Chapter 60

Chapter 60: Moving Up the Rankings

Chen Weiwei’s pupils contracted as the maiden in the sky unfurled her azure Phoenix Wings. Terror locked her face in place.

“Lin—”

She never finished.

Lin Zhao’s Bone Sword punched cleanly between her brows.

The body dropped.

Lin Zhao landed with a whisper of wind. She pressed a Perfect Grade Third Grade Returning Spirit Pill into Lu Yuan’s hand, then gave one each to the three Enlightenment first-level cultivators beside him. Only after that did she take Yao Nian from his arms, set the child against her shoulder, and let a soft tide of spiritual qi roll from her palm. The bruises on Yao Nian’s face faded in seconds, swelling collapsing as if it had never been.

Lu Yuan forced himself to stay composed, but the three cultivators stared at the pills as though they were staring at a treasure from a legend.

A Third Grade Returning Spirit Pill could heal internal and external injuries and replenish spiritual qi. A Perfect Grade one left almost no pill toxin behind. Even if they sold themselves, they would never afford it.

And Lin Zhao had handed them out like pocket change.

“Thank you for protecting Nian Nian these past few days,” Lin Zhao said. Her fingers brushed the little girl’s hair, gentler than her blood-wet sword had any right to be. “Take them for now. Small things.”

Then her breath hitched, and the softness in her gaze thinned to something colder.

“It was my fault as her sister. I only found out Nian Nian was in the New Student Grand Tournament yesterday.” She exhaled slowly. “You’ve all worked hard.”

She had broken through at the forest’s center the day before. While she was racing back, she’d caught scraps of news on Heavenlink Mirror—whispers and boasts, names and rankings flashing past. It wasn’t until she heard people in the plaza talking about Chen Weiwei setting her sights on the Yong Hui Empire’s little princess that the truth struck her like a blade.

Her cousin was only nine. And she had still been dragged into this.

Lin Zhao had flown the whole way, heart clawing at her ribs, and she had still nearly been too late.

Lu Yuan’s breathing had steadied. Lin Zhao handed Yao Nian back to him. “Cover Nian Nian’s eyes.”

Lu Yuan obeyed at once, pulling the child against his chest and turning her face into his robe.

Lin Zhao walked to Chen Weiwei’s corpse. She lifted the Bone Sword, severed the head in one clean motion, and tossed it to the enemy Enlightenment fifth-level cultivator who had just managed to stagger upright.

He had been terrified of her since Lin Zhao had crushed him with a single surge of qi and left him sprawled in the dirt for half a day. Now a head dropped into his arms.

His knees almost buckled.

Lin Zhao wiped blood from the Bone Sword with two quick swipes, eyes never leaving him. “Gather every jade token from your team and hand them over. And take what I gave you.”

His throat bobbed. “W-what… what I gave…”

“Tell Jia Lan this,” Lin Zhao said, voice calm enough to be chilling. “Starting today, Lin Zhao will repay his ‘kindness’ little by little. This is just a token.”

The cultivator didn’t dare play tricks. He scavenged every jade token he could find, including his own and the one on Chen Weiwei’s corpse, and placed them into Lin Zhao’s palm with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking.

Lin Zhao glanced at the rest of their people, who were barely propped up against trees. “Whether you live or die is up to you. If you want to live, swear a Heart Oath now and withdraw from the tournament. If you refuse…” Her gaze was flat. “Then die, and let your Dao shatter. I won’t leave future enemies behind.”

They traded looks, bitter and exhausted, and then—one by one—swore.

There would be other chances to enter the South Sea. With their talent, even if they missed this one, they could seek another path.

Nothing was more precious than their lives.

After the crisis was settled, Lin Zhao led the Yong Hui group deeper into cover and let everyone rest.

The next day, she opened Heavenlink Mirror.

At some point during the chaos, her ranking had leapt from beyond a hundred to forty-nine.

Still far from the top five, but no longer a name people dismissed with a laugh.

In the comments and rumors scrolling past, more than a few were already saying forty-nine couldn’t possibly be Lin Zhao’s real limit.

After all, making more than a dozen mid-stage Enlightenment cultivators freeze with a single burst of qi wasn’t something even an Enlightenment seventh-level expert did lightly.

In the South Sea elders’ office, a white-browed old man and a gentle-looking elder watched the spirit-crystal projection in silence as Lin Zhao’s Bone Sword pierced Chen Weiwei between the brows.

Killing in the forest could be stopped. The problem was that the Grand Melee involved more than a thousand people—there weren’t enough teachers to watch every corner at once.

But Chen Weiwei’s group wasn’t an unseen corner.

A South Sea teacher had been following that section the entire time.

