Escaping the Sect on a Dark and Windy Night

“Junior Sister, I did it!”

As soon as Xue Mingzhao recovered from her cultivation, she saw Su Ye excitedly running around the courtyard.

“Junior Sister! The third level of the Formless Art! I succeeded! I told you I'm a natural genius!”

Xue Mingzhao cooperatively clapped her hands. “Awesome, Senior Brother! Truly awesome! With your talent, you'd be a hot commodity anywhere.”

As she clapped, she suddenly lowered her voice and looked around to make sure no one was nearby. “Senior Brother, want to pull off something big?”

Su Ye immediately perked up. He knew his junior sister was bound to stir up trouble. “What do you mean?”

“Let's go apprentice at the Heavenly Origin Sect.”

Su Ye stumbled, almost face-planting onto the ground. “What?”

Seeing Xue Mingzhao's serious expression, which didn't look like a joke at all, he immediately clutched his chest, looking heartbroken. “Junior Sister, I didn't expect you to forget your roots before me! Our Grand Primordium Sect has finally turned around, and now you want to switch sects?!”

Xue Mingzhao rolled her eyes. “What are you thinking? There's a Wanjian Mountain in the back mountains of the Heavenly Origin Sect. It opens once every ten years, and it's filled with peerless swords.”

“Oh—so you want to go find a sword?”

Xue Mingzhao nodded.

Su Ye was stunned for a moment and scratched his head. “But you don't use swords.”

“Exactly,” Xue Mingzhao said righteously. “Just because I don't use them doesn't mean I can't take one! Leaving it there only gathers dust. Isn't it great if I take one back to be our Grand Primordium Sect's guardian treasure? Besides, it only opens once every ten years. If we miss it, we have to wait another ten years, and by then, the opportunity will be long gone.”

Su Ye came to a sudden realization and gave her a thumbs-up. “Makes sense! Junior Sister, you really are smart!”

He completely forgot how absurd the idea of “someone who doesn't use swords going to steal a sword” actually was.

The two of them went to tell Su Mingyuan that they were going into closed-door cultivation for a while. Su Mingyuan didn't suspect a thing. Since his two disciples had been helping manage the sect's affairs every day, it was indeed time for them to focus on cultivating and raising their strength.

On a dark and windy night, the two slipped away from the sect together.

Before leaving, Xue Mingzhao even left a very sincere letter on the table in the Mingzhao Residence: “Master, Senior Brother and I have gone out for training. Don't worry about us.”

If they got caught, having this letter would at least save them from some scolding when they returned.

...

At the foot of the Heavenly Origin Sect's mountain in Yunque Heavenly Capital.

Xue Mingzhao was being squeezed so tightly she wanted to cry, and her feet were almost swollen from being stepped on.

Is this what a major sect is like?!

Did everyone in the Tianyan Continent who wanted to join a sect gather here?!

This crowd was even worse than a bustling market!

Su Ye comforted her from the side. “It's fine, Junior Sister. Once we finish testing our spiritual roots and enter the mountain gates, there will be fewer people.”

Xue Mingzhao sighed. “Senior Brother, I've heard that line eight hundred times already. If we wait any longer, I'll probably achieve Golden Core right here on the spot.”

After enduring for two hours, there was finally only one person left in front of them.

Just as Xue Mingzhao breathed a sigh of relief, a man in white suddenly dashed out from the side and unceremoniously cut in front of her.

Xue Mingzhao: ???

So, I spent two hours in line just for you?

Su Ye frowned. “Fellow Daoist, please queue up.”

The man in white paused, turned around slowly, and swept his gaze over them. With his nose practically pointing to the sky, he sneered, “Queue up? Do country bumpkins like you think you're worthy of lecturing me on rules? Do you know who I am?”

Xue Mingzhao rolled her eyes inwardly. Ah, the classic line. I bet fifty cents his next line is 'My uncle is an elder.'

Su Ye wanted to say more, but Xue Mingzhao pulled him back.

Xue Mingzhao looked at the man in white, her face expressionless. “No matter who you are, queuing is a basic rule.”

The man in white laughed as if he had heard a joke, his voice raising an octave. “Rules? At the foot of the Heavenly Origin Sect's mountain, my words, Wu Yong's words, are the rules! If you know what's good for you, get to the back. Don't delay my spiritual root testing.”

