On the surface, he was a good senior brother who cared for his junior brother. Deep down, he could not wait for Qing Xuan to suffer qi deviation and fall into madness.
When Nan Xianshi left Jade Purity Peak, True Person Qing He had appeared displeased and pretended to reprimand her, but inside, he was probably already blooming with joy.
Someone disliked Qing Xuan? Excellent! —True Person Qing He.
"The sect master currently has only one personal disciple under him. If you go ask him, you may have a chance." Bai Lan chuckled softly.
Nan Xianshi frowned. "But if I remember correctly, the sect master is True Person Qing Xuan's senior brother, right? After I committed such a rebellious act, he scolded me bloody at Righteous Path Peak that day. Would he really take me as his disciple?"
"Go and give it a try..." Bai Lan's eyes shifted, and she suddenly gave a crafty smile. "How about you and I make a bet?"
"Bet on what?"
"I bet the sect master will definitely accept you as his disciple. If he does not, I'll give you a hundred Spirit Stones. If he does, you give me a hundred Spirit Stones. How about it? Are you betting?" Bai Lan chuckled.
Nan Xianshi slapped the table. "I'll bet!"
From the bottom of her heart, she believed the sect master would never accept her as his disciple. Everyone knew that he was True Person Qing Xuan's senior brother. After the kind of outrageously rebellious thing she had done before, how could he possibly...
The system, currently in silent mode, lit a candle for Nan Xianshi.
The host clearly knew the inside story and was exploiting the information gap to fool Nan Xianshi out of those hundred Spirit Stones. Still, these words had pointed out a way forward for her. The host truly was kind-hearted after all.
The system turned to look at its host, only to see her smile sentimentally. "Those hundred Spirit Stones are most likely in the bag. I just hope Nan Xianshi doesn't renege on the debt."
System: "..."
Kind-hearted, my ass! All she had on her mind were Spirit Stones!
Nan Xianshi, having been sweet-talked and hoodwinked by Bai Lan into going to Righteous Path Peak to ask the sect master to take her as his disciple, regretted it halfway there.
What if she was rejected? How humiliating would that be!
With that thought, Nan Xianshi lingered at the foot of Righteous Path Peak for a long while. Just as she was about to sneak away, a clear and gentle voice came from behind her. "Junior Sister Nan, the sect master is looking for you."
Nan Xianshi froze. "Senior Brother?"
Gongsun Jing, Righteous Path Peak's eldest senior brother, was the sect master's sole personal disciple and one of the most outstanding among Azure Origin Sect's Foundation Establishment generation.
"Is Sect Master Martial Uncle looking for me because he has some instructions?" Nan Xianshi's voice was somewhat tense.
"Nothing else. It is simply that since Junior Sister is unwilling to remain at Jade Purity Peak, you must find somewhere else to go. The inner sect disciples are all the future pillars of the sect, and naturally the sect master does not wish to see any of you stray onto the wrong path."
Nan Xianshi was somewhat surprised, but she still nodded, secretly cheering herself on.
Since she was already here, she might as well give it a try.
On this side, Nan Xianshi followed Gongsun Jing to meet True Person Qing He.
Bai Lan, meanwhile, began a month-long period of secluded cultivation.
Aside from cultivating, she practiced Mystical Techniques and drew talismans. Her days were exceedingly full, and time passed in the blink of an eye.
Bai Lan sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, holding a Spirit Stone in each hand. After circulating a major and minor celestial circuit, she slowly opened her eyes.
She had broken through to Qi Refining level three.
Sure enough, increasing her daily expenditure from one Spirit Stone to two had made her cultivation speed soar as well.
This was probably the power of money.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pounding on the door was deafening.
Bai Lan frowned, pushed open her tottering wooden door, and looked at the three people standing outside.
"You're Bai Lan?"
Bai Lan nodded.
"Hmph, my big brother said today is the day of your agreed duel. Don't keep my big brother waiting too long!" one of them declared arrogantly.
"The sect's dueling platform. Don't you dare not show up."
