Lin Xinyi was in a state of extreme irritation.
Her plans had failed one after another, and her mood was already far from good.
As she watched the heavenly ladder in the sky gradually disappear, Lin Xinyi felt her heart growing more and more impatient.
Even the stones on the roadside seemed to be against her.
“Damn it, are you trying to trip me by sitting here?”
Looking at the stone by her foot, Lin Xinyi kicked it away in anger.
But in the end, she was just lashing out at random.
After all, a stone couldn’t talk.
Lin Xinyi could only curse at it angrily.
The more she cursed, the less satisfying it felt, so she directly kicked the defenseless stone away.
But the stone bounced back and hit her on the head.
Lin Xinyi’s pent-up frustration reignited.
“Damn it! Damn it! Even a stone is against me!”
She stomped down on the stone, grinding it to dust before finally letting the innocent rock go.
As for what had just happened, Lin Xinyi refused to believe it was a coincidence.
Her plan had been so perfect.
She had even made such a huge sacrifice to deal with Murong Xue, yet out of nowhere, two demon sect spies had appeared and taken all the heat.
“It’s fine. The sect selection isn’t over yet. As long as Bai Qianqian doesn’t take first place in the final sect competition…”
Lin Xinyi fantasized about another outcome, but no matter how she thought about it, it was impossible.
She didn’t even know Bai Qianqian’s true strength, but with the guidance of the immortal lord’s remnant soul beside her, taking first place would be a simple matter.
Lin Xinyi had tried to secretly sabotage Bai Qianqian in previous rounds, but every attempt had been futile.
She had even been discovered and was tortured in a hundred ways as a result.
“Could it be… that I really have to watch Bai Qianqian become my disciple again, just like before?”
Feeling hopeless, Lin Xinyi sat dejectedly under a tree, her thoughts unclear.
….
Inside the Celestial Altar, however, was a different scene.
Bai Qianqian stood in place, while Murong Xue, who had been on the viewing platform, slowly floated down and walked past her.
There was no exchange between the two.
Murong Xue did not say much either.
Her Nanhua divine soul brushed lightly over the other girl, but she was shocked to find she could glean no information from her.
“The person Elder Lin was looking at just now is definitely this young girl, but why can’t I see through her…”
Bai Qianqian faintly sensed Murong Xue’s gaze, but she did not say anything. She simply walked past her.
After all, not only Lin Xinyi had been unaffected during that frozen instant.
In that sealed world, Bai Qianqian had also watched the entire process.
Even a demon sect elder at the Nascent Soul stage was nothing more than a flash in the pan, crushed into icy powder without even a chance to resist.
The power Murong Xue had just displayed made Bai Qianqian understand that she was not someone she could deal with right now.
So at that moment, Bai Qianqian cleverly disguised herself, pretending to be frozen like everyone else.
“The woman who left a scent on Master… very faint, but it’s not her.”
When Bai Qianqian had held Lin Xinyi in her arms under that tree, savoring her graceful figure, she had sensed two scents on her dear master.
One was as faint as a silver thread, while the other seemed to try to cover her own mark.
The person walking past her now carried the scent of that silver thread.
Bai Qianqian showed no change in expression on the surface, but she quickened her pace, because if she had noticed the other party’s situation, the other party had certainly noticed her gaze as well.
“Leaving in such a hurry…”
Bai Qianqian had thought that by acting indifferent, she wouldn’t attract attention, but when Murong Xue’s voice rang out in the Celestial Altar, everyone present was momentarily stunned.
Only Bai Qianqian still tried to hurry away.
Seeing that the girl had no intention of stopping, Murong Xue lightly tapped her toe, and a wall of ice instantly appeared in front of Bai Qianqian, blocking her like a mirror.
“Disciple Bai Qianqian greets the Sect Leader…”
Seeing her path blocked, Bai Qianqian’s gaze flickered slightly.
She withdrew her thoughts and clasped her hands in salute.
Murong Xue did not say much; she simply gazed at Bai Qianqian quietly, as if pondering something.
After a long silence, she slowly spoke.
“You… would you be willing to become my disciple?”
The words that had been on the tip of her tongue were not what she had originally intended to say, but seeing the other girl salute her, Murong Xue changed her tone and uttered this sentence.
Murong Xue’s plain words immediately caused a stir throughout the Celestial Altar.
The Sect Leader, who usually didn’t bother with trivial matters, had actually taken a fancy to taking on a disciple.
