Ruan Hongling, watching from not far away as Li Yundong rejected the pleas of Christine and the others to become his disciples, felt a certain schadenfreude as she observed the scene. However, she soon noticed Zhou Qin looking at Christine with an expression of deep sympathy. This caught Ruan Hongling's attention. Realizing that Ziyuan was not nearby, she approached Zhou Qin and whispered, "Zhou Qin, are you really so unconcerned about letting Li Yundong go to Huangshan alone?"

Zhou Qin, unsuspecting, sighed and replied, "I wish I could go too, but... Master forbade it. What can I do?"

Ruan Hongling winked at Zhou Qin, her gaze briefly flicking toward Christine not far away before blinking again.

Zhou Qin, being extremely sharp, immediately grasped the implication: "You mean..."

Ruan Hongling instantly made a gesture for silence, then blinked once more.

Zhou Qin's eyes lit up, and she shot Ruan Hongling a look of gratitude. She immediately took two steps forward, but halfway there, she hesitated, looking back at Ruan Hongling and murmuring, "No, if Master finds out, he will definitely scold me."

Ruan Hongling laughed and subtly pointed toward Su Chan. "If you bring her along, do you think Li Yundong will blame you?"

Zhou Qin froze, then her face broke into delight. She nodded to Ruan Hongling, smiling, and then walked over to Su Chan, saying softly, "Su Chan, do you want to go to Huangshan?"

Su Chan had been looking in the direction Li Yundong had departed with a furrowed brow, utterly at a loss. She had waited eagerly and finally, Li Yundong had returned, only to leave again in less than ten minutes. This turn of events had left the young girl heartbroken and miserable!

Hearing Zhou Qin’s question, the little girl's eyes instantly brightened: "Yes, I want to go! Sister Zhou Qin, are you going too?" But the young girl's face quickly fell again. "But, Yundong knows I'm disobedient; he'll scold me!"

Zhou Qin pointed at Christine and the others, whispering, "We'll just say these foreigners insisted on seeking out Master, and after we tried repeatedly to persuade them otherwise to no avail, we worried they might get into trouble, so we had no choice but to accompany them to find Master. What do you think?"

Su Chan was overjoyed and nodded rapidly, but then immediately frowned and asked, "But how will they know where Master went?"

Zhou Qin hesitated briefly, but then quickly pointed to Ruan Hongling beside her and declared, "We'll just say she let it slip!"

Su Chan gasped, "Ah? Wouldn't that be bad?"

Ruan Hongling, who had overheard, was also startled. "Why am I the one who let it slip?"

Zhou Qin turned, looking at Ruan Hongling with a half-smile, and said, "It was your idea. What’s wrong with taking a little blame?"

Ruan Hongling, sensing the deeper meaning in Zhou Qin’s words, managed a somewhat guilty smile, but quickly braced herself and declared, "Fine, let's say I let it slip! But you absolutely cannot tell anyone my idea was the source, or I won't admit to saying anything at all!"

Zhou Qin was ecstatic. "It's a deal!"

But Su Chan looked at them both with suspicion. "What are you two talking about?"

Zhou Qin possessed the decisive spirit of a warrior who would not yield to men. She turned to Su Chan and said, "Su Chan, don't worry about the details now. Master's Yang Shen is extremely fast; we'll lose him if we wait. Are you going or not? Just say the word!"

Su Chan hesitated for a long moment. She thought about how desperately she missed Li Yundong and worried about her beloved’s safety. With a sudden surge of resolve, she declared, "Okay, I'll go!"

Zhou Qin was overjoyed. She quickly moved to Christine's side and said in English, "Christine, Master is actually testing you. To become a disciple in China, one must pass many trials. If you truly wish to follow Master, you should go where he goes!"

Christine's face lit up, and she quickly pressed, "Then where did he go?"

Zhou Qin smiled, savoring the feeling of a successful scheme. She laughed, "He went to Huangshan. But if you go on your own, you probably won't find him. Su Chan and I will take you!"

John and Christine were both thrilled, though only Orba muttered a few words that no one caught.

Ruan Hongling watched as Zhou Qin, Su Chan, and the others finalized their plan. They quickly followed the direction Li Yundong had taken. Seeing them grow distant and realizing they had been gone a long time, she finally burst into triumphant laughter. "Hah! Even if you have the cunning of a living fox spirit and the brilliance of the great heiress, you still fall for my Ruan Hongling's schemes! Hah, you fell for it!"

At that moment, Ziyuan, who was inside the room, heard her laughter and came out curiously. "What are you laughing about outside?"

Ruan Hongling smugly recounted her entire scheme and then added, "Senior Sister Ziyuan, I see you two exchanging glances with Li Yundong all the time. You clearly like each other very much, yet you refuse to admit it. If I hadn't helped you like this, how long would it take for you to finally break that barrier?"

But Ziyuan’s reaction was unexpected; she looked both shocked and furious. "You call this helping me?"

Ruan Hongling scoffed, "Isn't it? Do you dare say you don't like Li Yundong? Hmph, this Li Yundong is completely devoted to Su Chan. The last time she caused such a huge disaster, Li Yundong didn't even blame her. Hmph, this time, given Su Chan's nature, she’s bound to cause trouble again. When she does, and you see Li Yundong getting annoyed with her time and time again, then, Senior Sister Ziyuan, you..."

