Chapter 27 | How Could the Master of All Villains Be Righteous?

As Yu Fei headed toward Penglai Residence to visit the guests, she suddenly saw Chen Feng interrogating a female cultivator in the distance.

It was none other than the woman she had questioned earlier... Wen Li.

She turned her sword and flew down.

“How come I've never seen you before?” Chen Feng’s eyes rested on Wen Li, finding her unfamiliar.

Wen Li lowered her head. “It is only natural that Senior Brother Chen has not seen me. I only arrived at the Taixuan Sect yesterday. Due to the shortage of hands for the upcoming birthday celebration, Senior Brother Zhang saw that I possessed some talent and recruited me as an outer disciple.”

“How do you know my surname is Chen?”

“Naturally, ever since I entered the sect, I have constantly heard people say that Senior Brother Chen Feng is the most talented disciple under the Grand Elder. I saw Senior Brother Chen Feng entering and leaving the sect from afar, and I overheard others discussing you.” Wen Li smiled frankly. “For a towering, transcendent figure like Senior Brother Chen, anyone who lays eyes on you would remember.”

Who didn't like flattery? But Chen Feng was accustomed to being proud, so how could he be sent away with just a sentence or two?

“You...”

Yu Fei suddenly stepped over. “Junior Brother, why are you still here? I heard the gift-bearing party from the Fengyun Sect is about to reach the city gate. Have you received them?”

Hearing this, Chen Feng scoffed, “They are merely from a Third-Grade Cultivation Kingdom, equal in status to us. Why should I go personally?”

“Junior Brother is naturally a favored child of heaven, so there is no need for you to mobilize for ordinary people.” Yu Fei raised her hand and smiled gently, pressing her lips together. “It is just that the Fengyun Sect Master’s daughter has also come. I heard that her talent is on par with yours. I thought Junior Brother might be interested in meeting her. But since you have no interest, I shall go instead.”

Hearing that someone could compare to him, Chen Feng immediately changed his tune. “Thank you for thinking of me, Senior Sister. Since Senior Sister is being so kind, I shall make the trip myself. No need to trouble you to go.”

With that, he shot a glare at Wen Li and flew off.

Yu Fei watched him fly into the distance, the smile in her charming eyes not reaching her depths. She waved her hand to set up a barrier around them, rendering the two of them invisible and inaudible from the outside.

“For a piece of trash like him, why must Sovereign deal with him personally?”

“No matter how trashy a chess piece is, he still has a place and purpose.” Beside her, Wen Li lazily crossed her arms over her chest, looking at Chen Feng’s departing back. “Last time, I asked you to subtly leak the news to him that the Taixuan Sect’s Old Ancestor can calculate the destiny of blood relatives and enemies. He didn't suspect you, did he?”

“Rest assured, Sovereign. I merely brought it up casually with someone else. He chose to eavesdrop on his own, so it cannot be blamed on me.”

Yu Fei smiled charmingly, her eyes brimming with innocence.

“Sovereign, was that little girl yesterday your disciple?”

Wen Li raised her eyes. “What, you took a fancy to her?”

“I thought that since Sovereign didn't even care for me, you would take in a disciple with monstrous talent. Seeing it now, I still have a chance.” Yu Fei pursed her lips into a smile, her face showing a playfulness she never displayed in front of her master, Grand Elder Shen Qiyong.

“If you have the ability to defeat my disciple at the Qingyun Gathering ten years from now, I can give you guidance once.” Wen Li’s expression remained casual.

Yet upon hearing this, Yu Fei grew immensely excited, her eyes lighting up instantly.

“Is that true?”

Wen Li gave a faint nod.

Yu Fei raised her hands in utmost respect, the charm in her eyes fading into pure clarity and reverence.

“Thank you, Sovereign.”

Wen Li waved her hand. “I'm leaving.”

Yu Fei gazed longingly at her departing back, so obsessed and reluctant that anyone who didn't know better would think she was looking at her beloved lover.

