After Faking Her Death and Fleeing, the Emotionless Daoist Master Regretted It - Chapter 35.2

Chapter 35.2: Lingering Touches – Shizun’s Hidden Thoughts

She had just sensed Ruozhu’s intention to get close to Lingqing. She was about to set up a spiritual energy barrier to stop it, just like the night before, but unexpectedly, Lingqing took the initiative to turn around and embrace the little fox.

At this moment, the little fox nestled in the girl’s arms, its fox face smiling, its fluffy tail wagging back and forth, as if showing off to her. The sight was utterly displeasing to her.

Ling Yunyue endured and endured, and finally, unable to bear it any longer, she spoke candidly: “Lingqing intends to take Ruozhu to participate in the trial? This little fox currently has no combat power. If you take it, it will only be a burden on the arena.”

The girl was continuously stroking the soft fox fur. Hearing this, the movement in her hand paused.

“Shizun, Ruozhu previously transmitted a thought to your disciple, saying it wanted to see the outside world. Your disciple was not planning to take her onto the arena. When we arrive at Worry-Free Island, your disciple will find a safe place to settle Ruozhu before participating in the trial.”

Hearing this, Ling Yunyue said slowly: “Away from Xuantian Peak, there is no place of absolute safety. Since Lingqing has decided to take the little fox out, after arriving at Worry-Free Island, why not place her with your Master? Your Master will look after her for a while.”

“Thank you, Shizun!”

The girl’s eyes curved into a smile, and she readily agreed.

Shizun’s strength was formidable. Ruozhu would be safest by Shizun’s side.

But was it just her imagination? The moment she agreed, she seemed to hear a whimper from the little fox?

Shizun was so gentle, how could Ruozhu be unwilling? It must have been her imagination…

At this moment, the little fox’s heart was shedding two lines of thick tears, unable to express its suffering.

When it heard its owner agree to hand it over to that cold woman for care, its world collapsed.

It wanted so much to transmit a thought to tell its owner that it didn’t want to stay with that cold woman, that it would die… Wuwu…

However, no matter how much it wanted to, it dared not do so, because the owner trusted her Shizun too much… If it didn’t speak, there was still a chance of survival. If it spoke, its fox life might end today…

Su Lingqing was unaware of the little fox’s complex emotions. At this moment, she had been led by Shizun onto the sect’s exclusive spiritual flying boat.

As the top sect in the Azure Profound Continent, Tianyan Sect’s spiritual boat was truly magnificent. Countless wind-cloud array patterns were engraved on the massive hull to assist in accelerating its escape speed.

When stationary, it was like a mountain lying across the sky.

When flying through the air, the tail of the boat trailed ten miles of clouds and rosy light, dazzling like a meteor streaking across the sky.

As she was traveling with Shizun, the fellow disciples on the boat either nodded in greeting or bowed to Su Lingqing, not daring to engage in much conversation.

A few Senior Sisters who boldly attempted to befriend the girl were deterred by the cold gaze cast towards them by the Venerable, frightening them into retreating.

The spiritual boat was extremely fast. Su Lingqing stood on the deck, only seeing layers of rolling clouds. Everything else flashed past her eyes like afterimages.

After about two zhuxiang (approx. 20 minutes), the spiritual boat gradually arrived at the Cangming Sea.

It was just as the morning glow was beginning to rise. The sea surface shimmered with dazzling light reflected by the rising sun.

Su Lingqing quickly saw an island in the center of the sea.

The island had layers of lush green mountains, surrounded by mist and clouds, with numerous reefs along the shore.

As the spiritual boat approached, the mist and clouds slowly dispersed, and another giant flying boat, suspended in the air, gradually came into view.

Discussions among the fellow disciples immediately reached her ears.

“Is that the Heavenly Fire Sect?”

“Setting everything else aside, just based on the spiritual boat, our sect is superior.”

“They brought a lot of people, far more than the one hundred and twenty participating in the trial.”

“They’re probably mostly here to watch the excitement. Our sect also has quite a few people here this time.”

“Look quickly, that female cultivator wearing a pomegranate-colored dress and a high ponytail tied with a red hairband is the one rumored to possess the World-Purifying Li Fire. Her name is also related to fire, called Huo Liuli.”

Su Lingqing’s attention was drawn by this voice. She immediately looked towards the Heavenly Fire Sect’s spiritual boat, and at that instant, she met the deep gaze of the female cultivator in red.

A cultivator’s eyesight was excellent. She clearly saw the other person’s face: phoenix eyes, thin lips, and a cinnabar dot between her eyebrows.

“Does Lingqing recognize her?”

Shizun’s slightly cold voice reached her ear. The girl instantly withdrew her gaze from the distance and slowly shook her head.

