novelYu Wanrou's Limelight
| ← Ch.240 | Ch.242 → |
Translator: Minotauruz
Logically speaking, Jun Xiaomo should never have been given the right to enter the Discussion Hall to begin with. Given the extent of her present abilities, she should have been relegated to the standing spaces outside of the Discussion Hall just like some of the other Dawn Sect disciples whose cultivation levels were on the lower side. There, she could anticipate the arrival of the sect elders from the Greater Sects and hope to catch a glimpse of the glory of these profound experts.
Yet it was precisely because of this that when Jun Xiaomo made her grand appearance at the entrance of the Discussion Hall, the audience began to stir and whisper among themselves.
"What's Jun Xiaomo doing here? Is this really someplace she should be?"
"Isn't that so? And she's even arrived tardily. How embarrassing!"
"Her father's a great, big Peakmaster. That's the only reason why she thinks she can do anything she wants." Another quipped with sourness in his voice.
"That's true. We can only blame ourselves for not having been born with a silver spoon in our mouths."
"Hey, do you think that Jun Xiaomo's doing this only to leave a deep impression in the hearts of these sect elders?"
"There's that possibility too. Given her current cultivation level, she might even be too weak to be making tea for the distinguished sect elders here. Perhaps she's thinking of taking an unconventional gambit and using different means to draw the interest of these sect elders."
"Hah, if that's the case, then she might just have achieved what she's set out to do. I wonder if the sect elders from the Greater Sects would decide to earmark her as a Chosen Disciple just because of such an impression that she's left with them?"
These disciples continued to chatter with a slightly contemptuous snickering. It was evident that they all found Jun Xiaomo to be nothing more than an idiot; a dancing jester that sported incredibly thick skin.
Jun Linxuan knew full well that his daughter's sudden appearance at the entrance of the Discussion Hall did not bode well for her. Otherwise, he would not have instructed Chen Feiyu to tell Jun Xiaomo not to come to begin with.
That said, now that Jun Xiaomo had already made her appearance, he could no longer ask her to turn around and return to where she came from. Most importantly, he recalled the fact that he had just some time ago received a letter from a sect elder from Zephyr Sect, inspiring some hope that his daughter would be earmarked as a Chosen Disciple today.
After all, there are no parents who did not wish the best for their children. Even though Jun Linxuan appeared to be stoic and unfazed when Jun Xiaomo's cultivation level had fallen back to the first level of Qi Mastery, the truth of the matter was that he was incredibly worried for Jun Xiaomo's future.
He was worried that his daughter would no longer be able to qualify for a Greater Sect. Even though Jun Xiaomo's cultivation level had returned to the sixth level of Qi Mastery, it was still a far cry from what it should have been. Had there not have been any issues with Jun Xiaomo's cultivation to begin with, she should have already broken through to the ninth level of Qi Mastery.
Thus, the letter from the sect elder of the Zephyr Sect was indubitably a spark of hope that lit up the dark despondence in Jun Linxuan's heart. This was the only reason why he had invited Jun Xiaomo into the Discussion Hall today to begin with.
I only hope that this sect elder from the Zephyr Sect will be present today. Jun Linxuan thought in his heart as he glanced at the few sect elders seated among the Zephyr Sect's seating area. He couldn't tell from their expression whether any of them had been the author of the letter that had earlier been delivered to him.
If anyone was to be blamed for that, it would have to be Tong Ruizhen's callousness. He had sent a letter to Jun Linxuan expressing that he had the intention to earmark Jun Xiaomo as a Chosen Disciple. However, he had overlooked to append his name at the bottom of the letter.
Thus, Jun Linxuan was still unaware of which sect elder from the Zephyr Sect it was who had taken an interest in Jun Xiaomo.
"Cough." One of the sect elders from the Greater Sects coughed once, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the Discussion Hall.
Jun Linxuan came back to his senses, stood up and made a fist and palm salute at the Greater Sects' sect elders as he explained, "My daughter's misdemeanor must have offended these distinguished guests. Please forgive her."
The sect elders were initially rather displeased about the entire situation. However, having lived for such a long time, they found it beneath them to be picky about such little details and pick a fight with such a young sprout. Thus, they all waved their hands and shrugged off the matter, "No matter."
Jun Linxuan observed their expressions, but he was still unable to discern which sect elder it was who had sent that letter to him.
He thought about it slightly, before concluding that there was no point in such guesswork, and that it would be better to simply adopt a wait and see approach. Thus, he turned back to Jun Xiaomo and gestured to her, "Come over and take your seat."
Jun Xiaomo bowed politely to the various sect elders, before walking to Jun Linxuan under everyone's watchful gazes and taking her seat.
