The outer sect halls along with the Hall of Cultivation, the Law Pavilion, and the Library were the places where disciples gathered the most.
Both the Law Pavilion and the Library were guarded by Golden Core cultivators, so the outer sect patrol elders focused their attention primarily on the Hall of Affairs and the Hall of Cultivation Techniques.
The elders patrolling the outer gates immediately detected the incident with their divine senses.
The girl who had fainted and vomited blood, the man who looked both ferocious and dazed, and the bloodstains on Chang Jianhong's body and the ground, at a glance, the crime scene was unmistakable.
As soon as Chang Jianhong straightened, an exceptionally sharp pressure enveloped him. He froze in place, drenched in cold sweat, unable to even move his fingers.
His eyes practically bulged from their sockets, and he felt as if he might spit out a mouthful of blood. Heaven knew he hadn't even bumped into Yu Ying before she fell to the ground.
He had bumped into nothing, which was why he staggered and his movements were so noticeable.
She's trying to scam me! She's trying to scam him!
Before long, the outer sect patrol elders arrived at the scene.
The elder wore a dark, fitted robe, his long hair neatly tied with a jade hairpin, revealing a young, handsome face that was icy and severe.
Those who cultivate immortality refine their spiritual energy to cleanse their essence and marrow, so few of them are unattractive; at the very least, they are strikingly handsome.
But the elder who arrived today was exceptionally handsome, with fair skin and a cool, aloof demeanor that made people stop and stare.
Of course, it was only for a moment. The next instant, the crowd, stunned by his appearance, felt a sharp pressure in their eyes, gasped for breath, and bowed with tears to show their respect for the elder.
Wielding a heavy green sword, this young Golden Core cultivator, with a natural talent for swordsmanship, had not cultivated diligently in his own cave. Instead, the sect leader had forced him to take on outer sect patrol duties. Everyone in the Yao Guang Sect knew of him.
"It's Master Qingfeng!" In the brief moment Yu Ying was still groggily waking up, she heard someone shout in a low, excited voice.
"My God, I've seen the real Master Qingfeng in person!!"
Yu Ying: "…" Could it be that there are still deceased Qingfeng Zhenren wandering the sect?
While inwardly grumbling, Yu Ying felt pain all over her body, especially in her head, which felt as if it had been pierced with ice, both painful and numb. She wondered whether it had been damaged again before it fully healed.
Chang Jianhong had bullied her several times before, though they were all minor squabbles. But she held grudges, so now he would have to pay.
"Tell me what happened." Qingfeng, who had awakened Yu Ying with his ice spiritual power, glanced at her coldly. He released his divine sense suppression on Chang Jianhong and spoke in a voice as cold as ice shattering against jade.
He had intended to stabilize the injured disciple's soul with his spiritual power. But as soon as his power touched Yu Ying, he realized she hadn't been attacked by her fellow disciples rather, she was simply low on spiritual energy and had bitten her tongue, causing her to vomit blood.
Starving oneself to the point of eating one's own body, that was truly pathetic.!
Qingfeng, who always valued cultivation, noticed that Chang Jianhong, with three spiritual roots and at the fifth level of Qi Refining, looked aggrieved, while Yu Ying, with extremely poor spiritual roots and low cultivation, lay on the ground like a boneless person. Naturally, he felt a tinge of dislike for her.
Feeling the disdainful gazes of the surrounding disciples, Chang Jianhong nearly burst into tears.
He hurriedly reported, "Master, I ran into Junior Sister Yu after finishing my mission at the Hall of Affairs… I just wanted to greet her, but I don't know why she collapsed. She screamed… screamed as if she'd been snatched by a Red Cloud Goose."
When the Red Cloud Goose had bitten him, he hadn't even screamed as loudly as Yu Ying. This brat had completely lost her temper just to extort money from him!
A kind person helped Yu Ying sit up, and oddly, her hunger seemed slightly less pressing.
She leaned against the door, even weaker than before, pinched her thigh hard, and looked at Chang Jianhong with teary eyes.
I know that Senior Brother Chang doesn't like me and has wanted to beat me for a long time."
"Especially after finding out I had an easy enlightenment, he's even more eager to take me down. Waaah~ It's all because my cultivation level is too low, and I can't withstand Senior Brother Chang's shoulder!"