Ling Yunyue pursed her lips: “If you don’t recognize her, why were you staring at her for so long just now?”

Su Lingqing was stunned. Was it… a long time just now? Did… she misjudge the time?

Seeing the girl remain silent, Ling Yunyue took half a step forward, blocking the red-clothed female cultivator’s line of sight toward her disciple.

“Lingqing still hasn’t answered your Master’s question.”

“Shizun… your disciple truly doesn’t recognize her. Your disciple was just curious and looked over after hearing a fellow disciple mention that she possesses the World-Purifying Li Fire.”

“Then why was she also looking at Lingqing?”

“This… your disciple doesn’t know. It should be a coincidence…”

Ling Yunyue was not satisfied with this answer, but she also knew that Lingqing had not left the sect since entering, so she hadn’t had the opportunity to know any Heavenly Fire Sect cultivators.

The girl bit her lip, feeling a little confused.

She clearly didn’t look at the red-clothed female cultivator for long. Why would Shizun ask that?

The Heavenly Fire Sect and Tianyan Sect were both Daoist sects. Although there was a trial contention due to this trip to the secret realm, they were not entirely hostile. Could it be that… the sect had some rule she didn’t know about?

While Su Lingqing was full of questions, the spiritual boat arrived over Worry-Free Island and suspended in the air.

Almost at the same moment, a golden staircase slowly appeared.

The cultivators orderly stepped onto the staircase, left the spiritual boat, and landed on the island.

Ling Yunyue wrapped an arm around the girl’s waist, holding her as they were the first to land.

The familiar pure fragrance reached her nose. At this moment, all the doubts in Su Lingqing’s heart vanished completely.

Shizun’s embrace was warm and very reassuring.

She thought that regardless of why Shizun asked those previous questions, since Shizun disliked it, then she would no longer pay attention to those Heavenly Fire Sect cultivators.

The trial to contend for the final slots to the secret realm was decided by drawing lots for opponents and adopted a best-of-three system.

The drawing of lots was jointly supervised and carried out by the elders of both sects, eliminating the possibility of cheating.

There were one hundred and twenty temporarily erected arenas on the island. The trials began immediately without waiting, and only after the result of one match was determined, the next match would begin after at least one zhuxiang (approx. 10 minutes) had passed for both parties to fully restore their spiritual energy.

Su Lingqing stayed obediently by Shizun’s side, not wanting to attract attention at all. However, Ling Yunyue was the head of the Daoist sects in the Xuan Tian Realm. This identity meant that no matter where they went, they would become the focus of attention for all cultivators.

At this moment, half of the cultivators in the Heavenly Fire Sect’s team were focusing their attention on her, constantly discussing among themselves.

“She is the disciple of the Venerable Lingxiao. I heard she recently broke through to the tenth layer of Qi Refining.”

“According to reliable information, she has been the Venerable’s disciple for less than a month.”

“So, she joined Tianyan Sect halfway?”

“No, a month ago, she was still a mortal.”

As soon as these words were uttered, the area immediately fell silent.

After a few breaths, the discussion started again.

“How is that possible? Breaking through from the first layer of Qi Refining to the tenth in one month? Is Junior Sister Zhao lying to me?”

“This is absolutely true. When I first gathered this information, I also found it unbelievable, but it is the truth.”

“That’s incredible. How did she do it? As far as I know, even the Venerable Lingxiao took nearly half a year to break through from the first to the tenth layer of Qi Refining back then.”

“Yes, speaking of which, although the Cloud Marsh Secret Realm is only open to Qi Refining cultivators, once inside, there are no restrictions on cultivation breakthroughs. Given Fellow Daoist Su’s advancement speed, perhaps it won’t be long before she reaches Foundation Establishment… or even Core Formation, leaving us far behind.”

“Remember that once a Xuan Tian Realm cultivator reaches Core Formation, their strength is automatically sensed by this world. If they enter the top hundred in the current major realm, their name will appear on the Heavenly Tablet that reaches into the clouds at the junction of the four continents. I am increasingly curious if Fellow Daoist Su can make it into the top hundred upon reaching Core Formation.”

“The higher the cultivation realm, the greater the strength difference in each minor stage. Currently, on the Heavenly Tablet, most of the top hundred on the Core Formation list are seniors in the complete Core Formation realm, with a few in the late Core Formation realm. If Fellow Daoist Su can secure a spot on the list with an early Core Formation cultivation in the future, it will definitely shock the world.”

“The disciple of the Venerable Lingxiao should be like this. I wonder who will draw Fellow Daoist Su later… Alas, I hope none of us become the unlucky ones…”

While the cultivators were discussing, the results of the lot drawing for the two sects’ trials were announced.

Su Lingqing quickly heard the trial information related to herself: facing the Heavenly Fire Sect’s Huo Liuli (Huo · Unlucky One · Liuli).

