The Abused-Novel Female Lead Holds a Mad Brush - Chapter 13
Chapter 13: Beep
Xihe Sect · Before the Water-Moon Mirror
Sect Master Xihe-jun glanced at the water screen, stroking his long beard with a calm, composed expression.
“The batch of saplings participating in this year’s trial seems to be of quite good quality.”
Perfected Cultivator Ninggui swept her eyes over the water screen and smiled faintly. In an instant, the osmanthus tree soul mark behind her bloomed fully, surrounded by fluttering butterflies.
She spoke up, “What the Sect Master says is true. I see quite a few promising female disciples.”
Perfected Cultivator Ninggui’s voice was very soft, carrying the gentle beauty of the mortal Jiangnan water towns. Paired with her overall demeanor, it was easy for people to mistake her for a weak, spineless beauty.
In reality, however, it was completely the opposite.
As everyone knew, Perfected Cultivator Ninggui’s Guipo Peak was primarily composed of female disciples. As the peak master of Guipo Peak, the fact that she could single-handedly protect so many beautiful female disciples proved that her temper was by no means as submissive as her surface appeared.
“For instance, that female disciple dressed in green. I observed that she was trailing behind others just now, yet within mere breaths, she surged ahead. This demonstrates an unclouded heart—a truly promising talent.”
Daoist Master Yuru narrowed his gaze slightly, about to speak, when Master Yiyao let out a chuckle, “It is merely a momentary display of effort. Perfected Cultivator Ninggui might as well look at her again now. Upon entering this one-thousand-and-first step, that female disciple’s speed immediately slowed down.”
Accompanying Master Yiyao’s words, the sharp sword condensed from his soul mark behind him shone with confident radiance, like chilled sunlight—incomparably lofty, bright, and striking.
As the peak master of Poshang Peak in the Xihe Sect, Master Yiyao possessed a sword as his soul mark, and his personality was rigid and dogmatic to the extreme.
“Failing to overcome a mere one thousand and one steps shows that this woman’s character is unstable—hardly suitable for grand stages,” Master Yiyao feigned a sigh as he stroked his beard. Then, turning his narrative, he added, “The boy who was first just now seemed to cross it without even blinking an eye.”
On the surface, Master Yiyao looked aloof, pure, and lofty, but in reality, his face was practically written with: “Hurry up and ask me who was first just now!”
A boastful expression showed on his face, impossible to hide.
However, Sect Master Xihe-jun merely chuckled softly, while Perfected Cultivator Ninggui maintained a gentle smile on her face without opening her mouth.
As for Peak Master Yuru of Yuge Peak? He and Master Yiyao were old rivals, so naturally he wouldn’t help him out, with only the massive, colorful ink brush soul mark floating behind him emitting a faint, quiet light.
No one paid any attention to Master Yiyao.
Only Master Wanren of Chanjuan Peak was different. He strongly agreed with Master Yiyao’s statement, and was just about to chime in with some nonsense like “Men stand tall between heaven and earth, how can weak women compare,” when Perfected Cultivator Ninggui slightly turned her head, causing osmanthus flowers to bloom one after another on her soul mark behind her.
Cluster after cluster, every single petal bore the words: “Say one more word and I will break you.”
Seeing these osmanthus flowers, Master Wanren felt a phantom pain shoot through his whole body. Letting out a light cough, he adjusted his sleeves and sat upright with solemn dignity.
For a time, before the Water-Moon Mirror, the peak masters of the various peaks were all graceful, elegant, pure, and lofty. Some chatted softly with disciples under their gates, yet not a single person actively brought up a new topic.
On the other side.
Relying on her years of survival experience as a game client ordering art, Yu Jiaxue shifted her steps slightly as the clusters of raging fire rushed toward her face, dodging with a lofty posture.
Adding to that, a female disciple happened to be right in front of her, helping her block the first wave of impact. This gave Yu Jiaxue time to react, making her posture even more composed—forming a stark contrast with some of the disheveled and panicked disciples around her.
From a distance, she truly looked like a goddess descending to the mortal realm, with immortal grace, jade-like bones, fluttering and elegant.
Seeing her performance, the peak masters before the Water-Moon Mirror couldn’t help nodding slightly.
