Chapter 129: Gong Lianyue Rises!!!
Within the Storm Realm, in Gray Shadow Mountain, a subsidiary force of the Gray Citadel…
The Bone Saintess’s Bone Hall had been obliterated in an instant, the rescue team arriving too late to even see what had happened.
In mere seconds, dust settled.
Not only was the hall reduced to rubble, but every Spirit Master within had also perished, not a single body or even a fragment recovered after days of searching.
The Bone Saintess, barely clinging to life, remained unconscious, definitely missing the Wind Realm Overlord’s birthday celebration.
Her grand ambitions of defeating Luo Kuxin and humiliating Gong Lianyue would never be realized.
With the Bone Saintess out of the picture, Gong Lianyue rose to power!
A heavy, oppressive atmosphere hung over Gray Shadow Mountain. Laughter and chatter vanished, replaced by a somber silence.
Shui Qingyue had returned…
Not only had she not been sent to the mines, but she had also… killed the Saintess.
It was said that a senior instructor, ignoring public opinion and common sense, had even taken her as a disciple, indicating that Shui Qingyue’s importance now superseded even the will of the people.
Ah, good people die young, while evil lives for a thousand years!
The day of the Overlord’s birthday celebration drew closer.
In the elegant courtyard of a senior instructor’s residence…
The silver-haired girl lounged on a wicker chair, her posture graceful and relaxed.
Beside her, a woman in a long dress stood nervously, her body trembling, her expression filled with fear.
This was Feng Wan, the instructor who had summoned the Storm True Eye and uncovered the truth.
She had thought she had escaped, but the very next day, she had been dragged back into hell.
Shui Qingyue had personally come to her, asking to become her disciple. Feng Wan had immediately agreed, not daring to hesitate.
Now, Shui Qingyue was the disciple, and she was the teacher.
Shui Qingyue rested, she fanned her.
Shui Qingyue was hungry, she cooked for her.
Shui Qingyue finished eating, she cleaned up.
Shui Qingyue slept on the bed, she slept on the floor.
Any disobedience would be met with… forceful persuasion.
“Teacher, I’m hungry.”
“Yes!” Hearing the girl’s voice, Feng Wan nodded meekly and hurried into the kitchen to prepare a meal.
If one didn’t know better, they would think they were master and servant.
Gong Lianyue had made herself at home, treating the Gray Shadow Mountain instructor like a servant, ordering her around, a complete usurpation.
Watching Feng Wan disappear into the kitchen, the silver-haired girl turned towards a nearby bush.
“Come out. We’re alone now.”
Thud!
A small, green sprout emerged from the bush, its color a perfect camouflage.
The sprout’s leaves swayed and twisted as it bounced towards her, wobbling unsteadily like a roly-poly toy, a comical sight.
Reaching the girl’s feet, it collapsed, panting, covered in beads of sweat.
Finding it rather endearing, Gong Lianyue picked up the little sprout.
Holding it closer, she noticed a small parchment hidden among its leaves, the reason for its unsteady gait.
The Wrathful Saintess was truly persistent, able to find her wherever she went…
Had she planted seeds in every faction in the Wind Realm?
Gong Lianyue unfurled the parchment, revealing several lines of crooked handwriting.
[This is clone number 225 of the Wrathful Saintess. We entered the Wind Valley together. When you see this, I will have been captured by the Windchaser Emperor and am currently being subjected to unspeakable horrors in the Shadowcandle Temple. I had a chance to escape, but the Shadowcandle Temple Saintess’s figure… it was my weakness. I succumbed to temptation and was captured again. Don’t count on me this time. Be wary of the Wind Realm’s Four Guardians.]
[This is clone number 217 of the Wrathful Saintess. I am now a maid to the Saintess of Gray “Slave” Mountain, one of the Ten Citadels. I will be attending the Overlord’s birthday celebration.]
[This is clone number 195 of the Wrathful Saintess. I accidentally got pregnant. I’m out this time.]
[This is clone number 130 of the Wrathful Saintess. I will soon be dueling the Saintess of the Wind Demon Palace. If I die, avenge me!!]
[This is clone number 112 of the Wrathful Saintess. The Nether Bell Maiden has awakened. Such a terrifying aura…]
[This is clone number 107 of the Wrathful Saintess. I am invincible! Currently on my way to the birthday celebration.]
[This is clone number 99 of the Wrathful Saintess. I’m at the Ice Shield Palace, ready to unleash my Seven-Foot Sword for you.]
