Tender as Chicks

Huayang Sect had no night.

The Huayang Sect cultivated the Huayang Heavenly Dao Scripture. Most techniques paired with this orthodox immortal sect method were fire arts, so Huayang Sect cultivators were often wreathed in firelight while cultivating, like tiny suns in the night.

Besides that, there were five Golden Crow Trees within Huayang Sect's mountain gates.

These five Golden Crow Trees stood a hundred zhang tall. They drew Fire Crow Essence Gold from the earth veins to grow, their entire bodies blazing with flames that never ceased day or night.

Today, Old Ancestor Tong Hui had achieved Nascent Soul, and Huayang Sect's standing across the entire Lesser Jade Continent had immediately become something it once could not compare to. From now on, when Huayang Sect disciples traveled abroad, they would naturally possess an added measure of pride and the most solid of safeguards.

Plenty of cultivators in the Lesser Jade Continent dared provoke sects with numerous Golden Core cultivators, but not many dared provoke sects with Nascent Soul Cultivators.

In the Cultivation World, Golden Core cultivators carried the honorary title of True Person, but upon reaching Nascent Soul, that title became True Lord!

That single word, "Lord," gave people an utterly different feeling.

The entire Huayang Sect was shrouded in an atmosphere of joy.

Raging flames howled, their radiance lighting the sky.

It signified the arrival of Huayang Sect's golden age.

Yet there were always exceptions to everything. Some people were in poor spirits.

He Lingxiu walked along a mountain path illuminated crimson by firelight.

The red glow on the path had even stained the uppers of her shoes.

Her mood seemed fairly good, but Qi Jianzhu, who appeared at the far end of the mountain path, was clearly in a bad mood.

Not even the joy blanketing all of Huayang Sect or those bright flames could dispel the gloom from his face.

"Hehe!"

The instant He Lingxiu saw Qi Jianzhu, she knew what he was plotting, so she gave her trademark smile.

"Junior Sister He!"

Qi Jianzhu was serious. Once He Lingxiu drew near, he solemnly saluted her and said, "May I delay Junior Sister for a moment?"

"What, someone baited you with a few words, took the Yin Thunder Umbrella, and left, and Senior Brother isn't convinced?" He Lingxiu chuckled again.

Qi Jianzhu felt that He Lingxiu's smile seemed somewhat insincere, but every previous conversation he had had with her had not exactly been pleasant either, so he did not take it to heart. He nodded and said, "The Yin Thunder Umbrella is Huayang Sect's sole Spirit Treasure. Logically speaking, if those two Profound Heaven Sect disciples had not stirred up trouble so unreasonably, this Yin Thunder Umbrella should have belonged to you, Junior Sister."

"Not necessarily." He Lingxiu changed expressions again, looking somewhat childlike as she blinked her eyes and said, "Perhaps the Old Ancestor wants to keep it for himself."

Qi Jianzhu visibly froze, then said sternly, "Even if the Old Ancestor keeps it, it remains within Huayang Sect. Junior Sister He, you will naturally become this Spirit Treasure's inheritor in the future."

"So do you mean to curse the Old Ancestor to die early, so he can drop the magic treasure for me when he dies? Or do you think I am only capable of this much—that even after cultivating for a lifetime, I could never obtain a Spirit Treasure better than the Yin Thunder Umbrella, and must wait eagerly for the Old Ancestor's lifespan to run dry before inheriting it?" He Lingxiu laughed heartily.

Qi Jianzhu felt his chest tighten. He had never expected He Lingxiu to respond this way, and he stood there dumbfounded.

Only after a moment did he come back to himself. With a bitter smile, he said, "Junior Sister, please do not mock me. You understand that I did not mean that. I merely feel that the highest-cultivated disciples of our generation in Huayang Sect were all present, yet we watched helplessly as a Profound Heaven Sect cultivator took away the Yin Thunder Umbrella. It truly does not sit right."

"I understand."

He Lingxiu smiled without quite smiling. "Senior Brother Qi, you mean to teach that Profound Heaven Sect disciple called Wang Li a lesson?"

Qi Jianzhu broke into a smile. "Exactly. Wang Li is at most between the Fifth Level of Qi Refining and the Sixth Level of Qi Refining. If we do not properly deal with him, then in the future, cultivators from other sects may think Huayang Sect is as easy to bully as before, even if their cultivation is far beneath ours."

"I support Senior Brother in this." Looking deeply respectful, He Lingxiu cupped her hands toward Qi Jianzhu. "Then I wish Senior Brother Qi Qi Kai De Sheng. After all, Senior Brother Qi has already reached the Eighth Level of Qi Refining, and Foundation Establishment is within sight. Dealing with a Profound Heaven Sect disciple at the Fifth or Sixth Level of Qi Refining should be as easy as turning one's hand over."

Qi Jianzhu's smile immediately froze.

"I shall await Senior Brother's good news, and let you raise Huayang Sect's prestige." He Lingxiu ignored him after that and walked directly past him toward the path ahead.

Her clear, silver-bell-like voice, still carrying a trace of girlish immaturity, drifted along the mountain path. "After all, Wang Li is also a cultivator from Profound Heaven Sect's Lone Peak. Senior Brother, you know perfectly well that no matter how you teach him a lesson, Profound Heaven Sect will not interfere. In fact, those people from Profound Heaven Sect might even be delighted."

