Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Lacking Intelligence
In the Eight Treasures Pavilion teahouse, Steward Liu carefully served the tea and said: “Immortal Maiden, please have some tea.”

Zhou Jin Yue thanked him politely: “Thank you for the trouble, Steward Liu.” She took the cup and set it lightly on the table, her gaze drifting again and again toward the second floor.

Steward Liu was flattered and hurried to say that this was what he should do, and that the Immortal Maiden was being far too polite.

In his heart, he quietly praised her. Immortal Maiden Zhou really was worthy of being the Sect Master’s disciple. She truly had the bearing of someone from a great clan.

In his mind, sect disciples were always proud and hard to approach.

Especially disciples from a giant sect like the Five Elements Dao Sect. Their standards for taking in disciples were strict. Anyone who could enter the mountain gate was the best among their peers. It was only natural for them to be proud and a bit arrogant.

Steward Liu had long grown used to seeing sect younger disciples like Su Ming, who carried themselves with the highest arrogance. Suddenly meeting someone as gentle in personality as Zhou Jin Yue felt very rare to him, and his smile became more sincere.

After he brought three plates of small snacks for Zhou Jin Yue, Steward Liu quietly withdrew and did not disturb her again.

This made Zhou Jin Yue very satisfied.

She had no mood to deal with other people right now. She was thinking about how to handle the conflict between Yu Zhao and Lone Moon Peak.

Strictly speaking, this matter was not something she should manage. But she and Yu Zhao had a special bond.

If she did not know, that would be one thing. But now that she knew about Yu Zhao’s situation, she could not just sit by and watch.

The problem was that Lone Moon Peak held an extraordinary position within the Five Elements Dao Sect. Even her own master, the Sect Master of the Five Elements Dao Sect, had to show Master Qing Yan some respect.

If she interfered in the affairs of Lone Moon Peak, would she make Master Qing Yan angry?

Thinking of the subtle relationship between Main Peak and Lone Moon Peak over the years, Zhou Jin Yue thought it over again and again and still felt that it was not suitable for her to act directly.

The affairs of Lone Moon Peak should be handled by the people of Lone Moon Peak themselves. After she went back, she should meet with Fang Cheng Lang.

Back then, it was Fang Cheng Lang who handed the young girl over to her and told her to take good care of her. Now he had simply let go and ignored everything. What did he mean by that?

As she was planning what she would say later, a light sound of footsteps came from the stairs. Zhou Jin Yue immediately stood up and walked toward the stairway, just in time to see Yu Zhao and Su Ming walking down one after the other.

One of them showed no emotion, so calm it was frightening. The other hung his head, looking as if he were in deep mourning.

Zhou Jin Yue could not help curling up the corners of her lips.

It seemed Yu Zhao had not suffered, and Su Ming had been properly taught a lesson.

She was very pleased with this outcome.

Yu Zhao said quickly: “Senior Sister Zhou, let’s go back. The matter is already settled.”

Right now, Yu Zhao could not wait to return.

She had not managed to take back her Spirit Stones this time, but she had gotten something thousands of times more precious than Spirit Stones. Now, the only thing she needed to think about was how to turn a small part of those things into money without leaving any trail that led back to her.

“Alright.” Zhou Jin Yue raised her brows and agreed.

The two of them walked side by side toward the door. Just as they were about to step out, Su Ming’s faint voice suddenly sounded from behind them: “Yu Zhao, Fifth Brother is coming back soon.”

Yu Zhao’s steps paused for a moment so lightly that it was almost impossible to notice. Then she quickly went back to normal and walked away with long strides without looking back, as if she had not heard him, or did not care at all.

Su Ming let out a cold laugh.

This time he had taken a huge loss. The belongings in his Storage Ring had shrunk by at least one third, and almost all of them were things he loved dearly.

No, except for one.

But did Yu Zhao really think that, after this, he would have no way to deal with her?

She was completely wrong.

Yu Zhao’s natural enemy, Fifth Brother, was about to return to the Five Elements Dao Sect from the Minor Secret Realm.

