Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

Chapter 383: Chapter 281: Lengning Palace (2)

Shangguan Yutong offered the girls a gentle smile. Despite their young age, they were all much stronger than she was. After consuming the elixirs Ling Xiao had given her, Shangguan Yutong’s strength had risen from a Tier Two to a Tier Four Demon Swordsman. This feat alone had left her master, Qiuyue Yao, utterly astonished, for Qiuyue Yao’s own strength was still merely that of a Tier Five Demon Swordsman.

Although Qiuyue Yao was highly regarded by the Palace Master of Lengning Palace, Leng Qianqian, and was even entrusted with managing all the sect’s external affairs, strength was strength. Within Lengning Palace, the power of master and disciple was simply not high enough to be ranked.

However, Lengning Palace had always maintained a low profile, and its disciples were very united. Thus, no one discriminated against the master and disciple. On the contrary, because the two of them often traveled to the Mortal World and brought back many new and interesting trinkets each time they returned, they were very popular within the sect.

Take these young women, for example. They were all personal disciples of the current Palace Master, Leng Qianqian. The weakest among them had already surpassed Qiuyue Yao, having reached the strength of a Tier Six Demon Swordsman, yet they were still very polite to her.

The current Palace Master of Lengning Palace, Leng Qianqian, was technically Qiuyue Yao’s junior martial sister in terms of seniority. Though only twenty-five years old, she was exceptionally talented. Combined with the successive inheritances from Lengning Palace’s previous Palace Masters, she had already attained the strength of a Tier Two Sword Sect expert.

If news of this were to spread in the Mortal World, it would cause a tremendous uproar. A twenty-five-year-old at the Sword Sect realm might even have a chance of reaching Sainthood within a hundred years!

As a sect capable of ranking among the second-rate powers, Lengning Palace’s strength naturally didn’t stop there. Among its former Palace Masters, the strongest had reached the level of a Tier Five Sword Emperor, while the weakest was a Tier Two Sword Emperor.

According to the rules of Lengning Palace, once a Palace Master reached the Sword Emperor Realm, they had to immediately abdicate, pass the position on to the next successor, and enter the sect’s secluded grounds for cultivation.

Lengning Palace also had eight Law Enforcement Elders. The strongest had reached Tier Six of the Sword Sect realm, and the weakest was at Tier Four. These eight elders were all advanced in age—so old that it was nearly impossible for them to break through to the Sword Emperor Realm in their remaining lifetimes. Therefore, most of Lengning Palace’s affairs were not managed by the Palace Master, but by these eight Sword Sect Elders.

Lengning Palace’s outer sect had male disciples, though they were few in number and mostly managed the sect’s various businesses. The Inner Sect, however, was composed entirely of female disciples.

Lengning Palace also had an almost inhumanly strict rule: all Inner Sect Disciples were forbidden from ever marrying.

In other words, once a woman became an Inner Sect Disciple of Lengning Palace, she had to sever all ties with worldly love and desire. As a result, every member of the Inner Sect was as pure as ice and jade.

The current Palace Master, Leng Qianqian, carried the high hopes of all the sect’s seniors and Elders. They believed she had the ability to lead the sect to greater glory, and perhaps even elevate Lengning Palace to the level of a first-rate sect.

Thus, Leng Qianqian had personally come here this time. Her goal was to build good relationships with some of the larger family sects to lay the groundwork for Lengning Palace’s future development. At the same time, there was one person she was extremely curious about.

That person was Ling Xiao. Logically, a man from the Mortal World should never have attracted the attention of someone like Leng Qianqian, whose status was even more venerable than that of a Royal Princess. However, when Shangguan Yutong had returned to the sect a while back, she mentioned Ling Xiao to her "junior martial aunt" Palace Master. She spoke of his many miraculous feats, especially the magical Beauty Pill that came from his hands. This particular item had thoroughly captivated Leng Qianqian, a young woman who had rarely ever stepped outside her sect’s gates.

What woman doesn’t love beauty?

Even a woman as pure as ice and jade like Leng Qianqian was no exception. She planned to visit Ling Xiao in the great southern city of Penzes City after this trade fair concluded, treating it as a trip to gain worldly experience.

On this trip, she brought three elders with her: the Grand Elder, the Second Elder, and the Third Elder. Although the three of them had unanimously opposed the trip, they finally agreed to Leng Qianqian’s request after witnessing the change in Shangguan Yutong.

At the same time, several of the elders were preparing to accept Shangguan Yutong, whose strength had greatly increased, into the Inner Sect.

This should have been a good thing, but Shangguan Yutong was unwilling. Once she stepped into Lengning Palace’s Inner Sect, it meant she would have to spend the rest of her life alone. If she had been single-mindedly devoted to pursuing the pinnacle of the Martial Dao, this would be one thing, but in Shangguan Yutong’s heart...

But she couldn’t speak of such things. Not only had she kept this matter bottled up in her heart without telling anyone, but even if her feelings were mutual, the judgment of the world... the gossip alone would be enough to drown a person.

Therefore, Shangguan Yutong had always vehemently denied her own feelings, holding them back and refusing to acknowledge them. This lasted until her master, Qiuyue Yao, discovered the truth, had a long talk with her, and expressed her support. Only then did Shangguan Yutong’s heart begin to stir with hope.

But neither she nor Qiuyue Yao could fight the reality of her being brought into the Inner Sect. So, Qiuyue Yao proposed a rather embarrassing idea to her disciple. If Shangguan Yutong could lose her virginity before becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, the elders would surely drop the subject of her joining the Inner Sect.

As a thousand thoughts raced through Shangguan Yutong’s mind, she suddenly spotted Ling Xiao. At the time, she hadn’t dared to be certain, feeling that Ling Xiao was unlikely to appear at such an event. But after she returned, the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that it had been him. That was why she had deliberately waited outside the building where the unranked family sects were dining today. The moment she saw Ling Xiao, she knew for sure—it was him! His posture and the way he walked gave him away completely.

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