The Sect Master of Lingshang Sword Sect’s old legs went weak on the spot.
Yet under the watchful eyes of his fellow Sword Cultivators, apologizing would make him a laughingstock, and not apologizing while his mountain got leveled would still make him a laughingstock.
Since he’d be a laughingstock either way, why not spare his own mountain the trouble and just lower his head…
A voice rang out from beyond the village: “Weren’t you all so tough just now? Think you’re impressive? Go ahead and blow up every Sword Sect nearby! I’d admit you’re something!”
“Let her blow! Go on, blow it up if you dare!”
The Sect Master of Tianyun Sword Sect shouted hysterically.
The best way to save face was to drag others down with him—he wasn’t insane, he was perfectly clear-headed.
The Sect Master of Lingshang Sword Sect had no intention of being led into a trap by this old brother. His face turned pale with fright as he hurriedly said, “No no no! Let’s talk this out! Let’s stick to the matter at hand—no need for violence!”
No way! The cannon was pointed right at his hometown! He couldn’t afford to be impulsive.
The Sect Master of Tianyun Sword Sect got so angry he sat up from his wheelchair and glared toward the village: “What did you say? Say it again if you dare?”
But Jiang Ke’er acted as if she couldn’t hear him at all, and suddenly…
The Sect Master of Tianyun Sword Sect had completely blackened, sneering coldly, “I said blow it up if you’ve got the guts!”
A dull boom sounded, and in the Sect Master of Lingshang Sword Sect’s dazed gaze, a plume of dust rose in the distance.
Another mountain’s shadow vanished without a trace.
That was the direction of his hometown.
“I hate it most when people say I don’t have the guts!”
Jiang Ke’er irritably condensed another ball of crimson spiritual power, sweeping her gaze across the surrounding Cultivation Sects: “Anyone else?”
Each and every one of them were big shots at the Honored One or Seven Luminaries Realm, yet faced with Jiang Ke’er’s gaze, they stumbled backward in terror.
The Sect Master of Tianyun Sword Sect laughed; the Sect Master of Lingshang Sword Sect cried.
“Old man Tianyun, I’ll fight you to the death!”
“Come on then!”
“Hold on—we should unite against a common enemy… ah crap, you’re actually swinging—help!”
The Sect Master of Lingshang Sword Sect drew his sword and charged at the Sect Master of Tianyun Sword Sect. He couldn’t take on this village, but Tianyun Sword Sect was still a fight he could afford.
The surrounding Sect Masters were genuinely terrified. No one could have predicted Jiang Ke’er would be this unyielding, blowing up people’s homes without even blinking.
A weapons maniac wasn’t scary—what was scary was a maniac holding a nuclear weapon.
They absolutely dared not meet Jiang Ke’er’s eyes. Suddenly scattering like birds, they fled in all directions, preparing to rush home at top speed to pack up and urgently upgrade their defensive formations.
Seeing everyone had cleared out, Jiang Ke’er finally relaxed a little and powered down the energy cannon above her head.
“Shifu…” Pei said with deep guilt, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think—”
“This has nothing to do with you.” Jiang Ke’er looked up at the four large characters reading [Blue Lotus Sword Sect] above her head, hopped up to straighten the plaque, and revealed a faint smile.
“The calligraphy is decent. Looks like you didn’t slack off last night. Not bad.”
It was the first time Pei had ever heard Jiang Ke’er praise him.
But under the current circumstances, he couldn’t bring himself to be happy.
“Punish me, please.” He lowered his head with a worried expression. “Shifu, I caused trouble.”
“You didn’t cause trouble. From the day you started practicing the sword, it was destined that countless flies would come looking for us.” Jiang Ke’er paused.
“Rather than wait for them to pull petty tricks, better to strike first and gross them out before they can act. At least from now on, we’re guaranteed not to lose anything.”
It was a rather unpleasant situation, but after hearing Jiang Ke’er’s explanation, Pei inexplicably wanted to laugh. His Shifu really was an extraordinary woman, always saying something astonishing.
“But, I can chase them off, yet I can’t win them over, and I can’t win you over either.”
