Chapter 22

“Set fire to the mountain, and you rot in jail. How could I possibly do such a thing?”

Gazing up at the beautiful night sky, Liuli rubbed her wrists, no longer wrestling with Junior Sister Little Feng.

Junior Sister Little Feng smiled. “It’s good that Senior Sister has come around.”

In truth, Parasol Tree Mountain possessed a protective mountain array. How could it be burned down by a casual fire?

It was just that Liuli had been both agitated and furious earlier, and Junior Sister Little Feng was worried about her.

But now, Liuli was no longer agitated. She had suddenly calmed down, as if she hadn’t heard the bad news from before, or as if she didn’t care about it at all.

A calmness that was eerie.

Junior Sister Little Feng consoled her: “Though I don’t understand why the Perfected One acted this way, she isn’t so heartless. Perhaps in a couple of days, she’ll change her mind.”

Liuli nodded, and in turn patted Junior Sister Little Feng’s shoulder to comfort her back. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve already come to terms with it.”

“…Really?”

Junior Sister Little Feng looked at her suspiciously.

Liuli flashed her two rows of pearly white teeth. “Really!”

She hadn’t just come to terms with it; her sadness and anger had been swept away entirely. With a fixed smile on her face and her hands behind her back, she swayed and swaggered off like a little old man.

Junior Sister Little Feng: Should I be even more worried now?

…

Long Jingxing remained unconscious. His Shizun still hadn’t found a way to save him, and the sorrow on Ye Zhenzhen’s face grew heavier day by day.

She had thought Ye Zhenzhen would stay by Long Jingxing’s side constantly. She never expected Ye Zhenzhen to actually show up for her final tournament match.

Ye Zhenzhen crossed her arms and tilted her chin up, looking at her sideways. “I’m here to see how badly you get beaten.”

Liuli laughed heartily. “Then watch closely!” She turned and stepped onto the platform, not even bothering to trade a few verbal jabs.

Ye Zhenzhen watched Xue Liuli ascend the arena, suspicion clouding her eyes. “…A conspiracy?”

A conspiracy was out of the question. Liuli preferred open strategies.

This final match, regardless of how Liuli had won before, would pit her against an extremely formidable opponent. Those who made it to the very end needed both strength and luck in equal measure.

Her opponent was Liang Tianguang. Just as Liuli had thought when they first met, Liang Tianguang was not an opponent to be underestimated.

Today, Liang Tiantian had also come. Standing below the platform, the beauty was so close she’d brought a small stool for herself. Amidst the sea of heads, she popped out her own face and hands, shouting at the stage:

“Senior Sister!!! You can do it—!”

Hearing this, Liang Tianguang glanced at her, then turned back and smiled at Liuli. “Junior Sister, seeing this, if I accidentally hurt you, Tiantian will definitely be angry with me.”

Liuli curved her lips into a smile. “What, is Senior Brother going to take it easy on me for Tiantian’s sake?”

“Naturally not.” Liang Tianguang’s expression turned serious as he offered Liuli a slight cupped-hand salute. “Junior Sister is someone of true skill. Holding back would be the greatest disrespect to you.”

Liuli was silent for a moment. “Honestly, you all don’t need to be so upright and righteous.”

She didn’t mind being underestimated or having her opponent hold back in the slightest!

“But before we begin, I hope Senior Brother can give me a moment,” Liuli said.

“Of course.” Not understanding what Liuli intended to do, Liang Tianguang still maintained his grace and agreed. Of course, if he possessed precognition, he might not have agreed so readily…

Liuli pulled out a bamboo tube, uncapped it, and gulped down a few mouthfuls of water.

Liang Tianguang, standing opposite her, clearly saw her hand trembling slightly, as if she were extremely nervous.

Then, after finishing her water, Liuli turned her back to him, facing the spectator seats, and didn’t look at him.

On the platform sat Xue Meiniang, Immortal Rongshan, a group of Elders, and, most importantly, Feng Xiwu.

The crowd in the seats watched Xue Liuli, the contender for the championship, behaving strangely. They all looked at her curiously—all except Feng Xiwu.

