Chapter 60: Each with Their Own Hidden Schemes

Shen Lingxi could not hold back anymore and leaned slightly toward Feng Qing’er.

She and Feng Qing’er knew each other and had a fairly good relationship, so she struck up a conversation: “Feng Qing’er, what is your Divine Maiden Palace doing here?”

“Picking up the scraps,” Feng Qing’er said without hesitation.

“Picking up the scraps?” Shen Lingxi was a bit dazed, failing to react for a moment.

Feng Qing’er glanced at Shen Lingxi and explained, “Doesn’t your Saintess Mountain only want the first-place winner? Since the second-place winner will be eliminated, our Divine Maiden Palace wants that person.”

“Wait, no…” Shen Lingxi felt her head spinning. She took a moment to organize her thoughts. “Doesn’t your Divine Maiden Palace refuse to recruit male disciples? The two people in the finals are both men.”

“That was before. We have reformed now.”

Feng Qing’er spoke as if she were mentioning something completely trivial.

However, her words were like a small pebble thrown into a stagnant pond in the deep mountains. The originally still surface erupted in a small splash, followed by ripples spreading outward.

Shen Lingxi was shocked. Naturally, the representatives of the other three forces also showed a flicker of emotion on their faces. They simultaneously pricked up their ears to listen.

“Did that old nun agree to this?” Shen Lingxi asked urgently.

A trace of a cold sweat appeared on Feng Qing’er’s face. Speechless, she said, “Shen Lingxi, she is my Master after all. Isn’t it a bit much for you to call her that?”

“Don’t you think the same? Otherwise, how would you know who I was talking about?” Shen Lingxi showed no remorse.

Feng Qing’er rolled her eyes, not wanting to bother with her anymore.

“Hurry up and tell me. The suspense is killing me,” Shen Lingxi urged when she saw that Feng Qing’er was ignoring her.

Feng Qing’er gave Shen Lingxi another look and said, “How could a reform take place without Master’s permission?”

“Sigh, it seems that without Mu Ningxue, your Divine Maiden Palace is also going downhill,” Shen Lingxi could not help but lament.

The situation of the Divine Maiden Palace was very similar to the previous state of Saintess Mountain when it lacked a Saintess. Just because they lacked a female disciple with high comprehension of the Goddess Cultivation Technique, the Divine Maiden Palace began to show signs of decline.

However, this was unavoidable.

The Divine Maiden Palace had established its sect with the Goddess Cultivation Technique, shaken the world with it, and become one of the Five Great Forces of the Righteous Path Alliance because of it.

Without the Goddess Cultivation Technique, the Divine Maiden Palace would be a third-rate sect.

Still, the Divine Maiden Palace was in a slightly better position than the Saintess Mountain had been before gaining a Saintess.

The Saintess of Saintess Mountain needed to be accepted and acknowledged by the Inheritance. Therefore, only a Saintess who possessed the Inheritance was a true Saintess.

Only with a Saintess who possessed the Inheritance could Saintess Mountain sit firmly as one of the Five Great Forces of the Righteous Path Alliance.

This was because a Saintess with the Inheritance was extremely powerful.

The Divine Maiden of the Divine Maiden Palace, on the other hand, did not need to receive an inheritance; she only needed to have high comprehension of the Goddess Cultivation Technique.

Without a doubt, Mu Ningxue had been the candidate with the highest talent and best comprehension among all the disciples of the Divine Maiden Palace. Her talent had even surpassed that of the current Palace Master.

But Mu Ningxue had already passed away. Now, they could only rely on the Palace Master to hold things together. However, she was already elderly, and her cultivation and strength were nowhere near what they used to be. This was why they needed the next Divine Maiden to take over the responsibility.

Although Feng Qing’er’s talent and comprehension were far inferior to Mu Ningxue’s and could not compare to the Palace Master’s, the Divine Maiden Palace had no one more outstanding than her.

Therefore, Feng Qing’er was currently the only candidate for the next Divine Maiden.

