◎ After solving a problem, always review—so you can improve next time ◎
One incense stick’s worth of time.
Chen Xingchuan had never felt it drag on so long.
“I feel the same. I’m truly exhausted, Senior Brother.”
Lin Shuang echoed him, walking over with respectful composure and offering her hand in friendship to the collapsed figure on the ground.
“Senior Brother Chen, you’re a fine sparring partner.”
“……”
Chen Xingchuan fell silent.
Was she calling him a good sparring partner… the kind who gets force-fed pills while being battered with thirty thousand sword strikes?
Among Inner Sect disciples, Zhenchuan may come once every ten years, but sparring matches were frequent in daily life.
Victory or defeat—such was the norm in cultivation.
But to lose like this? That was rare.
Even rarer was having your opponent tend to your wounds while continuing to beat you. He had never heard of such a thing.
His sword-wielding hand was trembling.
He had once thought his Junior Brother, Chen Sheng, losing to Lin Shuang was already a disgrace to the Chen family line.
But now… compared to what he had endured today, that loss was nothing!
“Junior Sister, I mentioned it before.”
Chen Xingchuan staggered to his feet, clutching his chest, and looked toward the radiant young woman before him—her cheeks flushed, all her spiritual energy spent.
“If I lose to you, I shall have no place in the Inner Sect.”
Lin Shuang paused mid-massage, her hand frozen where she had been kneading her fatigued meridians.
[???]
[…Wait, what?]
[Help—this is serious—]
[Anyone from the Chen family around? Come quick, your fourth-stage disciple is done for.]
[Can’t bear to watch.]
[Well done, Junior Brother Chen! If you can’t beat her, join her! I respect that!]
[……]
Chen Xingchuan’s expression turned grave, but sorrow flickered in his eyes as he glanced toward the sky behind Lin Shuang.
Three arenas spread wide under the vast heavens.
He gazed into the distance, his eyes piercing the horizon—he could almost see his fellow Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters watching the projection.
His pupils contracted. He lowered his head.
“Junior Sister, I will honor my word.”
This Inner Sect… he could no longer remain here.
Nearly all his seniors were watching!
To lose so utterly—how could he walk out of his cave dwelling again without being mocked?
If he didn’t leave, he was bound to develop inner demons sooner or later.
Only by breaking through to a higher realm could he return with dignity.
Then he caught sight of Lin Shuang’s worried expression—Are you all right?—and his mouth twitched.
“Junior Sister, whenever you return to the Outer Sect… I’ll go with you.”
Lin Shuang took a step back.
Oh no.
She’d triggered another side event.
“Then you’d better speak with Senior Brother Xu Rui ahead of time. He’s our Outer Sect administrator.”
“If you’re planning to transfer, he might not accept you.”
Chen Xingchuan: “??”
Lin Shuang spread her hands. “You might want to prepare a gift to cheer him up.”
[??? Is the Outer Sect always this arrogant?!]
[For a hundred years, we’ve only heard of Outer Sect disciples testing into the Inner Sect—never of an Inner Sect cultivator at Condensation Stage coming to the Outer Sect and needing a bribe to get in!]
[This Outer Sect Xu Rui—what a tyrant!]
[Ah, dear Seniors, you’ve been in the Inner Sect too long and don’t know Xu Rui. He’s the twin brother of our current Inner Sect administrator, Xu Xiang.]
[Wait—Xu Xiang??]
Indeed, Lin Shuang beckoned to Chen Xingchuan and showed him the Outer Sect disciple roster.
“This year, counting those on sick leave and in retirement, the Outer Sect has 21,002 disciples.”
“An even number.”
Chen Xingchuan’s mouth twitched. A dreadful realization began to take shape.
Sure enough, he looked down and saw Lin Shuang shrug sympathetically. “That’s right. Just like your Inner Sect administrator, Xu Rui also has a quirk—he likes even numbers.”
“!”
[What!?]
