As soon as he entered his manor, Pi Yan brought Pi Batian to the secret chamber in his rooms. Master Shade followed behind with Yun Ruoyan, whereas Zhuo Yifeng was locked up by one of the swordsmen.

Pi Yan placed Pi Batian right in front of the mirror, then dripped a drop of his own blood on it. Under usual circumstances, Pi Yan would arrange a time to meet with the silver dragon clan elder, or the elder would summon him for a meeting. If he had to meet with the elder outside of their scheduled meetings, he would have to smear his vital blood over the mirror in such a fashion.

Pi Yan’s blood was rapidly absorbed by the surface of the mirror. The pitch-black surface began to ripple, and the silver dragon clan elder’s figure suddenly appeared within it.

“Pi Yan, what’s the matter now?” The elder seemed to have been interrupted from something he was working on, and he wore a displeased expression on his face. “Did you capture Yun Ruoyan?”

Pi Yan knelt down even before he spoke. “Honored elder, I’ve caught Yun Ruoyan, but in the process of doing so, my son Pi Batian was grievously injured. Please, I beg you to save his life.”

Master Shade dumped Yun Ruoyan’s body onto the ground for the elder to see. The elder’s snowy-white skin was plastered against the mirror as he leaned it to get a closer look. He shot a blinding white light out of the mirror and onto Yun Ruoyan’s body.

“This is indeed her.” His probe clearly revealed satisfactory results, because the elder’s face suddenly lit up in a smile. “She’s the last of the descendants of the demonic dragon clan, and her bloodline’s somehow even more concentrated than her father’s. Pi Yan, Master Shade, you’ve done well this time.”

“Elder, as for my son…” Pi Yan continued kneeling on the ground, his voice quavering from anxiety.

“Since it was an injury obtained as a result of carrying out my tasks, I naturally won’t leave it be,” the elder replied calmly. A beam of light shot out from the mirror and landed on Pi Batian’s prone body.

When Pi Yan saw his son’s bloodless face slowly fill with color, he finally calmed down. Then, he turned toward Yun Ruoyan, his gaze suddenly filling with hatred, as though ripping her body apart wouldn’t even be sufficient to satisfy one-thousandth of his anger and fury.

“His life’s saved.” Not fifteen minutes later, the elder had finished treating Pi Batian.

“My gratitude, Elder.” Pi Yan knelt on the ground and kowtowed. “What should I do with Yun Ruoyan?”

“She was badly injured during her fight with you, and she still hasn’t fully recovered,” the first elder said. “Lock her up here and finish treating her internal injuries. Five days later, I’ll collect her myself.

“Need we treat her injuries?” Pi Yan asked carefully. As far as he knew, the silver and demonic dragon clans were sworn rivals. He thought that the silver dragon clan elder would immediately dispose of her, so why was he asking them to treat her?

More than ten years ago, when he had caught Long Yin, the silver dragon clan elder had shown up the very next day to bring him away. Why did Yun Ruoyan require such special treatment?

“I need Yun Ruoyan in pristine condition,” the silver dragon elder emphasized. “As for why, that’s not something you need to know. Just remember that I want her in perfect condition within five days’ time.”

“Of course, Elder. I’ll personally make sure she’s ready for you then,” Pi Yan replied. “But she’s quite a sly character, and her spiritual weapon’s harder to deal with than I expected. If her cultivation is back to its prime, I’m afraid I won’t be able to contain her.”

“Use this mirror to seal her,” the elder stated.

When Yun Ruoyan woke up, she found herself lying within a pillar of white light, one that emanated from a mirror not too far away from her. Yun Ruoyan blinked her eyes blearily, finding the light surprisingly familiar, then realized that it was because it was the same light that had trapped her and all the lower-realm cultivators when they had first arrived on the Mingyuan continent.

Yun Ruoyan then glanced all around her. Except for the light from the mirror, however, her surroundings were dark, and there was nothing else in the room. It looks like I’ve been caught by Pi Yan, she guessed. Master Shade was Pi Yan’s subordinate, and after her capture by Master Shade, it was only natural that she would land in Pi Yan’s hands.

“Pi Yan, Master Shade, Pi Batian!” Yun Ruoyan cupped her hands and shouted. However, she heard nothing but her own echoes.

“Mistress,” Qiuqiu suddenly chirped. “Look at that mirror.”

Yun Ruoyan turned back to the mirror. “What about it, Qiuqiu?”

“Doesn’t it look like the all-seeing mirror?”

Now that Qiuqiu had pointed it out, Yun Ruoyan did notice a few similarities. “The all-seeing mirror can be used to communicate with members of the silver dragon clan from the Jiyuan continent, so wouldn’t it make sense if this mirror could do the same? If so, then this Pi family might be subordinate to the silver dragon clan, and they might be operating on its behalf.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s very likely that my father was captured by the silver dragons.” Yun Ruoyan followed Qiuqiu’s line of reasoning.

