“Do you need to take a break?” The Elder tugged at his beard and asked Su Lingling.
In response to the Elder’s question, Su Lingling maintained her icy persona, replying coldly, “No need, let’s continue.”
After speaking, Su Lingling once again stepped onto the Martial Arena, sword on her back, waiting for the next opponent.
The remaining three Challengers looked at Su Lingling’s emotionless eyes and felt utterly ignored—this was the contempt of the strong towards the weak! It made them angry and powerless; the gap in strength was simply too great…
“Hehe, I must look really cool right now, right? I wonder what Father and Mother think?”
Su Lingling’s empty gaze was just her spacing out during the start of the battle, inwardly delighting in her own performance.
Returning to herself, Su Lingling glanced toward Su Changfeng and Liu Qingyao’s direction, only to see them surrounded by others, faces full of undisguised pride.
When Su Lingling looked over, she saw her father laughing heartily and chatting with another burly man.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded in front of Su Lingling. A girl with delicate features and a shy demeanor stepped forward.
“Senior Martial Sister, my name is Ming Xi. Please give me your guidance…”
“We are of the same generation; there’s no need to call me Senior Martial Sister. Just use my name.”
“But… according to the Sect Rules, as an ordinary disciple, I should address you as Senior Martial Sister or Sword Bearer to show order and respect.”
“……”
“As you wish.”
After a few brief exchanges, the two fell silent, each taking up a combat stance. The battle was about to erupt!
Ming Xi attacked first. Three Flying Swords materialized beside her, darting rapidly toward Su Lingling, launching attacks from multiple angles!
The coordination of these three Flying Swords was extremely tricky.
Working together, even Su Lingling had to parry and dodge at the same time. Staying in one place too long would surely get her hit!
But this didn’t mean Ming Xi was that much stronger than Zhao Tieniu.
It was obvious Ming Xi lacked close combat prowess; if someone got in close, she would surely lose.
Until now, no one had managed to approach her under the assault of three Flying Swords—but for Su Lingling, this was not a problem!
With a powerful push off the ground, Su Lingling charged toward Ming Xi.
The three Flying Swords immediately flew back in a flurry to block her, but Su Lingling’s footwork was light.
With a leap, she dodged two swords and landed on the third, using it as leverage to launch herself right next to Ming Xi!
Ming Xi’s reaction was sharp; she instinctively raised her own sword to block.
But if even Zhao Tieniu couldn’t face Su Lingling head-on, how could Ming Xi?
The sword slipped from Ming Xi’s hand, and she staggered, almost falling—until a slender hand caught her waist.
Recovering from her panic, Ming Xi heard the clatter of her own sword hitting the ground.
Standing before her was Su Lingling, her face still cold but eyes filled with concern.
One hand held her sword; the other supported Ming Xi’s waist.
With her hair flowing lightly, Ming Xi could even catch a faint, clean fragrance.
“Are you alright?”
“I-I’m fine, thank you, Senior Martial Sister…”
After helping Ming Xi to her feet, Su Lingling nodded and returned to the edge of the Martial Arena, waiting for the next opponent.
Ming Xi gazed at Su Lingling, who stood there with her sword.
Recalling the scene just now, Ming Xi touched her burning face with one hand and clutched her chest with the other.
“What is this feeling…?”
Ming Xi left the stage in a daze. The Elder, thinking she was upset, hurried to comfort her:
“Don’t worry, among new disciples and even those who’ve joined in the past century, you are already excellent. Your talent with the Flying Sword is truly amazing. You only lagged because your talent wasn’t discovered earlier, wasting some cultivation time. Besides… your opponent was simply too strong.”
“Elder, do I… have a chance to catch up to her someday?”
“There’s a chance, but it will be very difficult, very, very difficult…” The Elder could only offer this comfort.
As for Su Lingling, she simply thought her rescue just now was incredibly cool and had no idea she’d gained a little admirer…
After some time, the last two participants took the stage one after another.
One wielded a soft sword, with unpredictable attacks.
At first, Su Lingling found it troublesome, but it wasn’t long before she saw through the opponent’s tricks.
The other had superb footwork and fast sword techniques, but unfortunately, she encountered Su Lingling’s forte. Both movement and speed were completely overwhelmed by Su Lingling.
