Chapter 57: Crushing Victory

This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation

Feng Qi Yun, currently ranked second on the Inner Sect Disciples leaderboard, resided in the finest courtyard at the mountain’s base.

When Xiu Luo chose him as her opponent, none of the other inner sect disciples were surprised—not even Feng Qi Yun himself.

“I’ll accept the challenge, but you have to tell us who that person was just now!” Feng Qi Yun’s words resonated with everyone present.

To them, Yu Zhao was an enigma. They were certain no such individual existed among the outer sect disciples. So how did she become part of the inner sect?

Xiu Luo pondered briefly. Since Elder Hou and Yu Zhao had not concealed her identity—and Yu Zhao herself seemed entirely indifferent—there was no reason to keep it a secret.

“Her name is Yu Zhao.”

“Yu Zhao?” Feng Qi Yun’s brows furrowed.

The name sounded oddly familiar. Other disciples shared his sentiment, wracking their brains in search of a connection. Suddenly, one disciple’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed excitedly, “I remember now! Isn’t Yu Zhao the one from the Five Elements Dao Sect, known as—”

Halfway through his sentence, he faltered. Though none of them had met Yu Zhao in person, they had heard plenty of rumors. But the mysterious girl’s actions earlier didn’t align with those tales. Could it really be the same person?

While doubts clouded their minds, Xiu Luo stated with certainty, “It’s her.”

A heavy silence fell over the crowd.

Wait, weren’t the standards for Direct Disciple supposed to be incredibly high? If Yu Zhao couldn’t meet the requirements, then didn’t that mean they had even less of a chance?

Seeing their dumbstruck expressions, Xiu Luo felt a surge of satisfaction. Let them experience just a bit of the awe Yu Zhao inspired.

With a glint in her eyes, she shot forward like an arrow, her petite fist aiming straight for Feng Qi Yun’s face.

Feng Qi Yun, an inner sect disciple for just as long as Xiu Luo, reacted instinctively. As Xiu Luo lunged, he leapt into the air, his hands weaving together to form a green Eight Trigram Formation.

Boom!

Xiu Luo’s punch collided with the trigram, the impact rippling through both their arms. Both fighters stumbled backward, each taking several steps to regain their balance.

Xiu Luo flexed her slightly numbed arm without concern and charged again.

Their figures blurred as they clashed repeatedly, the sounds of fierce impacts echoing across the mountain. Watching the exchange, the other disciples felt their scalps tingle. Xiu Luo, who had just undergone a bout of exertion, had already recovered fully and was fighting at full strength again. Her stamina was truly monstrous.

No wonder she had crushed them time and time again. Unlike her, they didn’t possess such freakish resilience. Only someone like Feng Qi Yun could keep up with her in combat—or perhaps from now on, Yu Zhao as well.

Half an incense stick’s time later, the match concluded.

With her head held high, Xiu Luo moved into her new home.

Meanwhile, Feng Qi Yun, sporting a swollen face, cast an unkind gaze at Wang Chen, ranked third among the inner sect disciples.

Wang Chen shivered, immediately raising both hands in surrender. “I’m out! No way I’m fighting you. I’ll move out!”

Having admitted defeat, Wang Chen turned and grinned mischievously at the fourth-ranked disciple, rubbing his hands together.

And so, on Yu Zhao’s first day as an inner sect disciple, all the disciples’ residences were reshuffled from top to bottom.

Unaware of the upheaval, Yu Zhao remained in seclusion, focusing on her cultivation.

Meanwhile, news of her being expelled from the tutelage of Master Qing Yan began to spread throughout the Five Elements Dao Sect.

…

Lone Moon Peak

Fang Cheng Lang and Lan Zi Yu exchanged uneasy glances, neither willing to speak first.

After a long silence, Lan Zi Yu finally lost patience and slammed his hand on the table. “Eldest Senior Brother, say something already!”

It was absurd!

He had simply gone back to his cave dwelling for a night’s rest, yet by the next morning, Yu Zhao was no longer their Junior Sister.

When Lan Zi Yu first heard the news from others, he thought it was a prank and flew into a rage. But when the Little Junior Sister confirmed it, he was left both shocked and furious, utterly at a loss. His first thought was to gather the senior and junior brothers to discuss what to do.

But Su Ming was nowhere to be found, Cui Jue was secluded in alchemy training, and Quan Ye was still facing punishment at the Cliff of Reflection. Ultimately, only he and the Eldest Senior Brother were left to deliberate.

Lan Zi Yu pinned all his hopes on Fang Cheng Lang, expecting him to come up with a way to fix this.

Fang Cheng Lang, however, remained silent, his fists clenched tightly on his knees.

No one knew that his initial reaction upon hearing the news wasn’t worry or anger—it was fear.

He feared learning the truth: that Yu Zhao hadn’t been forced away by their Master but had left of her own accord.

After all, Yu Zhao’s determination to sever ties with them was glaringly clear—she wouldn’t even speak to them anymore.

Moreover, one lingering matter weighed heavily on Fang Cheng Lang’s heart.

The conversation he had overheard in his nightmare that day clung to him like a curse. The cold, ruthless words he had spoken in the dream and Little Six’s anguished sobs haunted him.

Although reason told him those scenes were merely figments of his imagination, they left him with an unshakable sense of dread.

What if… what if Little Six stayed on Lone Moon Peak and the nightmare came true?

Even entertaining the thought made Fang Cheng Lang want to kill the version of himself who had spoken in that dream.

And so, he hesitated.

He wasn’t sure if letting Yu Zhao stay would be the right choice.

“Eldest Senior Brother! What are you hesitating about? Can you really bear to let Yu Zhao leave? She’s the Junior Sister you raised with your own hands!”

In a moment like this, Lan Zi Yu couldn’t care about the harsh words he had said earlier. He simply didn’t want Yu Zhao to leave. No one could force her away!

Lan Zi Yu’s words were like a sword cutting through the fog in Fang Cheng Lang’s heart.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

The future hadn’t happened yet, so why should he torment himself with needless worry?

Even if the nightmare became reality, the future wasn’t set in stone.

A tiny insect could shake a tree. So why couldn’t he, with his own strength, change the course of fate?

The pursuit of eternal life was, after all, a path of defiance against the heavens.

What was there to fear?

Fang Cheng Lang stood up abruptly, the sickly pallor on his face replaced by an unyielding brilliance in his eyes.

Lan Zi Yu, thinking Fang Cheng Lang had reached a decision, jumped up in excitement.

“Eldest Senior Brother, what should we say when we meet Master?”

“We’re not going to Master. We’ll find Little Six first.”

As Fang Cheng Lang spoke, he strode purposefully down the mountain.

Lan Zi Yu followed, bewildered. “What’s the point of finding her? She has no say in this. We should plead with Master together and ask him to retract his decision, to forgive Little Six!”

Fang Cheng Lang replied coldly, “Little Six might not want to come back.”

“That’s impossible!” Lan Zi Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief. “She’ll come back for sure. Eldest Senior Brother, have you forgotten? Little Six always listens to you!”

“Do you remember the time you said she was distracted in her cultivation? She trained like a madwoman after that, even practicing incantations while watering Fourth Brother’s medicine garden.”

“And then there was the time you called her noisy. She started carrying a stone in her mouth every day to keep herself from talking too much…”

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