A Consequence of Opposing the Heroine’s Halo (GL) - Chapter 35

A few days passed, frost and snow descended, and a thin layer of ice froze over the water. Unlike previous years, the Southern Dividing Ridge remained lush and green even after entering winter. Consequently, even the disciples with the lowest cultivation noticed the anomaly.

The outer sect disciples discussed the matter for several days, until a few days later, divine lightning descended upon the world.

On the day Chu Danxue formed her Nascent Soul, it was snowing heavily. Heaven and earth were a singular white. Suddenly, the calm sky was split by a bolt of startling thunder; a straight line of electric light pierced through heaven and earth, crashing directly toward the position of Fire Spirit Peak in the northwest.

On this day, all the outer sect disciples on the Southern Dividing Ridge rushed out of their houses amidst the violent, earth-shattering shaking. They looked up at the heaven-reaching thunderbolt, only to painfully cover their eyes in the scorching, brilliant white light. How could a body of mortal flesh and bone look directly at heavenly lightning?

Liu Sanye was one of those overconfident disciples. She clutched her eyes, howling in pain. Bai Tong’s divine sense could only investigate a distance of two zhang; she couldn’t see and didn’t know what was happening. She asked Sanye, “What’s wrong?”

Sanye was incredibly moved. “You finally! You’re finally willing to talk to me!”

Bai Tong: “…”

Liu Sanye waved her hands repeatedly. “I’m fine! My eyes just hurt a bit.”

Knowing Bai Tong couldn’t see, Liu Sanye explained it to her. “It’s a single bolt of heavenly lightning. It fell in the direction of Fire Spirit Peak. Tribulation stage has nine bolts, Great Ascension has six, Soul Transformation has three, and forming a Nascent Soul has one. Someone must have reached the Nascent Soul stage.”

She then recalled the original plot: after her heavy injury, Chu Danxue’s bottleneck had loosened. After half a year of seclusion, she successfully formed her Nascent Soul. Clearly, the person was Chu Danxue.

Liu Sanye added, “I guess the person who reached the stage is Senior Sister!”

Bai Tong revealed a smile upon hearing this. “I also guess it’s Senior Sister.”

In the original book, Chu Danxue had always been Bai Tong’s idol; she spent the first half of the story following in Chu Danxue’s footsteps. Now that Chu Danxue had succeeded, it was only natural for Bai Tong to be happy. However, looking at Bai Tong’s long-lost smile, Liu Sanye grew disgruntled.

Why did she give me the cold shoulder for days, yet smile the moment Chu Danxue is mentioned? Liu Sanye was quite frustrated! This was just like when she was a kid and her dad gave the only mango to her cousin; her mood was beyond gloomy.

Liu Sanye asked Bai Tong unhappily, “Why didn’t you smile before, but you’re smiling now?”

Liu Sanye’s tone was particularly mournful. Bai Tong immediately noticed something was wrong and asked, “Are you angry?”

Liu Sanye became agitated. “Who’s angry!”

Then, to prevent her anger from looking too obvious, she lowered her volume. “I’m not angry at all.”

Because she was lying, Liu Sanye’s eyes flickered. After saying this, she simply turned her head to the side. “You haven’t answered me yet.”

Bai Tong seemed to understand the reason for Liu Sanye’s anger and explained, “In the future when you form your Nascent Soul, I will be even happier.”

Liu Sanye thought: That’s more like it. She followed up, “Then why did you ignore me?”

Bai Tong replied, “If you stop practicing the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll, I’ll talk to you.”

Stopping the practice was impossible. Liu Sanye’s momentum instantly halved. She hurried to change the subject. “Since Senior Sister reached the Nascent Soul stage, Bai Tong, do you want to personally go congratulate her?”

She still remembered the kindness of Chu Danxue searching for her overnight; she figured Bai Tong certainly wanted to repay her as well.

Seeing Liu Sanye evading the question, Bai Tong turned and walked away without a word. Liu Sanye hurriedly chased after her. “Bai Tong, don’t ignore me.”

Bai Tong didn’t acknowledge her. Liu Sanye chased behind, shouting, “Bai Tong, Bai Tong, Bai Tong, Tongtong…”

Bai Tong suddenly stopped when Liu Sanye called her “Tongtong.” Liu Sanye was delighted and said quickly, “Bai Tong, you’re finally willing to acknowledge me.”

Hearing this, Bai Tong frowned and continued walking. Only then did Liu Sanye understand the true meaning. She shouted, “Tongtong, I have a map of the secret paths to Fire Spirit Peak! Elder Xun gave it to me! Tongtong, let’s sneak to Fire Spirit Peak to see Senior Sister!”

The foot Bai Tong had stepped out with was silently pulled back. She seemed very satisfied with the name “Tongtong” and replied with a smile, “Okay.”

In the original book, after Chu Danxue became the first disciple of this generation to form a Nascent Soul, she was logically conferred the title of Head Disciple of the Hegui Sect. The Lord of Fire Spirit Peak, Lin Yuan, was particularly fond of her and held a celebratory banquet in her honor. With so many people around, it was the perfect time to sneak in and fish in troubled waters.

Since they were going to celebrate, they had to bring gifts. Bai Tong went back to the room and lined up over a dozen dharma treasures, intending to pick a few.

As Bai Tong seriously inspected them, the treasures all trembled like sieves. Standing to the side, Liu Sanye chuckled. For the sake of these treasures, she suggested to Bai Tong, “I don’t think sending a dharma treasure is a good idea.”