[If he likes even numbers, then if Chen Xingchuan joins… the Outer Sect will have an odd number! Hahaha!]
Lin Shuang shook her head.
This was going to drive Senior Brother Xu Rui insane.
Every day—headcounts, chore assignments, ranking arrangements—he’d have to stare at that glaringly odd number.
How would Senior Brother Xu Rui cope?
Lin Shuang gave Chen Xingchuan a look of pity. “If your gift’s too small, it might not work.”
Chen Xingchuan said nothing.
Then what now? He couldn’t enter the Outer Sect?
Wait a minute!
He was a dignified fourth-stage Condensation cultivator—why was he even thinking about this?
How could a bunch of Qi Refinement disciples turn him down?
Was this reasonable!?
Disciples who had reached the fourth level of the Condensation Realm in the Inner Sect were generally gifted and steady of heart—it wasn’t easy for them to develop inner demons over a single crushing defeat.
But right now, Chen Xingchuan felt that if this conversation continued, he truly would lose his mind.
He looked deeply at Lin Shuang. “Junior Sister… ten years from now, if you appear on the Inner Sect’s dueling stage during the Eastern Realm tournament—I will be watching.”
Such a maddeningly gifted talent… she had it in spades.
Lin Shuang, who had just fought on the Outer Sect stage: “…”
She turned and left.
Their temperaments were clearly incompatible.
This man was basically cursing her to death.
Like someone fleeing a cursed scene, Lin Shuang leapt down from the platform and turned to the other two arenas.
Huangfu Yuan and Meng Zi were still fighting.
“Junior Brother, you held out until now… thank you.”
Huangfu Yuan coughed, pressing a hand to his lips as blood trickled between his long fingers and splattered onto the stone floor.
“But insulting my Junior Sister—that I cannot forgive!”
His opponent looked utterly baffled. “Wait, when did I insult her?”
But Huangfu Yuan acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. As he spoke, his long black hair rose into the air, and his cultivation surged to match the opponent’s—fourth level of Condensation Realm.
Lin Shuang: “…”
Still acting, huh?
If the Oscars hadn’t snubbed him, she might’ve actually watched.
She took out a pouch of peanuts from her mustard seed pouch and began munching leisurely while watching the performance.
Huangfu Yuan’s chest rose and fell like a bellows. The blood he coughed up covered half a flagstone. His face was ghostly pale.
But his eyes burned crimson.
“For her sake, I can no longer retreat!”
“I cannot let the burden of victory or defeat, of Inner Sect versus Outer Sect, fall on her slender shoulders alone—!”
His opponent opened his mouth, sword in hand, and looked behind Huangfu Yuan—at Lin Shuang, who was casually eating peanuts, and Chen Xingchuan, who looked like he’d lost all will to live.
He pointed behind him.
But Huangfu Yuan refused to look back. He slowly removed his bloodied hand from his mouth.
In that instant, he summoned a magnificent longsword from his mustard seed pouch, adorned with twin phoenixes and forged in deep-gold mystic iron.
His fingers gripped the hilt, and the long blade scraped across the bloody stone with a screech.
“It’s been twenty years since I drew my life-bound sword.”
“Today—”
“To give Junior Sister the chance to taste defeat—”
[Wake up, she already won.]
[Ugh, why does this pair make me so mad every time?]
“—Junior Brother, take my strike!”
The opponent was speechless.
Then, in the blink of an eye, his expression froze.
Huangfu Yuan’s sword aura stirred the forces of heaven and earth, sealing off the entire arena’s spiritual energy in an instant!
The opponent was completely immobilized—his soul shivering uncontrollably.
How?
How could this be?
Even a typical fourth-level cultivator of the Condensation Realm couldn’t possibly do this!
“!”
He had been fighting casually at first—but now, eyes wide in terror, he stared at the ten-zhang arc of roaring sword energy bearing down on him.
His face turned ashen.
All of Huangfu Yuan’s exaggerated theatrics had vanished in an instant. In his abyssal gaze, only a trace of crimson remained.
