Chapter 65 What she wanted, she could get. From then on, Shen Qingluo strode forward...
Ji Mingran looked around like a spectator cultivator, completely lacking the self-awareness of a defender. Feeling ignored, the Su Xiao Pavilion disciple shouted, "If you want to watch the match, surrender! Don't waste your time!"
He was about to say something more, but Ji Mingran raised his palm, signaling him to stop, and muttered, "Huh? What's that?"
The disciples of Suxiao Pavilion turned their heads to look, and a new cloud platform floated over. The people on the cloud platform stood with their arms crossed, looking bored, as if they were still waiting for the defender to appear.
As it happened, he also recognized the cultivator standing on the cloud platform as Shen Jia Chen Ning Manor.
Perhaps he had been waiting for a long time, for Chen Ningzhuang's face showed impatience mixed with a hint of tension, and his toes tapped the ground anxiously.
Just then, as if sensing something, he suddenly looked up at the sky.
The disciples of Xiaosu Pavilion and Ji Mingran all looked in that direction. A figure in the sky rushed toward the cloud platform where Chen Ningzhuang was located. Chen Ningzhuang, who had been preparing for battle for a long time, suddenly sprang up and retreated rapidly to create distance. A flame emerged from his palm, condensing into a fireball with a diameter of ten feet, which slammed into the figure that had landed.
However, a swift and fierce blade strike landed, instantly sweeping away and splitting the raging fireball in two by the sharp blade wind.
A path was forcibly cleaved through the flames, and a female cultivator in red robes slowly emerged from the scorching heat. Her countenance was dignified and beautiful, and her robes fluttered in the wind.
The cultivators on the viewing platform were all drawn to this dazzling entrance.
Who comes here?
The female cultivator in red held a long knife, which was quite eye-catching.
The cultivators stared intently, and there it was: Shen Qingluo!
The Shen siblings have met again?
Shen Ningzhuang was initially surprised to see his surprise attack thwarted in a second, but when she saw that the one who had broken her move was none other than her own sister, she was overjoyed.
"Sis, it's you! That's great." If his sister concedes defeat in this match, he will advance to the next round with ease.
He explained the competition rules to Shen Qinglu in a few words.
Shen Qingluo, having been cast here by the Realm of All Beings, was still in a daze. Her body had just reacted instinctively, and as she listened to Shen Ningzhuang's explanation, she looked around and saw the various cloud platforms around her, where intense battles were taking place. Gradually, she began to understand.
Shen Qingluo spoke softly: "You want... me to let you have your way?"
“It’s not about letting you advance,” Shen Ningzhuang explained. “It’s a win-win situation. I can advance, and you don’t need to expend extra energy. It just means you’ll have fewer advantages in the next match.”
“That’s all…” Shen Qingluo repeated the two words in a very low voice, her thick eyelashes casting two dark shadows on her face.
"Sister, sister..." Shen Ningzhuang said sadly.
Faced with her younger brother's repeated calls, Shen Qingluo frowned slightly. The pity and guilt she felt for her brother, along with other worries weighing on her heart, rose to her chest, making her feel suffocated. Shen Qingluo couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Shen Qingluo's gaze softened: "If it were merely between you and me, I would back down."
Shen Ningzhuang realized something, and her bright smile faded slightly. "You don't want to? Why? It won't affect you at all..."
Shen Qinglu gently shook her head: "The consequences of losing the match are insignificant." She pointed the hilt of her sword at the cloud platform where the fierce battle was taking place. "Then what are they doing?"
“But the result of each competition will affect the next competition. How can you say that there is no impact? Moreover,” Shen Qingluo said, “as a participating disciple of Dingsheng Sect, I should do my best to win.”
"Dingsheng Sect?" Shen Ningzhuang laughed heartily for a while, as if she had heard a joke, before calming down and saying, "Sister, how can you still be as naive as before, always striving to do your best wherever you are? Don't forget, before Dingsheng Sect, you were not only a member of the Shen family, but also the eldest daughter of the Shen family! You were pampered and spoiled since childhood, getting whatever you wanted. The Shen family made exceptions for you time and time again, never treating you badly! The interests of the Shen family should be paramount!"
"The Shen family has treated me well?" Shen Qinglu chuckled. "I only know that I am not on the list of those who have transcended the world in the Shen family, but I am on the list of those who took the spiritual cultivation written test in the Dingsheng Sect."
Shen Ningzhuang said incredulously, "Why are you still bothered by this? You've already entered the spiritual cultivation world!"
Shen Qingluo looked at Shen Ningzhuang, who was dressed in brocade robes and whose waist was adorned with many magical artifacts: "What I want is simply to earn what I work for. You don't understand."