And even after witnessing Chen Weiwei’s death, that teacher had not intervened.

“The one responsible for that section was your Han Yan, wasn’t it?” the gentle elder asked, eyes still on the crystal.

The middle-aged man beside him, Xiao Yuan Tian, nodded. “She has a fierce temper. She can’t stand cruel, vicious people. If Chen Weiwei ended up in her area, it would have been one thing if no one moved against her. But the moment someone did…” He spread his hands, helplessly protective. “Han Yan would never interfere.”

The gentle elder could hear the excuses in his tone, but he didn’t press. He only chuckled. “Chen Weiwei showed killing intent first. She has no one to blame. Little Hei Duck, what do you think?”

Vice Dean Mo Ya’s lips twitched at the nickname, irritation flickering—and then she smiled as she watched Lin Zhao on the projection. “Looks like Lin Zhao suits Han Yan’s taste.”

In truth, even if Lin Zhao hadn’t acted, Han Yan would never have allowed Chen Weiwei to kill Yao Nian. Since Lin Zhao had acted, Han Yan was more than happy to watch Chen Weiwei die.

The white-browed elder’s brows jumped. “After this tournament, I’ll send one of my disciples to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and give Yun Ding Peak a warning. Our South Sea disciples are not for them to bully.”

As things stood, Lin Zhao had every right to be protected by the South Sea.

The gentle elder smiled faintly and said nothing more.

—

Back in the forest, Lin Zhao divided the jade tokens she had seized into seven portions. She kept two for herself and gave one portion each to the five people from Yong Hui.

The three Enlightenment first-level cultivators accepted theirs with mixed emotions that only deepened into gratitude.

Lin Zhao could have kept everything. No one would have blamed her.

Instead, she shared it without hesitation.

They had protected Yao Nian with their lives. And Lin Zhao had not forgotten.

“What do you plan to do over the next month?” she asked after handing the last portion over.

“Our cultivation isn’t high,” Lu Yuan admitted. “After Zhao Ji Xing kicked us out, the other Newcomer King teams won’t take us. We want to follow you.”

Lin Zhao had been thinking the same. “Fine. If you follow me, at least you won’t have trouble securing admission. Zhao Ji Xing is a direct descendant of the Zhao Family, right?”

Among the Eight Noble Houses, the Ji Family and the Zhao Family were the strongest. Back then, those two clans had also been the ones pushing to drive the Lin Family out of the Noble Houses’ territory.

Lu Yuan nodded. “And Zhao Ji Xing is popular, just like Jia Lan. Between their two teams, almost a third of the newcomers have already thrown in with them.”

Lin Zhao tossed another stick of firewood into the bonfire. Sparks leapt. Firelight flickered over her face—but there was no warmth in her eyes, only a cold, murderous gleam.

“Heh. Then it’s time to settle old scores and new.”

The three Enlightenment first-level cultivators shivered without meaning to. For a moment, they felt as if some unmatched ferocious beast had opened its eyes inside the maiden, and anyone who provoked it would be torn apart.

“Sister Zhao Zhao…” Yao Nian peered up, voice small. “Can you beat Jia Lan?”

Lin Zhao pinched the child’s newly healed cheek. “Beating him isn’t the problem. Jia Lan isn’t the problem right now.” Her gaze lifted to the black canopy of trees, as if she could see all the hidden eyes beyond. “The problem is everyone else.”

Even at Enlightenment sixth level, as long as her opponent wasn’t a top-tier Enlightenment great perfection expert, Lin Zhao could fight.

Zhao Ji Xing—and the Ji Family monster lurking somewhere in the shadows—were the real threats.

“The Commandery Princess is on good terms with the Penglai Holy Son and Moon Inviting Sect’s Young Sect Master,” Lu Yuan said softly. “Can we ask them for help?”

Lin Zhao considered it. Fighting alone was never a long-term solution. Besides, she no longer feared Jia Lan or Ji Xiao causing trouble.

Only Zhao Ji Xing was truly thorny.

“Right,” she said. “I’ll message them.”

She sent the message. Replies came back almost immediately.

“Tomorrow at noon. Meet under the tallest ancient tree in the middle ring.”

Both replies. Same wording. Same time.

Lin Zhao stared at the identical lines until her fingers went cold.

Ming Yue and Qu Shu weren’t the type to coordinate, let alone mirror each other perfectly.

Either they had been captured and someone else had sent the messages… or the two of them had been forced into the same place.

Either way, it stank of trouble.

“Jia Lan…” Lin Zhao said, the name scraping out of her like a curse. Murder sharpened in her eyes. “You’d better pray they weren’t harmed because of you. Otherwise, I’ll take your life.”