Several people behind Jun Xiaomo who were eagerly anticipating theatrics couldn't help but heave a sigh of disappointment – they had thought that Jun Xiaomo would once again be punished by the Sect for her misdemeanors.
Who would have thought that Jun Xiaomo would be able to avert trouble just like that?
Yu Wanrou was also slightly disappointed by the present outcome. She had hoped that Jun Xiaomo would make a fool of herself earlier. Yet despite her tardiness, Jun Xiaomo had been completely composed and stoic in the face of potential trouble. Thus, Yu Wanrou couldn't help but wonder whether this was simply because of Jun Xiaomo's unflappable personality, or whether it was because she was a simple-minded buffoon.
No matter. Jun Xiaomo has inhaled the Threefold Spellbinding Incense, and she will definitely go mad later. Yu Wanrou placated her mind as a bright gleam flickered across the depths of her eyes – It would be best if Jun Xiaomo could receive the Sect's punishment again.
"Alright, let's begin with what we need to do today. Lingyu, take a step forward." He Zhang stood up and made an inviting gesture to Qin Lingyu.
Qin Lingyu stood up, bowed to everyone present, before making his way to the center of the Discussion Hall with an upright and erect posture.
There were two main items on the agenda today:
The first was to witness Qin Lingyu's formal change of master ceremony. Since Qin Lingyu was soon about to formally take on his new role as a disciple of the Limitless Sect, he would naturally have to transfer his apprenticeship from He Zhang to the Third Elder of the Limitless Sect. In order to do so, both masters would need to be present to for the formal ceremony.
The second thing on the agenda would concern the rest of the other sect elders, who had all come in order to earmark Chosen Disciples for their respective Sects. There were two main ways of becoming a disciple of Greater Sects. The first was like what was happening right now, when sect elder of the Greater Sects took interest in a potential disciple and earmarked them as Chosen Disciples of their respective sects. The other way of becoming a disciple of the Greater Sect would be to earn one's place through the quinquennial Greater Sect Selection Competition.
Most of the disciples of the Secondary Sect preferred and coveted the earlier method of entering the Greater Sects. Once a disciple had been earmarked as a Chosen Disciple, just like Qin Lingyu, one could be parachuted into the ranks of the core disciples within the Greater Sects as soon as they formally became disciples of the Greater Sects. This meant that they would naturally have more attention lavished on them from the outset.
On the other hand, those who entered the Greater Sects through the Greater Sect Selection Competition would have to slowly navigate themselves along a long and arduous journey in order to find their way into the ranks of the Greater Sect's core disciples.
That said, since the earmarking of a Chosen Disciple of these Greater Sects carried such importance and significance, it was naturally far more difficult for a disciple of any Secondary Sect to gain recognition as such. Those who were able to do so were few and far between. Prior to this, the only Dawn Sect disciples who had managed to gain such recognition in recent history and be earmarked as a Chosen Disciple comprised only of Qin Lingyu and Ye Xiuwen.
Thus, it can be seen that it was incredibly difficult to be earmarked as a Chosen Disciple of the Greater Sects. For this reason, few disciples bore any hope in their hearts that they would succeed today.
Under the baptism of gazes among all who were around, Qin Lingyu finally completed his change of master ceremony and became an official disciple of the Limitless Sect. Over the next few days, he would depart from the Dawn Sect and make his way to the Limitless Sect where he would continue to delve deeper and continue on his path of cultivation.
"Lingyu, do you have anything else you wish to add?" The Third Elder of the Limitless Sect queried unhurriedly.
He was incredibly pleased to have received Qin Lingyu as his newest disciple.
Qin Lingyu paused for a moment, before lifting his head and sweeping a glance at Yu Wanrou.
Yu Wanrou discreetly clenched her fists as she stared straight back into Qin Lingyu's eyes. She even gestured to him with her eyes, prompting him to make the necessary supplication.
Qin Lingyu had previously agreed to it. Just last night, after she and Qin Lingyu shared a moment of ecstasy, he swore on oath that he would announce to everyone present today that he would be bringing Yu Wanrou together with him to the Limitless Sect to further their cultivation together.
Yu Wanrou was afraid that Qin Lingyu would capitulate, and her heart tensed up involuntarily.
If she were to enter the Limitless Sect together with Qin Lingyu, Qin Lingyu would naturally have to first obtain the approval of the Limitless Sect's sect elder, especially from his new master. Today was the prime opportunity for that. If Qin Lingyu capitulates here, Yu Wanrou's chances of entering the Limitless Sect would simply be dashed to pieces, just like that.
Qin Lingyu's gaze paused on Yu Wanrou's body for a moment, before he shifted it away and affixed his gaze on Jun Xiaomo's body instead.