The surrounding people looked over, whispering among themselves, but no one dared to speak up to help.

Xue Mingzhao raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what if I don't?”

Wu Yong's eyes turned sharp. “Not getting lost? Then I'll show you the consequences of offending me, Wu Yong!”

As he spoke, he gathered spiritual energy in his hand and struck at Xue Mingzhao.

The moment the spiritual energy hit Xue Mingzhao, it was like a pebble dropped into a deep pond, not even making a ripple.

Wu Yong was stunned. Refusing to believe it, he threw another ball of spiritual energy at her.

Yet, she still stood completely still. The spiritual energy felt like it had hit cotton, failing to even flutter her clothes.

Xue Mingzhao tilted her head, turned to Su Ye, and asked with a puzzled face, “Brother, was he just attacking me?”

Su Ye nodded seriously. “Seems like it.”

Xue Mingzhao looked even more confused. “Then why isn't he done yet? I'm almost falling asleep.” She even covered her mouth and yawned.

The surrounding gazes instantly gathered on them, and some people couldn't help but chuckle. Wu Yong's ears turned bright red. Shamed and furious, he shouted, “You... you must be an evil cultivator! Otherwise, why would my spiritual energy have absolutely no effect on you?!”

Xue Mingzhao rolled her eyes, too lazy to argue. She reached out, grabbed Wu Yong by his collar, and tossed him out of the line like a little chick.

Wu Yong crashed to the ground, scrambled up covered in dust, and pointed at Xue Mingzhao, roaring in rage, “Do you know who I am?! You dare treat me like this! Just you wait!”

Classic villain line + 1, Xue Mingzhao rated it in her mind. Overly dramatic acting, zero points.

Xue Mingzhao clapped her hands and said without looking back, “Who has time to wait for you? Go line up, don't waste everyone's time.”

The surrounding cultivators couldn't hold back their snickers any longer, and quiet laughter erupted from all around.

Wu Yong trembled with rage, pointing at Xue Mingzhao's back for a long time without being able to say a word. In the end, he could only stomp his feet, curse under his breath, and run to the back of the queue, staring at Xue Mingzhao with murderous eyes.

Deacon Wang, who was in charge of registration and testing, watched Xue Mingzhao walk over and warned her in a low voice, “Fellow Daoist, that man is the nephew of Inner Sect Elder Wu. Elder Wu holds a high position. Since you treated him like that, I'm afraid he might make life difficult for you later.”

Xue Mingzhao: ...

She knew it!

She knew that line-cutting idiots always had backing!

Originally, she had planned to keep a low profile, fake a mid-grade spiritual root to pass the test, enter as an outer sect disciple, sneak into Wanjian Mountain to grab a sword, and leave.

Yet, an idiot with connections had to show up out of nowhere!

Xue Mingzhao thanked him and registered her name—oh right, they had already agreed on fake names on the way.

Xue Mingzhao was Lin Yue, and Su Ye was Lin Yi, pretending to be rogue cultivator siblings. The names were chosen quite casually.

Thinking about the incident with Wu Yong, she sighed helplessly and blinked at Su Ye.

Su Ye immediately understood, blinking back to show he got the message.

Xue Mingzhao placed her hand on the testing stone.

Three warm lights of blue, red, and brown lit up. They weren't overly dazzling, but they were bright enough.

Deacon Wang's eyes lit up, and he said happily, “Lin Yue, high-grade water, fire, and earth spiritual roots. Congratulations, Fellow Daoist.”

“Please wait on the left.”

Xue Mingzhao nodded. A high-grade triple spiritual root was just right for the Heavenly Origin Sect—not too flashy, but not too bad either.

“Next.”

Su Ye stepped up to register and placed his hand on the testing stone.

The next second—

“Boom!”

A brilliant red light shot into the sky, so bright it was blinding, looking like a small sun. It almost blinded everyone present.

Xue Mingzhao: ???

Deacon Wang's eyes widened. He stood up so fast his chair fell backward, his voice trembling with excitement. “Lin... Lin Yi! Supreme-grade fire spiritual root!!”

The surrounding crowd instantly erupted.

“No way, a supreme-grade spiritual root!”

“A living supreme-grade spiritual root! I actually got to see one!”

“This is way too incredible!”

Xue Mingzhao facepalmed. Great, so much for keeping a low profile.