If this rumor had only circulated within Wanhua Valley, it might have been tolerable, but the problem was that its spread had already exceeded the bounds of Wanhua Valley.
The cultivators inside Wanhua Valley who heard this rumor didn’t realize it could be sensitive information—wasn’t this just a little story about the Saintess?
Look, it didn’t even include a time, place, or specific person. It only said how terrifying Saintess Daren was, which made it far too low in credibility.
So naturally, they continued embellishing and fabricating.
Many Wanhua Valley cultivators had connections outside Wanhua Valley, and the cultivators beyond the valley were quite interested in these little stories about Hua Jian, which the outer disciples paid close attention to.
So these Wanhua Valley cultivators seized the opportunity, packaged this little story nicely, and sold it for a pretty good price.
By the time this story made its way back to Frozen Winter City, it had been completely transformed beyond recognition.
Hua Jian had gone from killing a single Demon behind the scenes to killing several hundred Demons in front of everyone’s eyes, then stringing them up on bamboo poles, roasting them, and distributing them to all the onlookers to eat—an utterly ultimate, invincible murder maniac.
When Hua Jian heard this latest version of the rumor, her attitude was already: I’m tired, let it all be destroyed.
How was she supposed to refute this? She couldn’t exactly jump onto a stage and tell the cultivators spreading these rumors, “I didn’t kill that many people, I was just testing a potion. Don’t overthink this.”
Mind you, it wasn’t just the Magic Path spreading this rumor now—even the Right Path had heard of Hua Jian’s “glorious achievements.”
You ask how Hua Jian knew?
Because Ling Long was the one who told her!
The girls on the Jade Pool’s floating Tower Ship all knew about Hua Jian’s ferocity now!
This just shows how fast such rumors could spread—it had only been a few days, and the news had already exploded from inside Wanhua Valley all the way to the Saint Sect.
“Hold on, don’t panic yet. There’s more bad news.” Ling Long pressed the slightly agitated Hua Jian back into her seat, telling her that the worst news hadn’t even been delivered yet.
“There’s something worse? I don’t think there’s any news worse than this one. My reputation!!!”
Hua Jian clutched her head and wailed in a voice filled with profound grief.
Under Hua Jian’s gaze, Ling Long nodded solemnly, indicating that yes, there was indeed news worse than this—at the very peak of the rumor’s spread, Hua Jian’s figurative parent was about to arrive at Frozen Winter City.
“Lingcaifeng Master will return to Frozen Winter City in about a day. By then, she should hear about all of this too.”
Hua Jian’s colorful eyes blinked in confusion a couple of times. A few seconds later, she drew in a sharp breath of cold air. Damn, this time Ling Long really wasn’t lying to her!
This was truly the ultimate bad news!
If this rumor only spread among the younger generation, that was one thing, but now that Lingcaifeng Master was coming, these rumors landing in the ears of an elder carried a completely different meaning.
“That fast? The Heilong was taken down?”
“It ran very quickly and was fully prepared for a surprise attack. The Peak Master and the others chased it deep into the Ice Plain for a long time, but ultimately couldn’t keep it there.”
Ling Long shook her head; this outcome hadn’t surprised her.
“However, we managed to seize its Breakthrough site, and everything there that couldn’t be moved with spatial Spirit Tools now belongs to us.”
When Venerables broke through to the Sage realm, they also needed to set up a location. It wasn’t something you could just do anywhere—you had to find a feng shui treasure spot.
The Venerables of the Saint Sect could directly use their ancestral sites, but the Venerables of the Demonic Sect weren’t so fortunate.
They had to honestly craft one themselves, and these arrangements weren’t like various Spirit Items and materials that could be carried away with spatial Spirit Tools.
Dragon Venerable had left in such a hurry that he couldn’t handle his feng shui treasure site, allowing the Saint Sect to scoop up a huge bargain.
To recreate such a good location, Dragon Venerable would probably need to spend over a decade, or even several decades, of time.
There was no doubt that this had set back Dragon Venerable’s Breakthrough progress by a significant margin.
This time, the Saint Sect had returned with a great victory.
“The Peak Master should be in a good mood right now, and she knows you very well. She won’t believe such rumors.” Ling Long comforted Hua Jian.
“Not believing is one thing… But what if she actually does believe it?”
“Then you convince her not to believe it. Good luck.”
Watching Ling Long clench her fist to cheer herself on, Hua Jian felt that Ling Long might have been corrupted by some bad person.
Listen to what she just said—was that not genuinely sarcastic?
It couldn’t be that Ling Long was simply so talented that she figured this out on her own, right? Then why hadn’t she been like this before!
