We're Both Senior Sisters-Learn from Her!

The mist had now completely cleared. One man lay sprawled on the ground while the other stood upright; the outcome was obvious.

Someone immediately cried out, "How is this possible!"

"Qi Refining Stage against Marrow Cleansing Stage, and he still won?"

"Could that Ling Yunpo have been hiding some over-tier Magic Treasure on him?"

"Are you crazy? His master, Su Jian, has been in seclusion for ages. Where would he get an over-tier Magic Treasure?"

"Magic Treasure or no, he must have cheated in this match. Otherwise, why would he have raised that thick fog earlier? He was obviously afraid we'd see through it!"

"Even without proof, we agree. The gap between Qi Refining and Marrow Cleansing is simply too great. If he can win without cheating, then what's the point of dividing cultivation into stages?"

"Cheating in a public match like this means the result can't stand! We bet spirit stones on him losing, and we can't just let that go!"

The sword cultivators shouted louder and louder, each one burning with righteous indignation and fury.

Ling Yunpo stood in the center of the arena, listening to everyone outside condemn him in unison. He laughed inwardly.

So what if the result didn't count?

He was dead, and I was alive. Could they somehow turn that around?

Ling Yunpo folded his arms and let the corner of his mouth curl upward. He looked as if he couldn't be bothered to argue.

The onlookers were even more enraged by his attitude. Their shouts roared like a boiling sea, and they wished they could drown him in the spittle of their righteous indignation.

Only when the supervising elder descended leisurely on a streak of swordlight did they finally shut their mouths.

They fell silent in disarray and turned their eyes toward the elder, their expressions plainly saying, "Please uphold justice for us, Elder."

The elder's face remained cold. He swept his spiritual sense over Lou Zhizheng's corpse, sighed, and announced the outcome of the match.

"Result of this match: Ling Yunpo, disciple of Green Snail Peak, is victorious! Under the sect rules governing matches, the deceased, Lou Zhizheng of Purple Cloud Peak, was the one who initiated the challenge. Therefore, no one involved will be held accountable. That is all."

The supervising elder flicked his sleeve. He couldn't be bothered with the crowd below and left in a streak of light.

What a crude plan. He thought to himself.

Still, although they hadn't obtained the immortal sword, Elder Minghua must have used this pawn to test something else.

That True Lord Qisha, Su Jian...

He was still trapped in his death seclusion.

It seemed he was truly in grave danger.

At first, the crowd outside the arena still cursed, but the supervising elder's authority kept them from shouting too loudly.

Gradually, though, some of them noticed what the elder had said. Their expressions stiffened, and they stood there dumbfounded.

An awkward silence settled over the entire peak. Only An Zhisu walked gracefully over and patted Ling Yunpo lightly on the shoulder.

"Beautifully done."

"Senior Sister." Ling Yunpo dipped his head slightly. "I won."

"Good." An Zhisu smiled gently. "Let's go back."

She took Ling Yunpo's hand, swept her sleeve, and rode a streak of swordlight into the sky with him.

Back at Green Snail Peak, Ling Yunpo went to rest while An Zhisu headed deep into the temple. She descended a flight of steps, passing through the peak's outer hall, corridors, inner rooms, and secret chambers, until she entered the heart of the mountain.

At last, she stopped in front of a stone wall.

A sword scar marked the stone door, as if it had just been carved. Killing intent spilled from it in waves.

An Zhisu knelt gracefully before the scar and spoke in a quiet voice:

"Your disciple, Susu, pays her respects to Master."

"You've been in seclusion all this time. How has your health been?"

"Junior Brother Ling finally won today's match against Purple Cloud Peak."

"If Master knew, you would surely be proud of him."

"I gave Junior Brother Ling the Thunderstrike Sword you left me."

"He successfully subdued the Thunderstrike Sword."

"Junior Brother Ling... has the potential to become an outstanding Sword Immortal."

"I'll protect him. I promise."

After saying this, An Zhisu bowed down again.

After a long while, she rose once more. Her gaze was firm and unwavering.

"I, and Junior Brother Ling."

"We'll definitely preserve Green Snail Peak's Daoist lineage."

"Definitely."

[Point Three: Penglai Yuqing Temple, Dormitory.]

[Identity: Luo Yan.]

[Mirror Flower Water Moon template overlay. Traveling through spacetime.]

Luo Yan had been quite busy lately as well.

For one thing, Elder Shi Ding had chosen him to study cauldron forging, so lately he'd been working hard to catch up on formation theory. He had a mountain of esoteric knowledge to learn.

For another, Shi Liuli came to pester him every day, demanding that he call her "Senior Sister."

Luo Yan did need to raise his synchronization value, and although the Eldest Young Lady wasn't stupid, she'd clearly been sheltered too much growing up. Her experience of the world was practically zero, so it was easy to raise his synchronization value with her.

But she couldn't keep coming to find me from morning till night!

She was so clingy that Luo Yan almost felt as if he'd traveled back to his days with Qiu Changtian. He couldn't help remembering how, when he'd first joined the sect, Junior Sister Xu Yinglian had chased after him and tormented him in every way...

Didn't I need to cultivate?

But Qiu Changtian could bully and torment Xu Yinglian however he liked. Luo Yan couldn't do the same to Shi Liuli, because she was Elder Shi Ding's only beloved daughter and the most cherished junior sister in the entire Heavenly Works Workshop.

Anyone who offended Shi Liuli could forget about making a living at Penglai Yuqing Temple.

"Junior Brother! Junior Brother!" Luo Yan had been lost in thought when Shi Liuli came barging in from outside again, full of energy. "Quick, quick! Help me look up a place name!"

"A name?" Luo Yan put on just the right expression of confusion and a wry smile.

Shi Liuli then remembered that he had no idea what she was talking about, and hurriedly chattered through the story.

It was nothing complicated. The Eldest Young Lady Shi had been cultivating at the Qi Refining Stage for several years and felt that it would still take ages to fill her qi sea. But she was impatient with the slow, painstaking work of refining her qi, so she pestered Elder Shi Ding and asked whether there was any way to enter the Marrow Cleansing Stage quickly.

Elder Shi Ding had earnestly explained that cultivation was like eating: you had to take it one mouthful at a time, and you had to put one foot in front of the other. It was no good reaching for the sky before you could climb a hill.

It was solid, sensible advice, but it went without saying that the Eldest Young Lady wouldn't listen.

So she went on to pester her senior brothers and sisters, asking whether there was any way to speed up her cultivation.

They all answered in unison, "Cultivation is like eating..." It was obvious they'd agreed on their story beforehand, and the Eldest Young Lady threw a tremendous fit.

In the end, Senior Brother Linghu Chu couldn't hold his tongue and let slip, "Anyway, the Li Palace is about to open." He managed to stop himself before finishing the rest, but Shi Liuli had already caught the words.

"The Li Palace..." Luo Yan mused.

"Palace" clearly referred to a palace.

As for "Li," the likeliest meaning was the Li trigram of the Eight Trigrams.

The Book of Changes: Discussion of the Trigrams said: "Li represents fire, the sun, lightning, the middle daughter, armor, and weapons."

So the "Li Palace" was probably a palace built in some unusual environment—perhaps one filled with flames, scorching sunlight, or lightning...

Seeing Luo Yan ponder without answering, Shi Liuli immediately flared up. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard.

"Are you helping me or not? Are you helping me or not? Are you helping me or not..."

"I'll help!" Luo Yan nearly shook apart. "Of course I'll help!"

"Senior Sister's business is my business!"

[False persona, synchronization value +1.]

The Li Palace arc begins!