With a serious look on her face, Wei Yaling looked at Dong Ai before she asked coldly

''What about eldest senior sister? Wasn't she a rogue cultivator that was found and raised by master?''

It was obvious that Wei Yaling was trying to warn Dong Ai, and yet the beautiful yellow-robed woman simply laughed before she responded with a mocking tone

''Hahaha, senior sister, do you really think that every single rogue cultivator is like eldest senior sister? Even among inner court disciples, and even among the sect's core disciples... how many can be mentioned in the same breath as eldest senior sister? Even if junior sister Mei has comprehended a rare Dao, that's all there is to it! Besides, although eldest senior sister may have indeed been a rogue cultivator in the beginning, wasn't she raised by master using the best resources that master had on hand? Can you really call her a rogue cultivator in that case?

Whether it is her talent or background, by being the eldest disciple of master, how can you compare her to any other rogue cultivator? I am sure that eldest senior sister was raised at the very least with the same resources that the top clans and families use on their direct heirs!''

Wei Yaling shook her head as she looked at her junior sister, finally giving up on trying to persuade her to fix her relationship with Liu Mei. After all, her words weren't wrong either. Wei Yaling also didn't believe that there was anyone else in the sect who could rise through the rankings and become a core disciple of the sect, like their eldest senior sister. Even Liu Mei would most likely be unable to replicate this feat.

After all, only the absolute best of inner disciples, in both their cultivation level, talent and fighting strength could obtain the title of core disciples in the sect, and their eldest senior sister was precisely one of those peak geniuses.

At the same time that this situation was taking place in Elder Xuan's courtyard, Shun Long and Liu Mei passed through the inner court's gates as they returned back to the outer court.

With her arms both holding Shun Long's right arm affectionately, Liu Mei raised her head and stared at him straight in the eyes before asking curiously

''Long-ge, did something happen between you and senior sister Dong?''

Hearing Dong Ai call Shun Long shameless had made Liu Mei extremely furious earlier. If it wasn't because Shun Long had held her back, Liu Mei wouldn't have cared about Dong Ai's status as her senior sister and would have immediately gone to confront her.

Shun Long however simply pulled Liu Mei closer into a hug when he heard this, and as they continued to walk towards his courtyard he simply shook his head as he said in an uncaring tone

''She is just an annoying girl, nothing more than that.''

Liu Mei nodded without asking more about what had happened. If Shun Long didn't want to mention it, it was probably nothing too important in his eyes. Instead, the 2 of them kept walking for nearly an hour until they arrived back in the courtyard and entered the room.

As soon as they stepped inside, Liu Mei looked at Shun Long, and without holding anything back she started to narrate everything that happened from the moment that Elder Xuan expelled him and her 2 senior sisters from her mansion.

''Long-ge, actually, when master sent everyone outside, she taught me what her master had taught her about the Dao of Death. It seems that grand master's experiences are somewhat similar to what I experienced after I broke through to the Nascent Soul.

Master said that I shouldn't treat my summons as soulless creatures, and instead I should look at them as living beings.

However, master also said that I should never use my Dao of Death when my spiritual strength is close to depletion, otherwise if my skeletons escape my control, I will become their target instead. It seems that this happened to grand master once, and she only escaped out of luck.''

Shun Long nodded his head when he heard Liu Mei's narration about what she had learned from Elder Xuan, before he actually fell silent for the next few moments.

It was obvious that Liu Mei had come to a similar conclusion regarding the first part of her experience, as she had already started to treat her undead creatures like being with a soul instead of inanimate objects. As for the second thing that Liu Mei mentioned, this seemed to be more like a warning rather than direct advice on how to use her Dao of Death.

Well, Elder Xuan's master was a peak Dao Emperor so her experience with her Dao of Death must have definitely been much vaster than Liu Mei's. However, even though it was obvious that Elder Xuan only wanted the best for Liu Mei, Shun Long wouldn't take everything that she said for granted, and instead, he had already decided to ask Little Black about this as well.

After all, it was very likely that Little Black would know a few more things regarding Liu Mei's Dao of Death too. However, Liu Mei would have to wait until Little Black had completely digested the energy inside the dragonstone first!

After a round of arduous dual cultivation on their bed, Shun Long and Liu Mei both took a shower before Shun Long entered the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time' to cultivate further.

There was only a week left before his group all left the sect to go and complete their personal sect missions, and Shun Long was planning to spend this time condensing his 21st ball of qi, as well as completely purifying the previous 20 qi balls, bringing them all at the same level.

As for Liu Mei, she was planning to further enhance her control of her undead creatures.

Entering the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long took out more than 10.000 middle-grade spirit stones and fed them to the Heaven Swallowing vine in front of him.

The pure qi coming from the enormous vine instantly filled the air around him, as Shun Long closed his eyes and started to cultivate without a second thought.

...

Days quickly passed like this, and as the 7th day arrived in the real world, inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long was suddenly woken up by the excited roar of a panther, causing a smile to slowly form itself on his lips.