Even though she knew those words earlier were merely meant to find a whetstone for her precious disciple...

Her fingers clenched tightly into her palm. But what if... she could actually win?

To temper that female disciple, as soon as this Sovereign entered the city, she contacted her to set a trap for Chen Feng—sparing no effort to manipulate the Taixuan Sect’s Old Ancestor into making a move, all to break her disciple's wings so she would refocus on hatred and temper her mind.

Such painstaking and meticulous cultivation was something she dreamed of.

Yet she didn't understand why Sovereign had gone through the trouble of leading six cultivators to Feng Ling to borrow a knife to kill, when Sovereign could have simply knocked out her two disciples and killed those six cultivators directly.

Could it be...

Besides hiding it from those two disciples, did Sovereign have other motives? But if she wanted to hide it, how did she safely escape from Feng Ling with only a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivation base?

Or was there some other purpose besides tempering her disciple?

Yu Fei was straining every cell in her body, wracking her brain to figure it out.

Suddenly, a leaf drifted in front of her eyes.

There seemed to be something written on it, and she subconsciously caught it.

“Your cleverness is wasted at the Taixuan Sect. Know your limits.”

“...!”

Yu Fei’s body froze, a chill running down her spine.

The moment she clearly read the line of words, the leaf suddenly shattered into dust and vanished in her hand.

She turned her head to scan her surroundings almost reflexively, seeing nothing, yet she immediately spoke up.

“Rest assured, Sovereign. Yu Fei will never seek her own doom.”

After saying those words, the invisible sense of surveillance in the air vanished. Only then did Yu Fei dare to relax and catch her breath. She swallowed hard, realizing her palms were drenched in sweat only when she clenched her fists.

Without staying any longer, she hurried back to her cave abode.

She understood that Wen Li’s words just now were not only encouraging her to leap beyond the Taixuan Sect and seek a higher place, but also warning her:

Do not presume to overthink her intentions.

Sovereign had predicted her overthinking. With such depth and calculation, even if she really became her master, Yu Fei probably wouldn't feel at peace either.

She really wondered what kind of future awaited those who became her disciples.

...

[Host, why does she call you Sovereign?]

“Doesn't that title sound impressive? It sounds like a big shot, flashy and grand enough.”

[No, I mean, Yu Fei is at the mid stage of the Golden Core realm, so why does she call a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection like you 'Sovereign'?]

“Because I sold her something before. When she asked for my name, I told her I was named Sovereign.”

[...] For the first time, the system displayed silent speechlessness.

The system still felt something was off. [Host, was destroying Yao Dai's spiritual root your design?!]

Flying back toward the thatched hut, Wen Li spoke with righteous confidence, “Hatred is the ultimate tonic to spur a person forward. Hatred lasts longer than love and ignites one's fighting spirit even more. Wasn't I just trying to make Yao Dai cultivate more diligently, so she won't be defeated by the male and female leads in the future? Who knew that the Taixuan Sect’s Old Ancestor would go straight for destroying her spiritual root? Luckily, I was prepared.”

[Prepared... Oh, I remember now! Shortly after Yao Dai acknowledged you as her master, you mentioned seizing other people's spiritual roots. Did you already plan to destroy Yao Dai's spiritual root back then?!]

Seeing that it finally caught on, Wen Li, who had been trying so hard to train the system, felt exhausted. Too hard to carry, way too hard to carry.

She said earnestly, “Yao Dai was the first disciple I took in among the six, and her nature is the least bad. If I didn't teach her to be ruthless and strip away her mercy in advance, I fear that once she leaves my side in the future, she'll be tricked and harmed by a few sweet words. Destroying her spiritual root was merely to let her acquire a better one. I'm doing this for her own good.”

[But isn't she already a Supreme Grade Water Spiritual Root? How much better do you want it to be?] The system was bewildered again. According to the host's logic, it really was for Yao Dai's own good.