Sword Peak's outer sect residence.
Since Sword Peak had so few people, Qin Zhiwei had directly arranged a quiet private room for Bai Zhirou.
Inside the room, Bai Zhirou rested her flushed cheeks in her hands. Following Jiang Ye's instructions, she cleared out the two spatial rings she had acquired earlier.
On the table, on one side lay a mountain of flimsy, revealing clothes—clearly Sima Kong's private collection—causing Bai Zhirou's face to flush red with just a glance.
On the other side were two piles of spirit stones, containing over a thousand low-grade spirit stones and more than ten mid-grade spirit stones.
With a conversion rate of 1:100 between low-grade and mid-grade spirit stones, it added up to nearly three thousand low-grade spirit stones. One had to realize that an outer disciple of the Azure Mystic Sect only received a monthly salary of one hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones.
“As expected, murder and arson bring a golden belt! Stealing really is the fastest way to make a fortune!”
Jiang Ye remarked with feeling. He then looked at the Magic Tool whip Sima Lie had “gifted” him before his death.
“This useless old magic treasure, I'll put it on the flea mar—bah, I'll just sell it directly later.”
After Bai Zhirou put away the spirit stones and magic treasures, only a slightly yellowed map fragment remained on the table.
Jiang Ye stroked his chin in his mind, carefully examining the fragment. “Strange. When I fought Sima Kong, this elite mob, in the past, he never dropped this item. Could it be because I intercepted him ahead of schedule?”
With his familiarity with the map as a veteran player, the graffiti-like mountain ranges on this fragment matched at least three different locations.
Perhaps he could skip the step of collecting all the map pieces and find this secret realm directly.
Most importantly, such a complex secret realm usually yielded great loot.
Jiang Ye's gaze then landed on the system rewards: ten portions of Tier Two Blazing Tiger essence blood and ten Tier Two Body Tempering Pills. He muttered in his mind:
“Looks like it's time to get a body-tempering cultivation technique to practice. Otherwise, it won't match my manly aura.”
Bai Zhirou quickly protested, “Wait... you're using my account... bah, my body! I don't want to become a muscle-bound woman!”
“Relax, I'm more afraid of that than you are. Not all body-tempering techniques will turn you into that.”
Bai Zhirou gritted her teeth. “Your credibility is currently terrifyingly low.”
Jiang Ye: “...”
Probably due to the alcohol, Bai Zhirou had become a bit bolder than usual.
“Senior, did you know? When I was eating roasted meat with Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters just now, it reminded me of my family. If only they were still here.”
“Actually, back then, your village being slaughtered by demon beasts wasn't an accident. Someone was pulling the strings behind it.”
Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment but decided to tell her. After all, she would find out about this piece of information sooner or later anyway.
“What?!” Bai Zhirou suddenly stood up, her beautiful eyes widening. “Who did it? Tell me!”
“Your current strength is not enough to bear this karma. Once you're strong enough, I'll help you slaughter every single one of them!”
“Okay... Senior... I will work hard!”
Bai Zhirou clenched her fists. This was the first time she had ever craved power so intensely.
Jiang Ye could only stay silent and play the mysterious expert, because he didn't actually know who it was specifically.
When playing through the storyline, he had always skipped everything like crazy. He would just kill whoever had a red name, paying no mind to the convoluted details.
As for accidental kills? Sorry, in a player's eyes, those with red names were mobs; there was no such thing as an accidental kill.
And those who accidentally got hit and turned red afterward, of course, they counted too~
The next morning.
A noisy commotion suddenly echoed from outside Sword Peak.
“You, the one surnamed Bai, get the hell out here! You'd better give us an explanation today!”
Over a dozen Beast-Taming Peak disciples aggressively blocked the mountain gate of Sword Peak.
The leader was a young man with arrogant eyes. At this moment, he was sitting astride a mountain-sized, thunder-wreathed white tiger with lightning patterns, exuding a terrifying aura.
Beside him was Murong Peng, who had just been beaten up yesterday. He was being supported by other disciples, looking extremely pathetic.
His left arm was wrapped in thick bandages and hung from his neck in a sling. Most comically, a massive chunk of white gauze was stuffed into his crotch area, making it look as if he were wearing a diaper.
Jiang Ye had anticipated last night that this classic plotline of “beating up the small fry only for the mid-tier boss to show up” would definitely play out. Thus, he had intentionally gone to sleep early. Now, brimming with energy, he took control of the account with a single thought.
Bai Zhirou's body trembled imperceptibly, and her gaze instantly turned playful and mocking.
Bai Zhirou asked with some worry in her mind, “We roasted their Fiery Bird last night. Will this be hard to resolve?”
Jiang Ye sneered. “If we don't cause trouble, how are we supposed to progress the plot?”
