A woman dressed in fine silk clothes climbed the mountain path of Mount Wu.
It wasn’t quite the appropriate attire for this season.
High-quality winter clothes were typically made of silk varieties called dan or ju, woven to be loose and untwisted even when filled with cotton.
However, the finest silk was called jin, which was thin, airy, and soft. Even with a little cotton stuffing, it would puff up and crease in a flat pattern, making it suitable for wearing only in spring and autumn at best, even with good care.
The woman was dressed in clothes made of this jin.
As for her adornnts, she had put so much effort into them that her hair was twisted and filled with gold ornants, her skin was painted white with good powder, her eyes were surrounded with purple pignt, and her lips were painted bright red with cinnabar.
However, the woman’s natural features were already extrely alluring, so the added adornnts made her overflow with a bewitching sensuality.
Thus, when the woman appeared in front of the Divine Maiden Sect’s signboard, the Second-Grade disciples on guard duty at the main gate swallowed hard.
It was clearly not attire for visiting a Daoist temple.
Moreover, if she was a visitor arriving at lunchti, she should have shown so apologetic or urgent expression for the rudeness, but there was none of that either.
The two disciples exchanged glances.
Senior Sister, a seductress, extre under the heavens, has appeared. What should we do?
How would I know? You should find out yourself.
So the Junior Sister went to inquire.
This was because of the hierarchy within the sect.
“Stop. This is the sacred ground of the Divine Maiden Sect from here on. Are you here to visit the Divine Maiden Sect?”
“Aha. I’ve co to the right place. Yes, that’s right.”
Suddenly, the Divine Maiden Sect disciples’ wariness died down completely.
Living with won day and night, the Divine Maiden Sect disciples read the personality behind that one sentence.
She had just put on airs, but her voice and manner of speaking exuded an aura of clumsiness.
They thought her face might be that of a seductress, but she seems quite docile.
The Divine Maiden Sect is a sacred place where n are forbidden.
Conversely, it was wide open to won.
They occasionally accepted female pilgrims who weren’t disciples to earn so side inco.
“Welco. Are you here to perform so rites? Or do you wish to stay at the temple for a while? Or perhaps you wish to leave an offering?”
“No, that’s not it. I heard my Sworn Sister is here…”
“Ah. You ca to see your younger sister.”
The woman looked to be in her mid-twenties, so her younger sister must be in the Third-Grade.
This was because the Second-Grade disciples roughly knew each other’s family situations, and none of their fellow disciples had ntioned having a Sworn Sister.
The Divine Maiden Sect disciple’s attitude beca even more relaxed.
“What is your sister’s na?”
“She’s called Xin Qing…”
“Pardon?”
“Yes?”
“Oh. Is this not the right place? She said it was the Divine Maiden Sect, though. She’s this tall, and her chest is about this big.”
The woman made a circular gesture in front of her chest, indicating a large size.
The Divine Maiden Sect disciples imdiately understood.
Ah. Then it must be Junior Grandmaster.
----
Whenever Qing ate lunch, she always acted as if lunch was her mortal enemy.
Basically, she was so desperate to get rid of it that she couldn’t live under the sa sky, chewing and swallowing it vigorously.
For reference, breakfast and dinner weren’t any different..
As Qing was inhaling the boiled and fried ingredients called lunch in this world, it happened.
“Sworn Sisterrrrrr.”
“Oing?”
Qing opened her eyes wide at the familiar voice.
“Sworn Sister, you shouldn’t dress so thinly. You’ll catch a cold. You should be careful, especially when it’s so cold.”
“Ah. That’s right.”
Qing, who had been unsure, finally recognized Sworn Sister Wannabe.
Who else would tell her not to do that because it’s cold, despite her own outrageous attire?
You’ve beco prettier, huh? Is it because you put a lot of effort into your makeup?
Of course, it was thanks to the makeup.
While she had made so progress after consuming the Elixirs given by the Divine Cult, makeup was originally a woman’s greatest weapon, wasn’t it?
“Have you eaten?”
“No. I got a bit lost coming up. Um. I’m hungry. Hehe.”
“Then you should eat. Our food is delicious.”
“Okie!”
And then she happily went to get her food.
“Who’s that?”
