Chapter 159: Hidden Cloud Cave (2)
“Waaah…”
From within the distant shrubbery, Gu Qingqing peered out with half her head, her dark beady eyes observing the battlefield upon Flowing Cloud Cliff.
“Senior Brother Song… is terrifying.”
She scratched her small face with a guilty conscience. “What if he gets angry and beats me?”
After sending Song Yan away with the teleportation talisman at Qingjiang Flat, the three of them had scattered in the face of pursuit from multiple factions, each fleeing in a different direction.
Gu Qingqing had chosen the most remote direction—the southwest.
She had not expected to encounter Senior Brother Song again so soon.
As it happened, she had stumbled upon this very ambush directed at him.
But in the blink of an eye, those three had already departed in peace.
She had instinctively wanted to step forward and greet Senior Brother Song, but upon reflection, her hand had played a part in sending him away.
Now she was filled with regret—enormous regret.
“I should flee before Senior Brother Song notices me…”
Gu Qingqing had made up her mind, only to discover that Song Yan’s figure had already vanished from Flowing Cloud Cliff.
“Huh? Where did he go?”
She looked all around but could not find a trace of Song Yan. “He left that quickly.”
“Forget it, forget it. Running is the best option.”
She slowly withdrew into the shrubbery and was about to turn and leave.
A pair of warm hands gently patted her shoulder.
“Junior Sister Qingqing, it has been a while.”
“Mama!”
Gu Qingqing leapt into the air like a startled little rabbit.
Hearing that familiar voice, she turned around in a flurry, only to have her lower back catch on a branch of the shrubbery, trapping her.
“Uh… heh heh, Senior… Senior Brother Song.”
She stammered as she tried to retreat, only to find a rock behind her.
“What… what a coincidence. What are you doing here? We truly… have fate.”
Song Yan gazed down at her from above, his expression hovering between a smile and something else entirely.
But no matter how Gu Qingqing looked at it, he seemed to have come to settle accounts with her.
His eyebrow arched slightly, and his hand reached leisurely toward the girl’s hair bun, brushing away the bits of grass clinging to it.
“It is indeed quite a coincidence.”
Only Song Yan’s voice sounded somewhat somber.
“I was previously hurled into the wilderness by a certain junior sister with a teleportation talisman. After a great deal of effort to make my way back, I did not expect to run into you right here…”
“It was Senior Brother Li’s idea!”
Gu Qingqing suddenly straightened her back, her small eyes darting about. “He said you needed to focus on facing strong enemies, and that he wanted you to see how treacherous the world can be!”
As she spoke, she stole several glances at Song Yan’s expression.
Her fingers nervously rubbed the flowing ribbons of her ru skirt. “I didn’t agree to it…”
Song Yan said nothing, but his hand shot down with startling speed.
She cried out in alarm and clapped her hands over her eyes.
However.
The anticipated flick on the forehead never came. She parted her fingers to peek through, and found herself meeting Senior Brother Song’s ambiguous gaze.
He suddenly seized Gu Qingqing’s small face in his grip.
“Where is that bastard Li Fatty right now?”
“Senior Brother Li fled northward at the time, so he should be… in the Maple Forest by now?”
Gu Qingqing blurted out the words, then realized what she had done and felt a pang of guilt. “I… I didn’t say anything.”
Song Yan straightened up and flicked his finger lightly against Gu Qingqing’s smooth forehead.
“Lead the way!”
He lowered his hand, and Xiao He from within her sleeve coiled around the girl’s waist, eyeing the spirit-marked jade token at her hip with predatory intent.
“…”
The girl gritted her teeth and stamped her foot.
Gu Qingqing, oh Gu Qingqing—the wise man submits to circumstances!
“The central region is surely in chaos right now. If we run into too many people, we will suffer unnecessary losses~”
“Senior Brother Song, I know a shortcut!”
“This way, please!”
Gu Qingqing’s change in attitude was remarkably smooth. Song Yan nodded.
And so, the girl took the lead, while he followed at a leisurely pace behind her.
“Senior Brother, may I make a request?”
“Speak.”
“When we find Senior Brother Li, may I hide? I’m afraid he’ll scold me.”
“Fine.”
“Heh heh, Senior Brother, you are truly kind.”
…
Outside the Cavern Heavens realm, atop Sword Trial Peak.
The state of the Sword-Tempering Competition unfolded before the eyes of the observing disciples and elders, one detail at a time.
Qin Xijun watched Song Yan, who still lingered at the very edge of the Sword Tempering zone, with an exasperated expression. “That brat—he’s not the least bit anxious.”
She had only two Qi Refining disciples to her name: Lu Ziye and Song Yan.
Lu Ziye had announced some days prior that he intended to prepare for Foundation Establishment, and so had not participated in this Sword-Tempering Competition.
Therefore, among these disciples, she concerned herself only with young Song Yan’s progress.
Though she had already stepped down from her position as an elder, as a veteran Foundation Establishment cultivator, the sect had naturally reserved an elder’s seat for her at such affairs.
Her brow furrowed with worry, and the idle chatter of the other elders drifted to her ears.
“Before long, the barrier will begin to shift again. Li Yi will probably start making his move.”
Only ordinary elders were present here.
Elder Luo Xiaming had departed after declaring the opening.
With no peak-master-level elders present, the conversation among the few was unconstrained—quite relaxed, in fact.
“This Sword Tempering is just a formality, if you ask me.”
“Li Yi should secure the Rank A position without difficulty.”
The dueling phase of the sect’s Sword-Tempering Competition would ultimately determine the top twelve.
What the disciples discussed most were the identities of these twelve, and the possibility of who might claim first place.
But among the elders’ conversations, aside from the top three, it did not truly matter who filled the remaining slots.
“Indeed. Over the years, aside from that fellow Xu Ziqing, he is the only one to have been exceptionally admitted to Demon Subjugation Peak while still at the Qi Refining Stage.”
“Yuwen Yao of Lotus Seclusion Peak is also formidable. Among these participants, she may be the only one who can match Li Yi.”
Everyone tacitly omitted the name of Kong You.
Kong You was undeniably gifted, but in overall strength, when compared to the truly outstanding Li Yi and Yuwen Yao, he fell slightly short.
As for Song Yan, aside from Qin Xijun and Xu Ziqing, who had crossed paths with him on several occasions, no other elder paid him any mind.
The current list of the top twenty-two was visible to all.
First Place: Li Yi, eighty-nine marks.
Second Place: Yuwen Yao, sixty-seven marks.
Third Place: Kong You, forty-two marks.
…
Twelfth Place: Lin Qing, thirty-one marks.
…
Seventeenth Place: Song Yan, twenty-six marks.
…
Nineteenth Place: Shao Sichen, twenty-two marks.
…
Twenty-Second Place: Li Qingfeng, fourteen marks.
Remaining cultivators within the barrier: one hundred and twenty-eight.
Of these one hundred and twenty-eight, the vast majority harbored ambitions of competing for one of the top twenty-two positions.
Those who could advance to the next dueling phase—even if they withdrew from further competition afterward—would still receive generous rewards from the sect.
This was the fundamental reason that drew cultivators to compete with such ferocity.
These one hundred and twenty-eight possessed, for the most part, some measure of combat ability, and had likely already won victories in several preceding battles.
Now everyone understood that the pace of the Sword-Tempering Competition would only accelerate from here.
The brutality of the conflicts would increase dramatically as well.