The person who got whatever he wanted from a young age was his younger brother, not her.
As the direct descendant of the Shen family, she and her younger brother were expected to achieve great things. Because of her natural talent, her father still fought for her in every way possible, even though the Shen family, which was particularly traditional and conservative and did not allow women to practice Buddhism, made an exception for her.
Thus, she was able to learn from the elders of the clan alongside her younger brother, and to read the books passed down through generations of the Shen family together.
She made rapid progress, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage at a young age. Her father entrusted her with important responsibilities, and at the age of ten, she went out with her clansmen to travel and cultivate, undertaking clan tasks.
Although the younger brother was afraid of being tired and suffering, he was well-liked by the clan elders. With the help of the pills provided by the Shen clan elders, his cultivation level improved significantly.
The two became increasingly influential within their clan, and even within their own small world, every cultivator knew of them.
As a disciple of the Shen family, she surpassed the young disciples of other sects, earning the admiration of all the elders. As the eldest sister, she tirelessly urged her idle and pleasure-seeking younger brother to strive for improvement and to work together to protect the Shen family, which greatly pleased their father.
She was convinced that she was different from others.
Until that day, she led the Shen family disciples to gather at the platform and listened to her father read out the list of the Shen family disciples who had transcended the world.
Those selected stepped forward and ascended the platform. The first name called was Ning Zhuang. Though surprised, it didn't matter. The second, the third, the fourth... one by one, the names of the people behind her were called and they stepped onto the platform.
She was the only one left on the huge radio station.
On the list, everyone was inferior to her, except for her, who did not qualify for the Transcendental Realm.
The candidates for Transcendent Ones left with the elders in high spirits, not one of them looking back, including the father and the younger brother.
Because she was a woman, she had to remain in the small world and marry into a noble family.
She thought it was a family exception she had fought hard for, and cultivation resources she had obtained through her own strength. But the truth was that the Shen family's exception to provide resources was merely to raise her value, allowing her to marry into a powerful and influential family.
From beginning to end, she was never regarded as a true cultivator by her family.
Now, Shen Qingluo's eyes showed disgust as she came to Lingxiu, yet the Shen family still wanted her to marry into a powerful family.
There was no difference at all.
Images from the past lingered in my mind, including the image of my younger brother not turning around.
In a flash, Chen Ningzhuang's words echoed in her mind: "How can you still be as naive as before?"
The suspicions buried deep in her heart were confirmed. Shen Qingluo understood everything and murmured to herself, "You know, you know I'm not on the list. You're not unaware, you've known all along, you're just pretending not to."
Naïve. She always thought her younger brother was naïve and sincere, but in his eyes, naïve was her.
He didn't turn back that day not because he was too happy and forgot, but because he already knew. She wouldn't be on the list, yet he never revealed a word to her, just watching helplessly as he watched himself, full of hope and having fought so hard for a spot.
He had known for a long time that the Shen family had arranged a marriage for her, but he never thought of telling her on his own initiative, and stood idly by in the face of such an absurd marriage.
He knew nothing about her, but never cared.
Why?
Shen Qingluo slowly raised her lowered eyes, as if she were looking at a stranger, to re-identify her younger brother.
Seeing her sister looking at her with suspicion, a hint of nervousness flashed in Chen Ningzhuang's eyes.
No longer judging her younger brother by the preconceived notion of him being "naive and young," Shen Qingluo accurately detected his well-concealed nervousness.
She suddenly realized. Shen Ningzhuang had known what she was thinking all along, so he had pushed her along passively, removing her from the center of power within the Shen family.
He had stood on the opposite side of her even earlier than she had.
He had already made his move, while she worried day and night that her thoughts and actions would hurt her brother. She dared not face him, and because of her guilt, she always held back and could not bear to take any further action.
I once thought that the person walking alongside me was actually the one who was hindering my progress all along.
Shen Qingluo felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her head, chilling her to the bone.
In her confusion, someone shouted, "Qingluo!" The voice was extremely familiar. Shen Qingluo turned her head and saw Ji Mingran sitting cross-legged on the edge of the cloud platform next to her.
Ji Mingran almost turned half his body towards her, waving his arms excitedly: "Qingluo! Since he's destined to stand against you, then defeat him in one fell swoop, beat your opponent, and win!"
The opposing cultivator had already stood before him, swords drawn, but Ji Mingran paid no heed. He raised four fingers on each hand and shouted, "After we win, let's go to the next match together! Together!"
The gimbal floated away in an instant, and all that could be seen from afar were Ji Mingran's arms waving vigorously.
She supports her, and they all support her.
