“When she was making a name for herself in the Central Continent, you were still at home all day, dreaming over those storybooks,” Qian Feixue added.
Four years ago, Hua Jian became famous in the Central Continent with a single battle.
At that time, Qian Feixu was only twelve, just an ordinary young lady of the Qian family.
Apart from having the legendary First Celestial Maiden Under Heaven, Saintess Linglong, as her idol, she was no different from any other Qian girl.
“When she was sixteen, she managed to sabotage the Saint Sect’s Ascension Gathering and dismantle a Secret Realm. Now look at you—you’re all over the place every day.”
‘That’s true… Wait, no, that’s wrong, terribly wrong! The Ascension Gathering wasn’t my fault! I did eat an entire Secret Realm, but that was forced on me. I was set up by Wanhuagu—it wasn’t my doing!’
“I didn’t do it!”
“If not you, then who?” Qian Feixue didn’t believe Hua Jian’s words at all.
“It was the elders’ plan. I was just a small, easily replaceable cog. I can’t take all the credit.”
Qian Feixue rolled her eyes. “We’re all foxes that have been around for a thousand years—don’t play tricks here. You can say that to the people of Wanhuagu to flatter the elders, but why say that in front of your elder sister? Are you treating me as an outsider?”
“Your elders say the credit is yours, so it’s yours.” Qian Feixue insisted that Hua Jian was the culprit behind the Ascension Gathering incident. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? You are the Wanhua Saintess. This is your achievement!”
Hua Jian wanted to explain further, but Qian Feixue didn’t give her the chance and directly moved on to the next topic.
Her visit this time—catching Qian Feixu to discipline her properly—was just a side trip.
Informing Hua Jian of another matter was the real purpose.
In fact, even if Hua Jian hadn’t called her because of Qian Feixu, she would have come uninvited.
After all, another Saintess was about to arrive in Frozen Winter City soon.
If Hua Jian didn’t know about this in advance and they ran into each other on the street, the scene would be hard to describe.
“Linglong, the Saintess of Yaochi, will arrive at Frozen Winter City tomorrow with the Yaochi support team. She will stay in the city for a few days…”
“Saintess Linglong?! Sister Feixue, are you serious?” Before Hua Jian could react, Qian Feixu had already jumped up. What did she hear?
The Saintess Linglong of Yaochi was coming and would stay in Frozen Winter City for two days?
Oh my god! This was a godsend! She could finally meet her living, talking idol?
“What’s it to you? Stop making a fuss.”
“Cousin, I’m also a young lady of the Qian family. I can go welcome Saintess Linglong!”
“You know you’re a Qian family young lady? Don’t get so excited that you throw yourself into Saintess Linglong’s arms.”
Hua Jian picked up her tea cup, using it to hide her slightly changing expression.
Just as she thought, Linglong hadn’t forgotten their agreement and had come to the Northern Territory as well.
The thought that she might soon see the Little Dragon Girl made Hua Jian’s mood lighten, and the gloom she had accumulated over the past few days was almost swept away.
However… her current identity wasn’t suitable for approaching Linglong actively.
The cultivators of Yaochi weren’t as foolish as Qian Feixu—they wouldn’t fail to recognize her just because she changed clothes.
If Hua Jian went to find Linglong and was recognized by the Yaochi cultivators, the scene would be very awkward, and Linglong would be caught in a dilemma.
So Hua Jian had to be patient; she had to wait for Linglong to come to her.
On the other side, Qian Feixu was still pestering Qian Feixue, giving her a headache.
“The welcoming party has been decided long ago. Do you think welcoming a Saintess is some trivial matter? If you want to watch, just stand on the city wall and behave.”
Unlike the people from Wanhuagu, the Yaochi support team could appear openly.
The Qian family had to hold a large welcoming ceremony outside the city gate for these guests who had come from afar.
They would let everyone know that Frozen Winter City had visitors from the Yaochi Saint Sect, including the world-famous Saintess Linglong!
So this welcoming ceremony had a viewing platform—the city wall of Frozen Winter City.
At best, Qian Feixu could stand in the area closest to the ceremony. Forget about joining the welcoming party.
“Oh.” Qian Feixu looked a bit deflated, but the thought that Linglong would stay in the city for two days gave her a glimmer of hope. “Then I can take Saintess Linglong around to have fun the next two days!”
“The Saintess is busy with a thousand matters every day. She doesn’t have time to play childish games with you.”