“This sword… is called Severed Tail.”
His lips parted slightly.
“To sever the tail… and survive.”
In that flash, the disciple facing him saw not just the sword—but felt the entire world, including himself, being split in two.
Blood exploded, splattering across the red gleam in Huangfu Yuan’s eyes.
Whose blood was that?
The disciple stared in a daze.
[Yun He’s blood loss has exceeded 80%!]
[Deemed fatal—initiating teleport—]
The Zhenchuan alert appeared halfway and froze.
A heartbeat later, Yun He vanished on the spot.
There wasn’t even the usual five-breath countdown to prepare spiritual stones like there had been for Dao Dong and Dao Xi.
[Too heavily injured!]
[…That sword already carries the aura of Spirit Refinement.]
[To strike a fellow disciple so mercilessly…]
[He… is ruthless.]
The peanuts slipped from Lin Shuang’s fingers, scattering back into her mustard seed pouch.
She watched as Huangfu Yuan slowly dragged his sword across the arena floor, the harsh screech echoing around them. He turned back, his blood-streaked, ghostly pale face marked by a streak of red from the corner of his phoenix-shaped eyes.
The snow-white fox fur at his collar was soaked with blood, dripping downward.
He gave her a crooked smile—
Closed his eyes—
And collapsed with a thud.
“Damn it!”
Lin Shuang flung the peanuts into the still-stunned Chen Xingchuan’s hands and dashed up onto the stage, catching the falling figure.
“Senior Brother…”
She called out anxiously, then glanced at Chen Xingchuan.
In a hushed tone, she leaned close to Huangfu Yuan and stuffed pill after pill of Revitalizing Elixirs into his mouth.
Her hair brushed his ear, veiling the words she whispered beneath her breath.
“Senior Brother, that’s enough. You’ve overacted this scene.”
“You can open your eyes now… Think about how you’re going to explain this to the elders…”
But his eyelids remained unmoving, casting a shadow on his ghost-pale face.
His breathing was nearly inaudible.
Even after ingesting three months’ worth of Revitalizing Elixirs, his color hadn’t returned.
Lin Shuang’s expression turned strange as she touched his cold, sticky, blood-soaked pulse.
His dantian was completely depleted. The meridians in his sword arm had been shattered to dust!
His spiritual sea was in chaos. His divine consciousness torn apart.
This guy always insisted on the fully immersive method—literally risking his life to play the part!
Damn it all!
“Senior Brother Chen, please inform Senior Brother Meng that we’ll be leaving this level now.”
Lin Shuang’s voice was solemn as two broad swords flew out from her mustard seed pouch.
“He can take his time finishing the match.”
What match?
Chen Xingchuan’s mouth twitched as he stared at the bloody figure in her arms.
It was two victories out of three.
Meng Zi didn’t even need to fight anymore.
But Lin Shuang vanished from the stage with Huangfu Yuan in her arms.
Chen Xingchuan could only sigh and walk over to the neighboring arena with concern.
He wanted to see his Junior Brother too.
“Ahhhh! I can’t lose—I must win—!”
In the third arena, Meng Zi and his opponent were both covered in blood.
Chen Xingchuan took one look and knew—Meng Zi was being pushed back, completely overwhelmed.
Though both were at the fourth level of Condensation Realm, the opponent was at the peak of the realm, while Meng Zi had only broken through a few days ago. His foundation was still unstable.
What’s more, he had just received his Earth-grade blade technique and hadn’t yet mastered it.
The gap in strength between them was absolute.
Chen Xingchuan didn’t need to watch long—Meng Zi was already retreating step by step, backed all the way to the arena’s edge.
A blade cultivator should never drop their weapon—but before he even arrived, Meng Zi’s blade had already fallen to the ground.
He couldn’t win!
Even with three incense sticks’ worth of time, there was no hope.
Sigh.
Chen Xingchuan let out a long breath.
