A Consequence of Opposing the Heroine’s Halo (GL) - Chapter 12

Liu Sanye saw a total of eight Hegui disciples before her. Every one of them wore identical black-and-white Daoist robes, each exquisitely embroidered with patterns of celestial cranes soaring through the clouds.

Judging by their attire, they appeared to be inner sect disciples of the Hegui Sect.

Liu Sanye stood up quietly, intending to observe the situation before acting.

The senior brothers and sisters surrounding them perhaps realized that staring directly at others was impolite, as they all let out a few awkward coughs.

The leading disciple, Senior Brother Zuo Fu, said, “My surname is Zuo, and my given name is Fu. I am the lead Senior Brother who will guide you to the outer sect.”

Cheng Zhengping, quick to react, followed up: “Me! Me too! My surname is Cheng, given name Zhengping. I am also your lead Senior Brother.”

It was only then that the other disciples realized their chance to interact with these two little Junior Sisters had been snatched away. They all began to grumble and complain: “Senior Brother Zuo, I didn’t expect you to be this kind of person!” “Senior Brother Cheng, you’re so devious!” “I want to go too!” “Senior Brother Zuo, you’re actually competing with us? I’m angry!” “No, no! I don’t think so!”

Cheng Zhengping cupped his hands with a cheeky grin toward his fellow disciples: “Alright, alright, it’s getting late. we need to take the two little Junior Sisters to the Dividing Ridge now. Goodbye, everyone!”

As he spoke, he reached out to take Bai Tong’s hand, but she dodged him immediately. Cheng Zhengping had no choice but to try for Liu Sanye’s hand, but a protective barrier suddenly manifested between them, courtesy of a Senior Sister behind him. Cheng Zhengping slammed into the barrier and wailed in pain, “Senior Sister Yu, you’ve ambushed me!”

Senior Sister Yu crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow: “Everyone wants to go. How about this—let’s compete fairly.”

Cheng Zhengping clutched his head, frowning: “Fine! Fair competition it is! You think I’m afraid of you?”

With that, the two began to duel with spells. Instead of stopping them, the other disciples cheered and egged them on, even placing bets on the winner.

Liu Sanye: “…”

Bai Tong: “…”

Finally, Liu Sanye gave up on observing. Taking Bai Tong’s hand, she walked toward the relatively quiet Zuo Fu. She smiled and said, “Senior Brother Zuo, please lead us to the outer sect.”

Zuo Fu nodded. Ignoring the cheering crowd, he led the two girls toward the rainbow bridge ahead.

On the way, Zuo Fu asked, “I haven’t asked for your names yet, little Junior Sisters?”

Knowing Bai Tong disliked speaking, Liu Sanye answered for her: “I’m Liu Sanye, ‘Liu’ as in willow and ‘Sanye’ as in three leaves. This is Bai Tong, ‘Bai’ as in white and ‘Tong’ as in pupil.”

Zuo Fu nodded, then asked, “Junior Sister Liu, Junior Sister Bai, what is the relationship between you two?”

This question stumped Liu Sanye, and she hesitated to answer.

Bai Tong, who had been silent until now, replied: “We are best friends.”

Zuo Fu laughed: “So you’re best friends! The bond between you two does seem very strong.”

Liu Sanye was momentarily dazed. She looked at Zuo Fu, then at Bai Tong, her mind screaming: Since when were we best friends? Why didn’t I know about this?! She felt a desperate need to explain, but by the time she worked up the nerve to speak, they had arrived.

Before them was a massive abyss like a celestial trench. Zuo Fu took out his disciple Soul Tool and injected it with power, shining it over the void. A bridge of colored light, riding upon auspicious clouds, rose from the depths. The bridge extended in both directions until it reached their feet.

It was a sky bridge made of rainbows, spanning the entire abyss.

“This is the South Rainbow Bridge. Cross this, and you truly enter our Hegui Sect.”

Zuo Fu stepped onto the bridge as he spoke. Marveling at the sight, Liu Sanye followed suit, watching as the brilliant rainbow was trodden beneath her feet. Once on the bridge, the solid feeling of the ground vanished; she felt weightless, as if walking through the clouds.

Zuo Fu warned, “This is the sect’s protective array. You must be careful; never step so much as an inch off this bridge, or even I won’t be able to save you.”

He explained, “This array was set by the Ancestor Hegui himself. The magic of any cultivator will fail here; only the air above the bridge is safe. If you accidentally fall, I have no way to rescue you.”

Hearing this, Liu Sanye felt the abyss beneath her was like a bottomless black hole in the universe, ready to suck her down at any moment. Her fear of heights flared up again. Fortunately, the heroine was right beside her. With the Protagonist Aura nearby, Liu Sanye felt inexplicably at peace.

As they walked, Zuo Fu explained the layout of the Hegui Sect—this was a tradition for newcomers.

