The Zhao Family Sword Stele is located in the valley behind the silkworm-rearing house.
Several long swords stand upright in the valley, possibly left behind by the Zhao ancestors. Some are intact, while others are already broken and rusted.
At this moment, each sword exudes a chilling residual aura, embedded beside the towering sword stele.
“Boom—”
A loud noise shakes the sword stele violently.
The sword aura of the Water Spirit Sword, shimmering with an aqua spiritual glow, surges like towering ten-thousand-foot waves, instantly reaching the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer.
The sword mark cuts halfway into the stele, as if attempting to sever it in half!
[!]
[!]
Lin Shuang’s tiger mouths burst open, her broadsword flying from her grip in an instant. However, eight small talismans shot from her sleeve, struggling to catch the sword and return it to her side.
She leans on her sword, kneeling on one knee.
Her eyes turn completely red.
The Foundation Cultivation Ninth Layer sword qi, beyond her physical limits, has ruptured the blood vessels in her eyes.
“Senior apprentice sister!”
Zhao Keran hurries forward, stuffing a pill into her mouth.
But Lin Shuang shakes her head, biting down and crushing the fifth-tier recovery pill she had kept under her tongue since earlier.
Instantly, her breath stabilizes, and her damaged meridians begin to slowly heal.
She pushes herself up using Zhao Keran’s hand, saying, “I’m fine. I’ve done experiments before.”
After three months of leveling up in Lijiacun, if she hadn’t trained with Meng Zi and others, she wouldn’t be herself.
Knowing there would be a team battle, how could she possibly come unprepared?
Lin Shuang stands up, looking at the towering sword stele before her, and then at the Zhao siblings standing beside it with swords in hand.
One is at Foundation Cultivation Peak Completion.
Two are at Foundation Cultivation Ninth Layer Peak.
They are also watching her, their gazes filled with admiration, respect, and regret.
“Lin Shuang, you truly deserve us three to unleash our strongest sword strike,” Zhao Xi says.
The Zhao descendants around them all nod solemnly.
[Sigh.]
[Their combined move was stunning.]
[…Lin Shuang did her best, but in the end, under their combined technique, she still only reached Foundation Cultivation Ninth Layer. Any random Zhao family member could beat her.]
[Lin Shuang at ninth layer, Huangfu Yuan not yet at Foundation Cultivation Peak, and Meng Zi at Transformation Qi. They lost, but their sword hearts are not inferior! In a few years, they will surpass these three from the Zhao family!]
[Sigh, even I from the Hundred Flowers Sect feel a bit sorry for her right now. I admire her perseverance.]
In the projection, the two Zhao sisters step forward solemnly.
They strike together.
Their sword qi roars like a dragon, instantly circling the stele and clearly stopping at the Foundation Cultivation Ninth Layer Peak!
The sword marks they leave also cut halfway into the stele!
Though not as profound as Lin Shuang’s, the altitude their sword qi attains surpasses Lin Shuang’s barely Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer strike by three inches.
She lost.
Lin Shuang’s defeat is clear and unquestionable.
Zhao Xi doesn’t hesitate to mercilessly strike another sword on top of the two sisters’ marks.
This sword pierces the sky, nearly reaching the Spirit Transformation level.
“Lin Shuang, you yield.”
“And as for this gentleman, Huangfu Yuan, if you don’t wish to strike, this match will end here.”
Zhao Xi withdraws his sword and turns to look at Huangfu Yuan.
Meng Zi had poured out too much sword qi, now only at Transformation Qi, and will definitely lose.
Even if he takes pills, after two rounds of consumption, he can no longer return to Foundation Cultivation Sixth Layer; he can’t beat any Zhao family member.
Even if Huangfu Yuan wins, it would be one out of three rounds, which is useless.
Zhao Xi suggests he doesn’t continue, “This stolen… well, borrowed sword qi isn’t your own strength. Using it forcefully burdens your body heavily. Even with pills, you’ll need a day or two to recover.
Now that the outcome is decided, there’s no need to fight so hard. Disperse this sword qi now.”
But Huangfu Yuan lifts his eyelids, looking at Lin Shuang’s trembling knees, and slowly trembles himself.
Zhao Xi: “…?”
Something feels off.
“No, Brother Zhao.”
Huangfu Yuan’s hand holding the sword also trembles as he mimics Lin Shuang’s grimace.
Yet his phoenix eyes, filled with intense focus, look past Zhao Xi toward the sword stele behind him.
“It’s not over yet.”
“You’ve already lost the three-round match—”
But before Zhao Xi finishes, he hears his cousin’s startled cry.
He turns around and finds everyone, just like Huangfu Yuan, staring at the sword marks on the stele!
The sword mark Lin Shuang left had changed!
[Water Spirit Sword, reached perfection.]
The stele suddenly displays the words, embedding them into its surface.
Instantly, the height of Lin Shuang’s sword qi mark at Foundation Cultivation Ninth Layer is pushed upward a little, nearing the Zhao sisters’ Ninth Layer Peak, only an inch away!
Zhao Xi: “!”
[!]
[The sword stele’s perfect evaluation—actually in a real fight, her previous strike could injure a mid-Ninth Layer cultivator?!]
[Still not a match for the Zhao sisters! So frustrating, heartbreaking, and regretful!]
But in an instant, the stele moves again.
On Lin Shuang’s lowest sword mark, another line of text appears.
[Water Droplet to River Sword, reached perfection!]