Jiang Ke’er said in a low voice.
“Mm… Shifu?” Pei was confused.
“I can only provide you with a place to cultivate, but your Sword Dao is something you’ll have to find on your own.” Jiang Ke’er patted the boy’s shoulder. “No rush, you’re still young.”
Pei knew his Shifu had seen through his confusion and couldn’t help but feel a pang of shame.
Still, he retorted, “I’m not young!”
Then suddenly he froze and asked, “I’ve been wanting to ask for a while—Shifu, how old are you?”
“Me?” Jiang Ke’er counted on her fair, tender fingers. “Two hundred?”
“I’m two years old! Hahaha, I’m two years old!”
Jiang Ke’er burst out laughing wildly.
Pei’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Sure enough, a woman’s age was an untouchable topic. Look—at the mere mention of age, his Shifu had gone crazy.
“Alright, time for you to rest. Look at those bags under your eyes.”
Jiang Ke’er waved Pei off, shooing him away. “Your Shiniang and I still have things to discuss.”
Pei bowed, “Shiniang?”
But he quickly turned to pay respects to Qiao Xiaoxian: “Greetings, Shiniang!”
“Shiniang?” Qiao Xiaoxian smiled ambiguously, though she didn’t press the matter. “Fine, you head back first.”
Pei left.
Jiang Ke’er closed the courtyard gate, then flopped onto the pile of Magic Crystals in the yard with a showy air, elegantly holding a glass of red wine, a haughty sneer curling at the corner of her lips.
She looked at Qiao Xiaoxian: “So now I’m the true Head of the Family, right? See now? Now you understand who—”
“Hm? What do you mean?” Qiao Xiaoxian was puzzled.
But she also had plenty to tell Jiang Ke’er, so she lay down on the Magic Crystal pile too, pulled Jiang Ke’er into an arm, pinched her cheek, and smiled softly: “Did you miss me? Want to hear what I’ve been up to these past few days?”
“Heh, go on.” Jiang Ke’er took an ostentatious sip of red wine.
“Have you heard of the Taixu Clan?”
“Heard of them. Why?”
“Oh, right—what was that you said earlier about Head of the Family and all that… what did you mean?” Qiao Xiaoxian suddenly remembered Jiang Ke’er’s earlier topic.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t stop mid-sentence!”
Qiao Xiaoxian poked Jiang Ke’er’s ribs in dissatisfaction, tickling her.
“Hahaha… stop it… you should rest first… I’m going out for a bit.”
“It’s this late. For what?”
“To go have a heart-to-heart with His Majesty.”
“While we were out at sea with Zhao Quan, we lost our bearings in a storm and drifted to an uninhabited island.”
What a classic adventure opening.
Jiang Ke’er felt an inexplicable twinge of envy.
Why wasn’t I the protagonist?
In any case, that was how the story began.
The first thing Qiao Xiaoxian found was a sea chart.
The chart marked many Uncharted Islands. These islands were clearly right there in the nearby waters, yet the fishermen all claimed they had never seen them.
Later they learned that a formation had hidden the islands away, requiring specific Runes to be drawn to unlock them.
Fortunately, the chart showed how to draw the Runes.
The formation opened, and a treasure trove of untouched paradises opened up to Qiao Xiaoxian.
Brand-new virgin islands—on them, she also found many strange objects that didn’t exist in Shenzhou.
Following the map’s guidance, she kept discovering one island after another.
Qiao Xiaoxian understood these findings were of great importance, so her first thought was to report them to the court.
She personally went to the Imperial Capital and, as a commoner, reported the matter to Li Yuan.
Li Yuan made an immediate decision and dispatched the Southeast Navy to accompany Qiao Xiaoxian on an expedition to explore those virgin islands.
“In short, these past few days I’ve just been exploring various islands with the soldiers.” Qiao Xiaoxian smiled. “It’s just a shame we didn’t find anything like pirate treasure.”
“That’s good.”
Jiang Ke’er let out a huge sigh of relief.
“But His Excellency Li Yuan rewarded me with ten billion Magic Crystals.”
“How much?”
“Ten billion~”
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