Realizing that the situation had completely spiraled out of control, Lu Beichen panicked and hurriedly tried to stop her. “Wait! I admit I was in the wrong first.”
“But for the Young Sect Master to demand to cripple my cultivation right off the bat is going too far.”
“Going too far?”
“You publicly disrupted our Miaoyin Sect's Dao Discussion Conference. That I didn't take your life on the spot is already merciful enough.”
The plain-clothed elder stood silently in the middle of the aisle, coldly watching the entire scene play out. The Sect Master usually nagged that her daughter was too soft-hearted and overly hesitant when facing matters, making her easily swayed by others.
Today, she had finally shown some backbone, carrying herself with the dignity befitting a Young Sect Master.
A trace of approval flickered in the elder's eyes.
There would be no need to show any mercy when she struck. Letting this arrogant boy suffer a bit would serve as a good learning experience for little Wanwan.
Jiang Wan's expression was cold as she urged, “Aunt Yu, do it.”
Lu Beichen's heart turned cold.
His trump card for fighting above his realm could at most allow him to crush opponents two minor realms higher. Before him, however, was a genuine Nascent Soul True Monarch; he stood absolutely no chance of winning.
Griting his teeth, he lowered his posture and brought up his sect. “I am willing to apologize and admit my mistake in public. Please, for the sake of the Azure Cloud Sect, let this matter slide.”
Jiang Wan frowned slightly, a look of surprise crossing her face. “The Azure Cloud Sect holds the title of the number one sect in the Southern Region. How could their disciples behave in such a disgraceful manner?”
Lu Beichen reached for his storage ring, preparing to take out his personal disciple jade pendant to use his identity to weather this storm.
Seeing that the atmosphere had reached this point, Shen Qingci knew it was time for her to make her entrance.
She rose from her seat, her powerful presence instantly silencing the noisy hall. “Enough! Junior Brother Lu, how much longer do you plan to make a fool of yourself?”
Lu Beichen's hand froze mid-air.
He suddenly looked up, his gaze locking with Shen Qingci's.
Those beautiful eyes of hers clearly wrote the words "utter disgrace."
It was raw, unadulterated disgust, not hidden in the slightest.
Boom—
Lu Beichen's head buzzed, and his sea of consciousness churned.
His face burned with shame and frustration.
Ever since they first met, he had viewed Shen Qingci as his sole rival, wanting to surpass her in everything. Yet, his most pathetic and wretched moment was now laid bare right before her eyes.
There was no cruel irony of fate greater than this.
Lu Beichen was well aware that of all the cultivators in the hall, only Shen Qingci could save him.
Although his master was the current Sect Master of the Azure Cloud Sect, notorious for being overprotective and overbearing, if he were to have his cultivation crippled in public today, his master would never openly stand up for him due to the sect's rules.
At most, his master would cause trouble covertly afterward, which would do nothing to save him right now.
His pride utterly shattered, Lu Beichen gritted his teeth and lowered his usually arrogant head. “Senior Sister Shen, I was foolish and made a mistake. Please help mediate for me. This was truly not my original intention.”
Witnessing this scene, Chi Yuan immediately stood up.
She had long seen through the beginning and end of this farce, realizing it was likely a scheme quietly orchestrated by A-Ci. Seeing Lu Beichen try to drag her junior sister into the mud to shield him from disaster disgusted her to no end.
“Impudent!”
“You committed such a disgusting deed yourself, yet you don't even have the courage to face the consequences, and instead want to drag your fellow disciple down to cover for you?”
Chi Yuan raised her hand and delivered a slap.
The crisp and fierce gust of her palm struck Lu Beichen squarely on the face. The massive force sent him flying, smashing through three sandalwood chairs in a row before he crashed onto the tiled floor.
Shattered wood and stone pierced his flesh, and blood slowly seeped along the cracks in the floor tiles.
Most of his teeth were shattered, his jawbone was fractured and dislocated, and half of his face was swollen high. He looked incredibly pathetic and wretched, completely stripped of his former pride.
Shen Qingci was slightly taken aback.
Her senior sister's slap just now had carried genuine intent to kill.
If not for the meager ties of being in the same sect, that single strike would have been enough to shatter Lu Beichen's skull.
A trace of joy welled up in her heart.
Even though everything was within her calculations, seeing her senior sister get angry on her behalf and step forward to protect her still made her incredibly happy.
