Chapter 181

Chapter 181: Are They Trying to Ruin Shen Sang Ruo?

Above the stone slot, the projected words read: “Ninghua Sect, Shen Sang Ruo.”

People who had been watching her noticed at once.

“Shen Sang Ruo? Why does that sound so familiar? I remember now, wasn’t Sect Master Shen’s former adopted daughter called that?”

“Is it just the same name, or the same person?”

Someone in the crowd spoke up: “It’s her. I saw her before when I visited Flying Cloud Sect.”

The news that the adopted daughter expelled by Shen Dao Chen had become Ninghua Sect’s Young Sect Master spread like wildfire across the whole Fengling Terrace.

“Wasn’t she Sect Master Shen’s adopted daughter? How did she end up as Ninghua Sect’s Young Sect Master?”

“It’s really her? The rule breaker with a bad record, the one who hurt Little Sister Bai Mu Mu out of jealousy and then cut ties with the father who raised her for over ten years?”

“That’s not all. She used to be Master Ling Xiao’s Personal Disciple, and in the end got tossed aside because of poor character.”

Everyone knew how valuable it was to be Master Ling Xiao’s Personal Disciple.

“What a waste of a winning hand,” someone said with pained pity. “Why did she throw it away like that?”

“Why else? Sect Master Shen’s real daughter came home, and she couldn’t handle it.”

“She was just an adopted daughter. She enjoyed someone else’s life for more than ten years and still wasn’t satisfied. Did she think she was the real one?”

“Sect Master Shen raised her like his own, and she turned out to be an ungrateful wolf.”

“It must be her own fault. Otherwise, why would everyone cut ties with her?”

“To be disliked by both Sect Master Shen and Master Ling Xiao at the same time, she really is number one in the cultivation world.”

Shen Dao Chen and Master Ling Xiao stood for fairness and authority, and their actions were like a weather vane for the cultivation world.

All the tangled matters between Shen Sang Ruo and Flying Cloud Sect were put on display, and public opinion swung hard against her.

In their minds she became a vicious person who did every bad thing.

It seemed any insult could be thrown on her.

“Ninghua Sect, seriously, how could they let someone like that be Young Sect Master?”

“Heartless, unjust, unfilial, and disloyal, she checks every box.”

“What I really wonder is, how could she give up Flying Cloud Sect to join a place like Ninghua Sect?”

“Who knows? Maybe she isn’t thinking straight.”

The talk about Shen Sang Ruo grew louder and louder on Fengling Terrace, with every kind of rumor mixed in.

Many people compared her to Bai Mu Mu, trying to crush her into the dirt.

The Ninghua Sect group was furious when they heard it.

Song Wei Yan shouted: “If you’re going to say all that, why don’t you talk about what your Flying Cloud Sect did?”

Su Xi Yu yelled too: “Do you dare say what Flying Cloud Sect actually did? You’re just people who chase any rumor you hear!”

But their voices were drowned in the roar of the crowd.

This was the influence of Flying Cloud Sect as the number one sect.

They looked toward the platform with worry, toward Shen Sang Ruo in the eye of the storm.

On the platform, Shen Sang Ruo’s face stayed calm, not touched by the noise at all.

Even so, she heard something useful in it.

The “inside story” they spread was not the full truth. It cleverly avoided what really happened and was aimed to hurt her. It felt like someone was leading the rhythm on purpose. She tugged the corner of her mouth. [Aren’t they supposed to be upright and righteous? Since when did they start using such shameful tricks?]

Shen Dao Chen and Master Ling Xiao watched with flat faces, as if they had expected this.

Feng He Yun and his friends clenched their fists. During the Young Sect Master trial last time, they had watched her sink under public opinion and did nothing.

Every insult aimed at Shen Sang Ruo pounded on their hearts.

They had failed her once, so this time they meant to stand with her.

Right as they stepped forward, an invisible spiritual pressure locked them in place.

They looked in disbelief toward the source. It was their Master, Master Ling Xiao.

They understood at once whose hand was behind this “encirclement.”

“Master, you…” Wen Xuan went pale and stared at Master Ling Xiao.

He could not understand why Master Ling Xiao and Shen Dao Chen would be so cruel to Shen Sang Ruo.

This was not Flying Cloud Sect. She was facing the whole cultivation world, and too many mouths can melt metal.

One had been her respected father, the other her honored Master, and both were now trying to ruin her.

A chill flashed in Master Ling Xiao’s eyes. He used a spell to seal their mouths and stopped whatever Wen Xuan wanted to say next.

Shen Dao Chen did not spare them a glance. He only watched Shen Sang Ruo on the stage with cold eyes.

[Short sighted people will never understand our good intentions. Everything we do is for Shen Sang Ruo.] That was the story they told themselves.

Bai Mu Mu saw this and let a small, satisfied smile curl on her lips.

Back on the platform, Shen Sang Ruo had no plans to answer the rumors. To be exact, now was not the time.

She believed fairness lives in people’s hearts. She would show everyone who was not acting like a human being.

She focused on the match ahead.

This time was different from before. Her first draw was Dong Fang Xu.

Dong Fang Xu strolled onto the platform, his face full of mockery.

He said: “Ninghua Sect’s Shen Sang Ruo? Maybe I should call you Master Ling Xiao’s castoff. Or Shen Dao Chen’s ungrateful adopted daughter.”

“I didn’t notice before, but this Sect Grand Tournament even has someone like you. That’s amusing.”

Shen Sang Ruo smiled faintly and said: “I could never be more amusing than Young Sect Master Dong Fang. No wonder you’re from Beast Taming Sect. Even your Young Sect Master is so beastlike that wherever there’s a crowd, he has to bark a few times.”

He heard her meaning and snorted: “You gave up being a Flying Cloud Sect disciple to run to Ninghua Sect.”

“Only a place like Ninghua Sect would be fooled by your looks and even let you be Young Sect Master.”

“You want to lead Ninghua Sect to glory? Too bad your first match is against me. Today I’ll remove this problem for the cultivation world.”

“It’s not up to you whether I can lead Ninghua Sect to glory,” Shen Sang Ruo said as her smile faded and the Luan Feather Fan appeared in her hand. “We still don’t know whose bad luck this draw really is.”

It was a harsh pairing, because it meant one of them would be stopped in the first round of Group Three.

For two sects chasing the top ranks, this was a narrow road where the loser would fall into a deep pit.