“Then why isn’t this Saintess busy? She even tricked me and treated me like a child!”
Qian Feixu pointed at Hua Jian, who had put down her teacup and started fiddling with the Ice Lotus.
Hua Jian tilted her head, puzzled as to how she had been dragged into this topic.
Could a Saintess of the Magic Path be equated with a Saintess of the Right Path?
“She’s a Saintess of the Right Path, so she should do righteous things. I’m a Saintess of the Magic Path. If I did righteous things, would I still be called Magic Path?”
“Ah… well…” Qian Feixu opened her mouth but felt she couldn’t refute Hua Jian’s words.
Indeed, if a Magic Path Saintess did righteous things, could she still be called a Magic Path Saintess?
“Besides, the more I act like this, the more at ease you should be. It means I’m not up to no good.”
As she spoke, Hua Jian propped her chin up, as if suddenly interested. “But now that you mention it, I kind of want to go see that Saintess Linglong.”
“Are you thinking of doing something bad!” Qian Feixu immediately tensed up and tugged at Qian Feixue’s sleeve. “Sister Feixue, arrest her! She said she wants to do something bad!”
This protective attitude made Hua Jian feel both amused and exasperated.
She hadn’t even met Linglong yet, and this girl was already thinking about Linglong’s well-being.
If she later found out that the two Saintesses, whom she thought were mortal enemies, were actually good friends, wouldn’t this silly girl’s Dao heart collapse?
At that point, Qian Feixu wouldn’t start shouting ‘Don’t take Saintess Linglong away from me!’ and stab Hua Jian wildly, would she?
“Don’t worry. The Qian family and Wanhuagu have a good relationship. I wouldn’t do anything to embarrass you.” Hua Jian extended her finger and playfully made a small cross over her chest.
Then she looked at Qian Feixue. “I want to go to the city wall tomorrow too. Is that okay?”
Under Qian Feixu’s expectant gaze, Qian Feixue calmly nodded. She wasn’t worried at all about Hua Jian causing trouble tomorrow.
“Sister Feixue, how can you trust this villain!”
“Haha, I have my reasons for trusting her. Since Little Feixu doesn’t believe her, why don’t you be the one to watch her tomorrow and make sure she doesn’t do anything bad? How about that?”
“Me?”
“What, don’t you want to do your part for your Saintess Linglong?”
It was a clumsy provocation, but for Qian Feixu, a hardcore Linglong fan, its lethality was terrifying.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Qian Feixu nodded vigorously, promising that she would keep an eye on Hua Jian tomorrow and not let her make a single suspicious move!
Hua Jian shot Qian Feixue a look that said, ‘You’re so vicious.’
Don’t think she didn’t know—Qian Feixue said it was to let Qian Feixu watch over Hua Jian, but in reality, she was making Hua Jian babysit.
Truly a bad woman who could get along with Wanhuagu; when it came to using people, it was like they were taught by the same mother.
But when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Hua Jian couldn’t just blow up at Qian Feixue on the spot, could she?
Forget it, babysitting was fine. Qian Feixu was pretty nice to pat.
“Alright, Feixu, you’ll stay here tonight. I’m leaving now.” Seeing Hua Jian agree, Qian Feixue stood up with satisfaction and prepared to leave.
As soon as she walked out the door, Hua Jian and Qian Feixu both realized what she had said.
What did she mean by ‘Qian Feixu stays here tonight’?
“Cousin, don’t go…” Qian Feixu hurried to the door and opened it, but there was no sign of Qian Feixue. She had already vanished.
While Qian Feixu was dumbfounded, Hua Jian was pondering the reason behind Qian Feixue’s actions.
This woman was not simple. Four years ago, she was already very mysterious and had even helped her with the White Flower Venerable matter.
Sending Qian Feixu to stay here definitely had a deeper purpose.
Could it be that she wanted Hua Jian to use this one night to reverse her image in Qian Feixu’s mind, then use Qian Feixu to influence the Qian family, and finally turn the tide to salvage her notoriously bad reputation?
Some things were hard for Qian Feixue to say, but Qian Feixu could.
After all, this young lady of the Qian family was currently seen as a little troublemaker who liked to cause chaos.
Whatever she said wouldn’t raise suspicion. Having her spread the message that Hua Jian was a good person would be a great boon for Hua Jian!
Hua Jian nodded inwardly. She understood what she needed to do. Today was the key to turning her image around!