In the past, she had always felt that a male lead carrying the world's luck was too insurmountable, and fighting him alone might not guarantee a victory against the Heavenly Dao's favor.
But with her senior sister's female lead halo combined with her own interference, the situation was bound to be completely overturned.
With the disgust still lingering on her face, Shen Qingci slowly stepped out from her seat and walked over to Lu Beichen.
Looking down from above, she coldly stared at the pathetic figure sprawled on the ground.
“Every single time, Junior Brother claims it was not your original intention.”
“Deliberately disguising yourself as a female cultivator to sneak into the Miaoyin Pavilion, hiding in the dark to spy on the dual cultivation methods of all the female cultivators here—was that not your original intention?”
“When your disgraceful actions were exposed in public, instead of repenting, you brought up the sect's name to bully others—was that not your original intention either?”
Lu Beichen's mouth was filled with blood, and his breath was agonizingly erratic. He could not squeeze out a single word.
Shen Qingci turned to Jiang Wan on the high stage, her posture open and upright as she cupped her hands. “Young Sect Master Jiang, this person is indeed a disciple of our Azure Cloud Sect.”
“Junior Brother Lu's actions are despicable and filthy. He has tarnished the reputation of the Miaoyin Pavilion and completely disgraced our sect.”
“He was in the wrong first. If the Young Sect Master wishes to hold him accountable...”
Before she could finish her sentence, a strange voice transmission suddenly echoed in Jiang Wan's sea of consciousness.
It was a female cultivator.
Her voice was calm and composed, carrying a heavy, imposing pressure.
In an instant, Jiang Wan deduced that this was a Soul Transformation expert.
“Young Sect Master Jiang, there is no need to panic. My master has a few words to convey to you privately through me.”
Jiang Wan showed no emotion on her face, but a wave of shock surged in her heart.
A Soul Transformation expert actually refers to someone else as 'master.'
Steadying her mind, she quietly waited for what came next.
“Lu Beichen's master is the current Sect Master of the Azure Cloud Sect. This person is extremely protective of his own and highly vindictive.”
“If the Young Sect Master cripples his disciple's cultivation in public today, he won't say anything on the surface, but he will certainly harbor a grudge in secret and seek revenge in the future.”
“My master's opinion is that rather than crippling a piece of trash and making an enemy for yourself, it would be better to exchange him for something practical.”
“Your mother, Sect Master Jiang, has been stuck at the mid stage of the Soul Transformation realm for three hundred years. Coincidentally, the Azure Cloud Sect possesses an Earth-grade Low-rank 'Mystic Soul Barrier-Breaking Pill,' which is specifically designed to break through the bottlenecks of the Soul Transformation realm.”
“As for today's farce, the Young Sect Master only needs to lead a delegation to the Azure Cloud Sect to demand justice, making sure to make a grand display of it.”
“By then, the Sect Master of the Azure Cloud Sect will know he is in the wrong and will surely be willing to pay a heavy price to settle the matter. The Young Sect Master will not only vindicate the Miaoyin Pavilion's reputation but also obtain the breakthrough pill for your mother, hitting two birds with one stone.”
“The message has been delivered. Please consider it yourself, Young Sect Master.”
The voice transmission ended there.
Jiang Wan's expression did not change in the slightest, but her mind was racing with thoughts.
It turned out that from beginning to end, today's exposure and this entire farce were all a setup orchestrated by that "master."
The Miaoyin Pavilion had become a chessboard for dealing with someone, and all the female cultivators present had become witnesses.
To be used by someone—it would be a lie to say she wasn't annoyed.
However, the information provided by the other party was simply too valuable.
Her mother had been stuck at the mid stage of the Soul Transformation realm for three hundred years, unable to break through despite using all kinds of methods.
The Mystic Soul Barrier-Breaking Pill was something she had seen recorded when she searched through her sect's ancient texts. An Earth-grade Low-rank pill specifically designed to break through Soul Transformation bottlenecks, its recipe had long been lost, and fewer than fifty remained in the world today.
If she could truly obtain it, her mother would have hope of stepping into the late stage of the Soul Transformation realm, and the Miaoyin Sect's status in the Southern Region would rise to another level.
The other party had not hidden anything, laying out their calculations openly, putting the compensation on the table, and even arranging the connections perfectly.
This level of upfront honesty actually made it impossible for her to get angry.
Rate on N.U.
