Upon hearing this, Chen Qingyi's face turned deathly pale.
Hearing the increasingly clear and dense footsteps outside the courtyard, her expression became visibly flustered, and the composure she had been maintaining vanished instantly like a burst bubble.
The knuckles of his fingers, gripping the teacup tightly, turned white from the force and trembled slightly as he stammered, "I..."
She knew, of course, who was coming from outside the courtyard; it was most likely Liu Qian, the gatekeeper who had been ordered to cause her Trouble.
His most capable henchman, Mo Mingzhu, a fellow disciple.
In fact, Chen Qingyi is by no means the kind of innocent girl who would let others bully her.
His impoverished family background from childhood prevented him from developing that kind of innocent personality.
On the contrary, she knew perfectly well that even for the Great Sheng Immortal Sect, it was perfectly normal to encounter envy and jealousy from others because of their own talent.
The correct approach is to fight back immediately after being bullied.
Chen Qingyi did exactly that, and with extremely fierce momentum. In the first conflict, she even disregarded the damage to her Meridians and desperately tried to break Liu Qian's nose!
However, unlike in the past, the other party did not back down because of her desperate stance.
Instead, they intensified their efforts, deploying even more terrifying external forces against her. During a mission in the Soul Severing Valley, she would never have returned alive if she hadn't been afraid of going too far and attracting criticism from the sect's disciples.
Finally, Chen Qingyi gave in.
She knew she was all alone; ever since she stumbled upon something she shouldn't have known, she had lost ninety-nine percent of her chances of survival.
If Mo Mingzhu hadn't been amazed by her talent, she would probably have died long ago.
As for her elder brother, who is serving as the Yao Xuan Envoy in a distant prefecture... he has already helped her far too much. There's no reason for him to offend Mo Mingzhu, a fellow disciple who is at the height of his Immortal Sect, because of his younger sister.
Therefore, she chose to temporarily avoid confrontation.
Once I've achieved some success in my cultivation at the Immortal Sect and broken through to the Dao Evolution Realm, I should be able to break the Mo Family's restrictions at my Qi Sea and return to Dragon Pool to assist my elder brother.
Before this, if Meridians were damaged, one would go to the Rear Mountain to find medicine to heal the wounds; if one's mind was lacking, one would ask the staff at the Pill Cauldron Department to refine some pills at a low price...
They were still managing to get by, albeit barely.
But in this particular situation, with her long-lost brother coming to visit, she really didn't know how to avoid him!
Just like right now, she doesn't know what to do!
"Qingyi?" Chen Chuan's smile froze. He keenly sensed that his sister's reaction was extremely abnormal, which was definitely not how one should greet an ordinary visitor.
An ominous premonition instantly gripped his heart, forcing him to straighten up slightly.
Bang!
Just then, the courtyard gate was violently kicked open!
A strange woman dressed in the robes of the Immortal Sect steward, clearly of higher status, stepped in first.
It was Liu Qian.
Her chin was held high, her venomous gaze piercing Chen Qingyi beside the table, and she sneered:
"Oh, hiding in your room so early in the morning, are you afraid to see anyone? Or did you steal Spirit Medicine from the peak and get caught by your fellow disciples, and you're feeling guilty and scared?"
The slightly shrill voice completely shattered the tranquility of the courtyard.
The two female disciples in inner courtyard robes following behind Chen Qingyi looked at her with a hint of schadenfreude, and subtly blocked the only courtyard gate.
Chen Qingyi suddenly stood up, her face turning from white to pale:
"Senior Sister Liu! I already made it clear yesterday that I didn't take it, and I agreed to let you search the mountain, so why are you still being so aggressive today?!"
"Am I being aggressive?" Liu Qian scoffed.
"Who told you to repeatedly tell others yesterday to search quickly, that you had important things to deal with tomorrow? To me, that just meant you wanted to sell the stolen goods today!"
"Furthermore, your injuries have healed far too quickly these past few days. If you didn't steal the Spirit Medicine, how did you manage to do that?"
Having said that, he didn't wait for Chen Qingyi's response.
She walked straight into the courtyard, her gaze sweeping over Chen Chuan and Ye Li at the table, her brows furrowing.
