Second Senior Sister Has A Highly Dangerous Profession - Chapter 68
Chapter 68
The sun rose, and the girl’s figure appeared almost simultaneously with the orange red sun leaping out from the mountain peak.
She sheathed her sword.
In one hand was the small branch she used as a hair stick, and in the other was the second twig she had casually broken off the previous day to use for sword riding.
She urgently looked towards a certain spot.
However, that spot was empty.
The familiar figure was not there.
Yi Zui groggily pushed the door open.
The young man had barely slept all night.
Although cultivators did not truly need sleep, lying awake without meditating or cultivating was exhausting.
Therefore, Yi Zui’s face showed no sign of revitalization after a full night’s rest.
Instead, he looked quite listless.
Seeing Yu Xizhi, his eyes brightened, then turned to astonishment.
“Second Senior Sister, you…”
Yu Xizhi’s gaze merely swept over his face and did not linger.
She paused, then continued forward, descending the long ladder along the cliff edge.
Finally, in the Ten Mile Lonely Forest, she saw the familiar figure.
However, the closer she got, the slower her steps became.
She felt the urgency in her heart seemed to be stretched out by time, transforming into a strange hesitation, similar to the shyness one feels when approaching home after a long absence.
She looked down at the small branch in her hand, wondering what she should say to him.
Should she say, “Here is your small twig,” or “Sorry, I broke your natal sword”?
Neither seemed quite right.
In the morning dew, in the Ten Mile Lonely Forest, the white robed young man slightly bent over, coughing.
His figure was somewhat slender but definitely not weak.
He seemed to sense something.
His raven black hair tassels subtly swayed, and he turned his head to look in Yu Xizhi’s direction.
His eyes were still dark and melancholic, but because of the thin morning mist, his eyelashes seemed to be coated with a shallow layer of moisture, which brought a touch of haziness to that melancholy.
Yu Xizhi stood where she was, holding one long and one short twig.
She wanted to move forward, but he was already in front of her.
The girl had battled sword intent for half the night.
Her long hair was already loose, and the Tianzhao Brush was casually tossed into her storage pouch.
Her sleeves and hem were cut by sword marks, and her arms and cheeks bore red imprints from sword marks.
Some were still slightly bleeding, and her clothing at the collar was a mess.
Her face was full of fatigue, yet she could not help but curve her eyes as she met his gaze.
“Xie Junzhi,” the speech she had prepared earlier had all vanished, and her mind was now blank.
“I…”
He did not speak.
He simply bent down and took the shorter twig from her hand.
Then, he reached out and gathered half of her long hair, finally reinserting the small branch into her hair bun.
When he tied her hair this way, he did not go around behind her, so his chest touched the tip of her nose, and her hair strands tangled on her fingertips.
He seemed to be vaguely embracing her.
She smelled the faint clean scent of soapwood, morning light, and dew on him.
His fingers, as he tied her hair, gently brushed her neck.
They were not cold, but carried an almost scalding temperature.
Tying a loose simple hair bun was not gender specific, so Xie Junzhi’s movements were quick, and the vague embrace was brief.
It was as if he had no other intention, merely an impulse upon seeing her hair scattered.
Yu Xizhi’s heart beat slightly faster, and her ear tips were slightly red.
But if one were to truly ask, she could argue it was a mark left by a sword cut on her earlobe.
“Do not lose it next time,” the young man’s voice was gentle.
He stepped back half a pace and then raised his hand to adjust the twig.
“After all, it is my natal sword. Losing it is always a bit troublesome.”
“Alright,” Yu Xizhi replied in a low voice.
She then offered the twig in her other hand.
“This one… I…”
“Since you broke it off, it is yours,” Xie Junzhi did not take it and smiled.
“While it may not be very useful to keep, it does contain some of my sword intent. Perhaps it is not entirely useless.”
Yu Xizhi slowly withdrew her hand.