With this, Su Lingling stood in the arena, proving her strength as Lin Muxue’s disciple!
Sheathed her sword, Su Lingling glanced around, wanting to find her Master and Big Sister, but after searching, she couldn’t spot them anywhere.
“Master and Big Sister couldn’t have left already, could they…” Just as Su Lingling was about to feel upset, Su Qianqian’s voice called out:
“Lingling, over here! Look this way!”
Su Lingling looked up sharply and saw Su Qianqian flying over with Lin Muxue from the side.
In an instant, Su Lingling shed her icy expression and beamed, waving at them energetically!
“Master, Master, how did I do?”
“You did very well, even better than I expected.” Lin Muxue praised her generously.
“Hehe~”
Lin Muxue glanced around. Her presence alone had made the atmosphere tense. As the Sect Leader, the pressure she gave off was a bit much.
“Lingling, you don’t need to stay here any longer. Let’s go.”
Su Lingling cheerfully agreed, then waved vigorously at Su Changfeng and his wife, shouting, “Father—Mother—I’m heading off now! Big Sister and I will visit you in a few days!”
Everyone present was shocked that the icy beauty from earlier could act so lively, while Ming Xi unconsciously bit her finger, secretly sighing, “Senior Martial Sister is totally different now—kind of cute…”
Back at the Tianjian Peak Cave Residence, Su Lingling casually asked, “By the way, Master, Big Sister, why didn’t I see you earlier?”
“To keep my presence from affecting the mood, I used an Invisibility Spell.”
“Wow, that’s so cool. I want to learn that in the future too.”
“So, what did Master and Big Sister do while you were invisible? Did you just sit there?”
Su Lingling was just asking absentmindedly, but unexpectedly, she didn’t get an answer.
Lin Muxue turned away, and Big Sister’s face reddened and she stammered.
“Did… something happen? Why do Master and Big Sister seem so weird?”
Faced with her little sister’s question, Su Qianqian awkwardly changed the subject, “It’s nothing. Ah, let’s not talk about it. Suddenly I want to eat something tonight—Master, can you make something for us?”
“Sure, I’ll get right on it.”
Watching the two obviously hiding something scurry away, Su Lingling was full of suspicion and curiosity and hurried to chase after them!
“What exactly happened? Master~ Big Sister~, tell me~”
……
After a full meal, Su Qianqian lay on her bed, pondering life…
“Is Lin Muxue the type who’d just casually touch her disciple’s body…?”
“Is she testing me? Yeah, I’ve been ignoring an issue all this time. For Lin Muxue to find me from so far away, it definitely wasn’t a coincidence.”
“Hmm… Should I just confess to her already?”
But thinking about how she was groped earlier, it was clearly a test.
If things have come to this, if I confess myself… Just thinking about it made Su Qianqian shudder.
“No way, based on how Lin Muxue has been, she definitely wouldn’t forgive me that easily. I have no means of resistance now; if I confess, it’ll be a huge problem!”
“Worst case, Lin Muxue already knows my true identity and is holding back only because of her strong sense of morality, waiting for me to confess, then—!”
“I should probably start thinking of creative ways to apologize…”
On the other side…
“Emperor, regarding the people you asked us to investigate, their positions are so high that we have little information. Excluding recent searches for certain things, only two show any unusual activity.”
“One is Lin Muxue, Sect Leader of the Sword Sect, who recently took on two disciples: Su Qianqian and Su Lingling.”
“The other is the Demonic Moon Tiger Princess, who’s been in seclusion for decades.”
Luo Wuhen sat upon the Wangzuo, quietly listening as the Dark Guard finished the report, then nervously withdrew.
Luo Wuhen’s slender fingers tapped gently on the armrest of the Wangzuo, recalling other recent unusual news from the Dark Guards, and then looked in the direction of the Sword Sect.
“Found you… Now, Su Qianqian, Su Lingling, which one is it…”
This time, Lin Muxue had actually been extremely cautious. No one could sense her at all, but as Su Qianqian understood, Lin Muxue was still too naive…
At this time, Lin Muxue took on two disciples within the target area. Anyone could see something was amiss.
“Shun, Ying.”
“Here, Emperor!”
“Take the Secret Treasure from the Treasure Vault that you need, and bring back your Life-Saving Benefactor, my Royal Consort!”