Chapter 29: Senior Sister Bai is about to cry.
Feng Yudie fell onto the stage. Seeing her approach the stage in such a manner, Bai Yuexin, the examiner, immediately felt displeased. It took three calls for her to get on the stage, and it seemed like she was thrown up by someone accompanying her. People like her were generally troublemakers.
Bai Yuexin glanced at Feng Yudie and sighed lightly. Frowning, she questioned, “Where is your courtesy?”
Feng Yudie quickly stood up, wiped her face, looked at her hands, and then realized that her sword was still beside Pei Lianxue and hadn’t been thrown up.
Suddenly, she felt somewhat awkward and moved to the edge of the sword-testing platform. She picked up a wooden sword and weighed it.
“Uh-huh!”
After that, she returned to the middle of the stage, respectfully bowed, and saluted Bai Yuexin.
“Please instruct me, Senior Sister.”
“Senior Sister?” Bai Yuexin’s face showed displeasure. “You haven’t even joined yet. You should call me senior.”
“Ah… please instruct me, senior…”
Bai Yuexin frowned, carefully examining the silver-haired girl in front of her. Silver hair was a rarity, and this girl had a unique fairy-like charm.
Perhaps it was because of her good looks or might be because of her carefree attitude, Bai Yuexin suddenly felt annoyed without a clear reason. She was in charge of the balance during the sword test.
Normally, she wouldn’t use her full strength. Otherwise, these selected Qi Refining cultivators wouldn’t last a single move against their Tianyun Peak disciples. So, they were holding back.
But this girl in front of her…
Bai Yuexin wanted to teach her a lesson and make her remember. She was prepared to knock her off the stage in just two moves. She lowered the wooden sword in her right hand and raised her chin at Feng Yudie, “Come on, make your move.”
Feng Yudie nodded, observed Bai Yuexin’s sword stance, and whispered, “Be careful, senior.”
In the blink of an eye, Feng Yudie took a step and instantly arrived in front of Bai Yuexin.
Swish—
A cold light flashed, accompanied by the sound of a sword breaking through the air. Caught off guard, Bai Yuexin barely had time to react and quickly raised her wooden sword to defend.
But in that moment of parrying Feng Yudie’s sword, she felt a sudden pain in the wrist bone. Feng Yudie’s sword felt as heavy as a boulder.
The next moment—
A crisp “snap” sound and the wooden sword Bai Yuexin was holding suddenly broke. Feng Yudie was also surprised and quickly adjusted her sword path.
The sword, originally aimed at Bai Yuexin’s neck, suddenly changed direction in an instant, brushing against the tip of her nose and moving upward.
“…”
The half-broken wooden sword landed on the platform, leaving Bai Yuexin stunned in her tracks. She looked at her broken wooden sword and then at Feng Yudie’s perfectly intact one.
The wooden swords clashed simultaneously. Why did her sword break while Feng Yudie’s remained unscathed?
“Senior, my apologies,” Feng Yudie took two steps back, offering a respectful salute.
In just one exchange, the outcome was clear.
The disciple recording on the side was also in disbelief. The once bustling sword-testing area fell silent. The participants on other sword platforms, still in the midst of their trials, paused and turned to look at the Tianyun Peak platform. They couldn’t understand that someone had failed the sword test on Tianyun Peak’s stage.
This was Tianyun Peak, the main base for Xuanxing Sect’s sword cultivators. A sword cultivator being defeated by a Qi Refining stage cultivator was unheard of.
The gazes directed at Bai Yuexin were filled with sympathy. It was anticipated that when she returned to Tianyun Peak, the elders would severely punish her.
Bai Yuexin swallowed nervously, still struggling to believe what had just happened. The broken sword lay on the ground, and with the hilt in her hand, there was no room for denial. Moreover, if the confrontation had been more evenly matched, it might have been more acceptable, but to have her move broken in an instant…
Bai Yuexin was trembling and raised her head, surveying the other sword platforms. The sympathetic looks from her fellow disciples made her legs tremble uncontrollably. A deep sense of shame colored her face, and her ears burned red.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
The Tianyun Peak disciple recording her performance noticed her state and urgently transmitted a message, “Senior Sister Bai, don’t just stand there! Quickly perform the martial arts salute and ask that girl to step down.”
“Ah…” Hearing the reminder, Bai Yuexin snapped out of her stupor, holding back tears. She bowed to Feng Yudie, “Ah… I concede.”
Feng Yudie, lowering her head to observe Bai Yuexin’s face, saw her on the verge of tears. She quickly reassured her, “Senior, victories and defeats are common in martial arts. Don’t take it too hard. Losing to me is nothing to be ashamed of.”
Although Feng Yudie genuinely meant to console her, to Bai Yuexin, it felt like a cutting remark.
“…”
Bai Yuexin sniffed, quickly lowering her head and using her cloud sleeves to wipe her face, attempting to conceal her tears.
The disciple recording on the side signaled urgently to Feng Yudie, Get off quickly!
Feng Yudie understood, bowed deeply once more to Bai Yuexin, placed the wooden sword back on the nearby rack, then jumped off the stage and hurried back to the rest area.
Reaching Pei Lianxue and the others, Feng Yudie saw Xiao Yunluo looking at her in disbelief. She rubbed her nose proudly and smiled foolishly.
“Hehe, am I impressive?!”
“You…”
Xiao Yunluo bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She had thought that enduring for half a quarter of an hour on the Tianyun Peak sword testing stage would secure her first place, allowing her to showcase her growth to her mother. However, all the attention had been stolen by this seemingly foolish silver-haired girl.
“…” Xiao Yunluo clenched her fists, then nodded in acknowledgment, “Well, breaking through the sword test of Tianyun Peak disciples is indeed impressive.”
“Hehe,” Feng Yudie chuckled, then winked at Pei Lianxue, asking coyly, “Junior Sister Pei, what about the promised hug?”
“When did we agree on that?” Pei Lianxue looked disgusted, but considering that she might draw that senior sister soon, she asked, “Is that senior sister strong?”
“Hmm,” Feng Yudie drew out a long sound, thought for a moment, and gave her a thumbs up, grinning, “Junior Sister Pei will be fine. If you draw her, victory will be easy!”
Pei Lianxue nodded weakly, lacking confidence.
At this moment, Pei Lianxue’s name was called on the Tianyun Peak sword trial stage, but a title was added to her name since she joined the sect as a companion.
“The next one, Pei Lianxue, the Daoist companion of Feng Yudie, is on the Tianyun Peak sword trial stage. Come on stage!”
“Ah… Here it comes!!!!!”
Upon hearing this, Pei Lianxue immediately stood up from her seat, standing tall.
Xiao Yunluo, looking puzzled beside her, asked, “What are you doing?”
“Ah…” Pei Lianxue was momentarily stunned, then awkwardly pursed her lips, explaining, “Senior brother used to say that when the roll is called, you have to shout loudly, ‘Here!’… I got used to it…”
Xiao Yunluo raised an eyebrow, chuckled, and said, “Your senior brother is quite strange.”
“My senior brother is indeed quite odd sometimes,” Pei Lianxue thought of her senior brother’s face and smiled shyly, “Ehehe.”
“Come up quickly.”
“Um.”
…