Chapter 38 The Rules of the Sect: Strange Tales - Why is the Spoiled Junior Sister Like This? ...
Jun Lintian looked at the group of fellow disciples who were "questioning" him, raised his hand and rubbed his temples. He felt that the meridians that had just been nourished by the Tai Sui Spirit Liquid were starting to ache again.
He sighed helplessly, his voice visibly weary: "It seems unlikely that I'll be able to get a peaceful rest tonight."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Rong Yan crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly, giving off an air of "Don't try to fool me until you explain yourself clearly."
"Tell me quickly! Why did your junior sister take the initiative to hold your wrist just because you were taking a walk to clear your head?!"
She saw it all clearly: when Shi Liuying pulled Jun Lintian towards Baicaotang just now, it was all done so smoothly and seamlessly!
Chi Yang chimed in with a smile, her eyes gleaming with knowing light: "Exactly, exactly, haven't you noticed that the atmosphere between you two is different from before? That... um... indescribable, sticky feeling!"
She gestured exaggeratedly with her hand.
Although Shen Hanzhou didn't quite understand what "sticky feeling" meant, he firmly believed that what Chi Yangren said must make sense, so he nodded vigorously and in deep agreement, like a chick pecking at rice.
Even Chong Cang, who had been silent all along, finally gave a reluctant response.
A perfectly standard dead fish eye look, brimming with "I don't like you".
Jun Lintian felt a chill run down his spine under the gaze of those four pairs of eyes. He tried to remain calm and asked in a composed tone, "I helped my junior sister resolve her inner conflicts and let go of the shadows of the past. Isn't it only natural that she feels closer to me and trusts me more?"
Upon hearing this, the group exchanged glances and fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
Rong Yan stroked her chin, recalling Shi Liuying's noticeably more relaxed and radiant state when she returned; it certainly didn't seem like an act.
The best thing would be to help my junior sister let go of her family issues.
Chi Yang nodded. The little firefly's eyes were shining; this couldn't be faked.
Shen Hanzhou felt that what his senior brother said made a lot of sense, and that his junior sister's happiness was the most important thing!
Chong Cang still had a deadpan expression, looking at Jun Lintian with displeasure.
"Hmm...that makes some sense."
Rong Yan reluctantly accepted the explanation, but still pointed at Jun Lintian with a warning: "Considering that you did help Junior Sister resolve her inner conflict, I'll let it go this time for secretly abducting her."
"If you dare to take someone away without a word again, hmph!" She waved her fist, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Jun Lintian readily agreed, "Okay."
"Alright, let's get down to business." Rong Yan's expression turned serious, and she stopped dwelling on the issue of abducting her junior sister.
"Besides interrogating you, I have another matter to tell you. Our master will emerge from seclusion tomorrow to repair the sect's protective array, and he wants the two of us to go and pay our respects to him together tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Shen Hanzhou immediately pointed nervously to his nose: "Me... do I have to go too?"
He held the mysterious and unpredictable Xuanji Daoist Master in great awe.
Rong Yan waved her hand: "You don't need to go. Just me, Senior Brother, and... Junior Sister will go."
She paused, then looked at Jun Lintian: "Junior Sister has been in the sect for so long, and her cultivation has improved to such an extent. She should go and see Master, formally offer him tea, and acknowledge the sect."
Upon hearing this, Chi Yang's eyes widened in surprise, as if he had heard something unbelievable: "What? Little Firefly hasn't even offered the apprenticeship tea yet? Your Myriad Manifestations Sect's apprenticeship process is too... too unconventional, isn't it?"
Rong Yan sighed helplessly, her tone tinged with self-deprecation: "And it's not just the apprenticeship process that's strange. Each and every one of you here, taken individually, would be astonishing and utterly bizarre."
Shen Hanzhou deeply sympathized, muttering to himself, "Liu Ying also said I was strange at the beginning... With such a broken system attached to me, it's hard to be normal..."
Shen Hanzhou's words reminded Chong Cang. He frowned slightly, a thoughtful look flashing in his silver-gray eyes, and slowly said, "Could it be... that the Sect Master also has a system?"
He recalled the frequency with which Xuanji Daozun had gone into seclusion over the past two hundred years, saying, "His seclusion frequency over the past two hundred years has been... a bit too frequent."
Jun Lintian's eyes flickered slightly as he continued, "Not only that. Before... that junior sister joined the sect, Master frequently traveled outside the sect. But since that junior sister joined... Master has often gone into seclusion."
Listening to their analysis, Chi Yang tapped her chin with her finger and made a bold guess: "According to you, the probability that your master has a system is quite high. Moreover, his mission target... might be Little Firefly?"
"What?!" Shen Hanzhou immediately tensed up, his face filled with worry. "Then, will Liu Ying be alright?"
