Junior Brother Li’s heart jolted, and he hurriedly bowed his head. “Yes, I have taken the lesson to heart.”
Ye Ling, who was still hovering in mid-air, had delayed her descent because Cang Si had called out to her.
Cang Si possessed a soul and demonic sense at the Wangzuo Realm level. While the Ningfu Realm might be tricky, the secret transmissions of those at the Tongxuan Realm and below could not be hidden from her at all.
She had captured every word of the silent discussions that had just taken place on the square below without missing a single detail.
By now, she had relayed every one of those transmissions to Ye Ling exactly as they were spoken.
At that moment, a soft, sweet soul transmission echoed in Ye Ling’s mind. “Sister, that Junior Brother Li is awful! How dare he say such things about you!”
“Just watch, I’ll go down there and teach him a lesson!”
Before the words had even finished, the little green snake gave a slight squirm, preparing to break free from Ye Ling’s wrist and dive straight down.
Ye Ling quickly pressed down with her fingertip to hold her back, soothing her in a gentle voice.
“Xiao Si, you can’t do that. When we’re outside, you must pretend to be an ordinary Xiantian demon beast. You absolutely cannot speak aloud; you can only communicate with me through soul transmission.”
“When we met Qinghe and Qinghan in the courtyard earlier, you spoke in a moment of urgency and were seen by them. I’ve already instructed them to keep it a secret and not tell anyone.”
Ye Ling looked down at the square below and continued in a calm tone, “We don’t need to get angry over someone like him.”
“On the path of cultivation, it’s impossible to make everyone like me. Where there is admiration, there will naturally be prejudice.”
“I only need to demonstrate my strength. Using my actions to convince the crowd is enough.”
“Besides, he was only transmitting privately; he didn’t voice his offense in public.”
“If you rush down to attack him now, others will surely ask questions, and we won’t be able to explain how we were able to eavesdrop on someone’s soul transmission.”
“We’ll let it go this time, but if there is a next time, I won't be so lenient.”
A trace of cold severity flashed in the depths of Ye Ling’s eyes.
Cang Si pouted her snake mouth, her heart full of indignation, before she finally coiled herself back around Ye Ling’s wrist obediently.
“Fine, Sister. Hmph, I’ll keep a close eye on that guy!”
“But that disciple who said you were beautiful certainly has good taste. My sister really is the most beautiful.”
Seeing that Ye Ling had remained in the air for a long time without landing, Elder Leng Yue, who was standing alone on one side of the square, moved and flew up to Ye Ling’s side with a faint smile on her face.
Leng Yue was the first sect elder Ye Ling had met and was also the niece of Sect Master Leng Zhiwei. She had frequent contact with Ye Ling and they were quite familiar with each other.
“Xiao Ling, why haven’t you come down since you’re already here?”
Ye Ling gently rubbed her thumb against Cang Si’s tiny snake head on her wrist to comfort her, then bowed.
“Elder Yue, I was just reflecting on some matters regarding my cultivation, so I stayed up here for a moment.”
Leng Yue didn't ask further upon hearing this, clearly believing her.
The two of them slowly floated down together and stepped onto the bluestone square in front of the hall.
Elder Leng Yue studied Ye Ling closely, her eyes filled with an irrepressible amazement as she spoke slowly.
“Xiao Ling, we haven’t met for a mere six months, yet your cultivation has already reached Xiantian Realm Great Perfection!”
“It seems your trip to the Bailing Secret Realm yielded significant gains.”
Ye Ling leaned forward slightly and said modestly, “It was merely good luck.”
Leng Yue only smiled faintly and did not respond. She knew in her heart that this was definitely not something that could be summarized as mere luck.
Their conversation had not been conducted via transmission. Everyone present was a cultivator with sharp senses, so the dialogue fell into everyone's ears.
The inner sect disciples on the square kept their expressions unchanged, but their hearts were swept by a storm of shock. One transmission after another began to flow through the ranks.
