“It’s hilarious?”
The woman frowned slightly.
“You’re telling a joke yourself, aren’t you allowed to laugh?”
“Yes, although our Longchang Sect is not a super sect, it is still a prefecture-level immortal sect. Who among the elders in the sect is not above the Guiyi Realm? What right do you have to come and be an elder?”
…
Several disciples mocked. As disciples of such a weak sect, they had little experience of the world. In their understanding, it indeed took forty to fifty years to reach the Guiyi Realm, so the woman in her twenties in front of them could never be a master.
“I think she hasn’t finished speaking yet, right? She’s not here to be an elder, but to be the elder’s concubine!”
“If you want to join the Longchang Sect, you don’t need to be the elder’s concubine, just be my concubine.”
“You’re quite smart. Seeing that you need to queue up, you deliberately came forward to act crazy, so you can take a shortcut, right?”
…
Several disciples continued to mock without restraint, even ignoring those who were queuing.
“You’re courting death!”
The woman’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. The four Longchang Sect disciples in front of her were instantly crushed as if by a thousand pounds of weight. Their legs went weak and they knelt down, their kneecaps crashing directly onto the ground paved with yellow granite slabs.
“Crack!”
A clear sound of bone fracturing rang out.
The four disciples reflexively wanted to shout, but they couldn’t open their mouths for the life of them. They could only see their facial muscles contorting due to the extreme pain, tears streaming down their faces.
The people queuing around were so terrified that they scattered far away.
“Your heads are temporarily stored on your shoulders. Whether I return them or not depends on my mood!”
The woman walked between the four disciples with light steps.
It was only after the woman had walked a long way that the four disciples were freed from the spiritual pressure. They immediately hugged their legs and screamed.
The white-clothed woman’s actions naturally alerted the other disciples of the Longchang Sect, so people kept coming to cause trouble along the way. Unfortunately, they all knelt down before they could even get close, following the same fate as those four gatekeeping disciples.
“Esteemed Immortal Fairy, I am Elder Zhu Yan of the Longchang Sect. Have we offended you somewhere? Why are you attacking us?”
Just then, an old man with white hair and beard stepped forward to inquire. He did not immediately engage in combat because he knew he was no match for the other party. Such spiritual pressure was definitely not something a cultivator in the Guiyi Realm could do.
“Then you’ll have to ask those watchdogs at the door! This Immortal Fairy kindly came to seek a job, but they insulted me with their words. Tell me, should I have acted?”
The white-clothed woman retorted. Since she was here to seek a job, she did not want to make things awkward.
“Is there such a thing?”
Zhu Yan said, half-believingly.
“With my strength, I shouldn’t have to lie to you, right?”
The white-clothed woman said domineeringly.
Zhu Yan suddenly realized that the other party was at least a master in the Huashen Realm. If she wanted to leave, no one could stop her, so there was no need for her to lie to him.
“I apologize! Esteemed Immortal Fairy! I apologize on behalf of the Longchang Sect! I will investigate this matter thoroughly, and if those disciples really spoke rudely to you, I will not tolerate it.”
Zhu Yan bowed. In the cultivation world, the strong were respected, and it was not shameful for him to do so.
“Enough with the nonsense. Take me to see your Sect Leader. I want to be a guest elder of the Longchang Sect.”
The white-clothed woman said impatiently.
“What? Guest Elder?”
Zhu Yan was overjoyed. For such a powerful cultivator to join the Longchang Sect would be a great piece of news, even if she was just a guest elder.
Next, Zhu Yan led the white-clothed woman to the great hall at the peak of the mountain to see the Sect Leader and explained the reason.
The Sect Leader of the Longchang Sect was named Xiang Yang. Although he was over a hundred years old, his cultivation was still stuck at the first level of the Guiyi Realm. Compared to those peerless geniuses, he was indeed quite lackluster, but it was already an impressive achievement compared to most cultivators.
“This Immortal Fairy looks a bit familiar. Have we met somewhere before?”
Xiang Yang carefully sized up the white-clothed woman and said thoughtfully.
“Never met.”
The white-clothed woman replied coldly.
“Esteemed Immortal Fairy, although our Longchang Sect is not a top sect in Yongning Prefecture, elders are important figures in a sect. If you take office without a formal test, I’m afraid it won’t convince the public. I hope you can understand.”
Xiang Yang gave up on the casual conversation and got straight to the point. He couldn’t make a hasty decision based solely on Zhu Yan’s word, so he wanted to witness it himself.
“Then how do you plan to test me?”
The white-clothed woman said calmly.
“Let Elder Zhu spar with you for a few rounds. If you can last thirty rounds under him, then you can be a guest elder of our Longchang Sect.”
Xiang Yang said after thinking for a moment. Since he didn’t know the other party’s background, he naturally didn’t dare to act personally, so he arranged a scapegoat.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yan’s expression turned extremely ugly. He thought to himself, “Do you have any integrity as a Sect Leader, you scoundrel?”
“He’s not qualified, you should come yourself!”
The white-clothed woman naturally understood that Xiang Yang was playing a trick. She abhorred evil and directly released her spiritual sense to suppress him.