[I want to sigh too. If Chen Xingchuan had won earlier, it would’ve been two matches to one. What a pity.]
[Still, at least we got one win!]
[…Why panic? Meng Zi’s one of ours from the Inner Sect.]
[Exactly. He’s only been with her from the Outer Sect for a few days, and already he’s progressed so much—slapping so many Senior Brothers in the face.]
[……]
[Anyway, one win is better than none. At least now, not only Chen Xingchuan and the others, but the rest of the disciples below the 3000th layer of Zhenchuan won’t have to develop inner demons.]
Inner demons.
The lingering shadow of a foe you can never defeat—no matter how hard you try—could become an eternal obstacle on the path of cultivation.
Demonic cultivators were more fortunate; their unique physiques gave them ways to purge such demons.
For instance, some races capable of shifting genders could reconstruct their bodies, allowing the heart to transform as well.
If things didn’t work out as a man—what did it matter to the woman he became next?
Demonic cultivators could carry their inner demons forever and just keep changing genders to cope.
But human cultivators had only one option: overcome it themselves.
There was no other way.
[A single win is still better than a total loss.]
The Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters watching, much like Chen Xingchuan after his sigh, all had the same thought.
But on the dueling platform, Meng Zi had retreated to the very edge. Watching his opponent charge toward him, his expression twisted in agony.
He couldn’t help but ask himself from the bottom of his heart—
“Why can’t I do it?”
“There’s no reason…”
His opponent: “?”
“Why is it that Lin Shuang… and Senior Brother Huangfu… both burst forth with breakthroughs when their companions were in danger, gaining strength enough to double their sword’s power… but I can’t?”
“Why not me? Am I really that stupid?”
“My blade… hasn’t grown stronger in the slightest. Why? Why?!”
Meng Zi was injured too, but none of his physical wounds pained him as much as this question.
Once the duel began, he hadn’t had the focus to pay attention to Lin Shuang or Huangfu Yuan.
Yet the tremors they caused still reached him.
Why had their swords made his heart tremble?
Why had they grown stronger—far stronger than him—while he stayed the same?
Meng Zi spiraled into a loop of painful self-questioning.
That’s it. They had been pretending all along.
They were geniuses to begin with.
“So my own talent… was really this poor all along…”
“So the one wasting spiritual stones… wasn’t Lin Shuang—it was me!”
“When my comrades are in danger, I can’t grow stronger. When they’re about to lose, I still can’t get stronger…”
“And when I’m about to lose—I still can’t get stronger—why!!?”
“Why is my talent so terrible?!”
He howled in anguish.
But unlike Lin Shuang or Huangfu Yuan, no matter how much he roared, his cultivation level did not shift an inch.
The Senior Brother fighting him paused mid-strike, unable to bear it.
Why?
Wasn’t the answer obvious?
Not everyone was born with prodigious talent.
On the path of cultivation, only a tiny, tiny number would ever reach the summit—Refining Spirit, entering the Void, shattering the heavens, and ascending to immortality.
The vast majority were like him—ordinary people who stubbornly resisted fate, walking painfully along the path with nothing but grit.
They wouldn’t necessarily succeed.
In fact, most disciples already knew they never would.
All they hoped for was to walk a little farther, extend their lifespans a bit longer, and chase after a sliver of unreachable destiny.
All they wanted… was to live with no regrets.
“Junior Brother, you don’t need to despair. Heaven’s chosen—how many of them are there, really?”
The Senior Brother facing Meng Zi, and even Chen Xingchuan, both hesitated for a moment—but quickly grew resolute.
“Every step we take is already ahead of tens of thousands behind us.”
“We’re not bad either. As long as we keep walking forward… there’s still hope.”
“Don’t torment yourself. Don’t create your own inner demon.”
[Sigh.]
[I knew it—the Inner Sect Condensation Realm juniors were doomed from the start… That’s exactly why the overseer elder tried to stop her from climbing and becoming master of the 3000th level.]