He said the outskirts of the Hegui Sect were surrounded by twelve abysses: the Ice-Fire Abyss, the Myriad Sword Abyss, the Drowning Water Abyss, the Illusion Array Abyss, the Fire-Devouring Abyss, the Poison Wood Abyss… These twelve abysses formed a circle around the sect. To the far north was the Ice-Fire Abyss, and to the far south was the Poison Wood Abyss. They were currently at the Poison Wood Abyss.

The Poison Wood and Ice-Fire Abysses were connected by a long Dividing Ridge that spanned the entire sect like a mountain range. The Dividing Ridge was “S” shaped; outer sect disciples lived on the Southern Dividing Ridge, while inner sect disciples lived on the Northern Dividing Ridge.

In the middle of the ridge were two peaks, one tall and one short. The taller one was the Main Peak, also known as “Heaven-Reaching Peak” because only those at the Soul Transformation stage or above could reach it. The current Sect Leader and the Great Elders lived there. The secondary peak was Fire Spirit Peak, the residence of the peak master Lin Yuan and his disciples.

The “S” shaped ridge divided the sect in two. To the west was Sunset Water Valley, with Green Wood Peak at its center. To the east was the Illusion Array Valley, with Sword-Coming Peak at its center. In short, the Hegui Sect was laid out like a Yin-Yang Taiji diagram: water on the left, earth on the right; water nourishes wood, and earth fosters metal.

By the time Zuo Fu finished the explanation, they had stepped off the bridge and officially entered the sect. At that moment, a young girl with three large red tails flew toward them. She had ruby-red lips and a pale face with a youthful pink flush.

This was the Outer Sect Teaching Elder, Xun Qiu—a little fox who had lived for three hundred years.

Zuo Fu cupped his hands: “Elder Xun, why have you come in person?”

Xun Qiu put her hands behind her back, posing as an elder: “I saw that brat Yining return and came to see if he brought any new disciples. Why? You have an objection?”

Zuo Fu shook his head repeatedly: “Not at all, not at all!”

Elder Xun continued: “Besides, you’re so slow! Your sword-flight is slower than my walking pace. If I waited for you to bring them, how long would that take?”

Zuo Fu didn’t dare argue further and could only nod: “Elder Xun is right.”

Xun Qiu finished scolding him and carefully examined Bai Tong and Liu Sanye. Perhaps blinded by Bai Tong’s Protagonist Aura, she began to clap her hands upon seeing her: “This is good, very good! I am very satisfied with this year’s disciples!”

Zuo Fu: “…”

Bai Tong: “…”

Liu Sanye: “…”

Realizing that clapping was a bit childish, Xun Qiu coughed and put her restless hands back behind her. She looked at Bai Tong: “Tell me, what are your names?”

Bai Tong didn’t answer. Liu Sanye smoothed things over again: “I’m Liu Sanye, ‘Liu’ as in willow and ‘Sanye’ as in three leaves. This is Bai Tong, ‘Bai’ as in white and ‘Tong’ as in pupil.”

“Bai Tong?” Xun Qiu muttered the name while looking into Bai Tong’s eyes, finally showing a look of surprise. “What happened to your eyes?”

This was the first time anyone had been so blunt about her eyes. Liu Sanye saw Bai Tong’s brow furrow.

After a while, Bai Tong replied: “My eyes were gouged out by a demonic cultivator.”

“Ah, I see.” Xun Qiu looked at her with some sympathy. “How tragic. But it’s fine; once you refine qi and open your divine sense, you can use that to see.”

Liu Sanye found it amazing—this sharp-tongued Elder Xun actually knew how to comfort people! However, Xun Qiu followed up with: “It’s just that without eyes, a person is a bit ugly.”

Liu Sanye immediately crossed out “comforting people” in her mental notes.

Following the principle of “sharing the wealth,” Xun Qiu didn’t forget Liu Sanye after roasting the first two. Indeed, after scanning Liu Sanye, she blurted out: “Little brat, did you go for a roll in a coal mine?” (Translation: Why are you so dark/tanned?!)

Liu Sanye smiled on the outside while cursing on the inside.

Having “greeted” everyone, Xun Qiu prepared to take them away. She said to Zuo Fu: “Alright, you can go back. I’m taking these two.” Zuo Fu nodded, and with a wrap of her long tails, the three of them vanished.

Liu Sanye expected another round of dizziness, but surprisingly, the transition was stable and they landed softly. Looking around, she found themselves in a boundless place that resembled deep space.

“Where is this?”

“This is my storage space,” Elder Xun replied. With a wave of her hand, the surroundings were filled with identical outer sect disciple uniforms.

These were different from the inner sect robes. Though the elements were similar, they were much simpler—not robes, but tops and trousers with many straps to tie the sleeves and ankles. One could imagine they wouldn’t look very fashionable.

“Tomorrow, I will hold a separate initiation ceremony for you. The teaching elders and inner sect elders will attend. Naturally, I must get you into some nice clothes.”

She opened her arms: “Go on, take your pick.”

Liu Sanye looked at the sea of identical black-and-white clothes and trousers and couldn’t help but grumble internally: Take my pick? They all look exactly the same…