Everyone stared in astonishment. A sudden enlightenment? And it came so easily?!
Chang Jianhong was furious and shouted, "I didn't bump into you at all! You're clearly trying to frame me!"
Yu Ying shrank her neck and nodded weakly. "Yes, yes, I was jealous of my senior brother's high cultivation level and the fact that he didn't need an epiphany. I was also envious of your sharp tongue and your habit of bullying people, so I had the bad intention of framing you."
Upon hearing the words "sudden enlightenment," the growing number of outer disciples nearly burst out laughing. They all stared at Chang Jianhong, whose face had turned red, and began discussing it animatedly.
Believe it or not, some had actually witnessed Chang Jianhong use his talent and cultivation to mock others with sarcasm and sharp remarks.
Unfortunately, they couldn't win a fight or even a verbal argument, and many were driven to the brink of madness. Who would have thought that one day, he would be rendered speechless by someone else's sarcastic remarks?Haha~
Chang Jianhong choked and trembled all over. Master Qingfeng, misunderstanding him as being poor at speaking, disliked Yu Ying even more for her strange and sarcastic manner.
He narrowed his beautiful phoenix eyes, his divine sense pressing subtly on Yu Ying, his words heavy with an oppressive power.
"Did he really knock you down?"
Yu Ying, still feverish, was overwhelmed by the divine sense infused with icy spiritual power, and her whole body trembled.
In an instant, her mind cleared, and her aching body felt far more comfortable. Hunger vanished, and she even felt a slight sense of fullness.
She was overjoyed. Although she didn't understand what the master had done, it was far more effective than Master Jin Fan's flower pills!
Once her mind cleared, Yu Ying wasn't slow to act. With a swift thought, she staggered to her feet, grinned, and bowed deeply to Qingfeng.
"Thank you, Master, for helping me regain my senses!"
"I didn't faint because of Senior Brother Chang," Yu Ying explained smoothly, "but because of a sudden enlightenment opportunity that allowed me to improve my aptitude. Right now, my body is struggling from a lack of spiritual energy. That's why I came to the Hall of Affairs to see if I could exchange this enlightenment opportunity for some pills rich in spiritual energy."
Forget about missions, she wasn't that diligent anyway. Her monthly allowance couldn't compete with what she could earn from merit points!
This brat could wait for another day. Given Senior Brother Chang's competitive nature, opportunities for revenge would come plenty. For now, the main thing was to make money!
With so many people in the Hall of Affairs, even if she couldn't exchange them for merit points, as long as each person bought a jade slip… hehe~ there was no better chance to make a fortune!
The disciples present immediately erupted in excitement upon hearing that their aptitude might be improved.
Upon learning that she was willing to share, everyone's gaze toward Yu Ying intensified, and no one noticed the fleeting, strange expression that crossed Qingfeng Zhenren's cold and handsome face.
Although Qingfeng was only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, sword cultivators could fight beyond their level, and his cultivation and spiritual sense far surpassed those of others at the same stage.
If he used his divine sense to suppress Jin Fan, who was in the late stage of the Golden Core realm, it was enough to make Jin Fan flustered and struggle to resist for some time.
But this lowly disciple, whose cultivation was only at the second level of Qi Refining, was completely unaffected by his divine sense… No, she even seemed to absorb a wisp of it?
"Did you not receive a spiritual boost when you had your epiphany?" he asked, setting aside his prejudice against Yu Ying's poor posture and raising his sharp eyebrows.
After all, besides absorbing spiritual energy naturally, cultivators could also replenish it by consuming elixirs or rare treasures imbued with spiritual power.
Yu Ying's smile grew even brighter, ignoring Chang Jianhong's long, dark face, and she called out loudly:
"Reporting to the Master, I have received a surge of spiritual energy! However, my post-enlightenment opportunity isn't over yet, so the spiritual energy is insufficient and is nearly draining me dry!"
Qingfeng remained silent. No wonder she lacked spiritual energy—it turned out she was missing far too much.
His divine sense carried exceptionally pure ice spiritual power; even a trace, if fully absorbed, could have overwhelmed Yu Ying completely. Fortunately, her poor spiritual root aptitude prevented her from fully absorbing it.
Yu Ying continued to announce loudly, "After much thought, I believe it's probably because my cousin had an epiphany alongside me. She's still in the midst of enlightenment, and all the spiritual energy has gone to her!"
