At this moment, Elder Harold Hong was reporting the results of the Ruins Sect's latest recruitment tournament to the upper council.
“Not bad, the batch of new disciples this time is quite impressive. I heard six Heaven Bracket spots were filled in one go—and all of them are Heavenly Immortals?” one of the council leaders said with satisfaction.
“That’s right. We definitely stole the limelight from Nine-Dragon Gate this time—their intake was pitiful, nowhere near ours!” Elder Hong laughed.
“By the way, I heard there was a little dust-up in the arena—a Human Bracket disciple killed the Qin clan’s young master and took out several more Qin experts?” another council member asked.
“That’s right, that’s what happened. The kid was clearly hiding his true strength—if he went all out, he could rank with the Heaven Bracket. That’s why I stopped the Qin clan’s revenge immediately!” Elder Hong explained.
“Mm, you did the right thing. This disciple must have some background. Which cave-mansion did he join?” another council member asked, clearly intrigued—finding a talented disciple these days isn’t easy.
"Looks like he joined Tender Haven!" Elder Hong replied quickly.
"What? A male disciple joined Tender Haven?" The council members were all surprised—clearly, they could hardly believe it.
"It's true. He seemed to have it all planned out from the start!" Elder Hong frowned, sensing something odd about the whole thing.
"Sigh, ever since Jade Xuan left, Tender Haven’s been in decline. It’s already the weakest of the seventy-two cave-mansions. Joining Tender Haven now is basically throwing away your future!" the first council member said immediately.
"Elder Hong, keep an eye on him for us. I have a feeling this kid is no ordinary talent!"
"Exactly. Nine-Dragon Gate’s Sect Master is currently trying to break through to Profound Immortal, and if he succeeds, Ruins Sect will be under massive pressure. We elders have to help our own Sect Master with his breakthrough, so we don’t have time to manage these new disciples—just keep an eye on him!"
...
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep a close eye on him!” Elder Hong nodded seriously, not daring to slack off even a little.
...
Meanwhile, as the upper council was focused on Ryan Ling, Ryan himself was already standing at the entrance of Tender Haven’s cave-mansion. The place was even weaker than he’d imagined—everyone inside looked listless, probably from being bullied all the time, and seemed extra delicate. But one thing was clear: Tender Haven was all women, no exceptions!
“Are you sure you want to join Tender Haven?” Linglong, the current cave-master, looked at the new disciple with surprise. All the nearby female disciples stared at him too—this was the first time in decades Tender Haven had welcomed a male disciple!
"I’m sure!" Ryan replied. Linglong was still shocked—Ruins Sect had just recruited dozens of new disciples, and not a single one wanted to join Tender Haven, the most run-down cave-mansion. Plus, she knew Ryan had made a splash in the recruitment arena. Even if he’d offended the Qin clan and needed a place to lay low, Tender Haven was definitely not a safe choice. With her limited strength, Linglong couldn’t protect him at all!
But seeing Linglong’s baffled expression, Ryan decided to lay his cards on the table: "Senior Sister Linglong, don’t be surprised—I’m here on Big Sis Jade Xuan’s orders..."
The moment Ryan mentioned Jade Xuan, Linglong sprang up, her eyes shining with excitement. The other soft, listless female disciples were instantly electrified too, each face lighting up with joy.
“I get it now. Jade Xuan once said someone would come to help us, and I can’t believe it’s really happened!” Linglong’s eyes sparkled with emotion. She quickly asked, “Did Jade Xuan leave any other instructions?”
"Uh, about that..." Ryan suddenly remembered—when he left the Sky-Burial Necropolis, Jade Xuan had given him a sealed pouch to hand to Tender Haven’s cave-master!
At that moment, Ryan didn’t hesitate—he immediately took out the brocade pouch.
He immediately handed the pouch over to Linglong.
Linglong’s face turned bright red the instant she saw the pouch. She hurriedly tucked it away, then personally arranged living quarters for Ryan—and for May Xia and the others too!
After a hectic day, Ryan had officially joined Ruins Sect and Tender Haven, just as Jade Xuan had planned. With Ruins Sect’s protection, Nine-Dragon Gate wouldn’t be able to trouble him so easily!
But just to be safe, his next priority was patiently searching for a branch of the Primeval Heavenwood!
Ryan could feel that this branch’s power would be absolutely unprecedented—far beyond any other branch he’d encountered. If he could find it, absorbing it would be way more than just refining some Immortal Crystals!
The power of Immortal Crystals was already the limit for the Primeval Heavenwood right now. If he wanted to absorb anything stronger, he’d have to boost the Heavenwood’s energy to the max—but unless he could tap into infinite Heavenly Immortal power, there was no way. Ryan hadn’t reached Heavenly Immortal yet, so that step was out of reach for now!
So the only other option was to find another branch of the Primeval Heavenwood—if he could fuse them, he might be able to absorb something even greater, which would help him break through to Heavenly Immortal!
Back in the Sky-Burial Necropolis, Ryan had absorbed so much Heavenly Immortal power that it only pushed him to the peak of the Earth Immortal Realm. No matter how much more he burned—even if he ignited every Heavenly Immortal bone in the Burial Ground—it still wasn’t enough for him to break through to Heavenly Immortal!
So now, Ryan settled down in Tender Haven and slowly released his consciousness, probing the whole Ruins Sect. It was even bigger than he’d imagined—endless, sprawling inside and out. But Ryan knew that once someone reached Heavenly Immortal or even higher, manipulating space was child’s play. The vastness he sensed was clearly the work of Ruins Sect’s top experts warping space on purpose.
Still, there were many places deep inside Ruins Sect that Ryan couldn’t sense yet. But he could vaguely feel the Primeval Heavenwood’s aura growing stronger somewhere inside. This time, though, the branch was hidden much more carefully—he couldn’t pinpoint it at all, just sensed it was nearby!
"Sigh, I’ll just have to take it slow!" Ryan shook his head, knowing it wouldn’t be easy to find the branch right away. But now he understood Jade Xuan’s real reasons for sending him to Ruins Sect: first, to help him escape Nine-Dragon Gate’s pursuit; second, to protect and strengthen Tender Haven, which was on the verge of collapse and needed a powerful expert’s support or it’d disappear in a few years; and third—and most important—she wanted him to find a major branch of the Primeval Heavenwood hidden deep inside Ruins Sect!
Ryan felt that if he could find it, not only could he break through to Heavenly Immortal—he might even reach the very highest realms!
But for now, finding it in one go was clearly impossible!
"Ryan, what are you thinking about?" Just then, as Ryan’s thoughts wandered, a voice reached his ears—it was Linglong!
"Senior Sister Linglong!" Ryan immediately stood up.
"No need for formalities." Linglong smiled, her eyes hinting at something indescribably intimate.
Ryan was momentarily stunned—Linglong had come to him in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, and she was dressed especially provocatively. Something was definitely off!
Honestly, Ryan hadn’t come to Ruins Sect looking for romantic drama. Seeing how late it was, he quickly said, "Senior Sister Linglong, it’s getting late—I should get some sleep!"
"So you leave as soon as I arrive? Am I really that unappealing?" Linglong’s face fell slightly, her tone aggrieved.
"No, no, Senior Sister—you’re very beautiful!" Ryan blurted out.
"Good, then come here—give me a hug!" Linglong said quickly.
"What?" Ryan froze, stunned by her boldness. And just as she finished speaking, Linglong opened her arms wide—her outer robe parted, and Ryan realized with a shock that she wasn’t wearing anything under it...