Female Lead, Something's Not Right (GL) - Chapter 7

Shen Shu took a sip of tea and didn’t speak. Just then, a knock sounded on the private room door, and a woman and her maid entered. With silver hair and pale lips, she wore a white fur shawl over a milky-white embroidered dress. A faint, captivating birthmark at the corner of her eye gave her a fragile, delicate look. Her slender body seemed as if a gust of wind could knock her over.

“True Monarch Hehua, Immortal Elder Lu Ran, it’s been a while, cough cough.” Bai Su bowed slightly, her eyes like water as she looked at Shen Shu, filled with a hidden love. However, Shen Shu’s gaze remained on the window, her mind elsewhere, not even sparing her a glance.

“I asked to meet you today because I received news that someone is refining a Heaven-Mending Stone at the Wanbao Pavilion, but the person will only accept a phoenix feather as a trade!” Lu Ran’s words were meant to gauge Bai Su’s reaction.

Bai Su’s heart stirred. “It’s not that Su Su doesn’t want to help, but this phoenix feather is a relic left behind when our Kunlun Valley’s guardian beast, the phoenix, was reborn from Nirvana. A phoenix only goes through Nirvana once every ten thousand years, and there are only three feathers. It won’t be easy to convince my father to give up one.” But it wasn’t impossible.

Shen Shu’s calm eyes looked over, and her long, cool fingers lightly tapped the table. “Valley Mistress, you might as well speak your mind.”

In the momentary silence, Bai Su’s eyes were shy and evasive. She bit her lip, appearing hesitant to speak. To anyone else, her gentle and watery expression would have melted their hearts. Unfortunately, Shen Shu was not a person who understood romance.

“If True Monarch Hehua hadn’t risked her life to save me in the secret realm back then, I wouldn’t be here today. Remembering that grace, I must do my best to help.” Bai Su recalled how, during her youth, she was ambushed by a ghost cultivator in a secret realm. Just as she was in despair, the person before her descended from the sky. Her graceful form, like a startled swan or a coiling dragon, annihilated the opponent with a single move.

In the Qianmeng Continent, it was no longer uncommon for male and female cultivators to become Dao companions with their own gender. She never thought that at such a young age, upon leaving the valley for the first time, she would give her heart away. Over the years, she had worked hard in the valley to cultivate her alchemy and learn various skills. At a young age, she had already made it onto the Top 100 List, all so she could stand by Shen Shu’s side.

“Righteous cultivators would all have helped against such an evil cultivator. The Valley Mistress doesn’t need to feel indebted,” Shen Shu said, looking back out the window with a hint of impatience.

Lu Ran immediately saw through Bai Su’s intentions and played mediator. “Then, what do you think is the best way to handle this, Valley Mistress?”

“Su Su has a plan. Two years from now is the Tianxuan Sect’s sect competition. At that time, hundreds of small and large factions will send up to ten disciples to participate in the learning experience. If the phoenix feather is used as a bonding gift beforehand, in addition to the ten disciples who will participate in the normal trials, three more Kunlun disciples could be given the qualification to become disciples of the elders. My father will definitely agree to this.”

Bai Su spoke with confidence, calmly observing their reactions. The Tianxuan Sect’s sect competition would select one to five disciples from each faction to join their own. These disciples would retain their original faction’s identity but would be officially registered here for study, and their resources and treatment would be the same as the original Tianxuan Sect disciples. This was an excellent opportunity for all factions to develop their sects.

Once a disciple from a sect was taken in by an elder as a sole apprentice, they would not only have abundant resources but also receive protection from a major sect if they ever ran into trouble. This was a highly sought-after opportunity. Bai Su was so confident not only because this was a mutually beneficial arrangement for Kunlun Valley, but also because in thirty years, the phoenix would undergo Nirvana again, and Kunlun Valley would gain three more feathers.

“So, you want to privately secure three disciple spots without them having to go through the trials, is that it? That’s not a difficult request. But I’m sure the Valley Mistress has more requests than just this, right?” Lu Ran asked teasingly, looking at Bai Su.

A blush crept onto Bai Su’s face. After some thought, she said, “I will participate in the competition with the regular ten. If I win, I would like to become True Monarch Hehua’s disciple.” Thinking of something else, she quickly added, “I will win on my own merit!”

