Bao Gu froze for a moment, then gave the cultivator a long, deep look. Naturally, she could not stop someone from issuing a challenge, so all she could do was remind Qingying,
“Don’t break the sect rules.”
In other words: show mercy. Injuring him was fine, but don’t kill him!
Qingying stared at the cultivator who had suddenly rushed out to compete with her and was honestly stunned for quite a while. Only when she heard her master’s reminder did she respond with an,
“Oh.”
From a distance, Yu Jianming spotted Bao Gu and Qingying. He hurried over at a run, bowed respectfully to Bao Gu, and called out,
“Little Martial Aunt!”
Then he smiled politely at Qingying.
“Junior Sister.”
He took out a bottle of spirit wine and handed it to Qingying.
“It can’t compare to monkey wine, but it has its own unique flavor. Give it a try.”
Qingying glanced at her master. Seeing that Bao Gu did not object, she accepted the spirit wine and asked Yu Jianming,
“You’re giving this to me?”
Yu Jianming smiled faintly.
“That’s right.”
Qingying said,
“Then I don’t have to give you anything in return.”
Yu Jianming’s smile froze on his face. He really wanted to swallow those two words back down. He coughed dryly and said,
“Well, Junior Sister, courtesy calls for reciprocity.”
Qingying looked at Yu Jianming, then took out a few spirit fruits of various grades and stuffed them into his hands.
“Then I’ll treat you to some spirit fruit. I just picked them from the spirit fruit trees in Master’s courtyard.”
Yu Jianming silently accepted the spirit fruits and said,
“I’m usually the one who takes care of the trees you picked those from.”
Qingying nodded.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
Yu Jianming did not know whether to laugh or cry.
The disciple who had challenged Qingying saw how warmly the peak master treated this little girl who had stolen his spot and cursed inwardly, Sycophant!
With a face full of dissatisfaction, he said,
“Peak Master, this disciple refuses to accept this. This disciple wishes to challenge her. If she defeats me, then I will willingly give up my spot in the competition to her.”
Right now, he was unwilling, unhappy, and dissatisfied in every possible way.
Yu Jianming kicked him to the ground.
“Compete, my ass! You’re not even enough for her to crush with one finger!”
The inner sect disciple crawled back up, his neck flushed red and his face stubborn.
“This disciple refuses to accept it!”
His eyes had gone red as he shouted,
“Which disciple in the entire sect didn’t win their competition spot through battle? On what grounds does she get to take my spot without fighting? Xuantian Sect disciples speak with strength. Does Martial Aunt Ancestor Bao Gu’s disciple get to stand above us? We’re all inner sect disciples, so what right does she have?”
He deliberately made a scene. His shouts were infused with inner strength, loud enough for everyone in Xuantian Plaza to hear. Tens of thousands of fellow disciples all swept their divine senses over.
Yu Jianming had removed him from the roster precisely because he was an impulsive fool with no sense of the situation. Even if such a person grew stronger and left the mountain gates one day, he would easily cause trouble. And now look at this. Thickheaded, blind to the circumstances, rushing straight toward death. Even kicking him away had not worked!
A true disciple who was on good terms with that disciple stepped forward, cupped his fists, and bowed.
“Peak Master Yu, the sect has its rules. If someone takes another person’s spot without passing through a match and uses it to insert friends or relatives, I’m afraid that isn’t very appropriate, is it?”
This was practically pointing at Yu Jianming’s nose and accusing him of throwing the rules into disorder just to curry favor with Bao Gu.
Yu Jianming’s expression immediately turned especially ugly. He said coldly,
“Since when is it Qiyun Peak’s place to criticize the affairs of Lingyun Peak?”
A cultivator standing nearby in peak master robes smiled.
“Although we belong to different lineages, we are all under Xuantian Sect. We share both glory and loss. If there is injustice, naturally it may be spoken of.”
