IVYSCP - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The Piaomiao Sect leader?

Nie Wenxiao.

A figure surfaced in Ling Qingyue's mind: a back not held quite straight, as though a crushing weight rested on her shoulders, pressing down until she could barely breathe. That face, which should have been bold and fiercely striking, was clouded with deep melancholy and an exhaustion that would not lift.

Ling Qingyue had seen Nie Wenxiao once, at the Ranking Tournament. She had not been sitting among the sect leaders. Instead, she had sat in the stands alongside her own disciples, watching Liu Qingtang compete on the platform.

That time, Ling Qingyue had dragged Yue Shouming and Yu Liuli along to watch the matches, and they had ended up sitting right beside Nie Wenxiao.

Yue Shouming had been seriously analyzing the fight onstage. "Who do you think will win this match? Ying Ying, right? In this generation, she is the only one who can face Qingyue."

Yu Liuli had nodded without hesitation. "I think so too."

Then she nudged Ling Qingyue beside her. "You are about to face Ying Ying. Do you think you can win?"

Ling Qingyue had narrowed her eyes. "I actually think Ying Ying is going to lose this match. Which sect is her opponent from again?"

"Piaomiao Sect. Liu Qingtang."

Ling Qingyue had instinctively turned at the voice and found several dozen pairs of eyes fixed on her. "…"

Nie Wenxiao and her disciples had been staring straight through the three of them.

They had not stayed to finish watching that match. They had fled in fright. And because of that, Ling Qingyue had remembered both Nie Wenxiao and Liu Qingtang.

Now, a hundred years later, Ling Qingyue looked at the woman standing protectively before Liu Qingtang, astonished by the change.

Nie Wenxiao had transformed considerably. Her features were still sharp, but her frame stood tall and straight. She now carried the authoritative pressure of one who held high rank, along with the marks left by the passage of years. Her stern, unsmiling expression reminded Ling Qingyue of the sect leaders she had seen in the past.

Broad, powerful hand resting on the hilt of her blade, Nie Wenxiao swept her gaze across the Immortal Alliance members around her.

For a moment, no one dared to move. The Piaomiao Sect disciples all saluted their sect leader where they stood.

Ling Qingyue quickly noticed that the Immortal Alliance members were all turning their eyes toward her, without prior agreement.

To be precise, toward the woman standing in front of her.

"Immortal Alliance Shangtianqiong Sect's Cui Heng, greetings to Sect Leader Nie." The woman dipped her chin lightly. She did not even raise her hands.

Between peers, a bow with clasped hands was the proper salute. A simple nod was reserved for elders addressing juniors, or exchanges between sect leaders.

For Cui Heng to act this way was a gesture of disrespect and contempt, aimed at Nie Wenxiao and at Piaomiao Sect.

Nie Wenxiao gave a cold snort.

No one saw how she drew her blade. There was a flash of white before the eyes, and Cui Heng was forced back several steps, a thread of blood seeping from the corner of her lips.

Nie Wenxiao curved her lips, the slender tails of her eyes lifting. "To think you could take that strike. No wonder Lou Wudu values you so highly."

Cui Heng wiped the blood from her mouth with fierce aggression and immediately drew her sword. "Nie Wenxiao, you go too far!"

At the sudden mention of her senior sister's name, Ling Qingyue's breath caught. She then cast a measuring look toward Cui Heng.

Why would Senior Sister value… someone like this?

The Immortal Alliance members, seeing Cui Heng draw her sword, followed suit.

The Piaomiao Sect disciples, seeing this, also revealed their weapons.

Both sides faced off, neither willing to yield.

"Sect Leader!"

Several streaks of light touched down, and dozens more Piaomiao Sect cultivators arrived, spreading out to encircle the Immortal Alliance forces.

Cui Heng narrowed her eyes. Her voice was cold as she demanded, "Sect Leader Nie, what is the meaning of this? The Immortal Alliance acts according to protocol. Do you intend to bring your disciples and defy the Immortal Alliance?"

Nie Wenxiao turned her wrist, leveling the blade edge toward her. She lifted her eyelids slightly, as though speaking with casual indifference. "And if I do?"

"You!" Cui Heng seemed not to have expected her to actually dare to say that.

Over the past century, Piaomiao Sect had rapidly expanded and now ranked among the Seventy-Two Sects.

Cui Heng closed her eyes briefly. She sheathed her sword and shot a look at the Immortal Alliance members, who had no choice but to reluctantly put away their artifacts.

When she spoke again, her tone had moderated considerably compared to before. "Sect Leader Nie, cultivators from many sects have fallen here, not only those of Piaomiao Sect. Elder Liu lies at the crux of this matter. We must take her back to investigate thoroughly so we can give every sect an explanation."

These words carried an implicit threat, using the major immortal sects to pressure Nie Wenxiao and Piaomiao Sect.

