Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Mu Zi Xu Makes Things Difficult
Song Wan Ning, who had started behind, chased forward step by step. In less than an hour, she had already surpassed Ye Chu Xue and reached the tenth level.

At first, Mu Zi Xu still muttered snide remarks. Later, he could only glare in silence, so angry his beard seemed to twist on its own.

With Immortal Lord Mo Yang watching, that black-robed child was clearly doing this on purpose—trying to step on the white-robed child to rise.

Luckily, with his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, he saw through her scheme. He would never let her get her way.

A moment later, Song Wan Ning cleared the tenth level and arrived at the final inheritance hall.

Her speed was so fast that even Wang Yang couldn’t help feeling sorry for her.

Mu Zi Xu clearly disliked her. Even if she arrived first, it wouldn’t change his mind.

“She got here pretty fast!” Mu Zi Xu said, then glanced at the white-robed child. Ye Chu Xue was still pushing toward the tenth level. She would enter the inheritance hall soon.

He snorted. “Let me go meet this girl.”

In the Lower Realm’s Inheritance Hall, he had left a trace of divine sense. It hadn’t yet dissipated, and it could serve as a bridge.

Inside the Inheritance Hall, rows upon rows of shelves were filled with spirit tablets.

So many they seemed endless.

Song Wan Ning froze.

She had expected secret manuals, perhaps treasures, perhaps spiritual medicines.

Instead, there were only spirit tablets—layer after layer, row after row, arranged with solemn precision.

A tragic weight clung to the air.

[How many people had died?]

Song Wan Ning lifted a brow and looked around.

On the topmost row, the tablets belonged to Nascent Soul Stage cultivators of the Medicine King Sect. They were gathered around a single Divine Transformation Stage mighty expert at the center.

After the great war in ancient times, the Remote Ruins Realm had been split in two. In the Lower Realm where they stood, cultivation was restricted—the highest one could reach was Divine Transformation.

The Upper Realm was the Spirit Realm, where spiritual qi was far richer, a place every Lower Realm cultivator longed for with their entire heart.

A complete cultivation path should have been: Qi Refining Stage, Foundation Establishment Stage, Golden Core Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, Divine Transformation Stage, Void Refining Stage, Integration Stage, Great Ascension Stage, and finally Ascension to the Immortal Realm.

Her master had ascended to the Spirit Realm more than 50 years ago.

Song Wan Ning’s gaze drifted for a heartbeat, the distance in her eyes softening—then her Dao heart steadied, hardening into something unshakable.

Not only would she ascend to the Upper Realm and see it for herself, she would bring the Song Family up with her.

It was a debt she owed them from her past life.

Bai Yang and Ye Chu Xue would be the stepping stones for their ascent.

The moment that thought settled, a drifting figure appeared in the hall.

It was Mu Zi Xu.

“Who comes here?” he demanded coldly. “State your name!”

His eyes locked onto Song Wan Ning, but his attention was elsewhere—still on Ye Chu Xue. He had expected the white-robed child to be here already.

Before Song Wan Ning could answer, the door opened again.

Ye Chu Xue pushed her way inside.

The excitement on her face froze the instant she saw Song Wan Ning.

Someone had arrived first.

[Had she already seized the inheritance?]

Her heart sank. Then she caught sight of Mu Zi Xu hovering nearby and instantly forced a smile, stepping forward to greet him first.

“Senior.”

Mu Zi Xu’s expression eased at once. He nodded, satisfaction plain.

His eye for people had always been accurate.

And this time was no different.

Song Wan Ning stared at Mu Zi Xu’s eyes, studying him without blinking. Of course she didn’t miss the shift in his attitude.

So his loyalties still belonged to Ye Chu Xue.

Even though Song Wan Ning had cleared the trials first, it was the same story.

She gave Ye Chu Xue a cool glance. Beneath her mask, her lips curved faintly.

This time, she wanted to see with her own eyes exactly how Ye Chu Xue would take what had once belonged to her.

“This is my Medicine King Sect’s Inheritance Hall,” Mu Zi Xu said, adopting the air of an expert as he looked down at them from above. “Congratulations on passing trial after trial and arriving here.”

The pressure in his voice made awe rise instinctively in anyone who heard it.

“It’s really the Inheritance Hall?” Ye Chu Xue’s eyes shone. She clenched her fists. “I’ve long heard of the Medicine King Sect’s great name. Seeing it today, it truly lives up to the rumors!”

“To meet Senior here is an honor beyond my wildest dreams!”

[If she wanted to stand out, she had to push herself.]

She had arrived late. She could only make up for it with sweet words and flawless manners.

No matter who it was, people liked praise—especially seniors.

Ye Chu Xue’s gaze burned with determination.

She had to take this inheritance.

Otherwise, what would she use to defeat Song Wan Ning?

She could already picture Song Wan Ning’s stunned face—her humiliation, her retreat.

“Heh-heh. Little one, you’re quite obedient,” Mu Zi Xu said, his mood lifting.

Sweet-tongued and sharp. The more he looked at her, the more he liked her.

In contrast, the black-robed child was full of killing aura—proud, untamed.

Did she look like someone here to receive an inheritance?

She looked like someone here to smash a sect to pieces.

His dislike deepened.

“And you?” he snapped, turning to Song Wan Ning. “You have nothing to say?”

Song Wan Ning tilted her head slightly and looked up, speaking in her altered voice. “I came here for the Medicine King Sect’s inheritance as well. I just didn’t expect the Medicine King Sect to have already withered away, with most of its people dead or injured.”

In her past life, she had humbled herself enough before Gu Qing Yuan.

In this life, no one would make her bow and scrape again.

Besides, the hostility was obvious. Song Wan Ning wasn’t an idiot.

Her words struck Mu Zi Xu’s deepest wound.

His face sank. “Watch your mouth!”

“My Medicine King Sect’s inheritance has never ceased,” he barked. “In the Spirit Realm, we still stand unshaken. Who are you, an ignorant junior, to speak of us?”

“I think you came here looking for trouble!”

Mu Zi Xu didn’t bother to hide his disgust.

Ye Chu Xue’s heart leapt with joy.

[Her opponent is too stupid. Offending Senior in the first breath—what an idiot.]

[With social sense like that, she still wants to fight me for the inheritance?]

[Delusional.]

“Senior, please don’t be angry,” Ye Chu Xue said quickly, her smile warm and sincere. “I’m sure this fellow daoist doesn’t know much about the Medicine King Sect, so she said something ignorant.”

“Once she sees the Medicine King Sect’s former glory, she’ll understand how terribly wrong she is.”

Every word sounded like kindness—yet each one quietly guided the blade.

Before coming here, Ye Chu Xue had been a director at a large company, managing over a hundred people. Without social sense and ability, she could never have climbed that high.

Now that she was in another world, she could still sweep through everything and crush every obstacle in her path.

Ye Chu Xue’s righteous smile made Song Wan Ning’s eyes narrow.

It was always the same.

Despise Song Wan Ning to the bone—then parade “tolerance” and “generosity” in front of everyone like a crown.

Hypocrisy.

Disgusting.

“You said it yourself,” Song Wan Ning said coolly. “Former glory.”

“But times have changed. The Medicine King Sect has already been removed from the Lower Realm’s list. That’s an undeniable fact.”

“This fellow daoist knows the Medicine King Sect so well—don’t tell me you don’t even know that?”

Song Wan Ning’s gaze slid to Ye Chu Xue, sharp as a blade.

“I think the one who knows very little about the Medicine King Sect is you.”