A Suspicion Caused by a Single Sentence

Xu Mu was quite surprised to hear this, never expecting the news to spread so quickly.

Pang Zhen's face turned extremely ugly upon hearing this. Xianling Nan was his goddess, sacred and inviolable in his heart—how could she be tainted by anyone else?

"Impossible! Who spread this rumor?"

Pang Zhen demanded harshly.

"It was from the Lao Jie clan. But they spoke with such conviction and detail. They claimed the Holy Maiden was taken to the outside world to be auctioned off. If no one had helped her, how could she have returned safely?"

The middle-aged man scratched his head and said.

"Bullshit! Impossible!"

Pang Zhen shook his head vehemently and strode quickly toward a distant tent.

Xu Mu did not follow. Standing there, his perception could easily locate Xianling Nan.

He turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "Brother, when did this news arrive?"

"Just now. We originally planned to attack the junction between the inner and outer worlds, rescue the hostages, and seize the crossing. We all knew the defenses there were weak."

The middle-aged man looked at Xu Mu and continued, "But as soon as we got here, we heard those rumors."

Xu Mu suddenly understood. No wonder the news had traveled so fast.

It turned out these people had already planned to assault this area.

He sat down in an open space and used his perception to inspect Xianling Nan's tent.

Inside the tent, there were only three people.

Besides Xianling Nan, there were two middle-aged men.

One was burly, with a long scar across his face. This was Pang Xun, the leader of the Pang clan.

The other was thin, with long black hair, and looked somewhat effeminate.

He was Xianling Qi, the current leader of the Xianling clan.

He had been one of the generals under the previous chieftain and a member of the council of elders.

After the chieftain's death, the other experts of the Xianling clan were also targeted for execution.

Xianling Qi had led the clan's experts to scatter and escape, and he managed to get away.

When Xianling Nan returned to the inner world, the first person she sought was Xianling Qi.

"Xiaonan, don't lie to me. Is this true or false?"

Xianling Qi's face was dark. The Holy Maiden was the spiritual symbol of the White Stone Clan.

If the Holy Maiden had been defiled, this coalition would definitely fall apart.

After all, they had united precisely because of Xianling Nan, the Holy Maiden.

"Xiaonan, there's no one else here but us. You must tell the truth," Pang Xun added in a low voice.

"It's nothing but their scheme. If I, Xianling Nan, had truly been defiled, I would never have returned to the inner world."

Xianling Nan was now clad in silver armor, her mismatched eyes blazing with anger.

She was furious at the Lao Jie clan for slandering her.

She was equally angry at the two men before her for daring to doubt her.

"Are you sure you don't know that Xu Mu? They say Xu Mu is your man, that they heard him call you his wife with their own ears," Pang Xun pressed on.

"Nonsense!"

Xianling Nan recalled the man who had saved her last time. She had also watched the video of the martial arts tournament champion—it was Xu Mu.

She hadn't expected that the man who had saved her before possessed such extraordinary talent.

But she and Xu Mu had absolutely no connection.

"I have nothing to do with him!"

Xianling Nan then said sternly, "If you don't believe me, send women to examine me. I'm willing to undergo an inspection."

In the White Stone Clan, it was common for the Holy Maiden to face such slander, but they also had a way to deal with it.

That was to have women observe and check whether that membrane was intact.

"That won't be convincing now," Xianling Qi shook his head slightly. "In the past, the inspectors were sent jointly by each clan. But here, it's just the two of us. Even if we announce the result, the Lao Jie clan will claim we're lying."

"Then what can we do? Do you want everyone here to inspect me one by one?"

Xianling Nan's face grew even darker. "I said it's not true, and it's not!"

"Don't get angry. No matter what, we still have to do what's necessary."

Xianling Qi turned and shouted outside, "Send two inspectors here immediately."

...

Xu Mu sat to the side and shook his head slightly.

He hadn't expected that one remark of his would cause problems here.

The main issue was the lack of advanced technology here. In the outside world, this so-called inspection would mean nothing.

After all, surgery could artificially create a new one.

Soon, two middle-aged women were brought into the tent.

Xianling Qi did not have them perform the inspection directly. Instead, he gave them orders.

He told them to announce to the outside that the Holy Maiden had not been defiled, and that everything was a plot by the Lao Jie clan.

If they dared to say otherwise, their clans would be wiped out.

Pang Xun originally wanted to say something, but after a moment's thought, he understood Xianling Qi's intention.

Xianling Nan was not easy to control.

Relying on her status as the Holy Maiden, she had long been deeply ingrained in people's hearts, and sometimes she even dared to give them orders.

Xianling Qi was doing this to put Xianling Nan in her place, to teach her a lesson.

That lesson was: Xianling Qi and Pang Xun said she wasn't defiled, so she wasn't.

If they said she was, then she was.

Xianling Nan narrowed her eyes. She naturally understood Xianling Qi's intent.

Not long after, the news spread.

Through his perception, Xu Mu observed the surroundings and saw that many people had stopped gossiping.

But some continued to conspiracy-theorize, saying that since the inspectors were their own people, whether the Holy Maiden was pure or not was still up to the leaders to decide.

Just then, a loud shout came from afar. It was a power at the realm-breaking level, carrying the sound over.

Through his perception, Xu Mu saw Xianling Qi hovering high in the air.

"Prepare to march! We set off in one hour! The Lao Jie clan insulted the Holy Maiden, and there is no forgiveness for this crime! Using such a trick only proves their fear of us!"

Xu Mu listened, his mind rapidly contemplating.

Although Xianling Nan was a tenth-level destiny bearer and the standard first female lead, Xu Mu didn't like what she was doing now.

Different paths mean different goals.

On the contrary, he had some fondness for the fox slave A Si from before.

A Si had a sixth-level destiny, a true standout among men. But if she faced Xianling Nan, she would likely face certain death.

He hesitated for a moment, then stealthily approached the entrance of the previous ruins.

Through his perception, he saw everyone in his field of vision. After confirming no one was watching him, he immediately entered the ruins.

Xu Mu used the transfer array from before to return to his previous location.

He quickly crossed the mountain and returned to the land below.

He picked up the pace and arrived at the building where the fox slave A Si lived.

Xu Mu pushed open the wooden door and saw A Si wearing an apron, cooking at the stove.

"Who?"

A Si sensed someone approaching and immediately turned around.

"It's me, Xu Mu."

Xu Mu dispelled the illusion array and said with a smile, "Well, well, just a few hours apart and you've already broken through?"

Originally, her realm had reached the peak of Grandmaster perfection, but now, like Xu Mu, she had entered the early stage of Transcendence.

Truly worthy of someone with a sixth-level destiny. For an ordinary person, relying solely on strength-boosting pills would never enable such advancement.

[Affection +15]

The fox spirit A-Si saw that it was Xu Mu, and a grateful smile appeared on her face. “The few pills you gave me earlier—I only took three of them and already broke through to the next rank. Your Qi Sea Pill is far more powerful than the one I used back then.”

She had been skeptical of Xu Mu at first, but after taking the pills, she realized this person could be trusted.

“I came here specially this time because I have an important piece of news to tell you.”

Xu Mu approached the fox spirit A-Si, his expression serious.