By now, a circle of Sword Peak disciples had already gathered in the outer sect square.
Chu Qianfeng stood at the very front, his expression solemn as he stared at the thunder tiger beneath Gao Jinli, shouting:
“Gao Jinli, your Bolt-Striking Tiger is already at the mid stage of Tier Two, with combat power close to the mid stage of Foundation Establishment! Bringing it to Sword Peak to challenge a junior sister who has just entered the sect—even if you win, it will invite ridicule!”
Gao Jinli gently fanned himself with a folding fan, his face full of pride:
“Senior Brother Chu, I am only at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation myself, which is well within the sect's rules. Whether I cause trouble for her depends entirely on her attitude. First, have her get out here and apologize to Brother Murong, otherwise...”
“Who's barking like a dog so early in the morning? And what's this about asking your daddy for 'tape'?”
A crisp yet arrogant voice echoed from behind the crowd.
Hearing this voice, Murong Peng felt a dull throb in his crotch, and his face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
The Sword Peak disciples parted like the tide, revealing Bai Zhirou walking out with a longsword slung over her shoulder, swaggering with every step. Her posture was only missing a briefcase tucked under her arm.
She walked up to a large green boulder, stepped on it, and struck an incredibly imposing pose.
Gao Jinli had wanted to see what kind of formidable figure this was, but he was first thoroughly stunned by Bai Zhirou's peerlessly beautiful face, only to be immediately choked by her extremely mismatched posture.
He closed his folding fan, his tone subconsciously softening slightly as he said in a deep voice:
“Junior Sister Bai, is it? You had some friction with Brother Murong yesterday, but your actions were a bit too harsh. For my sake, apologize to Brother Murong, and we can let this matter slide. What do you say?”
Jiang Ye glanced at him and waved his hand impatiently. “Where did this random stray come from? Giving you face? Get lost, I'll deal with you later!”
Gao Jinli: “?”
Then, Jiang Ye looked at Murong Peng. He wanted to laugh just thinking about what he was about to say. He composed himself before speaking:
“Oh, isn't this Murong Yueyue? Out for a stroll with such a big diaper on?”
Murong Peng froze, not immediately catching the meaning behind those words.
Ye Ningning, whom Jiang Ye had recruited beforehand as a shill, asked loudly, “Isn't his name Murong Peng? Why call him Murong Yueyue?”
“Because his 'bird' is gone.”
Silence.
The surroundings instantly fell into a dead silence.
Two seconds later, pfft...
Then, the entire Sword Peak crowd couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into roaring laughter!
Even from deep within the dense, towering ancient trees at the edge of the square, a few sudden chuckles rang out.
At this moment, in the canopy of the massive trees, the four True Disciples of Sword Peak were standing in different spots. Clearly, they had all been worried that something might happen to Junior Sister Bai.
Gu Changqing leaned against a tree trunk, thoroughly amused. “I really didn't expect that in addition to her astonishing talent, Junior Sister Bai's eloquence would be so outstanding.”
Qi Linger was laughing so hard on a branch that she was doubling over. She had even intentionally cast a silencing barrier around herself.
Ye Jinghong stood on a single foot atop a branch, his hands clasped behind his back as he praised, “As expected of a kindred spirit who holds the bright moon in her hand. She truly speaks to my heart.”
Even Gu Qingxue, who was sitting cross-legged nearby and was usually cold and taciturn, couldn't help but let her lips curve upward slightly.
Gu Changqing looked around and asked, “By the way, where is Fifth Senior Sister?”
Qi Linger replied, rubbing her aching stomach from laughing, “Junior Sister Qin went back to begin closed-door cultivation last night to prepare for her breakthrough to Foundation Establishment. She should still be preparing right now.”
“That is for the best.”
Gu Changqing stroked his chin. “I heard from Junior Brother Chu that Junior Sister Bai not only killed an evil cultivator at the mid stage of Foundation Establishment above her level, but she even had an epiphany during the battle. It seems both her talent and her combat brilliance are exceptionally outstanding.”
“In this session of the outer sect tournament, our Sword Peak can finally hold our heads high.”
Gu Qingxue nodded slightly, her voice calm. “Outstanding she may be, but this child's breakthrough was too rushed. It is not conducive to consolidating her foundation. I will have to give her some proper guidance later.”
...
In the center of the outer sect square.
Murong Peng's pale face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye. Staring intently at Bai Zhirou, he struggled to suppress his surging emotions and roared:
“I... I won't bicker with you. Where is my Fiery Bird? Hand it over immediately!”
Jiang Ye casually shrugged. “Oh, that bird of yours is gone too.”
“What?!”
Murong Peng's eyes turned bloodshot as he roared hysterically.
Rate on N.U.
