Chapter 25: Huiyue

With a loud bang, the door to the forging room was kicked open by the Golden Core senior brother. He thought something had happened to Tang Yue, but upon entering, he saw her sitting on the ground without a scratch—only now she seemed even more charming than before, her eyes bright and glistening.

"Junior Sister, are you alright?" he asked.

Tang Yue replied, "Senior Brother Jiang, I'm fine. The furnace lid just exploded by accident."

Jiang Yu gave her some advice on artifact forging, then stood by to guide her a bit. Seeing that she was unharmed and making good progress, he was reassured that another explosion was unlikely and left to resume his meditation outside.

Once he left, Tang Yue examined herself and found her sensitivity to the metal element had improved. The double rings explained that the silvery orb from earlier was refined essence iron. It had been successfully tempered and absorbed into her body, enhancing her metal spiritual root.

In truth, everyone was born with all five elemental attributes, but the dominant root absorbed most of the spiritual energy in the womb, leaving the others underdeveloped.

Thanks to the natural forces gathered by the spell rings—and now their upgraded form, the Yin-Yang Rings—her internal spiritual energy could be balanced, allowing the dormant roots to grow again. It was a remedy for congenital weakness.

Tang Yue was astonished. Many powerful cultivators had tried and failed to develop a method to absorb elemental essence, yet the Yin-Yang Rings had stumbled upon it by accident. She absolutely couldn't reveal their existence now—she might get dissected for them.

The rings protested: they were no longer just "spell rings," they were the "Yin-Yang Treasure Rings" now!

Tang Yue cleaned up the forging room and resumed crafting. After eight days of dedicated effort, she stayed the full fifteen days as planned and returned with 300 swords.

Madam Shui immediately noticed her daughter's changes, thinking Tang Yue was simply growing up. "Kids really do change by the day. Ah-Yue, you're getting prettier and prettier."

Tang Yue twitched slightly—she wasn't a baby anymore.

"Ah-Yue, Lu Lingyi from Xuanyuan Mountain sent you a brocade box to thank you for saving his life. What a thoughtful child."

Tang Yue opened the box to find it brimming with spiritual energy and glowing with the luster of a spiritual treasure.

Even Madam Shui was surprised. With her discerning eye, few treasures impressed her, but this one radiated pure energy and a hint of nature's vitality. She became curious.

As the glow faded, they saw a jade pendant inside—clear, moist, and intricately carved with flowers and a full moon.

Madam Shui studied it and said, "This appears to be a spatial treasure, containing a living domain. It already has circulating spiritual energy and the five elemental auras. It can support living beings. The Lu family gave you such a valuable treasure?"

Such a treasure couldn't have come from Lu Lingyi alone; it must've been a family decision. It far exceeded the debt owed for saving him. In the cultivation world, cause and effect matter deeply. Madam Shui couldn't fathom the Lu family's motive.

She even speculated: could this be an engagement gift?

She quickly checked the spiritual message that came with the box. It only said that Tang Yue deserved the gift and made no mention of marriage—what a pity.

She handed the letter to Tang Yue. "It doesn't explain why they're giving you something so valuable. The pendant is called Full Bloom Under the Moonlight. The name is auspicious."

Madam Shui taught her how to bond with the treasure using a drop of blood. Once it was bound, they entered together to explore.

The internal space was huge—enough to house a small town, only slightly smaller than the Black Tortoise Town she had visited before.

It had forests, lakes, thousands of acres of farmland, and rivers for irrigation. An artificial sun-and-moon formation in the sky simulated day and night.

Lu Lingyi had already planted spiritual herbs and raised spirit beasts like oxen and cranes to tend the land. Tang Yue wouldn't have to manage it herself.

There was also a five-courtyard residence with bedrooms, study, pill room, and forge. In the center courtyard, a flower conservatory bloomed with colorful Black Tortoise flowers, glowing faintly.

Tang Yue asked, "Black Tortoise flowers can survive outside the Black Tortoise Secret Realm?"

Madam Shui replied, "They're using a special formation to replicate the environment. That's how the flower beads survive."

Next to the residence was a treasure vault. Inside, they found countless rare treasures. On a rack was a jade bottle.

Madam Shui picked it up and read the label. "They even returned a bottle of Qiongzhi Jade Dew."

Tang Yue was shocked. "The Lu family really went all out!"

Madam Shui muttered, "Are they trying to marry off Ah-Yue or what?"

