Volume 4, Chapter 158 – The Rising Tide Draws Near

Seeing that Bai Xiang was ignoring her again, Zhu Qingluo gave a cold snort, then haughtily picked up her own bowl and started eating as if she had no intention of paying Bai Xiang any attention either.

A little while later, before Bai Xiang had even finished that one bowl of food, Zhu Qingluo could not hold back anymore.

“You definitely want to know.”

“You want to know so badly it’s unbearable. This act of yours is just a pose.”

“There’s no point pretending. I can see right through your thoughts at a glance.”

“For the sake of you begging me in your heart, I can make an exception and consider telling you.”

“Fine! I’ll tell you!”

Did she really say that without blushing?

Bai Xiang shot her a sidelong glance.

Forget it.

For the sake of the intelligence, I won’t argue with you.

Zhu Qingluo had clearly been holding it in for a long time. She herself did not know how long it had been since she had spoken with a newly made fri… a newly made infuriating junior. Once she opened her mouth, the words poured out in an endless stream, and she said everything she could think of.

That said, the information was not all that detailed.

For example, with the Immortal Works Hall and the Heaven-Monitoring Hall, all Zhu Qingluo knew was what kind of people their hall masters were, what they looked like, and what they usually did most of the time. Within the Demon Court, that was probably trash-tier intelligence, the kind even a fire-tending boy would know.

“…The Yuanxu Hall is where the Transmission Exalted Saint resides,” Zhu Qingluo was saying right when it mattered most. “The Guangze Hall is responsible for distributing ‘Water-Origin Marsh Qi,’ while the Luochen Hall is responsible for regulating and maintaining the ‘Dao Bell.’ Each has its own area of jurisdiction.”

The Dao Bell…

Then those people should all have a ‘Heavenly Dao divine pool’ under their control. Even if not, their strength should not be far off.

“What is the name of the Yuanxu Hall’s Hall Master?” Bai Xiang asked her.

“I’m not sure. I only know that the Transmission Exalted Saint is surnamed Pang.” Zhu Qingluo shook her head. “And he isn’t the Hall Master. He’s only acting in that role, because the Yuanxu Hall belongs to the Sacred Lord. He wasn’t the founder of the Dao-Void Methods, so even if he occupies that pool-seat, it only counts as temporary stewardship.”

“Then where is your Sacred Lord?”

Rеаd оո ΚatRеаdіngСаfе

“Missing.”

“Missing?”

Bai Xiang froze for a moment. Only then did she recall that she seemed to have heard before that the Demon Court had originally been an academic organization. Its lord had only wanted to gather people together to comprehend dao methods, and indeed had not shown himself for many years.

“When you say missing, do you mean shut away in death seclusion for years without coming out, or do you mean you searched the entire Demon Court from top to bottom and still couldn’t find him?”

“The latter.” Zhu Qingluo’s mood dimmed a little. “It’s precisely because the Sacred Lord isn’t here that so many things have spiraled out of control.”

The thing that saddened her probably had to do with factional struggle inside the Demon Court.

Bai Xiang silently analyzed it to herself.

The intelligence Zhu Qingluo had provided was indeed not especially detailed, but even at this level it was already extremely valuable. Bai Xiang could already sketch out the Demon Court’s rough internal ecology from it.

By pressing further, she also learned that of the Demon Court’s current thirty-three hall masters, more than ten seats were vacant.

As for how they had become vacant, whether those hall masters had disappeared or died and their Dao had perished, even Zhu Qingluo could not say clearly.

She did not seem to be lying. In that case, the only explanation was that her true body had deliberately withheld a portion of her memories.

Was it because of internal struggle?

Could she infer, then, that the Demon Court’s internal factional opposition had grown extremely severe, and that the side holding the advantage was suppressing dissidents without restraint, to the point that many hall masters like Zhu Qingluo had either been killed or chosen to leave?

Then Zhu Qingluo’s so-called “overthrowing the Demon Court” was probably an attempt to set chaos right and restore it to the ideal form she believed it once had.

Or perhaps she wanted to tear down the old and build anew. Maybe she felt certain things had already rotted beyond repair, and that rather than cling to the old order, it would be better to use the Order-Preserving Treasure to construct a new one.

And combined with the healing properties of the divine pool’s green light, hmm…

Was her reason for borrowing Little Huang that she wanted to revive someone…?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Zhu Qingluo stared at Bai Xiang with an unfriendly expression.

Rеaԁ on ΚαtRеaԁіոɡСаfe

Those golden pupils were too formidable. With Zhu Qingluo’s cultivation and soul strength, she should have been able to sense the vague emotion carried within them.

She thought Bai Xiang had just been pitying her.

That made Zhu Qingluo furious.

All the slights she had suffered before did not add up to this one. She seemed to be genuinely angry this time. She left the table on the spot and disappeared who knew where.

“Sister?”

Bai Xiang was still thinking when a little head popped up beside her, a few loose strands of black hair swaying down.

