Hearing this, Xiao Qingxuan’s gaze sharpened.
“You want to beg forgiveness—what does that have to do with A-Qing?” She stared coldly at Pei Ruyi before her.
Anything related to A-Qing was of utmost importance to her.
Seeing Xiao Qingxuan immediately take it seriously, Pei Ruyi’s lips pressed together slightly.
If only Senior Sister Xiao would care about her like that too.
But even though Senior Sister Xiao had lost interest in her, the feelings in her heart had never changed.
So being misunderstood by her didn’t matter.
“The night before last, I took some inner disciples to Azure Sky Peak for an exchange spar. I was defeated by Junior Sister… Ye, who is at the Golden Core stage. It tarnished the peak’s prestige. I hope the Head Disciple will punish me.”
She didn’t immediately accuse Ye Luqing. With Ye Luqing’s place in Senior Sister Xiao’s heart, her words would surely be dismissed as slander.
“Defeated?” Xiao Qingxuan’s expression turned puzzled.
If A-Qing were still at her Late Nascent Soul Stage before the amnesia, Pei Ruyi losing would be understandable. But now, with her memories lost and her cultivation nearly dropped by a major realm, she had still managed to defeat Pei Ruyi, who had already broken through to Nascent Soul?
Seeing Xiao Qingxuan’s expression shift, Pei Ruyi secretly sighed in relief.
It seemed Senior Sister Xiao hadn’t been completely blinded by Ye Luqing’s beauty; she could still notice such obvious abnormalities.
After returning to Heavenly Sword Peak yesterday afternoon, she had also sorted through the events of the past two days.
Many things that hadn’t seemed amiss at the time felt abnormal upon closer thought.
And it was within those anomalies that she had sensed Ye Luqing’s wrongness.
How could the originally harmless Ye Luqing have made her do such absurd, blasphemous things like using her as a stool?
At first, she thought it was humiliation for trespassing on Azure Sky Peak, but Ye Luqing had also made her wear Senior Sister Xiao’s clothes—as if the target hadn’t been her from the start.
Even though the truth remained elusive, she knew she had to warn Senior Sister Xiao.
“Senior Sister Xiao, I—”
But just as Pei Ruyi was about to continue, a trace of resistance rose within her heart, as if unwilling to reveal these matters.
In the next moment, as if sensing something, she turned her head to look beside her.
A green figure had appeared at the Sword Testing Platform at some unknown moment, standing not far away and watching her and Xiao Qingxuan with great interest.
“!”
Pei Ruyi’s heart felt as though it had been seized by something. All the true qi in her body seemed to leak away, leaving her without the strength to even stand steady.
“Junior Sister Pei, what’s wrong?”
Xiao Qingxuan frowned, also noticing her junior sister’s abnormality.
Pei Ruyi’s body began trembling slightly, as if struggling against something.
Between the pleasure of obeying Ye Luqing’s commands and telling Senior Sister Xiao the truth, she hesitated.
“No, I must tell Senior Sister Xiao…” she thought inwardly.
The current Ye Luqing was dangerous!
She suddenly lifted her head, a hint of resolution in her eyes:
“Senior Sister Xiao, you must beware…”
In the next instant, a crisp finger snap, passing over the noise of the crowd of Heavenly Sword Peak disciples, accurately reached her mind from dozens of zhang away.
She froze completely, instantly controlled.
That finger snap was like a command, rendering her unable to speak a single word.
Despite having no memory of it, she now knew clearly:
That finger snap was Ye Luqing telling her to 【shut up】.
She felt as though her Spiritual Platform was being firmly pressed down by a gentle yet powerful hand, unable to muster even a shred of resistance.
“Mmph… mmph…”
Even with Senior Sister Xiao right in front of her, she couldn’t utter a single word.
“Senior Sister Xiao, I’m sorry…” Two lines of silent tears streamed down her heart.
For some reason, she was even more unable to resist Ye Luqing than yesterday.
“Junior Sister Pei?”
Xiao Qingxuan’s brows knitted together. Pei Ruyi’s true qi had suddenly become chaotic, but Xiao Qingxuan’s divine sense at Half-Step Spirit Transformation detected no external attack of true qi or spiritual power.
Yet this didn’t seem like Pei Ruyi’s own voluntary action either.
