The lightning formation was a defense barrier that kept the “Sinful Yun Clan” safe, but it was also a prison.

After all, this entire region was known as the “Sinful Region” to outsiders.

A shout exploded from the distance the moment they pa.s.sed through the lightning formation. “Who dares invade the territory of the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan!”

The Sinful Yun Clan was very sensitive toward unfamiliar presences due to their status, and the shout was as deafening as thunder. However, joy bloomed in Yun Shang’s eyes as she shouted right back, “Big Brother Xiang!”

The approaching presences clearly froze in their tracks for a moment before moving even faster than before. Very soon, a handsome man with tiger-like eyes and a beautiful woman br.i.m.m.i.n.g with heroism entered their view.

Their auras were exceptionally strong, strong enough to draw a look from Yun Che.

“A level eight Divine Sovereign and a level five Divine Sovereign. They’re both below six hundred years old, I think.” Qianye Ying’er sent a message to Yun Che. “They’re likely among the strongest profound pract.i.tioners in this place.”

The man moving their way was without a doubt the strongest expert they had encountered in the Northern Divine Region besides the mysterious Nanhuang Chanyi, but Qianye Ying’er only shot him an indifferent look before lowering her head and giving him the cold shoulder.

“Shang… er!”

Both people shouted emotionally when they saw Yun Shang, practically pouncing toward her until she was right in front of them. Their excitement and joy were clearly out of control.

“Big Brother Xiang, Big Sister Lu, it’s really been a long time since we saw each other,” Yun Shang said with a bright smile on her face.

“Shang’er, you…” The brawny man was a level eight Divine Sovereign, but he was so overwhelmed by emotion that he couldn’t say anything for a time.

“Are you… alright? Weren’t you captured by Nine Lights Heavenly Palace?” The woman grabbed Yun Shang’s shoulders and gave her a checkup, but both her person and her aura seemed perfectly fine.

Yun Shang said, “I was captured by those villains half a year ago, but Senior Yun rescued me immediately after. I’ve been staying with Senior Yun and Sister Qiangying ever since.”

“Half a year ago?” The duo exchanged a glance with each other before the man growled, “Nine Lights Heavenly Palace has been lying to us!?”

They then s.h.i.+fted their gaze backward to Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er and asked, “You are?”

“Yun Che,” Yun Che said simply. “I’m from the East Ruins Realm.”

“I’m his servant Yun Qianying.” She called herself Yun Che’s servant, but her tone was clearly a lot haughtier than her master’s.

The brawny man moved forward and saluted them. He said, “I am Yun Xiang, and this is my wife Yun Lu. The Heavenly Handle Yun Clan will remember everything you’d done for Shang’er. Please forgive my impoliteness earlier, I didn’t know that you were Shang’er’s benefactors.”

“You are too kind, Brother Xiang,” Yun Che said while nodding. “Shang’er and I were brought together by fate, and I consider it a good thing to be able to save her.”

Qianye Ying’er looked at him sideways after hearing that.

“Haha, I see that your surname is Yun as well. We are definitely tied together by fate.” Yun Xiang laughed loudly before continuing, “I don’t think you realize just how much we owe you for your heroic act.”

“The chief and the elders are praying in the ancestral shrine. They will be overjoyed to see Yun Shang returned safe and sound,” Yun Lu said.

“You’re right! We need to tell the chief as soon as possible.” Yun Xiang couldn’t be happier with the fact that he was the one responsible for patrolling the lightning formation today. He said, “Please come this way, n.o.ble guests. I’m sure our chief would like to thank you in person.”

These days, the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan was the epitome of cautiousness, and they were especially wary toward outsiders. However, Yun Xiang and Yun Lu still acted warmly toward Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er for two reasons. One, they were Yun Shang’s saviors. Two, they were only level ten Divine Kings. Even if they were plotting something sinister, there was nothing they could do with their strength.

Yun Shang might only be sixteen years old, but she was incredibly important to the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan due to her purple profound handle.

The news that Yun Shang had returned safe and sound quickly reached the whole clan. For once, the gloomy “Sinful Region” was bursting with vitality and excitement.

Once in a century, the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan would perform a ritual for good luck. However, the ritual was cut short when the clan chief, Yun Ting became the first person to rush out of the ancestral shrine when news of Yun Shang’s return had reached him. The rest of the elders were also following him closely.

“Chief Grandpa!”

Yun Ting was the current chief of the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan. He was old enough to live through both the pinnacle, the decline, and soon the end of the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan. From a realm king clan to a sinful clan everyone took pity on, Yun Ting had seen everything there was to see.

Yun Ting’s hair was completely white, and his face and his hands looked as shriveled as dead wood. But none of these signs could compare to the sheer amount of murkiness of his eyes. Even a mortal who did not cultivate could see that he didn’t have much longer to live.

Yun Ting’s condition couldn’t be worse than it was now, and he was so old that very little fazed him anymore. Still, he couldn’t help but tear up when he saw a jubilant Yun Shang leaping toward him.

It was because she was far too important to this family, especially now of all times.

She was a pearl from the heavens. She was also their only hope.

“Shang’er, thank goodness you’re safe… thank goodness you’re safe,” Yun Ting said while crouching. He was so emotional that his bearing as the chief was nowhere to be seen, but the same could be said for the elders behind him.

As Yun Xiang had said earlier, Yun Ting personally thanked Yun Che for saving Yun Shang… even if he was a Divine King of unknown origin.

“I’m surprised how important this girl is to the clan.” Qianye Ying’er had no concept of what a purple colored profound handle meant, so the clan’s reaction came as a surprise to her.