Bao Gu did not recognize the speaker, so she looked at the identity token at his waist. It showed that he was Jing Wenyuan, the peak master of Qiyun Peak. Looking again, she saw that his cultivation was at late-stage Soul Formation. Late-stage Soul Formation was not considered outstanding in the broader cultivation world, but for Xuantian Sect, which had only risen in the past few centuries, it was quite good. After all, nearly all of Xuantian Sect’s disciples had only entered the sect within the past few hundred years. Reaching late-stage Soul Formation before five hundred years of age counted as a young genius in the cultivation world, so his expression carried quite a bit of conceit. From the look on his face, he seemed to look down on Yu Jianming as well.
Not many people had seen Qingying’s true appearance. Most of Xuantian Sect’s disciples had barely set foot in the cultivation world, and their understanding of Qingying and the Ba was limited to a few rumors. They had no idea what Qingying looked like. Besides, when Qingying addressed Bao Gu, she called her a “cheap master,” which was clearly partly in jest. Who could possibly imagine that the Ba, who had beaten all the terrestrial immortals of this world into submission, would put on the uniform of a Xuantian Sect inner disciple and compete as a Xuantian Sect disciple against a group of Golden Core cultivators?
Among everyone present, aside from the few who had come into close contact with Qingying at the Envoy’s Estate and the Cloud Sea Jungle and knew that the girl before them, wearing an inner disciple identity token and inner disciple robes while looking as if she had not even formed a Golden Core, was actually the Ba, everyone else simply assumed she was Bao Gu’s newly accepted disciple. They thought Yu Jianming, in order to curry favor with this Little Martial Aunt who held enormous power in the cultivation world and was as wealthy as a nation, had shamelessly gone out of his way to please the junior sister, to the point of ignoring even the rules.
Since the sect rules had been invoked, even if one knew that Qingying’s strength could rank first in this entire world, she still had to fight.
Bao Gu said to Qingying,
“Since a fellow sect member has challenged you, accept the challenge. But you are not allowed to kill or cripple him.”
Qingying glanced sideways at the cultivator who had challenged her. He was so weak that she was embarrassed to even make a move.
The inner disciple who wanted to compete against Qingying was afraid that Yu Jianming and Bao Gu would go back on their word. He turned and leapt onto a nearby arena, deliberately swept his robes in a graceful manner, held his sword, lifted his chin slightly, and called to Qingying from afar,
“Please!”
Qingying truly did not want to act. She looked at Bao Gu, as if asking, Can I not fight?
In the end, her master did not even look at her and simply walked toward one of the viewing platforms set up nearby.
Seeing Qingying remain still, the inner disciple said arrogantly,
“If you’re afraid and don’t dare accept the fight, then return the competition spot you took from me through shameful means!”
Qingying gave him a faint glance. With a face full of disdain, she lifted her fair, jade-like palm and lightly slapped through the air.
She felt that she used more strength when swatting a mosquito than when swatting him.
The inner disciple was about to speak again when an incomparably powerful force suddenly came crashing down. It crushed him so hard that every bone in his body snapped with a thunderous crack. His internal organs were all damaged, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a cough. Then he fell flat on the ground, all five limbs pressed down, limp as a puddle of mud.
Qingying took one look and realized she had still hit too hard.
“Uh…”
She said,
“Well, I already went very light. I only used a tiny, tiny bit of strength. Really, just a tiny bit. Lighter than swatting a mosquito.”
Qingying sounded utterly sincere, but someone beside her did not believe it and said coldly,
“Whether that was your own attack is still hard to say!”
As he spoke, he glanced toward Bao Gu, who had just reached the viewing seats and was surrounded by a group of elders exchanging greetings with her. The look in his eyes clearly suggested that Bao Gu had secretly acted to injure the disciple on the stage.
Another cultivator at late-stage Soul Formation said,
“You raise your hand and put on a show, and that counts as your attack?”
He swept a glance at Yu Jianming and said bluntly,
“Using such methods to insert someone into the competition. Don’t you find it ugly?”