Instantly, the height of Lin Shuang’s sword qi mark at mid-Ninth Layer is pushed upward again, nearing the Zhao sisters’ Ninth Layer Peak, only half an inch away!
“This…”
The Zhao sisters are stunned into silence.
[Ah, she used the Water Droplet to River Sword while unleashing the Water Spirit Sword?]
[!?]
[What, she has both sword techniques perfected??? Did she release two sword qi in one strike?]
[How long has she been learning!]
[A disciple from Qing Shui Sect here, well, since she got them, it’s only been three… hehe, I won’t tell you.]
[…]
[Three months? Three years, no one speaks like that.]
[Ha ha, that fool from Qing Shui Sect!]
[Fool is you! Three months and you still have the heart to laugh? How long would it take you to master one sword technique?]
[…I guess I am the fool.]
[Enough, am I here to watch your idle chat? Don’t distract me from watching my junior apprentice sister Lin Shuang’s beautiful, intelligent, capable, and charming figure!]
The Zhao descendants all look up at the stele, almost speechless.
Zhao Xi’s mind stalls momentarily, and the two sisters are even more shocked.
Lin Shuang is catching up, now less than half an inch from their marks.
Just a little more, and she would have passed them.
Thankfully, she stopped here.
Otherwise, they would have lost.
“Zhao Xi, I want to be friends with you, Lin Shuang.”
Zhao Xi no longer calls himself Zhao Bai.
This shows Lin Shuang has completely earned his respect, not just as a junior friend.
Even though Lin Shuang’s actual cultivation is far below his.
Zhao Xi looks at Lin Shuang, only to see his younger sister Zhao Keran hurriedly pulling out a strange folding chair from her spatial bag?
She unfolds the strange folding chair and has Lin Shuang sit down, leisurely drinking tea.
Zhao Xi’s eye twitches.
But soon, he smiles in approval.
“Lin Shuang, although your sword qi is slightly inferior to my cousin’s, your mastery of sword techniques surpasses hers by far. If it weren’t for the sword stele comparison, but a one-on-one fight, you might have already won.”
Lin Shuang politely nods, then points to the stele behind him.
Zhao Xi’s eyelid twitches.
He immediately turns around.
The sword stele is silent for a moment, but then it moves again!
[Dragon Suction Water Sword: Reached perfection!]
In an instant, Lin Shuang’s sword mark rises half an inch, instantly leveling with the Zhao sisters!
Then, with effort and slowly, it creeps upward a bit.
Extremely faintly, almost imperceptible unless you look closely, it surpasses them!
The sword mark presses down on theirs!
[!]
[!]
[…She used three sword techniques in one strike?!]
[All reached perfection???]
[Dragon Suction Water Sword, though only a human-tier technique, like the Water Droplet to River Sword, isn’t inherently valuable. But if hit, the opponent’s sword qi automatically weakens, and Dragon Suction Water will deflect their sword qi…]
[These two sword techniques’ innate power isn’t strong, both are auxiliary. But combined, the sword stele gave a high evaluation. Foundation Cultivation Ninth Layer sword qi is recognized as capable of fighting a weakened, trajectory-affected Ninth Layer Peak!]
[Mastering three perfected sword techniques… anywhere, enough to fight beyond one’s level.]
[So, she’s not just a talisman master; she’s truly a genius sword cultivator!]
[…]
Before the Zhao Family Sword Stele, everyone, like the watching disciples, falls into stunned silence after their shock.
Huangfu Yuan then lightly smiles, dragging his trembling right arm, finally stepping forward.
“It’s my turn.”
His right hand drags a sword with significantly increased sword qi, while his left holds the “Elder Water’s Sword Technique Practice Notes.”
After glancing at it, he nods, “I understand.”
Zhao family disciples: “…”
[…]
A flash of sword light bursts from Huangfu Yuan’s right arm.
Bang!
The sword qi instantly climbs an inch above the Zhao sisters’ Ninth Layer Peak!
Then quickly retreats.
[Water Spirit Sword: Poor comprehension!]
Huangfu Yuan’s face falls.
The sword mark quickly drops, stopping below Lin Shuang’s mark.
It barely halts, only a hair’s breadth above the Zhao sisters’ mark.
If not for all present being cultivators, ordinary people wouldn’t even notice the difference.
“Senior apprentice brother Huangfu… what are you doing? You almost messed it up!”
Meng Zi complains.
He’s now very weak but unwilling to take a second fifth-tier pill to recover.
“Two out of three rounds, phew, lucky win. I don’t have to go.”
Not having to fight means he can slowly recover from feeding sword qi earlier, saving the fifth-tier pill for resale.
This is the plan they devised in Lijiacun—the Internal Inflation Cycle Plan!
Specifically for three-round two-win battles!
“Good, the first time using it, and it worked.”
Meng Zi can’t help but smile.
Lin Shuang, sitting on the chair sipping spiritual tea, nods with satisfaction.
Internal inflation, three-person cooperation.
She shares the Water Droplet to River Sword technique.
Meng Zi provides the sword qi.
Huangfu Yuan supplies the fifth-tier pills for Meng Zi’s recovery.
Everyone gains something, and everyone contributes—balance!
Zhao Xi, sword in hand, turns his head with difficulty, looking at her, Huangfu Yuan, and Meng Zi.
The Zhao descendants all wear expressions of wordless heaviness.
The sword-wielding sisters are even more dejected.
“It’s okay, elder and younger cousins, you don’t need to feel sad about losing.”
Zhao Keran looks up thoughtfully, reluctantly comforting them.
