Faced with her junior sister’s recent barrage of cold sarcasm, Gong Shangyu immediately wilted.
Yes… just as Gu Qingying said, the current Sect Master simply didn’t recognize her at all!
Realizing this, Gong Shangyu, who had been full of spirit just moments ago, instantly deflated like a burst balloon and sagged right there.
Then she slowly lifted her head and, in a tone almost pleading, asked Gu Qingying beside her,
“Sect Master… how has he been lately…”
Seeing Senior Sister in such a beaten-down state, Gu Qingying let out a smug snort, finally venting some of her anger.
But she also knew this wasn’t the time for infighting, so she reined in her arrogance a little and spoke in a somewhat awkward tone.
“Sigh… alright, alright~ stop looking so miserable. Sect Master’s been doing fine recently.”
Gong Shangyu immediately lifted her head, concern rekindling in her pink eyes.
“Really? Sect Master… how is his health? How’s his mood lately? Has anyone in the Sect been bullying him?”
“After all, the Sect Master is only at the Foundation Establishment Realm serving as Peak Lord; it must be hard for him to command respect in the Sect…”
“Well~ it’s not as complicated as you think~”
Gu Qingying waved her hand at Senior Sister,
“After all, our Sect Ancestor who’s been secluded in the back mountains and never shows up, is a Great Ascension Realm grand cultivator. How could the Sect possibly make things difficult for Sect Master?”
“So just rest assured~ Sect Master’s living well on Broken Emotion Peak every day, eating well, drinking well, sleeping well, except…”
Gu Qingying paused here, her face revealing a strange expression.
“Hm? Except what?”
Gong Shangyu asked curiously.
“Just… Sect Master seems to have a bit of gynophobia in this lifetime.”
“Hm? Gynophobia?”
Hearing Gu Qingying’s words, Gong Shangyu froze, a big question mark appearing in her pink eyes.
“Gynophobia? Sect Master? That’s impossible!”
In Gong Shangyu’s memory, Sect Master’s personality was cold but always gentle and patient toward the female disciples and other female cultivators in the Sect.
How could such a Sect Master fear women?
Gu Qingying shrugged helplessly.
“Uh… you can’t exactly call it gynophobia. It’s more like he’s very wary about taking on female disciples…”
Gu Qingying seemed to think of something mischievous, then looked slyly at Gong Shangyu and deliberately exaggerated.
“Actually, Sect Master is fine with other female cultivators around him, but when it comes to accepting female disciples, he’s quite reluctant. He even mumbles about not accepting female disciples when he talks in his sleep.”
At this, Gong Shangyu frowned slightly, looking at Gu Qingying with suspicion.
“Hm? What’s going on? I don’t remember Sect Master having this problem in our previous lives. Could it be… before we entered the Sect in our past lives, there was some untold history between Senior Sister and Sect Master that’s not related to cognition?”
“Hmph! Tell me the truth—during the time I wasn’t around, did you secretly do something to Sect Master, causing him to develop this psychological shadow?”
Faced with Gong Shangyu’s accusation, Gu Qingying, who had once used system abilities to secretly attack Lu Li, instantly grew nervous like a cat with its tail stepped on.
“I… I didn’t! Stop falsely accusing me! Do you think I’m as perverted as you, secretly using my ability to mess with Sect Master when he’s not paying attention?”
Gong Shangyu narrowed her eyes slightly, a glint of insight shining in her pink pupils.
“Oh? Is that so? That’s hard to say…”
Gu Qingying shivered under her gaze and hurriedly responded,
“I don’t know either, what’s wrong with Sect Master…”
“Anyway, recently when I was formally accepted as a disciple, Sect Master made it clear to the Outer Disciples that Broken Emotion Peak will only accept male disciples this time, absolutely no females.”
“I… was really forced into a corner, so I disguised myself as a male, then used system abilities to modify Sect Master’s cognition to sneak in…”
Recalling the scene when she became a disciple, and those ambiguous moments when Sect Master, unaware of her true gender, had groped her, Gu Qingying’s delicate face instantly flushed.
