Chapter 120 It's the same whether you know them or not.
The boy's handsome face still retained a touch of childishness, his features exquisitely sculpted, his eyebrows and eyes like a painting—quite striking. Ji Mingran's lips curved into a smile.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Jiang Chaoxing said fiercely, slapping at the two fingers resting on the table, but he missed. The slender fingers moved only a few inches, just enough to dodge his slap.
The girl being photographed smiled broadly, completely unaffected, only smiling as she looked at the aloof young man.
In an instant, countless buzzing sounds, like explosions, filled the study hall.
What is she doing?
"How dare she!"
"You actually came up with this idea? You must be desperate!"
"Trying to climb higher branches with mud on your feet? Do you think you can get away with it by clinging to a personal disciple?"
"She's still looking for Yu Tianxing, but she's got some nerve."
"I don't want Yu Tianxing to ignore her either!"
"That's shameless."
"Let's see how long she can hide."
Ji Mingran remained unmoved, his two fingers dancing lightly on the table as if playing a musical piece, teasing the furious palm that was determined to strike her, like playing with a cat.
His gaze remained fixed on the inky black eyes that met his gaze from beginning to end.
The Yu Tianxing before her was only in his early thirteens, unlike the Yu Tianxing she knew in the past, who could completely conceal his emotions. Mo Tong looked slightly puzzled.
"Ah..." Ji Mingran suddenly realized that Yu Tianxing in front of her did not recognize her.
His long, thick eyelashes fluttered slightly, a hint of doubt fading from his eyes. The handsome young man's lips parted slightly: "You..."
A clear, ethereal voice suddenly rang out from the study hall: "All disciples, please proceed immediately to the Wusi Academy."
The sound echoed and spread, growing louder with each repetition.
Upon hearing the sound, all the disciples in the study hall were startled and rushed out of the door in the next second, scrambling to be the first to leave.
Jiang Chaoxing stopped stubbornly patting Ji Mingran's hand and instead grabbed Yu Tianxing's sleeve, saying anxiously, "Quick, we need to get there within a quarter of an hour."
Interrupted from speaking, Yu Tianxing turned his head, staring coldly at Jiang Chaoxing, and then slowly pulled his sleeve out of Jiang Chaoxing's hand.
In the gap between his sleeves, he bent down and picked up the sect's jade pendant from his waist.
Ji Mingran, with her sharp eyes, noticed that the jade pendant was vibrating continuously. The sect's jade token used to transmit messages to her fellow disciples also vibrated in the same way.
Since entering this formation, her sect's jade token has evolved into the shape of an unnamed sect's jade token, and there has been no news coming from inside, so she is unable to use it to send messages out.
Yu Tianxing moved so subtly that Jiang Chaoxing didn't notice him examining the sect's jade pendant. Jiang Chaoxing gritted her teeth in frustration: "At a time like this! Forget your germaphobia! Hurry, we can't fall behind the others!"
He stood up in a flash, pushing and pulling Yu Tianxing to get up and run forward.
From retrieving the jade pendant to avoiding Jiang Chaoxing's shoving and walking to the door, everything happened in an instant. Before stepping outside, Yu Tianxing looked back.
The girl remained standing there, smiling at him.
"Junior sister." The young man's voice was clear and gentle. His volume was not loud, but it reached her ears from the noisy crowd.
He finally spoke his first words to her: "Don't be too late."
*
The Wusi Academy of the Unnamed Sect is not as grand and imposing as the Qiankun Hall of the Hongqi Sect, nor as vast and expansive as the sect realm of the Dingsheng Sect. It is more like an elegant courtyard in a world of scholars, with a long-lasting charm.
In the center of the hall, rows of junior disciples knelt with their heads bowed, except for one person in the middle of the second row who stood tall with his head held high, looking around.
Ji Mingran observed the positions facing the junior disciples with great interest.
Yu Tianxing reminded her not to be late, a point that Ji Mingran also gleaned from the other disciples who were running around frantically.