Jun Xiaomo looked back at him with indifference – there was not a single ripple in the depths of her eyes.
Qin Lingyu's chest undulated with a wave of indignation. This wave of indignation had been sudden and intense, and it instantly provoked him to a firm decision there and then.
"Master, disciple has something to supplement." Qin Lingyu turned around and bowed slightly to the Third Elder of the Limitless Sect as he added.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
"I'd like to bring the Dawn Sect's disciple, Yu Wanrou, together with me to the Limitless Sect to pursue our path of cultivation together."
As soon as Qin Lingyu's words rang out, the Discussion Hall was instantly set abuzz. Several people even cast looks of admiration on Yu Wanrou's body immediately.
Yu Wanrou's tensed heart was instantly loosened with relief. In the blink of an eye, her earlier tension had been exchanged for a surging joy.
She was finally going to become the disciple of a Greater Sect! She was finally going to greener pastures where she would be able to do all she had hoped to achieve!
Most importantly, she was finally better than Jun Xiaomo at something! So what if Jun Xiaomo were the daughter of a Peakmaster? Once she entered the Limitless Sect, she would have access to far better cultivation techniques, and far more cultivation resources. The Limitless Sect was a place that a Secondary Sect could never hold a candle to.
Furthermore, there were going to be innumerable male cultivators who were distinguished and outstanding in each their own ways. This meant that she was now one step closer to her ambitious life goals.
What of Jun Xiaomo now, huh? She can only continue to flail and struggle within the Dawn Sect. Whether she can qualify to enter a Greater Sect in the future is still very much an unknown right now.
The depths of Yu Wanrou's eyes were filled with immense delight and pride. She glanced over at Jun Xiaomo. As soon as Jun Xiaomo met her gaze, she immediately plastered a victorious smile on her face.
She would never pass up a chance to rub in Jun Xiaomo's face the fact that she had finally exceeded Jun Xiaomo in one aspect of life.
That said, Jun Xiaomo simply raised an eyebrow at the ecstatic Yu Wanrou, before turning her gaze away as though nothing had happened.
Yu Wanrou felt as though her punch had landed on a cloud of soft cotton wool; it felt as though Jun Xiaomo had just rained on her parade.
What she had completely overlooked was the fact that Qin Lingyu had once invited Jun Xiaomo to go with him, and Jun Xiaomo had outrightly rejected Qin Lingyu there and then.
Jun Xiaomo must have thought that she had a chance of being earmarked as a Chosen Disciple by the Greater Sect, huh? That must be why she's looking back at me with such a smug and indifferent look on her face. Yu Wanrou's heart burgeoned with a vicious thought, and she suddenly had the urge to let Jun Xiaomo know that the letter she had received earlier was nothing more than something that she wrote to fool Jun Xiaomo with.
However, she knew that once Jun Xiaomo realizes that she had been fooled and flies into a frenzy under the effects of the Threefold Spellbinding Incense, she was going to become the shame of the Dawn Sect. At that time, even her Peakmaster father would be unable to salvage the situation and rescue her.
Yet how could Yu Wanrou possibly fathom the depths of Jun Xiaomo's considerations?
Jun Xiaomo had experienced in her previous life exactly what Yu Wanrou was experiencing right now. In her previous life, when Qin Lingyu had announced to everyone that he was going to bring Jun Xiaomo with him to the Limitless Sect, Jun Xiaomo found herself completely overjoyed with the glory from the baptism of looks of admiration on her. Her body felt light, and she had practically been beside herself.
However, it was only when she entered the Limitless Sect that she came to realize that such a backdoor entry into a Greater Sect was nothing to celebrate about. In fact, it only marked the beginning of a nightmare. At that time, anyone would be able to trample on her – anyone could abuse and punish her under any and all kinds of pretexts. At the same time, she could only watch in dismay as her own fiancé became the object of affection of other female cultivators there.
Today, Jun Xiaomo had left these matters far behind her. In fact, Jun Xiaomo could hardly fathom what she was thinking back when she was so innocent and naïve to think that she would earn Qin Lingyu's sympathy by simply bearing with it and taking all the abuse lying down.
Thus, Jun Xiaomo hardly admired Yu Wanrou's "fortune" right now. She simply put on a placid and indifferent smile on her face as she watched Yu Wanrou bask in the glory of these false appearances.
In turn, Jun Xiaomo's present expressions made Yu Wanrou feel like her achievements were hardly worth anything.
Yu Wanrou bit down hard on her lower lips as she glared at Jun Xiaomo and barked in her heart – Just you wait! You're going to make a fool of yourself later!
| ← Ch. 240 | Ch. 242 → |