"Fengming, what happened? I told you to follow that monster!" The goat-bearded man looked at Qingyu Fengming with reproach.
"Her attitude was completely over the top. She didn't take our Qingyu Demon Clan seriously at all. I exchanged a few words with her, and she just dropped me. In my view, she was using us the whole time—she never had any intention of helping us find the Immortal Crystal Mine. If I ever catch up with her again, I'll make sure she regrets it."
Qingyu Fengming spoke with barely contained fury.
"Fengming, you absolutely must not act rashly. Do you have any idea why that girl is called a monster?" the goat-bearded man asked.
"She's just a little girl with a Heavenly Immortal cultivation. What's so scary about that?" Qingyu Fengming said dismissively.
"Fengming, tell me—do you actually believe that our Qingyu Demon Clan went to all that trouble trying to recruit her as a guest elder, simply because of her Dragon-patterned Heavenly Noble Spirit World Master rank?" the goat-bearded man asked.
"Isn't that the case?" Qingyu Fengming replied.
"Of course not. If she were truly only a Heavenly Immortal, how could she have shaken you off so easily?"
"Forget about you—even I wouldn't last a single exchange against her," the goat-bearded man said.
"Then you're saying she's a Martial Immortal expert?" Qingyu Fengming asked.
"Mm." The goat-bearded man nodded.
"What rank of Martial Immortal?" Qingyu Fengming pressed.
"Her exact rank is unknown, but she is absolutely not a first-rank Martial Immortal," the goat-bearded man said.
"She's really that powerful?" A look of shock appeared in Qingyu Fengming's eyes.
"More than powerful—she's ruthless and merciless. A member of the Li Heavenly Clan once offended her, and she drove their entire clan mad through sheer torture. No one could cure them," the goat-bearded man said.
"That girl… she's really that terrifying?" At this, a trace of lingering fear surfaced in Qingyu Fengming's eyes.
He wouldn't forget that losing track of the girl hadn't been because she had shaken him off at all.
It was after he'd argued with her that her eyes had suddenly turned white.
He didn't know why, but the moment he saw those white eyes, a deep sense of fear had gripped his heart.
The girl had then threatened him—don't follow her anymore, or she would take his life.
In that instant, he had been genuinely terrified, and so he hadn't continued to follow her, watching helplessly as she walked away and vanished.
Afterward he'd been furious at himself for being scared off by a little girl.
But after hearing the goat-bearded man's explanation, he'd begun to feel relieved—relieved that he hadn't crossed her. Otherwise, he'd probably have been driven mad by now.
"She's been running roughshod through the Ancestral Martial Cultivation World for thirty years, and no one dares to provoke her," the goat-bearded man said.
"Thirty years? Then how old is she?" Qingyu Fengming was shocked once more.
"You really thought she was just a seven- or eight-year-old child?" The goat-bearded man smiled faintly, then continued: "No one knows her true age, but she's certainly not seven or eight. A monster who has dominated the Ancestral Martial Cultivation World for twenty years—how could she possibly be that young?" the goat-bearded man said.
"If she's that dangerous, why go out of your way to recruit her into our Qingyu Demon Clan? Wouldn't that just bring trouble upon us?" Qingyu Fengming asked.
"Now that's something you wouldn't understand. That girl may be dangerous, but she's genuinely useful. If she joins our Qingyu Demon Clan, then unifying the entire Eastern Region of the Ancestral Martial Cultivation World will be just a matter of time," the goat-bearded man said.