Chapter 42: Chapter 42: You’re Both Senior Sisters, Learn from Her!
By then, the fog had completely dispersed, revealing on the field one person sprawled, the other standing, clearly indicating that a victor had emerged.
Suddenly, someone exclaimed in shock, “Impossible!”
“A Qi Refining Rank against a Marrow Cleansing Rank, and he won?”
“Could it be that Ling Yunpo concealed some Supreme Rank magical treasure on his person?”
“Are you out of your mind? His master, Su Jian, has been in seclusion for ages, where would he get a Supreme Rank magical treasure for him?”
“With or without a magical treasure, he must have cheated in this match. If not, why the need for that dense fog earlier? He must have been afraid of us seeing through his tricks!”
“Even though there’s no evidence, we all agree. The gap between Qi Refining and Marrow Cleansing is just too vast. If one doesn’t cheat, how else could they win? What’s the point of having divisions of cultivation realms!”
“This match is clearly tainted by cheating; it should be null and void! We bet spirit stones on him losing before, and you can’t just let this slide!”
The sword cultivators clamored louder and louder, each filled with righteous indignation and brimming anger.
Ling Yunpo stood in the center of the competition arena, listening to the unanimous denunciation from the crowd outside, and he couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
What does it matter if the results are nullified?
Now that he’s dead and I’m alive, can you turn it around?
Ling Yunpo crossed his arms, a slight smirk appearing at the corner of his mouth, seeming unwilling to argue any further.
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On seeing this, the spectators became even more furious, boiling over with rage, and wished they could drown him with their spit of justice.
It wasn’t until the overseeing elder descended gracefully riding on sword light that things changed.
People hastily quieted down and stopped talking, turning their eyes toward the elder, with gazes clearly saying, “Please, elder, seek justice for us.”
The elder swept his divine sense over the corpse of Lou Zhizheng, sighed, and then declared the outcome of the match.
“The result of this competition: Qingluo Peak’s disciple Ling Yunpo wins! As per the competition’s rules, the deceased disciple of Ziyun Peak, Lou Zhizheng, initiated the challenge, hence no further action will be pursued in this matter, that is all.”
With a flick of his robe, the overseeing elder left without caring for the crowd below, turning into a streak of light as he departed.
What a shoddy plan, he thought to himself.
However, although the Immortal Sword had not been obtained, it was likely that Elder Ming Hua had also used this sacrificial piece to probe another matter.
That Su Jian, the Qi Sha True Person…
Is still trapped in his deadly seclusion.
Chances are, it’s more bad news than good.
At first, there were still curses from the crowd, but they refrained from loud complaints out of respect for the elder’s authority.
However, as time went on, some people took note of what the elder had just said, and their expressions grew stiff, standing in stunned silence.
The whole peak fell into an awkward hush, broken only as An Zhisu gracefully walked up and gently patted Ling Yunpo’s shoulder.
“Well fought.”
“Senior sister,” Ling Yunpo nodded slightly, “I’ve won.”
“Good,” An Zhisu said softly with a smile, “let’s head back.”
She took Ling Yunpo’s hand, flung her sleeve to propel the sword light, and took off into the sky with him.
After returning to Qingluo Peak, Ling Yunpo went to rest, while An Zhisu entered the depths of the Daoist temple, descending along the stairway through the outer hall, corridor, inner chamber, and secret chamber of Qingluo Peak, and into the mountain’s interior.
Eventually, she stopped in front of a certain stone wall.
On the stone door was a sword mark as if freshly carved, brimming with murderous aura.
An Zhisu knelt before the sword mark, saying softly:
“Su Su pays her respects to Master.”
“Having been in seclusion for so long, I am unsure how Master’s health is.”
“Junior Brother Ling has finally won today’s competition with Ziyun Peak.”
“If Master were aware of this, he would surely be proud of him.”
“I have passed on the Thunder Punishment Sword that Master left for me to Junior Brother Ling.”