"Who are these two? You dare bring outsiders into the inner courtyard disciples' quarters? You've got some nerve! Looks like the lesson I taught you last time wasn't severe enough!"
As she spoke, her gaze fell on Chen Chuan. Seeing that he was wearing the uniform of a military officer of the Great Sheng Dynasty, but thankfully his rank was not high, she scoffed at him even more.
"So you're just a nobody official? What, you think bringing in a brother who works in the Nine Luminaries Division will protect you?"
Enraged, Chen Chuan abruptly stood up, blocking his sister's path, his voice low and suppressed. "Young lady! Please show some respect!"
"My sister is an inner disciple of the Shangqing Palace, not someone you can slander and bully! Don't try to defame her!"
"Boy, where do you think you are?" Liu Qian's eyes narrowed slightly, her sneer deepening.
"This is the Shangqing Palace! Who do you think you are? How dare you lecture me?!"
"Let me tell you, as long as Chen Qingyi stays on Green Luan Peak, if I say she stole, then she stole! If I say she deserves punishment, then she has to accept it!"
"Brother!" Chen Qingyi was extremely anxious and quickly stepped forward to grab Chen Chuan's arm.
The brother and sister were outnumbered and outmatched. If a conflict broke out here, given Mo Mingzhu's temperament, they might not even be able to leave Green Luan Peak!
"..."
Chen Chuan finally understood what was going on, his face turned ashen, and he stood frozen in place.
Liu Qian immediately took a step forward, unleashing her Martial Dao pressure as a cultivator in the early stages of the Dao Evolution Realm without restraint. This caused Chen Chuan's expression to change drastically, and at the same time, she stared directly at Chen Qingyi, coldly saying:
"Watch your mouth! Don't say anything you shouldn't, or else..."
She didn't finish her sentence.
But the threat in her words was already obvious, and anyone should have understood what she meant.
However, it was such a straightforward statement.
But an untimely young voice still rang in her ear:
"Otherwise, what?"
Liu Qian looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the silent Boy in Black had put down his teacup and was looking at her with great interest.
It was clearly an invitation for her to continue speaking.
"..."
Liu Qian frowned.
A faint Martial Dao aura was quietly emanating from the other person, which made her instinctively sense a slight threat.
The sheer aura emanating from him is so vast; it's hard to believe this person isn't an ally of the Imperial Court invited by the Chen siblings...
Thinking of this, Liu Qian chose not to confront the other party directly, and instead looked at Chen Qingyi, whose lips were tightly pursed, and said lightly:
"Get ready and get out here! I'm waiting outside!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Qingyi trembled violently, clearly having foreseen her fate.
In the past, she could have gritted her teeth and endured it, but now that her older brother, with whom she had supported each other since childhood, was present, she found it impossible to take that step!
Liu Qian ignored her despair and was about to continue pressuring her when that slightly cold young voice rang in her ears again:
"I'm asking you, what else can I do?"
As the words fell, an overwhelming Martial Dao pressure, so immense it made one's scalp tingle, suddenly descended upon the courtyard!
Liu Qian, who was directly in the line of fire, had a drastic change in expression!
She hurriedly summoned the Magic Power within her body, and specks of light emanated from her skin as she used all her strength to try to escape the courtyard!
As a deacon of the Immortal Sect, she had no need to confront the other party directly!
Once they leave Green Luan Peak, even a single Law Enforcement Elder on duty within the palace could cause Chen Qingyi and her companions a major disaster!
"You like using your hands, huh? You'll be crying later!"
She roared inwardly, but the next moment, an irresistible, supreme pressure pressed down heavily on her!
Boom!!
An unimaginable, terrifying pressure surged forth like a tidal wave, easily pinning her to the spot and crushing her two legs, which she had strained with all her might!
The two Inner Sect Disciple behind him looked even more miserable.
They didn't even have time to react before they were slammed to the ground like stalks of wheat swept by a gale, by that vast and abyss-like pressure!
The sounds of bones shattering echoed, and screams of agony were barely escaping their throats before being choked back by even greater pressure!
Under this immense pressure, the entire Green Luan Peak trembled slightly!