She had intended to put the twig back into her storage pouch, but after a moment’s thought, the storage was fine and long because she had broken it off hastily.
So she simply wrapped the twig around her sword case a couple of times.
It did not look out of place.
But halfway through wrapping it, she suddenly thought of something.
“Wait, but the first time I saw you, you clearly… had a sword.”
That was the first time she had witnessed such sword intent.
Later, she had seen him draw his sword many times: the casual twig he used to spar with her, the complete, unreserved sword strike when he slew the jealousy demon on that day, and the cold sword strike when that Elder Xu emerged from the back mountain.
However, she always felt that none of these could compare to the genuine disdain and inexplicable brutality within the fleeting glimpse of the Soaring Dragon Sword Intent she saw that day.
“That day was not the Misty Forest, nor was it this Ten Mile Lonely Forest,” Xie Junzhi shook his head and said.
“That was my Inner Demon Secret Realm. Everything that exists, everything seen, can be real, or it can be false.”
“Inner Demon Secret Realm? You… have an inner demon?”
Yu Xizhi subconsciously asked.
As the words left her mouth, she regretted it, feeling she had asked too much.
She abruptly changed the subject.
“Are you saying that sword… does not truly exist?”
“Everyone in the world has an inner demon. I am naturally no exception,” Xie Junzhi did not take offense and calmly explained.
“Some people are perpetually trapped by their inner demons, and others wish to cut down their inner demons with a single sword. However, inner demons are difficult to resolve and difficult to cut down, otherwise they would not deserve to be called inner demons. Perhaps you will encounter one in the future, and perhaps you will not.”
After a pause, he continued.
“As for the sword, this Ten Mile Lonely Forest is composed of countless swords, and naturally, it can also be one sword.”
He did not avoid her question, yet he spoke somewhat vaguely.
It seemed that such matters could only be described with such words.
Yu Xizhi seemed to understand yet not fully understand.
She looked at the crisscrossing trees in front of her, raised her hand hesitantly, and touched a branch.
She only felt that the bark was still rough and the soil beneath her feet was slightly firm, no different from ordinary plants.
But this place was a forest, yet it was not a forest.
It was a sword, but its nature depended on whose hand held it.
In the eyes and hands of ordinary people, it was merely a branch and a forest, but in Xie Junzhi’s hand, it was a sword capable of striking down the world.
And since she had broken off a twig, it counted as borrowing half a sword.
“But why was I able to enter your Inner Demon Secret Realm?”
Yu Xizhi suddenly realized another question.
“That day, I was originally supposed to wait for someone in the Misty Forest… you probably know what happened later.”
“You will have to ask it,” Xie Junzhi looked down towards a certain spot.
Yu Xizhi followed his gaze and saw Ju er peeking half its cat head out from behind a tree.
Its ears drooped slightly, but its golden eyes were wide open.
Now that it was discovered, Ju er no longer hid.
It walked over somewhat reluctantly, and subconsciously rubbed against Yu Xizhi’s leg.
Halfway through the rub, as if suddenly remembering something, it struggled to stop under Xie Junzhi’s gaze.
However, the next second, Ju er leaped up directly.
Yu Xizhi bent down and picked it up, asking doubtfully, “Are you talking about Ju Mimi?”
“Its name is Ju er,” Xie Junzhi lowered his eyes to meet the orange cat’s gaze.
Yu Xizhi became even more confused.
“But no matter what its name is, what bad intentions could a little kitty have?”
Ju er’s drooping ears secretly perked up again at her words, and its slightly guilty eyes regained their righteousness.
When meeting Xie Junzhi’s gaze, it clearly reclaimed a slight advantage.
Xie Junzhi was clearly choked by Yu Xizhi’s statement.
After a while, he could not help but sneer.
“Little kitty?”
“Is it not a little kitty?” Yu Xizhi said blankly, and she raised her hands, lifting Ju er by passing her hands under its armpits near its front paws.