When the sect holds a grand meeting, one cannot be late.
Although they didn't know the direction, not all the junior disciples were skilled in magic, and most of them relied on running. When it came to speed, Ji Mingran was never inferior to anyone. She ran faster than anyone else and even took the lead, overtaking the junior disciples who were running behind her, and found a seat in the front row.
A row of chairs was placed directly in front of the young disciples, and all but two chairs in the center were already occupied.
The person on the top left is Senior Sister Chu Rangyue, and the person on the top right is a chubby, round-faced male cultivator with a kind smile.
Counting them up, there was a thin, gloomy male cultivator, a charming and cunning female cultivator, a handsome scholar-like male cultivator, and a refined and elegant female cultivator, followed by Jiang Chaoxing and Yu Tianxing.
Ji Mingran's gaze met Yu Tianxing's gaze precisely.
The latter gently shifted his gaze away.
Ji Mingran blinked her eyelashes slightly. A burst of voices rose up.
"Sect Master, Madam."
"Sect Master, Madam."
Everyone sitting in the chairs stood up, and the junior disciples beside them also stood up one after another. Ji Mingran followed suit and stood up as well.
A handsome man with a refined and upright appearance and a gentle and charming woman entered the courtyard.
The two sat down in the middle.
These are the sect leader of the Nameless Sect and his wife. Ji Mingran's gaze quickly swept over the two of them before he obediently sat up straight, his eyelids slightly lowered, no longer craning his neck to look around as he had before.
But Yu Guang didn't miss a single detail of the scene ahead.
As soon as the sect leader's wife sat down, she turned her head and called out, "Tianxing."
Yu Tian walked to the center in front of the two.
The sect leader's wife took his hand, her brows full of affection, and asked, "It's rare for Master Xu to come today. Did you understand what he said? If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask him again later."
Yu Tianxing lowered his head and spoke in a clear, melodious voice, "Mother, don't worry, I understand everything."
Mother? Ji Mingran's almond-shaped eyes widened slightly.
Then the sect leader smiled slightly and said in a pleasant voice, "Zhiruo, don't spoil him. If he doesn't understand, it means he hasn't worked hard enough in private and should be sent back for retraining. Tianxing, when you cultivate, you must guard against arrogance and impetuosity and work hard."
Yu Tianxing said, "Father is right."
The cunning female cultivator chuckled: "Tianxing need not worry. It is Master and Mistress who should be worried about Chaoxing."
Jiang Chaoxing blushed upon hearing this and glared at the cunning female cultivator: "Master, Master's wife, please don't listen to Third Senior Sister. I listened attentively to Master Xu's lessons as well."
“Chao Xing has indeed been paying more attention lately, and I can attest to that.” The scholarly-looking male cultivator couldn’t help but chuckle.
Jiang Chaoxing raised his eyebrows and addressed the scholarly-looking male cultivator, saying, "Thank you for the compliment, Seventh Senior Brother."
The group of people sitting in their seats chatted and laughed, just like a family.
If we ignore the large group of junior disciples kneeling in front of us, not daring to breathe loudly...
Ji Mingran roughly sorted out the relationships between the people here: even the junior disciples kneeling inside her were outer disciples, though perhaps they weren't even outer disciples. As for those who could sit in chairs, apart from the sect leader and his wife, they were the sect leader's personal disciples.
Yu Tianxing is the child of the sect leader and his wife of the Unnamed Sect.
Despite this relationship, in terms of seniority, he was ranked after all the senior sisters and brothers, and also after Jiang Chaoxing.
Oh dear, Ji Mingran thought, if this place is not an illusion but a memory, then Yu Tianxing is Jiang Chaoxing's junior brother, or, to round it up, he is the junior brother of the demonic cultivator.
When did Jiang Chaoxing fall into demonic possession? Or is there something fishy about the Nameless Sect itself?
Is this an illusion, or a memory? If it's a memory, whose memory is it?
"Yes, Master," Chu Rangyue replied.