Bai Tong looked up in confusion. “Why?”

Liu Sanye replied methodically, “After forming a Core, cultivators refine their own Lifebound Treasure. Senior Sister is used to her own; why would she use what we give her?”

A Lifebound Treasure is linked to its master’s bloodline and improves as the master’s cultivation rises, reaching 100% compatibility. Unless it is destroyed, a cultivator generally won’t use other treasures in battle.

“But besides these, we have nothing else to give,” Bai Tong said, thinking of Xun Qiu. “Even if she doesn’t use the treasure, she can play with it.” Xun Qiu had a hobby of collecting strange treasures to play with like toys; Bai Tong often saw her take out a row of them.

Liu Sanye looked at the hammers and blankets, and a drop of sweat fell from her brow. “It should at least be pretty, right?”

Then she saw the only high-aesthetic item on the bed: the Illusionary Glaze Fan. A crystal-glass fan that looked radiant and could create illusions to confuse enemies. But Chu Danxue was such an upright person; she wouldn’t be flashy like Xun Qiu. It felt a bit inappropriate.

Thus, the two of them agonized over the gift for several days.

A few days later, the news that Chu Danxue was to become the Head Disciple spread throughout the Hegui Sect. The memory of the heavenly lightning seemed like it was just yesterday; before the excitement could die down, a new wave of hype took over.

What was the concept of a Head Disciple? It was the title for the strongest among the Hegui disciples, a label for a future Sect Leader candidate, and a supreme honor. In the outer sect market, crystal projections of the Eldest Senior Sister’s likeness were being sold at sky-high prices just to catch a glimpse of her style.

Liu Sanye and Bai Tong knew nothing of this. Still unsure of what to give, they eventually picked the best-looking one, the Illusionary Glaze Fan. Once decided, Bai Tong began teaching Liu Sanye how to fly with a dharma treasure.

Among the flying treasures, Liu Sanye chose the ugliest blanket. It was a blue-and-white checkered wool blanket; from a distance, it looked like a curtain, and up close, it looked like a tablecloth. Ugly as it was, its surface area was large, making Liu Sanye feel secure sitting on it.

After activating the treasure, Liu Sanye crawled onto it using both hands and feet. But she didn’t choose to fly. She was afraid.

Liu Sanye’s spiritual power was more abundant than that of an average cultivator of the same rank. After starting the blanket, she managed to stay suspended in mid-air for the duration of an incense stick.

Bai Tong urged from below, “Why aren’t you flying? And your altitude is way too low.”

Liu Sanye was currently hovering ten meters in the air. She could only see the edges of the blanket and couldn’t see Bai Tong below, making her face go a bit pale. She said to Bai Tong, “Come up. If you come up, I’ll fly.”

Bai Tong refused sternly. “No. I’ve flown several circles with you already. This time you must fly by yourself.”

Liu Sanye curled her body tight, sitting precisely in the center of the blanket, not daring to move a single hair. She stiffened her neck and replied, “One last circle! Just one last circle!”

Bai Tong shook her head. “No. This is already the third ‘last circle.’ You must fly one on your own this time.”

Liu Sanye wore a long face. “Good Tongtong, this is really the last one, I swear!”

Bai Tong’s attitude was resolute. “No.”

Seeing this, Liu Sanye knew she was out of luck and thought of a compromise. “Then how about this—you also fly on a treasure right next to me. If I fall, you can catch me. Right?”

Bai Tong felt this was feasible. She summoned the Jade Frost Sword and flew to Liu Sanye’s side. Liu Sanye finally saw her and was moved to tears. “Now that I can see you, I can fly.” She wiped away a non-existent tear.

Bai Tong’s lips curled up; she was quite happy and replied with a smile, “But in the future, you have to be able to fly even if you can’t see me.”

Liu Sanye nodded quickly. “I will, I will, don’t worry.” Bai Tong’s eyes crinkled into crescents.

Three days later was the day the Sect Leader would confer the Crane Feather, representing the status of Head Disciple, to Chu Danxue. Disciples from the other four branches and some inner sect disciples from the Northern Dividing Ridge arrived at Fire Spirit Peak one after another.

Relying on the map from Xun Qiu, Liu Sanye used the secret paths to slip into the massive procession.

Foundation Establishment and Golden Core disciples took the main roads, while the two “small fry” Qi Refining disciples had to sneak through hidden paths. Liu Sanye sat on the blanket taking the helm; she was terrified of the other disciples and also had to battle the celestial cranes flying everywhere.

The cranes were massive. A single flap of their wings generated a gale strong enough to blow Liu Sanye’s blanket far off course. Her flight generally went like this: flying along, a crane appears, a wing-flap blows them out of the secret path, she panics and flies back, gets blown away again, flies back… it was a pathetic sight.

After this cycle repeated dozens of times, Liu Sanye was so angry she wanted to stew the cranes that were crowding her path. The sky is so big, why do they have to squeeze in with her!

The cranes seemed to sense her grumbling and understood her. They all flew directly in front of them, lining up their butts to face the girls. Hmph, foolish humans.

Seeing this, Liu Sanye’s veins bulged, and she silently clenched her fists.

Bai Tong quickly patted Liu Sanye’s back to soothe her. “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry.”

Liu Sanye maintained a 45-degree smile. “I’m not angry. Not at all. Really!”

Bai Tong: “…”