"..." Hong Qingyuan and the others exchanged glances, each at a loss. The last time Bing Wushuang had acted on his own authority and installed a standing supreme elder, they had not even had the chance to report the matter to the supreme elder. And now, as if that were not enough, the man had gone and added a *first* standing supreme elder. What sort of nonsense was this?

Grumble as they might in private, the fellow was now a genuine master at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage. None of them—Hong Qingyuan included—had the slightest room to haggle. Whatever the man demanded, their only option was to listen obediently.

"Good. Then it is settled." Xue Jianming made the decision on his own.

Hong Qingyuan and the rest all turned to look at Bing Wushuang. At a moment like this, he was the only one with the standing to object. This "first standing supreme elder" of Xue Jianming's was plainly meant to ride roughshod over him, and if anyone had the strongest reaction to it, it had to be him.

Yet Bing Wushuang was utterly unmoved—he did not even seem inclined to speak. He merely watched Xue Jianming with a mocking look in his eyes, as though the whole matter were of no interest to him at all.

Soon Xue Jianming and Hong Qingyuan's group dispersed one after another. Once they were well out of sight, Bing Wushuang turned and warned Leng Leng coldly: "That creature's nature is such that he will not let this go. Be careful from now on—avoid him where you can."

"I know." Leng Leng nodded. Having just broken through to the Golden Core stage, she needed time to consolidate her realm properly; finding some slightly secluded place would be enough. Besides, with Bing Wushuang there as a deterrent, Xue Jianming would not dare to be too brazen.

What she did not know was that Bing Wushuang himself was feeling very uncertain at this very moment. For all that he had just put on the air of having Xue Jianming completely in hand, it had in fact been nothing but bluster!

The sudden arrival of Hong Qingyuan and the others—rather than giving Xue Jianming a way out—had, if anything, rescued Bing Wushuang from his predicament.

The black frost that Xue Jianming feared most truly was a devastating weapon Bing Wushuang had cultivated recently, but it was still far from fully formed. In actual combat its effect was very limited, and that was something impossible to conceal once blows were exchanged. Fortunately, Xue Jianming had been frightened off.

Bing Wushuang had originally intended to spend more time consolidating, but that was no longer an option. Facing Xue Jianming, this sudden master at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage, he too had to raise his strength as quickly as possible. He knew very well that Xue Jianming was not the sort to be easily fooled. He had been scared off this time; next time might be another matter.

Fortunately, he still had in hand the two top-grade embryo-condensing golden pills Wei Zhao had given him. Coupled with the accumulation and consolidation of this period, so long as he went into seclusion for a time, Bing Wushuang was confident enough to raise his realm by one level—and with luck, perhaps even two in succession. By then he would have strength enough to wield the black frost, and the likes of Xue Jianming would be nothing to fear.

Bing Wushuang never dragged his feet. Once his mind was made up, he began his seclusion at once. Three days passed, calm and quiet.

But that calm was soon broken. Xue Jianming came to his senses far earlier than Bing Wushuang had expected. He had not seen through the true nature of the black frost—but he could see through Bing Wushuang's posturing. Otherwise, given Bing Wushuang's utterly pragmatic temperament, had he truly possessed sufficient strength, he would never have swallowed his anger so meekly.

Especially once he discovered that Leng Leng had vanished without a trace, and that Bing Wushuang had promptly begun seclusion as well. Xue Jianming's sense of having been duped instantly grew all the stronger, and his first reaction, in a fit of humiliated rage, was to force his way into Bing Wushuang's cave dwelling.

Anyone in seclusion activates protective formations to guard against intrusion, and Bing Wushuang was no exception—except that the defensive formation here was not of a high grade, able at most to withstand attacks at the great consummation of the Golden Core. Before a Nascent Soul monster it was practically useless, to say nothing of one like Xue Jianming.

Xue Jianming's sudden forced entry caught Bing Wushuang completely off guard; he was at a critical juncture of his seclusion at the time. He suffered badly at the very first exchange. Had he not, at the final moment, barely managed to unleash the Wuqing Ice Force to slow the other man for an instant, he would almost certainly have been killed on the spot. Xue Jianming had come with genuine murderous intent this time.

But Bing Wushuang, after all, was Bing Wushuang. Even after being so viciously stabbed in the back by Xue Jianming, he still managed to fight his way out of certain death alone, and escaped carrying grave injuries.

When word of this spread, the entire Xuejian Sect was in an uproar.

Hong Qingyuan and the others were nearly driven mad when they learned of it. Many among them were the sort who placed the sect's interests above all else, and until now each had been basking in visions of an incomparably glorious future: Xue Jianming, Bing Wushuang, and the original supreme elder—three Nascent Soul monsters in all. Such a lavish top-tier configuration already surpassed the level of every one of the ten minor sects and families, and might even be enough to begin making a bid for the legendary Four Great Powers—the true supreme rulers of the ancient minor martial world!

Once they joined the ranks of the Four Great Sects and Families, it would be a brand-new great era for the whole Xuejian Sect. They were about to make history.

Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that before this beautiful dream had even properly begun, Xue Jianming and Bing Wushuang would fall out again—and this time Xue Jianming had struck Bing Wushuang grievously wounded, so that in the end he fought desperately and fled the Xuejian Sect, his whereabouts unknown.

"Elder Xue, kindly explain to us just what this is about?" Hong Qingyuan asked, forcing down his fury. Had the man not been a Nascent Soul monster, he would not even wish to speak to him now; he would have dealt with him by sect rules long ago!

Unfortunately, all sect rules were made for those below the sect master. To a Nascent Soul monster like Xue Jianming, every sect rule was so much fart.

"What is it about? Is that even a question? Bing Wushuang betrayed the sect—simple as that!" Thanks to his strength, Xue Jianming no longer regarded Hong Qingyuan and the others as worth anything at all. He could not even be bothered to concoct an excuse for such a matter, and dismissed it with a single offhand sentence.

"..." Hong Qingyuan and the others all wore the odd, constipated look of people who, even if ten thousand horses were stampeding through their hearts, would never dare contradict him to his face.

"Also—where has Leng Leng gone? Find her for me, whatever the cost." Xue Jianming issued his orders to them directly, then added: "Spread the word: if I do not see her before sunset today, I will make an example of her master, Xu Xiaoshuang."

At these words, Hong Qingyuan and the others' expressions changed drastically once more. In their hearts there was no longer any joy at having three Nascent Soul monsters; instead, each and every one was seized with panic. Xue Jianming was so utterly unbridled—he was preparing to make himself the local tyrant of the entire Xuejian Sect!