“You didn’t lose to one person. You lost to my senior apprentice sister’s Fast Learning.”
“…”
“…………”
Fast Learning—the power of unity.
My senior apprentice sister said so.
Zhao Keran suddenly covers her mouth, taking a step back, looking at Lin Shuang with admiration and self-reflection.
“Senior apprentice sister, I thought I had reached Fast Learning Level Ten.”
“Never expected it was all an illusion. Compared to you, yesterday’s me was only Level Three at best.”
Zhao family: “…”
[…]
[Drip Learning Level Ten, what is that?!]
Zhao Keran’s eyes sparkle with admiration, “So my senior apprentice sister chose the Water Droplet to River Sword not only to compensate for her own sword technique weaknesses but also to prepare for today’s cooperative battle.”
“I never realized my senior apprentice sister had planned this two-pronged strategy back then.”
Lin Shuang modestly waves her hand.
[…]
[I’m interested in the Water Droplet to River Sword.]
[In daily encounters with someone stronger than you, they’d kill you with one strike. If they’re weaker, you kill them. Why steal their sword qi?
Turns out, this seemingly useless sword technique isn’t for oneself but for cooperating with friends… I get it now.]
[…Get it? After absorbing, you can only strike once! Look at Lin Shuang now, can she even stand?]
[No need to say more, we won the sword stele bet.]
[No need to say more, she defeated the Zhao family patriarch in a Transcendence challenge. What about you?]
[…]
They won.
At this moment, only the younger generation surrounds the Zhao Family Sword Stele.
Zhao Mingde’s couple and the Zhao family patriarch left earlier.
Some are in retreat, others preparing lunch.
Although cultivators have long forsaken ordinary food, when the daughter’s senior apprentices come to visit, you can’t simply serve them two fasting pills.
What to do now?
Call them back?
Zhao Baiyi falls silent, other Zhao family members also embarrassed.
Finally, one person takes responsibility.
Zhao Baiyi, the loser, takes a deep breath and mounts his sword.
“Grandfather, please come out… Seventeenth Uncle, Seventeenth Aunt…”
He respectfully calls out.
Zhao Mingde’s couple appear in the air with strange expressions.
The Zhao family patriarch still shows no movement.
“What’s going on, wasn’t it agreed to send them off immediately after the match!” After a while, the Zhao patriarch’s authoritative voice finally comes.
Zhao Baiyi: “…”
The loser isn’t Lin Shuang.
Maybe you should send me away…
Lin Shuang finally recovers from the high load earlier.
Thankfully, she often burns fat, her dantian, body, and spiritual sense undergoing hellish limit training every seven days.
Otherwise, she would have fainted earlier.
She stands from her homemade folding chair, looking at the Zhao Mingde couple in the sky and the likely closed-off location of the patriarch.
“Senior Zhao, I won.”
Silence.
The Zhao descendants can’t lift their heads.
But Lin Shuang comforts them, speaking in their favor, “I didn’t win because my cultivation is higher than Xiao Bai Ge’s. In the past ten years, my cultivation speed wasn’t faster than theirs.”
In the past ten years, she was merely an outer disciple of Qing Shui Sect.
Unable to compare with those backed by wealth!
“In terms of cultivation and speed, they are above me. But I won because I was shamelessly persistent, cough, I won by skillfully applying the techniques.”
The Zhao family: “…”
Zhao Mingde couple: “…”
[Ha ha ha.]
[…You actually know that yourself!]
“I won because we three were adaptable enough.”
Lin Shuang says this without blushing, “If it weren’t for the sword stele test, in a real encounter outside, the three of us could make Xiao Bai Ge suffer.”
“Studying behind closed doors isn’t enough, Senior Zhao.”
What’s the use of memorizing formulas without doing exercises?
Without entering society, one can never become a big boss!
“Go out more, and you’ll meet many cultivators outside, just like us three—intelligent and adaptable. Only then can the Zhao descendants truly learn how to apply the Zhao family techniques.”
“Shameless, they call adaptable. I only admire Lin Shuang.”
“Water Droplet into River Sword, it’s merely at the Human Tier. Heaven, Earth, and Human—this is the lowest tier of cultivation techniques. Even in Clearwater Sect, everyone can afford to learn it.”
Lin Shuang gazed toward the horizon.
“There’s no ultimate supreme technique; it all depends on how far a cultivator can master and apply it.”
“Stop it, in ten years, will everyone in Clearwater Sect secretly learn sword techniques?”
“In the future, when Clearwater Sect disciples go out and encounter evil cultivators—sorry, we need a moment to inflate ourselves!”
“…Haha.”
“Xiao Bai lost not to me, but to the Zhao family’s rule of seclusion!”
With just one sentence, Lin Shuang caused all the Zhao family juniors present to turn their heads toward her.
Their expressions were indescribably complex…
“Senior Zhao, please allow my junior apprentice sister and senior apprentice brother Zhao Ming to follow me.”
“Let them take the lead and become the Zhao family’s trial for this generation! If they succeed, the Zhao family will rise to new heights. If not, they can return to the Zhao family!”
Zhao Keran was stunned, but soon her spiritual energy couldn’t help but tremble with unprecedented excitement!
She could also be useful, leading the Zhao family to a new level?
She was willing!
“Grandfather, Father, Mother, I’m willing! I’m willing to be a test subject for my older brothers and sisters!”
What? A test subject?
The Zhao family members twitched their foreheads.
“Grandfather, let me try!” Zhao Keran shouted.
