Inside the cabin, Su Yi finally managed to calm Gongsun Lin, who had been fuming like a little pufferfish, and escaped her cabin filled with questions and grievances, just as he closed the door.
He turned around to see a white figure leaning lazily against the doorframe of the adjacent cabin.
Ming Xi stood with her arms crossed, watching him leisurely, a half-smile playing on her lips. “What a coincidence, Young Manor Lord Su, you’ve calmed your Junior Sister so quickly, haven’t you?”
“Is it my turn next?”
Seeing this, Su Yi couldn’t even be bothered to give her a glance. He simply stepped forward, intending to walk past her as if she were thin air.
“Hey, don’t go.” Ming Xi shifted her feet, lightly blocking his path. She tilted her head, her golden eyes gleaming with inquiry and a hint of imperceptible annoyance. “You aren’t… still mad at me, are you?”
Her tone was a little aggrieved, almost like a playful complaint, yet her gaze was as sharp as a knife. “But your Junior Sister was much more ‘presumptuous’ with you than I was, hugging and clinging, and even lecturing you… you’re very tolerant of her.”
Su Yi paused, finally looking at her directly, his eyes filled with undisguised distance and indifference. “Can that even compare, Young Pavilion Master Ming?”
He deliberately emphasized the title. “Gongsun Lin is my Junior Sister whom I watched grow up. As for you, my attitude toward you is no different from your attitude toward that Phoenix clan prince back then.” He was referring to the engagement banquet that her mother viewed as a transaction and a tool.
The smile on Ming Xi’s face instantly froze, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her voice suddenly rose, sharp with offense. “Ha?! Are you comparing me to that idiot who only thinks with his lower body?!”
She wanted to argue, but seeing the expression on Su Yi’s face that clearly read, ‘Isn’t that right? Why else would you provoke me?’, all her words caught in her throat.
Different! Of course it was different! At least… at least that Phoenix clan prince wasn’t as strong as her! Not as smart as her! Not as… She argued fiercely in her heart but couldn’t find a single word to accurately describe her complex feelings for Su Yi at that moment.
“I really have nothing more to say to you,” Su Yi said, feeling no satisfaction, only weariness, when he saw her at a loss for words. “Handle yourself.”
With that, he didn’t linger, walked around her, and quickly departed, his back resolute.
Ming Xi stood rooted to the spot, watching Su Yi’s unhesitating departure. The last trace of feigned ease in her eyes vanished completely, replaced by cold sharpness.
The reason she had departed a little later than the flying boat was to “visit” Ouyang Qing.
Using a few rare herbs unique to Perching Phoenix Pavilion, she easily extracted many past events about Su Yi from the alchemy-obsessed Elder.
Among them, what concerned her most, and what she simply couldn’t understand, was the ultimate whereabouts of the “Seven-Colored Rainbow Phoenix Stamen.”
Ouyang Qing had sighed then, a hint of pride in his voice, saying, “That boy, Yi’er, back then, he took an enormous risk to seek medicine from your Perching Phoenix Pavilion just so Little Lin’er could have a better foundation! As soon as he returned, he immediately gave that Rainbow Phoenix Stamen to Little Lin’er.”
The Rainbow Phoenix Stamen… he gave it to Gongsun Lin!
To her, Gongsun Lin was just someone with a bit of talent and an boisterous personality, otherwise unremarkable, completely lacking family background, and whose potential couldn't even compare to Ming Xi's!
For Gongsun Lin, he was willing to risk offending Perching Phoenix Pavilion and the Phoenix clan, and even take an angry palm strike from a Nascent Soul Elder. That Rainbow Phoenix Stamen, which even the high-ranking members of her Perching Phoenix Pavilion treasured and was enough to drive any cultivator mad, he just gave it away so easily?
Why?!
Ming Xi slowly turned her head, her gaze seeming to penetrate the thick cabin wall to see the girl who had just glared angrily at her.
She reined in all outward emotions, her delicate face a picture of icy calm. Only in the depths of her eyes did a toxic fire, named “jealousy,” surge—something she couldn’t understand, couldn’t accept, and a trace of which she herself refused to admit.