Given the current situation of the Divine Maiden Palace, introducing male disciples was likely a desperate move born of helplessness.

Wait.

Shen Lingxi sensed something unusual. She gazed deeply at Feng Qing’er and said, “The Divine Maiden Palace surely wouldn’t introduce just one male disciple, right?”

“Of course…” Feng Qing’er smiled at Shen Lingxi and said, “That is the plan!”

Shen Lingxi held her forehead and said, “So you’re basically opening a back door specifically for the second-place winner of the Martial Arts Tournament.”

Feng Qing’er retorted, “This is called setting a historical precedent. We will recruit one first and see how it goes. If it works well, we will recruit a second, a third, or even hundreds or thousands.”

Shen Lingxi looked at Feng Qing’er with total disbelief. If she did not know the temperament of the Divine Maiden Palace’s Palace Master, she might have believed Feng Qing’er’s nonsense.

Being stared at by Shen Lingxi made Feng Qing’er feel a bit uneasy. She said, “Shen Lingxi, it’s not like our Divine Maiden Palace is the only one eyeing the second-place winner. Aren’t Lingyun Pavilion and the Gu Family doing the same? Why are you only staring at me?”

At this point, Feng Qing’er thought of something and smiled mischievously. “You better pray that the one called Sword Fanatic takes first place. Otherwise, your efforts will surely be in vain.”

“Why?”

Shen Lingxi was dissatisfied. Why couldn’t her Brother Gu Ming be the winner?

Feng Qing’er laughed and said, “The matter between the Second Young Miss of Lingyun Pavilion and that man named Nameless has already spread. Everyone knows about them. So, if Nameless takes first place, he might refuse to become your Personal Disciple and instead throw himself into the arms of the Ling Family’s Second Young Miss.”

Shen Lingxi was stunned upon hearing this. She had not considered this layer before, but thinking about it carefully, it was indeed possible.

She and Gu Ming were currently only friends. Compared to the status of being Ling Yuyan’s fiancé, her claim was slightly weaker.

Her expression gradually became serious.

Seeing the solemn Shen Lingxi, Feng Qing’er felt a bit smug. She had finally won against this woman for once.

However, she did not expect Shen Lingxi’s next sentence to make her face lose all color.

“If I tell him to become my husband…”

“Shen Lingxi, are you serious?!!!”

Feng Qing’er screamed in shock, which immediately drew everyone’s attention to Shen Lingxi.

It was only then that she realized Feng Qing’er was looking at her with an agape expression.

Not just Feng Qing’er, but also Butler Li representing the Gu Family, the Ling Family siblings representing Lingyun Pavilion, and the Valley Master of Hundred Flowers Valley who was attending in person — they all looked over with strange expressions.

Elder Zhong, standing behind Shen Lingxi, also looked quite upset.

Shen Lingxi realized she had said something she shouldn’t have. As the Saintess of Saintess Mountain, her marriage was not something she could decide on her own — at least not right now.

As for the reason, it was actually because Gu Ming’s current identity was not prestigious enough. If he could be restored as the Second Young Master of the Gu Family, Saintess Mountain and the Gu Family would be more than happy to have them stuck together every day.

Shen Lingxi sighed in her heart, but her surface remained calm. “I was just talking nonsense.”

Feng Qing’er gave Shen Lingxi a strange look but eventually accepted her explanation.

*Cough, cough.*

Elder Zhong, standing behind Shen Lingxi, had to cough a few times to signal them to stop whispering, as others could hear them.

Feng Qing’er and Shen Lingxi exchanged a look and stopped speaking.

Sitting in a corner of the high platform, Gu Tianba looked displeased. This group of people clearly knew what he intended to do, but they did not care. It was obvious they did not take him — the Valley Master — seriously.

It made sense.

Although Hundred Flowers Valley was one of the Five Great Forces, it was at the bottom of the ranks.

Unlike the other four, Hundred Flowers Valley did not have its own Secret Treasure. Therefore, it was often mocked as being there just to make up the numbers.

But today, he — Gu Tianba — was prepared.