There was only a week until Shun Long and the rest left the Holy sect to go and complete their own personal missions, so returning to his room to cultivate without wasting time was the most important thing. After all, Shun Long didn't know what unexpected issues may pop up during his sect missions.
Wei Yaling and Dong Ai both stared at Shun Long and Liu Mei who turned around to leave with eyes filled with disbelief. They were unable to understand why Shun Long and Liu Mei would both give up the opportunity to cultivate in their master's courtyard and would instead choose to return back to their courtyard in the outer sect.
Of course, the 2 girls had no idea that Liu Mei couldn't absorb the qi in the air in the first place, while the qi inside Shun Long's foggy space was even purer than the qi in Elder Xuan Jiao's courtyard. Although Shun Long wouldn't have to spend any of his own spirit stones if he decided to cultivate here, his cultivation speed would drastically reduce while the fact that he could absorb qi in huge amounts like a monster would also be revealed.
Risking to expose his secrets simply wasn't worth it.
And yet, at that moment, Wei Yaling was actually the first one to take a step forward as she shouted loudly
''Wait!''
Seeing Shun Long and Liu Mei both turn around she then asked curiously
''Do you really intend to leave? Master has already allowed for the both of you to stay here and cultivate.''
Shaking his head, Shun Long cupped his hands at Wei Yaling who was clearly asking them without any ulterior motives, before he replied seriously
''No matter what, I am not Elder Xuan's disciple so I wouldn't stay in this place or it would become weird. Besides, a man shouldn't cultivate in the same courtyard with 4 other women, 3 of whom he has no relationship with, or rumors may start spreading.''
Wei Yaling and Dong Ai both nodded their heads when they heard this, almost as if they had just realized this problem, as Dong Ai then said
''At least you are not as shameless as I thought!''
Liu Mei's eyes narrowed dangerously as she immediately turned her attention towards this senior sister of hers, while the aura of Death started to swirl around her body! She would never allow anyone to insult Shun Long in front of her, even if that person is her senior sister or even her own master.
And yet, Shun Long simply held Liu Mei back with a smile on his face indicating that he didn't care about her, as he looked at Wei Yaling and said without a care
''If there is nothing else, I am going to take my leave.''
Wei Yaling nodded her head, not caring too much about the quarrel that Shun Long seemed to have with Dong Ai, as she turned her attention towards Liu Mei and said
''Junior sister, I won't insist that you stay here if you don't want to. I only have one thing to say.
If you want to join a faction, you can always join Xin Jia's faction. Just mention my name and say that I invited you and you can join the faction without any issue! Her faction is ranked 23rd within the top 100 factions rankings so junior sister will be able to obtain plenty of resources this way, as well as get plenty of support within the sect.''
Contrary to what Wei Yaling had expected however, Liu Mei simply shook her head and thanked her before she rejected her offer without a second thought, as she said
''Senior sister, thank you for your goodwill, however, I have already joined Long-ge's faction and I will not leave.''
Wei Yaling was instantly rendered speechless, obviously not having expected Liu Mei's rejection, but she still nodded her head reluctantly a moment later as she said
''Don't worry junior sister, I understand. Remember that if you ever need help, you can still ask for help from Xin Jia's faction using my name. At the very least I will personally come to help you.''
Although she didn't understand why Liu Mei would want to stay in Shun Long's faction when she could enter a faction in the top 30 of the outer court, Wei Yaling still didn't pressure her to change her mind.
She had already explained everything that she had to, so the choice was Liu Mei's.
Of course, Liu Mei immediately realized that Wei Yaling was trying to form a good relationship with her this way. However, no matter what happened, she would never leave Shun Long's faction to join another one. Even if everyone else left, she had already decided that she would be the one who would stay by his side.
At that moment, Dong Ai wanted to throw a mocking remark towards Liu Mei for joining Shun Long's faction that would never even reach the top 1000, but remembering her master's words earlier, she barely held herself back from insulting Shun Long again in front of her junior sister.
Of course, Dong Ai didn't know that Shun Long really intended to crush her the moment that he entered the late stages of the Nascent Soul. He had already sensed her hostility both towards him and Liu Mei, and he wasn't planning to allow that situation to continue.
As for how he was planning to take care of her... that was an entirely different issue.
He couldn't outright kill her as the sect clearly forbade killing anyone outside of deathmatches in the arena, and Shun Long wasn't confident in assassinating her using his Dao of Space without getting caught from the sect.
After all, he didn't yet know the full capabilities of a Dao Emperor and if they had a way to find out about that, and he wasn't willing to risk his life just to kill Dong Ai to begin with.
Nodding her head, Liu Mei thanked Wei Yaling before she and Shun Long both left Elder Xuan's courtyard.
Turning her head to the side, Wei Yaling then looked at Dong Ai before she said seriously
''Junior sister, you heard master already. It's better for you to have a good relationship with junior sister Mei rather than brood over something that wasn't meant to be yours from the beginning. I know that you really wanted master's pendant but you should see things more clearly. Master will definitely pamper junior sister Mei, and even eldest senior sister will probably like her a lot. Even if second senior sister doesn't like her she won't be at odds with her either, so your attitude right now is the only problem. If you keep fighting with her husband it's certain that junior sister Mei and you will end up fighting each other!''
Staring at the disappearing figures of Liu Mei and Shun Long, Dong Ai simply smiled mockingly before she replied coldly
''Fight each other? So what? Don't make me laugh senior sister. Even if she has comprehended the same Dao as our grand master, it doesn't mean she will be as proficient in it as her either. Senior sister should know this better than me, that even 2 people who have comprehended the same Dao may have entirely different powers in the end. As for 2 rogue cultivators who have just entered the sect and will definitely have to struggle for resources right now, so what if I am at odds with them? With how arrogant that piece of trash actually was, I will make sure to crush him in the future as well! Even if master forbids martial sisters from fighting with each other, she can't say anything if I happen to have enmity with junior sister's husband. Hehehe, of course, if junior sister Mei intends to give me a certain pendant to fix our relationship, I may actually agree.''