Immortal Rongshan glanced at Xue Meiniang and chuckled. “Is Liuli afraid?”

Xue Meiniang unhurriedly lifted a teacup. Spiritually infused mist curled out from the gap in the lid. He said, “I’d say… not necessarily.”

“Then what is she about to do?”

“Just watch and you’ll find out.”

Liuli didn’t keep them in suspense for long. She pulled out a—Loudspeaker.

A very familiar-looking Loudspeaker that seemed to be borrowed from the Training Ground’s Steward.

Liuli raised the Loudspeaker to her mouth. “Oi, oi oi… Hello, everyone.”

Her voice boomed across the entire Training Ground. The area directly facing the Loudspeaker suffered the worst of it, blasted by the sound waves. It was fortunate that the Elders had profound cultivation; otherwise, Liuli might have frightened them into cardiac arrest.

Xue Meiniang’s hand holding the teacup wobbled slightly. Ah, time to enjoy the show.

Liuli aimed straight for her target, her eyes locked onto Feng Xiwu. “Disciple Xue Liuli, today, before all these people, wishes to ask Perfected One Feng Xiwu of Parasol Tree Mountain one thing.”

Feng Xiwu sat in the back row, hands resting lightly on her knees. Attracted by Liuli’s words, everyone turned to look at her simultaneously, but she sat firmly on the high platform, unmoving as a mountain. Her voice, when it came, was deep.

“Speak.”

One word, and it nearly scattered the mental preparation Liuli had just built up. She quietly sniffled, gazing at that beautiful, distant figure on the platform, her heart a frantic, chaotic jumble.

Why, when she had worked so hard for so long, did that person seem completely unaffected?

Liuli raised the Loudspeaker again. She was determined to hash this matter out with Feng Xiwu thoroughly. She continued shouting:

“In cultivation, should one not take sincerity as the foundation, be without shame before Heaven and Earth, and without shame in one’s own heart?”

Facing Liuli’s challenge, Feng Xiwu remained as impenetrable as a fortress. “Yes.”

“Then, does the agreement made with Perfected One Feng over a month ago still stand?” As if afraid she might renege, Liuli immediately added, “Back then, I said, with the azure sky as witness and the thick earth as testament, it cannot be revoked! You agreed to it yourself, Perfected One! Does it still stand now?!”

Only a few seconds passed between Liuli finishing her rapid-fire speech and Feng Xiwu’s reply. In those brief moments, Liuli’s heart pounded wildly, as if it had been scalded.

She had done it on purpose—deliberately creating this confrontation before the crowd to force Feng Xiwu to agree.

But she was still nervous. What if Feng Xiwu was dead-set on going back on her word?

After all, every couple divorcing once swore eternal vows.

Not to mention, Liuli and Feng Xiwu hadn’t even signed a master-disciple contract!!!

She stared at Feng Xiwu intensely, not missing the slightest detail. And so, she was fortunate enough to catch a fleeting, peculiar smile that crossed Feng Xiwu’s face. Perhaps no one else besides Liuli noticed it.

Feng Xiwu didn’t answer her directly. Instead, she countered, “Xue Liuli, why do you want to win?”

“…” Liuli pursed her lips and answered, “The Perfected One once swore an oath with me: if I could win first place in the Sect’s Grand Tournament, she would take me as a disciple. I wish to become the Perfected One’s disciple.”

“And if this agreement didn’t exist?” Feng Xiwu nodded slightly. Her eyes, like deep, bottomless pools, locked onto Liuli forcefully, leaving her no way to escape, no way to retreat.

Liuli opened her mouth, then, a moment later, her voice lowered somewhat. “Naturally, I would still want to win.”

But now, knowing the bet existed between them, everyone could guess Liuli’s true thoughts. She would want to win, but she wouldn’t have striven as desperately as she did now.

So Feng Xiwu then asked, “The path of cultivation is perilous. Even with full effort, one can still lose. Without giving your all, how do you plan to walk this path?”

Liuli held the Loudspeaker, speechless for a long moment.