The fat cat’s body was stretched out, its somewhat helpless hind legs hung down, exposing its soft and plump belly.
No matter how you looked at it, it looked like a fluffy little kitty.
…It was a bit fat, so at most, the word “little” should be removed.
But given that she had only seen this one cat on this mountain and in this sect, without any other comparison, calling it a little kitty was completely justified.
Just then, the Tianxin bell from Ziyuan Peak chimed.
The sound drifted from far away, extremely distant and ethereal, as if difficult to perceive within the clouds.
The free arena tournament for the day was about to begin.
Most of the people from Qianya Peak had already directly advanced with ten consecutive victories, but Huang Li had three consecutive victories and still had to go today to determine if he could enter the top sixteen.
Upon hearing the bell, Yu Xizhi suddenly recalled a rumor she had heard before.
Looking at Ju er, her eyes changed slightly. “I heard that another Tianxin Bell is on the neck of the Kunwu Mountain Protector Beast Qilin. Could Ju er be the Qilin? But it does not have a bell around its neck?”
Ju er had been held up for a long time and was quite exasperated.
Xie Junzhi, however, burst out laughing.
“Qilin? Is it worthy?”
Ju er began to twist.
Yu Xizhi had no choice but to drop it back onto the ground.
The orange cat’s fur was slightly ruffled, and its tail swished wildly.
It looked up and meowed unhappily at Xie Junzhi, thinking, “What kind of thing is a Qilin, to be compared to me?”
Mid meow, Ju er suddenly stopped.
It felt that Xie Junzhi’s words had a hidden meaning, and the “it” in the second half of the sentence might not refer to itself, but could also be interpreted as the Qilin.
Yu Xizhi readily squatted down and reluctantly stroked Ju er’s furry head again, having automatically understood Xie Junzhi’s meaning.
“You are right. A mere Qilin, is it worthy to be compared to our Ju er?”
Although she said this aloud, her inner understanding was different.
She only spoke this way to specifically appease Ju er, who was clearly unhappy.
The sound of a branch snapping brought her out of her thoughts.
Xie Junzhi raised his hand and broke off another small twig.
He looked at her.
“Care for a sparring match?”
The question was somewhat sudden, but it was not the first time Yu Xizhi had sparred with him here.
However, the girl looked down at her rather disheveled self and complained a little.
“I have been working hard all night in the cave. I really do not want to work hard right now.”
Xie Junzhi said “Oh” and did not press her.
He merely said leisurely, “I see you are just one sword strike away from Nascent Soul. I wanted to help you out. Since you do not want to work hard, then never mind.”
Breaking through was within reach.
Yu Xizhi did not know if others could resist this temptation, but she certainly could not.
So, even though the girl was still feeling a little wronged, she suddenly looked up and drew her sword with a clang.
Ju er was startled, thinking, “If you two want to fight, then fight; if you want to draw your swords, then draw them. But please consider me, a little kitty! My fur is going to be scared off, okay?”
The blades and swords flashed on Qianya Peak, and the swords and blades flashed on Ziyuan Peak.
Further away, however, someone had deep eyes, looking at the misty, towering mountains, and then raising their eyes to the bright, clear sky.
In their eyes, the river of spiritual energy was secretly surging and flowing.
“In Kunwu Mountain Sect alone, there are already three people Overseeing the World,” Elder Qi shook the tea in his cup.
“It has only been seventeen years since the Battle of the Eclipse, yet the spiritual energy is already so abundant.”
“Does it have anything to do with that person on Qianya Peak?” someone asked.
That person’s voice was faint, clearly not right next to Elder Qi.
The sea of clouds had mist, and within the mist were mountains.
Behind the mountains were large and small cave dwellings concealed within the cliff face.
These dwellings were isolated from each other yet aware of each other, forming the back mountain of TaiqingPeak.
After the Battle of the Eclipse, countless sect members secluded themselves here, just as after every major war every sixty years.