“What’s that all about? Why is she coming to eat with such heavy makeup?”
Jin Jangmyeong on the left and Tang Nanah on the right asked simultaneously.
“Um… Sothing like a Sworn Sister, I guess?”
What does it an to be ‘sothing like’ a Sworn Sister? Either she is or she isn’t.
The two made expressions that implied a failure to understand in unison.
In fact, Qing didn’t explain further because she didn’t know much about it either.
And then Sworn Sister Wannabe, with her good appetite, returned with a mountain of food on her tray.
“Ah, right. I decided to go back to being Gyeon Pohee, you know?”
“Huh? Why?”
“They said it’s weird for Sworn Sisters to have the sa surna. And since it’s so rare, people will find it even stranger. Also apparently, no matter how little your parents did for you, you shouldn’t casually change it like that.”
“Did Seol Ganom say that?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it must be right, I guess.”
If the neighborhood’s top intellect, Seol Ganom, said so, then it must be so.
Among the connections Qing had made in the Central Plains, he was the most reliable person besides her master.
Co to think of it, even Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei all had different surnas; they didn’t unify them to Liu Bei, Liu Yu, and Liu Fei.
Besides, that would make two Liu Bei’s.
“Ah. How do I look? Am I not pretty?”
“Did you do the makeup yourself?”
“Yeah. I learned. Should I do yours later too? Or no wait, want to do it now?”
“No thanks. It’s annoying to remove.”
“Right. That’s true.”
“But why the makeup?”
“Seol Un- I an, the mister told to. He said it’s never good to look easy to push around wherever you go.”
“Ah. You call Seol Ganom ‘mister’?”
“Yeah. But it feels a bit off. I feel like I should call him Seol Unni. Sotis it just cos out without realizing.”
“What? Has Seol Ganom beco even prettier there?”
“Yeah, it’s no joke. He’s got this real Unni vibe, you know?”
“What do you an by ‘Unni vibe’? I’m really curious now…”
Jin Jangmyeong and Tang Nanah, flanking Qing’s sides, thought to themselves.
What’s going on? Wouldn’t you usually ask for introductions by now?
Is her field of vision so narrow that she can’t see the people beside her?
“Ah. This is a flavor Sworn Sister likes. Want more? Should I get you so?”
“Nah. I’ve eaten a lot.”
“Unni, who is she?”
Feeling like they’d have to keep listening forever at this rate, Jin Jangmyeong cut in.
“This is Gyeon Pohee, and um, I’ll be a bit generous. So, she’s kind of my Sworn Sister. She took care of when I went out in Jianghu.”
“Mm. Mm.”
Gyeon Pohee nodded proudly.
“This tiny kid here is our sect’s absolute baby Jin Jangmyeong, and this is Tang Nanah. My friend. They say she’s one of the Five Great Beauties of the Central Plains.”
“Yeah. But you know, on my way here, I realized I was completely fooled. That. Um. Mister Seol told not to say, so I can’t say more.”
“I get what you an, so that’s enough. I asked Seol Ganom to teach you so common sense, and it looks like he taught you well.”
“Ugh. But he’s so annoyingly thorough.”
“You should think of it all as sothing that will help you later on. It’ll beco a part of you eventually. Do you think it’s easy to find a teacher as good as Seol Ganom?”
“Yeah…”
The eyes of the won on either side of Qing narrowed.
What’s this? Isn’t it usually ti for self-introductions?
Is she done after just saying “Yeah”?
The two thought in unison.
This girl is not to be underestimated.
If Qing had known, she would have just snickered.
What are they on about, when she’s the easiest person in the world to deal with?
----
Gyeon Pohee’s admission to the Divine Maiden Sect didn’t work out.
It was because of her background, and also because the martial arts she had learned used both Collect Yang and Collect Yin of Dual Cultivation.
“What would such a child do in the Divine Maiden Sect? It is not like she is going to scatter all her Inner Arts and learn from the beginning. If she wishes, I could write a letter of recomndation for the Heavenly Flower Hall, but it does not seem like she wants that.”
Moreover, Gyeon Pohee didn’t particularly have the will to join.
After finishing her al and coveting Qing’s dishes, she heard that in the Divine Maiden Sect, one had to do everything by oneself. She realized there was no need to join if that was the case.