“He has successfully subdued the Thunder Punishment Sword.”
“Ling Yunpo… has the potential to become an excellent Sword Immortal.”
“I will definitely protect him.”
When An Zhisu said this, she bowed deeply once again.
After a long while, she stood up again, her gaze resolute and unwavering:
“I and Ling Yunpo.”
“Will surely uphold the Daoist heritage of Qingluo Peak.”
“Definitely.”
[Point Three: Penglai Jade Pure View, dormitory.]
[Character identity: Luo Yan.]
[Overlaying Mirror Flower Water Moon Template, undergoing time-space travel.]
Luo Yan had also been very busy lately.
On one hand, Elder Shi Ding had already decreed that he should learn the art of Cauldron Casting, so he was currently cramming on formations, with a heap of Qimen Dunjia knowledge to learn.
On the other hand, Shi Liuli came to bother him every day, insisting that he call her “Senior Sister.”
Although Luo Yan indeed needed to raise his Synchronization Value, and though this Miss Shi was not stupid, she must have been protected too well since childhood, her social experience was almost equal to zero, making it very easy for him to raise the Synchronization Value around her.
But she can’t find me from morning to night, either!
Her clingy nature even gave Luo Yan an illusion of going back to the days with Qiu Changtian, involuntarily recalling the time when he just entered the sect, being relentlessly pursued by Xu Yinglian…
Do I not need to cultivate?
However, Qiu Changtian could bully and torment Xu Yinglian in various ways, but Luo Yan couldn’t do the same to Shi Liuli since she was the only beloved daughter of Elder Shi Ding and the dearest little junior sister adored by everyone in the Heavenly Craft Workshop.
Offending Shi Liuli meant you couldn’t get by in Penglai Jade Pure View anymore.
“Little Junior Brother, Little Junior Brother!” Just as he was getting distracted, Shi Liuli barged in, all fired up, and said, “Quick, quick, help me look up a name of a place!”
“A noun?” Luo Yan revealed an appropriately confused and wry smile.
Shi Liuli suddenly remembered he knew nothing about this and hastily began prattling on.
The matter was, in fact, not complicated — Miss Shi Liuli had been at the Qi Refining Rank for several years, feeling that it would take a long time before her Qi Sea was filled to the brim, yet she was impatient to continue the slow grind of Qi Refinement, so she went to pester Elder Shi Ding, asking if there was any way to quickly enter the Marrow Cleansing Rank.
Elder Shi Ding then painstakingly educated her, saying that cultivation, like eating, requires one bite at a time, and one step at a time; lofty aspirations without foundation were not desirable.
These words were indeed those of maturity and prudence, but it was obvious that Miss Shi wouldn’t listen.
So she went on to pester her senior brothers and sisters, inquiring if there was a way to speed up the cultivation process.
Everyone unanimously said, “This cultivation is just like eating…,” in short, it was clearly a rehearsed response, leaving Miss Shi in a huge huff.
In the end, it was the eldest senior brother Linghu Chu who couldn’t help slipping up, saying “Anyway, the Pavilion will be open soon,” though he stopped the second half of his words in time, it was keenly noted by Shi Liuli.
“The Pavilion, huh.” Luo Yan also pondered.
“Pavilion,” clearly refers to a palace.
“Leave,” the most likely possibility was the “Li” in the “Eight Trigrams.”
The “Book of Changes · Explanation of the Trigrams” says: “Li, stands for fire, for the sun, for lightning, for the middle daughter, for armors and helms, for spears and armies.”
Thus, “The Pavilion,” is likely a palace built in a special environment, such as surrounded by flames, scorching sun, lightning, and so on…
Seeing Luo Yan deep in thought without answering, Shi Liuli immediately flared up, grabbed his shoulders, and started shaking him forcefully:
“Will you help me will you help me will you help me…”
“I’ll help!” Luo Yan was nearly shaken apart, “Definitely help!”
“Senior sister’s business is my business, after all!”
[False persona, Synchronization Value +1.]