"The disciples' cultivation affairs will be handled by Qingyun," the sect leader continued to arrange.
The plump, kind-looking male cultivator said, "This disciple will do his utmost to assist Senior Sister and manage the disciples well."
The sect leader nodded in satisfaction: "Well, I'll leave it to you two. If your senior sister or brother needs your help, you must do your best to assist them."
The other disciples responded in unison, "Yes, Master."
The sect leader glanced at the group of obedient junior disciples below him: "The rest of you must listen carefully to the instructions of your senior sisters and brothers, understand?"
"Yes, Sect Master," came the unanimous reply from inside the courtyard.
"Good." The sect leader said with satisfaction. Before leaving, he and his wife stopped in front of Yu Tianxing and instructed him: "Tianxing, before you leave seclusion, I want to see you break through to the fifth level of the Gui Cang Heart Technique. You know how important this is, so don't slack off in your cultivation."
Yu Tianxing: "I know, Father."
The sect leader's wife's eyes welled up with tears, on the verge of sobbing: "If it weren't for the circumstances, I would never have left you to face this alone at this critical juncture."
"Zhi Ruo," the sect leader said, "everyone is in this situation, but he must face this challenge alone. If he cannot break through, how can he be considered a disciple of our sect?"
"But..." The sect leader's wife hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.
The second senior brother said gently, "Master's wife, there's no need to worry, we're here for you!"
“Yes!” the other disciples chimed in.
"You are not allowed to help him." The sect leader refused. "That's the sect rule. You all went through this, so why can't he? Do you understand?"
"Oh, yes..." The second senior brother helplessly scratched the back of his head and exchanged glances with the other senior sisters, junior brothers and sisters. "We won't help him, we won't. Junior Brother Tianxing is intelligent, he can definitely master it on his own."
The sect leader nodded and said to Qingyun, "Don't make any unnecessary noise. I will be presiding over the grand examination after I come out of seclusion, so you need to be prepared."
Second Senior Brother Mao Qingyun agreed. After the Sect Master and his wife left, he instructed the junior disciples: "Did you all hear that? The big exam is coming soon. You must hurry up and cultivate. According to custom, after the big exam, the number of disciples can only be within fifty."
"Yes." The younger disciples' response was not as loud as before.
Ji Mingran heard someone nearby say sadly, "Alas, if I can't pass, I'll have to go back to being a beggar."
"I don't want to go back to the days of living a life of hardship and sleeping outdoors."
"Although we sometimes don't have enough to eat here and we only have one set of clothes, it's still better than outside."
"If I could learn magic, I wouldn't be afraid of living the old life anymore."
As she listened, Ji Mingran gradually understood why those junior disciples had been so hostile towards her before, and why they had been eyeing her clothes so covetously.
It turns out that the Nameless Sect implements an internal elimination system, where each junior disciple is an opponent to the others.
Most of the junior disciples were orphans taken in by the sect or the sect leader's wife. Their food and supplies were rationed by the sect. The food was barely enough to fill the children's stomachs, and they only had one set of clothes. If the clothes were damaged, they had to find a way to make do with them.
Eliminating one person allows you to obtain what that person left behind.
After the major exam, the number of disciples was less than fifty, but it was not said that the major exam eliminated people.
That's something to ponder.
She wasn't in a hurry to be eliminated. Before leaving, she needed to figure out how to solve her food, clothing and other necessities. Although Foundation Establishment cultivators could withstand hunger, now was not the time to tough it out.
Ji Mingran pondered quietly, and once again felt the faint gaze brush past her. She raised her eyes.
He met her gaze, which was as cold and deep as a still pool. Yu Tianxing seemed not to have expected to be caught red-handed, and for a moment he forgot to look away.
Ji Mingran's eyebrows curved into a smile, and he secretly winked at him.
The gaze that had been fixed on her face fled as if trying to escape.
Ji Mingran lowered his eyes and chuckled softly.
Author's Note: This chapter has been rewritten, so the expected release date is later than originally planned. Sorry everyone! [Please][Please]
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