Chapter 247

Chapter 247: Still Not Bowing to a Master?

The Elder looked at his disciple and sighed, then waved away the tiny storm forming around her. He said calmly: “You have passed many people. Now someone passes you. That is normal.”

“It is not the same. This is not the same,” You Lan murmured without thinking: [I was supposed to pass others. I am a Heaven’s Proud Daughter. How can anyone pass me, and a newly risen nobody at that?]

The Elder comforted her: “She has talent in the Great Dao. Taken as a whole, her spiritual root, her techniques, her comprehension are not as good as yours. You do not need to struggle over this.”

You Lan’s heart slowly settled: [Right. She only excels in the Great Dao. To truly pass me, she is far from it.]

“Even so, she does have skill. The Super-tier Sects will not sit still. They will send people to recruit her,” the Elder said after another sip of tea. “Our Devil Heaven Sect will likely send an invitation too.” He glanced at You Lan.

You Lan kept a calm face: “Why look at me, Master? Do I not allow it? If the sect can gain another genius, someone to rule the Genius Ranking after I leave it, I am glad.”

The Elder’s interest rose: “What if I take her under my wing as your Junior Sister?”

You Lan raised a brow: “You can decide that yourself.”

Seeing her stiff manner, the Elder looked bored: “You are still so dull. Teasing you few disciples is enough for me. The sect will have other Elders fighting to get her. As long as her spiritual root is not too bad, whoever gets Li Shuang gets the next Genius Ranking champion. No Super Sect will let this go. Guess who will win her in the end?”

You Lan said flatly: “I need to train.”

“Fine, fine, go do your work. I will keep watching the show,” said the Elder.

You Lan bowed again and left. She took a deep breath, her face like still water. After this Golden Soul Altar, she would be over a hundred and leave the Genius Ranking. But for now, while she was still under a hundred, she would guard that list. No one could take it from her.

She went into final seclusion. She did not notice that, after Li Shuang cleared the Sixth Peak of the Great Dao Mountain, a hairline crack had formed in her once unshakable heart. Before, she had walked in her own rhythm, believing that if she kept going, she would reach the top one day. Now, her rhythm began to break. Before the Golden Soul Altar, she had to push the Secret Soul Method to the third level.

At the foot of the Great Dao Mountain, Li Shuang returned to the base. She stared at the crowd, which was many times larger than last time, and froze: [Seriously? Do the people of Myriad Arts City like watching a show this much? I only climbed a mountain. Why are there more and more spectators each time?]

She walked forward. The crowd stepped back on their own, opening a path for her. Li Shuang felt moved: [The people of Myriad Arts City are so polite.] She thanked them, then came to the Warden: “So the Seventh Mountain cannot be tried yet?”

The Warden looked at Li Shuang, dazed for a moment, then said: “The Seventh Mountain requires your soul to reach the Integration Stage. Otherwise, your soul will be harmed. If you had chosen to break through just now, you might have tried it. But you did not, so…”

Li Shuang nodded: “I understand.” Then she stared at him with hopeful eyes.

The Warden stayed friendly: “Do you need something else?”

Li Shuang hesitated, then said, a little embarrassed: “Clearing the Sixth Peak of the Great Dao Mountain should come with a reward of twenty thousand Merit Points.”

“Right, right, I forgot,” said the Warden. He had her pass over her Wanfa Eye, tapped a few times, and twenty thousand Merit Points appeared inside.

Li Shuang smiled at the sudden numbers: [Merit Points secured.] But this was far from enough. She was already at Peak Divine Transformation, and the First Tier of the Rebirth Art would soon stop working for her. The Second Tier needed a full one hundred thousand Merit Points.

These twenty thousand were only the first step. Next, she had two secret realms to clear. On top of that, she had saved a mountain of Soul Beast cores over the last two years. If she turned them all in, she might reach one hundred thousand Merit Points. Even if she fell short, it would not be by much.

If she still could not make it this time, then after the Golden Soul Altar, she would keep saving Merit Points. The Second Tier of the Rebirth Art was a must for her: [I will get it.]

Li Shuang rose to head for the next secret realm. Suddenly, pressure fell from the sky.

“A Tribulation Crossing Stage expert!” people cried. On the Central Continent, cultivation was strong, but even so, such experts were not common.

“What is a Tribulation Crossing Stage expert doing here?” people asked, curious but not afraid. If this were inside the Soul Prison, they would have run from such a stranger. But in Myriad Arts City, if they met one, then they met one. No one could start a fight here anyway.

Li Shuang felt the aura and paused. A woman in red robes walked up to her with a smile. The heavy pressure came from her. Li Shuang’s heart tightened: [She has bad intent toward me. And why does she feel strangely familiar?]

The Tribulation Crossing Stage expert looked like she wanted to kill her, yet she smiled kindly and said: “You are Li, yes? I am Elder Xuan Wei of the Eclipse Moon Sect. Your talent is amazing. I wish to accept you as my Direct Disciple. What do you think?”

Ancestor Xuan Wei had thought it through. Her only way was to cut in early. Right now she had the first move. If she took Li Shuang as a disciple before other Tribulation Crossing Stage experts arrived, they could not snatch her away. They did not yet know that Li Shuang also had a Supreme Ice Spiritual Root, so they would not value her as much as she did. This early strike had a high chance to succeed.

The man at her side chimed in: “Our Elder has lowered herself to invite you. Why are you not bowing to your master yet?”