Rong Yan remained relatively calm. She shook her head and said, "This 'junior sister' is not that 'junior sister.' Junior Brother Hanzhou, you haven't been in the sect for long, so you don't know that there's an unwritten 'strange rule' in our sect."
"Strange tales of rules?" Shen Hanzhou blinked.
“Yes,” Rong Yan nodded and explained, “It means that within the sect, regardless of the order of entry, there can only be one universally recognized, youngest ‘junior sister’. This position is, well… unique.”
Shen Hanzhou paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "So that means that 'this junior sister' has to call Liu Ying 'senior sister'?"
“Theoretically, yes.” Rong Yan nodded again.
"That's wonderful!" Shen Hanzhou immediately perked up, as if he could already see Shi Liuying being called "Senior Sister" in a soft and sweet voice. "Liuying will be so happy to know!"
Seeing his silly, happy expression, Rong Yan couldn't help but pour cold water on him: "Don't be too happy yet."
Chong Cang added coldly from the side, his tone filled with undisguised disdain: "Nobody really likes that 'junior sister'."
Chi Yang's curiosity was completely piqued: "Why? Is she difficult to get along with?"
Rong Yan's face showed a complex expression that mixed helplessness, toothache, and a little bit of disgust. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to describe it, but felt that words could not capture its essence.
Her mouth opened and closed as if her jaw had dislocated. In the end, she just sighed and said succinctly, "Because... well, if you could see it and experience it for yourself, you would understand."
The next day, at the main peak of the Wanxiang Sect, in the Xuanji Hall.
The main hall was solemn and majestic, with a high, expansive dome painted with mysterious star maps. The floor was paved with white jade, so shiny it reflected light like a mirror.
Xuanji Daozun sat upright on the cloud bed at the head of the table.
He wore a silver-threaded Taoist robe with dark patterns, spotless, his black hair tied up with a simple jade hairpin, and his face was incomparably handsome, yet revealing no emotion whatsoever.
Aloof and ascetic, yet unapproachable.
Jun Lintian and Rong Yan stood respectfully at the lower end, preparing to report on sect affairs.
However, an overly sweet, cloyingly delicate voice, so sweet it could drip honey, shattered the tranquility of the hall at an inopportune moment—
"Senior Brother!!"
A petite figure dressed in a flowing pink gown ignored everything around her and pounced straight towards Jun Lintian!
"I've finally seen you again! I missed you so much, Senior Brother!"
Su Wan ran up to Jun Lintian, looked up at him with a pitiful little face, and said in a sweet voice.
The moment she lunged at him, Jun Lintian had already taken a half step back without making a sound, just in time to avoid her "embracing".
His expression remained calm and expressionless; he merely nodded slightly, his tone distant: "Junior Sister Su."
The Venerable Xuanji at the head of the table frowned almost imperceptibly.
His voice carried a hint of displeasure, but within that displeasure was a clear sense of habit and even indulgence: "Wan'er, don't be rude. Come here and sit properly."
Su Wan pouted her pink lips, seemingly a little dissatisfied, but she still obediently stomped her foot and walked back to Xuanji Daozun's side with exaggerated hip twisting like the Green Snake and White Snake, and sat down next to him.
She clung to his arm and shook it playfully, "I know, Master, I just haven't seen my senior brother in so long~"
Xuanji Daozun seemed to enjoy her closeness. Although his face remained expressionless, his eyes softened slightly for a moment. He gently patted the back of her hand and then looked at Jun Lintian: "Lintian, continue."
"Yes, Master." Jun Lintian's expression remained unchanged as he began to report in a clear and organized manner the important events that had occurred in the sect during Xuanji Daozun's seclusion.
When the Demon Clan invasion was mentioned, Xuanji Daozun was "advised" by his newly initiated junior sister, Shi Liuying, to abandon his demonic ways and become an immortal, devoting himself to the Dao. He is now diligently studying under Elder Chongcang in the training hall. A faint hint of surprise flashed in Xuanji Daozun's eyes.
"Oh? Is that so?" He pondered for a moment, as if he had remembered something.
"Shi Liuying... is she the disciple whom my master, who has already attained immortality, appeared to me in a dream and instructed me to take her in? She is indeed a promising talent."
There was a hint of relief in his tone, almost imperceptible, as if he had just completed the task.
Rong Yan and Jun Lintian quickly exchanged a glance, both seeing the same doubt in each other's eyes.
The grandmaster appeared in a dream? This sounds very strange.
Rong Yan couldn't help but ask boldly, "Master, may I ask... did Grandmaster appear in any other dreams to you before? For example... about other disciples?"
Xuanji Daozun shook his head, his tone certain: "Never. Only this woman."
This is even stranger. Why Shi Liuying of all people? Rong Yan's doubts grew stronger.