Zhao Mingde and his wife looked down at her, their eyes complex yet filled with pride and approval.
Then they heard a solemn voice from the sky.
“Zhao Xi and the three others will spend fifty days raising silkworms as penance.”
“Now, everyone else, disperse.”
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Mingde’s couple, Lin Shuang’s trio, and Zhao Keran vanished before the sword stele.
…
A small bridge over flowing water, pavilions and terraces.
An elegant, ancient garden floated above the Spirit Stone Mountain.
Lin Shuang and the others opened their eyes and found themselves in a pavilion surrounded by water on all sides.
Inside the pavilion, an old man with gray-white hair and a rosy complexion already sat there. Dressed in a Bagua robe, he sat cross-legged behind burning incense.
When they appeared, he opened his eyes.
Instantly, Lin Shuang’s Fire Eyes and Golden Vision technique was forcibly suppressed and could no longer function.
“Hmph, you’ve mastered every technique to the ultimate realm, yet you dare to tell this old man about technique application.”
Meng Zi was just trying to touch the spirit stone balustrade of the pavilion when he suddenly heard this and nearly fell down.
What?
Cultivation techniques reaching the ultimate realm at birth, death, and three stages…
Does this mean all techniques have reached the ultimate realm???
Meng Zi’s expression twisted for a moment.
Lin Shuang’s face looked strange.
In front of a late-stage Nascent Soul elder, she practically had no privacy left.
“Hehe, only a few reclusive old immortals can rival me…”
The Zhao family patriarch’s eyes were filled with disdain and contempt.
“Ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators are like my eighteen unworthy children—pathetic and mediocre.”
Lin Shuang: “…”
She also wished she could be so mediocre.
“Hmph, you’ve mastered everything to the ultimate realm…”
“…”
“Why is the Zhao family even worse than Zhenchuan! The entire sentence was censored??”
“Has anyone considered the spirit stones we paid over the years to watch the projections… Refund! Baihua Sect!”
“Old Seventeenth, you all may go as well.”
The Zhao family patriarch waved at Zhao Mingde’s family.
“They will depart tomorrow.”
As he spoke, Zhao Keran was about to speak again, but her mother shook her head to stop her.
The couple quickly took her and left.
“Phew, at least this sentence wasn’t censored.”
“The Clearwater Sect’s mission to persuade the Zhao family has succeeded!”
“Oh, tomorrow they depart—those words don’t refer to Lin Shuang’s trio, but Zhao Keran and Zhao Ming. This is giving them time to prepare and say goodbye to their parents?”
“…Wow!”
“Wait, let me see where the Baihua Sect has reached!”
“…”
The audience watching the Zhao family’s persuasion almost forgot about the Baihua Sect.
No choice, who would want to watch them study how to unravel silkworm cocoons?
“Senior Brother, our spiritual energy is gone. There’s something wrong with this cocoon!”
Indeed, the Baihua Sect’s three disciples had already arrived at the Zhao family’s doorstep.
Just like Lin Shuang before, they were hanging on the Zhao family’s cliffside.
“Thankfully, junior apprentice sister Lin Shuang warned us,” Bian Bo of the Baihua Sect had already taken out a brush and ink, his face full of gratitude. “I must write that she’s a kind-hearted junior apprentice sister in her single introduction.”
“…”
“…………”
“Mm.”
Zhu Jiao, the leader of the Baihua Sect, also nodded while sitting inside a cocoon.
Her fingers were dexterous, methodically extracting silk from the cocoon.
“After we get out, we must find an opportunity to repay this kindness.”
“Just giving them a moment of respite was merely my trick.”
The Baihua Sect’s three members were well aware of this. They must find other ways to thank Lin Shuang, or else in the future when they ascend, they might face karmic backlash from today’s actions, which would affect their Daoist cultivation.
“…”
“…………”
“At the end of speechlessness, there is only speechlessness.”
“Lin Shuang was right. Only when Zhao family descendants step out of their home can they grow. This sentence also applies to the Baihua Sect cultivators who merely embroider, grow flowers, and write books… they were outsmarted before even engaging in battle!”
“Ai. Persuading them to study. Once the Baihua Sect discovers the truth, they will probably thank Lin Shuang for teaching them growth.”
“…Don’t talk anymore, I can’t bear to watch.”
In the waterside pavilion.
Lin Shuang also exhaled in relief, understanding the hidden meaning in the Zhao family patriarch’s words—they had completed their mission.
But the next moment, her dantian nearly got activated.
The Zhao family patriarch’s expression remained calm, just as before, but each word he spoke was terrifying.
“You had Xiao Ran hand over the Clearwater Sect disciples’ clothes, projection talismans, and storage bags to her parents for inspection, intending to use the Zhao family’s hands to investigate the twelve sects?”
Lin Shuang’s neck hairs stood on end instantly.
The Zhao family patriarch had guessed her intention.
But then, why would he figure out such a thing?
Is it because a Nascent Soul expert knows everything?
No, this has nothing to do with cultivation.
It’s about cunning.
Otherwise, could it be that the Zhao family patriarch himself had done something similar before?
Or is it that the twelve sects have always been under suspicion in the Zhao family’s eyes, which made him think along these lines?
Otherwise, why would he suspect a disciple following orders from her sect and elders, to be scheming against the elders and sect, having the Zhao family inspect projection and teleportation talismans?
Every effect has its cause.
The twelve sects are not clean!
Lin Shuang clenched her teeth inwardly.
Had the Zhao family truly retreated because of the stolen Daoist apprentice Fangzi?
