Ling Xiyue slowly stood up.
She didn’t look at her indignant sect members.
She simply stared at Luo Qingchen, her hand reaching toward the storage bag at her waist.
The male disciple in green robes grew frantic.
“Senior Sister! You can’t believe her!”
“Shut up, I know what I’m doing.”
Ling Xiyue’s voice wasn’t loud.
However, an invisible pressure instantly swept through the entire hall.
The cultivation of the Gold Core stage was released without any reservation.
The bowls and plates on the table shook violently.
Those disciples who had been shouting the loudest were instantly suppressed, falling back into their chairs with pale faces and ragged breathing.
The rogue cultivators in the hall retreated in fear, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.
Luo Qingchen felt a tightness in her chest.
Her late-stage Qi Condensation cultivation was like a tiny flame in a gale before this pressure—it could be snuffed out at any moment.
But she forced herself not to show it, maintaining her profound and mysterious smile.
Ling Xiyue pulled a palm-sized jade box from her storage bag.
The jade box was translucent and emitted waves of chilling air.
She placed the box on the table and pushed it toward Luo Qingchen.
“This is the most valuable thing I possess. The Thousand-Year Cold Marrow.”
Ling Xiyue looked down at Luo Qingchen.
“If you cannot solve this situation, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and kill you.”
Luo Qingchen looked at the jade box on the table.
Inside her dantian, the Hidden Heaven Jade Slip vibrated with a low hum.
The notification of mission completion was within reach.
Luo Qingchen suppressed her racing heart.
Her palms were slick with sweat, but she forced a calm smile onto her face.
She reached out, her fingertips just about to touch the chilling jade box.
*Thud!*
A cold, glinting dagger slammed into the table, the blade landing a mere half an inch from Luo Qingchen’s fingers.
Wood chips flew.
“You little thief!”
Song Shu, the male disciple in green, had bloodshot eyes.
He stared fixedly at the jade box containing the Thousand-Year Cold Marrow.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as a flash of greed crossed his face, which he quickly replaced with a mask of righteous indignation.
“Trying to scam our Senior Sister! I think you’ve grown tired of living!”
Luo Qingchen silently pulled her hand back.
‘That was close. I almost lost a finger.’
These disciples from “righteous” sects were more hot-tempered than demonic cultivators, attacking without any warning.
She tilted her head, ignoring the fuming Song Shu, and looked directly into Ling Xiyue’s eyes.
“Immortal, it seems your fellow disciple doesn’t want you to escape your fate as the Lone Star of Malice.”
Luo Qingchen spread her hands, her tone full of regret.
“Just think about it. Once this fate is resolved, you’ll have many friends by your side.”
“Every day, someone will practice the sword with you, someone will chat with you, and you’ll never have to eat alone again.”
These words stabbed directly into Ling Xiyue’s heart.
“Many friends…”
Ling Xiyue murmured to herself.
Her frozen expression, which hadn’t changed in ten thousand years, finally showed a ripple of emotion.
Song Shu was hopping with anxiety.
The Thousand-Year Cold Marrow was so precious!
Usually, their Master wouldn’t even let them look at it.
Now, after the Master had given it to the Senior Sister, she was going to give it away to a wandering scammer who had appeared out of nowhere!
‘I’d rather have it for myself than let this fraud take it!’
“Senior Sister! Wake up!” Song Shu reached out to grab the jade box.
“This is clearly a charlatan who’s all talk! Once I use a few methods on her, she’ll show her true colors.”
Ling Xiyue didn’t look at him.
She kept her eyes fixed on Luo Qingchen’s.
They were very bright eyes, filled with a clever energy and an indescribable vibrancy.
In her sect, Ling Xiyue was used to looks of awe, avoidance, and jealousy.
No one had ever dared to speak to her so directly and without reservation.
Her intuition told her this person wouldn’t lie to her.
Or rather, she was willing to believe, just this once.
“Step back.”
Ling Xiyue coldly uttered two words.
Song Shu acted as if he hadn’t heard her.
His fingers were already touching the edge of the jade box.
Ling Xiyue held her fingers together like a sword before her chest.
The pressure of a Gold Core stage cultivator erupted instantly, a physical weight slamming down onto Song Shu’s back.
*Thump!*
Song Shu’s knees buckled.
He slammed onto the ground, his knees cracking the bluestone floor.
“Senior Sister! This person is a li—”
Song Shu’s face turned red as he tried to scream.
