Today was the day of the Seven Star Sect’s once-every-thirty-years Saint Son and Saintess Selection Tournament.
In truth, the so-called “tournament” was simply a way to select candidates for the positions of Saint Son and Saintess.
When the current Saint Son or Saintess broke through to the Soul Formation Realm or stepped down, one of these candidates would be chosen.
Typically, each Saint Son or Saintess had three corresponding candidates.
The selection tournament lasted seven days, and on the final day, the winning candidates would be announced.
In the evening, it was naturally time for the banquet—a day of celebration and revelry for the entire sect.
Qin Mu had been sleeping soundly when, early in the morning, Miss Mengyu dragged him out of bed and began dressing him up.
As candidates for Saint Son and Saintess, Qin Mengyu and Qin Ruoshuang, being the current Saintesses, naturally needed to meet their own candidates.
The night air carried a slight chill, and moonlight spilled across the ground like a layer of silver frost.
To Qin Mu’s surprise, this world actually had formal attire!
Miss Mengyu had abandoned her usual pink clothing for the evening; tonight she wore a water-blue formal gown adorned with water-blue gems.
A layer of thin gauze covered her arms, revealing glimpses of her fair skin.
Miss Ruoshuang wore a red formal gown, its hem nearly trailing the ground.
Multiple layers of light gauze overlapped, and the deep V-neckline hinted at ample curves, though the sheer fabric concealed much, evoking a sense of absolute territory.
Upon arriving, both women instinctively linked arms with their little brother.
Qin Mu immediately felt the surrounding gazes.
Fortunately, Qin Mu had grown up under such stares and was long accustomed to them.
They had come to Sect Master Peak.
Compared to the peaks of the other sects, this place felt relatively quiet, though it was still quite crowded.
All the Saint Son and Saintess candidates had to attend here to receive the Sect Master’s official conferment.
With the arrival of the Qin Family sisters, the atmosphere around them grew somewhat tense.
In the current younger generation of the Seven Star Sect, the Qin Family sisters stood in a league of their own.
Not only did they outshine all the sect’s various heaven’s prides, but even the heaven’s prides across the entire Eastern Region struggled to breathe under their pressure.
The two Qin Family sisters completely ignored the stares and proceeded to the Sword Sect’s area.
There, the Sword Sect’s Saint Son and Saintess candidates had already arrived.
Qin Ruoshuang merely glanced at the crowd, lingered a bit longer on the Saintess candidates, then walked away without saying much—her personality was simply that aloof and cold.
Qin Mengyu, compared to her elder sister Qin Ruoshuang, was far more enthusiastic.
Arriving at the Dan Sect’s area, she spotted her own Saintess candidate—a young girl.
“I left in a hurry and didn’t prepare any gift. Take this bottle of pills.”
Qin Mengyu took out a bottle of pills and pressed it into the girl’s hands.
Not long after, an old man approached with a youth in tow.
The youth looked somewhat familiar to Qin Mu—Zhang Tao, if he remembered correctly.
The moment Zhang Tao saw Qin Mengyu, a flash of greed passed through his eyes, though he quickly concealed it.
The old man chuckled and said,
“Saintess, it has been far too long.”
The old man was Zhang Xun, Zhang Tao’s grandfather—a Soul Formation Realm elder of the Dan Sect.
Zhang Tao promptly greeted her as well.
“Saintess, long time no see. You remain as beautiful and captivating as ever.”
Facing Zhang Tao, Qin Mengyu naturally showed no warmth.
She replied coolly,
“If there’s nothing else, please step aside.”
Zhang Xun knew Qin Mengyu’s temperament.
Though she usually smiled at the sect’s disciples, no one could truly enter the depths of her heart.
Seeing Qin Mu receive the same cold treatment, Zhang Xun turned his gaze to the youth beside Qin Mengyu and smiled.
“And who might this young man be?”
Looking at the youth in ordinary clothes, Zhang Xun racked his brain but couldn’t recall anyone in the sect who could be so intimate with Qin Mengyu—arm in arm.
It was simply unbelievable.
Moreover, Qin Ruoshuang beside her was the same.
If it were only Qin Mengyu, he might accept it, but even Qin Ruoshuang acting this way left not only Zhang Xun stunned—Zhang Tao’s jaw nearly hit the floor.
The Sword Sect’s Saintess was infamous for her fiery temper; a single wrong look could lead to drawing her sword and striking.
Yet such a fierce figure was also holding this youth’s arm.
Seeing Zhang Xun actually trying to probe about Mu’er clearly crossed Qin Mengyu’s bottom line.
Probing her own affairs was one thing, but probing Mu’er was unacceptable!
“Elder Zhang, you’ve lived this long—you should understand that some things are not to be inquired about.”
With that, Qin Mengyu pulled Mu’er away.
Hearing this from Qin Mengyu, Zhang Xun’s old face flushed with anger.
In front of so many eyes, her words were practically slapping him in the face.
Even a clay figure had three parts fire.
“Saintess, I show you respect only because of your position. Don’t forget—I am also an elder of the Dan Sect. Your actions are also slapping the face of our Dan Sect’s Sect Master.”
Zhang Xun brought up the Dan Sect’s Sect Master—he intended to curb Qin Mengyu’s sharpness today.
Seeing the situation growing explosive, Qin Mu thought,
Oh no, are they actually going to fight?
Hearing the other side invoke the Dan Sect’s Sect Master, Qin Mengyu showed no fear whatsoever.
“Elder Zhang Xun, I’ll return those exact words to you unchanged. Don’t think bringing up the Sect Master will make me afraid of you.”
She, Qin Mengyu, hadn’t been raised to be intimidated.
If she were so easily frightened, the Qin Family would have long been controlled by others.
“Good, good, good! What an arrogant little girl!”
Zhang Xun’s beard trembled with rage.
“Then let this old man see just how strong the most monstrous Saintess in the Seven Star Sect truly is!”
The reason Zhang Xun acted and chose to clash with Qin Mengyu here was actually because he had the Elder Council’s backing.
Lately, the Sect Master had been increasingly suppressing the Elder Council, and the elders had long been dissatisfied.
Thus, they decided to let Zhang Xun first suppress the Qin Family sisters’ momentum today—everyone could see that the Qin Family sisters had an unusually close relationship with the Sect Master.
With the Elder Council’s support and their promise of great rewards regardless of success or failure, Zhang Xun had agreed.
Refusing wasn’t an option; though the Elder Council was currently weakened, dealing with him would still be easy.
Zhang Xun struck first.
True Qi of the Soul Formation Realm surged forth instantly.
“Ruoshuang, protect Mu’er!”
Qin Mengyu stepped forward.
Danfire gathered in her palm as she unleashed a strike.
Boom—
No one had expected such a thing to happen at what was supposed to be a lively banquet—an elder clashing with a Saintess.
Yet what shocked everyone even more was that the Dan Sect’s Saintess could actually exchange blows evenly with a Soul Formation Realm elder!
Bang—
Qin Mengyu retreated several steps, and on the opposite side, Zhang Xun also stepped back several paces.
Zhang Xun never imagined Qin Mengyu’s strength had reached such a terrifying level.
With only Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, she could contend with Soul Formation Realm.
In truth, it was mainly because Zhang Xun’s own strength was relatively low—early Soul Formation Realm, achieved just ten years ago.
Against a mid-stage Soul Formation Realm cultivator, or one who had been in early stage for nearly a hundred years, it would still be very difficult; she would need to team up with Ruoshuang to have a real chance of winning.
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