Xiang Yang did not expect the other party to be so unscrupulous. He quickly condensed his spiritual sense to resist. As soon as they made contact, he felt that the other party’s spiritual sense was about the same as his. The heavy burden in his heart finally lifted. As long as he didn’t make a fool of himself, it would be fine.
However, even so, Xiang Yang was secretly shocked. The other party looked absolutely no older than thirty and was still within the range of an immortal seed. To reach the Huashen Realm at such a young age, let alone in Yongning Prefecture, there wouldn’t be more than a handful of such people in the entire Xihui Dynasty’s cultivation world.
He wondered, ‘Which one of them could she be?’
Xiang Yang began to mentally cross off these geniuses one by one.
But at this moment, Xiang Yang suddenly realized that the other party’s spiritual sense was actually increasing. He could no longer afford to indulge in his thoughts and quickly urged his spiritual sense to cope.
Next, Xiang Yang was horrified to find that even with all his strength, the woman’s spiritual sense could always suppress him, as if there was no end to it.
Cold sweat gradually began to appear on Xiang Yang’s forehead. He wanted to surrender, but as the Sect Leader, he could not do so. Therefore, he could only grit his teeth and persist, hoping that the other party’s spiritual sense was not much stronger than his, so that they would stop in time.
Unfortunately, things did not go as he wished. The woman still had no intention of stopping, even as Xiang Yang’s head throbbed with pain.
“Stop, stop, stop, I give up, I give up!”
Xiang Yang could no longer care about his face and quickly surrendered.
“Hmph!”
The woman snorted coldly and then “reluctantly” withdrew her spiritual sense.
‘She’s actually stronger than the Sect Leader? Where did this monster come from!’
Zhu Yan, who was watching from the side, was dumbfounded.
“This Immortal Fairy is truly extraordinary. At such a young age, her cultivation has actually surpassed this old man!”
Xiang Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead with lingering fear.
“How about it? Can I be appointed as a guest elder of the Longchang Sect now?”
The white-clothed woman asked impatiently again.
“Your strength is sufficient, but your identity… May I ask for the Immortal Fairy’s name?”
Xiang Yang cautiously probed. Although he craved talent, he couldn’t recruit just anyone into the sect. What if the other party was a vicious criminal? Then the Longchang Sect would become a place for harboring evil.
The white-clothed woman hesitated for a moment, then a waist token appeared in her hand without warning, and she casually threw it to Xiang Yang.
Xiang Yang caught it and subconsciously read the words on it: “Broken Cloud Peak, Immortal Elder, Lin Ran!”
The next moment, Xiang Yang’s eyes widened like copper bells, and he stammered, “You… you are the number one immortal seed of Broken Cloud Peak… the Sixth Princess of the Xihui Dynasty, Lin… Lin Ran?”
“Who in the Xihui Dynasty do you think would dare to impersonate me?”
Lin Ran asked back instead of answering.
Xiang Yang and Zhu Yan, who was equally dumbfounded, exchanged glances. Their legs were trembling violently, and finally, they knelt down: “Greetings, Your Highness!”
“Get up. We are all cultivators, so there’s no need to stand on ceremony.”
Lin Ran instructed.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness! If I had known your identity earlier, I wouldn’t have dared to confront you even if I had the guts of a bear.”
Xiang Yang said while standing up and apologizing. He felt a little resentful in his heart. You are the Sixth Princess of a dynasty and the number one immortal seed of Broken Cloud Peak. If you had any requests, you could have just stated your identity, and there would have been no trouble. Why did you have to play the role of a pig that eats a tiger?
“I don’t want to be seen as relying on my identity to freeload.”
Lin Ran stated her attitude.
“May I ask why Your Highness has graced our Longchang Sect with your presence?”
Xiang Yang asked cautiously.
“I want to be a guest elder of the Longchang Sect, and my purpose is to represent the Longchang Sect in the Evergreen Convention of Yongning Prefecture in a year’s time. I hope Sect Leader Xiang will grant my request.”
Lin Ran stated her purpose.
“As Your Highness commands!”
Xiang Yang naturally did not dare to refuse and did not dare to ask for reasons. After all, neither the royal family nor Broken Cloud Peak were figures that a mere Sect Leader of the Longchang Sect could afford to offend.
Next, Xiang Yang instructed a female disciple to lead Lin Ran to her accommodation.
“It seems that the Immortal Alliance’s rewards have indeed attracted the attention of many cultivators from outside the region.”
Xiang Yang sighed.
“But I don’t understand. With her status and position, it should be easy for her to join any sect in Yongning Prefecture. Why did she specifically choose our sect, which is lagging behind in strength?”
Zhu Yan, standing beside him, asked with confusion.
“Who knows?”
Xiang Yang shook his head helplessly.
Actually, the reason Lin Ran did this was very simple. She wanted to compete on the same level as Cheng Hong Ling. If she won with the help of other powerful sects, it wouldn’t prove anything.
In short, Lin Ran’s main purpose in coming to Yongning Prefecture this time was to defeat Cheng Hong Ling to prove herself. Whether she could get the rewards was secondary, as the imperial palace was not lacking in such things.
