“You are to go now to Purple Leaf Town, at the border of Huanlang Domain and Shang Domain, to investigate what changes have occurred there. If necessary, assist this Venerable’s disciples. Do not harm innocents without cause. This Venerable and Qingxiao will send spiritual consciousness clones to supervise together.”
Jijin Sword Sovereign had made too many unauthorized decisions on Qingxiao Peak, so much so that Lan Ci and the other two’s first reaction was to believe her words. Their second reaction, a beat slower, was to look at Xie Huaixue, seeking their master’s opinion.
However, disciples from other peaks of the Dao Sect all knew that on Qingxiao Peak’s territory, Jijin Sword Sovereign’s words often held more sway than Immortal Venerable Qingxiao’s.
If one spoke disrespectfully to Immortal Venerable Qingxiao or committed other offenses, Immortal Venerable Qingxiao wouldn’t bother with it. It could be understood that the Immortal Venerable was busy with myriad affairs and wouldn’t pay attention to such small matters.
But Jijin Sword Sovereign was different. Such a prominent Sword Sovereign had been staying at the Dao Sect for so long, and no one had urged her to return, which showed how idle she was. If anyone dared to badmouth her one second, the next second she would show up at their door.
Even if other Dao Sect elders muttered a few words that her spiritual sense swept over, she would have to pay them a visit.
No matter where she went, Jijin Sword Sovereign could be arrogant.
Yet Immortal Venerable Qingxiao and Jingting Dao Lord turned a blind eye to this, clearly adopting an attitude of not caring and indulgence. Even if others couldn’t understand why a sworn enemy and a Dao Sect Master were so tolerant towards a Sword Sovereign from another sect, they still had to respect it.
An elder who had seen the world scoffed at this: When Yinyue Monarch hadn’t yet perished, little Li Jin’an could already climb onto the Dao Sect’s founding patriarch’s statue to show off her might. This is nothing.
So Li Jin’an spoke with a definitive finality, not at all considering whether the three nuisances below were willing.
What a joke. Having handled the Master, who cared about the disciples’ opinions?
She was probably suffering after-effects from being struck by lightning, her brain no longer nimble. Without thinking, Zhong Fei blurted out, “Sword Sovereign, do you want us to escort and protect your disciple?”
The nuisance alliance dissolved into nothingness at that moment. Lan Ci and Ning Zhufeng, who were somewhat smarter, lowered their heads in silence, completely unwilling to come to Zhong Fei’s rescue.
Li Jin’an narrowed her eyes, thinking that whether they were small nuisances or big nuisances, they were all very unlikable.
“Qingxiao, what do you say?”
It was pointless to argue with a junior like Zhong Fei. It would be better to directly let their Master, whom they revered like the sun and moon and worshipped like a deity, shatter their illusions.
Before Li Jin’an even realized it, she had already decided that Xie Huaixue would not refuse her unreasonable request, even if the three nuisances combined couldn’t compare to her importance in Xie Huaixue’s heart.
Naturally, Xie Huaixue could only side with her.
This was an unconscious self-satisfaction and pride; she could conclude without thinking that Xie Huaixue would unconditionally favor her.
So when Zhong Fei voiced her doubt, Li Jin’an didn’t feel offended. She merely looked amusedly at Xie Huaixue, gesturing for the other to see how Zhong Fei was disrespecting her elder.
Never mind how annoying she, an outsider elder, was, Zhong Fei simply shouldn’t question her!
Xie Huaixue lowered her gaze to Zhong Fei.
Zhong Fei still thought she was retaliating against the Sword Sovereign to protect her Master and defend Qingxiao Peak’s authority. She looked at Xie Huaixue full of anticipation, hoping her Master would also protect her as she did. Her bright little face was filled with filial devotion.
Li Jin’an smiled and curled her lips, putting a hand to her forehead, her ring finger brushing her eyebrow. She was still in high spirits. Bullying fools was boring, but it was rather entertaining.
Xie Huaixue’s tone was faint, yet it carried an oppressive aura that allowed no retort. “You must not be disrespectful to the Sword Sovereign.”
