She stamped her foot, as if bolstering her own resolve. "I, Han Shuang, will see this through! I will prove it to him — I will!"
Then her gaze hardened into something unyielding, fierce determination blazing in her eyes. Her figure flickered, and she strode decisively into the passage.
Jiang Chen's emotions churned at first as he traveled, but once he left the Crimson Water Celestial Pool and returned to the surface, his mood gradually settled back to calm.
"Sect Master Han, good fortune to you. You used the Heaven-Measuring Ruler to save my father — he will surely watch over you and keep you safe." Jiang Chen sighed softly in his heart.
Putting his feelings in order, he returned to the Evil Star Sect.
The sect was in an uproar. Elder Xu and Elder Ge were both scurrying about like ants on a hot pan, searching desperately for their sect master.
On the very eve of their departure, they had made the shocking discovery: their sect master was gone.
Could anything be more alarming? The God King Lords' Assembly — what an extraordinary occasion! Paying homage to the Heavenly Emperor — what an immense honor!
And at this critical juncture, the sect master had vanished. Could anything be more disastrous?
So these two elders, along with various other key figures in the sect, had been scrambling in a frenzy to locate their leader.
Once they compared notes, everyone was stunned to learn that the last person to have seen the sect master was months ago.
That meant Han Shuang had effectively disappeared months in advance while preparing for this very moment. It was done to avoid making the vanishing seem too sudden.
Elder Xu's expression was grim as he turned to Elder Ge. "Old Ge, I hear that Junior Elder Zhen has also gone missing?"
"You've gone to check?" Elder Xu asked curiously.
"When I was sending people to search just now, I swung by his cave dwelling and called out, but nobody answered."
"What about Senior Elder Zhen? Is he gone too?" Elder Xu asked.
"Him? When have you ever seen him around?" Elder Ge grumbled with some irritation. "This Senior Elder Zhen — ever since he joined the Evil Star Sect, apart from the arena battles, I've barely laid eyes on him!"
Elder Xu's voice dropped to something conspiratorial. "You don't think the sect master might have… eloped with Junior Elder Zhen?"
"Eloped? Surely not? Would she really abandon the Evil Star Sect's magnificent foundation? Give up the chance to pay homage to His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor?" Elder Ge was skeptical.
"Well, you never know. There's an old saying — once passion ignites between lovers, nothing else matters. When affairs of the heart catch fire, no glory or power in the world can compare." Elder Xu spoke with the air of someone who knew these things from experience.
Elder Ge still shook his head. "I don't think that holds up. If they wanted to be together, who could stop them? Why would they need to elope?"
That was a fair point, and Elder Xu's elopement theory immediately began to crumble.
"Even if they didn't elope, their relationship is certainly… ambiguous. I've seen the sect master run off to Junior Elder Zhen's cave dwelling more times than I can count. And on several occasions, it was in the middle of the night." Elder Xu sounded faintly jealous.