Standing behind Gu Yanci, the Junior Sister Li who had just praised Ye Ling’s appearance hurriedly sent a transmission forward.
“Senior Brother Gu, did you hear that!”
“True Disciple Ye Ling has actually reached Xiantian Realm Great Perfection! You have to realize that only six months ago, she was only at the mid-stage Xiantian Realm!”
At the very front of the line, Gu Yanci was equally shaken. He forced down the shock on his face and sent a heavy transmission back.
“I heard it, of course.”
His words carried a hint of melancholy and wonder. “I always knew True Disciple Ye Ling’s talent was peerless, but I never imagined her advancement speed would be so terrifying.”
“It has only been a year since she broke through to the Xiantian Realm, and she has surged all the way from the early-stage Xiantian Realm to Xiantian Realm Great Perfection.”
“Looking through the history books of our Qinglan Sword Sect, there isn't a second person with such cultivation progress.”
“Even the revered Senior Su Qingyue from three hundred years ago was far behind her.”
Su Qingyue had always been the benchmark that Qinglan Sword Sect disciples looked up to and tried to chase. Now that Ye Ling had appeared, she had directly shattered all the records Su Qingyue had left behind.
Near the back of the line, another inner sect disciple turned to look at the disciple named Li who had spoken arrogantly earlier. A playful transmission rang out.
“Junior Brother Li, did you hear that? True Disciple Ye Ling’s cultivation is already at Xiantian Realm Great Perfection.”
“On the other hand, you’ve been stuck at the mid-stage Xiantian Realm for nearly ten years, unable to break through the threshold of the late-stage Xiantian Realm.”
Two mocking chuckles followed into the other's mind.
That Junior Brother Li trembled slightly, his cheeks burning like fire. Yet he didn't dare make a sound, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
He secretly felt lucky that his disrespectful words had only been sent via soul transmission.
Gu Yanci had always been fair in his dealings. This was his first slip of the tongue, so Gu Yanci probably wouldn't report him to the elder.
But he also remembered firmly that if there were a next time, he would face punishment according to the sect rules, and there would be no luck involved.
Gu Yanci sensed the subtle atmosphere in the ranks and frowned slightly, sending a transmission across the entire field.
“Everyone, maintain your composure. The other True Disciples will arrive shortly. Do not lose your manners by whispering among yourselves.”
As soon as the reminder was given, the chaotic transmissions subsided significantly.
Ye Ling stood quietly in place, her expression calm and undisturbed. Coiled around her wrist, Cang Si raised her snake head slightly and relayed the remaining transmissions from the ranks to Ye Ling without missing a word.
Ye Ling didn't care about those discussions.
However, Cang Si did not relax her guard at all. Her demonic sense remained firmly locked onto that inner sect disciple named Li.
“Hmph, I’ll keep a close eye on him. If he dares to say even half a bad word about Sister again, I’ll tell Sister immediately.”
Ye Ling smiled faintly in her heart and did not stop Cang Si.
Her gaze swept over Gu Yanci, who stood tall at the front of the line, and she felt a sense of approval.
He was indeed worthy of being the Inner Sect Senior Brother of the Qinglan Sword Sect; he acted with propriety and could distinguish right from wrong.
That the Qinglan Sword Sect could endure until now was not solely dependent on Senior Su Qingyue alone.
Every generation of diligent and self-disciplined disciples who upheld their original intentions was silently contributing to the sect’s foundation.
With disciples like Gu Yanci, the sect need not worry about failing to prosper.
It was true that the quality of disciples varied, and there would be those with biased dispositions like Junior Brother Li, but they were a minority after all.
Just as Ye Ling was reflecting on this, several brilliant sword lights pierced the distant sky in succession, whistling through the air as they arrived.
The remaining nine True Disciples seemed to have coordinated beforehand, as they arrived at the square before the hall at the same time.
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