“That's right! We have to go!” Su Qinghe’s brows relaxed. “We’ll go there in person to cheer for Ye Ling!”
The two women looked at each other and smiled. They immediately huddled together to discuss their itinerary, planning their route and calculating the time. They intended to head to the Qingyun royal capital quietly and hide among the spectators.
When Ye Ling ascended the stage and drew her sword to stun the crowd, they would suddenly reveal themselves and give her the biggest surprise possible.
Su Qinghan’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, her heart full of anticipation. “I really hope to see Ye Ling’s surprised and overjoyed expression then.”
Meanwhile, on the square in front of the main sect hall.
Ten inner sect disciples who had stood out during the inner sect tournament were already lined up neatly under the leadership of Elder Leng Yue.
Standing at the very front of the line was a young man in his twenties. He had a handsome face and a tall, upright build. He was Gu Yanci, the first-place winner of this year's inner sect tournament.
He was twenty-eight years old and at the late-stage Xiantian Realm. His strength was far ahead of others in the inner sect, making him the inner sect disciple with the highest hope of seizing a True Disciple seat.
A young man near the back of the line turned slightly and sent a quiet Divine Sense transmission.
“Senior Brother Gu, Elder Leng had us gather here early, but right now, we’re the only ones on the square. Not a single True Disciple has shown their face yet.”
“Are we inner sect disciples really held in such low regard by the sect?”
Gu Yanci’s brow furrowed slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied via a secret transmission.
“Junior Brother Li, keep such grumbling to yourself. You must never voice it in public.”
“Even if we are the best among the inner sect disciples, in the eyes of the sect, the ones who truly receive the bulk of the resources and the highest expectations are the True Disciples. Besides, the scheduled assembly time hasn't arrived yet. True Disciples have a special status; it's only natural for them to arrive a bit late.”
The Qinglan Sword Sect was founded on martial prowess, and the True Disciple seats were never determined by seniority.
If an inner sect disciple wanted to seize a True Disciple position, they only needed to ascend the sect's challenge platform and issue a public challenge to a sitting True Disciple.
Every True Disciple was required to accept one challenge per year and could not refuse.
As long as one could defeat them in a fair match on the arena, they could replace them and become a new True Disciple.
Gu Yanci kept his hands at his sides, his gaze fixed on the entrance of the hall as his thoughts churned.
He had long harbored the idea of charging for a True Disciple seat. However, even the lowest-ranked True Disciple possessed immense strength, and since he wasn't certain of victory, he had never stepped onto the stage.
When Ye Ling became the new Tenth True Disciple the year before last, her cultivation was still shallow; she hadn't even stepped into the Xiantian Realm back then.
Based on raw strength alone, any reasonably skilled inner sect disciple would have had a good chance of winning the match and seizing her position.
Yet, from beginning to end, no one had dared to step up and challenge her.
Everyone knew that Ye Ling was a junior whom the sect held in extremely high regard. Defeating her on stage would be an open act of defiance against the sect's decision. Gu Yanci naturally had no desire to engage in such an act of bullying the weak.
This session of the Qingyun Grand Tournament was a perfect opportunity for him.
He intended to use this journey to carefully observe the true skill levels of the bottom few True Disciples, especially the Ninth True Disciple, Senior Sister Fang Huiyin.
She was ranked ninth, making her one of the lowest in the sequence. Conventionally speaking, her strength should be among the weakest.
Gu Yanci planned to use the Qingyun Grand Tournament to size her up and judge whether he had the confidence to pull her down from her True Disciple seat.
Just as Gu Yanci was making his calculations, a clear azure sword light suddenly pierced the sky.
Ye Ling, stepping upon the Qinglan longsword, sped over from the direction of the outer peaks and slowly hovered above the square.
Her azure robes were lifted slightly by the mountain wind, and her high ponytail fluttered. With her sword hanging at her waist, her figure was tall and slender, and her face was strikingly beautiful, possessing both a heroic spirit and refined elegance.
Cang Si, coiled around her wrist, had been woken up by the scent of the bayberry wine earlier and was now wide awake.
The tiny green snake remained motionless, quietly spreading her demonic sense to observe the group of disciples on the square below.
On the square, the ten inner sect disciples waiting in line all turned their gazes toward Ye Ling in mid-air.
Someone whispered in surprise via transmission, “Is that the Tenth True Disciple, Ye Ling?”
Many in the sect had gone to watch the New Disciple Tournament back then, but many others had stayed away out of a sense of self-importance. Today was the first time they were seeing her in person.
Standing at the front of the line, Gu Yanci immediately replied via transmission, “That's right. She is the sect's Tenth True Disciple, Ye Ling.”
He had always been quietly paying attention to the movements of the True Disciples, so he had long memorized Ye Ling's various achievements.
From the bottom of his heart, he was sincerely amazed by her talent.
In just over a year since joining the sect, she had surged from the Houtian Eleventh Layer all the way to the Xiantian Realm.
After a mere six months, she had broken through to the mid-stage Xiantian Realm. Gu Yanci had never heard of such a terrifying cultivation speed in all his twenty-eight years of life.
And another six months had passed since he last heard of her being at the mid-stage Xiantian Realm.
Gu Yanci estimated that Ye Ling was likely not far from the late-stage Xiantian Realm. If he were to fight her, he wouldn't even have the confidence of a guaranteed victory.
However, he quickly suppressed the ripples in his heart and comforted himself. For now, his goal was only the Ninth True Disciple, Senior Sister Fang.
Another inner sect disciple behind him sent a small transmission, “But True Disciple Ye Ling is truly beautiful. When I went to watch the New Disciple Tournament, the impression wasn't nearly as strong as it is now.”
The person in front of him immediately interrupted, “Don't forget, True Disciple Ye Ling was only fifteen during the New Disciple Tournament, and her cultivation hadn't even reached the Xiantian Realm yet.”
“She is seventeen now. After undergoing the cleansing of marrow and channels in the Xiantian Realm, her figure and appearance have long since transformed.”
After a pause, that person added with sincere admiration, “True Disciple Ye Ling's presence is indeed striking. Her exquisite looks combined with that unique cold aura... she is a true vision.”
However, the disciple named Li at the back of the line was unconvinced. “So what if she's at the mid-stage Xiantian Realm? The lowest cultivation among the other True Disciples is at the late-stage Xiantian Realm.”
“No matter how high her talent is, she’s still too young. In my opinion, she’s just going through the motions for this Qingyun Grand Tournament.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding transmissions fell silent.
Everyone frowned inwardly. They had long heard that this Junior Brother Li was paranoid and arrogant, but today they had truly witnessed it.
Ye Ling was the future the sect placed its hopes on, yet he dared to speak such dismissive words.
Many people decided then and there to avoid associating with him as much as possible in the future.
Gu Yanci, standing at the front of the line, knit his brows tightly and immediately sent a sharp transmission to rebuke him.
“Junior Brother Li! True Disciple Ye Ling is the hope of our sect’s future. How dare you harbor such dismissive and critical thoughts? Do you realize what a grave mistake this is?”
Junior Brother Li stiffened, inwardly cursing his luck. Just now, he had been so focused on venting his thoughts that he hadn't controlled himself and had sent his private bias directly through the transmission.
He hurriedly sent a panicked transmission to apologize, “Senior Brother Gu, I’m sorry! I spoke without thinking. It will never happen again!”
Gu Yanci snorted coldly. “This time, I won't report this to the Elder and will let you off for now.”
“If there is a next time where you privately criticize True Disciple Ye Ling, as the Inner Sect Senior Brother, I have the right to personally enforce the sect's disciplinary rules on you.”
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