[Too talented. Just one look at her, and ordinary-root disciples lose all confidence.]
[Exactly. Who cares if the Inner Sect loses face?
An Outer Sect Qi Refinement disciple crushing Inner Sect Condensation Realm cultivators—causing mass instability in their Dao hearts—that’s the real disaster for the Clearwater Sect.]
[Honestly, for Meng Zi to only break down today is impressive. After all they went through together, only now does he realize the gap in talent.]
[How thick is his divine sense?]
At the 6000th layer’s residence, Bai Yu stood watching the projection, staring at the devastated, broken Meng Zi.
A trace of pity—and helplessness—appeared on his face.
He’d warned Junior Brother Meng countless times to stay away from Lin Shuang.
But he wouldn’t listen. He never listened.
And now, unlike Bai Yu’s own clam clan, he couldn’t just change into a female form today and shed his male identity’s inner demons.
So what now?
Bai Yu watched the projection with deep worry.
In the image, Meng Zi was already swaying. Even before the Senior Brother on stage could strike, Meng was stumbling half a step back, about to fall off the platform.
Chen Xingchuan, watching, couldn’t bear it and called out to the ring.
“Junior Brother, don’t hold back anymore. The longer this drags out, the more painful it is for him. Just strike and send him off for healing.”
Some ailments required a remedy of the heart. Maybe if they sent him to Lin Shuang, she’d know what to do?
The dueling disciple on stage immediately nodded.
No more mercy. He took one step forward and slashed sideways with his blade.
Meng Zi’s eyes were glazed, his face twisted in anguish.
He was done. Truly done…
But just then—he froze.
His dazed gaze landed on the ground, just three steps ahead, where his opponent had taken that step.
And his pupils shrank in an instant.
His Senior Brother… had stepped on his sword…
His sword… cost 13,000 spirit stones, purchased during Rong Bao Pavilion’s annual super discount sale…
It had been repaired twice—another 3,000 stones… and then engraved with mountain patterns—5,000 more…
A total of 21,000 spirit stones…
Meng Zi’s entire body trembled violently.
“Junior Brother Meng, I’m sorry. I’ll send you off for healing—”
“AHHH!”
As the Senior Brother stepped down, Meng Zi suddenly let out a torn, bloodcurdling howl.
“Twenty-one thousand spirit stones… twenty-one thousand! Round it up—and you just stepped on my 30,000-spirit-stone blade!!”
His opponent blinked: “?”
Something wasn’t quite right here…
“Thirty thousand, Senior Brother—thirty thousand!”
“How could you! How could you step on something worth thirty thousand spirit stones!”
“Round it up again—and that’s fifty thousand!”
Opponent: “??”
“Senior Brother—have you no shame?!”
Meng Zi’s shattered heart flared with fury. Thunderfire burst from his body, his rage igniting like wildfire.
“That sword was worth fifty thousand! Round it up—it’s one hundred thousand!!”
“!”
In an instant, his aura soared from the depths of despair, climbing straight to the peak of fury.
His fallen blade let out a long, echoing cry—as if awakened by its master’s heaven-splitting wrath.
It rang out across the skies!
“…”
“You just stomped on my 100,000-spirit-stone blade!”
“!”
Meng Zi let out a blood-drenched roar and brought his blade crashing down with all his might!
“Do you know how long it takes to save up 100,000 spirit stones, Senior Brother?! You’ve gone too far!”
[Ping! Mu Wenchang: blood loss at 60%.]
[Determined unfit to continue combat. You will be teleported to the Healing Cavern in 5 breaths. Please prepare 500 spirit stones.]
Mu Wenchang: “…”
Chen Xingchuan: “…”
[……]
[…………]
[Good grief—who taught him math like that…]
[He’s so greedy! All his breakthroughs are powered by financial trauma!]
[…Inner demons rise and fall in a breath’s span. I’ve learned something today.]
[I swear to—]
[Level 2798: If you’re a cultivator, stand tall—don’t collapse!]