So she said she would help with Seol Ganom’s work in the city below and follow Qing when she set out for Jianghu.
“Still, for soone from the evil Demonic Cult, her nature is quite pure. But that is all she is. Solely pure and nothing else. The child is really…”
“A bit lacking in the head, yeah?”
Thwack. A light flick landed on Qing’s head.
It wasn’t ant to hurt, so it didn’t.
“No matter how true it may be, one should not carelessly speak of others’ shortcomings.”
“Yesss.”
“It would be good to take her along when you go out to Jianghu. Even if that old Demonic Adept cares for Disciple, is it not only proper for a woman to take care of another woman?”
“True, she is convenient.”
“Think of it as raising a person. Wouldn’t all such thoughtfulness accumulate as Righteous Karma?”
Qing tilted her head.
Isn’t Sworn Sister Wannabe being treated a bit poorly?
Of course, Gyeon Pohee does deserve it…
“This works out well. When my disciple goes to Kaifeng next month, I cannot possibly send that old Demonic Adept along.”
“Ah? ? Why?”
“The Murim Alliance is holding a Murim conference. There would be more than a few who know that old man’s face. How could the dignity of a great elder of Daoism be maintained if she were to lead a Demonic Adept around?”
The purpose of the Murim conference was to strengthen unity in the face of the Demonic Cult’s advance into the Central Plains through a different thod of opening their doors.
At such a ti, showing up with a forr Great Demonic Adept from the Demonic Cult would be seen as more than just tactless, but downright idiotic.
For reference, Xin Surin, who kept referring to him as “that old man,” was older than Choi Leeong.
While she might look like a beautiful woman in her forties, she was a great senior of Murim, akin to a living legend.
“But what’s this Murim conference? Is it sothing like a Greatest Martial Arts Competition Under Heaven?”
“They will probably make a big fuss about various things. This master’s desire would be for you to participate in the Hidden Dragon Tournant.”
“Then well, I’ll go.”
It was an imdiate answer without a mont’s hesitation.
Xin Surin smiled gently at this.
She couldn’t help but adore such a disciple.
“There will not be any opponents who could last ten moves against my disciple anyway, so just think of it as raising the honor of our sect and be beautiful and elegant.”
Ten moves ant an opponent who could be defeated in ten basic movents, which in professional terms was also called “fodder.”
Already, the number of sparring sessions with her disciple had reached a level where they had to be counted in days rather than hours.
Her disciple’s realm, if strictly classified, was in the Late Stage Peak Realm, but in terms of whether the result would be victory and defeat, she was already in a position to gain the upper hand even against those in the Transcendent Realm.
Moreover, she had already reached a level where she shared the sensation of the sword as an extension of her body, so it seed she would soon achieve Sword Body Unification.
Sword Body Unification was the enlightennt usually gained in the Late Stage Transcendent Realm, after freely manipulating Sword Force.
So she was steadily achieving accomplishnts, albeit in a completely ssed-up order.
At this point, one had to wonder if there was another reason why she couldn’t enter the Transcendent Realm.
It was as if sothing was interfering and firmly blocking her.
Her Inner Arts were already on par with Unrestrained Realm Masters, and her External Arts were at a level that made one wonder if she was even human. Yet, she couldn’t cross that seemingly easy and thin wall of the Transcendent Realm (in the opinion of Profound Realm Masters).
“So I just need to go there and win?”
“Mingle a bit with the children of the Hidden Dragon Assembly too. Shouldn’t you get to know the future leaders of Orthodox Murim?”
In other words, she was telling her to go play at a social gathering.
Although Qing was an elder at the level of a Sect Leader in terms of allocation and hierarchy, she wasn’t from the sa era as the current Sect Leaders.
Moreover, connections were particularly important to the Chinese people.
While the Divine Maiden Sect might lack influence compared to the Nine Sects One Union and Five Noble Clans, if she showed overwhelming martial prowess at the Hidden Dragon Tournant, that would naturally be resolved.
“If it’s that kind of thing, then I’m an expert at it.”
Qing’s eyes sparkled brightly.
After all, how could they not shine when she was told to go have /genesisforsaken
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