Yu Jianming’s face turned cold, and he was just about to retort when he suddenly caught sight of Zi Tianjun approaching. He immediately bowed and cupped his fists.
“Greetings, Sect Master Ancestor.”
Seeing this, the surrounding people all paid their respects.
“Greetings, Sect Master!”
The current Zi Tianjun possessed immense dignity. Merely standing there made everyone around him afraid to show the slightest disrespect. Each of them bowed their heads respectfully.
Qingying, however, was not afraid of Zi Tianjun’s authority. She looked at him and said,
“Sect Master Ancestor, you judge. Did I win that match just now? Is this inner disciple competition spot mine now?”
Zi Tianjun flipped his sleeve and took out a true disciple identity token that had already been refined, lacking only Qingying’s soul aura imprint. He said amiably,
“This is a true disciple identity token. Once you imprint a strand of your soul aura into it, you can use it. The ceremony will be held together with the other disciples in a few days. You don’t need to enter the annual assessment matches. Your strength has already exceeded the cultivation level permitted for the annual assessment.”
After saying this, he glanced at Yu Jianming and scolded him coldly,
“You arranged for Qingying to compete against inner disciples? Isn’t that nonsense?”
Yu Jianming smiled bitterly.
“Replying to Sect Master Ancestor, Little Martial Aunt’s intention was to give Junior Sister a spot, let her go through the motions, and grant her true disciple status so Lingyun Peak wouldn’t have to make separate arrangements.”
In an instant, many of the surrounding people wore especially subtle expressions.
Qingying did not care what the others thought. She herself let out a huge sigh of relief. She had been afraid that they were too weak, and if she slapped them to death, her master would punish her by cutting her rations.
With a delighted expression, she hung the token Zi Tianjun had given her at her waist, removed the inner disciple identity token, returned it to Yu Jianming, and said to Zi Tianjun,
“Sect Master Ancestor, you’re so nice.”
Her voice paused, and then she corrected him.
“Master told me that anyone below Nascent Soul can participate. I haven’t formed a Golden Core or cultivated a Nascent Soul, so I don’t count as exceeding the cultivation limit.”
Zi Tianjun said,
“Body cultivators don’t count either.”
Qingying said,
“Master hasn’t taught me any body cultivation techniques yet. I was just born this strong.”
Zi Tianjun was lightly but decisively choked by her words and simply had no idea what to say.
The Soul Formation cultivator who had targeted Yu Jianming earlier sneered.
“Well, that’s strange. You’re not a body cultivator, and you’re not a qi cultivator either. Then what do you cultivate?”
Qingying was stunned by the question. She thought for a moment, then said,
“I don’t think I’ve ever cultivated. I just see things I want to eat, eat them, and once they’re in my stomach, they turn into my own strength! Mm, I ate my way to this level of power.”
At this point, her eyes lit up.
In the future, she would no longer need precious spirit treasures and medicines to suppress death energy, but she would still need to consume precious spirit treasures and medicines to raise her cultivation level.
The Soul Formation cultivator was about to say more when the sect master glared at him with imposing authority. His face darkened as he snapped,
“Xu Yinrong, if you have objections to Lingyun Peak’s arrangements and feel they are unfair, why don’t you personally test her yourself? Sign a life-and-death agreement first. Death will be irrelevant! I’m afraid if her hand slips and she fails to control her strength, one slap from her will smack you dead!”
The Soul Formation cultivator was so frightened that he hurriedly bowed.
“This disciple would not dare.”
Zi Tianjun flung his sleeve heavily, snorted hard, and strode away.
Qingying could naturally tell that this person had been stirring up trouble. She walked up to him with a smile and said,
“The sect master said death is irrelevant! Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.”
After saying that, she raised her index finger and waved it in front of him. Then, her hand moved like lightning. Her index finger flickered several times before his chest. With a light laugh, she instantly landed beside Bao Gu and even turned back to glance at him from afar.
