“Heh, could it be that Saintess Linglong wants to intervene just because the person imprisoned is from Yaochi?”
The Wanling Sect cultivator saw Linglong at a loss for words after his remark and immediately pressed the advantage.
Speaking in a sarcastic tone, he glanced at the Tian Dao Sect ally. “Fellow Daoist, did you get a clear look at that little thief’s face? Am I wrong in saying that?”
The Tian Dao Sect cultivator now understood Wanling Sect’s intent. Although he hadn’t been able to tell which of the Five Sects the patchwork figure belonged to, he saw no harm in supporting his ally on the same side.
So he nodded seriously, affirming that Wanling Sect’s statement was correct: that sneaky attacker did indeed look like she was from Yaochi.
“Though she wore the disciples’ uniform of Wanling Sect, I can confirm she’s definitely not a disciple of Wanling Sect,” he added, subtly throwing Wanling Sect some praise. “There’s no spirit beast accompanying her.”
It was well known that Wanling Sect cultivators always brought spirit beasts with them when going out—a tradition carried down from the sect’s predecessors. Yet the little thief caught had no spirit beast around her.
So, that thief was absolutely not from Wanling Sect.
“Though she carries a spirit sword on her back, I think it’s unlikely that our Sword Sect fellows would stoop to such petty deeds.”
Then, he continued to eliminate suspicion on the Sword Sect.
These two deductions were reasonable, and no one could find fault with them. After all, sword cultivators didn’t seem like the type to do such things.
As for the first suspicion… well, if that thief really were from Wanling Sect, then it would be like shooting themselves in the foot—nothing more to say.
“If such a disgrace came from our Tian Dao Sect, I would definitely purge them for the sake of the sect!” the Tian Dao Sect cultivator declared righteously.
At this point, only Yaochi and Penglai had yet to reveal their stance. The female cultivator from Penglai was refreshingly uninvolved, stating that Penglai’s disciples acted with integrity and had no such scoundrels.
Her words made it clear: she neither took sides nor expressed an opinion.
That left Linglong hanging in the spotlight.
The Saintess frowned, realizing she had become the target of everyone’s accusations. If she continued to object, it might only solidify the assumption that the culprit was from Yaochi.
But… the culprit really was someone from her Yaochi.
Linglong took a deep breath. No matter what, she had to protect Huajian; she couldn’t let these people bully her.
“I almost forgot, Yaochi is notorious for helping family over justice, always shielding their own. Seems the Saintess has learned well from Yaochi’s essence,” the Wanling Sect cultivator said with a low laugh. Seeing Linglong’s expression, he knew his bet was right.
Ha, whether Linglong accepted or rejected it, Yaochi was about to lose face.
Linglong said nothing, but thunderlight had already begun to gather in her palm.
What Wanling Sect said wasn’t wrong—Yaochi was indeed an extremely protective sect. So Linglong didn’t mind going to battle with these people to protect Huajian.
“In the end, this isn’t a big deal. Why press so hard?” she asked with a frown.
This was her final warning. If it didn’t work, then… it would have to be settled by force.
Compared to strength, Linglong’s eloquence was still lacking. Her words couldn’t convince those who wanted to see her make a fool of herself.
“If you make a mistake, you should accept punishment obediently. That’s the rule in both Wanling Sect and Tian Dao Sect. But now, it seems Yaochi’s rules are quite different,” the Wanling Sect cultivator said arrogantly, lifting his head.
“Since Saintess Linglong has different views from us, then please step aside… or do you intend to act against us for this little thief?” the Tian Dao Sect cultivator immediately chimed in.
The cultivators from Penglai and Sword Sect quickly stepped back. They sensed that with Linglong’s temper, it was very possible she would clash with these two aggressive fellows.
Let them fight, just as long as no blood spilled on them.
Dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky above the secret realm, and a faint pressure weighed on everyone’s hearts.
They knew Linglong was truly ready to make a move.
The Tian Dao Sect and Wanling Sect cultivators also prepared for battle. Wanling Sect’s cultivator released his contracted spirit beast—a rather imposing Blue Eagle.
