“Supreme Sect Leader, that Ling Xiao is colluding with Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, and Shangguan Lei. If Shangguan Lei can obtain such fine treasures, then Dai Yuling and Leng Hao surely have as well. If those two are eliminated, their gains should go to Bai Feifei. What do you think?”
The tower-climbing ceremony hadn’t even concluded, yet Elder Jin was already discussing with the Supreme Sect Leader how to divide up Ling Xiao and the others’ spoils.
“Hmph, I’d like to see who dares take my disciple’s things!” Jinguang Celestial Venerable snorted coldly.
Though his strength was inferior to Elder Jin and Demon Flame Celestial Venerable, if he truly fought, the Moonlight Sect would suffer greatly.
“Dai Yuling has nothing to do with you, does she?” Elder Jin frowned.
“No relation,” Jinguang replied.
“Then it’s settled. After Leng Hao is eliminated, you can discipline him as you see fit. As for Dai Yuling’s gains, they’ll all go to Bai Feifei,” Elder Jin declared.
Supreme Sect Leader Chang Yueli nodded in agreement, seeing no need to clash with the Law Enforcement Hall at this moment.
“Master, Yuling is my disciple, how can this be?” Lan Yuer protested, displeased.
“What? Are you defying your master?” Chang Yueli asked coldly, staring at Lan Yuer.
“I wouldn’t dare!” Lan Yuer frowned but stepped back. As a dutiful disciple, she couldn’t bring herself to openly oppose her master.
“Then it’s decided!” Sect Leader Chang Yueying said, seemingly finding nothing amiss. In her view, Dai Yuling and Shangguan Lei weren’t prodigies worth nurturing, so their treasures were better given to talents like Ming Tian and Bai Feifei.
Inside the Moonlight Treasure Tower, the ceremony continued.
As time passed, half-step Celestial Venerables with thirty percent of their power appeared in the third stage, overwhelmingly strong.
Even Wu Yang and Qin Wu, possessed by dark spirits, were battered and on the verge of collapse.
Possessed as they were, they had gained nothing. If eliminated, they’d only receive Moonlight Points, nothing more.
They were truly unlucky.
Yet, reaching the third stage was already fortunate, so they hadn’t entirely lost out.
Compared to Ling Xiao and the others, however, they were far behind.
Ultimately, Wu Yang and Qin Wu were slain by the half-step Celestial Venerables, their bodies wrapped in white light and ejected from the tower.
“Wu Yang!”
“Qin Wu!”
As named disciples of Demon Flame Celestial Venerable, he was quite concerned for them.
“Did you two reach the fourth stage? What were your gains?” Demon Flame Celestial Venerable asked, hoping their achievements would outshine Shangguan Lei’s to salvage his pride, especially since Ming Tian had already been eliminated.
Unfortunately, both shook their heads.
“Master, we didn’t reach the fourth stage. We were eliminated in the third by monsters. We were constantly on the run, so we gained nothing, and our cultivation didn’t improve at all,” they said, visibly uneasy.
Their Moonlight Points were identical, 255 each, only five more than Bai Feifei’s.
But while Bai Feifei had obtained martial arts and other treasures, they had nothing.
“Useless!” Demon Flame Celestial Venerable roared, furious.
“Enough, Demon Flame. For them to earn so many Moonlight Points is already impressive. No need to demand more. What are your thoughts on that Ling Xiao?” the Supreme Sect Leader asked with a sly smile.
“Ling Xiao! If not for him, we wouldn’t have fared so poorly. We could’ve at least gained something. When he went to the fourth stage, the number of monsters in the third stage suddenly increased. We suspect he’s behind it!” Wu Yang and Qin Wu exchanged glances and said hurriedly.
They already had a deep grudge against Ling Xiao, so such accusations were expected.
The Supreme Sect Leader glanced toward the Moonlight Treasure Tower. She couldn’t see the Moon Lady but knew she was there.
She thought to herself: Moon Lady, let’s see how you protect Ling Xiao now!
“Four remain in the ceremony: Ling Xiao, Tantai Lingzi, Dai Yuling, and Leng Hao!” Chang Yueying said, frowning. “If Ling Xiao is colluding with the other two, the next to be eliminated will likely be Tantai Lingzi. What a pity.”
Most of the sect’s elders had a poor impression of Ling Xiao.
In their eyes, how could an outer disciple with mediocre talent last this long?
He must have used underhanded methods.
There was no other explanation.
The ceremony continued unaffected by their opinions, proceeding methodically.
In the third stage, only Tantai Lingzi remained, but she was peculiar.
No one saw that after being killed by a beast, she revived after it left.
“Damn it, I’ve already used two of my absorbed lives. With seven left, I must be more careful!” she muttered.
No one knew Tantai Lingzi’s secret.
Her masters didn’t die because she jinxed them; she killed them and absorbed their lives.
Tantai Lingzi wasn’t human but a descendant of the Primordial Spider.
Her bloodline hadn’t awakened initially.
But after joining the inner sect and taking a master, that lecherous master tried to force himself on her.
At the critical moment, her Primordial Spider bloodline awakened, and her master, unable to resist, was drained of his essence.
Within her martial vein, a small, infant-like energy body appeared.
This was the Primordial Spider’s life-absorbing ability, allowing her to take others’ lives for her own use.
However, like many abilities, it had limits: it could only absorb the lives of men who had improper intentions toward her.
The stronger the target, the greater the benefit to her.
Tantai Lingzi approached Ling Xiao not for friendship but to absorb his life.
She didn’t care how others viewed him, but she sensed his life force was exceptionally strong. Absorbing it would make her far more powerful.
This was why her cultivation had advanced so quickly.
She was meticulous, and no one had linked her to her masters’ deaths, given the vast gap in strength.
But no one considered that in certain situations, strength wasn’t the deciding factor.
Tantai Lingzi paused briefly before slipping back into the darkness. Nine lives seemed plenty, but having lost two, she could be eliminated if she wasn’t careful.
