Amidst the crowd, faced with Immortal Blue Dragon Chen Wentian's anger, Peng Lingxi's heart experienced grave waves in only a short period of time. Of all the frightened people present, nobody could compare to the vast disparity in emotions she was currently suffering through. It was as if her entire world had come crashing down. For the first time in her life, she didn't know what to do.
When she emerged from the Forest of Swords, she was filled with confidence and joy. She had achieved all the goals she had set for herself at the beginning. She had gotten to meet Lin Qingcheng, Ten Thousand Flower Valley's first disciple, and they had a spirited competition. She had helped Li Yuechan, another talented and key disciple of the valley, during a dangerous situation. In addition, she had managed to obtain thirteen sword truths, definitively breaking the record which had stood for over four hundred years. And during the final day and night, she even met up with those women again and helped defend against an all-out attack by the four great sword sects.
It had been a wonderful two weeks, an experience she would think back fondly forever. Her future looked so bright. Her path toward cultivating the immortal arts of the Lonely Sword Wanderer was clear and unobstructed. Even her friendship with Ten Thousand Flower Valley was blossoming wonderfully and it was only a matter of time before her love noticed her and they got to know each other.
Who could have known that everything would fall apart a few breaths later?
As she sneaked away to join the disciples of her own sect, she found out that they had been busy attacking the other disciples of Ten Thousand Flower Valley. She couldn't believe it but the wounds and casualties her side had suffered were damning. She couldn't believe something like this could happen and she wanted someone to blame. Her senior and junior brothers had done this without telling her at all.
She was ashamed and angry. Wu Qianyu was a competitor, a disciple of a rival sect, one worthy of respect and admiration, not a villain that had to be killed at any cost. She would have never agreed to such an underhanded plan. It was not the way of the sword. She was so disappointed in her sect. She was so disappointed in her master who was no doubt the person who gave the order.
But her master was dead. According to the old ancients of the Immortal Association, her master and many other sect masters were dead, just like that, just with a few sentences. It didn't seem real.
Immortal Desolate Sword Peng Yuefeng, he wasn't a great man by any measure. In her eyes, he was difficult to be around and often in a bad mood. He was the venerable sect master of a powerful immortal sect but she was never inspired or awed by him. He appreciated her talent and that was the only thing she appreciated about him. She respected him greatly but that was about it. Now that he was dead, she didn't feel any sadness or despair, only a dull endless haze as if she was lost in an endless fog. She suddenly didn't know where she was going or even where she was.
"Senior Brother Xiling! Senior Brother Xiling!"
A voice nearby brought her back to reality.Peng Xiling greeted her fellow disciple with a nod, "What is it?"
"The other senior brothers are asking for you. Immortal Chen has asked for a representative from each sect to answer his questions. The senior brothers are arguing about which one of them it should be. I think you should go and intervene or else they might start fighting." That person said.
She looked around. Other disciples also had hopeful expressions. Many were wounded and bandaged all over. She knew firsthand how fearsome the disciples of Ten Thousand Flower Valley were, to the point that they almost defied common sense. Her fellow disciples had suffered for what now seemed like a pointless endeavor.
She felt sorry for them. She patted the junior's shoulder and strode toward the center of the group where three men were arguing.
"Shuya, you can’t make me the representative. Just because you have the sect master’s badge doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do!”
Those words came from Peng Yuchang, the second senior brother. Out of all the disciples of this current generation, his cultivation was the second highest and his influence was also so. He was currently glaring at Peng Shuya, the senior brother.
Peng Shuya stood tall and solemn. His sharp chin trembled ever so slightly from gritting his teeth. He carried a polished piece of metal in his left hand, held up to shoulder height as if for everyone to see. It was indeed the sect master’s badge. It should have given him supreme authority over the Tower of Swords in place of the sect master but others didn’t see it that. The sect master was dead so his authority meant nothing anymore.
“Shuya, you are the senior brother so you should go up as the representative!” Another person said and this time it came from the third senior brother, “Since you like the sect master’s position so much, you can keep it and represent us!”
His words were followed by some nods from those listening in. Nobody wanted to be the representative to face Chen Wentian’s wrath. If that person spoke one word out of line, it wasn’t out of reason for the immortal to instantly burn them to ash. Nobody wanted such a suicidal task.
Peng Shuya finally snorted in anger and unleashed his aura at the third lesser realm along with his words, “This is the sect master’s crest! Master gave it to me so that I may lead all disciples within the Forest of Swords in his absence. Now that he is gone, I am the new sect master and my words are absolute! Peng Yuchang, I order you to go up as the representative. We don’t have time to argue!”
“No!” The stocky second senior brother snapped back, “You’re not the sect master, there are several dozen elders back at the sect that have more seniority than you!”
Peng Lingxi stared hard at her senior brothers. They looked ready to fight one another, all sense of brotherhood forgotten. It was everyone for themselves at the moment. They were each trying to survive the crisis.
She didn’t know if she should feel disappointed or what. Regardless, it only made her decision easier.
“I will be the representative!” She said firmly, letting her sword aura sharpen each word so that everyone heard it.
Peng Shuya shot her a look filled with worry and something else. He and the other senior brothers all knew she was just disguised as a man. Many of them harbored secret feelings for her, including him.
“You can’t go.” He said.
She ignored him and said, “Those of you who were responsible for the attack against Immortal Chen’s prized disciples, I can’t save your lives. But I think I can save our sect from complete destruction. Now get out of my way!”
“Xiling, out of all of us, only you cannot go.” Second Brother Peng Yuchang also joined in.
She had no more patience for any of them, people who kept her in the dark about their evil plans. Her spiritual energy spiked in an instant, far quicker than any of them could react to. The exquisite movement skills contained within the Lonely Sword Wanderer sent her through the blockade and over everyone’s heads in half a breath of time.
She landed in front of Chen Wentian and kneeled down, “Immortal Chen, this insignificant one is named Peng Xiling. I will be the representative for the Tower of Swords.”
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