"A mere outer sect disciple actually dared to challenge my big brother. You truly don't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth."
"Today, you'll go whether you want to or not. Otherwise, the fists of us brothers aren't just for show!"
Bai Lan rubbed her forehead.
This group in front of her... were Long Aotian's lackeys?
She had nearly forgotten. In the original plot, these thugs had first gone to provoke Long Aotian, then gotten beaten up by him and become his lackeys.
But clearly, getting beaten up once would not make these people grow brains.
And now they had come to provoke her.
"Lead the way." Bai Lan could not be bothered to squabble with them and took the lead.
The main event ahead was Long Aotian.
Even after she had snatched his Storage Bag twice, Long Aotian's strength was still not to be underestimated, relying on his identity as the Child of Destiny and Elderly Grandfather's teachings.
Whatever. At worst, she would reload a few thousand or tens of thousands of times. She would win eventually.
Azure Sect prohibited disciples from killing one another within the sect. Only atop the dueling platform could personal grudges and entanglements be settled, though only through duels; they could not endanger the other party's life.
Duels between Qi Refining stage disciples were not especially grand, but Long Aotian's identity as an inner sect disciple had drawn quite a few outer sect disciples to watch.
"Hmph, Bai Lan. Today, I will wash away my former humiliation!" Long Aotian stood upon the arena and looked at Bai Lan with a proud expression, once again speaking his classic Aotian line.
Ever since Bai Lan had transmigrated into the cultivation world, Long Aotian had cured her habit of feeling secondhand embarrassment quite a bit.
Was this desensitization therapy? Once she heard it often enough, it was no longer embarrassing.
She silently stepped onto the arena and faced Long Aotian.
"Hmph, are you pretending to be some master because you won't speak? With your mere Qi Refining level three cultivation, crushing you would be as easy as turning over my hand." Long Aotian spoke proudly. "The previous two times, you took advantage of my weakness. This time, I..."
The other side was only giving off the aura of Qi Refining level four. She truly did not know where his confidence came from.
"Enough with the endless babbling." Bai Lan frowned and interrupted Long Aotian's unspoken lengthy speech. She looked directly at the Foundation Establishment stage law enforcement disciple nearby. "Martial Uncle, I accept the challenge. Let's begin."
The Foundation Establishment stage law enforcement disciple raised his brows and nodded with a smile.
He raised a hand and formed a seal, pouring spiritual power into the formation on the dueling platform. An outer defensive barrier swiftly rose, sealing Bai Lan and Long Aotian off from the outside world.
This was to prevent the aftermath of the battle between those dueling from accidentally injuring the surrounding spectators. Thus, the dueling platform was equipped with a Defense Array and Law Enforcement Hall disciples serving as referees, to prevent accidents.
After pressing the save button, Bai Lan looked at Long Aotian and lifted her chin. "I'll give you a chance. I'll let you have three moves."
Arrogant.
Arrogant to the extreme.
Long Aotian was so angered by her leisurely, carefree manner that he gritted his teeth. "Just you wait!"
Drawing the longsword at his waist, Long Aotian no longer hesitated and charged straight at Bai Lan.
The longsword was pitch-black from hilt to tip. As it slashed toward her, Bai Lan could faintly sense the lightning spiritual power flowing across it.
Among all martial arts under heaven, only speed was unbreakable.
That saying applied equally well in the cultivation world. Long Aotian's sword was exceedingly fast. With his movement technique combined with his swordsmanship, Bai Lan could barely see his figure amid the chopping, slashing, lifting, and thrusting.
Long Aotian's swordsmanship was anything but ordinary. It had most likely been taught by Elderly Grandfather, his golden finger.
Whenever she was struck, she reloaded. Bai Lan did not counterattack, merely observing Long Aotian's swordsmanship without pause, then learning and memorizing it.
The tenth reload lasted a little longer. Bai Lan used the Lesser Maze Steps to evade for the time it took an incense stick to burn, perfectly avoiding every one of Long Aotian's attacks.
Before you continue