All Senior Sisters, Learn From Her!

The mist had completely cleared, and the two figures on the field were now still, one fallen and one standing. It was clear the match had concluded.

Suddenly, someone cried out, "How is this possible!"

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

"Could Ling Yunpo have hidden some top-tier magic treasure on him?"

"Are you insane? His master, Su Jian, has been in seclusion for ages. How could he possibly have a top-tier magic treasure to give him?"

"Treasure or no treasure, he definitely cheated in this match. Otherwise, why would he have conjured that thick fog earlier? He must have been afraid we'd see through his tricks!"

"Though we have no proof, we agree. The gap between Qi Refining and Marrow Cleansing is simply too vast. If one can win without cheating, then what's the point of having cultivation realms divided in the first place!"

"This match was openly rigged, so it definitely doesn't count! We already bet our spirit stones on him losing, so this bet can't just be written off!"

The shouts of the sword cultivators grew louder and louder, each one filled with righteous indignation and burning anger.

Ling Yunpo stood in the center of the arena, listening to the crowd outside unanimously condemn him, and he chuckled inwardly.

So what if the result doesn't count?

He was alive now, and the other man was dead. Could they possibly reverse that?

Ling Yunpo crossed his arms, a slight smirk playing on his lips, appearing unwilling to argue further.

Seeing this, the onlookers became even more enraged, the scene erupting into chaos. They wished they could drown him with the saliva of justice.

This continued until the supervising elder descended, riding a beam of sword light.

Only then did the crowd reluctantly quiet down, their gazes turning to the elder, their eyes clearly pleading, "Please, Elder, uphold justice for us."

The elder's face was stern. He swept his divine sense over Lou Zhizheng's corpse and sighed before announcing the outcome of the match.

"Result of this match: Ling Yunpo, disciple of Green Snail Peak, wins! According to the sect rules for matches, the deceased, Lou Zhizheng of Purple Cloud Peak, was the one who initiated the challenge. Therefore, related parties will not be further investigated. This concludes the matter."

The supervising elder flicked his sleeve, ignoring the crowd below, and turned into a streak of light, departing.

What a crude plan. he thought to himself.

However, while he didn't manage to obtain the Immortal Sword, he surmised that Elder Minghua had used this pawn to probe another matter.

That True Lord Qisha, Su Jian...

He was still trapped in his deadly seclusion.

It was likely he was already beyond saving.

Initially, there were still curses from the crowd outside, but they dared not speak loudly, fearing the supervising elder's authority.

However, gradually, people began to pay attention to what the elder had said. Their expressions stiffened, and they froze in place.

An awkward silence fell over the entire peak. Only An Zhisu gracefully walked over and gently patted Ling Yunpo's shoulder.

"Well fought."

"Senior Sister," Ling Yunpo nodded slightly. "I won."

"Good," An Zhisu smiled softly. "Let's go back."

She took Ling Yunpo's hand, waved her sleeve, summoned a beam of sword light, and flew away with him.

Upon returning to Green Snail Peak, Ling Yunpo went to rest first, while An Zhisu entered the depths of the Taoist temple. She descended along a series of steps, passing through the outer hall, corridors, inner chambers, and secret rooms of Green Snail Peak, finally entering the mountain itself.

Eventually, she stopped before a stone wall.

There was a sword mark on the stone door, as if newly carved, radiating intense killing intent.

An Zhisu knelt gracefully before the sword mark and said in a low voice:

"Su Su pays respects to Master."

"You have been in seclusion until now. I wonder how Master's health is?"

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

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

"I have given the Thunderstrike Sword, left to me by Master, to Junior Brother Ling."

"He successfully subdued the Thunderstrike Sword."

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

"I will definitely protect him."

An Zhisu bowed again at this point.

After a long moment, she rose again, her eyes resolute and unwavering:

"I, and Junior Brother Ling."

"Will definitely carry on the legacy of Green Snail Peak."

"Definitely."

[Location 3: Penglai, Yuqing Temple, Dormitory.]

[Identity: Luo Yan.]

[Mirror Flower Water Moon template overlay, currently traversing spacetime.]

Luo Yan had been quite busy lately.

On one hand, Elder Shi Ding had personally appointed him to learn the art of cauldron forging, so he was diligently studying formations, with a mountain of knowledge on esoteric arts to learn.

On the other hand, Shi Liuli came to pester him every day, insisting he call her "Senior Sister."

Although Luo Yan did need to gain synchronization points, and this Eldest Young Lady, while not stupid, had clearly been too sheltered since childhood, her social experience was practically zero. This made it easy to gain synchronization points from her.

But constantly bothering me from morning till night wasn't acceptable!

Her clinginess even gave Luo Yan a sense of déjà vu, reminding him of Qiu Changtian. He couldn't help but recall when he first joined the sect and was constantly pursued by his Junior Sister, Xu Yinglian...

Wasn't he supposed to be cultivating?

However, unlike Qiu Changtian, who could bully and torment Xu Yinglian as he pleased, Luo Yan couldn't treat Shi Liuli the same way. She was Elder Shi Ding's only beloved daughter and the most doted-upon junior sister in the entire Heavenly Crafts Workshop.

Anyone who offended Shi Liuli wouldn't be able to get by in Penglai's Yuqing Temple.

"Junior Brother, Junior Brother!" Just as he was lost in thought, Shi Liuli burst in again, excitedly saying, "Quick, quick, help me look up a place name!"

"A place name?" Luo Yan put on a perfectly bewildered and wry smile.

Shi Liuli suddenly remembered he had no idea what was going on and quickly chattered on.

The matter itself wasn't complicated. Eldest Young Lady Shi Liuli had been cultivating in the Qi Refining Stage for several years and felt it would take a long time before her Sea of Qi was full. However, she was impatient with the slow process of refining Qi and went to pester Elder Shi Ding, asking if there was any way to quickly enter the Marrow Cleansing Stage.

Elder Shi Ding earnestly lectured her, explaining that cultivation was like eating; you had to eat bite by bite, and cultivation required taking steady steps. Aiming too high was not advisable.

These were undoubtedly words of wisdom from an experienced elder, but as one might expect, Eldest Young Lady Shi clearly didn't listen.

So, she went to pester the various Senior Brothers and Sisters, asking if there were any methods to speed up cultivation.

They all said in unison, "Cultivation is like eating..." In short, it was obvious they had coordinated their responses, which made Eldest Young Lady Shi throw a huge tantrum.

Finally, Senior Brother Linghu Chu couldn't help but let slip half a sentence, "The Li Palace is opening soon." Although he quickly stopped himself, Shi Liuli keenly remembered it.

"Li Palace," Luo Yan mused.

"Palace" clearly referred to a palace building.

"Li" most likely referred to the "Li" trigram from the Eight Trigrams.

According to the Book of Changes, "Li represents Fire, the Sun, Lightning, the middle daughter, armor, and weapons."

Therefore, "Li Palace" could very well be a palace built in a special environment, such as one filled with flames, solar heat, or lightning...

Seeing Luo Yan ponder without answering, Shi Liuli immediately got angry and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him violently:

"Help me or not, help me or not, help me or not..."

"Help!" Luo Yan almost fell apart from the shaking, "Of course, I'll help!"

"Senior Sister's matters are my matters!"

[Hypocritical persona, Synchronization Points +1.]

Entering the Li Palace storyline!