Ling Qingyue found it deeply unpleasant to hear and could not help frowning.

Back then, the Immortal Alliance had clearly been formed to resist the incursions of the Demon Race. How had it come to this?

"Investigate however you like. Liu Qingtang is a member of my Piaomiao Sect. I will not let you take her away."

"Since Piaomiao Sect has joined the Immortal Alliance, it should cooperate accordingly!"

"Then from this day forward, Piaomiao Sect will no longer follow the Immortal Alliance's orders."

Without hesitation, Nie Wenxiao raised her hand. An imprint floated up from her palm: the gate token emblem of Piaomiao Sect.

She clenched her fist sharply, and the imprint shattered and dispersed.

At the same moment, in the Immortal Realm, within the Immortal Alliance's grand hall, the Piaomiao Sect emblem mingled among the various sect emblems also shattered and dispersed in an instant.

A flicker of shock crossed Cui Heng's eyes before a cold smile curved her lips. "Piaomiao Sect, you have truly made me see you in a new light."

She moved to leave, but then her peripheral vision caught the two people standing nearby who had been watching for a long time. "You two, let us go together."

Ling Qingyue abruptly felt displeased. Even if this Cui Heng might have some connection to her senior sister, she no longer wanted to return to the Immortal Alliance with these people.

She took Pei Si's hand and pulled her a little closer. "We have no sect and no school. We have not joined the Immortal Alliance either."

Meaning, just like Piaomiao Sect now, they had no obligation to cooperate with the Immortal Alliance. The Immortal Alliance had no authority over them.

Cui Heng's hand tightened on her sword as she slowly walked toward them.

Ling Qingyue raised a brow.

What was this? Did she intend to attack them, to force them back? Was this how domineering and unreasonable the Immortal Alliance had become?

Seeing her still walking forward, Pei Si was about to speak when someone suddenly darted over from the side.

Lu Yao clutched a single spirit stone and pressed it into Ling Qingyue's hand. Her voice was much louder than usual, making absolutely sure the people nearby could hear. "We have not yet thanked the two seniors for your help earlier. If you had not acted, my senior sisters and I would have been in danger. This is a token of thanks from my senior sisters and me."

Ling Qingyue stared at the solitary thank-you gift in her hand and barely held back a laugh.

Lu Yao had intentionally said this for Nie Wenxiao to hear, hoping their sect leader would back her and Pei Si up.

As expected, after hearing this, Nie Wenxiao called a few disciples over to guard Liu Qingtang, then sheathed her blade and walked over. "Since the two of you lent your aid, you are honored guests of my Piaomiao Sect. Might I invite you both to Piaomiao Sect for a conversation, so that I may offer you my profound gratitude?"

As she spoke, her eyes flicked quickly toward the single spirit stone Lu Yao had given.

Too embarrassing to look at.

Saying it was a thank-you gift from one person would already be humiliating enough, but claiming it was a shared thank-you gift from a dozen people… just how destitute was their Piaomiao Sect, that it took over a dozen disciples to scrape together a single spirit stone?

"Alright." Ling Qingyue agreed with a smile. Then she pulled Pei Si closer toward Nie Wenxiao's side and lifted her eyes to look at Cui Heng.

Nie Wenxiao also looked toward Cui Heng.

The stance was clear. Today, the Immortal Alliance would not be taking Liu Qingtang, nor would they be taking these two people.

Cui Heng's hand tightened several more degrees around her sword. She looked at the group before her with a heavy gaze, including Lu Yao nearby. In the end, she gave a cold laugh and said, "Let us go."

"Wait." Nie Wenxiao spoke up.

Cui Heng did not turn around. "What else is there?"

Nie Wenxiao reminded her, "Since Piaomiao Sect has withdrawn from the Immortal Alliance, Envoy Cui should also return the bodies of my Piaomiao Sect disciples."

The Immortal Alliance comprised many immortal sects. Besides assigning disciples, each sect also appointed a high-ranking cultivator to serve as an envoy within the alliance. Cui Heng was Shangtianqiong Sect's envoy to the Immortal Alliance.

Cui Heng gave one of the Immortal Alliance cultivators a look. That cultivator was responsible for safeguarding the corpses they had just collected into artifacts, and she swiftly separated out the bodies of the Piaomiao Sect disciples.

"Go."

With Cui Heng's single command, all the Immortal Alliance cultivators followed her away, returning to the Immortal Alliance in the Immortal Realm.

Only after they left did Lu Yao finally let out a breath of relief. Sweat had soaked through the back of her robes.

Then she received a smack to the back of the head and heard her sect leader's voice, full of disdain. "A single spirit stone, and you had the nerve to offer it as a thank-you gift? How shameful."

Lu Yao's face reddened. "It was… it was the only one left."

