It was also Qi Yan's first time hearing someone else's voice come through the jade pendant. A thought stirred in his mind. "Don't cut the connection yet. Find a way for me to hear them without them hearing me."
Mu Xunzhen blinked. Much of her irritation faded, replaced by a little eagerness to try. "I can keep your voice from leaking out, Brother. I'll just pick it up with my divine sense."
"All right, then. Let's hear what crap they're spouting."
Though he could offer no boost whatsoever to her strength, Mu Xunzhen still felt as though she had someone backing her up. Her courage swelled considerably, and she hopped off her little bed with a thump and opened her cave abode's door.
Outside stood her sixth senior brother, Zhao Qiming, his face ashen and his lips pale, accompanied by a stern-faced middle-aged man.
Ever since the Essence-Draining Incantation had backfired on Zhao Qiming, not only had all the energy he seized been returned, but his meridians had also ruptured throughout his body, leaving him severely injured. Fortunately, the Wondrous God Sect was a powerful sect after all, and Eldest Senior Brother was highly skilled at refining pills and treating injuries. Reluctantly parting with some essence-nurturing grass to refine into pills, he had managed to drag Zhao Qiming back from death.
Even after recuperating for so long, he had yet to recover completely. His complexion made him look as though he had been gangbanged seventeen or eighteen times, and his cultivation had regressed considerably. Still, he could at least get up and about again, so he had come knocking.
The middle-aged man beside him was his uncle, Zhao Hong, a so-called outer peak steward. The Wondrous God Sect was a large sect encompassing a great deal. Besides the main peak, there were peaks belonging to the other elders, as well as specialized peaks for artifact refining, cultivation of plants, pill refining, and the like. From the perspective of the main peak where Mu Xunzhen lived, all of these were called "outer peaks."
His uncle Zhao Hong was a steward of Artifact Refining Peak. His cultivation was ordinary-at his age, he was only at the middle Golden Core stage-but his artifact-refining skills were passable.
Seeing Mu Xunzhen emerge, Zhao Qiming said bluntly, "Little Seven, you secretly cast a curse to harm your senior brother. Don't you owe me an explanation?"
Mu Xunzhen laughed in anger. "Who cast a curse to harm whom? Don't you know perfectly well? Where did you find the nerve to come barking at my door?"
Zhao Hong said coolly, "Qiming's body is now damaged, and his cultivation has declined. The evidence is conclusive. If you insist on denying it to the bitter end, come with me to the sect's Law Enforcement Hall and let the law enforcement elder decide."
Mu Xunzhen was about to blurt out, "Fine, let's go! I want to report you too!" Before she could speak, Qi Yan's urgent voice came through the jade pendant. "Don't go!"
Mu Xunzhen forcibly swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, her little face turning red with the effort.
Then Qi Yan continued rapidly, "If you go, you'll put yourself in the position of a suspect being interrogated. Most disciples on the other peaks don't know the details. All they'll know is that you're standing trial for plotting against your senior brother. Even if you're ultimately declared innocent, plenty of people will think the sect merely swept a major incident under the rug to hide its shame. Your reputation will be ruined."
Mu Xunzhen took a deep breath. That was right. As long as she peeled away the surface of these events and looked at their core-the "struggle for succession" between Eldest Senior Brother and herself-she could reach a conclusion: blackening her reputation was also an important tactic. Suppressing her did not necessarily have to involve cultivation and such.
She could not go to the Law Enforcement Hall. If she did go, it had to be the other way around: she would go to accuse Sixth Senior Brother, not to stand as the accused.
Fortunately, Brother A-Yan was listening. Otherwise, that single sentence would have led her into a trap.
When Mu Xunzhen remained silent for so long, Zhao Qiming assumed the little girl was afraid of the tribunal after all. He sneered. "You don't dare go? Fine. We can settle this within our main peak instead. Hand over your Azure Nether Sword, and we'll call it even."
Qi Yan said, "Tell him to scram."
Mu Xunzhen responded reflexively, "Scram!"
Zhao Qiming was dumbfounded. So was Zhao Hong.
It was one thing for this girl to bare her teeth at her senior brother, but Zhao Hong belonged to her martial uncle's generation. She dared shout "scram" at him too?
Feeling insulted and humiliated by a junior, Zhao Hong truly grew angry. "You little brat, defying your superiors and disrespecting your elders! You refuse the offered wine only to drink the wine of punishment! Then come with me to the Law Enforcement Hall, and we'll have this out!"
As he spoke, his large hand reached for Mu Xunzhen's shoulder.
Mu Xunzhen wanted to dodge, but Qi Yan's voice reached her ear. "Slash him!"
With no time to think further, Mu Xunzhen instinctively drew her sword and thrust straight for Zhao Hong's throat!
Even if Zhao Hong could have imagined that this girl might resist, he would never have expected her to draw her sword and strike so viciously. Cold sweat broke out all over him as he hastily dodged.
Fortunately, he was at the middle Golden Core stage, after all, and his raw cultivation was higher than Mu Xunzhen's. He narrowly evaded the sword.
Having already drawn her sword, Mu Xunzhen decided she might as well go all the way. Her sword light swept into a dazzling blaze as she unleashed her ultimate technique.
Zhao Hong had been completely unprepared for this turn of events. How could he respond in time? He could only hastily summon a small shield and barely block the blow. With a clang, the shield skewed sideways, and a deep, bloody gash opened across Zhao Hong's chest as he retreated through the air in disarray.
Zhao Qiming had been so stunned beside them that he had not reacted at all. Only now did he hastily shout, "Are you insane? Drawing your sword against an elder!"