With nineteen Nascent Soul experts, they could act arrogantly without fear.
Unless there was an opposing force they couldn’t resist or an unfavorable environment.
Could it be that the enemy has even more Nascent Soul experts…?
Now Lin Shuang was really getting goosebumps.
Meng Zi, however, didn’t sense the seriousness of the situation and naively looked at the Zhao patriarch.
“Are you overthinking? No one is trying to test—”
Lin Shuang stopped him mid-sentence.
She looked at the Zhao patriarch and admitted faster than Meng Zi denied.
“Did Senior Patriarch block the projections and activate the sound barrier?”
“If so, yes.” She nodded.
Meng Zi: “???”
The Zhao patriarch’s gray-white beard twitched sharply because of her quick admission.
“Alright, you’re bold, kid. I won’t hide from you either.”
“This teleportation talisman is fine, and your Clearwater Sect disciples’ robes are also fine, otherwise you wouldn’t have entered the Zhao family.”
Lin Shuang exhaled in relief, but soon noticed the amused glint in the patriarch’s eyes.
“However, once this talisman is activated, it will leave an attached spiritual consciousness on you.”
“A Nascent Soul-level spiritual consciousness, undetectable unless you reach Nascent Soul cultivation yourself.”
Lin Shuang’s temple twitched instantly, a chill rising from her feet.
The Mountain Sea Sect is truly rotten!
Who handled the teleportation talismans given to the disciples for the competition?
The overall supervisor of this competition, the Mountain Sea Sect’s senior elder, Yueshi—he’s definitely involved!
If he’s not just careless and incompetent, failing to control his subordinates, then he’s definitely a confirmed villain.
Whether he’s useless or evil, he must be one of the two.
Lin Shuang’s eyes changed.
Then, what about Shui Qiantan, the Clearwater Sect elder who was suspected to be a close friend of Yueshi and exchanged techniques with him? Does he know about this?
Huangpu Yuan looked at the ground, a trace of mockery flashing across his lips.
Cultivators are dangerous; he had expected this and wasn’t as surprised or wary as Lin Shuang.
After all, he had lived in such tension and suspicion for so many years.
“Old man won’t help you remove it.”
The Zhao patriarch refused directly before they could even ask.
“My Zhao family has long secluded itself from the world. Whatever happens outside has nothing to do with us. If you are afraid and seek my help, then from today onward, change your surname to Zhao and live within my Zhao family valley. Only then will I promise to protect you.”
Huangpu Yuan refused directly. “Thank you, but I don’t need the Zhao family’s concern.”
Meng Zi, overwhelmed by all this information, muttered, “I actually want to join the Zhao family…” This place had abundant spirit stones, his paradise.
But,
“If I join, can I still go out?”
The Zhao patriarch looked at him strangely. “Once you take the Zhao surname, naturally you must follow the Zhao family’s rules.”
“Forget it then.”
Meng Zi shook his head.
“I can’t give up all the spirit stones in the four realms just for one mountain of spirit stones from the Zhao family.”
“There are still spirit stones outside waiting for me to collect.”
Zhao patriarch: “…”
He looked at Lin Shuang.
Lin Shuang also shook her head.
Hard work and study are for a better life, not to become a bookworm stuck in one place.
Every year she needed to go on vacation, weekend trips.
Staying in the Zhao family was out of the question.
“Senior Zhao’s decision not to intervene is wise.”
Lin Shuang pondered.
“If we remove this tracking spiritual consciousness, it will only alert the other side. Pretending we don’t know, both we three and the Zhao family will remain safe.”
The Zhao patriarch’s eyes instantly flashed with a sharp light.
Well said.
Instead of blaming the Zhao family for being heartless and selfish, she remained calm and thought of the most appropriate way to handle it—doing nothing.
She even considered the Zhao family’s perspective.
“Indeed, girl, I can grant you one small favor.”
Lin Shuang subtly felt the Zhao patriarch’s favorability toward her had increased.
Yes, today Lin Shuang once again achieved two goals with one action.
Stay still if the enemy doesn’t move.
As long as the mind remains, there is hope.
“Alright, then please grant us another set of teleportation talismans.” Lin Shuang immediately spoke up.
The Zhao patriarch raised his eyebrows.
Lin Shuang nodded. “I have some rough plans, not very detailed yet, but a cunning hare has three dens.”
First, secure a ‘safe house to retreat and level up if we can’t win’.
The Zhao patriarch snorted, then extended his hand, sending a glowing rhombus-shaped teleportation talisman into their storage bags.
Lin Shuang bowed gratefully but quickly spoke again. “We three also wish to request a place from Senior Patriarch for us to break through tonight.”
“Hm?”
The Zhao patriarch’s beard twitched upward.
Lin Shuang planned to level up before leaving the Zhao family.
The weak are prey to the strong; the stronger one’s power, the more secure one is.
Of course, there were also risks; the stronger one became, the more alert opponents would be.
But if she didn’t level up now, she would miss a perfect opportunity.
—In front of thousands of disciples watching, breaking through cultivation would eliminate the need for extra explanations about why her progress was so fast.
Thinking this, Lin Shuang raised her eyebrows.
“Senior Patriarch, are the projections visible and audible to everyone now?”
The Zhao patriarch made a subtle sound. “As long as it doesn’t involve Zhao family secrets, they can hear everything.”
“Good.”
Lin Shuang straightened up, her face exaggeratedly joyful and touched.
“Thank you, Senior Patriarch, for your guidance!”