Just then, that sweet, delicate voice, like an advertisement between two segments of a TV drama, suddenly and irresistibly cut in.
Su Wan hugged Xuanji Daozun's arm and shook it gently, saying in a sweet, almost sickeningly sweet tone, as if she had suffered a great injustice, "I knew Master was the best! I thought Master taking on other disciples meant he didn't love Wanwan anymore!"
Rong Yan felt goosebumps rising all over her body, one layer after another.
She used her left hand to smooth the hairs standing up on her right arm, then used her right hand to smooth the hairs on her left arm, repeating this process over and over again.
Xuanji Daozun was clearly pleased with Su Wan's approach, but he maintained his dignity as a master, gently pulling her away slightly. His tone was reproachful, but not stern: "Pulling and pulling each other in public, what kind of behavior is this? You should be mindful of your manners."
Su Wan was gently pushed away, but she wasn't angry. Instead, she turned her attention to Jun Lintian.
Her eyes welled up with tears instantly, and she looked at Jun Lintian with a tearful expression, her voice choked with sobs: "Senior Brother...you've been talking about that new junior sister, is it because she's more obedient and prettier than Wanwan, so...you don't like Wanwan anymore?"
Jun Lintian: "..."
He was truly overwhelmed and gave Rong Yan a pleading look.
Rong Yan responded with an expression of helplessness, and with the spirit of "better to die than see myself die," she firmly took a step back, indicating that she would not interfere.
Seeing this, Xuanji Daozun reached out and pulled the dramatic Su Wan back to his side, his tone both soothing and authoritative: "Don't be silly. Within the sect, there will only be one junior sister like you. This is my promise to you."
Su Wan immediately seized the opportunity, raising her teary eyes: "Really? Then Master, you have to promise me!"
Looking at that pitiful face, Xuanji Daozun finally softened his expression. Although he still had that icy face, he nodded and replied, "Yes, I guarantee it."
Su Wan then stopped crying and started laughing.
She picked up a silk handkerchief and, with elegant movements, affectedly wiped away nonexistent tears from the corners of her eyes. Her voice regained its former soft tone: "Then I'm relieved now~ Master, you should go and repair the formation quickly and come back soon~ Wanwan will miss you~"
Xuanji Daozun nodded and instructed, "Hmm. You should stay in the sect and not wander around. Repairing the sect's protective array will take at least a month and at most half a year."
"Rong Yan, Lin Tian, you two come with me and lend me a hand."
"Yes, Master," Jun Lintian and Rong Yan replied in unison.
Without further delay, the three transformed into three streaks of light and left the Xuanji Palace.
The hall fell silent instantly, leaving only Su Wan alone.
Lifting her elaborate skirt, she tiptoed to the palace gate, peeking out through the crack in the door in a coquettish voice, confirming that the three streaks of light had completely disappeared into the sky, leaving not a trace.
The next second, the gentleness, fragility, and pitifulness on her face... disappeared faster than the receding tide, replaced by a wildness that screamed, "I'm finally free!!"
"Pah! Obedient? Obedient my ass! I'm exhausted!"
While muttering curses under her breath, Su Wan roughly rolled up the wide and cumbersome sleeves of her expensive pink fairy dress and quickly tied them around her arms, revealing two fair but subtly strong forearms.
She rushed into the inner hall and, as if throwing away trash, tossed out several pieces of jewelry and robes brimming with spiritual energy—clearly extraordinary items—from a magnificent storage box with a clatter. These were all gifts bestowed upon her by the Venerable Xuanji.
She didn't even glance at the treasures, and directly pulled out a huge, simple black iron hammer from the bottom of the box, which was extremely disproportionate to her petite figure!
"Heave-ho!" She easily hoisted the massive hammer, which was almost half her height, onto her slender shoulders. The hammerhead was even larger than her small head.
As she strode towards the back mountain with an air of indifference, she muttered to herself, her face full of displeasure: "Old Bi Deng, he's wasting my cultivation time! If it weren't for... Humph!"
She swung the iron hammer and spun around herself: "Hurry up and fix your broken formation! It'd be best if it took ten or eight years!"
Outside the cave where Shi Liuying was in seclusion on the back mountain.
Shi Liuying sat cross-legged, surrounded by spiritual energy, as she attempted to break through the bottleneck of the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm.
This breakthrough seemed to go more smoothly than before, with spiritual energy flowing smoothly and freely, and almost no obstacles could be felt.
However, her mind was not entirely at peace.
Those vague whispers that she had occasionally heard during her previous breakthroughs gradually became clearer during this breakthrough.
A kind, gentle voice, like that of an elderly man, seemed to resonate directly in my mind:
"Child...come here...come over here..."
"The future of the cultivation world, the impending calamity, all rests on your shoulders..."
"You must cultivate diligently, lest you waste this talent and opportunity..."
"I will come to see you again and guide you on your way..."
