Wen Li’s eyes lit up. “Heh, you really do understand me best.”
Zongzheng Huangyue pursed her lips and smiled softly. Although she had heard her Master say those words to both the Third and Fifth Disciples, it didn’t stop her Master from saying them to her as well.
It didn’t stop her… from enjoying the sound of it.
She also possessed a set of refined skills for brewing tea. As the two sat at the edge of the cliff, a table stabilized in the air before them. Zongzheng Huangyue even brought out pastries she periodically replaced and purchased fresh.
“Master, these pastries are a specialty of Xianle City. Please try them.”
“Alright.”
It had to be said that unlike Hua Cishu, who only cared about eating, drinking, and acting like a spoiled child, Zongzheng Huangyue did not crave material wealth or appetite. She preferred to grasp details in a gamble and enjoy the pleasure of intellectual combat.
Of course, this was related to the growth environment and personality of each disciple. Wen Li didn’t demand that her disciples be a certain way; they each had their own characteristics, and she wouldn't compare them.
It was enough to teach them according to their individual strengths. She had always hated the educational style of using another child’s strengths to highlight her own child’s weaknesses. Why wouldn't those parents compare their own flaws with the strengths of other parents? They would complain about how rich others were or how they supported their children, while those same parents only used suppression and comparison, causing their children to become insecure and starved of love. Parents who remained mediocre their entire lives would use their parental authority to hope their children would become great successes.
If you can’t become a dragon yourself, don’t try to use your child as capital to turn your life around.
In the night, the mountains transformed into silent giants. The towering main peak stood at the summit, and their position allowed them to overlook the entirety of Tingyin Pavilion.
Wen Li chewed on her pastry expressionlessly, looking up at the clouds obscuring the sun. Her brow furrowed with irritation, and she waved her hand.
“Hold On, let the moon come out.”
Boom—!
A long sword immediately flew out from her storage bag, turning into a streak of falling meteor light in the sky. With a single graceful slash, the awe-inspiring sword intent instantly shattered the dark clouds, forming a massive vortex.
The clouds were pulled back like a curtain, revealing the bright, round moon. The clouds were cleared to reveal the moonlight.
Even then, the sword intent did not dissipate. It swept away all the dark clouds in the sky for tens of thousands of li, almost clearing everything within sight of Tingyin Pavilion until not a sliver of mist remained.
Countless stars flickered and shone, all clearly visible.
The entire sky looked as if it had been washed clean.
It took only a second.
Swoosh!
Hold On automatically flew back to Wen Li’s side, planting itself firmly into the mountain rock.
Zongzheng Huangyue’s pupils constricted. This was…
Sword intent!
It wasn't done with spiritual energy.
She didn't understand sword cultivators, but she knew that operating an immortal sword to release power required spiritual energy. She had never seen an attack have such an effect using only sword intent without any spiritual energy.
Under the same night sky, the faces of mortals turned pale as they witnessed this.
“The Moon God has manifested! Those dark clouds were swept away in an instant!”
“I’ve lived for decades, and this is the first time I’ve seen such a clean sky at night.”
Meanwhile, the cultivators—especially the sword cultivators—saw this and were shocked to the core.
“This is… Sword Intent Manifestation! There isn’t a trace of spiritual energy! There really is such a thing as Sword Intent Manifestation! How is this possible? Could some Soul Formation cultivator be breaking through their sword intent?!”
“What’s going on? Why is my sword trembling?”
“Hey, my sword is trembling too! Why has it turned soft? When I bought you, didn't they say you were an iron sword? Why have you become a soft sword?! That crooked merchant!”
As for Tingyin Pavilion…
Although Xin Feiliu, a sword cultivator, didn’t see it from within her cave dwelling, she felt a powerful sword intent that could move the sun and moon. Her sword was trembling; it was a form of fear!
Xin Feiliu curled her lips bitterly. “So what if she’s only at Foundation Establishment? Back then, everyone said my Dao of the Sword was peerless and praised Wangquan Chumo as the number one swordsman of the Eastern Province. Heh, they simply haven't seen her strike.”
Originally, she had wanted to be a music cultivator like her sister. But on that day in the Central Province, trapped on Mount Wanghun, all the so-called favored children of heaven were struggling desperately to survive in despair. It wasn't until that person slashed through the chasm with a single sword, that figure everyone looked up to crashing into their hearts as they sought to survive, that she decided to persevere on the path of the sword.
It had been so many years, and she still couldn't compare to her.
Zongzheng Huangyue asked worriedly, “Master, will this cause trouble for you?”
Wen Li naturally knew what kind of influence her actions would have, but her mood was currently foul. In this vast world, she was the greatest; she would play however she wanted. It would be best if a few people looking for death showed up so she could kill them to vent her frustration.
“Let them come. Anyway, that brat Bai Yu isn’t dead yet. He can still help me kill people and do more chores for me.”
Otherwise, why had she worked so hard to cultivate for all these years? Wasn't it so she could behave as lawlessly and willfully as she pleased?
Or was it to save the common people and provide relief to the world?
What a joke. When she was cultivating amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, none of those 'common people' had offered her any warmth. Now that she was powerful, they expected her to save them? Total and utter bullshit.
Bai Yu, who was currently helping Xin Jiuxian mend her soul, suddenly sneezed. He frowned speechlessly; that person was definitely cursing him behind his back.
Zongzheng Huangyue caught the key point. Bai Yu?
Among the five cultivators tonight, none of them seemed to be named Bai Yu. So… it was the Supreme Elder of Tingyin Pavilion. As for doing more chores for her…
Master had reached some sort of agreement with the Supreme Elder? Was he the one who begged Master?
Zongzheng Huangyue finished brewing the tea and waited until the temperature was just right before handing it to Wen Li.
“Master, please have some tea.”
Wen Li took it and drained it in a single, unrefined gulp, as if she were drinking water.
“Another cup.” She had eaten too many pastries just now, and they were stuck in her throat.
“Of course.”
Bored, Wen Li began to tell Zongzheng Huangyue a story.
“The Central Province holds an Aptitude Battle once every hundred years. Participants must have a skeletal age of under one hundred. Everyone from the Five Provinces is eligible to participate. However, except for the Central Province, people from the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Provinces must go through the Qingyun Gathering selections to participate. Fifty people are selected, and they are led to the Central Province by Soul Formation cultivators.”
“The Aptitude Battle is not only a battle of glory where each province shows off its new generation of young elites to intimidate other provinces, it is also a gamble that determines which of the four provinces gets priority in the allocation of spiritual energy resources for the next hundred years.”
“Spiritual energy resource allocation?” Zongzheng Huangyue was confused. “Isn't the spiritual energy of the four provinces born of Heaven and Earth, inexhaustible and limitless?”
“How could spiritual energy be inexhaustible and limitless? That’s only because you haven't reached the level of cultivation where you need to absorb the spiritual energy of tens of thousands of li of land in a single day.” Wen Li shook her head and chuckled. “Do you know why Nascent Soul and Soul Formation cultivators become rarer the higher the realm you look at?”
Zongzheng Huangyue thought it over and heard the underlying meaning. “Is it because… of the scarcity of spiritual energy?”
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