Chapter 22

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Chapter 22: Title

Forest shadows swallowed Suiyin’s crimson robes as she fled. The pursuing darkness gained ground.

She ripped a withered vine from an oak. Spiritual energy crackled around the makeshift sword. Whirling mid-stride, she slashed. Sword energy carved a trail of white frost across the earth.

The dragon writhed but couldn’t avoid the strike entirely. Scarlet bloomed along its spine. Its enraged bellow flattened nearby saplings.

Lamp-like eyes tracked their prey. Another thunderous roar. The forest trembled as a liquid wall surged from nowhere, sealing Suiyin’s escape.

Suiyin turned and locked eyes with the massive dragon pursuing her. She lifted her sword, its tip aimed at the beast. Provoked, the dragon charged with a thunderous roar, waves erupting around it and trapping the sword cultivator against stone.

Suiyin summoned spiritual energy as the faint outline of a sword materialized behind her. She dodged snapping jaws and a sweeping tail, leaping onto the creature’s scaled back. The dragon bucked wildly, trying to dislodge her.

A chain appeared in Suiyin’s free hand. She hurled it around the dragon’s neck, yanking tight as she stabbed downward with her spiritual sword. The blade shattered against armored scales, revealing withered vines disintegrating into dust beneath.

"Suiyin! Move!"

Lu Ciyou’s shout came just as the dragon surged forward, scraping against the ground to crush Suiyin against a tree. Suiyin kicked off into the air – only for the creature’s tail to slam into her ribs. She crashed against bark, blood spraying from her lips.

The dragon’s maw filled her vision.

Lu Ciyou’s Soaring Dragon Spear blazed through the air, its fiery projectile striking the beast’s head. Though the fire dragon dissipated under snapping teeth, the distraction let Suiyin roll free.

"Take this!" Lu Ciyou tossed an elixir bottle before gulping her own dose. Spiritual power flooded their veins, sharpening reflexes as they dodged another tail strike.

"Our storage ring’s empty!" Lu Ciyou shouted during the reprieve. "Six days of this? We’ll be worn down to bones!"

"I’ll bind it," Suiyin panted. "Aim for the core when it exposes!"

She launched the chain again, wrenching the dragon’s head upward. Lu Ciyou’s spear-tip flared crimson as she channeled spiritual power.

"Release us and live!" Suiyin demanded, muscles trembling as the wounded dragon thrashed. Its answering roar shook the valley, scales bristling with rage.

Darkness swallowed the sky as the creature ascended. Lu Ciyou’s heart lurched as she moved to pursue – then froze at the grip on her wrist.

A Li stood behind her, hair still mussed from days of unconsciousness.

"Why?" Lu Ciyou snapped, eyes darting between the girl and Suiyin’s precarious hold on the dragon. "What brings you back to certain death?"

“You going there was useless,” Yan Li insisted, pulling her back as she stared skyward. “This dragon’s enraged—it wants to trigger a thunder tribulation by forcibly ascending to dragonhood, planning to perish together with Suiyin!”

A dragon’s ascension thunder tribulation rivaled that of a Great Ascension stage cultivator, capable of scorching lands for miles. Yet this dragon’s cultivation hadn’t reached the level for transformation. How could it summon such a tribulation?

Yan Li narrowed her eyes. As the dragon writhed, she spotted a glint in its jaws.

Of course—it carried a treasure, using it to provoke the tribulation.

Lu Ciyou gaped. “You can speak now? But your voice sounds oddly familiar.”

“Suiyin!” Yan Li amplified her voice with spiritual power. “The dragon’s mouth holds a treasure! Seize it to dispel the tribulation!”

Above them, Suiyin clung to the thrashing dragon, nausea rising. Steal from its jaws? Easier said than done.

“Catch the sword!”

A metallic ring echoed. Suiyin’s hand closed instinctively around Broken Stream’s hilt, its familiar warmth flooding her palm. She stared—hadn’t she abandoned this sword at the Lantern Festival?

Right—Xia Shi had said the Lingyang Secret Realm closed abruptly because Broken Stream had chosen its master anew.

No time for questions. Suiyin slashed downward, splitting the dragon’s scaled back. As it roared, she slid beneath its belly and severed its meridians with another strike.

Thunder boomed—the tribulation loomed.

“I’ll assist!” Lu Ciyou’s fire dragon lunged for the beast’s eyes.

Yan Li boosted Lu Ciyou’s leap with spiritual energy, making her aerial movements swifter.

“About time you helped!” The young lady laughed, diving into the fray.

Suiyin kept her focus on the dragon’s jaws. “Lu Ciyou! I’ll take its sinew—grab the treasure when it opens!”

“On it!”

Suiyin flipped onto the dragon’s spine. Broken Stream pierced through scales, finding the wrist-thick sinew. She yanked—

The dragon froze. Then came convulsive thrashing, its shrieks shaking the clouds.

Lu Ciyou’s spear slashed across its eyes. As the jaws gaped, she seized a golden egg—cracked, nearly shattered.

The moment the egg left its mouth, the storm clouds scattered. Sunlight returned as the dragon plummeted, shaking the earth with its crash.

Safe on ground, Suiyin and Lu Ciyou watched the broken barrier flicker out.

“Hahaha!” Lu Ciyou brandished her spear and egg triumphantly—until laughter became choking coughs.

A hand patted her back steadily.

Suiyin wordlessly offered the sword.

“Thank you for your sword.”

Yan Li nodded lightly and put Broken Stream away.