The voice was strange, and the content was bizarre, much like the exaggerated savior stories her grandfather used to tell her when she was young.
Shi Liuying frowned, trying hard to discern the source of the sound, but it was like trying to see through a fog, impossible to grasp.
What struck her as odd was how incredibly easy the breakthrough had been.
It was as if a warm and powerful force was helping her soothe the swelling and pain that should have been in her meridians, and regulating the flowing spiritual energy.
She crossed the threshold of the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm almost effortlessly, and her cultivation level remained firmly at the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm.
However, when she opened her eyes and carefully looked inward, she was surprised to find that the nascent soul in her dantian was extremely solid, and the spiritual power was abundant and surging. She vaguely felt that there was still some power left to continue to surge upward.
This is definitely not the state one should be in after just breaking through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
She suppressed her doubts and picked up the communication jade slip beside her.
There was a message from the eldest disciple, who first informed her that their master had emerged from seclusion and invited her to visit the main peak together.
The latest message informed her that her master had gone to repair the sect's protective formation, and that she could focus on her breakthrough without rushing. It was also not a big deal if she didn't see her master.
Looking at Jun Lintian's thoughtful and considerate message, Shi Liuying's lips unconsciously curled up, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart.
She chuckled softly and put the jade slip away.
Then, as if she remembered something, a flash of inspiration appeared in her hand, and the photo stone she had brought back from the Gobi Desert herder's tent appeared in her palm.
As spiritual energy was injected, a clear image was projected onto the image stone—the spirited young Prince Jing, wielding a silver spear and riding a white horse.
Looking at the portrait of the person who resembled yet was quite different from her current senior brother, Shi Liuying pursed her lips, a resolute glint in her eyes.
She will train even harder and improve her strength more quickly.
It's not just for myself, but also to completely control the power to interfere with or even destroy that strange system.
She wanted to help her senior brother, her senior sister Rong, and everyone in the sect who were bound by the system to break free from those invisible shackles and truly live freely!
Just as her heart was surging and she was making up her mind—
"Thump!!!"
"Bang!!!"
"Ta-da! Ta-da! Ta-da!!"
A series of extremely rhythmic and deafening knocking sounds, like muffled thunder, came from outside the cave, abruptly interrupting her thoughts.
Shi Liuying got up in confusion and pushed open the stone door of the cave.
Not far away, a petite girl in a pink dress stood with her back to her in front of a steep mountain wall.
What made Shi Liuying's pupils shrink slightly was that the girl was carrying a huge black iron hammer on her shoulder, which was a size larger than her whole body and looked extremely heavy!
The next moment, the pretty young girl moved!
She let out a sharp shout that was completely out of character for her size, gripped the hammer handle with both hands, stomped her feet hard, twisted her waist, and spun around like a whirlwind!
Centered on her, with her arm as a lever, the enormous hammer began to spin at an astonishing speed!
"Wa ...
The hammer tore through the air, emitting a dull and terrifying whistling sound that sent chills down one's spine.
Shi Liuying's eyes lit up, and she thought approvingly, "What a diligent Foundation Establishment cultivator! She looks petite, yet she possesses innate superhuman strength. This hammer technique... although I can't understand the intricacies, it's incredibly imposing!"
She couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation, wanting to see what astonishing marks this powerful hammer blow would leave on the hard mountainside.
Perhaps this junior sister has extraordinary talent in the path of body refinement?
She's already a Nascent Soul cultivator, so she should be able to guide a Foundation Establishment cultivator, right?
Under Shi Liuying's expectant gaze, the pretty girl shouted again: "Splitting—the—sky—and—the—earth—!"
With that overly dramatic slogan, the massive iron hammer, spinning to its limit, slammed into the mountainside ahead with unstoppable momentum!
"boom--!!!"
A loud bang was heard, and smoke and dust filled the air.
Shi Liuying subconsciously held her breath and stared intently.
However, as the smoke and dust slowly dissipated...
The mountainside was completely intact. There wasn't even a crack or a trace of white paint.
That terrifying hammer blow, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, seemed to vanish into thin air, causing...zero damage to the mountain wall.
Shi Liuying: "..."
She blinked, then blinked again, looking at the smooth, undamaged mountain wall, then at the pink-clad girl in front of her, panting heavily while maintaining her cool hammer-wielding posture. For a moment, she didn't know what expression to make.
This junior sister... well... her aura is really strong.
Su Wan plopped down on the stone block, like a soft, sticky rice cake that had just been cooked and fallen to the ground.
She exuded a sense of despair, as if saying, "It's hopeless, whatever, let it all be destroyed."
Su Wan, filled with grief and profound sorrow, stretched out her slender, trembling hands to the heavens: "Still can't do it!"
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Author's Note: Random red envelopes will be dropping! [pat on the head]
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