That's how it should be. Since we're opponents, why hesitate?
Having figured everything out, Shen Qingluo chuckled softly, the chill in her body gradually fading. With a twist of her wrist, the long sword hummed. "Did you hear that?" she said to Shen Ningzhuang. "Let's have a good competition."
Shen Ningzhuang's heart skipped a beat, and his face turned pale: "You really want to stand against the Shen family for their sake?" His coquettish pleading was no longer effective.
He took in his sister's changes. The pity and reluctance that used to rise when she saw him vanished, leaving only cold indifference towards her adversary.
Shen Ningzhuang suppressed her grief and said wearily, "Sister, the Shen family of spiritual cultivation is not like the Shen family of the small world. It took me a lot of effort to barely gain a foothold. A year has passed, and I am no longer in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, while you have remained in the same place. Sister, I have the strength to fight against you. Don't force me."
He was also at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Moreover, after a year of hellish training by the Shen family, he was confident that he could surpass cultivators of the same level.
For example, his sister, who was once the pride of the Shen family.
Shen Qingluo gripped her sword and swung it down, the long blade drawing a silver arc as she said casually, "Try it, see if you can really fight against me."
As soon as he finished speaking, flames suddenly burst into flames in front of and behind him. The entire cloud platform was then engulfed in crimson fire. Shen Ningzhuang's figure merged into the fire, while Shen Qingluo was dragged into the inferno with no way out. Flames licked at her clothes, thick smoke stung her eyes, and the raging fire seemed to want to burn the world to ashes.
Shen Qingluo's lips curled into a mocking smile: "Back then, when I slew demonic beasts and completed clan missions, I wanted to exchange my merits for this technique. My father delayed teaching it to me, but it turns out he taught it to you instead."
The long sword in his hand vanished as starlight. Shen Qingluo's eyes reflected a raging inferno as she coldly said, "Fortunately, I have no expectations of him anymore."
Suddenly, one, two, three... ten, a hundred sword shadows appeared behind Shen Qingluo. The hundred sword shadows roared and shot in all directions, forming an impenetrable net of sword shadows that enveloped the entire sea of fire.
The clanging and clattering of swords against the ground continued incessantly. Suddenly, someone let out a muffled groan, and the sea of fire instantly subsided.
Shen Qingluo slowly turned around following the sound. Sword shadows crisscrossed the ground, the blades forming an unbreakable cage from top to bottom and from left to right, tightly locking Shen Ningzhuang in place and rendering him unable to move.
Shen Qinglu tucked a few strands of long hair that had fallen in front of her eyes behind her ear. Her raised arm was a bloody mess, but she didn't feel any pain. She walked towards Shen Ningzhuang.
She casually pulled a broken sword hilt from the ground, pressed it against Shen Ningzhuang's carotid artery, and nonchalantly revealed the key to breaking the Shen family's secret technique: "The Boundless Fire Sea is indeed powerful, but to catch the thief, you must first catch the king. As long as you are captured, this technique will break on its own."
No matter how profound or supreme the secret technique, if the practitioner's technique is not refined and their foundation is not solid, that is the greatest weakness of the technique.
Seeing the blade pointed at him, Shen Ningzhuang still couldn't believe it: "You're a member of the Shen family! How can you disregard the interests of the Shen family!"
Shen Qingluo was as cold as ice, all traces of the pity, tenderness, and love she had shown during their reunion in the competition vanished: "You forfeit the match, or I'll throw you off the stage. Choose one."
His sister treated him worse than a stranger. The last vestiges of hope in his heart shattered completely; Shen Ningzhuang couldn't believe it.
“Father has always been strict and demanding, but I know he had high hopes for you!” Shen Ningzhuang roared. “Yet you have disappointed him so much! He has never praised you in front of you, but I heard him say with my own ears, ‘You will be the best blade of the Shen family!’”
“I know.” Shen Qinglu smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “He told me himself.”
The long sword was pressed against Shen Ningzhuang's neck, reflecting a dazzling silver light under the blazing sun. Shen Qingluo slightly raised her eyes and looked at the blazing sun hanging in the sky.
The sun was just as intense and scorching on the day her father spoke to her, making her heart race.
In the competition held by Emperor Shizong, young members of various noble families participated. Unsurprisingly, she won first place, allowing the Shen family, which had lost the top spot on the elite list for twenty years, to regain its position and finally achieve great success.
She asked her father for the prize.
The father was overjoyed and rarely praised her, saying that she knew the best knife in the Shen family and would help the head of the Shen family rebuild the family's glory.
That word of praise struck her like a thunderbolt, leaving her stunned. She had no recollection of how she had responded to her father or how he had left.