[One-on-one duels: concluded.]
[Lin Shuang, Huangfu Yuan, and Meng Zi: victory.]
The elder’s barely-contained frustration was evident in how abruptly this round concluded.
There wasn’t even the usual reminder to claim their rewards.
Meng Zi, Chen Xingchuan, and Mu Wenchang vanished from the sky, leaving the three-platform arena behind.
The observing disciples didn’t even have time to react.
They simply watched as the three stages began to glow—animal head totems starting to emerge faintly.
[Are they… layer masters again? No way.]
[Really? This round took a while—Meng Zi was slow, and Lin Shuang wasn’t exactly fast either.]
[They barely scraped by—fought to the death.]
The beast head rose—but quickly sank back down again.
[Oh good.]
[Yeah, that’s how it should be. Otherwise, what would that say about every other disciple who fought hard here?]
“You idiot, idiot, idiot!”
In the resting pavilion below the 3000th layer, a pink-clad lady nearly shattered the walls with her furious rant.
The surrounding disciples: “…”
Everyone stepped back.
Zhao Keran, Zhou Xuanwu, and Chen Sixin—just booted down from the 6000th layer—froze awkwardly in their tracks.
CRACK—the jade table before the pink-clad lady shattered into powder.
Her cat-like eyes lifted as she pointed her index finger at the nearest disciple.
“You.”
“Explain. Why did the platform totem almost activate—and why did it back off midway, hmm?”
The closest disciple looked like he’d just seen a ghost.
Oh heavens, he’d only come to watch like everyone else—how had he suddenly become the elder’s target?
Next time, he swore, he’d never sit in the front row again.
The disciple nearly burst into tears, racking his brain for an answer.
Those who had entered the Zhenchuan trials three or four times had long since guessed that this pink-clad woman wasn’t just some decoration.
Unlike the naive juniors who thought she was merely ornamental.
“Um, Elder… is it because they all performed beyond their cultivation level under pressure?”
His voice trembled.
Only then did the elder’s fury slowly fade from her cat-like eyes. She gave a faint nod, somewhat satisfied.
Her gaze swept over the group.
“Not bad. You’ve got more perception than those useless pastries upstairs on the 6000th floor.”
She turned and scoffed.
“I’d say they’ve been meditating so long they turned into brain-dead logs!”
“So what if they won? This wasn’t some elite duel against the Mountain and Sea Sect. Winning easily against your own sectmates—what’s there to brag about?”
“These dueling stages exist to temper you! To sharpen your techniques through combat—not for you to chase empty victories!”
Winning quickly? Big deal.
If you entered knowing one blade technique and left knowing the same—what use was it?
A complete waste of the spirit stones used to activate the ring.
Just thinking about it made her furious. She jabbed a finger at the disciples huddled in the corner. “Dong, Bei, Xi—you three! Buy caves! Ten-year minimum lease!”
Damn it, every time Zhenchuan activated it cost a mountain of spirit stones. She had to squeeze it back out of these good-for-nothing disciples somehow!
Dao Dong, Dao Xi, and Dao Bei each took three steps back, faces pale: “…”
What did this have to do with them?
“Then, Elder… why did the beast head sigil for the layer master reward retreat again?”
Someone timidly asked.
The pink-clad woman turned sharply, her eyes lighting up. “You don’t know? Hm?”
The brave disciple: “……”
“Anyone does know?” She swept her gaze across them.
No one dared move. Too scary.
What if she got annoyed and made them rent a cave too?
Who would want one of those overpriced garbage hovels?
But soon, one hesitant hand rose in the air.
It was Zhao Keran. She had been pondering ever since seeing the projection—lamenting how her Senior Sister had just missed becoming a layer master.
By now, she’d thought through roughly 72 sword technique variations for left and right hand combinations.
The elder looked over and lifted her chin. “Speak.”
Zhao Keran immediately twirled into motion, hands forming sword mudras, feet dancing with thunderstep footwork, spiraling to the front row.
