Chapter 30: The Destined-to-be-Abandoned Good-for-Nothing (10) p2
The next day.
All the elders watching the Water Mirrors knew who had won the secret realm expedition—
Gui Mian.
This disciple had even slain the soul of the ancient demon sealed in the Sword Sect’s secret realm. Compared to this achievement, no matter how many demons of the same level the other Foundation Establishment disciples had killed, it seemed insignificant.
Many secretly glanced at Su Mingxiu, wondering if the Sword Sect had used some underhanded methods to ensure their victory.
Otherwise, why would this Jade Elder of Mount Lingyu, who had always been reclusive and disliked crowds, even with her cultivation reduced to the Nascent Soul stage, come to be the Water Mirror Elder for a mere group of Foundation Establishment disciples?
She must have known what was in this secret realm. After all, it was the Sword Sect’s territory. She might have even brought her disciple in before, placed some kind of restriction on the demon, all to ensure her disciple’s victory. She had even disregarded her reputation and personally overseen the competition from outside the Water Mirror.
However, none of the elders from the other sects could match Su Mingxiu’s cultivation, so they remained silent. But before they even left the Sword Sect, messages from the other sect masters flooded the Sword Sect Master’s desk.
The underlying message was that they felt the Sword Sect’s actions were unfair and detrimental to the friendly exchanges between sects.
But Su Mingxiu and Gui Mian were still unaware of this.
Of course, even if they knew, Su Mingxiu would face the Sect Master calmly. What was wrong with her having a talented disciple, given her own extraordinary talent?
Now.
After calmly announcing the prizes for the top three winners of the secret realm expedition, Gui Mian arrived at her side, her eyes sparkling: “Master!”
After her encounter with the great demon, the little girl’s legs had returned to normal.
Su Mingxiu wasn’t surprised, but what made her unsure was that she felt Gui Mian’s features still bore traces of the snake demon core’s influence. Her every smile and gesture exuded a captivating allure, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like an illusion.
She didn’t want to examine her condition in public, so she only reached out and stroked her head, praising her calmly: “Good job.”
Gui Mian grinned, a bright smile spreading across her face.
—Much more genuine than before.
Su Mingxiu stared at her with a complicated expression. After a long while, she turned and walked towards Mount Lingyu. Gui Mian followed closely behind her.
But after a few steps, she reached out and grabbed Su Mingxiu’s sleeve, tugging at her robe, looking up at her every few steps, ignoring the other Sword Sect disciples who came out with them.
Qiongying wanted to congratulate Gui Mian, but seeing that her attention was solely on Su Mingxiu, she gave up and turned to talk to the other junior sisters.
Mount Lingyu.
As Su Mingxiu stepped onto the icy stairs and smelled the cold mountain air, she glanced at the little girl beside her: “Your tail is gone?”
“Yes!” Gui Mian nodded.
Remembering something, she said to Su Mingxiu: “That senior, he said that as long as I become stronger, eating demon cores won’t change my appearance anymore.”
Su Mingxiu didn’t comment. Her ink-colored sleeves billowed in the wind and snow, covering the little disciple’s head. She could vaguely see the bright red string hanging down from the back of her head. The little girl had entered with a neat bun, but now her hair was tied up in a casual ponytail.
And it was even crooked.
As they reached the peak, they could see the bamboo roof of the Untainted Abode in the distance. Su Mingxiu suddenly said: “Don’t move.”
“Hmm?”
Gui Mian wanted to look up at her, but Su Mingxiu held her head down.
Then, her hair was gently untied. Gui Mian didn’t know how the person behind her did it, but when she came back to her senses, the long red string that always fell into her clothes was now short again. She touched it and said: “Thank you, Master.”
Su Mingxiu raised an eyebrow. “You’ve become more polite after a trip to the secret realm.”
Gui Mian narrowed her eyes, stood on tiptoe, and looked at the open cave abode in the distance. She suddenly suggested: “I’ll make a new door for Master?”
Su Mingxiu didn’t say yes or no. She only looked at Gui Mian seriously, then chuckled and walked towards the spiritual spring without a word, shaking the leaf that had been clinging to her sleeve into the water.
She clearly saw that the leaf had grown even larger after absorbing Gui Mian’s desires.
So, the usually aloof Jade Elder stepped into the spiritual spring and said to the lotus leaf: “If you eat any more, I’ll pull you out.”
The two lotus leaves, now the same size, trembled and huddled together, finding a spot farthest away from her.
After a while, seeing that the heartless woman was meditating with her eyes closed in the spring water, they timidly approached again.
Then, one lotus leaf curled itself up, scooped up a small amount of water, and gently poured it over Su Mingxiu’s shoulder.
The other leaf rustled and started massaging Su Mingxiu’s shoulders.
This bootlicking behavior made Su Mingxiu widen her eyes in surprise.
It wasn’t until much later that she realized Gui Mian had long disappeared from her sight.
Su Mingxiu extended her divine sense. She had been leaning lazily against the edge of the spring, but after discovering Gui Mian’s whereabouts, she suddenly stood up from the water without a word, startling the two lotus leaves.
But she didn’t care about them anymore. The spiritual mist and water droplets clinging to her ink-stained robe fell away as she stood up. In the blink of an eye, she was once again a spotless immortal.
Her ink-colored figure vanished from the front of the cave abode.
She walked deeper into the cave, finally arriving at the innermost part—
The place that was always freezing cold, with only a block of ten-thousand-year-old black ice. Today, there was another figure there.
Seeing her enter, the figure lying on the ice surface turned around and smiled at her, then pointed at the black ice. “Master, there seems to be someone inside.”
Su Mingxiu: “…”
She was trying to figure out how to tell the little girl to leave when she saw Gui Mian approaching, her face almost touching the ice. She muttered: “This person looks just like me…”
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