Jijin Sword Sovereign was unrestrained and flamboyant, disregarding all rules, while Immortal Venerable Qingxiao valued rules and etiquette the most. This was already a universally known fact.
Hearing her Master’s first sentence be this wasn’t actually surprising. She could even deceive herself, quietly thinking that her Master was doing this to avoid giving others an excuse to gossip, and didn’t truly believe that one shouldn’t be disrespectful to Jijin Sword Sovereign.
Zhong Fei still looked at Xie Huaixue with anticipation.
Xie Huaixue said, “I have already agreed to this matter. You just need to do your best. Remember not to harm innocent people and do not have internal strife. If you can help the Sword Sovereign’s disciple, that is best; if not, there is no need to force it.”
Li Jin’an had something to say about this: “This will be mandatory. At that time, I will go with Qingxiao and observe your conduct.”
Although she was thinking of counter-utilizing the nuisances’ karmic luck, Li Jin’an truly feared that the three nuisances’ beastly nature would erupt, and they would forcibly perish together with Qi Lingzi and her companions.
After all, no matter how much the nuisances detested and resented her, at this stage, it was impossible for them to harm her. So, they could only target Qi Lingzi and the other two.
Even though she knew it was impossible, it was better safe than sorry. She didn’t dare to bet on the nuisances’ humanity, because the three nuisances simply didn’t possess such a thing.
Her own little cubs at home didn’t have so many schemes.
In the Heavenly Tome, the three nuisances, despite only having Nascent Soul stage cultivation, dared to plot against the life of Jiang Fengmian, who was at the Void Refinement Perfection stage.
This showed how bold and sinister the nuisances were, and how incredibly careless and useless Jiang Fengmian was.
Xie Huaixue glanced at Li Jin’an, not refuting her, which was considered tacit agreement.
The conversation had reached this point; it was no longer a question of whether it was forced or not, but rather that they had to meet their Master’s requirements to gain more of her attention.
Moreover, after being suppressed for so long, they easily started overthinking and would find some nonexistent good to comfort themselves.
How could this not be considered their Master caring about them and standing up for them?
Although she had read the Heavenly Tome and barely understood some of their thought processes, Li Jin’an truly couldn’t let her thoughts diverge to be on the same wavelength as the three nuisances. Naturally, she couldn’t guess what they were thinking, or else she’d at least utter a line like, ‘Delusional and hysterical.’
“‘Yes, your disciples will firmly remember Master’s teachings and serve to the death!'” The three stood up and bowed respectfully.
Li Jin’an disdainfully picked her ears. What was the use of shouting slogans that shook the heavens? They could only move themselves. A cold-hearted person like Xie Huaixue wouldn’t be moved by it.
Serve to the death?
After they left, Li Jin’an casually leaned back against the chair, her entire body sinking into the soft demon beast hide. Her fair cheeks unconsciously rubbed against the demon beast fur padding on the chair. Her usually sharp phoenix eyes were now half-closed, half-open, her expression pure, giving off a sense of quiet warmth.
The sunlight sprinkled on her body, warm and toasty, making her drowsy. She was almost like a sunbathing kitten, stretching and purring happily.
Although she didn’t take the three nuisances seriously, once she was in the same space as them, especially Xie Huaixue’s cultivation dwelling, Li Jin’an would feel an uncomfortable sense of her private territory being invaded. She had to difficultly restrain the urge to wave her hand and blast them out, naturally not being as relaxed and at ease as she was now.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be extra demon beast hide on the chair in Xie Huaixue’s cultivation dwelling. This was something she had dug out from Xie Huaixue’s private treasury—a Spirit Transformation stage demon beast hide, exceptionally comfortable to sit on.
She said with a grin, “Anyone who didn’t know would think you and I were performing a double act. I played the villain, you played the hero. A truly good cooperation.”
No one responded for a long time.
Li Jin’an frowned in displeasure and looked up, only to find Xie Huaixue staring blankly at her, clearly having been distracted for a long time.