She walked over to Qian Feixu and patted her shoulder to calm her down.
“Stop shouting. She’s long gone. I’m not some man-eating monster. No need to be so scared.”
But Qian Feixu didn’t believe Hua Jian’s explanation at all. “I heard you love eating people, especially children!”
“Rumor! That’s definitely a rumor! Hey, who’s spreading this nonsense? What have they done to my reputation?” Hua Jian pulled Qian Feixu to sit down again and told her seriously that the story about eating people was absolutely false.
She wasn’t that bad or cruel. Besides, she had only been back from the Central Continent for four years, and those four years had been spent locked in a fruit shell, unable to get out.
Where could she go to eat people? Eat herself?
“I’ve been in closed-door cultivation for the past four years. The kind of deadlock where you can’t come out until you’re done. If you don’t believe me, ask them.”
Hua Jian pointed at Hua Xinrui and Xia Hui behind her. Being Hua Jian’s loyal little sidekicks, Hua Xinrui immediately backed her up, confirming that everything Hua Jian said was true.
She really hadn’t come out of the fruit shell for years.
“So the things you’ve heard are all rumors. I never did those things.”
“Then what about the Ascension Gathering thing? That can’t be fake, right?”
“Half true, half false. Actually, it didn’t have much to do with me.” Hua Jian spread her hands, but she thought Qian Feixu wouldn’t accept that explanation.
So she didn’t dwell on it. As long as she could change the bizarre image Qian Feixu had of her, that was enough.
For example, the idea that Hua Jian ate ten virgin boys and girls at every meal, or that her favorite hobby was going out into the streets to kidnap men and women for forced love—these ridiculous evil images had to be overturned!
“I may not be a good person, but I still want to walk the Immortal Path. Doing those things would violate the Dao and only cause trouble for myself.”
The most talented and gifted disciples of Wanhuagu all cultivated the Huashen Canon or one of its secret transmission techniques.
They didn’t need to use those Joy Valley Secret Methods to improve their cultivation.
The spiritual power cultivated that way was much more impure than normal spiritual power, making breakthroughs in cultivation stages more difficult.
Other than quickly improving cultivation within a single stage, there was no benefit at all.
Hearing this, Qian Feixu nodded vaguely. She roughly understood.
“So all those bad things are fake? You’re actually a good person?”
“Not really a good person, but the bad things are indeed fake.”
“Then why did you become the Wanhua Saintess?”
At this, Hua Jian couldn’t help but sigh. She didn’t want to be the Wanhua Saintess either.
If Wanhuagu hadn’t tricked her, she would now be the beloved little shimei on Lingcaifeng, instead of being the Jade Feet Saintess in this freezing cold place.
“It’s a sad story. I had already arranged things with Linglong…”
“Linglong? You dare to call Saintess Linglong by her name!” Qian Feixu glared at Hua Jian, furious that she would disrespect her idol.
Hua Jian directly slapped a hand on Qian Feixu’s head. “A little fan who hasn’t even met Linglong dares to talk to me about Linglong? Linglong and I are close friends. We’ve even kissed!”
“Your Saintess Linglong and I were good friends. Back then, we walked from that city in the Central Continent to Tianbei City, then crossed the Northern Mountains to Ascension City. We were just that close to becoming fellow disciples.”
Qian Feixu looked at Hua Jian like she was a liar.
“Just that close to becoming fellow disciples? You’re tricking a child! Saintess Linglong is such a cold and aloof person. How could she have a shameless friend like you? Even setting aside Hua Jian’s identity as the Wanhua Saintess, just looking at the things she’s done, there’s no connection to Linglong. Would a good friend of the Saintess sell her out twice? Would a good friend of the Saintess sneak into Frozen Winter Inner City in such ordinary clothes to buy flowers? Impossible! Saintess Linglong is so amazing. Her friends must also be amazing. Someone like Hua Jian isn’t worthy to stand by the Saintess!”
“Hmph, I won’t be fooled by you, you bad woman!”
“Don’t be so sure. What if Linglong and I really are friends? What will you do then?”
“Impossible! Saintess Linglong wouldn’t have a friend like you!”
“Oh? Then do you dare to bet with me?”
“Bet? Fine! If I win, you have to…”
“I’ll kneel before Linglong and shout ‘Saintess Linglong is invincible!’ But if you lose, you have to apologize to me properly.”
“Deal!”
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