Yan Ruyu opened his eyes.
Right in front of him,
was an enlarged face.
Before he could react,
Zhao Shuning's lips landed firmly on his.
Silence.
It was deathly silent.
Yan Ruyu's face flushed bright red in an instant.
Zhao Shuning's legs were still numb and she couldn't move.
Yan Ruyu turned his head to the side and said in a low voice, "Aren't you getting up yet?"
Zhao Shuning mumbled, "I do want to get up, but I can't right now."
Want to get up but can't?
Anyone who saw this posture and heard these words would misunderstand, wouldn't they?
Yan Ruyu didn't care about the reason for Zhao Shuning's situation at this moment.
He quickly slipped out from under her.
Without Yan Ruyu's support, Zhao Shuning lost her balance. As soon as she moved, her body quickly fell.
At first, Yan Ruyu didn't care, until he saw Zhao Shuning's eyes.
She wasn't faking it?
Thinking this way, Yan Ruyu teleported to the bottom of the tree. Before Zhao Shuning could have an intimate encounter with the ground, he caught her.
Zhao Shuning's feet were numb, but her hands worked just fine.
As soon as she felt someone catch her, her hands immediately wrapped around Yan Ruyu's neck.
"Master—"
Ling Ruo looked at the scene in front of her in surprise.
Hearing this, Zhao Shuning immediately opened her eyes.
Goodness, there were so many people under this osmanthus tree?
Apart from Ling Ruo, Elder Zhou, Teacher Li, and many other important figures from Changkong Academy were all on the scene.
"This—"
Yan Ruyu's breathing was unusually steady at this moment.
It was in sharp contrast to his embarrassment on the tree.
As for Zhao Shuning, being stared at by so many people, she felt extremely uncomfortable.
For a moment, she even forgot to get out of Yan Ruyu's arms.
Until Yan Ruyu coughed lightly and reminded her, "Aren't you getting down yet?"
"Ah? Oh, oh, oh—"
Zhao Shuning immediately let go of the hands around her master's neck and jumped down from Yan Ruyu.
At this time, dozens of people behind them were looking at them with thoughtful expressions.
Luo Feiyan, an inner - sect disciple with mediocre spiritual power, and the reclusive and otherworldly sect master. What were they doing on that tree?
Or perhaps, the sect master wasn't as averse to women as the rumors said?
Or was it that Luo Feiyan was trying to seduce the sect master with her beauty?
However, a person like the sect master, why would he personally carry Luo Feiyan out?
Although the elders had a thousand questions, no one dared to step forward and ask a single word at this moment.
You know, although they respected this extremely handsome man in front of them as the sect master, his identity was far from that simple.
When they were young, the man looked like this.
Now that they were married with children, the sect master still looked the same.
No one dared to offend the sect master's dignity.
Zhao Shuning was flustered.
At this time, she had to step forward to defend her master's innocence.
"Elder Ling Ruo, there's nothing between the sect master and me. Although we've been on the tree for so many hours, nothing happened."
What?
The sect master and an inner - sect disciple had been on the tree for several hours?
They thought it was at most just an incense - burning time.
Seeing the indescribable looks in everyone's eyes,
Zhao Shuning quickly explained, "Really, I swear to heaven. We were just sleeping on the tree. We really didn't do anything."
Just? Sleeping? That's all?
That's all!
Sleeping?
The sect master's hobbies were really unusual.
Zhao Shuning wanted to say more.
"Stop it. You said that you two—"
Yan Ruyu spoke.
"Luo Qiu, stop talking."
Zhao Shuning obediently shut her mouth.
Luo Qiu? Isn't this Luo Feiyan?
Although they had doubts, the elders didn't dare to question.
Maybe this was the pet name the sect master gave to Luo Feiyan.
"Go back."
"Yes."
Zhao Shuning had no choice but to leave.
Halfway through, she turned back and saw Elder Zhou with white hair in the crowd secretly giving her a thumbs - up.
Zhao Shuning felt even more wronged.
Oh my god, the more she explained, the darker the situation became.
She turned around and quickly ran away from the scene.
Zhao Shuning had no idea that the rumors about Yan Ruyu and Luo Qiu that she would hear later officially started from this moment.
After Zhao Shuning left.
Ling Ruo stepped forward and bowed.
"Sect master, everything has been arranged. The freshmen's holiday this time will be longer than usual. It has been extended from half a month to a month."
Yan Ruyu nodded.
"A lot of monsters have appeared in the Nether Valley. Many of them are untamed and may harm the nearby villagers. You should gather some talented senior students and go to the Nether Valley."
On the one hand, it was for training.
On the other hand, the students of Changkong Academy were more capable than the freelance spiritual herb masters in the martial world.
With Ling Ruo leading the team, things would be simpler.
"Sect master, does this mission require Elder Ling Ruo to go in person?"
"Yes."
Dozens of people looked at each other in surprise.
Ling Ruo was the chief elder. If she left, the backbone of the academy would be gone. What should they do if something happened?
"This matter in the Nether Valley is no small deal. Deep in the valley, I sensed a trace of chaotic aura."
"Chaos?"
The ancient divine beast Chaos?
That kind of power was extremely powerful.
Chaos took a very long time to grow and was extremely violent. Basically, no spiritual herb master could subdue it. Even alchemists below the ninth rank were at risk when fighting it.
"Sect master, would an ancient divine beast like Chaos appear in a remote place like the Nether Valley?"
"It's just a possibility. At present, it's not certain. That's why I need Ling Ruo to go in person."
Everyone fell silent.
Yan Ruyu said, "Apart from Chaos, I found that there seems to be the aura of a phoenix in a certain mountain range."
"What?"
This news shocked everyone even more.
The phoenix was the king of all birds and its status was almost on par with that of Bai Ze.
But wasn't it said before that the phoenix was completely extinct?
"It should be a young phoenix. It hasn't been around for long. So, Ling Ruo has to go to the Nether Valley."
Yan Ruyu needed some time to confirm the exact location of the phoenix.
In the mountain range, there were no less than a thousand caves of all sizes.
Among them, there were no less than a hundred suitable for a phoenix to live in.
The phoenix was still a young bird and couldn't be frightened. If it was overly frightened, there was a high possibility that it would die on the spot.
Adopting the phoenix was even more important than dealing with the matter of Chaos.
Because once the phoenix grew up without restraint, when its wild nature broke out, the number of villagers it would endanger would far exceed that of Chaos.
"Be careful with the matter of Chaos."
"Yes, sir."
The elders looked solemn. For the legendary ancient divine beast phoenix, its rarity far exceeded that of Chaos.