Qingluo Peak Taoist Temple, inner secret room.
In front of the stone wall where Su Jian was in seclusion, An Zhisu knelt on a cushion, closed his eyes and prayed, his lips moving slightly.
After a long time, she stood up and began to clean the secret room.
After cleaning, An Zhisu left the secret room and returned to the Taoist temple.
All that was heard was Lin Duanshan's laughter coming from the center of the main hall:
"... Junior Brother Ling, it turns out that you are the one who did this. I was wondering why Senior Sister An suddenly became so talkative that day, and I thought she was being sarcastic."
"Stop talking." Ling Yunpo was somewhat helpless. "I also don't understand why everyone is assuming that she has bad intentions. My senior sister hasn't done anything to harm the world, so how could she be considered a heinous person?"
"Is it true that in the Shushan Shangqing Sect, even if the swordsmanship is too advanced and powerful, it is not okay?"
"That's not the reason." Lin Duanshan sighed, "Junior Brother Ling, the monthly salary of your Qingluo Peak has recently dropped back to the original level, right?"
Ling Yunpo was slightly startled and asked:
"How do you know?"
Lin Duanshan explained briefly and Ling Yunpo immediately understood.
After he ranked second on the Immortal Sword Ranking and became the "Cloud-Breaking Sword Immortal", the status of Qingluo Peak in Shushan improved.
In fact, this improvement was not due to his strength. No matter how strong he was, could he be stronger than high-level cultivators like Jindan Yuanying? Qingluo Peak didn't even have a high-level cultivator!
What really played a decisive role was that the ancestor of the Guan family, a guest of Shushan, noticed the existence of Lingyunpo while searching for the sword.
In short, Qingluo Peak was protected by a noble person.
As the last Sun Sword Master Ouyang Zhao put forward impossible conditions, the Guan family's ancestor became disheartened and announced that the sword-hunting operation was temporarily over, which meant that Lingyunpo had lost its value.
So after the trip to Southern Xinjiang ended, the other peaks began to stir and wanted to re-encroach on the interests that originally belonged to Qingluo Peak.
Deducting monthly wages... is the most direct temptation.
After the monthly salary was reduced, the Guan family's ancestor did not react, which showed that he really did not have the time to pay attention to Ling Yunpo recently.
So all the peaks finally confirmed that Qingluo Peak had returned to its original state of "no master".
After this news spread, those who originally did not dare to show their hostility towards An Zhisu because of the existence of the Guan family's ancestor naturally returned to their original attitudes.
Ling Yunpo understood, sighed, and thanked Lin Duanshan sincerely.
Lin Duanshan said no, hesitated for a moment, and then said:
"Also, I heard that some of the Shushan leaders have always had issues with Qingluo Peak."
"Any opinions?" Ling Yunpo asked in surprise.
He knew Lin Duanshan's speaking style. No matter the reason for the hostility among the peaks, whether it was hatred for Su Jian or greed for Qingluo Peak's resources, Lin Duanshan would definitely point it out directly.
Instead of using a very ambiguous adjective like "have an opinion".
Unless the person who has the objection has a high position in Shushan, so that even if Lin Duanshan leaks the slightest news, it will have a great negative impact on Jingang Peak...
Ling Yunpo was secretly shocked, so he quickly changed the subject and chatted with Lin Duanshan for a few words.
Seeing that he stopped asking questions, Lin Duanshan knew what was going on.
After chatting for a few words, Lin Duanshan said goodbye and left.
"Senior Sister, please come out." Ling Yunpo sighed and said.
An Zhisu came out from the inner room, frowning and saying worriedly:
"Junior brother, is the situation at Qingluo Peak very bad now?"
"Not really." Ling Yunpo comforted her, "It can only be said that I have regressed a bit, but it is still much better than when I first joined Qingluo Peak."
"I have already thought about it. Those who are hostile to us will still be hostile to us; but we must win over those who are friendly to us, mainly the Foundation Establishment disciples we are familiar with."
"What does it mean to be familiar with each other?" An Zhisu asked seriously.
"We have dealt with each other before, and the relationship is quite harmonious." Ling Yunpo said casually.
"If you say I've dealt with them, I've beaten them all before," An Zhisu replied seriously, "but the relationship is probably not very harmonious."
Ling Yun broke the silence.
No, when I say dealing with someone, I don't mean fighting with swords...
How can the relationship be harmonious if I am beaten up by you?
Of course, Ling Yunpo's unyielding character could not blame An Zhisu for this, so he smiled faintly:
"Birds of a feather flock together. Some people hate the strong because they have lost, but some people choose to befriend the strong in order to better improve their strength."
"Senior Sister, do you think Lin Duanshan, Duan Fenhai, Guan Shanyue and the others feel resentful towards you because they lost to you in sword fighting or were even injured by you?"
"They were never injured by me," An Zhisu recalled. "Basically, after a few moves, they would become disadvantaged and realize that there was no hope of winning, so they would just admit defeat."
"Those who were injured by me were the ones who held on until the very end. Master said that when facing such an enemy, we must decisively strike hard..."
Ling Yunpo fell silent again.
Wait, if someone is still holding on at the last moment, it means he has a grudge against you!
You were so ruthless that you cut off someone's natal sword, and then his master, fellow Taoist, relatives and friends all became enemies with you... Isn't this just a case of revenge?
"Hey, Senior Sister." Ling Yunpo sighed and said, "In the future, try not to be so cruel to your fellow disciples."
"Okay." An Zhisu nodded in response.
"And," Ling Yunpo continued, "Since Senior Sister is number one on the Immortal Sword Ranking, why haven't any of your fellow disciples invited you to go out for training?"
Think about Qiu Changtian of Kunlun. He brought up a great reputation with his fellow disciples and was known as "Chief Qiu, who is eager to do good for others". Later, he was admired by almost everyone and had relatives and friends all over the Kunlun Mountains. How come my senior sister, the chief of Shushan, is so frustrated?
"Ahem." An Zhisu coughed and said uncomfortably, "I don't know why, but no one invited me..."
Before he finished speaking, Duan Fenhai flashed his sword outside the Taoist temple and shouted:
"Is Junior Brother Ling here?"
"Please come in!" Ling Yunpo called out hurriedly when he heard that the person outside was a "potential target for solidarity".
Duan Fenhai came in, exhausted, and said:
"Brother Ling, are you free recently? Would you like to go with me to explore a secret place?"
"Of course I'm free!" Ling Yunpo thought to himself that what he said was true, and he quickly gave Duan Fenhai a look, "Besides, my senior sister is also free, why don't we go together?"
"Senior Sister An is actually willing to go?" Duan Fenhai asked in shock.
We have invited her privately many times in the past, but either we wanted to practice sword skills or drink wine, and we simply could not invite this great goddess... Oh, with Junior Brother Ling here, things are indeed different.
Even on the last trip to Southern Xinjiang, it seemed that she was worried about Junior Brother Ling going alone, so she accompanied him...
Ling Yunpo felt something was wrong and looked at Senior Sister An suspiciously.
What does "actually willing" mean?
"Hey!" An Zhisu quickly smiled and said kindly, "Why wouldn't I want to go out and train with my fellow disciples?"
Duan Fenhai looked at her smile and couldn't help but feel a little scared. He said quickly:
"That's great. I'll bring people to Qingluo Peak to look for you tomorrow at noon!"