The argument escalated as Yan Huanyue cried out, "You actually want to kill me!"
In the afternoon, Han Shuangying led the disciples of Xinzizhai to the training ground for a trial. Usually, it was a sparring session between the disciples, but today it was a secret realm trial held once every three months.
When Yan Huanyue and her group passed by Fenghe Pavilion, they saw Xiao Tiran lounging on the railing of the waterside pavilion, watching the fish with a bored expression.
A gentle breeze blows, and ripples spread like gold.
He seemed to sense that someone was watching him, so he looked up and their eyes met. Yan Huanyue smiled and nodded.
Xiao Tiran probably still remembered the defeat she suffered in the argument yesterday. She glared at her coldly and turned her face away, refusing to look at her again.
Yan Huanyue remembered that two years later, after Xiao Tiran was selected to join the Sky Patrol Bureau as a Sky Patrol Officer, she never saw him come to Tianyan Sect with Tan Guiyi again.
The Sky Patrol Bureau was established by the Mingde Sect in conjunction with the royal families and major sects of various countries. It was used to investigate and deal with the misdeeds committed by sect disciples, rogue cultivators, and evil demons within the human race's territory, and to ensure the stability of the human race's rear during wartime.
Back then, the spiritual veins of various sects converged at the Heavenly Patrol Bureau, and the Hall of Inquiry was no longer set up. All disciples who were to be inquired about the world entered the Heavenly Patrol Bureau as Heavenly Patrol Officers after passing the trials.
Furthermore, given the current threat of the demon race, and to avoid constant internal strife among the human race, a council hall has been temporarily established under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Patrol Office. Royal families from various countries have dispatched their relatives and members of the imperial clan to the Heavenly Patrol Office to discuss various national affairs.
In the early days when the Heavenly Patrol Bureau was first established, in order to prevent the selected cultivators from various sects from engaging in underworld activities during their duties, each person had a wisp of their soul taken so that they could still be controlled and dealt with when they fled.
In the beginning, the spiritual community was full of enthusiasm.
However, when the human race's advantage was just beginning to emerge, the forces that had been forcibly united began to rush to divide the spoils, gradually driving the group to disintegrate.
The Chief of the Celestial Patrol held the soul in his hands, which meant he held the lifeblood of all the Celestial Patrol Officers. During that period, there were several tragic cases where the Chief colluded with the royal family of a country and used the Celestial Patrol Officers to kill and massacre cities, seize the territory of other countries, and seek personal gain.
There are even cases of celestial patrol officers who could not accept such tasks and, not wanting to be manipulated, committed suicide in advance.
Back then, the Tianyan Sect lost more than a dozen of its most promising talents to the Xuntian Division. The sect leader's two senior brothers and one senior sister all committed suicide ten miles outside Yongzhou City after their souls were manipulated to massacre the city.
This is why Pei Hanzhou, the leader of the Tianyan Sect, personally went to the difficult challenge set up by Wen Jian, the leader of the Mingde Sect, crossed the Zhishan River, and climbed Junzi Peak three times, all to persuade the Xuntian Division to cancel the matter of retaining souls and allow all sects to reopen the Wenshi Hall.
Even at that time, all sects and countries knew that after beheading that Director, the Sky Patrol Division would still be more beneficial than harmful to the human race.
If the human race, which has been painstakingly gathered together, were to easily disband, it would be extremely easy to break people's hearts, disrupt order, and cause them to increasingly fight amongst themselves and act independently. How could they then talk about resisting the demon race?
After that cleansing, the relatives of various countries in the Sky Patrol Bureau chatted and laughed, but behind the scenes they were still fighting fiercely. The Sky Patrol Officers fought for better cultivation resources than they had in their sects, their struggles not outwardly but inwardly turbulent.
Given Xiao Tiran's temperament, he would likely suffer quite a bit in a place like the Sky Patrol Division.
As Yan Huanyue turned around, she saw Tan Guiyi running from a distance and walking briskly toward Xiao Tiran.
Han Shuangying glanced back at Yan Huanyue, who was walking at the back of the group, paused for a moment, and asked, "Junior Sister Yan, I wonder how serious your injuries are? Are you still able to wield a weapon today?"
Yan Huanyue looked at her bandaged hands. She didn't know if it was because Elder Chu's medicine was good or for some other reason, but after half a day, she could no longer feel any pain in her ten fingers.
"Can."
Han Shuangying said calmly, "Is it too much to ask?"
Yan Huanyue replied, "I didn't force you... Thank you for the meal you prepared for me this afternoon, Senior Sister."
Han Shuangying remained unmoved. "It's nothing special, no need for thanks. Since you don't feel obligated, let's see how well you apply the 'Pause of Restraint' after you've memorized it." Yan Huanyue nodded and replied, "Yes, Senior Sister."