Suddenly, Gu Qingying’s purple eyes lit up with a flash of speculation and suspicion, and she looked sharply at Gong Shangyu, asking out of the blue:
“Uh, Second Senior Sister, do you think Sect Master might actually be a rebirth as well? Could it be that he doesn’t accept female disciples because he already knows something in advance?”
The more Gu Qingying spoke, the more plausible her theory seemed, and her tone grew urgent:
“Look! Whether in your past life or mine, Sect Master ended up passing away because of us female disciples…”
“For me, it was because of my heart demon, and for you, it was because Senior Sister killed her husband to break through. Do you think… maybe because of those things, he has some psychological shadow…”
“Afraid of repeating the same mistakes this lifetime, so he adamantly refuses to accept female disciples?”
The more Gu Qingying said, the more reasonable her guess seemed.
But Gong Shangyu slowly shook her head after listening to Gu Qingying’s theory, a faint gleam of “wisdom” flickering deep in her pink eyes.
“I think you’re overthinking it…”
Gong Shangyu glanced at Lu Li nearby, frozen in Time Stop by the system, and murmured softly.
“Think about it carefully—rebirth cultivators like us are immune to system abilities. If Sect Master was also a rebirth, how could he be so easily pinned down by my Time Stop?”
“Besides, you just said you used Cognition Modification Ability to fool Sect Master into accepting you! That means your system ability works on Sect Master too!”
Gong Shangyu rubbed her chin and gave her final verdict.
“So Sect Master is very likely not a rebirth. His fear of women probably has another cause.”
“Perhaps he even had gynophobia in his past life, but we just didn’t know because we weren’t in the Sect back then.”
“When we entered the Sect, Senior Sister or our ever-hidden Sect Ancestor might have helped Sect Master overcome this little problem, which is why we didn’t notice.”
“Hm, that makes sense~”
Gu Qingying nodded in agreement with Senior Sister’s analysis, then revealed her true intentions and asked Gong Shangyu.
“So, with Sect Master’s current state, how do you plan to return to the Sect?”
“Oh~ sorry, I misspoke… perhaps now I should be calling you ‘Junior Brother’ instead~”
At these words, Gong Shangyu’s expression instantly soured.
Her beautiful pink eyes suddenly glared dangerously at the “innocent” Gu Qingying.
After all, she was smart enough to catch the threatening undertone in Gu Qingying’s words.
What Gu Qingying was blatantly saying was this:
Sect Master fears women now, so Broken Emotion Peak won’t accept female disciples.
Want to return to the Sect?
Fine, but only if I use my system ability to modify cognition and help you sneak in disguised as a male.
As for the price~ heh heh…
Gong Shangyu clenched her pink fists tightly, her fingertips nearly digging into her palms.
She, Gong Shangyu, had been an undisputed Great Ascension Realm Empress in her past life, yet now this little brat held her back!
Though her anger surged within, Gong Shangyu forcibly suppressed it, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
Because reason told her that Gu Qingying’s words were probably true.
And if Sect Master was determined not to accept female disciples, no matter how powerful she was, she wouldn’t be able to return to the Sect…
Let alone become Sect Master’s Dao Companion to make up for all the regrets of her past life.
After weighing the pros and cons, the fury on Gong Shangyu’s face receded like a tide, replaced by a near-flattering expression, though her words still carried a gritted-teeth edge.
“Heh heh… Ah~ my dear Senior Sister~”
Gong Shangyu’s voice was sickeningly sweet as she lightly looped her arm around Gu Qingying’s hand, completely reversing the earlier accusatory demeanor.
“Heh heh… compared to you, Gu Senior Sister, what’s Feng Lingshuang that sword fanatic worth?”
“As long as you agree to help me get back into the Sect, I will serve you as the new Senior Sister of Broken Emotion Peak!”