In a coffee shop.
Three women and two men were sitting by the window.
They were dressed in distinctive attire, each exuding an extraordinary aura.
This drew the attention of the other customers, who couldn't take their eyes off them.
After one of the men used his gaze to intimidate and deter the onlookers,
He turned to the two plainly dressed women in front of him, cupping his hands in a respectful gesture. "I am Lan Ting of the Frost Blade Sect, greetings to the two from the Phoenix Cry Sect."
"This collaboration is of great importance, and the contents of our discussion must not be leaked to other sects."
Upon hearing this, the two women from the Phoenix Cry Sect exchanged glances.
Then they nodded solemnly in response: "Understood, but..."
They looked somewhat puzzled as they glanced at the other people in the shop and asked, "Why did we choose this place? It's crowded and noisy, and our conversation..."
Before they could finish, a man with jet-black, glossy hair and a sharp, youthful gaze chuckled lightly. "Sisters, you don't understand, do you?"
"This is a place in the mundane world called a coffee shop. Most of the people here are ordinary folks."
"I also had Luo Yin scout the area, and aside from us, there are no martial artists here."
As he spoke, the gentle woman in a water-blue robe beside him smiled softly.
"With the【Water Mirror】in place, even if we say something, these ordinary people won't understand our conversation."
"As for those martial artists, they're all arrogant and wouldn't deign to visit such a humble place."
"Oh, by the way, I'm Mo Cang, and Luo Yin and I are both disciples of the Azure Wave Sect."
Hearing this, the two plainly dressed women finally nodded.
They cupped their hands and introduced themselves: "Chen Li."
"Zi Yun."
After exchanging introductions,
Lan Ting furrowed his brow and spoke first: "Since we've decided to collaborate, I'll share my intel first."
"According to reports from our Frost Blade Sect's scouts, the Night Organization caused chaos in Jianghai a month ago and then vanished without a trace."
"It's as if they've left Jianghai altogether."
Upon hearing this,
Zi Yun shook her head and said, "Within the Jianghai region, the Night Organization hasn't taken any further action."
"But in other regions, our sect's disciples have encountered members suspected to be from the Night Organization."
"They attack both martial artists and ordinary people."
"Their goal is simple and clear: to offer the souls of living beings as sacrifices to the Night King."
Luo Yin gently swirled her water glass and added, "Our Azure Wave Sect's【Water Mirror】has captured the Night Organization's patterns of action several times, but they always disappear without a trace at critical moments."
"It's as if..."
"They're deliberately showing themselves to gauge the situation."
"It seems they might not be aware that【that】thing is about to emerge."
At this,
Everyone fell silent. The Water Mirror was the Azure Wave Sect's secret technique.
It was a special method for remotely spying on enemies and concealing one's own aura.
The long-haired man, Mo Cang, seemed to have grasped a key piece of information and voiced his speculation: "Perhaps... the Night King realizes that he caused too much of a stir before, and now that he's just been resurrected, he's still too weak."
"That's why he's slowly testing the waters with small moves to see how we react?"
"As for【that】thing, I think the Night King must know about it too, but seeing how many of us there are, he doesn't dare show himself."
Hearing this, the group exchanged glances.
They all agreed with this assessment.
After a moment of silence, Lan Ting sighed helplessly: "So what do we do now? The Night is too cunning. Who knows if they'll suddenly reappear like they did a month ago, catching us off guard?"
Zi Yun thought for a moment, then shook her head and said seriously, "No, this time is different from a month ago."
"This time, we're certain the Night King has been resurrected."
"Not just us, countless martial arts factions have entered the mundane world, especially in Jianghai."
"The Martial Arts Department will also increase its efforts. Even the Night King wouldn't dare act rashly under such organized pressure."
"At the very least... I don't think we'll be as badly defeated as we were a month ago."
Hearing this,
Everyone's expressions turned slightly strange.
A month ago...
It was said that the Night King reappeared a month ago and wiped out all the forces that had entered Jianghai.
He had even managed to corrupt some sects and turn them into his allies.
Fortunately, now that the Martial Arts Department has issued detection devices, they can at least identify friend from foe.
Mo Cang also nodded and smiled, "Well, maybe the Night King will be too scared to show up when he sees the scale of our forces. I'm sure the Night King isn't a fool."
"Alright, let's see what we should order. Let's eat first, and then we can discuss the plan regarding【that】thing."
Hearing this,
The group exchanged glances.
The reason they were being so cautious and trying to track the Night's movements was precisely because【that】thing was about to emerge.
Recently, the skies had been changing, and the concentration of spiritual energy had been gradually increasing. Combined with the prophecy from the elder of the Primordial Holy Land, this indicated that an ancient aura was about to awaken.
What did this mean? It meant that another ancient aura was preparing to choose its successor.
Their purpose for coming together was simple: to collaborate first, find the exact location of the ancient aura, and then decide through competition who would inherit it.
Just as they were thinking this,
Ding-ding~
The door opened with the crisp sound of a bell.