Following Qi Yan's guidance, Mu Xunzhen gathered her breath and projected her voice far into the distance, making it audible across the side peaks. "The sect has its laws, and the main peak has its master. Since when did outsiders have the right to come bullying their way into the secluded cultivation grounds of the main peak's direct lineage and demand a lifebound sword? Zhao Hong, are you taking advantage of my master's seclusion to seize his position?"
Clutching the wound on his chest, Zhao Hong gaped in astonishment.
Different strands of divine sense swept over from the nearer side peaks. Senior elders of the sect were already paying attention.
Zhao Hong realized he could not keep arguing. Otherwise, not only would "bullying his way in to demand a lifebound weapon" remain an established fact, but this would also turn into a public confrontation over the Essence-Draining Incantation incident. He acted decisively, grabbing Zhao Qiming and turning to leave. "We're leaving first."
"You think you can come and go as you please? What do you take my home for?" Mu Xunzhen reached out and clenched her hand.
The shield that had blocked her sword broke free of Zhao Hong's control, forcibly seized into her hand. "This will serve as collateral. If you offend again, what you leave behind won't be a mere shield!"
Zhao Hong spat out another mouthful of blood and dragged Zhao Qiming away bitterly. "Let's go!"
Watching the two stagger away through the air, Mu Xunzhen cupped her hands toward all sides. "Sixth Senior Brother used the Essence-Draining Incantation on me, then had an elder from his family force his way to my door to steal my Azure Nether Sword. Grandfather Elders, please uphold justice."
The air fell silent for a while before an aged voice resounded across the peaks. "Zhao Hong, you have one day to treat your injuries. Come to the Law Enforcement Hall with Zhao Qiming first thing tomorrow morning."
The voice faded, and the mountains fell silent.
Her senior and junior brothers from the main peak hovered in midair, staring at Mu Xunzhen, every face blank with shock.
Those accusations from the moral high ground, that ruthlessness in thrusting her sword at an elder, that nastiness in snatching his shield in return-was this person really their seventh junior sister?
Mu Xunzhen's gaze swept over their stupefied faces, lingering on Eldest Senior Brother's for a breath in particular. With a faint sneer, she turned and entered her cave abode, shutting the door to visitors.
Only after she closed the door did the previously fierce Mu Xunzhen realize she was drenched in cold sweat. Her little heart hammered, and she even felt somewhat drained. Slashing at an elder with her sword and blowing the affair up like this had been frightening, yet so exhilarating and thrilling.
So exhilarating that she barely recognized herself.
It turned out there was a wild streak hidden in her heart too. She really was not as meek as she had once thought.
Most importantly, however she looked at it, this had been the right move, with nothing wrong about it-unless the sect's elders insisted on showing favoritism... Yet even if they did, at most they could give both sides thirty harmless strokes of the paddle. It would be difficult to target her specifically.
"Thank you, Brother A-Yan." Mu Xunzhen took out the jade pendant, her expression still full of excited satisfaction. "If not for you, I would have fallen right into their trap, never mind feeling this exhilarated. You're so clever, Brother."
"This doesn't have much to do with cleverness. Some things fall under worldly wisdom. Once you have experience, you might understand them even better than I do." Qi Yan spoke very seriously. "What I really want to teach you is self-reliance and courage. Don't place too much hope in others. Even if the sect won't help you someday, you'll still have your own sword."
Mu Xunzhen's eyes shone. "I understand."
"When I say not to place too much hope in others, that includes me." Qi Yan said earnestly, "This time, going nearly a month without seeing each other has already sounded a warning. We can't always contact and help each other. Only your sword will always be at your side."
Mu Xunzhen pursed her lips. Though she knew these were words of gold and jade, she still did not particularly like hearing them. "Brother A-Yan..."
"All right." Qi Yan suddenly laughed. "Someone with no sense interrupted our chat just now. We weren't finished yet."
Mu Xunzhen laughed too. "The story of my entrance assessment back then? Yes, here's how it went... The first test looked like a test of comprehension. They gave us a passage from a cultivation method to see how much we could decipher. In reality, it tested our character, because the cultivation method was made up. Anyone who read it would think it was bullshit."
Qi Yan found this very interesting. "So you said outright that it was bullshit?"
"Right. Lots of people thought such a great sect couldn't possibly make up some bullshit cultivation method for people to read, so they racked their brains, determined to squeeze out one interpretation after another. I was the only one who said outright that the cultivation method was wrong, that following it wouldn't let anyone cultivate anything, and asked whether they'd given us the wrong test. The others taking the assessment even laughed at me. In the end, I was the only one who passed. Hehe."
Qi Yan thought that this test revealed the greater whole through a small detail. It tested honesty, courage, and a refusal to blindly believe in a "great sect," along with dedication to "seeking truth" and firmness in one's own judgment. Great sects really did have something to them.
The purer a person was, the more likely they were to answer this question correctly. Yet someone like him, who had grown up taking exams, rarely considered whether the test paper itself might be wrong. Instead, he would back himself into a corner, desperately wondering whether he had failed to understand some sentence properly. If he had taken this test, there was a very good chance he would have been screwed.
Though every sect surely had different assessment methods, this still broadened his knowledge and his thinking. Perhaps he could draw on it if he encountered a similar situation. Increasingly interested, Qi Yan asked, "What about the second test?"
"The second test went like this..."
Including their earlier conversation, this "phone marathon" simmered for more than an incense stick's worth of time. Compared with the previous two and a half minutes, it highlighted just how important Qi Yan's leap from the Qi Refining First Layer to the third layer had been.
After ending the call, Qi Yan carefully put away the jade pendant and stood before the inn's window, looking into the distance toward the Heavenly Evolution Sect.
Heavenly Evolution Sect... here I come.