Ling Xiyue’s fingertip twitched.
Song Shu’s mouth was sealed by an invisible spiritual force, leaving him able to make only muffled grunts.
A Silence Spell.
The hall became deathly quiet.
Everyone was stunned by the ruthless methods of Hidden Sword Mountain’s Senior Sister.
Ling Xiyue stepped toward Luo Qingchen.
She reached out her fair, slender hand and patted Luo Qingchen’s shoulder twice.
An incredibly well-hidden trace of spiritual energy slid from her fingertips and seeped silently into Luo Qingchen’s clothes.
A tracking mark.
Luo Qingchen was a mere late-stage Qi Condensation rookie; she couldn’t detect such high-level techniques at all.
She simply thought this ice beauty was actually quite polite—thinking she had been scared by the disciple and was offering a bit of encouragement.
“Go ahead and do it.”
Ling Xiyue’s voice was still cold, but it carried a touch more warmth.
“How long will this ritual take?”
Luo Qingchen made a show of counting on her fingers, her brow furrowed as if she were performing an extremely complex calculation.
“This Lone Star of Malice destiny is no small matter.”
“One week from now, the results will be clear!”
Luo Qingchen spoke with absolute certainty.
Internally, she was mocking the situation.
‘One week? In one week, I’ll be ten thousand miles away!’
‘Who cares if you have friends or not! With your habit of suppressing people with pressure and silencing them at the drop of a hat, you deserve to be alone!’
‘Cultivation has turned her brain to wood. What a gullible, sweet idiot.’
“Good,” Ling Xiyue nodded.
Luo Qingchen grabbed the jade box from the table and shoved it into her robe.
“Don’t worry, Immortal! I guarantee it with the ten-thousand-year reputation of the Physiognomy Gate!”
“A word spoken is a word kept!”
“I will do my utmost to change your fate against the heavens!”
With that, Luo Qingchen cupped her hands, turned around, and walked away.
Her steps were brisk, her back looking exceptionally cool.
Just as she reached the door, she paused and turned back.
Under everyone’s bewildered gazes, Luo Qingchen walked back to the table and picked up the plate of soy-braised beef, which was still more than half-full.
“I see that the Immortal hasn’t eaten a bite, so I assume you don’t like it. We should never waste food, so I’ll take my leave now.”
She gave Ling Xiyue a solemn nod, took the plate with her, and vanished in a flash.
Ling Xiyue watched the direction she left, the corners of her mouth twitching upward in a rare gesture.
She gave a small nod in response.
Deep down, she felt a strange flicker of emotion.
She had been out traveling for so long, yet this was the first time she had met someone like this.
The first person to see her loneliness.
The first person to promise to help her find friends.
The feeling wasn’t half bad.
“Um… Immortal.”
The waiter tremulously approached, breaking the silence.
“That guest just now… she… she didn’t pay the bill.”
“She also made off with one of our best plates.”
Ling Xiyue’s expression froze.
Then, she pulled a small piece of low-grade spirit stone from her storage bag and tossed it onto the table.
“Keep the change.”
“I’ll pay for her.”
The waiter’s eyes lit up.
He grabbed the spirit stone and bowed deeply.
“Yes, ma’am! You are most generous! Please, enjoy your stay!”
On the ground, Song Shu finally broke free from the Silence Spell.
Clutching his aching chest, he wailed in agony.
“Senior Sister! You’ve been scammed!”
“What ‘Lone Star of Malice’? What ‘changing fate’?”
“There’s nothing wrong with your destiny!”
He pointed toward the door, shaking with rage.
“We isolate you because your personality is really weird! We just can’t get along with you!”
“The sect elders are too biased toward you! They give you all the best things, so we’re just jealous!”
“It has nothing to do with your fate!”
These words churned in Song Shu’s gut, but his mouth opened and closed without a single word coming out.
If he actually said that, the Senior Sister might split him in half with her sword on the spot.
Several other Hidden Sword Mountain disciples were terrified.
They rushed forward to cover Song Shu’s mouth and dragged him aside.
“Senior Sister! It’s truly wonderful news that you have a chance to change your fate!”
“Yes, yes! We should celebrate for you!”
“Once your fate is resolved, we’ll practice the sword with you every day!”
The disciples forced smiles, flattering her insincerely.
In the shadows, someone jabbed Song Shu hard in the ribs with an elbow, warning him not to speak out of turn.