What made the wide-robed elder even more furious was that this disciple from Danxia Valley thought of revenge! The wide-robed elder was well aware of the shady business that went on within the sect and between its disciples. To him, if Hou Qing was killed after bringing along live bait for the beast-slaying mission, it was caused by Hou Qing’s own uselessness; agreeing to gamble means accepting the consequences of losing, after all. It had been Hou Qing who used dirty methods first, so what did it matter if he was indeed killed by another person in the process? Yet this woman openly came here looking for revenge, completely ignoring the rules of the sect.

　　To say the least, if you had to avenge him, don’t make such a scene out of it!

　　Now, not only did everyone know that Fang Xing had been used as bait, they would also be aware of the secret relationship between her and Hou Qing. For the sect, this was nothing other than a scandal.

　　One must know that although the sect did not prohibit marriages and relationships between disciples, they did not condone such private affairs. As far as the sect was concerned, a disciple would only be eligible to openly speak about marriage either after breaking into the Foundation Stage or after they had left to return to their clans and families.

　　“How dare you! If this boy has spoken the truth, you are an accomplice as well. Nevermind, you are a disciple at the Danxia Valley; I shall not punish you personally. Instead, I will ask the chief elder of the valley to come and fetch you.” The wide-robed elder threw a talisman into the air and it flew off in the direction of the Danxia Valley.

　　“A disciple from the Danxia Valley came to our Yunyin Summit to kill someone?”

　　“Hey, isn’t that the Fang Xing? I heard he’s friends with Shixiong Meng Xuanzhao….”

　　“Shhh, why would Shixiong Xuanzhao get on the bad side of someone from Danxia Valley? The boy’s going to lose his shield of protection.”

　　“Yeah, no matter what the reason is, nobody should offend someone from the Danxia Valley!”

　　Within the Yunyin Summit, the onlookers quietly whispered about the scene before them. To them, the disciples from the Danxia Valley must not be offended by any means, as they held the key to extend the path of cultivation through their skills in alchemy.

　　While everyone discussed amongst themselves, a dark shadow could be seen hurrying towards the summit from the direction of Danxia Valley. As it grew closer, it revealed itself as a giant crane with its wings spread outward as it flew at an extreme speed. Atop the crane sat an expressionless yet remarkably beautiful woman who was also wearing a snow-white dress.

　　“It— it’s Shijie Linyun!” Someone let out a low shout that caused everyone to look up towards this legend-like core disciple.

　　Once Xu Linyun had completed her descent, she gave a courteous bow to the wide-robed elder. “Dear Elder Hong, may I ask what has happened here?” she asked in a low voice.

　　“It’s you, Linyun? Where is your shifu?” The wide-robed elder was also polite, not speaking to her lightly even though she was much younger and part of a younger generation within the sect. In fact, his behavior towards her was because Xu Linyun was only one tier below him despite being much younger; her future was much brighter than most of the elders within the sect. Because of this, these elders would usually treat these core disciples with politeness.

　　Xu Linyun answered, “Dear Shifu is having a moment of seclusion to recover after having just finished crafting a cauldron of Foundation Pellets[1]. As the lead disciple of Danxia Valley, I have come here on my dear shifu’s behalf.”

　　The wide-robed elder nodded. “You are the sect’s core disciple. Indeed, you do have the power to handle this matter.” As the elder spoke, he could be seen binding some Qi into something before sending it over towards Xu Linyun, a messaging method often used between higher-tiered cultivators. However, since the elder did not know the whole story, he had merely repeated everything Fang Xing had just said.

　　As soon as Xu Linyun finished listening to the message, her eyes lit up before kneeling to the side of the woman that had been bound down by the [Immortal’s Snare]. “Lin Qinxue[2]! Why did you make such a mess as soon as you were out of seclusion?”

　　The white-dressed woman named Lin Qinxue could only titter as she murmured out, “It was exactly because I had only found out about it after I came out of seclusion that I’m here to avenge him….”

　　Xu Linyun knit her brows and turned instead to the wide-robed elder. “Elder Hong, Lin Qinxue has been beside dear Shifu for the past forty-nine days in seclusion with her in order to look after the cauldron. I believe her mistakes today must be the result of being mentally and physically exhausted from the seclusion. Please kindly excuse her actions today, as I will personally bring her back to Danxia Valley for some tough discipline.”

　　Elder Hong knew that the so-called “tough discipline” was nothing more than pretty words, but Danxia Valley had always been like this, had always been exempted from certain rules of the sect; it was outside his power. Besides, he did not want to offend Danxia Valley chief elder Qin’nyao for a small outer court disciple. Elder Hong replied with a gentle nod of his head. “Please do.”

　　“Thank you, Elder Hong.” With a sweet smile, Xu Linyun bowed towards the elder before looking towards the white-dressed woman.

　　Elder Hong sighed. With a wave of his sleeve, the rope that had been wrapped around Lin Qinxue automatically returned back to where it had come from. Once Lin Qinxue had regained her freedom, she shook herself before finally standing firmly upon her feet once again.