“It’s highly likely. The silver dragon clan must be trying to stop you from reviving the demonic dragon clan.”

“In that case, could my mother also have been abducted by them?”

“Unlikely,” Qiuqiu commented. “Your mother’s just a mortal woman. By that time, she had already given birth to you, so if they did manage to get close to your mother, the person they should have captured was you, not her.”

Qiuqiu then told Yun Ruoyan that all cultivators had to follow a set of continent-specific rules, and they couldn’t simply do as they pleased on a lower-grade realm just because of their power disparity. For example, the cultivators on the Mingyuan continent weren’t allowed to head to the Chenyuan continent to do as they please, and the silver dragons on the Jiyuan continent likely faced similar restrictions regarding heading to the Mingyuan and Chenyuan continents. This rule had been codified after the cultivators from the lower and medium realms helped the silver dragon clan exterminate the demonic dragon clan, and was enforced by a binding oath from both sides.

“It seems that the silver dragons are starting to meddle in the lower realms’ business again. They don’t dare come to the realms themselves, so they instead train a retinue of cultivators to do their bidding,” Qiuqiu muttered.

“Qiuqiu, I just had an idea. Can you let me know if it’s feasible?”

“What is it, Mistress?”

“If the silver dragon clan wants me, then why don’t I just go with them? My father might be right there, and Li Mo’s been searching for a way to get to the silver dragon clan’s main hideout---”

“Absolutely not, Mistress,” Qiuqiu interrupted. “Mistress, if you allow yourself to be captured by the silver dragons, you’ll be like a lamb heading to your slaughter. Do not take such a risk. Mistress, have you noticed how much more daring you’ve become upon entering the Mingyuan continent? You tried to steal from the Pi crystal veins, you infiltrated the Pi delegation, you broke the seal on the silver bracelet, and now you’re thinking of entering the Jiyuan continent? Mistress, is something the matter?”

In the past, although Yun Ruoyan had had audacious plans, she was relatively confident that she would be able to carry them to fruition. Now, however, it seemed as though she were recklessly acting on her whims.

“It… Qiuqiu, you’re not wrong.” Yun Ruoyan sat cross-legged as she mulled over Qiuqiu’s words. “I can’t explain why, but I keep wanting to do something adventurous, and I never fear getting hurt. Every time I get hurt, it feels as though new life is being breathed into me.”

“That might not be an illusion, Mistress. It’s very likely that your demonic dragon’s blood is acting up.”

“My demonic dragon blood?”

“Yes. As far as I’m aware, the demonic dragon clan has always possessed an adventurous spirit, and it’s likely that the effects of the bloodline make it more pronounced. Since your bloodline has been partially awakened, it’s beginning to affect your personality and behavior. Mistress, with your current cultivation, you have to be cognizant of this at all times. If you do something rash now, you may not survive the consequences.”

Qiuqiu had been rather shocked and concerned by Yun Ruoyan’s recent spate of thoughtless behavior, and it was trying her best to dissuade her from such ideas now.

“I understand,” Yun Ruoyan replied. “But I’m afraid I don’t have a choice this time. How am I supposed to escape from this mess?” She reached out and touched the light enveloping her. Although it looked just like regular light, the boundary of the light was as hard as steel.

“Mistress, don’t worry. I’m sure Li Mo will find his way here,” Qiuqiu consoled her. “He’ll be able to break this barrier with a blow at full power.”

“Can Li Mo really find this place?” Yun Ruoyan asked. “How can you be so sure, Qiuqiu?”

“Because I can sense Li Mo’s aura. Unfortunately, with this barrier, I can’t communicate with him.”

“You mean that Li Mo’s nearby?” Yun Ruoyan stood up in excitement.

Actually, not only was Li Mo nearby, he was already within the Pi manor. At dawn, he had assumed the guise of a farmer delivering produce and successfully infiltrated the manor. He could sense the mental energy that Qiuqiu was giving off, but he was unable to communicate with it or identify precisely where it was coming from. It had been over a day since Li Mo ahd last seen Yun Ruoyan unconscious and in Master Shade’s grasp, and he was very anxious.

He was quite familiar with the Pi manor and especially its secret prisons from his previous investigation while trying to find Qin Feng. Li Mo searched through each of them, but to no avail. In that case, there was only one location Li Mo knew about but hadn’t checked: the secret prison beneath Pi Batian’s rooms. Li Mo, Qin Feng, and Lin Tianming had all been trapped there once.

Li Mo was hiding by a rock garden in Pi Batian’s rooms, waiting quietly for night to descend so that he could investigate the prison there...