Hearing the shout, Valen, Lyra and Freya turned around, and the person approaching was none other than their Junior Brother, Ronan.

  Two hundred years after Valen entered the demonic abyss, no one in the sect could believe he would be able to return, so Amara took in a new male disciple - Ronan.

  Ronan turned out to be exceptionally gifted, thus having had won the deep favor of his master and six Junior Sisters ever since he entered the sect.

  Upon his return from the abyss, Valen was proud and truly happy to hear that he had gained a new Junior Brother, especially one who was so talented.

  But now, having seen Ronan's true nature, he just felt like laughing.

  "Senior Sisters, please!", Ronan said anxiously, "Even if Valen made mistakes, he doesn't deserve to die, please do not send him back into abyss."

  Seeing the demonic aura surging from the abyss ahead, Ronan grew fearful that Valen might accidentally fell into it. "Valen, wait", he quickly turned to Valen and said, "I will go to master and plead on your behalf!"

  "Ronan, don't defend this piece of trash, you have no idea what he has done!", Freya shouted angrily, "Not only has he stolen your ring, he even had the nerve to insult our master to her face!"

  "Ronan, I know you are kind-hearted and cannot bear to see such cruel things", Lyra said coldly, "But Valen is beyond saving, over these years, he has made too many mistakes and always been trying to harm you."

  You hold no grudges and even speak up for him, that shows your kindness, but he doesn't deserve it.

  Ronan said hurriedly then: "Senior Sisters, even if Valen has made such mistakes, there's no need to punish him so severely. Please wait for me first, I will go talk to master right now, and I will be back soon."

  After saying that, he turned and hurried off, with his face full of anxiety.

  Watching Ronan rush towards the main hall, Freya turned and looked at Valen with disgust. "Our Junior Brother has gone out of his way to save you, and yet all you have done is to target him and make trouble for him, you are simply disgusting."

  A cold smile curled at the corner of Valen's lips.

  He knew it clearly that at this very moment , within this whole sect, the only person who truly didn't want him dead is this Junior Brother, Ronan, who has been always having it out for him.

  He couldn't help but feel the deep irony of this situation.

  What neither Amara nor anyone else knew was that this Junior Brother was actually a undercover agent sent by the Demonic Sect: Nightshade.

  The demonic sects are not made up of demons, but rather human practitioners. But unlike orthodox sects who cultivate spirit energies, the demonic sects cultivate demonic energies.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Thorne's rise in the past two hundred years has been incredibly rapid, thus Nightshade, the demonic sect, has long been plotting to destroy Thorne and plunder Thorne's wealth.

  Nightshade's plan was to have Ronan, who has infiltrated Thorne, to gradually gain power and status. When the time comes, he will work from inside in coordination with them to completely destroy Thorne.

  In his past life, Amara and others didn't discover until the destruction of the sect that this "Junior Brother" had actually been a covert agent planted by Nightshade.

  By that time, they had already been turned into Yin Demons trapped inside the Hundred Ghost Banner by the Junior Brother they have endlessly doted on, doomed to never be reborn.

  As for now, he himself is also one of Ronan's targets.

  ......

  Ronan was running towards the main hall anxiously, like an ant on a hot pan.

  Over these years, he has been working hard on constantly driving a wedge between Amara and Valen, all to make Valen give up on the sect completely.

  That's right, his goal was to turn Valen against the sect and leave.

  Only then would Nightshade have the chance to secretly recruit Valen.

  Because he discovered that although Valen lost the ability to cultivate spirit energy, but he could always handle situations involving demonic energy with ease, this led him to believe Valen might have possessed some secret technique to use demonic energy, exactly what Nightshade needed.

  And so, Nightshade had long regarded Valen as an invaluable treasure they were determined to obtain.

  When Ronan arrived at the main hall, his thoughts were in confusion. Over these years, he has schemed against Valen again and again - yet Valen has ensured it all in silence, swallowing all injustice.

  Ronan even began to suspect that there might be some supernatural force that have bound Valen's loyalty to Amara and the sect.

  But to his surprise, all of a sudden, Valen erupted in fury.

  This time, it was just like usual, he manipulated that idiot Freya to frame Valen once again.

  Over the years, he couldn't remember how many worse things they have done to Valen, but he has endured them all in silence.

  So this indeed confuses him as why Valen lost it today suddenly and went so far as to sever his ties with Amara completely.

  Ronan regretted it deeply.

  If he had known Freya's scheming was the last straw that broke the camel's back, he would never allow her to do so.

  Since Valen has completely given up on Amara, he was determined to save Valen's life today, no matter what.

  If he could just keep Valen alive today, he could then gradually assist Nightshade in winning over Valen who was utterly disillusioned with Amara.