　　“You shameful person, once you’re back at the valley, we’ll see how Shifu disciplines you! Hurry and come with me.” Xu Linyun lightly tapped the neck of the crane and it flew closer towards Lin Qinxue.

　　With a faint smile, Lin Qinxue slowly walked towards the white crane. As soon as she walked past Fang Xing, she let out a soft mutter, as though to herself, “Since I’ve already broken the sect’s rules, I may as well kill him.”

　　As Lin Qinxue spoke, her hand made the seal to send another flame towards Fang Xing, causing everyone present to be surprised. She was too close to Fang Xing for Elder Hong to stop her this time, but it was also at this exact moment that Fang Xing’s body moved.

　　Others might have overlooked her, but Fang Xing never would. He had been on high alert towards the woman this entire time. Once he saw Lin Qinxue raise her arm, he was already only inches away from her. By the time she had her spell ready, Fang Xing had already jumped into the air and landed a loud slap against her other cheek with his full force.

　　SMACK

　　The slap caught Lin Qinxue off-guard once again and her body flew back some thirty yards away from the power of the strike. The flame she had sent out also flew off course and burned a hole thirty yards away from where she had originally aimed.

　　In only a moment, the entire Yunyin Summit became silent. Everyone was stunned at the scene they had all just witnessed.

　　No one had imagined such a scene would occur after Elder Hong and Shijie Linyun had both arrived.

　　This disciple of Danxia Valley was beyond crazy to want to kill Fang Xing in front of Shijie Linyun, while this boy actually had the spine to hit such a delicate and pretty lady….

　　“How dare you hurt someone from our Danxia Valley!” Xu Linyun abruptly broke the silence with a scolding before rising up from the back of the white crane. Her appearance was like that of an angel as she moved towards Fang Xing, yet she held her delicate hand out in an attempt to slap him back and return the favor for Lin Qinxue. As the lead disciple of the Danxia Valley, she had consciously chosen to overlook the spell Lin Qinxue had used to try to kill Fang Xing and had only paid attention to the slap that had landed on Lin Qinxue’s face.

　　No one humiliated disciples from the Danxia Valley, and she had thus decided to return the blow.

　　Just as her hand had almost reached Fang Xing, he turned to face her with a wide grin. “Shijie Linyun, how is Xiao Mahn?”

　　“It’s you?” Xu Linyun paused her movement as soon as she heard the words “Xiao Mahn”. She focused her glare on Fang Xing and remembered the beggar-like boy back at the Recruitment Ceremony.

　　Today, this “Xiao Mahn” was perhaps the disciple with the most potential within the entire Danxia Valley, and she was loved dearly by their dear shifu. Xiao Mahn, on the other hand, did not know Fang Xing was also a disciple of the sect right now, and Xu Linyun furthermore had no plans of telling her so. She had never thought that Fang Xing would really become an outer court disciple out of the tens of thousands of daotong, but she did remember the boy named Fang Xing, and quite vividly at that.

　　After all, even within the Danxia Valley, Xiao Mahn would always mention his name. Inside her heart, the beggar of a boy named Fang Xing seemed to possess more power and ability than her Shijie Linyun and their dear shifu, and the latter was already in her Foundation Stage.

　　Since the name “Xiao Mahn” did not sound very nice, both Xu Linyun and their dear shifu had held the intentions of giving her a new name, yet Xiao Mahn had given a profound refusal: “If one day my young master comes to the sect to look for me, he would never find me without my name.”

　　Xu Linyun remembered it all in a flash, and her expression was slightly stagnated by her thoughts.

　　Seeing this, Fang Xing grinned even more. “Looks like Shijie Linyun has not yet forgotten about me!”

　　Once Xu Linyun returned to her senses, she exclaimed, “I quite honestly did not think you would become a disciple at the Qing-Yun Sect!”

　　Fang Xing laughed. “Without the opportunity given to me by you, Shijie Linyun, I would not be here today. I have always felt thankful towards you. Unfortunately though, I’m not very familiar with the sect yet, so I have yet to thank you personally. Please kindly do not take any offense!”

　　With a sudden change of expression, Xu Linyun gave a cold demand, “You better not place a single step inside my Linyun Valley, or I will break both of your legs!”

　　Fang Xing pretended to be surprised and questioned in return, “Why would that be? What if I miss Shijie Linyun and Xiao Mahn?”

　　Xu Linyun’s pupils dilated before she gave a quiet warning, “Who are you to miss me? As for Xiao Mahn, when I took her with me into the sect, your relationship with her had been cut then and there. If you dare to disturb her, I will kill you myself!”

　　Her words caused Fang Xing to grow infuriated. Suddenly, he decided to toughen up and grit his teeth. “Don’t you play tough with me, you stupid bi*ch!”

　　—

　　NOTES

　　[1]Foundation Pellet: As per its name, these are pellets used to breakthrough into the Foundation Stage once a cultivator have mastered the peak of Spirit Stage tier nine.

　　[2]Lin Qinxue: First appeared in chapter 20, and later first named in chapter 26 as “Shimei Shu”. This was a mistake in the author’s raw text as he had now decided to change the surname of this character (from Shu to Lin) without correcting it in the earlier chapters.