“I see! I see! I’ve gained enlightenment!”
Zhao family patriarch: “!”
Meng Zi: “!”
“!?!”
“I just went to check on the Baihua Sect for a moment. What happened?”
“Just now, the Patriarch hummed once, and then there was beeping—was that guidance?”
“My heavens, a Nascent Soul peak elder in retreat guiding a Foundation Building cultivator…”
“I can feel myself about to breakthrough to Foundation Building Seventh Layer.”
Lin Shuang closed her eyes, her long lashes trembling.
Zhao family patriarch: “…”
Meng Zi: “…”
Behind her, Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes flickered, finally regaining composure from the excitement of being closer to his enemy.
Standing tall, he nodded quickly.
“Thank you, Senior Zhao.”
“Just now, with my Foundation Building Sixth Layer body, I bore Foundation Building Ninth Layer sword qi. Now, receiving the Patriarch’s guidance… I also feel I’m just a thin paper away from breaking through.”
“Probably within the next three months, I can reach Foundation Building Eighth Layer.”
Meng Zi: “???”
Lin Shuang: “…”
Oh no, she hadn’t thought of saying that just now.
He even found an excuse to break through to the eighth layer.
In terms of scheming, indeed, she, a kind little girl, was still no match for a fox spirit.
“Senior Patriarch, me too!”
Lin Shuang quickly patched in.
“Today has been extremely enlightening. In the future, every breakthrough I make in the next year will remind me of Senior Patriarch’s kindness today.”
“What? What did Senior Patriarch give them?”
“Just now, I saw him wave his hand, didn’t I?”
“This… the three from Clearwater Sect have really struck gold on this trip… studying, and pushing themselves to continuous breakthroughs!?”
“I hope the high-level battle gives me a chance to go to the Zhao family.”
In the projections, the Zhao family patriarch appeared to everyone as a handsome, black-haired young man.
But to Lin Shuang’s trio, there was no such youthful filter. They saw the Zhao patriarch’s temple veins popping out one by one from his wrinkles.
“We’ll take our leave first, Senior Patriarch. Don’t want to disturb your retreat.”
Lin Shuang said and quickly stepped back.
Huangpu Yuan mounted his sword. “I’ll never forget Senior Patriarch’s kindness. In the future, I will repay you with grass!”
Meng Zi was pulled up into the air by their sword tips tugging at his collar, swiftly flying away.
“Ahh—You two bastards—wait for me!”
They were going to fake another breakthrough again.
What about him?
Despair.
If he couldn’t break through to Foundation Building Eighth Layer in three months, wouldn’t he fall behind them?
Then what face would he have to travel with them?
But in an instant, Meng Zi felt a mix of disappointment and despair in his heart, yet he was also happy for them. As these complex emotions clashed within him, a surge of spiritual energy descended upon his crown.
A majestic voice rang out.
“Dare to scheme against this old man!”
“You three little brats, get out now—!”
At that moment, Meng Zi felt his spiritual energy surge. The martial arts technique “Thirteen Slashes of Mountains and Seas” became even clearer in his mind, and the barrier of the sixth layer of Condensation trembled unstably, teetering on the verge of breaking through to the seventh layer of Condensation.
Lin Shuang stood up on the wide sword mid-flight and respectfully bowed.
Thank you, Senior Ancestor.
If among the three of them, only two received benefits, it would seem biased on the part of the Zhao family’s Senior Ancestor.
The audience watching the projection would inevitably speculate about the Zhao family’s preferences.
And where there are guesses, unnecessary attention would follow.
This was what the Zhao family did not want.
But it was fine to include Meng Zi; it was just a casual, indiscriminate guidance.
If you have the ability, come to the Zhao family and pierce the sword stele into the sky.
Lin Shuang nodded.
“It’s really okay. Next time we come, will we be ganged up on?” Meng Zi still had some moral bottom line, unlike Lin Shuang.
But Lin Shuang exclaimed, “What? The Zhao family is wholeheartedly benevolent, how could they do that?”
She and the Senior Ancestor of the Zhao family coordinated together, achieving mutual benefit.
The Zhao family also used her to send a perfect external declaration: even if the sky outside breaks, I won’t intervene.
This was exactly what the Senior Ancestor of the Zhao family wanted.
Allowing the three of them to enter the Zhao family with flawed teleportation talismans for the purpose of “encouraging learning” could have been intentional—whether the ‘Black’ Elder of the Mountain and Sea Sect specifically targeted them, was testing the Zhao family, or both, remained plausible possibilities.
The Senior Ancestor of the Zhao family ignored this, avoiding a test.
And Zhao Yibai, unable to match Lin Shuang’s three disciples with significantly lower cultivation, lost with a full four-tier gap—wasn’t this also proof of the current pathetic state of the Zhao family’s descendants, posing no threat?
The Zhao family also used them to convey a message of being harmless.
She wanted a breakthrough opportunity, so what?
She was also helping the Senior Ancestor resolve karmic ties.
As for the mystery of the Zhao family’s retreat, currently, her favorability wasn’t high enough, and she was too weak.
Even if the other party told her, she wouldn’t be able to bear it.
With these thoughts in mind, Lin Shuang remained composed, breaking through to the seventh level of condensation while swiftly flying on her sword.
*
“Xiaoran, sleep with Mama tonight, let’s have a good chat.”
Su Qing, who was also at the Tribulation Crossing stage, held Zhao Xiaoran’s hand, unwilling to let go.
