How to Be the Perfect Junior Sister to a Reborn Villain - Chapter 36

Chapter 36 

The group of new disciples stumbled and sprinted side by side, helping one another as they fled, only to find themselves driven all the way to the edge of a massive waterfall.

They huddled together on the slick rocks by the cliff, a sorry sight like a bunch of drenched chicks caught in a downpour, pitiful and helpless.

The waterfall roared before them, vast and majestic. They’d visited this place before, of course, and had once found it awe-inspiring. But right now, that grandeur felt like the open jaws of a beast. The deafening roar filled their ears like thunder, and an inexplicable sense of despair crept into their hearts.

Were they truly at the end of the road?

Behind them, the gray-robed senior brothers continued to close in. From both flanks, more of them began to converge, cackling in unison with those absurd “Mwahahaha!” laughs again.

Gray spheres rained down like a storm, battering their defense and pelting their bodies. The pain wasn’t unbearable, but the loss of points stung far more.

Each hit meant another deduction. By now, how many points had they lost? They couldn’t even keep track. Their hearts felt cold and heavy. Surely they were deep in the negatives by now.

They were surrounded on three sides; only the waterfall remained open before them.

What do we do? Jump or not?

While everyone hesitated, Li Xi had already made up her mind.

What’s there to think about? Jump! It’s not like we haven’t been here before.

What’s there to be afraid of?

The senior brothers and sisters were clearly trying to force them into jumping. The way they advanced had slowed, though the gray balls came faster and thicker, it was pure psychological warfare.

Li Xi didn’t give herself time to overthink. Without hesitation, she leaped first.

Her body arced like a silver fish, plunging with the roaring current. In an instant, she vanished into the white veil of water.

It wasn’t that Li Xi was fearless, her heart was pounding in her chest.

But she’d been here many times with Xiao Cui during her body-tempering practice, and she knew the area fairly well. Her control over both movement and spell techniques was solid enough that she had some confidence in surviving the fall.

If she stood there thinking, she’d lose her nerve. Better to just go for it. The elders wouldn’t really let them die, right?

Only in the moment she jumped, she heard faint, mournful music playing.

Funeral music?

What kind of proper sect did this sort of thing?

She was just jumping off a waterfall. Why were they sending her off with mourning tunes?!

But she had no time to be angry. The world blurred around her as she plunged downward, the weightless drop stealing her breath. Gritting her teeth against the vertigo, she swiftly formed hand seals one after another to cast the Falling-Slow Technique.

Right after Li Xi, Xiao Cui, Tao Wen, and Lin Ruo followed her lead, leaping in without hesitation.

Ahhhh. Why are you all jumping?! Can’t we just work together and fight them off?!

Jin You’s face was a picture of despair. He really didn’t want to jump.

Wei Yutong didn’t even bother sparing him a glance. Wasn’t the situation obvious enough?

There was no other way but down.

With her arms outstretched, she threw herself into the air, vanishing into the torrent.

She refused to lose to Li Xi.

With cultivation experience from her previous life, her progress in this one had been fast and steady. At just fourteen, she’d already reached the tenth level of Qi Refinement.

She’d entered secret realms and fought demonic cultivators before what was a waterfall compared to that?

Up above, the gray-robed senior brothers were still throwing gray balls while laughing loudly.

Aiya, why so young and already so hopeless? Don’t jump, juniors! Life is beautiful.

From the edge, the remaining disciples watched the encirclement close in tighter and tighter. The mournful background music only made it worse.

They exchanged one last look and jumped.

From afar, dozens of people plunging together made for quite a spectacular, tragic scene.

They dropped like dumplings into boiling water, their collective screams swallowed by the thunder of the falls.

Somewhere above, an elder chuckled.  Not bad, these kids can make decisions when it counts. They’ve got courage.

Indeed. Their teamwork’s decent too. Good seedlings, all of them.

That little girl’s pretty talented; she can already form dual-handed seals.

That must be the one named Li Xi. I heard she’s gifted in both alchemy and talisman arts, already capable of refining low-grade pills of excellent quality.

Li Xi, still plummeting through the roaring cascade, was blissfully unaware of the elders’ commentary. All she could hear was the pounding of water and her own racing heartbeat.

The torrent pummeled her from all sides, and her hair, already loose, plastered across her face.

At least she had the presence of mind to think, Good thing I only tied a simple topknot and didn’t wear any ornaments, or this would be a disaster.

Her layered Falling-Slow Techniques worked beautifully. Her descent slowed until she touched down lightly into the frothing pool below.

The rules of the test forbade the use of flight tools or healing pills. This was meant to test nothing but raw technique and control.

Li Xi planned to swim straight to shore, but the current was far too strong. It caught her at once and swept her away.

She coughed and sputtered, swallowing mouthfuls of icy water as she struggled to find something to grab onto, but there was nothing.

Then, to her horror, she realized she was no longer in the pool.

She was falling again.

Below her loomed another massive waterfall, cascading like a silver river straight into a bottomless abyss. The water thundered like a thousand galloping horses.

Suspended in midair, Li Xi could even see a bright rainbow gleaming through the mist.

For just a heartbeat, she hung there, and then she plunged once more.

Her pupils shrank in terror, and she couldn’t hold back a scream. 

“Aaaahhhhhhh !!!”

Heavens save me!

The sensation of free-fall was utterly disorienting. Panic surged, and her fingers moved faster than ever, forming seals so rapidly that only the afterimages of her hands and flashes of spiritual light could be seen.

Thankfully, the stacked Falling-Slow Techniques didn’t fail her this time either. Her speed began to ease, and she finally exhaled a trembling sigh of relief. Her heart still hammered in her chest; she’d been genuinely scared out of her wits.

Scanning the surroundings, she searched for a place to land. The last thing she wanted was to be swept into another river. This was more than enough “excitement” for one day.

Then, suddenly, something caught her eye below a massive net stretched wide across the gorge. Around it stood several fellow disciples, tugging on ropes.

Junior Sister! Come down and play, the net’s really fun. One senior brother called, grinning up at her.

Yeah, super fun! Come on down. A senior sister chimed in, waving encouragingly.

“No flying tools allowed, right? Must be tiring floating up there. Come take a break with us!”

Their smiles were bright, their tones sincere, as if this were just some harmless little game.

A chill ran down Li Xi’s spine.

Oh no. Why do I suddenly feel like this is a trap?

She’d really gone and believed them again, hadn’t she?