“Sect Leader, the first place in this competition is over there. That disciple climbed 50 floors—he’s considered excellent, but isn’t this a bit…”
“Yes, Sect Leader. If you want to take on a personal disciple, that girl who climbed 73 floors would be more suitable.”
Murong Xue ignored the first-place winner and instead approached a disciple who had stopped at 50 floors, instantly making the surrounding elders uneasy.
However, Murong Xue’s expression did not change at all.
She simply looked quietly at Bai Qianqian, who had her back to her.
“Thank you for your appreciation, Sect Leader, but this disciple already has a master in mind…” Bai Qianqian was not greatly moved by Murong Xue’s words.
She simply bowed slightly.
Hearing her reply, Murong Xue did not seem surprised.
A flicker of emotion passed through her eyes, and the corner of her mouth lifted into a faint smile.
“Already have a master in mind? That’s a fresh way to put it…”
Not angered by the refusal, Murong Xue turned around instead, her eyebrows raised slightly as if in good spirits.
She took a step and directly left the Celestial Altar, leaving the crowd gasping in shock.
“Did I hear that wrong? That girl just refused the Sect Leader!”
“Heh, I think she knows she’s not strong enough, so she’s being sensible.”
“She still climbed 50 floors, didn’t she? You only climbed 20 just now.”
“Nonsense! It was 21!”
Bai Qianqian paid no attention to the noisy chatter around her, as if it were just a trivial matter.
As for the elders who had objected, their expressions varied, as if they were all thinking about something.
“The Sect Leader taking on a personal disciple is no small matter…”
“The Sect Leader finally showed interest in taking a disciple, and you old fools had to meddle!”
“I can’t just let that slide. If the Sect Leader takes on a personal disciple, that person becomes the next Sect Leader!”
“I’m not so sure. The previous Sect Leader’s personal disciple, well…”
“Shh! Do you still want to be an elder? If not, don’t say things like that here!”
When several elders were discussing, one elder was cut off mid-sentence by another.
Both of them unconsciously looked in the direction Lin Xinyi had left, as if they had touched on a forbidden topic.
Meanwhile, Bai Qianqian was being led by an elder to the outer disciple dormitory.
Since everyone had not yet officially become sect disciples, they could only stay temporarily within the sect.
“Today’s trials have exhausted your energy. You are surely unable to handle the upcoming sect selection. Rest for one night. Tomorrow will be the final assessment.”
The elder in charge of guiding them left these words and handed the group over to other disciples.
Bai Qianqian, under the guidance of a disciple, arrived at a dormitory for outer disciples.
She gently pushed open the door and found the room extremely simple.
There was only a bed, a table, and a chair, with no other furniture.
Luo Qingyao glanced around the shabby environment and shook her head repeatedly.
“There isn’t even bedding on the bed. If someone didn’t bring their own, wouldn’t they have to sleep on the hard board?”
“The sect emphasizes cultivation. Disciples who have passed the trials can generally rest in meditation.”
After entering the room, Bai Qianqian touched the ring on her finger.
As if sensing something, Luo Qingyao walked to the door, looked left and right through the crack to confirm no one else was in the corridor, and then began to set up a soundproof barrier.
Once the barrier was complete, the entire room was isolated from outside perception.
Only then did Bai Qianqian finally relax.
She reached out and groped gently in the space.
“I don’t have a good impression of that Lin Xinyi, but the treasure she left you is pretty good.”
Bai Qianqian searched briefly in the space and pulled out the Fangcun Dongtian.
As the box-like grotto-heaven was placed on the bed, Bai Qianqian did not hesitate for a moment before stepping into it.
“Having a portable little space means you don’t have to worry about quality of life.”
Luo Qingyao entered the space and immediately lay down on the bed.
But Bai Qianqian, who had been silent all this time, slowly pulled out a storage pouch that emitted a constant chill.
“Sister Luo, it seems it’s not yet time to rest. There are some things I need your help with.”
Just now, Luo Qingyao had received Bai Qianqian’s hint and thought she wanted to set up another barrier to conceal the grotto-heaven.
But when she looked up, she saw the cold, glowing storage pouch in Bai Qianqian’s hand.
“Where did you get this storage pouch?”
“Some fragments fell from the sky. I picked them up along the way.”
“Just picking them up along the way… what a coincidence…”
Luo Qingyao was once again shocked by Bai Qianqian’s astonishing luck, but she seemed to have grown used to it and didn’t ask further.
“I have to say, your luck is downright terrifying…”
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