Damn it, if she ever found out which bastard had led her pure Little Dragon Girl astray, she’d bite that bastard to death!
“Tomorrow, huh… Should I go welcome the Peak Master?”
“Probably not necessary. Nobody knows exactly when the Peak Master will arrive at Frozen Winter City, and even if she does, there won’t be any public welcome ceremony.” Ling Long continued shaking her head.
Lingcaifeng Master was arriving with her identity concealed, so the Qian Family naturally wouldn’t spoil the Peak Master’s fun.
Moreover, with so many factions gathered in Frozen Winter City right now, if another Right Path Venerable came to visit, the entire Beijing’s attention would focus on Frozen Winter City.
That wasn’t exactly a good thing for the Qian Family, so it was better to keep a low profile.
Furthermore, Lingcaifeng Master’s purpose for this trip had little connection to the Qian Family. Hua Jian was the Saintess of Wanhua Valley, and as for that Spiritual Flower, the Qian Family had no intention of competing for it.
It wasn’t that the Qian Family didn’t want that Spiritual Flower—who wouldn’t want a Spiritual Item that ranked among the top in the entire cultivation world?
But the Qian Family was very clear about the danger of such Spiritual Items.
If things went wrong, the people they sent out would be completely wiped out, which would be an utterly unacceptable loss for the Qian Family.
Compared to the Demonic Sect, the Qian Family’s foundation was even thinner, and they lacked the Demonic Sect’s means of rapidly replenishing combat strength. Losing one combatant was a genuine loss of one combatant.
Although there were many sighting reports of that Spiritual Flower, all of them were located in extremely dangerous areas.
Ten out of ten ordinary cultivators who entered those places wouldn’t come back out.
The Qian Family only dared to send a small Refugee Squad to investigate.
And so far, that squad hadn’t sent back any useful intelligence.
“The Qian Family would love nothing more than for Lingcaifeng Master to quickly take the Wanling Sect people and leave. The cultivators currently stationed at the Wanling Sect’s compound in the city are already making them nervous enough.”
As for the Saint Sect, the Qian Family wasn’t all that trusting either. They were also afraid that one day the Saint Sect would suddenly rise up and topple their family.
Although they were a great family that had been passed down for countless years, they were ultimately just one family—not comparable to a great Sect.
They had to handle everything carefully and cautiously.
The strength that Wanling Sect had accumulated in Frozen Winter City this time had already touched the Qian Family’s warning line, setting off alarm bells in their hearts.
Fortunately, this time it should just be a misunderstanding. The Wanling Sect truly wasn’t here to deal with them.
Hua Jian understood Lingcaifeng Master’s personality well.
This Peak Master had no hidden schemes in her heart—her entire mind was filled with nothing but Spiritual Flowers, Spiritual Flowers.
Such a pure cultivator rarely cared about worldly power struggles.
If the Wanling Sect truly wanted to make a move on the Northern Territory, they would have sent a more worldly Venerable, not Lingcaifeng Master.
This operation looked more like a solo action by Lingcaifeng Peak. The other Wanling Sect cultivators mostly had no intention of getting involved.
Of course, that didn’t mean Lingcaifeng Peak was acting independently.
The matter probably went something like: Lingcaifeng Master said to Wanling Men Zhu, “A Spiritual Flower appeared in the Northern Territory. I want to send people to find it.”
Wanling Men Zhu replied, “Okay.”
Then there was a temporary rotation of defenses to move Lingcaifeng Peak’s people to the Northern Territory, and later Lingcaifeng Master arrived early with another mission.
Now that one of the missions was complete, Lingcaifeng Master was ready to start the second one, and along the way, handle Hua Jian’s little side quest.
“Ancestor’s Blessing, may the Peak Master not be angry!” Hua Jian closed her eyes very piously, pressed her palms together, and began to pray softly.
Looking at Hua Jian’s completely non-standard posture, several black lines drooped down from Ling Long’s forehead.
She could tell where Hua Jian had learned this praying posture, but would Hua Jian’s prayers actually be effective like this?
And calling it “Ancestor’s Blessing” like that—wasn’t her praying posture not even directed at her own ancestor?
“Did you learn the wrong prayer?” Ling Long whispered after Hua Jian finished one prayer.
It was fine for the Qian Family people to invoke Ancestor’s Blessing, but what was Hua Jian getting excited about?
To this, Hua Jian could only say that Ling Long was thinking too simply. Wasn’t the Qian Family’s Ancestor also Wanhua Valley’s Ancestor?
She, Hua Jian, was currently the Saintess of Wanhua Valley. Calling out to the Ancestor was perfectly reasonable!