Some cultivated for recovery, some were severely injured and sought breakthrough opportunities in seclusion, and others bore the name of “Seedlings,” in preparation for the possibility that no one among the new generation of disciples could shoulder the burden of the next great battle.
Perhaps because of the recent frequent thunder tribulations, some Elders slowly awakened from their closed door meditation.
“As fate would have it, yesterday I was curious and went to observe the Sword Selection Assembly. I saw some of the new generation disciples, and I also saw him. As for those who conceal their cultivation, I fear there are more than just three.”
When Elder Qi finished speaking, the aura around several cave dwellings stirred slightly.
Clearly, everyone had questions they wanted to ask.
Elder Qi continued, “I know what you want to ask. The new generation disciples are very good. I cannot say all are very good, but they do hold Kunwu Swords. As for that young man with the surname Xie on Qianya Peak…”
He paused, his voice seemingly unchanged, but his tone carried a deep sense of dread.
“Very strong.”
The back mountain fell silent, just like the countless decades of emptiness that had passed.
The clouds and mist were pervasive, moving extremely slowly.
Spiritual veins flowed beneath the mountain base, making the spiritual energy here even richer and purer than in other places.
If someone activated their spiritual vision here, they could see that some of the spiritual energy flowed into the world but was intercepted by Kunwu Mountain Sect’s grand array, never truly merging into the world’s lakes.
Instead, it circulated back to benefit the sect members.
However, a larger portion was silently absorbed by the cave dwellings behind the various peaks, forming various grotto heavens and blessed lands.
After a long time, someone finally spoke.
“A formidable bloodline of the Xie family.”
Another female voice angrily shouted, “Is the Xie family bloodline so powerful? Did all their generations of isolated guard duty on the mountain actually complete their potential instead?!”
A sigh arose.
A coarse, aged voice slowly said, “What difference does it make if they achieved their potential, or how strong they are? Have you forgotten that is the last of the Xie family bloodline? The ones who should truly worry are us.”
When this statement was made, the entire mountain finally fell truly silent.
However, the intertwined auras became slightly disorganized, and more gazes were directed towards Qianya Peak.
They did not care how many people in the sect had concealed their cultivation.
In any case, almost all the concealed experts in the world were currently in Kunwu.
By seizing this advantage, Kunwu could still remain dominant.
But the three words “Qianya Peak” would always be a thorn in everyone’s heart.
Since he did not achieve ten consecutive victories, Huang Li naturally had to continue his matches as scheduled.
Cheng Luocen and Yi Zui were also kept busy, as besides the singles matches, there were also doubles and triples matches.
When the two flew out from Qianya Peak on their swords, their figures both unintentionally carried a hint of dishevelment, and their sword riding speed was several times faster than usual.
“Old Cheng, do not wait,” Yi Zui frowned, his expression serious.
“Breakthrough. If we breakthrough, the three of us using the Qianya Sword Formation might not be unable to fight.”
White cranes flew wildly.
The clouds and wind flowed in the air, but there was no response from Cheng Luocen.
Yi Zui turned his head to look at the young man flying beside him.
He saw that his expression was even more serious.
His lips were slightly pursed, and his hands were making small gestures.
Looking closely, it was actually a small part of the sword strike they had just seen on Qianya Peak.
“Wake up, Old Cheng, wake up!”
Yi Zui saw the young man looking entranced and hurriedly reached out to pat his shoulder.
Cheng Luocen seemed to wake from a dream.
He frowned and turned his head, looking at Yi Zui with a strange expression for a while.
“Fight what fight? Do you really want to fight Second Senior Sister? We might even face her in the upcoming singles matches.”
Yi Zui: …
“No, did you not feel like trying it yourself after seeing that kind of sword intent?”
Yi Zui mimed a sword swing.
“Do you not feel that kind of urge?”
“I have no interest in seeking death,” Cheng Luocen shook his head coldly.