Previously, all her attention regarding Divine Might Manor had been on Su Yi, so she hadn’t paid much mind to Gongsun Lin.
She couldn’t understand why Su Yi held such importance for a seemingly ordinary Junior Sister.
This emotion, beyond her calculations and comprehension, irritated her. It also made her feel an unprecedented sense of repulsion toward Gongsun Lin, who had claimed so much of Su Yi’s attention and effort.
“Tsk, troublesome.” Ming Xi silently pursed her lips, then turned and walked in another direction.
After she left, a head stealthily poked out from a corner.
‘Senior Brother Su seems to have a particular aversion to Ming Xi, doesn’t he?’
There’s no harm without comparison. She suddenly felt that while Su Yi treated her and Gongsun Lin identically, his attitude towards them was much better than his attitude towards Ming Xi.
‘So, I’m actually just like Senior Sister Gongsun, right?’
...
The flying boat slowly descended outside Ancient Sword Mountain’s majestic main gate.
Amidst swirling clouds, countless giant sword-like peaks pierced the sky. The chilling Sword Intent was palpable even from a distance, inspiring involuntary awe.
Murong Yue was the first to step off the flying boat. As the host, she led Su Yi, Qiu Ning, and the others from Divine Might Manor.
Their arrival immediately drew the attention of the Ancient Sword Mountain disciples already waiting there, as well as those passing by.
Countless gazes uniformly focused on Su Yi, and murmurs spread like a tide:
“Look! That’s Su Yi from Divine Might Manor!”
“The one who defeated Senior Sister Murong back then?”
“He just has two eyes and one mouth; he doesn’t look any different from us, does he?”
“Hey, don’t underestimate him. I heard he didn’t just win once; he also seemed to outperform Senior Sister Murong again at the Ascendance Gathering later.”
“Shh—watch your words! Have you forgotten how long Senior Sister Murong secluded herself for arduous cultivation after returning last time, finally achieving the ‘Sword Heart Clarity’ realm? Bringing this up now, are you trying to destabilize Senior Sister’s Dao heart?”
Although these discussions were quiet, how could they escape Su Yi’s ears?
He keenly caught the four characters “Sword Heart Clarity” and immediately understood.
‘So that’s it…’ Su Yi glanced at Murong Yue, who was walking ahead, her posture erect and her aura more restrained and profound than before.
‘No wonder she’s so composed this time we met, completely lacking the tense, ready-to-draw-her-sword sharpness of before.’
‘It turns out she had a breakthrough, reaching Sword Heart Clarity, and can better control her emotions and Sword Intent.’
As he understood, his gaze subconsciously swept to his side, meeting Ming Xi’s golden eyes, which held a playful smile.
Seeing him look over, Ming Xi immediately gave an even brighter smile, even raising her hand to wave at him gently, acting familiar and intimate.
Su Yi’s eyelid twitched. He immediately retracted his gaze expressionlessly, thinking to himself: ‘Sword Heart Clarity… if this troublemaker beside me could also cultivate to that realm, learn to be pure-hearted and enlightened, that would be great!’
Just then, Murong Yue, who was walking in front, seemed to have heard the increasingly undisguised whispers. She paused, then suddenly turned, her clear, cold gaze sweeping over the murmuring disciples like a drawn sword.
“Noisy!” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an icy Sword Pressure that instantly made the surrounding air thicken. “If you have leisure to gossip here, you’d do better to go practice swordplay on the sword grounds for three shichen!”
Those disciples, intimidated by her gaze and aura, instantly fell silent as cicadas in winter. They hunched their necks and scattered like startled birds, not daring to spare another glance.
Only then did Murong Yue retract her gaze. She slightly nodded at Su Yi and Qiu Ning, her tone returning to its usual calmness. “My disciples are ill-behaved; please forgive them for the spectacle.”
“Please follow me; your accommodations have been arranged.” Her demeanor was graceful, easily dismissing the small incident and fully displaying the bearing of Ancient Sword Mountain’s Eldest Senior Sister.
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