“What are you looking at?”
She was the same as usual today, with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It wasn’t like she had suddenly opened a heavenly eye in her forehead, so why was she still staring at her so intently?
Xie Huaixue suddenly came back to herself, as if startled awake, and quickly looked away, still not responding.
“…Have you also been bewitched by something unclean?” Li Jin’an asked sincerely, her face full of confusion.
Could it be that Qi Lingzi and her companions infected Xie Huaixue from a distance?
Or had the nuisances cast a spell?
Xie Huaixue paused before speaking. “No, I just felt that this moment was no different from a thousand years ago.”
As if unwilling to delve deeply into this topic, she changed the subject to what Li Jin’an had just said.
“Whether I play this double act or not, it doesn’t affect the outcome, does it?”
Li Jin’an eyed Xie Huaixue suspiciously for a while. She always felt that Xie Huaixue’s gaze just now was strange, not like secretly cursing her, but it gave her a feeling of being clearly offended, yet not truly offended.
In short, it was very strange.
She didn’t know if it was her illusion, but Xie Huaixue’s gaze had great similarities to how Jingting Dao Lord used to look at her when she was young.
Xie Huaixue allowed her to scrutinize her from all angles, showing no reaction and revealing no flaws.
Li Jin’an snorted skeptically, then said in an ill-tempered tone, “You are not allowed to imitate the Dao Lord’s manner! It’s very impolite to treat people like kittens and puppies and play with them!”
It was more than just impolite; whenever Jingting Dao Lord played with people in the past, Li Jin’an would be infuriated.
It was hard to say if Li Jin’an’s diligent cultivation before becoming a Sword Sovereign was to escape the fate of being treated like a kitten or puppy.
If she didn’t clearly know she couldn’t win, Li Jin’an would truly want to swat him with a paw, plant Jingting Dao Lord into the ground and pretend he was a spiritual plant, so Jingting Dao Lord, with nothing to do, would spend every day treating people like kittens and puppies.
“…No.”
Only then was Li Jin’an slightly satisfied, but she didn’t hear the subtle hesitation in Xie Huaixue’s tone.
Satisfied with her thoughts and staying true to her original intention, she continued the previous topic, letting out a chuckle. “When I used to gain cultivation experience in the mortal world, I saw parents like that. They were especially concerned about appearances, particularly in front of relatives and friends, loving to join outsiders in criticizing their own children’s faults, as if taking pride in it.”
“I couldn’t understand what they were thinking, but I think you’re especially like that, treating your disciples very strictly when outsiders are present.”
“Hahahahaha.”
As she spoke, she started to laugh.
Xie Huaixue glanced at her indifferently. “So from now on, whatever you say, I’ll refute it?”
Li Jin’an instantly became serious and sternly refused, “There’s no need for that. I think you’re doing very well. Keep it up, I have high hopes for you.”
Xie Huaixue sighed helplessly, then lightly laughed and shook her head.
…
At noon that day, Li Jin’an didn’t stop for a moment, relentlessly urging everyone on Qingxiao Peak to hurry to Ziye Town.
If they were late, she feared her three foolish disciples would sleep to death in the illusion and be unwilling to come out.
Jiang Fengmian, who had caught wind of it and came to join the fun, also wanted to participate. She had plenty of time now and nothing to do.
“What’s the rush? Count me in too.”
Li Jin’an’s spiritual clone glanced at her disdainfully. “Do you also have three disciples?”
“…No.”
She had no direct disciples, but Jiang Fengmian had more unregistered disciples within her peak than Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue had combined.
“Then that’s that.”
Why bother going? Are you complaining that your ending in the Heavenly Tome wasn’t tragic enough? Planning to develop new ways to die?
Avoid bothering Xie Huaixue too much, lest you become a thorn in the nuisances’ side. Save your life and prolong your longevity.
Of course, Jijin Sword Sovereign wasn’t afraid. She had the toughest fate and would guarantee to bring bad luck and death to this group of evil spirits and villains.
Good
AWWW