The Stolen Credit
Sang Ying closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself not to think about those scenes.
"Sang Ying" had heard many such remarks in the original book. Almost every male cultivator on good terms with Su Fuyun had spared no effort in mocking her with the most vicious words.
If Su Fuyun was a cloud in the sky, then "Sang Ying" was rotten mud in a deep ditch, the kind people would disdain even to step on.
When Sang Ying first read the original book, she had wondered why those people bore her so much malice for no reason. Only after she finished the whole book did she understand. The value of her existence was to set off Su Fuyun's goodness and kindness. The more those people liked Su Fuyun, the more they hated her.
Sang Ying was not angry about it. She only wondered whether cultivators who acted on personal likes and dislikes and took every whisper of wind for rain could really ascend and become immortals as the book described, rather than get themselves killed through sheer stupidity.
Now, after hearing the rumors all over the city, Sang Ying finally understood. They were not stupid; they simply stood to gain more by helping Su Fuyun.
After all, in the book, Su Fuyun was the so-called daughter of destiny. If knocking "Sang Ying" down from the clouds could win Su Fuyun's favor and bring benefits besides, who wouldn't want to have a hand in it?
Having thought it through, Sang Ying silently closed her eyes for a moment.
The Rogue Cultivator beside her was still praising the man to the skies for being so young and accomplished, killing a Nascent Soul Devil Cultivator with Golden Core cultivation. He said that with such skill, the man could probably even earn a place on the Heaven's Chosen Ranking.
Sang Ying stopped listening after that, but the Heaven's Chosen Ranking he mentioned caught her attention.
The words Heaven's Chosen Ranking had appeared many times in the original book. Its origins could no longer be traced, but people in the cultivation world said the stone stele had appeared when heaven and earth were born from primordial chaos.
Only later, after cultivators and a proper cultivation system emerged, did the Heaven's Chosen Ranking truly reveal its purpose-to select the finest young Golden Core cultivators in the entire cultivation world.
There were only a hundred places on the Heaven's Chosen Ranking, and only those who reached Golden Core before the age of fifty were eligible. Those whose names appeared on it all undoubtedly went on to become pillars of the cultivation world.
Moreover, the Heaven's Chosen Ranking included not only cultivators from the Twin Orchid Realm, but also heaven's chosen from several other small worlds. That was why it was called the Heaven's Chosen Ranking.
In the book, Su Fuyun had also made the Heaven's Chosen Ranking, right after she took Sang Ying's Spirit Root and achieved Core Formation in one stroke.
"Did the Cold Crow Devil Lord really die at the hands of that Liu Yuzhi from the Sound Killing Sect? Fellow Daoist Sang Ying, do you know anything about it?" Liu Yuzhi was the name of that Sound Killing Sect disciple. Although Nan Gurong did not know how Sang Ying had escaped that day, she felt the matter was not as simple as the rumors claimed.
Sang Ying was just about to reply when a sudden commotion broke out in the street.
At the source of the commotion was a group of cultivators approaching from nearby, dressed in splendid robes and radiating an imposing presence. Green bamboo patterns were embroidered on their robes, and anyone with a discerning eye could tell at a glance that they were the Sound Killing Sect's ceremonial robes.
This was because its first sect master had originally used bamboo leaves as Law Artifacts. After he founded the Sound Killing Sect, he had bamboo leaves embroidered on all the disciples' robes.
"Look, that heaven's chosen from the Sound Killing Sect is out!" Someone shouted, and the street immediately erupted with excitement.
It was not that a Golden Core cultivator was particularly extraordinary, but Liu Yuzhi's killing of a Devil Cultivator above his own realm was so astonishing that it had set everyone talking.
Though so many people were talking about him, Liu Yuzhi acted as though he had not heard a word, going about his business as usual. His poised and easy manner drew even more attention.
Sang Ying glanced at him from afar, then lowered her lashes to hide her gaze. There's plenty of time ahead. Just wait!
Sang Ying and her companions were waiting only to deal with the poison in the girls' bodies before hurrying back to the Plain Robe Pavilion. She had no idea that Liu Yuzhi, who had gained a fine reputation by killing the Cold Crow Devil Lord, was far less happy than she imagined.
For one thing, many of Liu Yuzhi's fellow disciples had been present when they encountered the Cold Crow Devil Lord that day. They knew perfectly well that the Cold Crow Devil Lord had already been gravely injured, and that, with their whole group attacking together, they naturally would not have given him a chance to leave alive.
The so-called killing across realms amounted to no more than the final blow that had taken the Cold Crow Devil Lord's life coming from Liu Yuzhi's hand.
Now he had claimed all the credit for himself. Apart from one junior sister who had sided with him without a word, the other junior brothers all had complaints, leaving Liu Yuzhi worried that they would go out and talk.
For another, ever since the story spread, he had found a letter beside his bed every day. When he opened them, every one demanded to know whether he had taken anything from the Cold Crow Devil Lord, or else asked him outright where the Cold Crow Devil Lord's corpse was.
Heaven knew that, to eliminate future trouble once and for all, he had disposed of the Cold Crow Devil Lord's corpse on the spot. As for his Storage Bag, Liu Yuzhi's junior sister had said that the Devil Cultivator was skilled with poisons, and there might be some unusual poison inside it.
Though the group thought it a pity, they had disposed of the Cold Crow Devil Lord's Storage Bag as well.
So now, when someone asked Liu Yuzhi for the item, he truly had nothing to hand over.
If he had not obtained so much as half a benefit, how could he have let his junior sister spread the story and attribute it to him for the sake of such empty fame?
All these things had vexed him endlessly. Moreover, the other party had delivered the letters to his bedside right under the nose of a Golden Core Realm cultivator like him, without leaving the slightest trace. There was no telling how much higher the other party's cultivation was than his.
Liu Yuzhi had never imagined that one Cold Crow Devil Lord would bring him even greater trouble.
He did want to tell his master about it, but Liu Yuzhi's master was still in seclusion. The letter, meanwhile, had warned him long ago that if he dared tell anyone about the matter, he would die silently in White Foothill City.
Liu Yuzhi was utterly terrified.
The most recent letter had given him a deadline. If he could not produce the item when the time came, he feared he really would meet with disaster.
In an elegant residence somewhere in White Foothill City.
A lovely young woman could now only wrap her face in black gauze, leaving a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes exposed.
She had not a trace of Spiritual Qi in her body, but the whip she clutched was exceptionally fearsome. Every time it struck someone, it left a deep scar.
Because wounds like these were not caused by a Law Artifact, they could be healed with ordinary spirit medicine. But the young woman would not allow her servants to use medicine, insisting that they be left covered in scars.
After lashing another maidservant's face to ruin, the woman in black gauze tossed aside her whip and furiously demanded of the steward, "Didn't Father say he would cure me? That useless Cold Crow Devil Lord spent so long at it and accomplished nothing, and now he's been killed by some Golden Core Realm cultivator. He's dead, so what am I supposed to do about my face?!"
The steward had served his master for many years and had plenty to rely on, so he was not afraid of the young lady's questioning. "The Cold Crow Devil Lord is dead, but his things were left behind. Once we get an answer out of that Sound Killing Sect cultivator, we'll have something to show for it. Besides..."
"Young lady, you may not know this, but the girls from Listening Willow Village are said to have all recovered."
The young woman in black gauze immediately widened her eyes. "Who cured them?!" A hint of madness showed in her round almond-shaped eyes.
The steward chuckled. "Master has sent people to investigate. I believe you'll be able to meet that person soon, young lady."
As for whether that person was willing to come, that would not be up to her!