When Did Some Brooding Show-Off Sneak into My Sect?

The sun hung high overhead.

The bluestone plaza had grown somewhat scorching under its rays.

More and more people gathered.

Those strangely behaved Gui Xi Sect disciples were closing in.

They were no longer leaping across roofs and walls or recklessly crashing about on flying swords. They were merely walking, yet there was an unmistakable urgency in their steps.

They formed a loose encirclement around Lin Qingfeng and Su Ling'er.

Every gaze fell upon the first native NPC in the sect.

There was no malice in those gazes, yet they carried something that made her uncomfortable all over.

It was the excitement of discovering a novel toy, the burning intensity of a hunter spotting rare prey, the wild delight of long-awaited rain after a drought.

Why were they not paying attention to the two dead Evil Cultivators, or to Senior Disciple Brother, who had slain fellow disciples, but instead focusing on her, a newly initiated disciple?

No. I can't panic.

She forced the corners of her lips upward and gave the assorted faces around her a stiff yet polite smile.

Taking a deep breath, she imitated the dignified manner of noble young ladies from storybooks when meeting their elders for the first time, trying her best to appear composed.

"Greetings, Senior Disciple Brothers..."

Her archaic gesture, carrying a trace of clumsy unfamiliarity, immediately stirred an even more fervent commotion in the crowd.

"Hello, Junior Sister!!"

"Junior Sister, do you have some special background?!"

"Junior Sister, don't mind those two idiots!"

"Junior Sister, do you have some special bloodline?!"

"Junior Sister, do you have some hidden clan?"

"Junior Sister, do you have money? Spirit stones?"

"@!￥!%!%..."

While she could make out some of their words, the crowd was too noisy, and she could not clearly hear many of the hushed whispers.

What were they even talking about?

And she was only a new disciple joining the sect.

Why were they so excited?

Su Ling'er lowered her eyes and circulated the tiny amount of Spiritual Power within her body.

She had painstakingly cultivated this power over three years, and it was pitifully weak.

Qing Xu Temple had also been unwilling to spend many resources on a disciple with such poor aptitude.

She received only three spirit stones a month as a basic allowance, along with a cultivation manual for outer disciples.

For an outer disciple of Qing Xu Temple, that was already an immense blessing.

Her Spiritual Power was weak, but it finally had a use at this moment.

The faint Spiritual Power coiled around her ears.

In an instant, the surrounding clamor was filtered away, and those deliberately lowered whispers became incomparably clear.

"Hey, hey, look. That's her, right?"

"Our sect's first living... cough, native disciple?"

"No doubt about it. Senior Disciple Brother personally brought her back..."

"Forget that useless stuff! I just want to know, if she... if she died, what would happen?"

"Shh! Are you insane? Don't even think about that!"

"Senior Disciple Brother finally talked one into coming. Are you trying to scare her off?!"

Boom—

The smile on Su Ling'er's face froze at that instant.

Her blood seemed to stop flowing, and her entire body went cold in an instant.

All sound vanished from the world, leaving only those few casually spoken words echoing over and over in her mind.

Died?

Talked one into coming?

What did that mean?

Was killing two people not enough? Did they want to sacrifice her to the heavens too?

Her mind raced wildly in fear.

She compared and verified those words against the scant yet terrifying things she had seen and heard.

The sect had finally gotten someone...

The sect was going to rise...

They had finally talked one into coming...

...So that was it.

Their sect's development had encountered some kind of bottleneck.

To break through it, they needed a special catalyst—a sacrifice!

And she, this newly arrived "disciple," was the sacrifice they had been waiting for all this time!

Then what did that line, "If she died, what would happen?" mean?

They never intended to let me live at all!

I just joined the sect!

I only just escaped death!

How could you do this?!

Sect Master... what he said was probably true!

They really were some lost ancient Evil Cultivator lineage. They needed living people as sacrifices to activate some sealed ritual!

But why did they not go out searching for victims, instead waiting for someone to enter the sect and take the bait?

She did not understand. Perhaps an enormous conspiracy lay hidden within it as well.

Terrifying scenes began playing uncontrollably through her mind:

She was tightly bound atop an icy altar, surrounded by a ring of fanatical Evil Cultivators.

They raised their magical artifacts high, chanting under their breaths.

And her life, her Spiritual Power, everything she possessed, would be greedily drained and divided among them...

Her heart had long since become a river of tears, yet she forced out a smile even uglier than crying.

She even raised a hand and gave a small wave toward those figures around her, who had already become demons in her eyes.

Come on.

For the Righteous Path, for all living beings under heaven!

I, Su Ling'er... will expose your conspiracy no matter what!

Just as she was immersed in this despairing, tragic fantasy of self-sacrifice, another conversation drifted into her ears.

"Stop talking nonsense. Senior Disciple Brother personally talked her into coming."

"With Senior Disciple Brother's usual lazy, laid-back nature, when have you ever seen him bother with this kind of thing?"

"Looks like he was really forced into a corner."

"Exactly!"

"After all, we spent so much money. If we still can't even get into the Demon Suppressing Ceremony, that would be too miserable!"

Money?

The Demon Suppressing Ceremony?

What was that?

Qing Xu Temple had never mentioned it.

Could it be some celebration attended by Evil Cultivators and Demonic Sects?

Or was Qing Xu Temple's standing simply too low for it to even qualify to hear of such a thing?

Su Ling'er's thoughts took a sharp turn.

She subconsciously looked up, her gaze landing on Lin Qingfeng's face.

I understand now...

I won't be sacrificed to the entire sect...

Because from the very beginning, I was his personal "spoils of war."

I won't become a shared cultivation furnace...

Looking at him, looking at that expression... am I going to become Lin Qingfeng's... private cultivation furnace?!

What do I do? What do I do?!

I've fallen into a demon's clutches. My chastity is about to be ruined!

Sect Master, Sect Master! That great path to Foundation Establishment you promised me, that bright future you promised me—could it be... could this be the price?!

Just as Su Ling'er's heart was locked in turmoil, while Lin Qingfeng basked in the envious gazes of the guild members and the atmosphere in the plaza reached a delicate peak—

A sudden change erupted.

"Move aside! Make way!"

A booming voice exploded through the air, and an invisible force roughly shoved the crowd apart.

A figure burst out from the crowd.

It was an old Daoist priest with white hair and a youthful complexion. His washed-out Daoist robe was faded nearly white, and he carried a certain immortal air.

Yet his movements completely contradicted that image. He staggered forward, his expression agitated, ignoring everyone—including Lin Qingfeng at the very front.

He rushed straight to Su Ling'er and stopped before her amid everyone's stunned gazes.

Something flickered in his cloudy old eyes.

With tears filling his eyes, he used every ounce of strength in his body to shout at Su Ling'er:

"Mom—!!!"

"..."

Time froze.

The air congealed.

The smug smile on Lin Qingfeng's face instantly stiffened.

What?!

When did some brooding show-off sneak into my sect?

Were you sent by another guild to cause trouble?!