By the time Lu Ciyou caught her breath, she’d already missed the sword’s return.

She pointed at the dragon carcass. “What about this?”

“Dragon bones, dragon sinew, core—all valuable. We fought hard for days. Shouldn’t waste them.”

Suiyin considered this and found it reasonable.

The three divided the spoils: Suiyin took the dragon sinew and egg, A Li received the core, while Lu Ciyou claimed the remaining dragon parts.

“Why take some mystery egg instead of dragon meat?” Lu Ciyou chuckled. Bringing home a whole dragon would impress her parents!

Suiyin studied the palm-sized egg before storing it in her ring. “Could make decent soup.”

“Where next? Chasing that Xia woman?” Lu Ciyou asked.

Suiyin looked down, fingers absently rubbing together.

Silence stretched until faint rustling interrupted.

Lu Ciyou opened the received voice transmission.

“Liujin Pavilion needs you at the Immortal Sect competition.”

The young lady scoffed. “Liujin Pavilion must win first place! I’ll crush Yan Li!”

The named Yan Li: “…”

She readjusted her mask without speaking.

During their week-long dragon fight, she’d broken through the barrier between life and death. The breakthrough healed most injuries through bone refinement.

“A Li, we’re going to Sanqing Realm.” Lu Ciyou declared.

Yan Li nodded.

“I’ll join.” Suiyin murmured, gaze downcast. “After retrieving my sword.”

Lu Ciyou patted her shoulder. “Good! Why mope over someone who never cared?”

Their snow lion-drawn carriage departed.

————

Fifteen days later.

Xia Shi, newly appointed elder by Ye Xiao, taught daily classes and handled sect chores.

She left at dawn, often organizing student assignments until nighttime returns.

One rare morning-afternoon break, Ye Xiao intercepted her en route to her peak.

Xia Shi inhaled deeply. “What does the sect leader require?”

Ye Xiao sneered. “Got complaints?”

Xia Shi forced a smile. “For Sanqing Realm’s sake, I’m delighted to serve.”

Ten out of ten, with a perfect score of one hundred.

"Since it’s recruitment season, you should supervise as an elder. Keep junior disciples from improper behavior that might disgrace Sanqing Realm."

"Understood."

Xia Shi stormed off with sleeves flapping wildly, radiating palpable resentment.

"You provoked her again." Shen Huaiwen approached, amusement coloring her voice as she watched the furious figure retreat.

Ye Xiao shrugged. "Better keep her busy or she’ll grow moss."

"Agreed. She needs to move forward."

————

Approaching the outer sect, Xia Shi saw an endless queue snaking ahead – the recruitment station.

The growing clamor made her brows knit tighter with each step. Her footsteps dragged heavier, reluctance evident in her slowed pace.

Every fiber resisted going closer.

"Elder Wuwei." A junior disciple bowed, presentation booklet extended.

Xia Shi acknowledged with a grunt, eyeing the ledger. "This is?"

"The sect leader’s orders. You’re to hand-record new disciples’ information today."

"Handwritten?" Her frown deepened.

With this crowd, her hand would fall off.

The disciple nodded.

Xia Shi: "……"

Four hundred years ago they’d stopped manual registrations. The sect leader’s really regressing with age.

As she opened her mouth to refuse, two partitioned queues materialized beside a prepared desk. Disciples flanking the station beamed expectantly.

"……"

Trapped, Xia Shi forced a smile and followed.

The junior disciple explained recording procedures.

"You seem competent enough." Xia Shi suggested. "Why not you?"

"Sect leader’s command." The disciple shrugged helplessly.

Disobedience wasn’t an option.

"Wang Wu, 22. Earth spiritual root. Grade C. Qi Training Stage."

Xia Shi waved mechanically for the next.

"Li Si, 36. Wood spiritual root. Grade B. Foundation Establishment Stage."

…………

The setting sun cast its golden afterglow across the sky as Xia Shi sat with her back to the fading light. Her lowered lashes framed eyes like painted scenes, lips curved in a smile that made her resemble a divine statue gilded in twilight.

A junior disciple nearby gaped until Xia Shi’s yawn interrupted her reverence. The disciple blushed when noticing the empty teacup, hastily refilling it before peeking at the remaining line. "Just over a dozen left," she whispered, crouching low.

Xia Shi massaged her aching wrist with a weary nod.

At the queue’s end, Suiyin stared fixedly at the seated woman. No plain robes could hide that face – every feature perfect, yet hauntingly familiar, as if etched into her soul through countless lifetimes. Her chest tightened painfully. Though a stranger, she yearned to approach, to press close like a child seeking shelter. This eerie recognition… she’d felt it before with Xia Shi too.

"What’s wrong?" Lu Ciyou nudged her.

"Nothing," Suiyin breathed, watching the line shrink.

When her turn came, she parroted the standard phrase: "Suiyin. Twenty-two. Heavenly Spirit Body. Crossed the barrier between life and death."

Gasps rippled through the crowd. No living Heavenly Spirit Body had conquered that trial so young.

Suiyin kept watching the motionless pen in Xia Shi’s hand.

"Elder Wuwei?" A disciple prompted. "Last one."

Xia Shi scribbled final characters. "Deliver this to the sect leader."

As she rose to leave, Suiyin vaulted over the table, crimson sleeves flaring. "Have we met?" Her trembling fingers caught Xia Shi’s sleeve.

The question darkened Xia Shi’s gaze. With a flick of her wrist, Suiyin went tumbling down the stairs. "Impudent."