[This is the Wrathful Saintess. Let’s meet at the birthday celebration.]
“…”
“…”
After reading the message, Gong Lianyue remained silent for a full three minutes.
Although some of the messages were… strange, this woman was unexpectedly reliable, having infiltrated several key locations with her clones.
And from this information, Gong Lianyue deduced that the Wind Realm factions wouldn’t attack them, at least not openly.
The only unpredictable factor was the Windchaser Emperor, one of the Wind Realm’s Four Guardians…
The Shadowcandle Temple and the Windchaser Emperor were close. They might cause trouble before the Wind Realm Overlord awakened. Even reaching the celebration didn’t guarantee their safety.
“Um… dinner is ready,” a timid voice called from the doorway.
Gong Lianyue nodded, then rolled the parchment and the sprout together and swallowed them, destroying all evidence.
The Wrathful Saintess’s message eased her anxiety slightly. She wasn’t alone in this Wind Realm suicide mission.
“Teacher, I want to attend the Overlord’s birthday celebration. Recommend me to the higher-ups.”
Sitting at the dinner table, Gong Lianyue spoke in a demanding tone, treating the woman like a servant.
But this was her way of showing respect. She had always treated Shui Qinghou the same way. It was a habit.
Seeing their meek and subservient behavior, she couldn’t help but want to bully them, preferably to the point of tears.
Hearing her request, Feng Wan’s breath hitched, her suspicions confirmed, and she felt a wave of despair.
If the girl were just an ordinary spy, she could simply report her and be rescued. A group of Samsara Stage experts would come and eliminate her.
But this silver-haired girl was the Sorrowful Saintess. Even if her identity was exposed, Gray Shadow Mountain wouldn’t dare to touch her…
“Um… actually, the Gray Shadow Mountain Master has already decided to include you as one of the candidates.”
“If nothing unexpected happens, even if you’re not an official guest, you will be allowed to attend.”
Feng Wan’s voice was low and anxious.
No one could stop the Sorrowful Saintess from attending the Wind Realm Overlord’s birthday celebration. What happened next was up to fate. She just hoped Gray Shadow Mountain wouldn’t be implicated.
Chapter 130: Rumors of Shui Qingyue
The Ten Citadels, as subsidiary forces of the Gray Citadel, enjoyed high status and prestige within the Wind Realm. Even lone Nether Traverse Stage experts had to tread carefully around them.
When a Spirit Master from the Ten Citadels reached the Samsara Stage, they would typically join the Gray Citadel for better resources and opportunities.
This meant that the Ten Citadels lacked truly decisive powerhouses. They were essentially branch offices of the Gray Citadel…
The Saintesses of the Ten Citadels constantly competed fiercely for a spot in the Gray Citadel, and this year’s selection was especially important.
The unprecedented birthday celebration of the Overlord… their performance here would practically determine their future prospects.
Would they soar to new heights, or be utterly humiliated?
High above the Storm Realm, in the churning sea of clouds…
Swirling winds, dust and debris filling the air.
Whoosh!
A massive shadow streaked across the sky, a blur of motion, a sonic boom echoing.
A skeletal dragon with tattered wings, flapping its paper-thin wings, soared through the air.
Its head was that of a ferocious dragon, but its skeletal body resembled a bird, a strange hybrid.
The streamlined body of the dragon-eagle beast, over a kilometer long, churned the clouds, its terrifying aura shaking the heavens.
A high-rank spirit beast, the Withered Luan Eagle.
Judging by its size and aura, this beast was at least at the Sixth Full Cycle of the Samsara Stage, perhaps even at the Nether Traverse Stage.
If anyone had vision that extended for thousands of meters, they would see several tiny figures on the back of this terrifying beast.
“Wow, my first time seeing a Sixth Full Cycle spirit beast! And I’m riding it! The Gray Citadel is amazing!!!”
A girl, her body wrapped in white bandages, shrieked excitedly, oblivious to the fact that her bandages were almost being blown away by the wind, her sense of shame nonexistent.
When a Spirit Master’s soul core was completely filled with the stagnant energy of the Dead Sea Stage, the wheel of their soul would begin to turn, marking their entry into the Samsara Stage.
One cycle, two cycles, three cycles, four cycles, five cycles, until the final, sixth full cycle.
On Fallen Whale Island, the two senior instructors from the Sea Concubine Palace had been suppressed by the Dead Sea Stage Eight-Headed Mist Crow with the Fear talent.
In the Wind Valley, the guardian spirit beast, the Mist Soaring Cloud Strider, had been able to fight the Tyrant Demon Seed head-on, even gaining the upper hand.
This was the difference between the cycles of the Samsara Stage. Each cycle was a world of difference, a significant leap in both spirit energy and aura.
Besides the Nether Traverse Stage, the Sixth Full Cycle represented the limit for ordinary Spirit Masters. These village girls from the Ten Citadels had naturally never seen such power.
Today, escorted by a spirit beast specially dispatched by the Gray Citadel to attend the birthday celebration, they were finally witnessing it firsthand.
“When will we see the Wind Realm Overlord? Are we going in the right direction?”
“Of course not, idiot. We still have to pick up the Bone Saintess from Gray Shadow Mountain. We’re taking a detour.”
“Ah, that annoying woman!”
“Wait, didn’t you know? The Bone Saintess is gone…?”
As the last girl finished speaking, the other Saintesses’ expressions turned strange, and they looked at her in disbelief.
How could the Bone Saintess be “gone”? Her supposedly hidden, high-rank spirit beast, the Giant Bone King, was among the top three in the Ten Citadels.
Even within the Gray Citadel, she would be considered an elite member. How could she be gone without a trace?
The girl who had spoken wasn’t a Saintess, but a green-haired maid in a fishnet stocking outfit.
Her green hair marked her as a lowborn, mixed-blood hybrid, her ample bosom bearing a weight beyond her years.
A new toy for the Gray “Slave” Mountain Saintess…?
Although it was disrespectful for a mere servant to speak out of turn, the Saintesses present wisely chose not to make a fuss.
The adoring gaze the Gray Shadow Mountain Saintess directed at the green-haired girl spoke volumes. Bringing her along to such an important event… she must be completely infatuated, unwilling to tolerate any criticism.
The Gray Shadow Mountain Saintess’s spirit beast was on a completely different level from the others. No one wanted to offend her.
“The Bone Saintess is gone? What happened?”
Driven by curiosity, one of the Saintesses asked, suppressing her annoyance.
Such a tease, making them ask.
The green-haired maid smiled, a captivating smile that stunned the others.
The natives of the Wind Realm, who didn’t even know how to properly style their hair, had never seen such beauty. No wonder the Gray Shadow Mountain Saintess was so smitten.
“The Bone Saintess has been replaced by a new disciple who arrived less than half a month ago.”
“Shui Qingyue, an Illumination Stage Spirit Master, her known spirit beast is the Silverblade Fox, her hidden spirit beast unknown.”
“She’s short-tempered, unreasonable, and prone to violence, threatening to have anyone who offends her sent to the spirit crystal mines by her senior instructor.”
“After a conflict, the Bone Hall was destroyed overnight, and the Bone Saintess, her fate unknown, was also sent to the mines.”
“…”
After listening to the maid’s smug, gossip-filled explanation, the others fell silent.
Such a… colorful character, but clearly not very bright.
Putting aside the fact that someone “dead or alive” couldn’t be sent to the mines, how could an Illumination Stage Spirit Master defeat a Dead Sea Stage one? Unless she was a Saint-rank…
And a mere maid, knowing things even they, the Saintesses, didn’t… It must be a baseless rumor.
“We’re here!”
Just then, a misty mountain range appeared below, and the Withered Luan Eagle began to descend.
They had finally arrived at Gray Shadow Mountain, home of Shui Qingyue!
Gray Shadow Mountain
Two Tyrant Blood Pills, fifteen Life Fruits, over forty stalks of Moonlight Grass, and, most importantly, one Dual Soul Pill. This was Gong Lianyue’s current inventory.
Before discovering the Moonlight Grass’s effect, she had been consuming one Life Fruit per day to maintain her water spirit energy in the Wind Realm.
Now, with the Void Moon Stone allowing her to directly absorb Moonlight Grass, the Life Fruits were no longer necessary, all reserved for the little fox.
As the silver-haired girl was taking stock of her resources, Senior Instructor Feng Wan rushed in.
“The spirit beast sent by the Gray Citadel is here to pick you up!!!”
“I see.”
Gong Lianyue replied calmly, a layer of frost covering her skin, suppressing her spirit energy to a minimum.
Masked by the Frost Snow Woman’s Saint-rank aura, no one below the Nether Traverse Stage could detect her true cultivation level.
The other Saintesses from the Ten Citadels should be here.
A bunch of small fries, easy pickings…
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