The training ground is a vast flat area, stretching for several miles, with various training grounds.
The disciples of Xinzizhai stood with their hands at their sides beneath a huge altar. On the altar were carved nine white jade plum blossoms facing the sky, and on each petal of each plum blossom was engraved one of the eight trigrams.
Han Shuangying floated into the air and landed on a plum blossom in the final position like a flying catkin. She made hand seals and activated the magic array. The petals of the other eight plum blossoms began to rustle and rotate rapidly.
With a loud "boom," as if a heavy stone had fallen, the petals of the winter plum blossoms came to a stop with a "creaking" sound. Several streams of spiritual energy flowed through the deep outline of the winter plum blossoms and converged on the one where Han Shuangying was.
A surging white mist shot into the sky, accompanied by the sound of wind being cleaved, and opened up an entrance to a secret realm in mid-air.
Under the blue sky and flowing clouds, with her clothes fluttering in the wind, Han Shuangying's hair flew as she slowly unfurled the magic seals at her fingertips.
"Today's trial is still a personal trial. The secret realm has been opened. If you hear the sound of the jade chime, you must return immediately. If you cannot complete the tasks in the trial, then we will meet again when the secret realm reopens in three days. Everyone, enter the realm."
The nine plum blossoms on the plum blossom altar could possibly create countless secret realms. In her previous life, Yan Huanyue had been imprisoned in these secret realms during several trials, and she was once very afraid of the altar trials.
Compared to this, she used to prefer dueling with paper figures on the Dharma Platform, where at least if she lost, she would lose and wouldn't be trapped in the secret realm to fend for herself.
Although the secret realm sets up challenges based on her cultivation level for such trials, and there are limitations to prevent serious injury to disciples, it doesn't mean that everything will be calm and peaceful.
She was beaten and frightened quite a bit when she was trapped inside...
Yan Huanyue felt a pang of nostalgia for those days. She tiptoed and flew towards the secret realm with the others from Yixinzizhai.
But before I could go in, something suddenly got wrapped around my ankle.
She quickly turned around and saw a long whip wrapped around her ankle, with Xiao Tiran looking furious at the other end.
"Fellow Daoist Yan, did you really send a letter announcing the engagement to Yunjing?"
Yan Huanyue floated in the air, her red hair ribbons fluttering. She made a hand seal, but failed to break free from the whip on her feet. She said coldly, "It has been sent. What does this have to do with you, fellow Daoist? Why do you still disturb my cultivation?"
Xiao Tiran looked incredulous. "Fellow Daoist Yan, you didn't really want to break off the engagement with him, so why humiliate Fellow Daoist Yu like this and make him hate you?"
Why did you have to break off the engagement now of all times? How am I, your senior sister, supposed to face this? Fellow Daoist... please don't be so sentimental. Those with narrow minds cannot go far.
Yan Huanyue almost laughed. She smoothed her messy hair and said calmly, "What are you saying, fellow Daoist? It's common for engagements to be annulled in this world. I've already returned the tokens and haven't accepted a single penny from the Yu family. So you're being humiliated just for announcing an engagement? How fragile is Senior Brother Yu's dignity?"
"You are utterly selfish! Have you ever considered that the Yu family is a prestigious family, and what about the reputation of a prestigious family...?"
Yan Huanyue couldn't help but laugh. "Fellow Daoist Xiao, why should I care about my own reputation instead of helping the Yu family save face? I could have decided whether or not to go through with this marriage when I was eighteen. In other words, whether I agreed or not, the Yu family had no right to say anything that would be considered an insult."
After all, she was rejected by Yan Huanyue, who was inferior to Yu Zhao in every way.
He originally wanted to let everyone see clearly in front of everyone that Yan Huanyue sent the letter of annulment because she was narrow-minded and jealous, so as to prevent people from making wild guesses about his senior sister when they found out later.
But he never expected that Yan Huanyue would be so domineering and selfish, lacking any sense of consideration for others.
Out of consideration for their dignity, the inner and outer disciples in the trial grounds did not gather around to listen to their gossip; only a few nosy individuals did.
The others mostly watched from a distance, using their magic to capture the lingering sounds in the wind, whispering among themselves as they listened.
Although Yan Huanyue had her own explanation, most people still believed that someone of her background and cultivation level would break off her engagement with Yu Zhao on her own, just as Xiao Tiran said, to attract Yu Zhao's attention.
After all, just a few days ago she wanted to go to Linjiang with Yu Zhao, and before Tan Guiyi and the others came to Tianyan Sect, she had never shown any dissatisfaction with Yu Zhao.
Yu Zhao is a gentleman. If it weren't for his parents' wishes, why would he get involved with Yan Huanyue?
