The List, Meng Weiyi of White Emperor City, Fanyin?

"Your Highness, this is the proposed list of disciples for the Divine Maiden Sect's current recruitment. Please review it."

Ye Luoxue respectfully presented a black booklet stamped with gold to Qi Zhaoyue with both hands.

Qi Zhaoyue raised her hand to take the booklet and slowly opened it.

Ye Luoxue continued, "The first page lists twelve people I selected whose talents are exceptional or fairly good, suitable for nurturing as core disciples."

"The next three pages list ordinary disciples with average talent who can remain in the sect to handle miscellaneous chores, two hundred and eighteen in total."

"In addition, several thousand others had poor aptitude and were unfit for any great use."

"I have already rejected them and sent them down the mountain."

Qi Zhaoyue nodded without answering and looked at the first page instead.

There were twelve columns in all, each clearly recording a disciple's name, age, background, cultivation, and estimated talent.

Qi Zhaoyue's dark brows drew together slightly, and she shook her head, her gold dangling hairpin swaying charmingly amid her flowing black tresses.

"In the end, it was still too rushed. Female cultivators from slightly more distant cities couldn't make it in time..."

"But that doesn't matter. After all, the Divine Maiden Sect is different from those immortal sects. We don't recruit only at set intervals. Anyone with suitable aptitude can join at any time."

As Qi Zhaoyue thought this, she raised her slender, fair hand and lightly drew her red little fingernail across eight of the names.

"Sister, what does that mean?"

Qi Lanxing had been peering curiously at the booklet the whole time. Seeing this, she could not help tilting her little head up and asking:

"Are these eight people going to receive special training?"

Yet the moment she finished speaking, the eight names Qi Zhaoyue's nail had crossed out, along with all the information beside them...

Turned charred black as though burned by flames, then slowly faded away.

In the end, only eight faint blank traces remained.

Qi Zhaoyue closed the booklet and casually tossed it to Ye Luoxue beside her.

"No. These eight are to be executed."

"?"

Qi Lanxing's little face filled with astonishment. "Executed?!"

"There are only twelve suitable disciples altogether, and you're going to kill eight of them at once, Sister?"

"Could these eight..."

"All be spies sent by other forces?"

"More than that." Qi Zhaoyue nodded impassively, then turned and walked toward the Divine Maiden Sect's square below.

The hem of her red palace gown brushed over the grass, making white lotuses bloom one after another.

"Everyone has their own value."

"These eight have little value alive. Dead, they will serve a greater purpose."

Her tone was calm, without the slightest ripple.

If they were merely spies other forces had planted in the Divine Maiden Sect, Qi Zhaoyue would not have cared in the slightest, nor would she have killed them.

She was confident that the source essence of Xu Changsheng's Divine Yang Sacred Physique was a supreme "heavenly material and earthly treasure" no female cultivator in this world could refuse.

With the additional restrictions of the Heavenly Dao Contract, once they entered the Lotus Grotto-Heaven, they could never divulge even the slightest hint of Xu Changsheng's existence in any form.

Unfortunately, these eight were far too ordinary.

Their talents were fairly good, but only fairly good, nowhere near the finest in the world.

As for their looks, they could only be considered delicate and pleasant-the sort one would lose in a crowd.

If she brought these eight to Xu Changsheng...

Qi Zhaoyue did not even need to think about it. Xu Changsheng would probably teach her another lesson, such as putting her on the stone chess table in the bamboo grove and making her "embarrass herself," or leading her around blindfolded...

Even merely imagining it made Qi Zhaoyue's ears redden slightly. It felt utterly absurd.

"I don't want that..."

Since that was the case, their deaths would be of the greatest use.

She would use these eight heads to remind every force coveting her: sending spies to the Divine Maiden Sect was fine, but next time, remember to send good-looking ones with top-tier aptitude.

Otherwise, only death awaited!

As for the remaining ones whose looks, aptitude, or cultivation were of some use, Qi Zhaoyue had kept them despite knowing full well that they harbored ulterior purposes.

Ye Luoxue caught the booklet, lowered her head to glance at the remaining names, and cupped her hands toward Qi Zhaoyue's retreating figure without asking another question.

A flash of black-red bloodlight passed, and her figure vanished from the spot.

Almost simultaneously, several extremely faint sounds of explosive combat rang out within the Divine Maiden Sect, brief and muffled.

They lasted less than three seconds before silence returned.

By the time Qi Zhaoyue arrived at the Divine Maiden Sect's square with Qi Lanxing, the bloodstains on the ground had already been cleaned away.

Ye Luoxue was wiping the blood from the blade of her Tang-style straight saber with a piece of white silk.

Seeing Qi Zhaoyue approach, Ye Luoxue immediately sheathed her saber and dropped to one knee. "Your Highness, all have been dealt with."

Qi Zhaoyue nodded.

When the disciples saw Qi Zhaoyue enter, they all immediately bowed in greeting and said in unison, "Greetings, Sect Master!"

Their perfectly synchronized voices echoed through the great hall.

Qi Zhaoyue nodded.

Barring anything unexpected, those two hundred-odd people would merely be expendables. Qi Zhaoyue paid them little attention, instead carefully examining the four people nearby.

The first on the left was none other than Zhu Xiaoliang, the Heaven Sect's junior sister she had just met.

At the sight of Qi Zhaoyue, two shallow dimples instantly appeared on her innocent little face. A trace of barely concealed excitement still lingered in her eyes; clearly, she was still thinking about tonight's trip to the secret realm.

Beside Zhu Xiaoliang stood a young woman in a white scholar's dress.

Her bearing was gentle and graceful, with a faint scholarly air between her brows. With little expression on her face, she stood quietly, like a secluded orchid in an empty valley.

"Xu Qingci of White Deer Academy."

Looking at her, Qi Zhaoyue sighed inwardly.

White Deer Academy truly lived up to its legacy of standing firm for tens of thousands of years. They had actually sent Xu Qingci, the one most likely to advance to the Confucian Master Realm after the female master Xu Jianjia.

It seemed White Deer Academy was placing its bet.

Sensing Qi Zhaoyue's gaze, Xu Qingci raised her head slightly and bowed to her with a proper Confucian salute. "Xu Qingci greets the Princess Royal."

Qi Zhaoyue returned the salute. "When you see Master Jianjia, give her my regards."

Xu Qingci nodded.

The third was a young woman in a long red dress.

Her skin surpassed snow, her features were beautiful, and a faint heroic spirit lingered between her brows. Her expression was neither servile nor overbearing.

"Meng Weiyi, from the Meng Household of White Emperor City?" Qi Zhaoyue asked.

"Yes, Your Highness Zhaoyue."

Meng Weiyi bowed slightly, her voice clear and pleasing, her expression natural, without the slightest constraint or flattery.

"The Meng Household of White Emperor City..."

Qi Zhaoyue asked no more.

Finally, her gaze fell on the young woman standing at the far right.

She was the most unusual of the four. Extremely thin and frail, she wore coarse hemp clothing washed nearly white, with several patches sewn onto it.

Her hair was very long, covering almost her entire face. Only a little of her pale chin and a pair of very thin, small hands were visible.

With her head lowered, she clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, her body trembling slightly, looking particularly timid.

"Fanyin?"

"Do you have a surname?"