But after holding for a while, she found she couldn’t hold on anymore.
Zhao Xiaoran exclaimed, “Mama, just talk, I’m listening. You let go first.”
Her left hand danced with the Water Spirit Sword, her right hand with the erhu string.
Her left foot floated gracefully like a dragonfly skimming water, her right foot moved in the ‘Invisible Water Skimming’ step.
Too busy, she couldn’t spare her hand for her mother.
Zhao Mingde, who was about to give her some guidance: “?”
Su Qing, who wanted to hold hands and talk: “??”
Zhao Xiaoran’s face was determined. “Mama, I’m now the role model for my cousins.”
“I need to work even harder.”
Working harder means you’re like this?
Zhao Mingde and his wife were stunned.
This… is this the fastest learner?
Does the Qing Shui Sect have something wrong!
“Ah, right, Mama, bring out the spinning wheel; I can practice sword techniques while spinning for you…”
“Dad, do you have any wine pots or cups to clean… I can practice my footwork while cleaning them for you…”
Zhao Mingde and his wife: “…”
They couldn’t even hold their teacups anymore.
“Seventeenth Uncle, Seventeenth Uncle, Grandfather ordered, immediately make Lin Shuang leave!”
“…”
Zhao Xiaoran’s face showed reluctance.
But soon, the speed of her mother’s spinning wheel tripled, coordinating with the Water Spirit Sword, washing her father’s thirteen sets of wine cups.
Her round eyes flashed with realization and admiration.
“No wonder she’s the senior apprentice sister.”
“Even the speed of visiting my home is this fast, oh well.”
“…”
*
Lin Shuang and the other three all broke through to the seventh layer of condensation.
After a brief rest, they met Zhao Ming and his father, who had just finished kneeling in the ancestral hall.
They were brought by Zhao Xi.
Zhao Ming’s father, ranked sixteenth, was more robust and darker-skinned than Zhao Mingde, looking very intimidating.
“Get out! If you don’t reach the Refining God realm within five years, I’ll personally drag you back and lock you in the ancestral hall for a hundred years!”
Lin Shuang nodded, greeted Uncle Zhao Sixteenth, and looked at Zhao Ming, who looked embarrassed. Her expression was also strange. “Senior Zhao, do you have a twin brother?”
Lin Shuang had been scared by Senior Brothers Xu Rui and Xu Xiang.
What if Zhao Ming also had a twin brother? If she took the wrong one back, it would be a waste of effort.
She couldn’t help but be cautious, after all, the Zhao family had too many descendants.
“This… no.” Zhao Ming shook his head, puzzled.
Lin Shuang frowned; she didn’t know Zhao Ming well, after all, he was from the Mountain Sea Sect.
Recognizing people, Meng Zi and Huangpu Yuan also couldn’t be relied upon.
“So let’s exchange a secret code, Senior Zhao.”
Lin Shuang pondered.
“Annihilation…”
Zhao Ming’s face changed instantly.
He rushed over quickly, interrupting Lin Shuang, “Junior Lin, you mean the smoke disappeared, right, right, when we first met, there was a wolf smoke rising!”
Nonsense.
But Lin Shuang nodded, satisfied.
Good.
The Zhao family is reclusive; if Zhao Ming dared to be an assassin in the Annihilation Pavilion of the Mountain Sea Sect, his elders would break his legs if they found out.
His anxious look trying to cover it up in front of his father was good.
He is the real Zhao Ming, not fake.
Lin Shuang finally felt at ease, immediately bidding farewell to the Zhao family, leading her little junior apprentice sister who had said goodbye to her parents and Zhao Ming away.
Huangpu Yuan looked subtly as if he understood, couldn’t help but look at Zhao Ming again.
Meng Zi also exhaled in relief; he had also been frightened.
He couldn’t help but secretly glance at the Annihilation Pavilion’s ink-colored mask and black night clothes in his spatial pouch.
He almost thought his disguise had been discovered.
Sigh.
As they left on the silkworm, the Zhao family’s gate slammed shut behind them.
From then on, the Zhao family was once again reclusive.
Zhao Ming’s father gazed at the direction they left, unmoving for a long time.
Behind him, soon appeared Zhao Mingde and his wife, followed by other uncles and aunts of the Zhao family.
Soon behind them, appeared over a hundred Zhao descendants.
Standing densely.
Soon, most of them did the same action.
They took out a set of ink-black masks and black night clothes from their spatial pouches, looked at them, then simultaneously sighed in relief.
“Scared me, thought she had discovered.”
Zhao Ming’s father sighed softly as he placed the ink mask over his face—a black mask adorned with golden patterns, marking him as an A-rank assassin!
“Eldest Uncle, we should go execute the mission now.”
The speaker was none other than Zhao Yibai, Zhao Jiushiba, and others.
“Go ahead.”
“Don’t forget to hang outside the valley for a while on your way back to get rid of the blood scent.”
Raising spirit silkworms was not for selling silk.
But to use the cocoons to absorb killing intent!
“Zhao Mingde, when should we tell Xiaoran?”
Su Qing, Zhao Xiaoran’s mother, sighed.
“Each descendant discovers it themselves. Oh, Xiaoran has never noticed the anomaly all these years?”
“…”
“The Old Master said, whoever discovers it latest becomes the family head. She’s already entered the duel circle with three-year-old Zhao Liangbai.”
“…”
Outside the valley, Lin Shuang and the others were being carried by a Tribulation-stage expert, tearing through space as they were sent back to the gate of the Mountain Sea Sect in the Donghua Realm.
