Chapter 42: Nine Luminaries Abyss Ring Restored?

Chu Huaizhou slipped the necklace back on, sitting down with a pained look at his eldest disciple.
“Qingqiu… I’m sorry you got hurt. I’m a terrible master.”
“I’ll make it up to you when we have time.”
He pulled out a healing salve from his storage ring, reaching for her injured left hand.
But her right hand caught his, stopping him.
Turning to him, her icy face softened, lips pursed.
“Master… don’t touch it. I’m fighting a strange force—it’s dangerous.”

His words melted her resolve.
She recalled her early days as his disciple, guarded and wary of everyone.
Gradually, she lowered her defenses with him, even developing feelings.
But her awkward emotions and their master-disciple dynamic kept her from facing them.
When he showed care, she lashed out, pushing him away to hide her true feelings.
Later, when she finally embraced her love and tried to get closer, he distanced himself.
In recent decades, though he seemed the same with her and her sisters, his eyes held undeniable fatigue and emptiness.
She, who could read anyone, couldn’t fathom him then.
As the world’s strongest, he should’ve been carefree, yet their bond felt irreparable.
His warmth now, so rare, felt… wonderful.
Leng Qingqiu sighed—his lost memory and cultivation were a blessing.
Gazing at him fondly, she scrapped the limb-breaking plan.
Just… protect him closely.

Seeing Leng Qingqiu, who’d been furious, soften after a few words, Chu Huaizhou felt guiltier.
Qingqiu’s so easy to please, yet I keep pushing her limits, intentionally or not.
He vowed to treat her better—preferably without sacrificing his hands.
Battling her yandere tendencies was exhausting.
Unaware of her darker thoughts, he’d reconsider if he knew.

Leng Qingqiu explained the seven flame monsters targeted their box because of Ji Yifei’s meddling.
Xia Baiqian jumped in, seeking praise.
“Master, Master~ I saw he caused Sister Qingqiu’s injury, so I already killed him~”
Chu Huaizhou’s eyelid twitched. When did she do that?
But it suited him fine—well done.
Ji Yifei had provoked them first. If they were as weak as they appeared, they’d be dead.
Chu planned to deal with him post-auction, but his betrayal, luring the monsters, showed murderous intent.
Letting such a person off with a warning wasn’t his style.

He instructed the still-robust Xia Baiqian to dismantle the strange array below to prevent more deaths.
She kindly summoned gu to heal those partially transformed into flames.
Then, she headed to the auction stage to claim the cauldron with Emperor Xiaoyao’s soul fragment and the jade slip tied to the Nine Luminaries Abyss Ring.
They’d defeated the seven monsters, and Leng Qingqiu was injured for it.
Without them, everyone would’ve been sacrifices.
Xia Baiqian even used rare gu to heal the crowd—an arduous task for such irreversible transformations.
Chu Huaizhou wasn’t a saintly hero, but he wasn’t a villain either. They deserved compensation for their efforts.

Though the box’s soundproofing array was shattered, the crowd knew who saved them.
Still, the auction house balked at losing treasures after such a disaster.
A steward, previously playing dead, shouted, “Fellow Daoist, the items haven’t been paid for—”
Before he finished, Xia Baiqian glanced at him, unleashing her early Great Vehicle aura.
The steward froze, legs buckling, collapsing in a cold sweat.
In a flash, he pieced it together: her aura dwarfed the auction master’s, her healing gu, and their location in Hanyuan Dynasty.
Her identity was clear.
“S-Senior, forgive me!”
His voice trembled, no longer daring to object.
“If it’s not enough, we have more in the vault…”

Xia Baiqian ignored him, grabbing the cauldron and jade slip, flashing back to the box.
“Master, I haven’t asked—what do you want these for?”
She conjured a gu chair beside Leng Qingqiu’s icy one, sitting close to him, handing over the items with curiosity.
Leng Qingqiu glanced over, equally intrigued.
If Master’s into ancient secrets, I could tell him plenty… in bed.

Chu Huaizhou, not hiding anything, raised his hand, showing the black-gold ancient ring.
“The jade slip seems tied to the Nine Luminaries Abyss Ring. It’s been sending ‘want’ signals to my divine sense.”
Xia Baiqian gasped—Master’s ring?
She knew it might be a transcendent immortal treasure from the Upper Realm.
He’d scoured the continent for clues, finding none.
She’d assumed he was just curious about the jade slip.
Leng Qingqiu, suppressing her injury, was stunned, memorizing the jade slip’s look.
Once back, I’ll issue a decree to search the dynasty for similar items.
As expected of Master—amnesiac at three hundred years ago, yet his insight’s still sharp.
The cauldron, which he’d specifically told Xia Baiqian to grab, must be significant too.
She wasn’t sure, but her instincts screamed so.

Xia Baiqian’s eyes sparkled, showering him with praise, inching closer.
“Wow, you hit the jackpot! Sister and I thought…”
Chu Huaizhou: “Thought what? That your amnesiac Master’s clueless?”
Xia Baiqian: “Hehe~ No way, Master’s always the best in my heart~”
He shook his head, smiling, feeling the ring’s strong urge. He pressed the jade slip to it.