At these words, Shen Shu’s brows truly furrowed, and Lu Ran was also surprised, but his inner amusement only grew.

“The Valley Mistress has a keen eye, indeed. But do you know how many people in this world want to become True Monarch Hehua’s disciple, and how many she has refused?” Lu Ran stood up, fanning himself, and walked around them.

Bai Su touched the silver hair draped by her ear, waiting for her reply. She was confident that Shen Shu would not refuse.

Just then, the silver laughter of the girls at the stall downstairs of the tavern drifted up. Gu Shiyan, clutching her storage bag and feeling uneasy, suggested that they split up to sell her goods quickly.

“Chu Ning, you guys go ahead and look around. I want to buy some Marrow Cleansing Pills and herb seeds. You don’t have to wait for me to meet up again,” Gu Shiyan said, waving goodbye to everyone and walking toward the alchemy shop in the market.

Inside the tavern, Shen Shu sensed that Gu Shiyan had left and retracted her divine sense. “Taking disciples… I can agree to participate in this year’s disciple-gathering conference. As for whether I take a disciple and who I take, that will depend on my decision at the time.”

Bai Su was overjoyed. In truth, her request to become a disciple was a spur-of-the-moment idea, and she hadn’t held much hope. She didn’t expect the other person to change the rules. Participating in the disciple-gathering conference was already half the battle won. She was confident that she would make a stunning impression and gain Shen Shu’s favor.

Bai Su happily stood up. “I will discuss this with my father as soon as possible. I will bring the item to you tomorrow night. Su Su will take her leave now.”

As the two of them walked down from the tavern, her maid, Qiu Yue, asked curiously, “Miss, why didn’t you stay with True Monarch Hehua for a little longer? It was such a great opportunity. With Miss’s extraordinary talent and beauty, True Monarch Hehua would surely fall for you. She’s even willing to break her own rules and participate in the disciple-gathering conference for you. You must hold a special place in the True Monarch’s heart.”

Bai Su smiled faintly at her words, her heart fluttering. But she wasn’t like other ordinary people. To have secured the position of Valley Mistress at such a young age, she was not without cunning and strategy. When she made her request, she had keenly sensed the discontent in True Monarch Hehua. It was best not to press the matter further.

After all, she had a long life ahead of her.

Meanwhile, Gu Shiyan walked out of the alchemy shop with a pang of pain, holding three medium-grade Marrow Cleansing Pills. Half of her five hundred low-grade spiritual stones were gone. She then went into an artifact shop and sold the marsh alligator’s back armor for two thousand low-grade spiritual stones. She then went into a tavern and sold the ten catties of marsh alligator meat for four hundred thirty low-grade spiritual stones. Only then did she happily pat her storage bag, feeling satisfied and ready to return to the sect.

The sun was high in the sky, and the crowd in the market had not diminished; it had grown. More and more people were arriving. On the way, she couldn’t sense anyone’s cultivation, as they were all more powerful than her.

In the center of the market, disciples of the Hehuan Sect, with their beautiful faces and revealing, provocative clothes, drew everyone’s attention wherever they went. The compassionate Buddhist cultivators of the Zen Sect of Buddhism, twirling their prayer wheels, entered the tavern. There were also Beast Cultivators accompanied by their spirit beasts, whose presence caused fear among the stall owners. The Demon Cultivators, with their animalistic features, always had a fierce look as they argued with others.

Just then, a hidden stall around a corner caught Gu Shiyan’s attention. Everyone wanted to set up their stalls on the main road, but this one was tucked away in a remote corner. She wouldn’t have found it if she hadn’t taken a wrong turn.

The stall owner was a female cultivator wearing a bronze ghost mask. Seeing the person approach, she smiled in a particularly lewd way. “Miss~ feel free to look around. Each book is only one thousand low-grade spiritual stones.”

Gu Shiyan was startled. “That expensive!” she blurted out.

The stall owner casually grabbed two books and shoved them into Gu Shiyan’s hands. “You’ll see! It’s worth every penny! Open them and take a look!”

Gu Shiyan was startled by the other’s enthusiasm. She looked at the two books in her hands, confused. “Fierce Maiden Entangled? Spring Breeze’s Mistake? Are these cultivation methods?”