“Hisss, I seem to have forgotten something.”
Lin Shuang pressed her head.
“Didn’t we pass three hanging things just now?”
[Yes, it’s the three from the Hundred Flowers Sect!]
[…]
[Three incense sticks… they still haven’t untied themselves, the sky is about to darken.]
[Zhao Ming has returned to the Mountain Sea Sect—save them!]
Yet Lin Shuang pressed her forehead, scratching with her index finger.
“Strange. I feel like I missed something.”
Unable to figure it out, she temporarily put it aside to avoid affecting other plans.
Although puzzled, she still lowered her hand from her forehead.
But halfway down, she froze. She saw her still wearing the pink robe, which was clothing produced by the Hundred Flowers Sect.
Finally, she remembered the missing point.
How come no one in the Zhao family praised her for wearing their silk fabric?
From beginning to end, the Zhao family showed no surprise or admiration towards her wearing Hundred Flowers Sect clothing from Qing Shui Sect.
Even if the Senior Ancestor of the Zhao family noticed her subtle test, what about the other Zhao descendants who didn’t know?
She had originally imagined that because of shared human traits, the Zhao family would have a favorable first impression of her, but there was no such reward at all?
How could this be?
Lin Shuang felt a sense of emptiness, as if she had done a problem-solving step but got no points.
It was uncomfortable.
“Could it be that my line of thinking was wrong?”
Ineffective.
That meant it was incorrect.
What Huangpu Yuan took out was not the same batch of fabric as hers from the Hundred Flowers Sect.
Therefore, these three pieces were not made from the Zhao family’s silk?
The Zhao family’s silk had not been supplied to the Hundred Flowers Sect?
Then what were the Zhao family’s hundred or so people doing, producing silk every day?
There weren’t that many customers needing cocoons, hanging on the mountain walls daily.
—The silk had another use.
Lin Shuang could only draw this conclusion.
Well, note it down first; solve the problem when more information is available later.
“Junior apprentice sister Lin, Senior apprentice brother Meng…”
Zhao Ming stood on his sword, gratefully bowing to them.
“Thank you for taking me out.”
Because he advanced too slowly, not meeting the family’s rules, angering his father.
Now he had a five-year deadline.
“Here I have three spirit silkworms, which I personally raised as a child back home. They have now reached the initial stage of condensation, so I’ll give one to each of you three.”
[!]
[!]
[Not only did they receive guidance from the Senior Ancestor of the Zhao family, but also a gift from Zhao Ming?]
[At the initial stage of condensation, their silk can withstand condensation-level attacks! This is too precious.]
But Lin Shuang and the three looked down and saw a sentence attached to Zhao Ming’s finger.
—This is a gift from the Senior Ancestor.
—To cover the scent that should not exist on you.
Lin Shuang: “!”
So the silk indeed had another use!
Lin Shuang and Meng Zi simultaneously looked at Huangpu Yuan.
Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes flashed with shock.
The scent that should not exist—had he revealed his demonic aura when he acted at the sword stele?
The patriarch of the Zhao family was warning him that it was truly difficult to evade detection from calamity-level experts.
Unless—
[Little AI No. 1 (Lin): Unless you raise a few little demon pets around you.]
Huangpu Yuan: “…”
[Little AI No. 1 (Lin): Let’s go buy some dogs, Da Bao.]
Raise spirit dogs to mask his fox scent!
In the future, even if Jie-level experts sense something amiss, with ten dogs around, who would find it odd?
“Let’s go to the cultivation market!” Lin Shuang suddenly realized.
Huangpu Yuan pressed his index finger on the warming brazier, wisps of heat seemingly melting the ink in his eyes.
Mother, you might be right.
There are good humans.
He truly owed the Zhao family a favor today.
If there’s an opportunity in the future, he would definitely repay the Zhao family.
This time, for real…
[Qing Shui Sect going to the market? Huh?]
[Is this really a competition?]
[So next, will the viewing projection from Qing Shui Sect show us shopping?]
[I give up, really. Hundred Flowers Sect, refund my money!]
[Look at the Hundred Flowers Sect splitting silk threads. See those two deep-sea sects—completely lulled to sleep by the conch shell and still haven’t woken up after a full day! I really ought to practice the vow of silence too!]
[The Qing Shui Sect completed the “Encouraging Study” task for Zhao Ming, scoring 100.]
[Baihua Sect failed in persuasion, scoring 0. You can proceed to the other two locations for persuasion, with four days remaining.]
[Qing Shui Sect located the Zhao family’s residence, the fastest in a century, rated Jia Shang.]
[Qing Shui Sect defeated three descendants of the Zhao family beyond their cultivation level, rated Jia Shang.]
The Qing Shui Sect completed the 4,396th layer of the Yuanhe River: Exhortation to Learning.
[Qing Shui Sect temporarily holds the position of this layer’s master, eligible to proceed to the resting dragon boat and receive corresponding rewards.]
[Additionally, the Mountain Sea Sect, grateful for returning Zhao Ming, grants one guidance session from an Elder.]
[Personally instructed by Elder Yueshi, the chief supervisor of this competition.]
[!]
[…]
Lin Shuang and the three gazed at the text materializing from their talismans, their figures pausing abruptly, as if the scene had frozen in place.
“…First, let’s buy some dogs.”
“I’ll count my spirit stones again.”
“…Buy some treasure artifacts?”
[Qing Shui Sect: Reward, wait a moment. Don’t run too fast, we’re busy!]
[…]
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage