Hating the Bright Moon That Shines Not on Me

“A-Yuan, Qingci. Go back first.” Jinglian withdrew her sword intent, flicked her sleeves, and sat back in the host's seat.

Shen Qingci did not move. She glanced at Chi Yuan twice before turning back to her master and asking, “Master, may Senior Sister live with me?”

Jinglian's hand holding her teacup froze mid-air. Her gaze swept over her youngest disciple before landing on her second disciple.

Chi Yuan kept her eyes lowered, offering no objection.

“You two...”

“Master, you already know what happened at Blood Thorn Ridge. The Mission Hall's intelligence had such a massive oversight, and Senior Sister's cave dwelling is too far from mine. I am worried.”

Jinglian fell silent for a long moment.

The restrictions at Yunqi Cave were indeed safer than any other cave dwelling on Wanjian Peak. It would certainly be better for A-Yuan to stay there rather than remain in her original quarters.

“Very well. Living with you is actually safer than staying right under my nose.”

“Thank you, Master.” Shen Qingci immediately stood up and bowed, her movements so swift it seemed she was afraid her master would change her mind.

Seeing this, Chi Yuan also bowed in respect.

The two of them took their leave. Stepping out of the side hall, their figures slowly disappeared down the mountain path.

Only Jinglian remained in the hall. After barely a moment of silence, several thoughts suddenly crashed into her consciousness.

Only now did Jinglian snap out of it and grasp the key point.

A-Yuan and Qingci had gone to the Miaoyin Sect's Dao Discussion Conference!

She knew all too well what kind of Dao the Miaoyin Sect discussed. Her two female disciples had agreed to attend a lecture on the dual cultivation methods of an all-female sect, and upon their return, they immediately wanted to move in together.

She wanted to call them back and question them, but the words caught in her throat and she swallowed them back down.

Her youngest disciple came from the Northern Region's Shen Family. With her clan backing her, there was no need to worry about A-Yuan's future cultivation resources or opportunities for breakthrough.

Moreover, Qingci was not someone of low character. She conducted herself with propriety, her behavior was impeccable, and she would not treat A-Yuan poorly.

However, the gap in their backgrounds was immense.

The Shen Family was a top-tier hidden clan of the Four Regions, rumored to have produced a Tribulation Transcendence ancestor.

And what about A-Yuan?

She was merely an orphan rescued from a pile of corpses. Aside from her swordsmanship and her status as a personal disciple of Wanjian Peak, she had no other backing.

If the elders of the Shen Family objected, what would become of A-Yuan?

Caught between her clan and her senior sister, how long could Qingci hold out?

Jinglian clenched her fingers, cracking the wooden armrest of her chair in several places.

For the first time, she felt a spark of ambition for the position of Sect Master.

Her senior brother had sat in that seat for far too long.

Whether in seniority, cultivation, or swordsmanship attainment, she was not inferior in any way.

Her senior brother had simply entered the sect a few centuries before her, claiming the advantage of seniority. Now that both of them were at the mid stage of Soul Transformation, her sword would not necessarily lose if they truly came to blows.

But her foundation was damaged. Back then, to save A-Yuan, a crack had formed in her Dao foundation. It was usually unnoticeable, but pushing her spiritual energy to its absolute limit would trigger a backlash.

Her senior brother knew this, which was why he acted without fear.

The Grand Supreme Elders were all in death seclusion, refusing to emerge unless the Azure Cloud Sect faced imminent destruction. Without their restraint, her senior brother naturally acted with utter impunity.

If he could target A-Yuan once, he could do it a second time.

She could not protect her disciples every second of the day unless she ascended to that position and grasped the Mission Hall, Law Enforcement Hall, and Council of Elders in her own hands.

By then, A-Yuan would be the personal disciple of the Sect Master. Standing before the Shen Family, she would not have to look up to them from such a low position.

Jinglian raised her hand to condense a transmission talisman. With a flick of her finger, the talisman flew into the sea of clouds.

“Junior Sister Liu, please come to Wanjian Peak. Do not let Sect Master Senior Brother find out.”