“We clearly know we cannot beat her, so why bother fighting?”
The two looked at each other for a moment, both feeling that the other could not understand.
They wondered if it was because human joys and sorrows could not be shared, or if the other person’s mind was flawed.
But in the next doubles arena, both of them simultaneously raised their swords.
Their sword intent was similar, and their sword techniques were interconnected.
They forged their way through, and quickly entered the top eight bracket in the doubles match.
Yi Zui sheathed his sword, but his thoughts were still on the sword strike of Yu Xizhi’s he had just witnessed.
“I think Second Senior Sister has definitely concealed her cultivation. What do you think?”
Cheng Luocen looked at him with a look reserved for an idiot.
“Is there any need to ‘think’ about this?”
“Why is there no need? She did not have a tribulation thunder! Putting everything else aside, we have been together day and night. Who among you did not see when I broke through?”
Yi Zui was slightly annoyed, but his voice was still suppressed.
“Wait, why are you so certain?”
“Only using tribulation thunder to determine a breakthrough is too limited,” Cheng Luocen spoke bluntly.
“Can you not see the sword intent yourself?”
Yi Zui was greatly surprised.
“How dare you speak to your Senior Brother like that, kid? Want to fight?”
The two senior and junior brothers crouched down, talking in hushed tones, thinking they were alone.
As they spoke, they headed towards Huang Li’s arena.
Just as they left, someone emerged from behind a tree.
“Did you not say you were very familiar with Senior Brother Yi?”
Ji Xiangtao looked upset.
“Why did you stand still when I asked you to help me talk to him?”
Xia Yiyao’s mind was filled with the things she had unintentionally overheard and the matters Xiao Yujian had mentioned.
She wondered if Yu Xizhi had truly concealed her cultivation.
Outwardly, she had to deal with Ji Xiangtao.
“What exactly do you want with Junior Brother Cheng?”
“…What could I possibly want!”
Ji Xiangtao pursed her lips.
Seeing the scrutinizing look in Xia Yiyao’s eyes, which suggested she really would not help her unless she spoke, she stomped her foot, her ear tips slightly red.
“I just… I just wanted to ask him if the injury he got yesterday was serious!”
Xia Yiyao was stunned.
“What if it is serious, and what if it is not? What does that have to do with you?”
“I… I just wanted to ask!” Ji Xiangtao stammered a few times, then simply stated with righteous indignation, “Forget it, if you will not help me, I will ask myself!”
After all, she was the eldest daughter of the Ji family, willful and naive.
She acted on impulse, truly flicked her sleeve, and ran off in the direction of Yi Zui and Cheng Luocen’s retreating figures.
Xia Yiyao lowered her eyes, concealing her impatience and displeasure.
She urgently called out to Xiao Yujian in her mind, but got no result.
In a blink, the arena tournament called out her name.
She could only suppress her doubt for the time being, planning to check the library later that evening to see if such a situation truly existed.
She went off to her match.
Cheng Luocen and Yi Zui walked extremely fast.
The crowd was bustling, and Ji Xiangtao stumbled as she chased them.
She heard many people nearby gasping in amazement, and cheers erupted repeatedly from a certain arena.
Being fond of excitement, she could not help but glance towards that spot.
“An outer sect disciple can actually win two matches in a row. If she truly wins one more, she will advance to the promotion round!”
“And I just found out that this Junior Sister only entered Kunwu recently. It is said she was only at the Qi Induction stage when she arrived, but looking at her current cultivation, she must be at least late stage Qi Refining, right?”
“More than that, the Senior Brother she just fought was late stage Qi Refining. Did you see her struggle even a bit to win?”
“…No way? How long did it take for Senior Brother to go from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment? No matter how talented she is, she cannot be faster than Senior Brother with his Innate Sword Body, can she?”
“I am telling you, are you guys seriously watching the match? She clearly broke through during the match. She just reached Foundation Establishment. Look up at the sky, the rosy clouds have not even dispersed yet!”