“What are you two Senior Sisters chatting about?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Xiao Qingxuan instinctively turned her head. A dazzling shade of green firmly captured her gaze.
“A-Qing? Why are you here?”
She looked at Ye Luqing in surprise. This was the first time since A-Qing’s amnesia that she had come to Heavenly Sword Peak seeking her.
“I’ve come to learn sword arts from Senior Sister Xiao.” Ye Luqing smiled slightly. “That One Qi Sword Art from yesterday was too profound; I haven’t fully learned it yet.”
Saying this, she turned to Pei Ruyi beside her.
“Good day, Senior Sister Pei.”
At Ye Luqing’s words, Xiao Qingxuan finally remembered that Junior Sister Pei had still been in that strange state.
But when she turned to look, Pei Ruyi’s expression was gradually returning to normal.
Only a fleeting trace of despair in her eyes revealed her predicament. Yet because Xiao Qingxuan’s attention had shifted to Ye Luqing, she didn’t notice it.
Just as Xiao Qingxuan turned her head, Ye Luqing moved with a thought and directly implanted the Six Desires Triggering Array into Pei Ruyi’s Spirit Palace.
After reaching Phase Two of Corruption Value, Pei Ruyi’s “obedience” to Ye Luqing had risen to a new level. One could say she had already opened her heart to Ye Luqing.
Ye Luqing used the Six Desires Triggering Array to compartmentalize Pei Ruyi’s emotions. No matter what Pei Ruyi thought in her heart, her outward performance would be whatever Ye Luqing desired.
The controlled Pei Ruyi nodded slightly.
“Good day, Junior Sister Ye.”
Seeing Pei Ruyi return to normal, Xiao Qingxuan continued questioning:
“Junior Sister Pei, you just wanted me to beware of something?”
She remembered that Pei Ruyi had said she’d lost to A-Qing, then mentioned she should beware of something, but hadn’t finished speaking.
“It’s nothing. Senior Sister Xiao is about to break through to Spirit Transformation, her cultivation profound and protected by Shizun on Heavenly Sword Peak. There’s no need to worry.” Pei Ruyi spoke words that didn’t match her true intentions.
Why am I saying this? I clearly sensed something wrong with Junior Sister Ye…
Xiao Qingxuan frowned slightly upon hearing this. She had the vague feeling something was off.
But since Pei Ruyi had put it that way, she didn’t press further.
“Then… is there anything else you want to say?”
“No more. I only wish for Senior Sister Xiao to punish me for tarnishing the peak’s prestige.”
She should have told Senior Sister Xiao the truth, but under Ye Luqing’s control, Pei Ruyi could only utter these insincere words.
“Sparring has its own winners and losers. If I punished every loss to an outsider, I, as Head Disciple, would have no time to cultivate.”
Xiao Qingxuan waved her hand, with no intention of punishing Pei Ruyi.
“Yes…”
Pei Ruyi lowered her head, using the shadow to hide her flushing face.
Silently, Ye Luqing had already lifted her 【command】.
But inside, Pei Ruyi could no longer resist. Even without orders, she would instinctively cooperate with Ye Luqing.
“Senior Sister Pei, don’t forget our agreement. Remember to come find me this afternoon.”
Ye Luqing smiled at Pei Ruyi, her fingertips brushing the latter’s waist muscle, causing Pei Ruyi to tremble all over yet try desperately to suppress it.
“Agreement?”
Xiao Qingxuan’s expression darkened. She looked at Ye Luqing with a mix of surprise and disappointment.
Why would A-Qing have an agreement with someone else? She didn’t even know what agreement it was.
【Detected Destined Female Lead Xiao Qingxuan’s Blackening Value has increased to 111%】
“It’s actually a bet. The night before last, Senior Sister Pei lost to me on the arena. According to the wager, she has to teach me one offensive technique.” Ye Luqing smiled as she looked at Pei Ruyi.
Aside from the secret arts of Heavenly Sword Peak, many Golden Core and Nascent Soul disciples had also exchanged for teachable techniques and divine abilities at Scripture Peak.
Xiao Qingxuan looked at Pei Ruyi, who nodded in confirmation. After pondering briefly, Xiao Qingxuan slowly spoke:
“Since it’s passing down teachings, can I come along as well?”