The disciples all winced.
Zhao Keran glanced toward the teleportation array. The bloodied figures had now been stabilized by healing elders.
She composed herself and answered:
“My Senior Sister was fine—but Senior Brother Huangfu struck far too hard.”
“This is, after all, a trial—not a true life-or-death situation. He should’ve trusted the elders, and even more so, trusted himself.”
“His control over his sword technique’s power should have been more refined. That way, it wouldn’t have resulted in such severe injuries.”
The pink-clad woman’s eyes flickered with approval. A stream of spiritual light shot from her fingertip and landed before Zhao Keran.
“Not bad. I grant you ten days of access to observe the Glazed Sword Manual.”
“!”
All the disciples, including Zhou Xuanwu, instantly clenched their fists in frustration.
They’d had similar thoughts—but no one dared to raise their hand. Zhao Keran beat them to it.
“All of you—those from the Inner Sect,” the elder snapped, “such a simple question, and none of you could answer it? Within three days, each of you must come rent a cave from me. Minimum two months’ rent!”
“!”
“Junior Sister, you’re so smart,” said Chen Sixin, the current third-ranked Outer Sect disciple, full of admiration.
Zhao Keran flushed with excitement. Of course Senior Sister’s teaching worked fastest and best!
“It’s nothing, really. My Senior Sister taught me.”
She puffed up with pride.
All the punished disciples perked their ears. The pink-clad woman also looked over silently.
Most had only seen Lin Shuang’s strength through projections. They weren’t personally familiar with her.
But now… how did she teach her Junior Sister so well?
How could even her Junior Sister be so insightful and full of potential?
“My Senior Sister said early on: spiritual energy must be used sparingly. Senior Brother Huangfu got too emotional and wasted so much!”
“…?”
“He injured fellow disciples and hurt himself in the process. It wasted time for treatment, and spirit stones for pills. Earning spirit stones takes time, you know!”
“……”
“Also, he caused losses for the sect. Injured disciples get pill subsidies;
plus the others now have to wait their turn for treatment—delaying everyone’s recovery and training.”
“……”
“And us,” Zhao Keran continued, pulling out her broom. “Our cleanup time is delayed too. Senior Brother spilled so much blood, the stage is wrecked.”
“!!!”
Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be about compassion between fellow disciples?!
Zhao Keran paused to reflect. “Fellowship between disciples is important, of course. But this is Zhenchuan—they do protect us, right? Senior Brother Huangfu must know that.”
Everyone: “……”
The pink-clad woman stared at her with a complex expression.
Such a small Qi Refinement disciple… and yet she’d thought so many steps ahead.
All the others only mentioned “fellow disciple sentiment.”
Only Zhao Keran considered the sect’s broader concerns.
Indeed—Zhenchuan was intricate and burned through massive amounts of spiritual resources every day. That’s why it only opened once every ten years.
With Huangfu Yuan shattering the platform, there was no way he’d become this level’s master.
Being gentle with fellow disciples was admirable—but if you were always holding back, how could you break your limits?
Back down here, give way there—how would you ever defy the heavens?
Disciples trusted Zhenchuan. Zhenchuan protected severely injured disciples.
For centuries, no one had ever died during the dueling rounds.
That was Clearwater Sect’s confidence.
And as for fellow disciple sentiment…
The pink-clad woman’s gaze flickered as she remembered Yun He, who’d been teleported out nearly in pieces.
When he reappeared, a bottle of Grade Five Yunxiang Pills from Rong Bao Pavilion had rolled out of his robes.
Once taken, those could regenerate muscle and bone.
That must have been something Huangfu Yuan slipped to him with his sword strike.
Then there was Chen Xingchuan, getting beaten while Lin Shuang shoved pills in his mouth.
Fellow disciple sentiment, indeed…
The pink-clad woman closed her eyes.
Those two may as well have had “I have fellow disciple sentiment” written on their foreheads.
How could anyone say they didn’t?
“You’ve done well.”