If Yan Huanyue really breaks off her engagement with Yu Zhao, she won't find anyone better than Yu Zhao in the future.
However, for the people of Tianyan Sect, no matter how useless Yan Huanyue is, she is still a descendant of their fallen heroes.
She can do whatever she wants with the marriage arranged after the Yunjing disaster; how dare someone from the Divine Capital Sect make unwarranted accusations?
Besides, what she said is also true. In this day and age, if people have no disputes and voluntarily break off their engagement, they will not become animosing couples. What crime is there in that?
The secret realm is open for a limited time, and one must be quick to enter and exit. Being pulled and unable to break free, Yan Huanyue gradually grew extremely impatient, and something kept surging in her heart.
Xiao Tiran, however, still looked indignant and righteous.
Yan Huanyue's expression suddenly turned cold. She pounced on him from mid-air, her right hand grabbing at the air, and she wielded a gleaming horizontal sword, slashing it down at his brow.
Xiao Tiran channeled his spiritual energy into the long whip, then yanked it outwards, intending to fling Yan Huanyue away.
Unexpectedly, after being tossed around in the air, she suddenly stopped and, in the next moment, turned around and pounced on him like a snake that had feigned death.
Xiao Tiran was swept by the chilling wind of the blade and almost had his neck slit. He felt a chill in his heart and retreated quickly.
Before he could even stand properly, he angrily exclaimed, "Yan Huanyue, you actually want to kill me!"
Because of this entanglement, the secret realm has been abruptly closed.
Han Shuangying had been preoccupied with protecting the secret realm, but now, with a gentle wave of her hand, Yan Huanyue, whose killing intent was rising, felt a sudden clarity in her mind.
She gripped the hilt of the knife in her hand, somewhat confused about what had just happened to her. She could only silently turn around and land steadily beside Han Shuangying.
Han Shuangying assumed that Xiao Tiran had provoked her into taking action, so she said coldly, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, it's gone too far to cause trouble on the altar."
Xiao Tiran rushed over to stand up for Tan Guiyi without hesitation after hearing her words, which were spoken with red eyes.
At this moment, he glanced again at Han Shuangying, who stood in the center of the white jade plum blossoms, cold as ice, and at the group of Tianyan Sect disciples in the trial field.
He put away his whip and sneered, "Fine, this is your Tianyan Sect's territory, so naturally you'll side with her. I won't waste my breath on you. Yan Huanyue, if you really have any backbone, don't regret it later. Don't rely on your parents' kindness to break off the engagement and then try to re-engage with Yu Zhao."
Two people have already come to her today, telling her not to regret it. Yan Huanyue felt a little disappointed. Did she really care that much for Yu Zhao?
As soon as Xiao Tiran turned around, he saw a young man in a gray brocade robe standing behind him, silent and unnoticed. He hadn't sensed him at all, so this man's cultivation level must be far higher than his own.
Ning Wuyang looked at him with a half-smile, but didn't say anything to him.
After a moment, he made a hand seal towards the altar and said, "Senior Sister Han, Master said that after Bao Ying finishes her cultivation this afternoon, he would ask her to go to Changqing Hall. Since she was unable to enter the secret realm at this moment, may I take her with me?"
Han Shuangying turned her head to look at Yan Huanyue and said, "Go."
Yan Huanyue bowed to Han Shuangying and said, "I have mastered the 'Slow Stop Chapter'. I will go to my senior sister to recite it later."
Han Shuangying simply nodded.
Yan Huanyue jumped off the execution platform and walked a short distance past Xiao Tiran. Ning Wuyang immediately followed and whispered, "Why do you want to annul the engagement?"
Yan Huanyue said, "Because I want to annul the engagement."
Ning Wuyang laughed and said, "So be it. As for Yu Zhao... By the way, did you see Xuanzhi in Changqing Palace yesterday?"
Yan Huanyue replied, "I saw a person sitting behind the gauze curtain in the east room, who seemed to be unwell."
Ning Wuyang said mysteriously, "That's Xuanzhi. We'll go find him in a bit. I heard from our senior brother that Xuanzhi is the child of Master and that succubus from back then."
He seems to be the same age as you, maybe three to five months younger. It's quite pitiful; he was almost completely destroyed by his mother's refining process. Now he hardly speaks in the Changqing Palace.
Yan Huanyue remained silent.
Pei Xuanzhi was indeed a bit younger than her.
No wonder he called her "Miss" yesterday, but called her "Sister" back then by the Lake of No Falling. Someone must have told him that, and he probably recognized her from afar that night.
She had never helped him in her past life, yet during their last meeting under the Mid-Autumn Festival moon, he was still willing to call her "sister."
A note from the author:
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