"Oh, I came to discuss how to deal with the Sun family." Mu Ziming clasped his hands behind his back, presenting an image of refined elegance.
Ye Lanshan sneered and spoke, "Deal with the Sun family? I'm afraid Young Master Mu has forgotten—our Ye family never intended to meddle in this. Last time we discussed it, it was to extricate ourselves from this conflict."
"You secretly sent someone to warn me not to fall into the Sun family's trap, and you had me block Dou Jingtong for you. Doesn't that mean you want to ally with me to bring down the Sun family?" Mu Ziming looked confident, convinced that Ye Lanshan thought this way—but he guessed wrong.
Ye Lanshan rolled her eyes helplessly. "I warned you out of goodwill. As for blocking Dou Jingtong, it's only because the Ye family couldn't step in directly, so I dragged you into it."
"Hmm? Are you really willing to let such good benefits slip away to others?" Upon hearing her explanation, his refined and elegant facade finally cracked.
Ye Lanshan curled her lips into a smile. "If I join this conflict, won't it only cause more trouble later? Besides, when we discussed it before, you made it clear that the Mu family wouldn't get involved. So why are you suddenly eager to deal with the Sun family now?"
Mu Ziming let out a slight sigh. "I did want to avoid this conflict earlier, but you must understand—our current position makes it impossible to escape the vortex of power."
"And the murkier the water, the greater the benefits you can fish out. I'm sure you understand that without me having to spell it out."
Ye Lanshan's eyes flickered, but she still refused to discuss it further, only saying, "The situation is already complicated enough. There's no need to make it even messier. Be careful not to gain nothing and lose everything."
Hearing her warning, Mu Ziming smiled. "Even if you don't participate, the emperor will drag you down eventually. Would you rather take the initiative to secure everyone's interests, or passively follow the emperor's orders? Think it over yourself."
After Mu Ziming walked away, Ye Lanshan continued toward the Ye residence. As she walked, she pondered the already overly complex situation, and a thought of joining in began to sprout in her mind.
After all, Mu Ziming was right—even if she wanted to avoid their conflict, it ultimately depended on whether the emperor agreed.
She hesitated at the entrance for a long time before finally entering the Ye mansion to discuss her thoughts with her grandfather.
"Grandfather, I think no matter how much we try to avoid this conflict, we'll still end up caught in the vortex of power."
Ye Luotian's cheerful expression stiffened and immediately darkened. "Are you thinking of joining in?"
"I'm not sure." If Ye Lanshan weren't torn and had already made a decision, she wouldn't have asked Ye Luotian.
In truth, she didn't want to deal with this pile of troubles. Right now, she only wanted to cultivate properly, grow stronger, reclaim the lost Twin Fruit, heal Ye Yu's meridians, rescue her father from the Holy Land's grasp, and save Wu Jiao's people.
After that, she could slowly find her master. If she couldn't, it didn't matter—once she reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage, she could tear through space and return to the cultivation world.
But now, she had no choice but to deal with this mess. Sometimes, she even felt dazed, wondering if everything in the cultivation world was just a dream, and this present life was the real one.
"We don't need to get involved. Let Yue Jinghong and the other two families fight it out. The mere arrival of the Holy Land has already made them avoid the Ye family like snakes and scorpions. When would they have time to drag us into the water?" Ye Luotian's gaze darkened. He wasn't troubled by the internal strife of the Moon Kingdom, nor was he pleased by it.
Grandfather, what secret are you hiding? Why do you hold such hostility toward Yue Jinghong? Isn't he Father's good friend and brother?
These questions swirled in Ye Lanshan's mind, but in the end, she didn't ask. Even if she did, she feared Ye Luotian wouldn't tell her.
After returning to her room, Ye Lanshan felt nothing but irritation. Too many things had happened in the past two days. She needed to think carefully about how to keep Fu Tian and the others from being discovered by the Holy Land.
How could she coax out the secret her grandfather was hiding?
And how could she strengthen the defenses of Dream Red Pavilion? Speaking of Dream Red Pavilion reminded her of Tao Yao—that clingy woman she'd sent to train assassins. She hoped it wasn't a mistake.
Just thinking about all these issues gave Ye Lanshan a headache. She muttered to herself, "What a hassle."
"If it's such a hassle, then hurry up and cultivate. When you're strong enough, you'll find these problems too easy to solve." Wu Jiao had somehow slipped out of the space again.
"You say that so lightly. In such a short time, how strong do you expect me to become?" Ye Lanshan rolled her eyes at him.
"Back in that cave, you confidently told me you'd rescue my people within three years. Why the lack of confidence now?" Wu Jiao slowly provoked her with his words.
"Stop. I said within three years, and it's only been a little over a year. What's the rush? When did I ever say I couldn't rescue your people?" She always kept her word, so she absolutely wouldn't accept Wu Jiao's doubt.
"Then why do you say you can't become strong in such a short time? If you can't become strong, how will you save my people?" Wu Jiao was doing everything he could to push her to cultivate and grow stronger.
"That's not the same thing at all, okay? To gain a foothold in human society, you still need this." Ye Lanshan pointed to her head.
"In the face of absolute power, all schemes and calculations are just clouds. Survival of the fittest—that's the basic condition for standing firm." Wu Jiao disagreed with her view.
"Survival of the fittest, yes, all creatures here live by the law of the jungle."
"But you forgot one thing: back then, humans used cunning and deceit to drive powerful magical beasts into the forests, and later enslaved them through contracts."
"That's because the truly powerful magical beasts never showed up. Besides, plenty of humans have died at the claws of magical beasts, haven't they?" Wu Jiao showed extreme disdain for her argument.
"Forget it. We disagree, so there's no point in arguing. Might as well save the time for cultivation." Ye Lanshan was too lazy to debate further and directly closed her eyes, immersing herself in the world of cultivation.
Wu Jiao eventually sighed and turned back into the space.
While Ye Lanshan was peacefully cultivating, trouble arose on Fu Tian's end.
"Search again, see if you can find any more deer heart grass." Sikong Kuang was anxious as he looked at Ye Yu, who had suddenly fallen unconscious.
But he had no useful pills left on him, and could only hope to find some intact deer heart grass among the ruins.