She narrowed her cat eyes again and sent another spiritual stream toward Zhao Keran.
“One entry pass to the Myriad Scroll Library trial.”
She looked to the three Outer Sect disciples. “You may bring your companions.”
With that, she vanished from sight.
The shattered jade desk reformed, good as new.
“Three incense sticks from now—Round Two begins!”
“If you lose again—10,000 spirit stones penalty. Ninety-nine days of reflection in Ten Thousand Snake Valley!”
The thunderous voice rang through the cave.
All the disciples blanched.
Zhao Keran’s face also changed. “Only three incense sticks to rest?”
Huangfu Yuan and Meng Zi were both completely out of energy!
Inside the healing cave—
Huangfu Yuan lay like a mummy on the bed, eyes open, expressionless.
Lin Shuang stood nearby, also expressionless.
“You speak first.”
“You speak first.”
“……”
“……”
Their brows twitched simultaneously.
“Junior Sister, next time—could you maybe not transform into ninety-eight golden-armored phantoms before I even make a move?”
“Senior Brother, next time—before you go and violently rupture all your meridians and spit blood, could you give me some warning?”
“……”
“……”
Who’s overacting?
Who’s reckless?
They glared at each other, faces full of mutual dissatisfaction.
Meng Zi was teleported in just then—exhausted but cheerful—pushing open the infirmary door. “I won! Did you hear? Heh—turns out I can do it after all—!”
Lin Shuang and Huangfu Yuan both acted as if they hadn’t heard.
One pointed to the empty bed.
The other pointed to the Grade Five healing pills on the table.
They kept staring at each other, tension thick in the air.
“Junior Sister, I said I’d protect you before we started out, but what happened?
I turned around and you’d already KO’d Chen Xingchuan with a barrage of fists. That threw off my performance.”
Huangfu Yuan’s phoenix eyes gleamed.
He was supposed to protect her, unleash his once-in-twenty-years sword… But she’d already shown such strength—what was left to protect?
If he hadn’t quickly shattered his own meridians and feigned losing control in a fit of rage at seeing her hurt, the elders would’ve suspected his “sudden outburst” was fake.
Lin Shuang’s brow twitched. Her grief and indignation mirrored his completely.
Practically in unison, they snapped:
“You nearly ruined it for me! If you were going to destroy your own meridians in such an extreme act, you should’ve told me first!”
“If I’d known, I could’ve exploded my strength after you, making it clear that I was protecting you, and that’s why I fought above my level!”
“……”
Huangfu Yuan froze.
So she’d thought the same thing?
So had he.
Lin Shuang’s eyelids twitched.
So much for fellow disciple sentiment.
They stared at each other—and sighed together.
Miscalculated.
Still didn’t know each other well enough.
“Fine. Next time, wait for me.”
“Got it. Next time, I’ll let you act first.”
Meng Zi, dragging his blade: “……”
What the hell!?
[Challenge reward summary complete.]
[Round Two begins after three incense sticks!]
[Gang Yi, Gang Er, and Mei Xin—challenge Huangfu Yuan, Meng Zi, and Lin Shuang!]
The trio immediately fell silent.
Their wounds weren’t even healed yet.
Lin Shuang thought for a moment, then pulled out a self-made oxygen mask talisman.
In an instant, she shattered a Grade Five healing pill, attached a long tube, and gently fastened the mask to Huangfu Yuan’s ghost-white face.
“Senior Brother… don’t give up. You can still be saved.”
“……”
Author’s Note:
“Zhao Sect Leader’s Memoir 40”: “Team synergy improves with time.”
—Meng Zi: Huh? What? That’s a thing?
—Huangfu Yuan: (silent)
—Zhao Keran: …
Clearwater Sect Chronicle: Sect Leader Zhao Keran, even in her Outer Sect days, was already known for her meticulous foresight and care for both the sect and her peers—instantly recognized by Zhenchuan overseer Elder Li Min.
See you tomorrow!