Before she could finish, Ziyuan erupted in a furious roar. "Insolent!" She instinctively raised her hand as if to slap Ruan Hongling across the face, but her hand stopped abruptly just before contact.

Ziyuan glanced quickly back into the room, swiftly pulled the door shut, and suppressed her rage as she reprimanded, "You call this helping me? How could you do something like this? Haven't you heard it's better to tear down ten temples than ruin one relationship? You... you disappoint me so much!"

With that, Ziyuan stamped her foot and rushed out.

Ruan Hongling was startled by Ziyuan's rare display of fury. She instinctively covered her face. Only after Ziyuan was gone did she instinctively ask, "Senior Sister, where are you going?"

Ziyuan turned back angrily. "Do you know how many people are watching us right now? I'm going to bring them back!" As she spoke, she angrily pointed a finger toward Ruan Hongling, glaring at her. "If anything happens to them, I will never forgive you!"

Ruan Hongling stared blankly as Ziyuan departed, feeling both wronged and hurt. Tears welled up in her eyes before she could stop them. She cried, "If I wasn't doing this for you, why would I play the villain? I clearly like him so much I dream of his name every night, yet I won't say a word! If I play the villain, and you don't appreciate my effort, you have to scold me like this!"

The more Ruan Hongling thought about it, the more upset she became. She turned and rushed into her room across the hall, sobbing uncontrollably.

In Ziyuan’s estimation, Su Chan and Zhou Qin, leading three foreigners with no cultivation skills whatsoever, couldn't have gotten far. Thus, after rushing out of the compound, she quickly found an empty spot and soared up to the rooftop of a tall building, surveying the surroundings from above.

Ziyuan searched for a while and indeed spotted the figures of Su Chan, Zhou Qin, and the others flashing past a street corner. She immediately shouted, "Su Chan! Zhou Qin!" Then she pursued them instantly.

Su Chan’s sharp ears caught Ziyuan’s call. Her heart tightened, and she quickly told Zhou Qin, "Not good! Sister Ziyuan must have found out and is coming to drag us back!"

Zhou Qin frowned as well. "Ziyuan is too steady-natured; she definitely won't agree to us going. What should we do?"

Seeing Zhou Qin look to her, Su Chan’s eyes darted around, and she shrewdly shifted her gaze toward Christine and John.

Christine was quite cunning. Though she didn't understand what was happening, she instinctively refrained from responding. Orba, not understanding their conversation, remained silent, but John spoke carelessly, "Of course we hide from her! Otherwise, how will we find Master?"

Zhou Qin and Su Chan were instantly delighted and laughed, "That's what you said!"

The two of them led Christine, John, and Orba into a corner, and Su Chan quickly deployed the Nayan Heavenly Maiden Seal, concealing their forms.

Ziyuan arrived just where the group had been, only to find the area empty. She was instantly alarmed and frantically searched everywhere. However, being a woman of unparalleled celestial beauty, her appearance on the street immediately drew awestruck gazes from passersby. Some drivers, catching a glimpse of Ziyuan, were so stunned by her breathtaking beauty that traffic accidents and chain rear-end collisions occurred instantly.

Seeing the chaos erupting on the street, Ziyuan felt a headache coming on, her anxiety mounting. The last time the True Word Esoteric Sect managed to secretly deliver a challenge right under her nose had already filled her with shame. Now, with Li Yundong having entrusted these people to her care, how could she face him if Zhou Qin and Su Chan met with any misfortune?

Ziyuan was reluctant to shout on the street. She quickly calculated in her mind, Could they be hiding from me?

Ziyuan deliberately stamped her foot in frustration on the street corner and walked away quickly, only to hide in a nearby corner to secretly watch the surroundings.

When Christine saw Ziyuan leave, she said, "She's gone, can we come out now?"

Su Chan, however, raised a single finger, signaling for silence. "Shh. Sister Ziyuan is too smart; she won't be this foolish. She’s definitely waiting for us somewhere. Don't rush! Since we know Yundong went to Huangshan, we can go a bit later; we'll find him at Songgu Nunnery eventually."

Hearing this, Christine fell silent. The group waited for a long time, until Orba started complaining incessantly and John grew noticeably impatient. Only then did Ziyuan flash out of the corner, disappointed. Taking advantage of a moment when pedestrians weren't paying attention, she instantly transformed into a streak of azure light and soared into the sky, heading toward Huangshan.

Only then did Su Chan let out a breath of relief, saying triumphantly, "Okay, we can go now. Let's follow behind Sister Ziyuan!"

Zhou Qin sighed. "We've wasted so much time; I wonder if we can still catch up! Never mind, let's go quickly! Bullet trains are fast now; it should only take a few hours to reach Huangshan in Anhui."

After agreeing on their course of action, the group hailed a car and headed toward Huangshan, following Li Yundong and Ziyuan in succession.

Yet, what none of them knew was that Ruan Hongling's impulsive instigation had inadvertently forged the legendary 'Earthly Three Immortals' in the cultivation world: the Celestial Immortal, the Human Immortal, and the Fox Immortal, standing side-by-side.

Likewise, the destinies of Christine, John, and Orba—three foreigners with different motives for seeking discipleship—were about to be utterly transformed, leading them down separate paths.