From that day on, a seed was planted in her heart, struggling to sprout and unable to be stopped.
Until the day the list was announced, the seed burst forth and grew completely, prompting her to make the unconventional decision to run away from home. She went through many hardships and exerted tremendous effort, relying on the method of interdimensional travel that her mother had taught her, to travel alone to another small world and then to the spiritual realm.
Having experienced so much, she is more mature than her peers, but the betrayal of her clan, her father, and her brother always weighs heavily on her, binding her for a long time.
Now, Shen Qingluo's gaze shifted to the vast, clear blue sky enveloped by the blazing sun.
“Someone told me that the cultivation world is vast and contains everything, and I should continue to move forward and roam thousands of miles. Yes, the Shen family woman should do so.” With no more wavering in her heart, Shen Qingluo held the long sword in her hand, her heart as still as water.
"This is something you and I both know, but we've never made it clear. Now, I'll tell you myself." She lowered her eyes, meeting Shen Ningzhuang's gaze, who was born to be regarded as the heir to the Shen family: "What I've always wanted to do is wield the knife."
With a flick of the blade, Shen Ningzhuang was powerless to resist and was swept off the platform by the immense force.
Shen Qinglu swiftly sheathed her sword, turned around, put her hands behind her back, stood proudly and coldly, and looked down at Shen Ningzhuang, who had fallen from the cloud platform: "If you can be the head of the Shen family, why can't I be?"
The announcement from the sound transmission stone resounded throughout the viewing platform: "The seventh contestant of the Heavenly Rank has emerged from the Shen family's Shen Ningzhuang and won against Dingsheng Sect's Shen Qingluo!"
"The sixth contestant of the Earthly Branch, Yuntai, was defeated by the long-hidden Daoist temple, while the once-prosperous Zongguan Temple vainly achieved victory!"
"In the Xuanzi No. 5 competition on the Cloud Platform, Baiyang Sect surrendered, and Dingsheng Sect's Zhu Shibai won!"
The observation platform fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a commotion.
"Why are they all from the Dingsheng Sect?"
"The Dingsheng Sect is unstoppable!" "The Dingsheng Sect has already won?"
"No, there's one left."
"One." Ji Mingran carefully discerned the announcements coming from the noisy duel, counted on his fingers, and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Huh, it's just me left."
"Hey! Don't get distracted!" An impatient voice interrupted her reverie. "I'm asking you, are you surrendering or not?"
The silver light reflected from the blade flashed in his eyes, and the sword tip, which was pointing at his neck, moved up a few inches to press against his throat.
Ji Mingran slowly turned his head, staring at the sword pressed against his throat, "Give up?"
"impossible."
"Trying to use a teleportation array to dodge?" The Xiaosu Pavilion disciple had already witnessed Ji Mingran's teleportation array when she landed on the cloud platform. He laughed and said, "How could it be faster than my attack!"
The disciples of Xiaosu Pavilion moved with the speed of the wind, their swords flashing like lightning.
Blood seeped from the skin of his throat, but Ji Mingran laughed indifferently, "No need."
A pale golden light appeared, but it did not envelop Ji Mingran; instead, it enveloped the disciples of Xiaosu Pavilion.
He was already inside the teleportation array that Ji Mingran had given away!
"This..." The disciple of Xiaosu Pavilion's eyes widened. His forward attack was unstoppable for a moment. In a flash, he was teleported outside the cloud platform.
"Wouldn't it be enough to just send you away?" Ji Mingran remained lying in the same spot, in the exact same position she had when she landed on the platform.
She never moved from beginning to end.
"In the Yellow Number One Competition, on the Cloud Platform, Xiao Su Pavilion stepped forward, and Ding Sheng Zong Ji Ming Ran emerged victorious!"
"Ding Sheng Zong, all four of them won."
Hearing the announcement that pleased her, Ji Mingran smiled and leaned over the edge of the cloud platform, carefully examining the area around it. Ever since her victory, the cloud platform beneath her feet had automatically floated towards the observation platform, carrying the other victorious disciples to the gathering place.
Soon, she finally spotted the person she was looking for.
A disciple dressed in black robes and wearing a bamboo hat was walking through the passageway of the participating disciples on the observation platform, leaving long trails of blood in his wake.
The smile on his lips vanished, his brows furrowed, and Ji Mingran was about to teleport to his side when a familiar figure appeared out of the corner of his eye.
It was Shen Qingluo, who had just landed, surrounded by a group of Shen family disciples. The Shen family members said something, and Shen Qingluo, with a cold face, followed the Shen family disciples away.
One to the left and one to the right, two directions.
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