“Hmph, how dare the Nine Lights Heavenly Palace lie to us and claim that Yun Shang is in their hands!” Yun Xiang said angrily with a furrowed brow.

“We would’ve fallen for it too if Shang’er was late by a few days,” a clan elder said solemnly.

“Does that mean that Nine Lights Heavenly Palace was trying to force you to give up something in exchange for Yun Shang?” Yun Che asked suddenly.

Considering how much the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan treasured Yun Shang, they probably would’ve acquiesced even if they knew it was just smoke and mirrors.

“That’s right,” Yun Xiang said. “The chief palace master of Nine Lights Heavenly Palace wants his young son to become a Divine Sovereign, so he told us to surrender the…”

“That’s in the past, and Shang’er is safe. Nine Lights Heavenly Palace’s trick is meaningless now. We’ll just kick them off our doorstep when they show up the day after tomorrow.” Yun Ting interrupted Yun Xiang with a smile before he could finish his sentence.

Suddenly, his expression changed drastically before he grabbed Yun Shang’s slender shoulders with his right hand. He looked like he couldn’t believe his senses. “Shang’er you… you’re at the Divine Tribulation Realm already!?”

Yun Ting’s words stunned everyone present. When they focused their spiritual sense on Yun Shang, they too were shocked by what they found.

Earlier, everyone was too excited to notice the change in Yun Shang’s profound energy. It was only now that they realized that she was already at Divine Tribulation Realm!

It wasn’t as if sixteen year old Divine Tribulation geniuses had never appeared in the history of their clan. They were a realm king clan in the past, they were able to produce a couple of young geniuses every generation when resources were still abundant.

But Yun Shang was just a middle stage Divine Soul half a year ago!

How did she reach the Divine Tribulation Realm in just half a year!?

“Shang’er, did you… did you eat some kind of divine pellet?” Yun Ting’s voice grew a tad urgent. To his knowledge, such tremendous improvement was only possible through artificial means, but… was Yun Shang really strong enough to withstand a pellet this powerful?

But to his surprise, Yun Shang shook her head and snuck a glance at Yun Che. Then, she replied, “Shang’er ran into an amazing senior while she was with Senior Yun and Sister Qianying. He was the one who used an incredible ability to transform my body completely. After that, cultivation suddenly became incredibly easy.”

Yun Ting and everyone else were completely speechless. Yun Shang’s eyes were as pure as diamonds, and no one believed that she was lying. However, she also claimed that her current power was the natural result of her transformation, not a pellet. But that just wasn’t possible!

Yun Ting changed his hand gesture and sent a wisp of profound energy into Yun Shang’s profound veins… Then, his murky, lidded eyes suddenly stretched to the widest degree like he was thunderstruck. For a long time, he stared stupidly at Yun Shang without a word or movement.

The chief’s reaction was so strange that the clan elders, Yun Xiang and Yun Lu couldn’t help but exchange a glance with each other. When they probed Yun Shang’s profound veins with their own profound energy, their expressions were even more exaggerated than Yun Ting’s.

Yun Che wasn’t surprised at all by their reaction.

Yun Shang’s profound energy became impossibly pure after it was refined by the Eternal Calamity of Darkness and the Dragon Dawn Jade Nectar. As a result, her body’s compatibility with profound energy and her mastery of it reached levels that even a former Divine Master like Yun Ting couldn’t believe, or even comprehend.

To say that her cultivation speed was much faster than before would be a ma.s.sive understatement.

“That masterful senior…” Yun Ting was twenty thousand years old, but he didn’t hesitate to address the unknown “master” as his senior in a deeply respectful tone at all, “Who is he?”

Yun Shang’s transformation could only be described as a miracle. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how amazing this supreme master was.

Yun Shang smiled and replied, “That senior won’t let Shang’er say.”

Yun Ting still couldn’t control the excitement on his face when he nodded and replied, “That’s fair, if that is that senior’s wish, then you shouldn’t say even a word.”

“Oh right.” Yun Shang turned around and summoned purple lightning around her fingers. “Senior also thought me a modified version of the Heavenly Handle Thunder Cloud Art. Look at this, Chief Grandpa.”

She moved her wrist and filled her surroundings with lightning right after she finished talking. The crowd was already stupefied when they saw the first technique, but when Yun Shang moved on to the second, third, fourth technique and more… Everyone from the Yun Clan looked like they had seen a living ghost. They just couldn’t believe their eyes or spiritual sense no matter how they tried.

Yun Shang was definitely executing the Heavenly Handle Thunder Cloud Art, but small modifications were present in every technique. Although the changes looked very minor, the laws and power of the art were much, much stronger than before!

The core profound art of a clan or a sect was constantly evolving, but it was a long and arduous process.

It was highly doubtful that the Heavenly Handle Yun Clan could evolve their own art to Yun Shang’s current level even if they had a hundred thousand years of free time.

“Did that senior… teach you this as well?” Yun Ting’s words sounded like they were floating in the sky.

“Mn.” Yun Shang nodded strongly. “Senior also said Shang’er can teach it to her clansmen.”

“...” Yun Ting finally rose back up to his feet, but his legs were still trembling. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this shocked and excited. He looked at the ancestral shrine behind him and the sky above his head. Then, he let out a trembling shout, “Heaven’s gift… this truly is a gift from the heavens! The heavens must pity the Yun Clan’s fate!”

“Tch!” Qianye Ying’er snorted.

Although Yun Shang was saved by Yun Che, and she clearly mentioned that Yun Che and Qianye Ying’er were the ones who took care of her for the past half a year, no one thought that they were the ones who gave Yun Shang everything… After all, how could this transcendent master possibly have anything to do with two young Divine Kings?