Her good days were about to end.

…

On the other side, Zhou Jin Yue was also talking with Yu Zhao about the “Fifth Brother” Su Ming had mentioned.

“Judging by the time, Quan Ye should be on his way back too,” she said.

Quan Ye was ranked fifth on Lone Moon Peak. He was Yu Zhao’s fifth senior brother. Last year he had gone to the sect’s Bramble Secret Realm for a year of training and was now about to return.

Yu Zhao stayed silent.

Seeing this, Zhou Jin Yue sighed.

She hesitated, but in the end she could not hold back. She lightly patted Yu Zhao’s arm and said: “You know, the training spot for the Bramble Secret Realm was originally yours. Why did you give it to Quan Ye?”

The Five Elements Dao Sect controlled five secret realms, each one corresponding to one of the five elements.

The Bramble Secret Realm was linked to the wood element. Among the Five Great Secret Realms, it was the least dangerous, had the most resources, and was the most suitable place for Foundation Establishment disciples to train.

Every other year, the sect would issue ten spots for disciples to train in the Bramble Secret Realm. The first requirement for selection was that their cultivation level had to be at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Last year, Yu Zhao successfully reached Foundation Establishment. On top of that, she was Master Qing Yan’s disciple, so she easily got one of the spots.

But when the group was just about to set out, everyone suddenly found that the person going had been swapped from Yu Zhao to Quan Ye.

When Quan Ye reached Foundation Establishment the year before, he had already gone to the Bramble Secret Realm once. Even though he met the conditions again, the sect had not planned to give him a second chance to enter.

After all, the spots for the secret realms were precious. After first giving priority to elite disciples, the sect also had to consider the needs of the other disciples. At least on the surface, they could not be too biased.

No one had expected Yu Zhao to give up her chance to someone like Quan Ye, who had already gone once.

Her act of giving way stirred up a lot of dissatisfaction among the disciples.

They had fought so hard for a spot they might never get, while someone else gave hers away as if it was nothing, and gave it to someone who had already been there before. How could that not spark the hidden resentment in their hearts?

This was also one of the reasons why Yu Zhao’s reputation in the sect had taken a sharp dive and why she was pushed out and rejected by others.

Yu Zhao suddenly stopped walking and looked straight at Zhou Jin Yue, her gaze burning: “Senior Sister Zhou, if I said the spot for the Bramble Secret Realm wasn’t something I gave up on my own, but something I was forced to give up, would you believe me?”

Zhou Jin Yue was shocked, then nodded without any hesitation: “I believe you.”

If Yu Zhao had said this earlier, Zhou Jin Yue might have believed her only halfway.

But after seeing with her own eyes how Su Ming had squeezed Yu Zhao, and had even wanted to hit her, Zhou Jin Yue could no longer feel any doubt. She only felt deep heartache and pity.

Yu Zhao did not rush to explain. Instead, she asked: “Senior Sister Zhou, how much do you know about Quan Ye?”

Zhou Jin Yue thought for a moment, then said: “I know a little. I heard that Quan Ye has narrow meridians, strong blood and energy, and great natural strength. He has the perfect talent to be a Body Cultivator. But because he is too fond of fighting and refuses to be restrained, Master Qing Yan rarely allows him to leave Lone Moon Peak.”

Zhou Jin Yue was well liked by disciples, so she had many sources of information. Unless something was especially secret, most small matters could not escape her notice.

But no matter how dense the information web was, there were still places it could not cover, such as Lone Moon Peak.

Yu Zhao spoke in a cold voice: “Senior Sister Zhou is right. Quan Ye loves to fight. He has seriously injured other disciples more than once during sparring, so Master Qing Yan ordered him to stay on Lone Moon Peak and not go out freely.”

Zhou Jin Yue nodded.

Her earlier words had actually been very gentle.

Quan Ye’s personality could no longer be described with “bad temper.” She even suspected that there might be something wrong with his intelligence.