Meng Wen felt a pang of regret seeing his artifact refining notes destroyed, but his attention was now fixed on Meng Huai.
Who was this person who had suddenly appeared to save him, and what was their purpose? After years with Meng Wu, they trusted no one but each other. Thus, Meng Wen instinctively suspected this rescuer might be trying to gain their trust before seizing the artifact refining notes.
However, as he observed Meng Huai's every word and action, Meng Wen found them remarkably familiar. He harbored a suspicion, yet dismissed it as overthinking.
Meanwhile, the people from Xu Li Sect, Xuan Bing Palace, and Tian Sha Gate were furious upon witnessing the destruction of the artifact refining notes. This was the very item they had longed for, so close yet utterly out of reach. Someone, spotting the notes amidst the flames, rushed forward to retrieve them, only to be blocked by Meng Wu. But Meng Wu, already severely injured, could only hold off one or two, not more.
The only ones not injured were from Xuan Bing Palace. Their senior sister, Xiao Yu, stepped forward. With Meng Wu occupied, he could no longer stop others. Senior sister Xiao Yu, employing a water-element technique, extinguished the raging fire.
She then knelt down, attempting to retrieve the scorched and damaged artifact refining notes. However, the item seemed to "slip" from her grasp, directly into Meng Huai's hand.
"You know, your Xuan Bing Palace has no right to claim this! After all, it has nothing to do with your Xuan Bing Palace!" Meng Huai, mimicking Xiao Yu's tone, uttered these righteous words with practiced ease.
Meng Huai glanced at the notes, now so burnt that their content was barely discernible, and directly placed them into his spatial ring. Meng Wen, standing close to Meng Huai, noticed the spatial ring and his eyes widened in astonishment.
"This..." Wasn't this the Sect Master's spatial ring?
However, Meng Wen kept these words to himself. Voicing them would merely expose Meng Huai. Though unsure if his guess was correct, this was hardly the time to inquire.
Meng Wu, turning and seeing the item being pocketed by this unexpected woman, was enraged. Already injured, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, he demanded of Meng Huai, "Hand it over!" After all, it was something he intended to destroy, so why was it being taken by someone else?
Beside them, Xiao Yu was also furious that this woman had collected the item into her spatial ring right before their eyes.
"This item has nothing to do with you, girl! Why did you so casually pocket it?"
Meng Huai retorted with a sense of entitlement, "Don't I have the right to keep my own possessions?"
Upon finishing this statement, Meng Huai launched an attack at Xiao Yu, not to ambush her, but because Xiao Yu was about to attack the already fighting Meng Wu. Meng Huai intervened to block the blow.
Seeing her attack thwarted, Xiao Yu was not angered. She directly engaged Meng Huai in combat. Xiao Yu had been confident of victory, as she was just a step away from reaching the Golden Core stage, allowing her to move with impunity within this secret realm.
But what was with this woman before her? Xiao Yu felt as though her attacks were being seen through. She always felt that the next move would be enough to deal with the person before her, yet it was always just short, always a little bit off.
The reason for this uneven match was that Meng Huai had not used much spiritual power and had no intention of genuinely fighting her. With a single forceful push, Meng Huai sent Xiao Yu flying, then grabbed Meng Wen and Meng Wu with one hand each, and whisked them away from the scene.
She left behind only a parting remark: "I'm protecting these two. If there's a next time, don't blame me for being heartless."
With that, she departed.
At this moment, Zheng Yiran's senses were also jolted. She instinctively retracted her perception. However, Zheng Yiran's senses remained unharmed. She knew it was Meng Huai's doing, signaling to her that the show was over and it was time to leave.
After Meng Huai took the two away, the three factions would certainly not let the matter rest. But after Meng Huai's departure, they all felt something was amiss.
"My cultivation has dropped?" This was Xiao Yu's exclamation. She had been on the verge of becoming a Golden Core cultivator. Now, she felt her cultivation had fallen by two minor realms. Her once proud peak realm was no more!
However, after excitedly shouting this out, she regretted it. After all, they were in a secret realm, and word of her cultivation dropping might attract ill-intentioned individuals to harm her.
But Xiao Yu was not the only one whose cultivation had regressed by several minor realms. Everyone present had not escaped this fate. Meng Huai's actions were truly undetectable.
Meng Huai, leading the pair away, first found a secluded spot. After all, she needed to explain her identity to Meng Wen and Meng Wu. Moreover, there was also Zheng Yiran and the others. Meng Wen and Meng Wu should not be told anything amiss, as Meng Huai's actions could be considered soul possession, a fact that absolutely could not be exposed.
Reaching a quiet location, Meng Huai directly asked, "What happened to you two? Why has your cultivation dropped to the Foundation Establishment stage?" When she was not in trouble, these two were Yuan Ying cultivators! What had they gone through to fall back to Foundation Establishment and end up in this small secret realm? Meng Huai could see that both of them were not only injured but also poisoned.
She then took out some detoxification pills and tossed them to them, "Take these detoxification pills first. I'll refine a batch of more targeted pills for your poison later."