Selection Begins

After the white-robed young man's strike, the merman vanished without a trace. Just as he was about to set off in pursuit, he suddenly seemed to sense something and turned to look in Song Zhizhi's direction.

Author's note:

Heroine: I want to become the strongest / woman in the cultivation world!

Heavenly Dao: Become the strongest / woman in the cultivation world? Received!

Selection Begins

Song Zhizhi's brow twitched. Before he could look over, she snapped the window shut.

Her instincts told her she could not let him see her.

Sword Venerable Mingxiao's cool phoenix eyes swept over the silent Myriad Sword City. A cultivator at his level was extremely sensitive to auras. Just then, he had sensed a familiar trace of one.

Was it her? An image involuntarily surfaced in Sword Venerable Mingxiao's mind: a slender, frail back that looked weak and languid, yet concealed stubbornness in her bones.

But when he turned to search, he found nothing at all.

Was it an illusion?

Sword Venerable Mingxiao frowned. He put away his natal sword and was about to enter the city to search when he suddenly received a voice transmission from the Sect Master.

"Junior Brother, a tide of sea demons has erupted in Extreme Sea City. They have asked the Sword Sect for help. Go deal with it at once."

Sword Venerable Mingxiao halted before entering the city. He put away the communication stone, turned, and flew away from Myriad Sword City on his sword.

Cool moonlight spilled over his ink-black hair. One man, one sword—his back carried a trace of loneliness beneath its coldness.

Song Zhizhi knew nothing of this. After witnessing what had happened outside the city, sleep fled from her. She sat cross-legged on her bed and cultivated diligently.

With her eyes closed, the white-robed man's strike kept replaying in her mind. It had looked simple, but it actually contained tens of thousands of wondrous variations. Without realizing it, she began simulating its opening stance, angle, and force in her mind...

As if she had gained some insight, the spiritual energy around her suddenly began flowing much faster.

Early the next morning, she went downstairs for breakfast. She deliberately listened for a while, but did not hear anyone discussing what had happened the night before.

There had been such a huge commotion last night. Had none of them heard it?

Although Song Zhizhi did not hear anyone discussing last night's events, she did witness some juicy gossip on the street: a cheating scumbag had been caught by his fiancée, and the two were making a scene in public.

After taking a stroll outside, Song Zhizhi returned to the inn, only to run into that quarrelling engaged couple again in the inn corridor.

The red-clad female cultivator pointed at the blue-clad man's nose and cursed, "Zhang Xing, how long have you been fooling around with that bitch named Bai? If I hadn't seen you embracing today, would I still be kept in the dark like a fool by the two of you?"

Zhang Xing frowned impatiently. "Chang Fei, is it interesting for you to make such an unreasonable scene? I already told you, Bai Qian and I are only ordinary senior and junior fellow disciples. Her cultivation has not been going well lately. I hugged her only to comfort her. I see her as a younger sister. Can you stop imagining such filthy things about our relationship?"

"Enough! Zhang Xing, do you think I'd believe your nonsense? I'm going back to tell my father about this right now! Our engagement is annulled. From now on, you marry whom you wish and I marry whom I wish—we'll have nothing to do with each other!"

"Can you stop making trouble?" Zhang Xing's face was full of disgust. "You only have three spiritual roots, you're spoiled by nature, and you can't endure hardship. Other than me, who would want you? Our engagement was arranged by both households' parents. Your Liu Household only has what it does today because of my Zhang Household. It isn't something you can cancel just because you say so."

"Aren't you simply jealous because Junior Sister Bai is prettier and gentler than you? Fine, I'll stay farther away from her in the future."

Listening to Zhang Xing's classic scumbag PUA routine, Song Zhizhi's blood pressure shot through the roof. Seeing the red-clad girl's face filled with conflict and pain, seemingly held in Zhang Xing's grip by those words, made it worse.

She could not help stepping forward. "Sister, don't think a scumbag like this will change. If there's no Junior Sister Bai today, there'll be Junior Sister Wang or Junior Sister Li tomorrow. A man cannot change his wandering heart, just as a dog cannot stop eating shit."

Zhang Xing stared at Song Zhizhi with a gloomy expression. "Who are you calling a dog?"

Song Zhizhi glanced at him and snorted. "Whoever reacts the most is the one."

She turned to the girl. "Sister, don't let him bluff you. Your happiness is more important than anything else. A scumbag like this deserves one hard kick. He's already flirting with every woman in sight right in front of you before you're even married. Clearly, he doesn't respect you at all. And you still expect a man like this to lift up your Liu Household?"

The girl clenched her fists, understanding flashing through her eyes. She said to Song Zhizhi, "You're right! I'll tell my father right away and have him go annul the engagement. A man like this isn't worth keeping!"

An anxious look appeared on Zhang Xing's face. "Fei'er, don't listen to her nonsense, I..."

Slap! Before Zhang Xing could finish, the girl swung a slap across his face. "Get lost!"

"You!" Zhang Xing covered his face in disbelief, instinctively raising his hand to strike back.

Song Zhizhi stepped in front of the girl. "What are you trying to do? Make trouble in Myriad Sword City? Let me tell you, there's a law enforcement patrol downstairs at the inn. Are you really going to cause trouble?"

Fighting was forbidden within Myriad Sword City. Violators would be seized by the law enforcers, sent to mine, and then driven out of the city.

Zhang Xing gritted his teeth and glared at Song Zhizhi with sinister eyes for several seconds. In the end, he flicked his sleeve and left. "Just you wait!"

Song Zhizhi was not afraid in the slightest. She would not leave the city gates even once for the next half month. Could Zhang Xing really block her forever?

After Zhang Xing left, the girl took a deep breath, composed herself, and thanked Song Zhizhi.

Song Zhizhi did not take this little incident to heart.

Time passed quickly while cultivating. In the blink of an eye, the day of the selection had arrived.

On the morning of the selection assembly, Song Zhizhi happened to break through the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining and enter the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining.

The Sword Sect's selection assembly accepted disciples aged fifteen and above, with no restrictions on spiritual roots. In other words, even those with five spiritual roots could participate in this selection.

On the day of the selection, Myriad Sword City was emptied of its people. The Sword Sect withdrew its mountain-protecting grand formation, and without its concealment, Song Zhizhi discovered that the Sword Sect's mountain gate stood not far outside the city.

Looking out from Myriad Sword City's gates, several towering, magnificent peaks wreathed in clouds and mist within the Sword Sect could be seen clearly. Several sword cultivators in white disciple robes flew between the peaks on flying swords, their movements drifting like floating clouds and flowing water.

Rankings

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Transmigration into a Book

Sweet Romance

Time Travel and Rebirth Romance

Tu Yanyan

Amnesia Trope