Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Pay the Price You Deserve

From far away, Chang Le An spotted Li Shuang, and a flash of disgust crossed his eyes. [Junior Sister already suffered so much because of her and has only just started to get better. What is Li Shuang here for now? Hasn’t she bullied Junior Sister enough?] As Li Shuang walked closer, Chang Le An drew breath to mock her, then his face froze.

Because Li Shuang did not even look at them. She walked straight past and entered the Disciples Hall.

Watching her cold back, Chang Le An ground his teeth. [What is she pretending for? What business could she possibly have in the Disciples Hall? Isn’t she here just to “run into” us and laugh at Junior Sister?]

“Third Senior Brother, what is Senior Sister Li doing here?” Ye Zhao Zhao asked in a small, pitiful voice: “Do you think she is going to scheme behind our backs again? I’m really scared of Senior Sister Li now.”

“Don’t be afraid,” said Chang Le An, puffing out his chest: “I want to see what trick she is trying this time.”

He pulled Ye Zhao Zhao along, stomping toward the hall. Then he heard Li Shuang’s cool voice as clear as ice.

She said: “Register.”

Chang Le An’s pupils shrank, and he rubbed his ear. [Li Shuang? Register? Did I hear that right?]

The Disciples Hall attendant took her token on reflex and began to enter her details. He paused, then his voice jumped up in shock as he looked at her: “Li Shuang, Qi Refining Stage? Are you sure you’re here to register?”

Li Shuang nodded once and said: “Register.”

“Senior Sister Li,” Ye Zhao Zhao asked softly, her eyes glittering, “are you sure you want to register for the Langya Secret Realm selection? Inside the Langya Secret Realm, everyone’s cultivation is suppressed to the Foundation Establishment Stage. So usually only disciples at Foundation Establishment and above sign up. In the selection matches, everyone also fights at Foundation Establishment. Senior Sister, your current level… might be a bit lacking.”

Li Shuang frowned and asked the attendant: “Do the rules say disciples below Foundation Establishment cannot compete?”

The attendant wiped sweat from his forehead and said: “No, but…”

But Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment are a whole major realm apart. How could she compete? Before he could finish, Li Shuang spoke calmly: “Then put my name down.”

The attendant could only obey. He wrote her name and said: “Senior Sister Li, the first match is in three days.”

Taking back her token, Li Shuang nodded and said: “I’ll be there on time.”

She ignored Ye Zhao Zhao and Chang Le An and turned to leave.

Chang Le An’s face twisted, and he hurried after her. He blocked her path and said with a mocking smile: “Li Shuang, do you think you’re still the First Senior Sister of Ling Xu Peak? Right now you’re hardly better than a new disciple. The harvest in the Langya Secret Realm concerns the sect’s honor. Those who enter are the sect’s Elite Disciples.”

He paused, eyes full of scorn as he looked her up and down, and said: “Tell me, what do you have to do with the word elite?”

Before, he had been at Golden Core while Li Shuang was at Nascent Soul, so he had to give that First Senior Sister a little face. Now? Since Li Shuang had torn things open first, he had no reason to spare her pride.

“Third Senior Brother, don’t say that,” Ye Zhao Zhao said quickly: “Senior Sister Li never wanted to end up like this.”

A glint of cold light flashed in Ye Zhao Zhao’s eyes. [That so-called Supreme Unfeeling Art, no one has entered it for years. Who knows if it’s even real? I only dropped a little in cultivation and felt miserable. But Li Shuang lost everything in a single night. She looks calm, but inside she must be suffering. She stripped me of everything I had, so I will stab her right where it hurts.]

“She deserves it,” Chang Le An snapped: “If she hadn’t abandoned you on the snow mountain, you would have returned to the sect with us and none of this would have happened. Li Shuang, listen to me: one day I will uncover the truth about the snow mountain. The lashes my Junior Sister suffered, I will make you pay back a thousand times over.”

Li Shuang looked at him without emotion and said: “I’ll wait for you to find the truth.”

Her steady tone only made him angrier. He was about to keep cursing when Ye Zhao Zhao tugged his sleeve and said: “Third Senior Brother, don’t. I already said I don’t want to argue about that matter.”

In truth, Ye Zhao Zhao was the one who most wanted the snow mountain truth to stay buried forever.

Chang Le An gazed at her with deep pity and said: “Zhao Zhao, you’re too kind. That’s why you got bullied like this. You want to let her go, but when has she ever wanted to let you go? Don’t worry. After the Langya Secret Realm business is settled, I will give you the truth, and I will make Li Shuang pay the price she deserves.”

His vow sounded firm, but Ye Zhao Zhao didn’t feel moved. She only said gently: “Third Senior Brother, let’s not talk about this now.”

She looked at Li Shuang and said: “Senior Sister Li, we also registered. If you join the selection, you’ll definitely run into us. When that happens…”

Chang Le An cut in with a fierce glare and said: “When that happens, I will show no mercy. Junior Sister, don’t waste words on her. We’re leaving.”

He dragged Ye Zhao Zhao away. She looked back at Li Shuang, a trace of regret in her eyes.

To be honest, she rather hoped Li Shuang would make it into the team of fifty. After all, as long as Li Shuang stayed inside the Sword Sect, it was hard to make a move. But inside a secret realm, things were different. The place was vast. Making someone die without a trace would be easy.

Too bad, in her mind, Li Shuang was much too weak now, with no chance at the top fifty. [She probably can’t accept the fall in her strength and is just grabbing at anything she can.]

Li Shuang watched Chang Le An and Ye Zhao Zhao put on their little act, then leave for no reason, and her heart stayed calm. These two could no longer stir her feelings. That they had also registered for the Langya Secret Realm didn’t affect her plan at all.

She would enter the selection and go to the Langya Secret Realm for herself. She needed to recover her cultivation and to find something for Foundation Establishment. She was walking her own path.

As for those people from Ling Xu Peak, their grudges with her were already settled. She would not go out of her way to take revenge, but she would not let them block her road either.

Her face was quiet, but resolve shone in her eyes. She would walk the path of an invincible Sword Cultivator. Her world was too wide to stay tangled with these people.

Back at Ling Xu Peak, Chang Le An and Ye Zhao Zhao returned. He said with a sneer: “First Senior Brother, guess who we just saw signing up? That Li Shuang actually dared to register for the selection. If I meet her on the stage, I will…”

A weak voice cut in from inside the hall and said: “Third Junior Brother, who did you say signed up?”