Nie Wenxiao frowned. "Where have all the spirit stones gone?"

Piaomiao Sect had never shortchanged its disciples on spirit stones. Disciples sent out on assignments, in particular, were always given extra.

Lu Yao said quietly, "The senior sisters used some for their injuries. Some were also used to settle Elder Liu. So there were none left."

Nie Wenxiao asked no further. She turned to look at Liu Qingtang. Seeing her hands and feet crippled, her spiritual energy sealed by someone, grief struck her heart and fury surged up.

"Who did this?!"

Lu Yao: "…"

Ling Qingyue: "…"

Pei Si: "…"

The Piaomiao Sect cultivators who knew the truth all kept their heads down, not daring to speak.

Nie Wenxiao suppressed the impulse to kill and called someone over. "Feng Jian, what happened?"

On one side stood seniors who had saved their lives. On the other stood their own elder and sect leader.

Feng Jian's mouth moved several times but no words came out.

Ling Qingyue had just sighed when she heard a cool, clear voice beside her. "I severed her hands and feet. I also sealed her spiritual energy."

Nie Wenxiao's gaze snapped toward her. The murderous intent in her eyes was impossible to conceal.

Ling Qingyue had no doubt whatsoever: if Lu Yao had not spoken those words earlier, Nie Wenxiao would have drawn her blade against them without hesitation.

"Sect Leader!"

"Sect Leader! The senior did not mean it!"

"Yes, Sect Leader! The two seniors only harmed Elder Liu to save us!"

Seeing their sect leader's fury, the young disciples hurried to explain. Feng Jian and Lu Yao also anxiously added a few words.

Amid the jumble of overlapping voices, Nie Wenxiao managed to grasp a few points.

Liu Qingtang had been unconscious and unable to control herself. The two had struck heavy blows in self-defense and to protect her young disciples.

She drew a deep breath. Much of the rage in her heart dissipated.

She was not an unreasonable person. Though her heart ached for Qingtang, the circumstances had their reason. She could not possibly attack people who had saved her disciples' lives over this.

Nie Wenxiao came before the two once more. She raised her hands in a formal salute and first introduced herself. "I am Nie Wenxiao, Sect Leader of Piaomiao Sect."

Ling Qingyue and Pei Si composed themselves and returned the salute together.

"Ah Xi."

"Pei Si."

Nie Wenxiao's expression softened slightly. "The two of you are reclusive cultivators. Would you be willing to accompany me back to Piaomiao Sect, so that I may properly express my gratitude?"

That single spirit stone had truly made her lose face.

Ling Qingyue glanced at Pei Si, only to find that Pei Si was looking at her as well.

"Do you want to go? Or should we just head back to…"

Pei Si did not finish the sentence, but Ling Qingyue understood. She meant back to Shangtianqiong Sect.

Ling Qingyue pressed her lips together. "Let us go to Piaomiao Sect."

She still very much wanted to know who had harmed Liu Qingtang.

"That is fine." Pei Si said evenly. "Regarding Liu Qingtang, there are some matters we need to speak with Sect Leader Nie about in private."

Nie Wenxiao nodded.

Ling Qingyue looked toward the town in the distance, then added, "Sect Leader Nie, could you wait a short while?"

Nie Wenxiao was not in that much of a hurry. She also wanted to understand what had happened here.

Back in town, Ling Qingyue tugged at Pei Si's sleeve. Pei Si inclined her head slightly as she followed the gesture. "What is it?"

A very soft tone, completely different from how she spoke to others.

Ling Qingyue felt a little happy, and a little shy.

She really liked how Pei Si treated her differently from everyone else.

"Do you have any Foundation-Solidifying Pills?"

Used to nourish the foundation and stabilize the origin, Foundation-Solidifying Pills were medicinal pills taken by cultivators just beginning to absorb spiritual qi.

Pei Si hesitated.

She had medicinal pills, many of them rare and precious. But Foundation-Solidifying Pills… she really could not remember whether she had any or not.

"Let me check."

Pei Si searched through her Qiankun Pouch and shook her head.

"Wait for me a moment."

Ling Qingyue turned and headed back. Wind seemed to rise beneath her feet, and she was quickly back at the foot of the mountain.

Without the slightest embarrassment, she extended her hand toward Nie Wenxiao. "Do you have any Foundation-Solidifying Pills?"

Nie Wenxiao: "…"

Who carried such low-grade medicinal pills on their person?

In the end, dozens of Piaomiao Sect cultivators gathered together and turned their Qiankun Pouches completely inside out. They actually managed to find two bottles.

Without any trace of politeness, Ling Qingyue took them all and rushed back to town.

Nie Wenxiao watched her flickering silhouette and asked Lu Yao beside her, "You just said her swordsmanship is extraordinary, and that she is from Shangtianqiong Sect?"

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