender. “Ah, my apologies, I misspoke. The State Preceptor is your senior sister; you merely acted as a master. Anyway, the meaning is the same: go back and tell your senior sister not to be foolish anymore. If she truly lacks a grand vision for the future, then she might as well emulate the Underworld King and perhaps achieve more ideals by letting heads roll.”

Ye Tinglan slammed the table. “You miss the Underworld King so much, why don’t you just go back to the Yama Hall? Are you shamelessly sticking around me because I look like her!”

The chopsticks in Lu Xingzhou’s hand dropped. He was dumbfounded.