The discussions were noisy and urgent.
Ji Xiangtao looked up at the stage and saw the girl wearing the gray outer sect uniform leap down from the arena.
The crowd was startled, then parted, their eyes wide with surprise as they watched the girl head in a certain direction.
Ji Xiangtao looked at the familiar direction and the familiar figure, murmuring, “Seriously?”
The girl in gray was breathless, her hair slightly disheveled.
She reached out to grab Cheng Luocen’s sleeve, but the young man turned around, sensing her, and dodged.
He looked back at her with some astonishment.
Their eyes met.
The girl was still expressionless.
She seemed unskilled at smiling, but her eyes were extremely bright, even brighter than when she had drawn her sword on the stage earlier.
Cheng Luocen looked at her face for a long time, finding her somewhat familiar.
Then he suddenly realized something.
“Is that you?”
“You said you were here, so I came,” the girl’s gaze was burning, and her voice was not particularly pleasant, carrying a slight hoarseness from near exhaustion.
“Winning the match grants entry to the inner sect, so I won.”
“Hmph,” Yi Zui finally recognized the other party.
“Isn’t this… the one from Tianjiu Town…”
Cheng Luocen’s expression was complicated.
He was somewhat incredulous but also felt troubled.
The person in front of him was precisely the girl named Yun Zhuo whom he had saved in the black market in Tianjiu Town.
He felt that the so called favor was merely him acting conveniently; there was no talk of repaying a debt.
After mentioning the sect, he had not even given his own name, yet he did not expect her to actually come here.
She had only spoken two short sentences, but he understood her meaning.
She entered the outer sect, searched among the eight thousand outer sect disciples, but did not find him.
So she wanted to enter the inner sect to look for him again.
Cheng Luocen’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You are already Foundation Establishment?”
Yun Zhuo nodded.
“I wanted to win, so I reached Foundation Establishment.”
Ji Xiangtao finally arrived nearby while the two were talking, and happened to hear Yun Zhuo’s last sentence.
She was stunned into silence, wondering who this outer sect disciple was and what her relationship was with Cheng Luocen.
She did not like the way the girl was looking at Cheng Luocen.
In a fit of urgency, she stepped out.
“You, you have a lot of nerve! Foundation Establishment is not that easy!”
Yun Zhuo slowly looked at her and placed her hand back on her sword.
“Want to fight?”
Ji Xiangtao did not expect this person to draw her sword at the slightest disagreement.
Her eyes widened.
“I would never bully an outer sect disciple. Go fight yourself!”
With that, she turned to Cheng Luocen.
“You… you…”
Somehow, when she talked to other people, her speech was rapid, but when she actually met Cheng Luocen’s gaze, she “you’d” for a long time without saying anything meaningful.
Cheng Luocen recognized her but thought she was coming to pick a fight with him again because of the arena match yesterday.
His expression involuntarily turned slightly cold.
“May I ask what business Miss Ji has this time?”
Ji Xiangtao was extremely sensitive to his emotional changes.
She felt that Cheng Luocen was quite gentle when speaking to this outer sect disciple of unknown origin, but why did he inexplicably harbor some killing intent towards her?
Her heart felt a little sour, and an inexplicable anger flared up.
She angrily threw the healing pill, which her palm had gripped until slightly damp, at Cheng Luocen.
“Can’t I come find you if I have nothing to do? You truly mistake good intentions for bad!”
Cheng Luocen caught the pill, looking slightly stunned as Ji Xiangtao coldly snorted and walked away.
He then looked at Yun Zhuo, who was intensely staring at Ji Xiangtao’s retreating figure, and the sword that was already half an inch out of its sheath in her hand.
Yi Zui silently looked away, but he could not help but let out a “pfft” of schadenfreude.
A massive question mark appeared above Cheng Luocen’s head.
Although he did not understand exactly what had happened, he instinctively felt that something was… not quite right.