The Soul Formation cultivator sensed that something was wrong. His chest felt cold, faintly painful, and sticky. Then came a wave of intense pain.
“Ah!”
He screamed and looked down. More than a dozen finger-thick holes had appeared in his chest, gushing blood outward. His perfectly fine chest had been poked into a bleeding honeycomb. All the protective magic treasures on his body had silently shattered, and even his clothes had turned to powder. Only a pair of underpants remained hanging on him.
As the Soul Formation cultivator used spirit energy to seal his wounds, he reached for healing medicine in his storage ring. When he touched it, it was empty. Only then did he discover that the storage ring on his hand had actually turned to dust. Even the possessions he had accumulated over more than four hundred years inside the storage ring had been completely destroyed, without so much as a speck of residue left.
He froze, even forgetting about the injuries on his body. Only after quite a while did he finally come back to his senses. Then he realized his chest was no longer bleeding. Looking down, he discovered with shock that the holes punched into his chest had perfectly avoided all his vital points and organs. The wounds looked terrifying, but in truth, they had only injured some flesh and punctured a few less important blood vessels. Once sealed with spirit energy, the bleeding stopped.
But his possessions. His life’s savings…
On the viewing platform, the peak masters and elders of the various peaks all fell silent in an instant. One after another, they looked toward Qingying, who had landed beside Bao Gu.
Qingying swept her gaze over the crowd, raised a brow, and said to Bao Gu,
“Master, that person was stirring up trouble, so I taught him a lesson! Don’t worry, I was very gentle.”
Bao Gu pointed to the chair beside her.
“Sit down. Without my permission, you are not allowed to go anywhere.”
“Oh.”
Qingying obediently sat beside her master.
This viewing platform was where the peak masters and elders sat. Because Bao Gu’s status was exceptional, even though she held no official post in Xuantian Sect, she still had a seat here. Qingying, as an inner disciple, sitting here was extremely conspicuous. But those who were qualified to sit here needed not only combat power, but more importantly capability and discernment. Just from Qingying’s move of poking holes through that Soul Formation cultivator and the earlier palm strike that crushed the Golden Core disciple, everyone present no longer needed to think to know who she was.
Originally, Feng Menglong had intended to use the convenience of his position to arrange his seat beside Bao Gu, hoping to improve their relationship. In the end, that seat had been occupied by the Ba. He did not dare say anything and silently added another chair, taking the spot that should have belonged to Yu Jianming and pushing Yu Jianming off to the side.
Before long, the opening ceremony for the annual grand assessment began.
First, Yu Mi, as the young sect master, gave a speech and announced the rules. Then the disciples competing from each peak appeared and entered the field in order. Xuantian Sect had developed to the point where it now had a total of one hundred and nine peaks. Each peak sent ninety disciples, making nearly ten thousand competitors. It took a full four hours just for them to finish appearing and enter the waiting area.
After that came the prearranged battle formation drills. A thousand-person formation led by a Nascent Soul disciple was especially spectacular. With a single glance, Bao Gu could tell that this was not merely for show, but a formation truly capable of going onto the battlefield and killing enemies. Although these disciples’ cultivation levels were weak, when combined with the battle formation, they could unleash extremely powerful might.
Once the battle formation drill ended, the chief disciples dispatched by each peak took turns performing. Those who could become the chief disciples of their respective peaks were all elites among elites. The disciples below the stage felt each performance was exquisitely profound, and each of them gained something from watching. On the platform, some of the peak masters and elders watched quietly, while others discussed in low voices which disciples possessed impressive strength and great potential, and which disciples still showed shortcomings based on their performances.
After the chief disciples of the various peaks began performing, Yu Mi sat down beside Bao Gu. She knew Bao Gu was not very familiar with Xuantian Sect, so she quietly explained everything to her in detail. From the disciples’ origins, to their teachers, to the cultivation methods practiced by each peak, she knew it all like the back of her hand.
