She was the Rose Fairy, also a powerful seventh-order existence, rumored to have the backing of a Great Saint!

Although the other Martial Saints remained silent, their eyes were filled with questioning and incomprehension as they looked towards Master Eastward Flowing.

Master Eastward Flowing chuckled and shook his head. "You haven’t made it to the list of candidates for the members of the Heavenly Palace, so naturally, you wouldn’t know of Bo Qing’s glorious day. But all you need to know is that Bo Qing is an existence even the Emperor’s Son acknowledges!"

HISS.

Upon hearing Master Eastward Flowing mention the Emperor’s Son, East Supreme Saint, everyone fell silent for a moment, no longer questioning Hong Yuan.

The authority of the Emperor’s Son, East Supreme Saint, was enough to explain everything!

「On the other side.」

Hong Yuan arrived at his window.

His fingers danced, activating complex magical seals.

A blue light manifested on the ground, taking the shape of a pentagram. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The next moment, a pile of correspondence in the form of paper butterflies burst forth, fluttering towards Hong Yuan in a whirl of colors, filling his entire window!

"This..." Hong Yuan’s eyes went blank, and he was momentarily stunned.

So many letters. Just how many thoughts and words did the Butterfly Sword Martial Saint wish to convey to him?

Hong Yuan reached out, grasped a pink paper butterfly, and fell into a brief silence.

It seemed, perhaps, likely... Had the Butterfly Sword Martial Saint fallen into the web of love?

After a long while, Hong Yuan sighed, a tinge of helplessness in his eyes as he began reading the letters.

[Qing, reading this is like seeing you in person. I miss you! When will you come back? I’m so bored!!!]

[Did you know Menghuang’s talent is unbelievable? She has actually begun to integrate the initial stages of the five realms of Sword Tao. I suspect she has reached the master’s level; this is inconceivable!]

[With your help, my own Sword Tao has progressed by leaps and bounds. I can now transform into an incarnation of a fire phoenix using the ’Fire Phoenix Singing’ Divine Power. The South Sky Elder also greatly commended me for it.]

[There has been a sudden, shocking change in the Eastern Wilderness Divine Continent. According to the South Sky Elder, it seems the Emperor’s Son doesn’t want to interfere with the conflict between the ’Sect’ and ’Dynastic’ powers there. It’s suspected the Emperor’s Son has grand schemes in mind—]

[AHHH, you big bad guy, when in the world will you return?! No, wait. If your trial results are worse than Shi Lingfang’s and Li Shenyu’s, then you shouldn’t come back, hmph!]

[Hurry back, Qing! Menghuang’s progress recently is too astonishing. Even with my status as a Saint, I’m struggling to teach her. Without your help, I can’t provide Menghuang with more resources for her growth...]

[...]

Hong Yuan read through the letters.

When he sensed the depth of the Butterfly Sword Martial Saint’s feelings, he couldn’t help but fall silent for a moment.

In that instant, he couldn’t help but wonder: was he human or demon?

"HEH HEH." A moment later, Hong Yuan, his face expressionless, let out a cold laugh. "I am only loyal to myself."

When he realized from these letters that a shocking war might break out in the Eastern Wilderness Divine Continent, his brows involuntarily furrowed.

If a shocking war were to erupt in the Eastern Wilderness Divine Continent, wouldn’t his Original Body and Sword Body have to confront each other on the battlefield?

Gradually, Hong Yuan started to recall his contingency plans.

As a Cultivator of Longevity Martial Arts, Hong Yuan was always accustomed to ensuring he had a backup plan. Thus, he had long ago deduced the possibility of a clash between dynastic and Sect forces in the Eastern Wilderness Divine Continent.

These plans had already run through his mind a good hundred times and were nothing out of the ordinary for him.

Let the Water Tao Incarnation die in battle, to escape from Phoenix Creek Sect...

Or carry Yue’er and Yiru and flee to the Southern Border...

...

A series of plans rapidly evolved in Hong Yuan’s mind.

If Phoenix Creek Sect truly faced the risk of collapse, then he, Hong Yuan, would surely rebuild it one day. As for turning the tide and deciding the fate of the world with one battle, that was better left to others. He, Hong Yuan, truly lacked the "strength" for it!