Biluo Peak, Phantom Moon Pool.

Liu Ruyin reclined on a soft couch by the edge of the pool. Her lotus-root-pink gauze dress trailed on the ground, revealing a sliver of her snow-white ankle.

The reflection of the moon in the water was repeatedly shattered by spiritual energy and gathered back together. Having practiced her illusions for six hours, she was dying of boredom.

A transmission talisman tore through the air and unfolded before her.

Senior Sister Jinglian's voice drifted out from the runes.

Liu Ruyin sat up abruptly.

She stared at the paper talisman, listening to it three times over, and swept her divine sense across the runes. It was indeed Senior Sister Jinglian's spiritual energy imprint; there was not a trace of forgery.

Liu Ruyin pinched the paper talisman, the corners of her lips curling upward. But before the smile could fully spread, she forced it back down.

“Do not let Sect Master Senior Brother find out.” She murmured the words, a trace of mockery surfacing in her eyes.

She stood up, stepping onto the jade stones by the pool, and tidied her hair against the reflection in the water.

The woman in the reflection had charming eyes and an alluring figure. Her illusion cultivation had already reached the early stage of Soul Transformation, making her a renowned beauty across the Four Regions.

Yet in her senior sister's eyes, she had never existed.

Liu Ruyin put away her couch, threw on an outer robe, and took a detour through the back mountain of Biluo Peak. Avoiding everyone along the way, she leaped across the dense forest paths beside the main sect road and climbed the stone steps on the side of Wanjian Peak.

She had walked this path countless times.

Years ago, before Senior Sister Jinglian broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, she had frequently visited Wanjian Peak to ask for guidance on spells.

Back then, though her senior sister was not particularly close to her, she would at least look her in the eye.

Later, when her senior sister damaged her foundation to save Chi Yuan, her temperament became colder and harder, and her visits gradually grew less frequent.

It was not that she did not want to come.

It was just that every time she came, she felt entirely superfluous.

At the end of the stone steps, the door to the side hall of the Sword-Falling Terrace was left ajar.

Liu Ruyin raised her hand to knock, but the moment her hand touched the wood, the door swung open on its own.

Jinglian was seated in the host's seat. Liu Ruyin walked inside, closed the door behind her, and placed a soundproofing restriction.

She sat down on the futon opposite Jinglian. Less than three feet separated them, yet an invisible abyss yawned between them.

“Why did Senior Sister call me here? Did something happen?”

“A-Yuan took a Mystic-grade Mid-rank mission to exterminate evil cultivators at Blood Thorn Ridge. The Mission Hall marked the targets as mid Golden Core stage, but the mastermind behind the scenes was actually a peak Nascent Soul evil cultivator.”

“The three stages of intelligence verification failed simultaneously. A-Yuan almost lost her life there...”

Hearing this, Liu Ruyin raised her eyes, the lazy charm in them vanishing completely.

“Senior Sister thinks I did it?”

Jinglian did not answer.

Liu Ruyin stared into her eyes for a full five breaths before suddenly laughing. The sound of her laughter was like a slap to the face—sharp and bitter.

“I dislike Chi Yuan. I admit that much.”

“Back then, you damaged your foundation to save her. Once I learned the truth, I began to detest her.”

“Every time I see you throw everything aside for her, I think, why? Just because she is that person's daughter, she deserves to have you protect her with your life?”

She leaned forward slightly, the corners of her eyes flushed with a faint red. “Even if I, Liu Ruyin, am narrow-minded, I would never use such underhanded, filthy methods to target a mere Golden Core junior.”

“If I truly could not tolerate Chi Yuan, I would confront her openly. Illusions, trapping and killing arrays, a one-on-one duel—even if I ended up dying by your sword, I would accept it willingly.”

“Secretly altering mission intelligence to lure someone into an evil cultivator's trap—this seat disdains to touch such shameful and underhanded deeds.”

Outside the window, the night wind swept past, carrying residual sword intent that whistled shrilly against the eaves like a flurry of sword cries.

Jinglian met her gaze, never wavering.

“I know.”

“You know?” Liu Ruyin froze.