Holding the Sword to Carry Away Senior Sister (Transmigration) - Chapter 17

High peaks pierced the clouds, their mountainsides blanketed in lush, vibrant greenery. The massive Main Peak Plaza was partially hidden amidst the mist; because of the current situation, disciples from all directions were arriving on their swords.

Fu Yan passed through the clouds. Before landing, she saw a dense sea of people below. Aside from many inner disciples, a significant number of outer disciples from the left peak had also arrived.

At the center of the plaza, two corpses were laid out—one male, one female. Once Fu Yan caught sight of their faces, she paused.

Her guess was correct. These two were indeed the Zilan Sect inner disciples she had encountered in the Chihei Mountains—the ones who had died by her hand.

Scanning the crowd, Fu Yan did not see Bai Yueli. Assuming she hadn’t arrived yet, Fu Yan didn’t act rashly; she landed nonchalantly on a towering ancient tree at the perimeter of the plaza.

The crowd below was already buzzing with speculation. The group of disciples nearest to Fu Yan hadn’t stopped gossiping since she arrived. She ignored them, focusing instead on the Zilan Sect elder standing in the plaza.

Frowning slightly, Fu Yan couldn’t see through his cultivation. This meant he definitely wasn’t in the Opening Light stage; his cultivation was likely no lower than the Early Hedo Stage (Union).

In this world, after the Foundation Building stage, one opens the Qi Sea to reach the Opening Light stage, and above that lies the Hedo stage.

“Is that man an elder of the Zilan Sect? I’ve never seen him. Does anyone know who he is?”

“I do… I know. He is indeed an inner elder of the Zilan Sect named Xu Tanzhou. A year ago, his cultivation was at the Early Hedo stage. I’m not sure if he’s broken through to the Middle stage yet.”

“What? Even if he’s an Early Hedo elder, he can’t just slander Senior Sister Bai like this. Coming here alone to demand an explanation—does he not take our Shui Ling Sect seriously?”

“Look, our inner sect’s Elder Lin and Elder Zhou are here!”

Following someone’s shout, the disciples looked up to see two elders landing steadily in front of Xu Tanzhou.

Elder Zhou?

Hearing that title, Fu Yan froze on her branch. If she remembered correctly, there was only one Elder Zhou in the inner sect: Zhou Wunan, the second uncle of Zhou Zhenlie.

Fu Yan shifted her gaze to Zhou Wunan. He stood tall, looking like a man in his late thirties or early forties, wearing the distinctive purple inner elder robes of the Shui Ling Sect. He did indeed bear a slight resemblance to Zhou Zhenlie.

It seemed these two Hedo stage elders both had “unspoken” history with Fu Yan.

Shaking her head helplessly, Fu Yan smiled self-deprecatingly at her predicament. She could only hope that nothing would happen today.

At that moment, Zhou Wunan glanced at the corpses and spoke first: “Elder Xu, what is the meaning of this?”

Xu Tanzhou snorted coldly, his tone sharp: “You ask me the meaning? I’d like to ask what your Shui Ling Sect means by instigating your disciples to kill our inner disciples!”

“Elder Xu, you can eat whatever you want, but you shouldn’t say whatever you want. When have our disciples ever killed yours?” Elder Lin spoke up. His words were blunt, but he maintained a shred of courtesy.

“I’m talking nonsense?” Being questioned made Xu Tanzhou erupt. His aura flared as he stared coldly at the two and said, “Your disciple, Bai Yueli, killed our people. What, do you have the courage to do it but not to admit it?”

Just as he finished speaking, a white figure descended from afar. With the breeze fluttering her robes, Bai Yueli appeared in the center of the Main Peak Plaza.

“Senior Sister Bai is finally here!”

“Oh my god, is that Senior Sister Bai? I never thought I’d see her true face. I can die happy now!”

“Yeah, I probably won’t ever make it into the inner sect. I’d heard she was the greatest beauty in the Northern Region, and the rumors are true!”

With Bai Yueli’s arrival, the outer disciples who had been focused on the elders were instantly captivated and began to chatter.

Fu Yan, watching from the tree, felt her heart stir. This was the second time she had seen Bai Yueli since entering the sect. She was as cold and elegant as before; even facing Xu Tanzhou, her clear eyes showed not a hint of panic.

Fu Yan suddenly felt a twinge of guilt. After all, Bai Yueli had saved her life, and now she was taking the fall for Fu Yan’s kills.

Just as Fu Yan was agonizing over how to resolve the situation without letting Bai Yueli take the blame or exposing herself, she saw Bai Yueli slowly walk toward the two corpses.

Bai Yueli looked at the bodies. The male had been killed by a single strike that pierced his True Essence and heart; the female had her throat slit. There was nothing strange about the girl, but the man’s corpse was interesting.

Without a second thought, she crouched beside Liu Chuanyuan’s body to inspect the wound near his heart.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Xu Tanzhou, hovering in the air, thought she was trying to destroy the evidence. Without thinking, he struck a palm toward the back of her head.