But as soon as the Blue Eagle was unleashed, it was startled by the Dragon Might permeating the air, its spirit flagging instantly.
The Wanling Sect cultivator gave his spirit beast a helpless look. Ordinary bloodline spirit beasts were easily suppressed by spirit beasts with superior bloodlines.
Linglong’s True Dragon Bloodline was the highest among spirit beast bloodlines.
Any spirit beast without an equal bloodline would naturally fall short in presence when facing Linglong.
The atmosphere was tense to the extreme. Everyone expected the next moment to erupt into a fierce battle involving the three prodigies of the sacred sects—all because of the little thief in custody.
Even they themselves thought so.
But at that moment, a shout rang out from afar: “Senior Sister Linglong! Someone’s looking for you!”
The crowd’s tension instantly broke, and the nervous atmosphere vanished without a trace.
Even Linglong turned her head in surprise, wondering why the junior disciples she had instructed to guard the base were now here.
Until… she saw the adorable young girl surrounded by her junior sisters.
Her?
Wait, if Huajian is here, then who is the one Tian Dao Sect captured?
Linglong was baffled. Could someone tell her what on earth was going on?
Instinctively, she stepped in front of her juniors, looking at Huajian with a confused gaze. “Why are you here?”
The junior sisters, chattering all at once, recounted what had just happened. Only then did Linglong realize she had missed Huajian by a hair’s breadth.
“Got the wrong person, right?” Huajian stepped up to Linglong and whispered in her ear.
Some things were better said quietly, not in front of all these juniors.
Linglong understood and grabbed Huajian’s arm, pulling her aside.
“You’re here, then who is the one captured?”
“Do you think I’m just some troublemaker?” Huajian retorted with exasperation. She wasn’t stupid; extorting money on the outskirts was a lot safer than sneaking around in the core area.
She’d have to be an idiot to stir up trouble in such a dangerous place.
“I’m a bit bad, but not dumb. There were plenty of safer, higher-return ways in front of me—why would I choose the riskier, less profitable ones?”
“…As for the little cutie captured, well, she’s a bit connected to me, but she’s actually from Wanling Sect.”
“Wanling Sect?” Linglong instinctively glanced at the earnest Wanling Sect cultivator. For the first time, a flicker of emotion passed over his icy face.
“She was personally brought back by the Five Poisons Peak Sect Leader of Wanling Sect. They intend to accept her as an Inner Disciple,” Huajian added.
Linglong fell completely silent.
Although she wanted to ridicule why an Inner Disciple from the Five Poisons Peak was led astray by Huajian like this, it didn’t seem like the time.
“Since it’s got nothing to do with you, let’s go.” Linglong grabbed Huajian’s hand, trying to take her away.
She had no interest in Wanling Sect’s internal conflicts.
Huajian hesitated for a moment, then decided it wasn’t good to let things develop like this.
She was already here; might as well rescue the girl and make some good connections. After all, the girl was an Inner Disciple of a sacred sect—a guaranteed future powerhouse, the kind to have as a backing.
Now she had befriended Linglong; making friends with Cai Die next meant having connections in two sacred sects. She would become the local tyrant among the free cultivators, swaggering around on their names!
Feigning strength through others was something Huajian was quite skilled at.
“Don’t rush. I’ll rescue that girl first. We can’t just let her be publicly executed,” Huajian said, shaking her hand forcefully, only to find Linglong holding tight. She tried with seventy percent of her strength but couldn’t break free.
“Her?” Linglong was taken aback.
That imprisoned girl supposedly had no ties to Yaochi—why was Huajian involved with her?
Betrayal… no, wait, Huajian wasn’t even from Yaochi. There was no reason for her to intervene.
Linglong realized she currently had no grounds to interfere with Huajian’s actions.
Huajian was still a free cultivator who hadn’t joined a sect. Her association with Wanling Sect’s Inner Disciple junior sister was no issue.
Still, Linglong felt a twinge of displeasure, as if something precious to her was being taken away by someone else.