A short while later, He Lingxiu appeared before a Daoist hall entirely wreathed in black Earth Fiend True Fire.

The heat of the Earth Fiend True Fire warped the surrounding air beyond recognition, yet He Lingxiu's eyes seemed not to register its existence at all as she walked straight toward it.

The instant the Earth Fiend True Fire touched her, it automatically parted, and she passed directly through it into the Daoist hall.

Thick black flames continuously flowed down the hall's four walls, faintly forming the shapes of black snakes writhing about. Yet at the center of the hall stood a teleportation array embedded with crystals.

Such teleportation arrays were not common even in the Lesser Jade Continent, and Huayang Sect possessed only this one.

Across the entire Cultivation World, the most powerful teleportation arrays could transport people more than twenty thousand li. Huayang Sect's teleportation array, however, could reach only a maximum of two thousand seven hundred li.

Before the teleportation array stood a stone platform. Seated cross-legged atop it was a middle-aged cultivator in black robes. His hair was scorched and withered, his complexion somewhat waxen, and his eyes half-closed, half-open, as though he lacked all spirit. Yet the robes he wore were somewhat frightening. Three black snakes formed of flames slithered across the dark-golden fabric.

These three black snakes were more lifelike than the flame-formed black snakes on the surrounding walls. Not only did they flick their tongues, but even the scales upon their bodies were vividly rendered.

However, He Lingxiu seemed long accustomed to the sight of this cultivator.

"Qi Jianzhu tried to persuade you to deal with that Profound Heaven Sect disciple called Wang Li. Why did you not go?" This cultivator was clearly familiar with He Lingxiu. Once she reached him, he suddenly said with a smiling squint.

The Daoist hall where he was stationed lay half a mountain away from the path where He Lingxiu and Qi Jianzhu had spoken, yet he seemed to have heard their conversation with perfect clarity.

"Third Uncle-Master, if you are curious about that Profound Heaven Sect disciple, just say so." He Lingxiu smiled brightly as well. "Do you have any walnuts left?"

"Where would I get so many Spirit Platform walnuts?" The cultivator she called Third Uncle-Master did not deny it. With a smiling squint, he said, "What level of Qi Refining is he, exactly, that he could suppress a Golden Core self-detonation?"

"He truly is at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining." He Lingxiu grew serious. "But he is no ordinary Fifth Level of Qi Refining cultivator. I do not think even a Ninth Level of Qi Refining cultivator's True Essence would necessarily be as condensed as his."

The cultivator she called Third Uncle-Master instantly put away his smile as well, saying in astonishment, "That unusual?"

"That alone would be one thing, but he showed not the slightest reaction to the spiritual pressure of either my master or Uncle-Master Qingyang." Thinking of Qi Jianzhu, a mocking look unconsciously appeared at the corners of He Lingxiu's mouth. "And his spellcasting speed is fast too. In the time it takes me to throw out ten talismans, he can throw at least thirty."

"I have heard something about those two cultivators from Profound Heaven Sect's Lone Peak." This cultivator's expression grew increasingly grave. "Those two cultivators found the rebellion of that group from Profound Heaven Sect unjust, and thus were abandoned on Lone Peak by Profound Heaven Sect as though discarded, with contact almost entirely severed. Could it be that some Old Ancestor within Profound Heaven Sect has secretly aided them?"

"Third Uncle-Master, your thinking is too rigid." He Lingxiu smiled faintly. "Before returning to Huayang Sect, I had already found ways to investigate. But what I learned was so unbelievable that even I found it hard to believe. Over the past ten-odd years, her senior sister, Lü Shenliang, took him into the Chaos Domains for a considerable portion of that time. I cannot yet draw a final conclusion, but when I go out this time, I will naturally have someone investigate it thoroughly. I fear that everything he and his senior sister need for cultivation comes from their own trials and experiences. It has no connection whatsoever to Profound Heaven Sect. My intuition tells me that this pair of senior sister and junior brother are even more remarkable than I imagined."

This cultivator was her Third Uncle-Master, True Person Lingyang. Hearing her words, True Person Lingyang's brows furrowed as though someone had carved several cuts between them. "If that is so, why did you deliberately provoke Qi Jianzhu into dealing with Wang Li? Would that not be sending him to his death?"

"Hehe."

With her trademark smile, He Lingxiu said, "If he dies, then he dies. It is not as though his intentions were good. He truly thinks I am so childlike that a few casual instigations would send me looking for trouble. If I were blown to death by someone self-detonating a Golden Core, would he not become Huayang Sect's foremost talent again, with endless benefits awaiting him in the future? Others in Huayang Sect may not know me, but Third Uncle-Master, do you not know me? If someone like that provoked me outside, I might even directly have him killed. Of Uncle-Master Qingyang's five disciples, apart from their passable speed at absorbing spiritual energy to cultivate, each is more arrogant than the last. They think themselves smarter than others, but they are tender as chicks. If they get casually killed outside someday, they will only disgrace Huayang Sect. If someone like that can die at the hands of those two from Profound Heaven Sect, then it would at least be an early death and an early rebirth, rather than wasting the sect's spirit sand."

True Person Lingyang raised his brows slightly. He did not seem to find anything particularly inappropriate about it, nor did he say anything further. He merely said, "Be careful yourself."

After saying this, he slapped a spirit stone behind him, and the teleportation array he guarded instantly lit up.