The watching disciples had already begun discussing amongst themselves. “So Perfected One Feng still hasn’t taken Senior Sister Xue as a disciple, huh.”

“Tsk tsk…”

They dared not say anything more, especially with so many elders present.

But just as they fell silent, deciding to communicate with knowing glances, Liuli raised the Loudspeaker once more:

“Perfected One Feng, do you truly wish to know?”

Feng Xiwu said softly, “Speak.”

Liuli took a deep breath. She had decided—in for a penny, in for a pound!

She declared, “Because for this disciple, temporary victory or defeat isn’t what’s truly important. I will give my all, but only in the places I deem necessary.”

“Which places?”

“…When the Perfected One takes this disciple as your own, this disciple will tell you!” Liuli braced herself against the pressure emanating from Feng Xiwu and bypassed that question.

Fortunately, Feng Xiwu didn’t press her there. She merely asked her the question she had once asked Liuli, the one Liuli hadn’t been able to answer:

“What is the Dao you seek?”

Liuli closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they carried an unwavering, forward-marching resolve. “My Dao is: no one can dictate my destiny!”

And, Feng Xiwu’s destiny as well.

She wondered, would this answer satisfy Feng Xiwu?

Then Liuli found out. The inner self of Feng Xiwu differed vastly from her clear-moon-and-fresh-breeze exterior. She was subtly, wickedly playful. She actually asked, “If you enter my tutelage, you must abide by my rules. Would that not contradict your Dao?”

Liuli: “…”

Slowly, carefully, she answered, “I think a Dao can be like a steamed, fluffy bun—resilient and very accommodating.”

Feng Xiwu smiled then, like the first sun of winter shining through morning mist, hazy and gentle:

“Good. My first rule is this: Personal Disciples must distance themselves from romantic love. If this rule is broken, they will be expelled from my tutelage. Xue Liuli, if you accept, our oath still stands. If you do not, then let us pretend this never happened!”

Romantic love.

Instantly, Long Jingxing’s master, Ye Zhenzhen, the strange junior brother who’d suddenly come to comfort her… their attitudes and words surged through her mind. Liuli had a sudden epiphany and finally understood.

So Feng Xiwu thought she still hadn’t gotten over her clingy feelings for Long Jingxing! She thought it would hinder her cultivation, and that’s why she was disappointed in her!

A string of censored curses flashed through her mind like garbled code. Liuli slapped her thigh and yelled into the Loudspeaker: “Deal!”

Her fighting spirit blazed once more!

Liuli put away the Loudspeaker, turned around, and gave Liang Tianguang a passionate grin, clasping her hands. “Senior Brother, please instruct me!”

Liang Tianguang smiled wryly. “Junior Sister, please.”

Since Liuli had advanced yet again, she was now a ranked expert among those in the latter five stages of Foundation Establishment. Liang Tianguang had never underestimated her. Now, seeing her eyes gleaming, raring to go, dealing with her would likely be even more troublesome.

This final Inner Sect match began just like that.

Under the complex gazes of the onlookers, Liuli and Liang Tianguang simultaneously produced a bracelet—a Profound-grade Superior Spirit Gathering Bracelet, allowing True Qi to recover faster and spiritual energy to be mobilized more easily.

The two faced each other in silence, then suddenly remembered that Xue Meiniang was Xue Liuli’s father, and Liang Tianguang’s master.

Xue Meiniang finally took a sip of the spiritual tea he’d been holding up for so long and chuckled. “Tianguang, don’t forget your Thunderstorm Talismans. Ai, being apprenticed really is better than not being apprenticed, isn’t it?”

Liuli: “…………”

She wanted to sever their father-daughter relationship. Immediately! Right now!

But Xue Meiniang didn’t get to enjoy the show for much longer before Feng Xiwu casually stated, as if just making conversation, “Metal generates Water, and also channels Lightning.”

Xue Meiniang set down his teacup, looking at her with a half-smile. “Whom is Perfected One Feng instructing?”

“Whoever is willing to listen, is who I’m instructing,” Feng Xiwu replied softly.