Bai Xiang pressed her lips together slightly, reached out to catch one of those strands, and played with it as she turned a gentle gaze on her younger sister.

“Had your fill of the spotlight today?”

“Heh…” Bai Zhuqing smiled awkwardly.

Before this, she had always been thinking about cultivating and improving. That mindset had actually been problematic.

Because she had only been cultivating in order to “catch up to Bai Xiang.” She had not even been cultivating for her own sake, so how could there not be something wrong with that?

Especially since what she practiced was the Path of Qi, a foundational method derived from the Daoist Five Dragons of Heavenly Water Method, one that placed extreme emphasis on the metaphysical and on personal inward certainty. That was bound to affect her cultivation efficiency and often leave her stuck at bottlenecks.

Now, however, things were different.

She had untied the greatest knot in her heart, Bai Xiang, and through the arena had also found the confidence that truly belonged to a cultivator. The whole of Bai Zhuqing now looked subtly different from before, and her vitality and spirit were visibly fuller.

And yet, compared to ordinary disciples, her previous cultivation pace had not been slow either…

Bai Xiang found herself wondering whether that was her little sister’s own talent or something inherited from her little aunt. Without thinking, she asked, “Why do you sometimes call me Aunt, and sometimes Sister?”

It would have been better if she had not asked. The moment the words left her mouth, the little girl’s face flushed bright red, and her eyes started darting everywhere.

Oh.

Right.

Bai Xiang came back to herself. Only then did she remember that her younger sister had only changed this habit in recent days.

Rеαⅾ оո KatRеaԁiոɡCafе

In the past, when they were alone together, Bai Zhuqing liked to call her Aunt, while in public she called her Sister.

But now, Bai Zhuqing liked to call her Sister when Bai Xiang was the one taking the lead, and only called her Aunt when Bai Xiang indulged her and let her take the lead instead.

That probably counted as… some sort of private game?

The corner of Bai Xiang’s mouth lifted for a fleeting instant. Thinking back to the startled, bashful charm her younger sister had shown just now, she suddenly felt her mood improve.

That unhurried ease lasted until she took out her phone.

Xiang Xian had sent her a message.

Because Shenming Sword Dao’s match earlier in the day had caused many participating sides to withdraw, the later schedule had to be rearranged.

And after the bracket was redrawn, their next match would be against Zhengtian Dao, the sect that simultaneously had Chang Hongyuan, first on the Heaven’s Pride List, and Gu Xi, first on the Heavenly Fragrance List.

Now that was interesting.

Bai Xiang narrowed her eyes slightly.

Because probabilities were not supposed to work like that.

Zhengtian Dao and Qianyuan Sect were among the very few teams, like Shenming Sword Dao, that were still undefeated in overall matches. Based on win records, even if these sects were to face each other, it should not have happened this early. Someone was very obviously rearranging the order from the shadows.

I only refused to reconcile with you people, and already you’re so eager to start playing dirty?

She shook her head inwardly.

Once again, Bai Xiang felt deeply disappointed in the narrow-mindedness of certain people.

Over the past few days, it was not only Qianyuan Sect’s invitation that she had refused. She had turned down all sorts of invitations from every direction, even ones that came through the court.

True, that had something to do with her asking for the Zhenyuan Sword, a price the court likely considered too high. But a failed negotiation was a failed negotiation, and being targeted afterward was only to be expected.

“Let’s see what the plainspoken netizens have to say.”

Sliding a finger over the screen, Bai Xiang familiarly opened the relevant platform and went straight into spectator mode.

Reαԁ οn ΚаtReαdіnɡСafе

Meanwhile, over at Zhengtian Dao’s residence, Chang Hongyuan was being troubled by the new tagalong that had appeared behind him.

“Senior Brother, why are you still online?”

“Senior Brother, look what time it is. Why aren’t you cultivating yet?”

“Senior Brother, if you keep acting like this, Sister Gu Xi is going to look down on you. How can you be this hopeless? You need to work harder!”

“Ah, can you stop nagging already!”

Chang Hongyuan truly could not take it anymore. He put down his phone and glared at his junior sister, Xu Shaolian.

Can’t you let me have one moment of peace!

But then Xu Shaolian said, “We’re facing Shenming Sword Dao next,” and he immediately froze. Only after asking in detail did he learn that it was because of the massive wave of withdrawals.

But something was off, wasn’t it?

It still should not have been this early.

Chang Hongyuan was not stupid. He could tell someone wanted to use Zhengtian Dao as a knife, and he did not like being wielded by others.

“There are even rumors going around now that Yang Chen doesn’t care about you anymore, Senior Brother. He’s already listed that Bai Zhi as his number one opponent.”

Xu Shaolian’s words drifted over from the side.

Huh?

Chang Hongyuan’s eyes widened.

How could that be allowed!

“Junior Sister, go stand guard outside the door.” He promptly stuffed his phone into his pillow and arranged his expression into one of solemn dignity.

“She’s only ranked twentieth, after all.”

“Watch me go into brief seclusion and beat her to her knees in a few days.”