Both were the undisputed number one among the Qi Refining cultivators in their respective sects. Their trial instantly became the focus of attention.

Ling Yunyue had absolute confidence in her disciple. Her disciple possessed an item that countered the exotic flame, and with the Pupil Technique matter already revealed, dealing with Huo Liuli would not be a problem.

Su Lingqing was initially a little nervous, but meeting Shizun’s smiling gaze, the slight unease instantly vanished without a trace.

Shizun believed in her; she would definitely win!

The girl slowly walked onto the arena, bowed politely to Huo Liuli, who was dressed in red. After all the formalities were complete, the trial immediately began.

A slightly unnatural flame emerged from the red-clothed female cultivator. It instantly split into thousands, forming a fire net with awe-inspiring power that enveloped the girl with lightning speed.

Almost simultaneously, Su Lingqing formed a spiritual seal with one hand, summoned the dark blue Profound Nether Heavy Water, and recited the incantation.

The heavy water quickly spread outwards, instantly constructing a water screen defense that enveloped the girl.

In the next moment, the fire net formed by the World-Purifying Li Fire touched the heavy water, and the dazzling firelight instantly dimmed considerably.

Seeing her usually invincible exotic flame attack being blocked, Huo Liuli’s expression slightly changed. She immediately clasped her hands together, using her divine sense to remotely control the exotic flame, and cast the Heavenly Conflagration Art.

This art was exclusively passed down by the Heavenly Fire Sect Master’s lineage, and only Fire Spiritual Root cultivators could cast it, possessing infinite power.

The moment the spell was successfully cast, the fire net formed by the World-Purifying Li Fire flared up again.

The consumption of the defense constructed by the Profound Nether Heavy Water around Su Lingqing instantly accelerated. It was also at this moment that a spiritual warning suddenly arose.

She quickly covered her eyes. At the same time, an unremarkable fire butterfly abruptly appeared in front of the girl. Its pupils, radiating a wisp of purple light, stared intently at Su Lingqing through the Profound Nether Heavy Water defense.

This fire butterfly was one of the spiritual beasts skilled in Pupil Techniques that the Heavenly Fire Sect had cultivated over a thousand years.

If Su Lingqing had not reacted in time and her eyes met the fire butterfly’s pupils, her mind would have been instantly controlled, losing the trial.

The girl, with her eyes covered, quickly determined Huo Liuli’s location using her divine sense perception. Holding the Flowing Light Sword, she shifted her position in a breath’s time. Enduring the pressure brought by the exotic flame’s siege, she slashed forward with her sword.

Multiple sword qi were instantly released, forcing her opponent to switch from offense to defense, thereby seizing the dominant position in the trial.

A moment later, a continuous series of rumbling sounds reached her ears.

Huo Liuli was forced to defend, taking out a golden shield to activate and block in front of her.

This action caused the Heavenly Conflagration Art spell to be interrupted, and the power of the World-Purifying Li Fire greatly diminished.

Su Lingqing seized this opportunity, shifted behind her opponent, and instantly struck with the sword she had been preparing.

The golden shield’s defense shattered with a crash. A critical danger descended. The instinct for survival prompted Huo Liuli to retreat sideways, narrowly avoiding the sharp sword qi.

When she stabilized her figure, she was already off the arena.

The trial rules stated that the first person to leave the arena lost.

With this, the first match was decided.

Based on the best-of-three system, winning one more match would secure Su Lingqing the final slot to the secret realm.

Having lost the first match, Huo Liuli showed no sign of anger. Instead, she walked towards the girl with a beaming smile.

“The Cloud Marsh Secret Realm won’t open until half a month from now. After the trial is over, does Fellow Daoist have time to chat with Liuli?”

Su Lingqing hesitated. Earlier, Shizun was slightly angry just because she glanced at this girl. If she agreed to the meeting, Shizun would definitely be annoyed with her then.

She was just about to refuse when something was unexpectedly shoved into her hand.

She looked down and saw a jade token.

At the same time, Huo Liuli’s voice transmission reached her ear: “I am not Fellow Daoist Su’s opponent. I will directly concede the second match. I invited Fellow Daoist for a chat because I want to tell you a secret related to the Cloud Marsh Secret Realm. I have an unfulfilled wish that requires Fellow Daoist’s help to accomplish. Whether successful or not, there will be a generous reward…”

In the distance, Ling Yunyue watched her disciple and Huo Liuli standing face to face. Her hands, hidden in her sleeves, quietly clenched.

For a moment, a thought she had never entertained before arose in her heart.

Her Lingqing was too outstanding. No matter where she went, she would attract countless attention and draw others near. She wanted to find a place, hide the girl away, and from now on, only she could see her…