“Besides, I already asked Qian Feixue. She said calling the Ancestor wouldn’t be a problem at all! She’s the current Saintess, and she gets visited by the Ancestor in her Dreams!”
Ling Long began pressing her temple. Alright, it seemed she was overthinking things.
But she felt that Qian Feixue doing this was a bit ill-intentioned. Could it be that she also wanted to lure Hua Jian away?
Just as this thought surfaced in her mind, Ling Long felt she might be overthinking again.
Qian Feixue was probably just trying to build a connection with Hua Jian, not steal her away entirely.
So, the advantage is mine!
…
Perhaps Hua Jian’s prayers really did work.
When Lingcaifeng Master silently arrived at Frozen Winter City and finished reviewing the intelligence gathered by the Wanling Sect’s compound over the past few days, the Peak Master wasn’t angry at all—on the contrary, she laughed out loud with joy.
“You all have been quite diligent in your work, but you should also know which words to believe and which not to believe.”
Holding the jade slip containing the rumors about Hua Jian, Lingcaifeng Master addressed the few Lingcaifeng Peak disciples who were standing nervously before her.
Although she had just returned from the hunt on the Ice Plain, Lingcaifeng Master’s demeanor was as elegant as ever, as if she had merely gone out to enjoy the scenery.
Compared to a few years ago, she had almost no change at all. For a Venerable, a few years was but a blink of an eye, practically negligible.
“Peak Master, this is also intelligence we obtained from those Wanhua Valley people. Even if much of it is false, we didn’t dare not record it.” One Lingcaifeng Peak disciple answered quietly.
Whether it was true was one matter; whether it was collected was another. Collecting it was still better than not collecting it.
Aim not for merit, but simply to avoid fault.
“Well said. You should have channels to communicate with the Qian Family, right?”
“Yes, we can directly contact Qian Feixue of the Qian Family. She currently manages the family’s daily affairs.”
“Have her relay a message to Hua Jian for me—tell her to come here to see me.”
Lingcaifeng Master instructed calmly.
The Lingcaifeng Peak disciple immediately acknowledged the order without asking why.
They all actually knew that their Peak Master had always held this Saintess of Wanhua Valley in high regard.
It wasn’t just the Peak Master either—their several Inner Sect Senior Sisters also couldn’t stop thinking about Hua Jian, always reminding them not to treat Hua Jian as an enemy.
Although these Lingcaifeng Peak disciples were somewhat puzzled by this, they still earnestly noted it in their hearts.
Even as the Blacklist Material about Hua Jian spread like wildfire outside, they didn’t feel any resentment or disgust toward her.
On the contrary, they felt even more curiosity about this famously notorious Demonic Sect Saintess, wondering just what kind of Sorceress could make the Peak Master and the Inner Sect Senior Sisters think of her so fondly.
This time, they finally had a chance to see her in person!
…
“The Peak Master wants me to go see her?”
Upon hearing the message relayed by Qian Feixue, Hua Jian instinctively looked at the Ice Lotus she had been raising that had grown a bit wilted, and suddenly felt a pang of guilt.
Wow, if the Peak Master found out she couldn’t even raise this lotus properly, would she immediately expel her from the sect and sever all ties?!
“That senior is truly impressive. Our City Protection Array didn’t even detect her arrival. Looks like this array is getting a bit old and needs some repairs.” Qian Feixue nodded and casually complained about the garbage quality of her own array.
Lingcaifeng Master was indeed a formidable Venerable, but the Wanling Sect’s compound was located in the Inner City, and Lingcaifeng Master had reached the compound inside the Inner City without alerting anyone.
This was practically rubbing salt in the Qian Family’s wounds!
It was plainly telling the Qian Family: Your City Protection Array is a bit underwhelming. Want to fix it?
“Isn’t your array left behind by the Ancestor? How, can it still be modified?” Hua Jian withdrew her guilty gaze from the Ice Lotus and asked in confusion.
“The City Protection Array currently in operation isn’t entirely the Array Formation left by the Ancestor. After all, this is still a period of relative peace. The cost of running that original array is far too great—we couldn’t sustain it for long.”
Qian Feixue spread her hands, indicating there wasn’t much mystery to it. They just didn’t have the money.
The great array left by the Ancestor was indeed powerful, but the Spirit Stones it burned through while running were an astronomical figure.
If they kept that array running continuously, the Qian Family would go bankrupt within a few years and end up begging on the streets.
The array currently in operation was a simplified version created by several of the Qian Family’s ancestors long ago, modeled after the Ancestor’s great array.
Its effects were somewhat inferior, but it was far more cost-effective, could remain active for extended periods, and its inspection capabilities were passable.