A cold wind carrying snowflakes brushed through the warm interior of the shop.
At the same time, two figures walked in, quickly drawing the attention of everyone present.
The man was wearing a dark gray wool coat, the collar slightly turned up, revealing a hint of an elegant white sweater beneath the shirt collar.
The woman, with a demeanor reminiscent of a winter goddess, wore sunglasses and a brown coat lined with wool, both warm and lightweight. She paired it with simple dark straight-leg pants and a pair of slip-resistant boots.
Her hands were tucked into the pockets of her coat, and she leaned slightly against the man beside her.
As soon as they entered,
Leng Qingqiu immediately sensed several auras.
Hmm?
Martial artists?
She followed Gu Yan silently, not letting her guard down.
"Excuse me, sir, are there two of you?"
A waitress approached, holding a menu, her face slightly flushed as she looked at Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu.
Wow... such a handsome man, and the lady beside him is so beautiful too!
"Yes, please take us to a seat by the window," Gu Yan nodded, then took Leng Qingqiu's hand out of her coat pocket and held it in his own.
He leaned down and whispered softly, "Hold on tight, Qingqiu. There seem to be other martial artists here."
Leng Qingqiu felt the warmth of his breath near her ear, and her heart skipped a beat.
"Hmph, I know," she said, slightly raising her chin as she let Gu Yan lead her to their seat.
Her perception had grown far stronger than before. In fact, she could now navigate effortlessly even without relying on her eyesight.
They sat by the window, just a few tables away from Lan Ting and the others.
Gu Yan pointed at the limited-edition pudding on the menu and asked the waitress with a smile, "Do you still have the pudding?"
"Yes! We do!"
The waitress, a young woman, was completely disarmed by Gu Yan's charming smile and spoke with visible nervousness.
"Let's start with two servings. Can we order more if we want?"
"Well... yes! Of course! Just let me know if you need more!"
The waitress, who had initially wanted to say that each person was limited to one serving, found herself unable to refuse under Gu Yan's warm gaze.
"Great, thank you. We'll also take two of these, and some of these..."
Gu Yan pointed at the main dishes, snacks, and drinks.
"O-okay!"
The waitress left.
Gu Yan, meanwhile, noticed a faint hint of displeasure in the air.
He looked across the table at Leng Qingqiu, who had her arms crossed and was silently tapping her fingers against her arm.
Gu Yan was puzzled and asked, "What's wrong, Qingqiu..."
"Hmph, nothing. I just realized you get along well with every girl you meet."
"That waitress must be quite pretty, huh."
Leng Qingqiu let out a cold laugh before turning her head to look out the window.
But as soon as she said it, she regretted it.
In truth, Leng Qingqiu didn't consider herself a particularly possessive person.
But... it wasn't until she met Gu Yan that she realized her possessiveness was indeed quite strong.
Whenever Gu Yan spoke to young and beautiful girls, she would feel extremely uncomfortable.
Feeling uncomfortable made her unhappy, and when she was unhappy, she would often respond to Gu Yan with cold and sarcastic remarks.
She knew it was wrong, but she just couldn't help it.
Oh well, she’d find a chance to apologize later.
Seeing this, Gu Yan suddenly felt inexplicably excited.
A smile gradually spread across his face.
What should one do with a fiancée who gets jealous easily and wears her "I'm jealous" expression on her face?
Gu Yan thought it was absolutely adorable!
"Qingqiu! I love you so much! You're just too cute!!"
Gu Yan immediately shouted this out in public.
His outburst drew surprised glances from the crowd.
"Loving someone means shouting it out loud—that's the creed of Gu Yan, the Emperor of Pure Love!"
"Shut up!!"
Leng Qingqiu immediately lost her composure. Forgetting her earlier annoyance with Gu Yan, she hurriedly reached out to cover his mouth.
She was utterly embarrassed.
Damn it, couldn’t this guy read the room?
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Lan Ting and the others quietly lowered their voices.
Their gazes turned toward Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu.
"Hey... am I seeing this right...?"
"Yeah... it's Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu."
"The young master of the Gu family and the heiress of the Leng family..."
"What are they doing here?"
"Not sure..."
At this point, Lan Ting, recalling Gu Yan's earlier words, said uncertainly, "Could it be that they're on a date today?"
As soon as he said this, the group exchanged glances.
Then, they all smiled knowingly.
Ha, as if! Sure, they had heard rumors that the young master of the Gu family and the heiress of the Leng family were in a relationship, even to the point of discussing marriage.
But... with the Night King resurrected and the ancient aura about to emerge, everyone was running around frantically trying to deal with these two major events.
How could these two possibly have the time to be lovey-dovey?
They must be discussing something important!
Anyway, to be polite, they’d go over and greet them later.
Besides, if they could build a good relationship with Gu Yan, they might be able to get more information and intelligence.
They knew very well that Gu Yan was close to Bai Jun, the head of the Martial Arts Department in Jianghai.
With connections like the Gu family and others, building a good relationship with him was definitely the best strategy!