The crowd erupted in another uproar. One epiphany wasn't enough? There was another one?
They shared Chen Ji's sentiment: when did enlightenment become so worthless? Waaah—they wanted it too!
When Qingfeng heard her mention the disciples who had attained enlightenment, he suddenly recalled what his master, the head of the Yao Guang Sect, had told him just a few days ago.
He found Jin Fan's words too noisy, so after hearing only a few sentences, he shut down his five senses and returned to his cultivation practice.
From the little he heard, Jin Fan went on about how outrageous the reason for the two disciples' sudden enlightenment was and how strange their posture appeared, his gaze once more turning cold.
If the disciples of the sect were misled by this and abandoned their diligent cultivation to indulge in trivial desires for food and pleasure, then once word spread, the Yao Guang Sect would likely become a laughingstock throughout the Yunmiao Realm.
"I observe that your spiritual consciousness is unstable, your cultivation level is low, and even your techniques cannot be executed smoothly. Is this the result of your enlightenment?" he asked expressionlessly, coldly exposing the claims Yu Ying had made earlier.
"Perhaps it's because she took crooked paths that she wasted the opportunity for enlightenment granted by Heaven. What's the point of sharing such an opportunity? The Hall of Affairs does not accept just anything!"
The disciples, who had been eager and restless, ready to approach Yu Ying about the opportunity, were instantly silenced by Qingfeng Zhenren's low, icy shout. One by one, they froze, struck with surprise and doubt.
Everyone wants enlightenment, but what if it is pursued through crooked or unorthodox means… and a serious accident occurs?
Yu Ying fell silent, the ice-laden rebuke halting her giggles.
No matter if it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. She had worked so hard, biting her tongue and collapsing, just to post an advertisement and now this real person was acting like a dog catching mice, exposing the fake immediately!
While the others listened with somber expressions, Chang Jianhong beamed with delight.
Finally, someone recognized that Yu Ying was no good; even her epiphanies were illegitimate!
People experienced a mix of emotions. Some were anxious, even more so than Yu Ying, now exposed as a fraud.
Seeing the spirit stones that Heaven had scattered about ready to vanish, and the ones he had lent out never to return, Chen Ji wished he could rush up and cover Qingfeng Zhenren's mouth.
Just then, Yu Ying looked up and saw him flustered and jumping about. Her eyes suddenly sparkled.
Exposing fakes wasn't frightening; what mattered was who ended up looking foolish!
"Senior Brother Chen!" she called, smiling brightly at Master Qingfeng. Her voice, even without spiritual power, resonated throughout the Hall of Affairs, reaching every disciple peeking from inside.
"But my cousin Yu Ling awakened because of a few words of truth, recognized by Heaven, which triggered her sudden enlightenment and a remarkable increase in spiritual awareness. In just a few days, she advanced from the fourth to the eighth level of Qi Refining."
Master Qingfeng: "..."
The onlookers: "..."
Okay, they heard clearly, catching the emphasis and pauses in her words.
Chen Ji nearly burst out laughing.
Master Qingfeng had noted that Yu Ying's spiritual consciousness was unstable, her cultivation low, and even her techniques clumsy but Yu Ying used Yu Ling as an example, carefully dissecting each rumor and turning his critique into her proof.
Ever since Junior Sister Yu's forbidden techniques had failed, he and Senior Brother Chang had been the ones furious enough to feel like vomiting blood every time. Now it was someone else's turn—a Golden Core cultivator, no less! The feeling was simply too good to ignore. Hehe~
"Still not awake!" Yu Ying had already set the stage. Chen Ji dared not glance at Qingfeng Zhenren's expression, but he continued, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"I'm here to report that Senior Sister Yu Ling has made a breakthrough and has already reached the eighth level of Qi Refining!"
"If Senior Sister Yu is favored by Heaven and experiences a few more days of enlightenment, she could very well advance to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining!"
Everyone present froze, captivated by the possibility. They completely ignored the chilling aura radiating from Qingfeng Zhenren and Chang Jianhong's dark, scowling face, their breaths coming in rapid, excited gasps.
Good heavens! A sudden enlightenment, just a few days of constant practice, and their cultivation levels were now worlds apart! Such power… even if obtained through unorthodox methods, they could brave any danger, mountains of blades, seas of fire and survive!