“Ahem, Xiaoxiao, let’s talk about the cellar later.”
Lin Yue grabbed the black iron heavy sword and tried to show off his “strength.”
“Look, I’ve been training in the Abandoned Sword Grave for the past two days, and I’ve mastered a legendary technique! My sword now—not only is it heavy, but it can also… dance!”
Lin Yue was going all out to divert An Xiaoxiao’s attention.
He swung the heavy sword fiercely.
This time, he didn’t release any destructive force.
Instead, using the micro‑control of his “Magnetic Heavy Domain,” he made that clumsy iron pillar draw a series of extremely smooth, extremely fluid circles in the air.
The airflow generated by the heavy sword even coiled the surrounding mist into a giant heart shape.
“Look! The Dance of the Heavy Sword—Love in the Nine Heavens!”
Lin Yue shouted out the name of this move, which was enough to make him socially cringe a hundred times over, with a completely straight face.
An Xiaoxiao froze.
She watched the man earnestly dancing with a several‑thousand‑catty iron pillar among the rubble, his movements as comical as a clumsy gorilla’s.
“Hehehe—”
A silvery, bell‑like laugh rang out again.
An Xiaoxiao laughed so hard she nearly doubled over, tears streaming from her eyes.
“Senior Brother… you’re really… hopeless.”
She was so out of breath from laughing that the red glow around her had completely dissipated, leaving her looking like a harmless little junior disciple.
Lin Yue knew when to stop.
He hefted the heavy sword onto his shoulder.
“Laughing is good. Laughing means your anger is gone.”
He pressed his advantage: “Come on, let’s hurry to the square. After the ceremony ends, I’ll show you a performance of balancing bowls on the heavy sword.”
An Xiaoxiao stepped forward and naturally linked her arm through his.
Her body was soft and clung to Lin Yue, as if she hadn’t been the one releasing that terrifying killing intent just moments ago.
“Then Senior Brother had better keep his word. If you ever secretly undo Little Xiaoxiao’s knot again…”
An Xiaoxiao pulled a new pink silk cord from her sleeve and waved it in front of Lin Yue.
“Then Xiaoxiao will sew this rope directly into your skin and see how you can still ‘die heroically.’”
Lin Yue’s smile froze on his face. He could only nod repeatedly: “Don’t sew it, don’t sew it, it would ruin my looks.”
The two of them walked out of the misty area, strangely clinging to each other.
As he walked, Lin Yue did some mental accounting.
He had temporarily pacified An Xiaoxiao, but the green jade token inside his body was still a hot potato.
This wasn’t going to a ceremony—this was bringing a time bomb to meet another bomb disposal expert.
On the outer sect square.
Tens of thousands of labor disciples and outer sect disciples had already lined up.
On the platform ahead, several elders were inspecting with stern expressions.
The originally solemn atmosphere changed subtly the moment Lin Yue and An Xiaoxiao stepped onto the square.
“Look, who’s that?”
“It’s Lin Yue! How did he end up looking like a beggar?”
“Is that An Xiaoxiao next to him? Why do they seem… off?”
The surrounding disciples whispered among themselves.
Especially the male disciples who secretly admired An Xiaoxiao—their eyes were bloodshot.
Lin Yue stared straight ahead.
His current motto was “Stay steady.”
As long as he wasn’t embarrassed, others would be the ones feeling awkward.
“Senior Brother, look, that guy keeps staring at you.”
An Xiaoxiao pointed to a tall disciple in the crowd, her tone growing excited.
“Should Xiaoxiao help him ‘close’ his eyes?”
“No, no, no. He’s just jealous of my heavy sword.”
Lin Yue hurriedly pressed down on An Xiaoxiao’s restless hand.
“Xiaoxiao, keep a low profile. We must keep a low profile.”
At the very center of the platform, Chu Wanning, dressed in white and exuding sword aura, sat high in her seat.
Her gaze crossed the sea of people and instantly locked onto the figure carrying the iron pillar.
Her brows twitched slightly.
She sensed it.
That life‑bound jade token was on that man.
And more than that…
Why did the little girl next to him carry a faint, unsettling scent of something like “karmic entanglement,” one that even made her feel uneasy?
Chu Wanning’s long, slender fingers gently tapped the table.
Her cold voice rang out from the platform: “Begin the ceremony.”
Lin Yue felt two terrifying forces.
One came from the snowy mountain on the stage.
The other came from the abyss clinging to his arm.
At that moment, both locked onto him simultaneously.
The Nine Heavens Sect’s martial training arena.
This place was originally the most open plain in the outer sect, but the Inner Sect Discipline Hall had used a formation to raise it three zhang higher, turning it into a giant floating battle platform.
The edges of the platform were adorned with dazzling sword‑qi formations to prevent residual waves from the matches from affecting the “audience” below.
The so‑called “audience” were disciples like Lin Yue—wearing coarse linen robes, their cuffs still stained with mud—outer sect disciples and laborers.
In name: observing and learning, to gain insight into the immortal path.
In reality: just filling seats and serving as a backdrop for the inner‑sect senior brothers and sisters, highlighting their transcendent elegance.
“Tsk tsk, the inner sect sure eats well.”
Lin Yue shouldered the pitch‑black iron pillar and moved to a shady corner at the back, amid the contemptuous and frightened gazes of the other outer sect disciples.
An Xiaoxiao, beside him, had fully recovered her sweet and obedient appearance.
She produced a pink handkerchief from nowhere and meticulously wiped the mud‑stained cuffs of Lin Yue’s sleeves.
“Senior Brother, have some water.”
The male disciples around them were almost popping their eyes out.
Although An Xiaoxiao was a laborer, she was famous in the outer sect as the “cute mascot.”
Even inner sect disciples on inspection tours would steal extra glances at her.
But now, this delicate little flower was serving a beggar carrying a “big iron club”?
“This is called immortal fate. What do you know?”
Lin Yue felt the murderous stares around him, but his heart was as steady as an old dog.
He watched the inner‑sect elites slowly descending the steps in front, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
Those inner‑sect disciples, wearing spotless white robes, carrying long swords on their backs, and walking on flowing clouds, practically had “I am a genius” written on their foreheads.
In contrast, Lin Yue, who had just crawled out of the sword grave, did somewhat damage the Nine Heavens Sect’s brand image.
“Dong—”
At the third bell toll, the noise on the platform abruptly ceased.
The head elders of all the inner‑sect peaks had arrived.
In the center of the inner‑sect disciples’ representatives, sitting on the cold jade throne, Chu Wanning still wore her usual aloof, distant expression.
During the break between announcing the match list, Chu Wanning’s gaze swept downwards intentionally or unintentionally.
Her spiritual sense, like an extremely dense net, quickly filtered through the laborer area.
Finally, her eyes stopped at a corner.
There, a ragged man sat on a large iron pillar, holding a wild fruit he had somehow swiped, eating it with relish.
Beside him, the little girl in a red dress was fanning him with a look of adoration.
Chu Wanning’s eyelid twitched slightly.
What bothered her even more was that she could clearly feel her life‑bound jade token in that man’s bosom.
And more than that… the suffocating, incredibly sinister “pink death knot” that had been on the token before had now seemed to disappear?
Chu Wanning had long sensed that her life‑bound jade token was under some kind of control, but it was an energy even she couldn’t easily remove.
‘This guy… how many tricks does he have up his sleeve?’
A flicker of complex emotion passed through Chu Wanning’s heart.
It felt like her treasured legendary sword, which she had cherished for years, had been repaired by a tinker—both relieved and strangely unsettled.