A strike from a Hedo stage cultivator was not something even a Pure Yin Physique like Bai Yueli could withstand. If it landed, she would be dead or crippled.

Although she knew Elder Zhou and Elder Lin were there and wouldn’t let her get hurt, Fu Yan almost lunged from her branch the moment Xu Tanzhou’s hand moved.

It was an almost uncontrollable instinctive reaction. Fu Yan didn’t know what she could do with her Early Opening Light cultivation, but perhaps it was because she owed Bai Yueli her life.

“How dare you!” Zhou Wunan barked.

The elder beside him acted even faster, meeting Xu Tanzhou’s move head-on. Their cultivations seemed evenly matched, and they quickly disengaged.

“What kind of person is he? A Hedo stage powerhouse resorting to a sneak attack!”

“Exactly! It’s infuriating. So the elders of the Zilan Sect are just small-minded people who like to ambush others from behind. Truly eye-opening.”

Instantly, the crowd glared at Xu Tanzhou with contempt. Seeing his actions labeled as a “sneak attack,” Xu Tanzhou’s face reddened with fury.

At this point, Bai Yueli stood up and flew into the air, stopping between the three elders. She bowed slightly to Zhou Wunan and Elder Lin: “Disciple greets Elder Zhou and Elder Lin.”

“Mhm.” Elder Lin nodded. Bai Yueli was the most outstanding disciple of the younger generation; they were naturally biased toward her. However, given the situation, he had to ask: “Do you know these Zilan Sect disciples?”

Bai Yueli shook her head truthfully: “Disciple does not know them.”

“Did you hear that? Senior Sister says she doesn’t know these dead people. The Zilan Sect is clearly framing her!”

“Exactly! Zilan Sect people never were any good!”

Following her answer, the crowd below voiced their support for her.

As a Hedo stage powerhouse and an elder of the Zilan Sect, Xu Tanzhou was used to being respected. He had never suffered such indignation. If it weren’t for the two Hedo stage powerhouses in front of him, he might have lost control and started a fight.

Bai Yueli then turned to Xu Tanzhou and asked calmly, “Since Elder Xu claims I killed them, do you have any evidence?”

“Let me ask you,” Xu Tanzhou said, staring at her, “did you visit the Chihei Mountains half a month ago?”

“Yes,” Bai Yueli nodded.

“My disciple was at the Middle Opening Light stage. According to my information, only you visited the Chihei Mountains for training half a month ago; no other sect disciples were there. With your strength, killing someone in one strike is no problem at all.” Since evidence was demanded, Xu Tanzhou laid out his logic.

“Is Elder Xu here to tell jokes? Without any proof, relying purely on your own speculation, you come to our Shui Ling Sect to demand an explanation?” Zhou Wunan stared at Xu Tanzhou with a murderous look, clearly dissatisfied with his argument.

In truth, Xu Tanzhou had no evidence. But since Bai Yueli happened to be in the Chihei Mountains at the right time, he decided to use the opportunity to cause trouble for her.

After all, Bai Yueli was the strongest pillar of the Shui Ling Sect’s younger generation. If she could be ruined, the Shui Ling Sect would lose its voice in the Northern Region’s future development.

However, given how much the Shui Ling Sect valued her, they would protect her even if she had killed Liu Chuanyuan. Xu Tanzhou didn’t expect to actually destroy her.

But causing such a scene before the Grand Sect Competition would benefit the Zilan Sect regardless.

“Hmph, is it not obvious enough?” Xu Tanzhou snorted coldly, still pinning it on Bai Yueli. “Since you won’t admit it, let me perform a Soul Search on her. The truth will naturally come to light.”

He looked at Bai Yueli.

Soul Searching involves probing a cultivator’s spiritual consciousness. The caster can see every memory of the victim clearly. This means the person being searched will have all their secrets exposed.

Worse yet, the spiritual consciousness is the root of a cultivator’s life. Even a tiny bit of trauma during the search could turn the person into an idiot. No one would ever volunteer for a Soul Search.

“Soul Search?” Elder Lin’s voice turned icy. He was genuinely angry now.

Fu Yan, still on her branch, was also shaken. She hadn’t expected Xu Tanzhou to be so vicious as to want to Soul Search Bai Yueli.

Fu Yan realized that it no longer mattered who the real killer was. Xu Tanzhou had come here specifically to target Bai Yueli. If she was ruined, no one in the Shui Ling Sect’s younger generation could compete with the Zilan Sect.

Though she knew the sect wouldn’t hand her over, Fu Yan looked at the white figure in the plaza with worry.

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, Fu Yan suddenly felt a gaze land on her.

She looked up and locked eyes with Zhou Wunan.

Zhou Wunan was looking at her with a half-smile that made her skin crawl. In that instant, she realized something was wrong. Just as she prepared to turn and flee, she found she couldn’t move her body at all.

Then, she heard Zhou Wunan’s voice ring out across the plaza.

“Actually, half a month ago, we had another disciple who was also near the Chihei Mountains.”

I’m screwed, Fu Yan thought.

That damned old geezer!!!