Tang Yue didn't hear clearly. "What did you say, Mother?"

"Nothing. I think you could integrate Wanshi into this living domain. That way, if you trap enemies in the jade pendant, they won't generate mist in the outside world. It'll be more covert."

"And Wanshi could also serve as the domain's defensive formation. No need to find another. I'll ask a great cultivator from Wuji Mountain to help integrate it."

Tang Yue was amazed this was possible and quickly agreed.

Madam Shui asked a merchant cultivator, Wei Hongyun, to deliver the treasure and Wanshi to Wuji Mountain for refinement. Forty-nine days later, they would be returned.

After her break, Tang Yue resumed classes.

One day, after a Dao scripture lecture, Tang Yue, Shang Fangling, and Yue Yanling were preparing to leave when a woman suddenly ran toward them and nearly collided into them.

Behind her were a few burly men giving chase. Seeing she couldn't escape, the woman turned and pleaded tearfully, "Please help me."

She was delicate and pitiful, moving with a natural grace. Tang Yue, moved by her appearance, blocked the pursuers. "Who are you to shout and cause a scene in Zixiao Manor?"

Seeing the girls in Zixiao robes, the men hesitated. "Misses, we are servants of Senior Disciple Luo Jianye. This woman entered his courtyard and ran away. We're just taking her back. We apologize for the disturbance."

The woman protested, "I didn't enter his courtyard willingly! You forced me!"

Tang Yue raised an eyebrow. Kidnapping women in broad daylight? Even more satisfying—it was a chance to go up against the Zixiao Sect.

"In broad daylight, someone dares abduct women? Do our Kunwu laws mean nothing? How arrogant!"

With that, she took out a yellow-rank Binding Immortal Cord and captured the men. They were only at the Qi Refining stage and couldn't resist the spiritual artifact.

Yue Yanling hesitated. "They're Luo Jianye's servants… is this okay?"

Tang Yue said righteously, "I'm sure Senior Brother Luo will be shocked to learn his household harbors criminals. He'll thank me for cleaning house."

Since Tang Yue insisted, Shang Fangling and Yue Yanling didn't stop her. As women themselves, they sympathized with the girl.

They brought the woman to Taiping Office—the proper place for legal matters.

On the way, they learned her name was Huiyue, the top dancer of Hua'e Pavilion, which was akin to a brothel but with both male and female entertainers. Most were voluntary.

The cultivation world didn't look down on such places; some dual cultivation cultivators even stayed there temporarily.

Still, some women were sold into it as children. Huiyue was one such case. Besides her dancing, she was a skilled brewer.

"When I came of age, Luo Jianye wanted to take me into his household. But I didn't want to be anyone's concubine. I saved up to buy my freedom and opened a brewery."

"But he wanted both me and my business. Yesterday, his men came and claimed I was already his concubine, so the brewery now belonged to him. I tried to stop them and was dragged into Zixiao Manor to wait for him."

"I only just managed to escape. Thank the heavens I met you."

Tang Yue was furious. Luo Jianye was insane—he didn't even wait until his home visit to abduct her, but brought her straight to his own Zixiao courtyard.

"Disgraceful!" she snapped. No one dared respond.

The Taiping Office was getting a headache—Miss Tang again, and this time bringing Luo family servants, insisting on charging them with human trafficking. She even wanted to track the case.

Disciples from prestigious clans sometimes acted like tyrants, targeting mortals or rogue cultivators with no backing. Huiyue was one such victim.

Most people feared cultivators or sought their favor. Some saw entering a cultivator's household as an opportunity.

Cultivators could offer beauty-preserving pills or even chances to cultivate.

But Huiyue, who wanted to run her business and remain independent, was rare. To Luo Jianye, that made her special—and conquering her would be especially satisfying.

Moreover, her brewery Clear Spring Tavern was now the most famous in Kunwu City and gaining fame across Liu Continent.

But she was still technically owned by Hua'e Pavilion, which demanded a sky-high ransom. They didn't interfere in her business, knowing her success would fund her freedom.

Luo Jianye thought he could have both beauty and riches. Senior cultivators wouldn't stoop to steal them, and his only real peer, Chu Tianshu, wasn't interested in wealth or women.

So who in Kunwu City could challenge his right?

And so he sent his servants to "invite" Huiyue to his courtyard and seize her tavern.

To him, it wasn't cruelty. It was the natural conclusion to a long game of seduction—he was just too impatient to wait.