Mu Yihe, the second disciple of Yuge Peak, cast a few extra glances at Yu Jiaxue.
A younger disciple asked in a quiet voice, “Does Senior Brother Mu think this female disciple is pretty good?”
Who above or below Yuge Peak didn’t know that their Senior Brother Mu cared most about the word “elegance”? His daily attire had to be elegant, his speech had to be elegant, his conduct had to be elegant—even the scroll-shaped soul mark behind him was written all over with the word “elegance.”
Looking at this green-clothed female disciple now—who remained calm and unhurried even when suddenly encountering clusters of blazing fire on the Hongmeng Scroll, dodging with tranquil ease…
Elegance! Truly elegant!
Sure enough, Mu Yihe nodded with elegant restraint.
“Acceptable.”
The younger disciples below exchanged glances with one another, all breaking into knowing smiles in unison.
Mm, with such elegance and grace, even if her ranking turned out slightly lower, the peak master would likely want her anyway!
Aiya, it seemed their Yuge Peak would gain an extra person this year!
Yu Jiaxue dodged quickly, but others were not so lucky.
To her front left, a female disciple had just dodged a string of small fireballs, completely unexpected of a massive string attacking from her rear side. Blazing fire scorched toward her face. The female disciple turned her feet hastily, but forgot that the Hongmeng Scroll was extraordinary; her posture was nowhere as nimble as usual, resulting in the flames even singeing a bit of her collar!
The pink-clothed female disciple looked deathly pale, her teetering appearance causing those who watched to feel their hearts tighten in suspense. Before the Water-Moon Mirror, some disciples had already closed their eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.
What else could the outcome be? Eight or nine out of ten, she would fall off the Hongmeng Scroll just like the previous few disciples.
Sigh, her earlier performance was actually quite decent… What a pity! Truly a pity!
For a time, even Xihe-jun’s expression held a bit of regret, unable to bear watching further.
Even the pink-clothed female disciple herself—Du Piaopiao—had given up in that split second.
Perhaps this was the will of heaven.
Du Piaopiao thought: defying her parents’ orders at all costs to come to the Xihe Sect to seek the Dao—perhaps her current defeat was heaven’s punishment for her actions.
In the end, she had overreached.
Had she known that fighting with all her strength today would still result in such an ending, turning her into a complete laughingstock, she would have been better off obeying her parents’ words back then, quietly and dutifully…
Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt.
A pair of hands supported her waist.
Just as Du Piaopiao leaned backward, about to fall off the Hongmeng Scroll, those hands suddenly wrapped around her waist. Exerting a slight force, her body half-pivoted; not only did it stabilize the pink-clothed female disciple’s body, but it also covered her collar—which had been somewhat exposed due to leaning backward—in an extremely subtle, romantic manner.
Sensing Du Piaopiao’s trembling body, that pair of hands didn’t pull back. Instead, using the momentum, they helped her stand firmly on her feet.
Du Piaopiao snapped her eyes open, stood firm, and gasped for breath.
“Thank you.”
She looked at the young girl before her, unable to help being stunned for a moment.
Skin whiter than frost and snow, jade features surpassing immortal grace.
Too beautiful—a rare beauty in one’s lifetime. The Du family also had a few prominent clans they interacted with throughout the year, and Du Piaopiao was occasionally brought out by her parents to meet people, so she had some experience and had seen quite a few cultivators with immortal demeanor and transcendent bones.
However, their so-called immortal aura was not even worth mentioning before the young girl in front of her.
The young girl’s beauty made one feel that catching even a single glimpse of her was a blessing in this lifetime.
With such peerless beauty, even if she truly failed the assessment, some peak in the Xihe Sect would definitely want her.
Her heart suddenly felt hollow, and Du Piaopiao felt momentarily bewildered.
For some unknown reason, an intense emotion suddenly burst forth in her heart, coiling around her mind like a venomous snake.
Why? On what grounds?!
She wanted to envy and hate the young girl before her; she wanted to frame her, wanted cracks to appear on her flawless white skin, wanted her immortal grace and jade-like features to be destroyed, wanted…
Wanted to make her fall from the clouds, no longer composed.
