“Senior Sister Lan, don’t be angry. You know how the Young Sect Leader’s temper is, even I’m afraid of him.”
At this moment, a young man with a righteous face and dignified appearance stepped forward, speaking to Lan Yu’er.
“Yue Ren!”
The speaker was Yue Ren, ranked third among the top ten core disciples, with a cultivation at the peak of the eighth level of the Mortal Realm, only slightly weaker than Lan Yu’er.
However, Yue Ren had mastered an exceptionally powerful sword technique, making both Lan Yu’er and Ren Xing Tian reluctant to face him in combat.
Among the top three core disciples, Lan Yu’er, who excelled in alchemy and medicine, seemed the easiest to deal with.
“Yue Ren, you’ve always wanted to take my position as Young Sect Leader. The opportunity is coming soon, and I’ll be waiting right here, heh, but I’m afraid you don’t have what it takes.”
Ren Xing Tian gave off an air of madness, the kind that feared neither heaven nor earth.
“Hahaha, Young Sect Leader, you’re joking. With my strength, how could I possibly compete for your position?”
Yue Ren laughed heartily, waving his hand dismissively.
“Stop bloody pretending, I know your strength better than you do!”
Ren Xing Tian suddenly revealed a ferocious expression, cursing loudly.
“Since the Young Sect Leader says so, I, your junior brother, will have to do my best.”
Yue Ren’s expression turned serious as he bowed slightly.
“That’s more like it!”
Seeing that there was nothing more for him here, Ling Xiao prepared to leave.
The conflicts among core disciples weren’t something an outer sect disciple like him could get involved in.
His priority now was to continue improving his strength, using his outer sect disciple status as a shield to keep a low profile.
“Senior Sister Lan, I’m leaving.”
Before departing, Ling Xiao naturally had to inform Lan Yu’er.
Lan Yu’er looked at Ling Xiao, and after a long pause, a helpless look appeared in her beautiful eyes. She sighed and said, “I know even if I try to persuade you, you definitely won’t listen, but as your senior sister, I genuinely hope you’ll stop practising it.”
At this, Lan Yu’er glanced at the frenzied Ren Xing Tian and lowered her voice, continuing, “Ren Xing Tian wasn’t always this mad. He became like this because the woman he loved died, and the cause of her death was practising it.”
“Senior Sister, I appreciate your concern, but just because others failed doesn’t mean I will.”
Ling Xiao wasn’t being arrogant.
Those who failed at practising it didn’t possess the Mountain River Martial Soul.
In other words, he was unique in this regard.
So, a unique person practising a unique martial art, wasn’t that a match made in heaven?
It was practically his exclusive martial art.
But he couldn’t just say that out loud.
Even to Lan Yu’er, he didn’t want to reveal the secret of the Mountain River Martial Soul.
It wasn’t that he feared Lan Yu’er would covet it, but that he didn’t want to burden her with the pressure.
He knew how hard it was to keep such a secret. He didn’t dare live with other disciples, fearing he might accidentally let slip the secret of the Mountain River Martial Soul.
He didn’t even dare sleep easily.
Even when he did sleep, he used formations to protect himself.
He could bear such pain alone, there was no need for Lan Yu’er to share it.
“I knew it.”
Lan Yu’er gave a wry smile.
“Senior Sister Lan, though there are some things I can’t tell you, one thing I’m certain of: the reason so many people met with accidents while practising this martial art is because its power is too terrifying. Harnessing the power of celestial phenomena isn’t something just anyone can do.”
Ling Xiao explained, “I’ll be careful, and who knows, maybe I’ll create another miracle?”
In truth, that wasn’t the only reason.
During his recent practice, Ling Xiao had discovered some secrets.
This martial art contained numerous subtle errors.
Without analysing it through the Mountain River Martial Soul, he would never have noticed them.
The head of the Moonlight Sect’s inner sect library had once said that this martial art was given to the sect by another faction, so Ling Xiao suspected someone had tampered with it, causing these issues.
Perhaps that faction couldn’t practise it themselves but thought the geniuses of the Moonlight Sect might succeed.
To thoroughly sabotage the Moonlight Sect, they used powerful soul force to erase key parts, replacing them with harmful content.
The person who altered this martial art was likely at least at the Cave Heaven Realm, with incredibly strong soul force, so even experts at the Celestial Realm wouldn’t notice anything amiss.
But they probably never imagined Ling Xiao would possess the Mountain River Martial Soul.
He was an anomaly.
Of course, even if the martial art were fully restored to its original form, reducing much of the danger, the difficulty wouldn’t decrease at all.
If it were so easy to practise, others wouldn’t have given it to the Moonlight Sect so readily.
“A miracle, huh? That’s actually quite possible!”
Lan Yu’er looked at Ling Xiao, and for some reason, she had immense confidence in this guy, feeling he was an expert at breaking conventions.
“Heh, then, Senior Sister Lan, I’ll be off?”
“No rush. The inner sect will soon announce some matters, and since you’re now participating in inner sect joint training, you’re half an inner sect disciple. Stay and listen, it won’t hurt.”
Lan Yu’er smiled.
“Alright then.”
Ling Xiao nodded, genuinely curious about what the inner sect was about to announce, especially since so many inner sect disciples, including all ten core disciples, were present. It definitely wasn’t a trivial matter.
By now, the Swordman King had been taken away by the medicine hall.
He was lucky to be alive, though he had fallen into a deep coma, likely needing a long time to wake up.
As time passed, aside from the inner sect disciples still out on missions, the rest had all arrived at the inner sect’s main hall.
Over 190 inner sect disciples, including the ten core disciples, were present.
Through the crowd, Ling Xiao spotted Leng Hao, who had long been taken in by the Golden Light Heavenly Venerable.
Leng Hao now exuded the aura of a Mortal Realm powerhouse.
As expected of a super genius chosen by the Golden Light Heavenly Venerable, his cultivation speed was unmatched, and he was even younger than Ling Xiao.
Leng Hao didn’t look their way, his gaze fixed intently on Ming Tian.
Ming Tian’s eyes, in turn, were locked on him.
These two were hailed as the most outstanding among the newly admitted disciples, excelling in both talent and effort.
They were wary of each other, competed with each other, and paid close attention to one another.
Thus, their cultivation progressed almost in sync, at an astonishing pace.
However, since Ming Tian had entered a month earlier and had a better foundation, his current cultivation was slightly stronger than Leng Hao’s.
But their cultivation speeds were essentially comparable.