“Before coming in, her senior sister gave me quite a few nice things. I accepted the gifts; I can’t just ignore her when she’s in trouble,” Huajian justified her actions.
I’m not doing this for my own benefit, but to repay the kindness of my senior sisters!
I, Huajian, am a person of noble character—understand?
That might fool others, but Linglong knew better. As someone who had almost been robbed blind by Huajian before, she understood Huajian’s nature was all about calculating benefits. Repaying kindness was just part of the game.
Still… let’s see how Huajian performs.
Linglong didn’t mind seeing that pushy Wanling Sect cultivator get a hard fall at Huajian’s hands.
“I heard this senior brother wants to publicly execute the criminal? Have you thought about how serious the consequences could be?”
A multicolored Flower Petal Manifestation gathered in the sky, and a girl as lovely as a blooming flower appeared from the petals, questioning the Wanling Sect cultivator.
The Wanling Sect cultivator glanced at Huajian. Seeing the outer sect disciple uniform on her, displeasure flashed in his eyes. How dare an outer sect disciple speak to him like this? Yaochi was really ill-mannered.
“Saintess Linglong, what do you mean by this?” he asked without even looking at Huajian, directing the question to Linglong. “And who exactly is this junior sister?”
The implication was clear: take that outer sect disciple away quickly, don’t drag down our standards.
“She means what I mean,” Linglong said, shedding her earlier tension and now relaxed, with none of the previous hostility.
Others noticed this change and grew suspicious.
Linglong’s behavior was off. She had just seemed ready to explode, but now she was indifferent. Could there be some unknown variable at play?
Even the once confident Wanling Sect cultivator hesitated. If this failed to affect Linglong, all his scheming would be pointless.
“Have you thought about what would happen if the imprisoned person isn’t ordinary?”
“Suppose—just suppose—that the captive is actually an Inner Disciple of Wanling Sect. Imagine what would happen when she leaves the secret realm and complains to her master about everything that happened…”
“Hah! Our Wanling Sect would never have such a disgrace!” the Wanling Sect cultivator shouted at Huajian angrily.
At the same time, he unleashed his aura, trying to overwhelm her.
But Huajian was unafraid. “You’re only a spirit master. Thinking you can overpower me with your aura is wishful thinking.”
Huajian definitely couldn’t win in a direct fight, but if it came to a life-and-death battle in the secret realm, she had no fear at all.
“Is that so? Coincidentally, I know an Inner Disciple from Five Poisons Peak…” Huajian smiled cutely, but her smile sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
Five Poisons Peak… The cultivators present exchanged thoughtful looks. Wanling Sect had many spirit peaks, and Five Poisons Peak was notorious for its poor reputation.
Cultivators there specialized in manipulating poisonous insects and snakes. When fighting them, one always had to watch out for tiny creatures that might suddenly appear. A single bite could cause all kinds of trouble.
Moreover, the little thief caught had indeed used quite a few poisons. The chain of evidence was gradually forming in everyone’s minds. If the attacker was from Wanling Sect’s Five Poisons Peak, everything made perfect sense.
“How can you be sure—”
“Whether yes or no, just release her first. We’re all watching here. You’re not going to let her run off, are you?” Huajian lowered her head and asked. “Is your mind only filled with grudges and hatred? Acting without thinking about the consequences—how did you live this long?”
Making such a commotion before even seeing the culprit made Huajian think this guy’s brain was seriously flawed.
Wanling Sect cultivator’s face flushed red, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
Meanwhile, the Tian Dao Sect cultivator, who truly held the power to release the captive, had been persuaded by Huajian.
He felt there had to be some reason she spoke so boldly; maybe the captive really was an Inner Disciple of Wanling Sect.
To be safe, better confirm her identity first.
“Ahem, everyone, I will now lift the Formation.”
Everyone nodded in approval except the Wanling Sect cultivator, who was still fuming.
After a few breaths, the Formation shattered into fragments, revealing a girl in everyone’s sight.
“Huajian sister!”
Then, they heard the girl’s joyful cry.