After a while, Wu Long resumed retelling her the story of how he got here, and finally got to the point it was possible to retell the events of what happened after Hong Xinyi fell out of the Spatial Rift wormhole in a way that made sense to her, concluding, "...so that’s all I know about from Fairy Xun"

He wanted to ask what happened to her, but held back to give her time to process what she learned from him.

Hong Xinyi obviously knew that her cultivation dropped to the Mortal Transcendence Realm, but knowing it while being overwhelmed by other thoughts and feelings, as well as part-consciously part-unconsciously ignoring it, and actually hearing it from him and confirming it wasn’t temporary but permanent hit differently.

However, her recovery from these revelations was as quick as Wu Long’s when he woke up as Body Transformation Realm youth - she only took a few minutes to process and come to terms with it.

The only lingering part was her hair reverting to midnight blue color as a result. She pondered on it as she sat in his lap and was playing with the end of one of her long braids while he watched her attentively until he saw that she shelved that thought process for now, not willing or able to deal with it for now.

Her eyes stopped on the silver-colored accessory holding the end of her braid together, which was conspicuously missing its most important parts, only the very base of it left still holding her hair. The same was true for the other braid’s accessory as well.

"I guess it’s a blessing in disguise that all my possessions are gone, I couldn’t have used them with my current cultivation anyway, and for long after this too... not to mention that they would’ve been a serious hazard by just appearing in Boundless Profound World. But it’s going to be a pain finding a replacement for these...", she sighed, switching her mind to losing her possessions.

"Not really. I told you, I have a Sect now, and we do have Forging Dao Masters, it might not be up to your standards for now, but we’ll make something at least similar in functions. Retractable blades is the easiest part, embedding spatial rings for throwing knives and needles is also doable, as for the rest... we’ll get there with time and some more work", he chuckled, raising the other braid’s end in his hand and looking at the husk of the broken Spiritual Treasure he was very familiar with.

"Thank you", she grinned, knowing she couldn’t really be picky with her equipment in the current situation, and already grateful that she would be able to get something custom-made practically from the very beginning.

"So...", Wu Long saw that she finished processing all the repercussions, and finally asked, "...this time it’s your turn to answer the same question. What happened?"

The look in her eyes shifted, and she spoke in a cold voice thickly laced with killing intent, "I was going to cut down that treacherous and ungrateful sleazebag calling himself your Disciple, gut him like a pig that he is"

"You went after Jun Shaoshan?", his eyes widened, and then multiple emotions reflected deep inside at the same time, surprise that she did, shock at the fact she failed and how badly hurt she was, intense fury and even more powerful and dark killing intent at the thought that his former Disciple dared hurt Hong Xinyi to that extent, almost killing her.

"Of course I did... that slimy despicable wretch. Did you hear what he said about Lust Cultivation that you spent so long eradicating? And did so carrying your title!", she said with rage, "He betrayed you, and tarnished your title!"

"Heh, more than you know", he darkly laughed, since he didn’t even tell her that it was Jun Shaoshan who gave away the location where he was preparing to undergo Heavenly Tribulation, and then added with a grin, "But I guess you’re far more reckless than I thought. To go after him for such a reason even in your situation... you should’ve been hidden away and laying low for a lot longer"

"As if I’d let that scumbag go after that", she humphed with a proud look, pursing her lips and pouting.

His gaze became tender as he chuckled with amusement. But then the question in his gaze intensified as he became serious again, "That said, for you to end up like that... he has become a lot more powerful than he used to be..."

"He did, but that is not really why I failed", she shook her head as a bit of confusion appeared in her eyes, her tone becoming a bit uncertain as she recalled the events that happened just this morning, "I almost succeeded with a surprise ambush, but an unknown man stopped my blade with his bare hand... no, two fingers... he didn’t even seem to use any techniques or put in any effort, it was like he didn’t have to use any strength at all. And he appeared as if from nothing without a trace of presence or any signs right as my strike was about to land... I’ve never seen anything like that"

Wu Long’s eyes widened since even at the peak of his power, stopping a full-powered blow from Hong Xinyi would require some effort on his part, and he certainly couldn’t do it as easily as she described, "Was it a trap?"

Perhaps with a carefully laid out formation or other preparations it was possible to hide from Hong Xinyi, as well as perhaps show her an illusion, although it was still a very far stretch against her specifically.

"No", she shook her head, "That sleazebag calling himself your Disciple was caught off-guard as well, he almost shit his pants... maybe he did, I don’t know~"

She shrugged at the end, but for a moment a satisfied smile appeared on her lips as she recalled the terrified reaction of Jun Shaoshan to almost being killed in one blow out of nowhere.

Her expression and tone then became somber again as she continued, "But he seemed to know the man who stopped me. From then on the latter didn’t do anything at all, while I had to fight that sleazebag - a fight I could not win and even was overwhelmed. When I tried to retreat more people arrived, and from then on I was chased and hunted for several hours"

His jaws clenched at hearing the last part, and she recognized the eyes of the God of Slaughter, smiling as she gently touched his cheek, "Now that I am here I am glad it happened. Otherwise, who knows if and when I would’ve been able to see you again..."

The look in his eyes softened, as he leaned to kiss her, a kiss that she gladly received and answered.

But this did not change the fact, that a verdict was already given out in his mind, sealing the fate of those who participated in that chase and hunt after Hong Xinyi, every single one of them.