Firmament Sword

As the energy dissipated, Xu Luo gradually drifted into a deep sleep.

Although the power coursing through Li Wenxi’s body was incredibly potent, it didn’t cause her any harm.

It was the first time in her life she had ever broken through to a new realm so quickly.

In the blink of an eye, Li Wenxi had completely broken through the Sword Venerable Realm and stabilized her cultivation at an even higher level.

She slowly opened her eyes and found herself still lying in the young man’s arms. He was already sound asleep.

A complicated look flashed across Li Wenxi’s eyes. Her first instinct was to kill the young man before her!

This reaction was purely instinctual.

For thirty years, she had remained as pure as ice and jade, a flawless snow lotus on a frozen peak.

Qiushuiduan was so devoted that his hair had turned white for her in a single night, yet even he couldn’t stir her heart.

And yet here she was, lying quietly in a young man’s arms. What flustered her the most was... she didn’t find the feeling repulsive at all!

”This... How is this possible?”

Li Wenxi muttered to herself as she slowly sat up. Afraid of startling Xu Luo, her movements were light and gentle.

She then stood up, sensing the surging power within her Dantian and seeing a world that looked completely different.

Li Wenxi stared at Xu Luo for a long moment before a wry smile touched her lips. She looked at him and said softly, ”So be it. This must be fate.”

Killing him was out of the question, of course.

First of all, Xu Luo had saved her. The intimate, ambiguous moment just now was a pure accident; Li Wenxi could tell he hadn’t planned it.

More importantly, she had gained an unimaginable benefit from this accident!

When she thought of the Supreme Elder on the sect’s back mountain, a cold, murderous glint surfaced in Li Wenxi’s eyes.

’When you were the Grand Elder, all you wanted was to cripple me and usurp my position as Sect Leader!’

’Now you’ve become the Supreme Elder, installed your disciple Leng Yu Lian as Grand Elder, and made Crystal replace my disciple Phoenix as the master of the Fengyue Building... all of this was only possible because of your transcendent power, wasn’t it? Well, I have reached that realm now, too. Let’s see what tricks you have left!’

Li Wenxi’s thoughts trailed off as she glanced at the sleeping Xu Luo. She bit her lip, a soft light flickering in her eyes. ’I’ll just treat this as a dream,’ she thought quietly. ’Besides... nothing really happened, and Phoenix will never know.’

With that thought, Li Wenxi tiptoed out of the room. Outside, she immediately ordered the disciples—who were stunned to see her recovered—not to disturb the young man sleeping in her room.

”Let him sleep as long as he wishes. If he wants to leave, do not stop him...”

The female disciples didn’t read anything more into it. They were long accustomed to obeying their stern master’s commands.

’I wonder if he’s awake yet. Will he be disappointed when he wakes up and I’m not here?’ Li Wenxi’s brow furrowed slightly, her expression cold, but her thoughts were in turmoil. She immediately chided herself. ’What am I thinking? He’s just a boy! And he’s Phoenix’s friend!’

Everyone in the main hall watched with apprehension as Li Wenxi sat there, her face cold and her head bowed in thought. They had no idea how their Sect Leader had suddenly recovered, nor could they guess how she would deal with them.

Grand Elder Leng Yu Lian, however, sneered inwardly. ’I’ve already sent someone to inform my master. I’m sure Li Wenxi is just putting on an act while she waits for my master to arrive!’

’In the Merak Sect today, who else dares to call the shots besides her master, the Supreme Elder?’

’The Sect Leader? Even the Sect Leader can’t!’

’She’s just putting on a serious face. The truth is, she’s not confident at all.’

The only thing Leng Yu Lian couldn’t understand was how Li Wenxi had suddenly recovered from her cultivation deviation.

She had already ordered people to keep an eye on Qiushuiduan and prevent him from seeing Li Wenxi at all costs. If Qiushuiduan dared to force his way in, she would immediately have her master suppress him!

’So it’s impossible that Qiushuiduan saved her.’

’That bitch! Heaven is truly blind! Just like Luo Xinlan back then, they’re both damned bitches!’

Leng Yu Lian seethed, a venomous look flashing in her eyes. ’The position of Sect Leader should have been mine! Li Wenxi, you may look fine now, but sooner or later, that title will be mine!’

Li Wenxi suddenly snapped out of her reverie, remembering she was in the sect’s main reception hall.

She lifted her head, her cold, sharp gaze sweeping over the elders before finally landing on Grand Elder Leng Yu Lian.

”Grand Elder, you have worked hard managing the sect during my injury. Now that I have fully recovered, from this day forward, you will resume your duties as Grand Elder.”

Li Wenxi said coldly, her face devoid of expression, ”As for the matters I was originally responsible for, I will no longer trouble you with them.”

Then, Li Wenxi turned to Lu Dazhi and said flatly, ”Elder Lu, I hear you demanded that Qiushuiduan bow to a child?”

”Sect... Sect Leader, Ark is the Young Master of Tianquan. Since... since Qiushuiduan is a Merak Disciple, even though he’s older, it’s only proper for him to bow to Young Master Tianquan according to sect rules.”

Lu Dazhi glanced first at the ashen-faced Grand Elder Leng Yu Lian, then carefully explained himself to Li Wenxi.

A crippled Sect Leader and a fully recovered one were two entirely different things!

When Li Wenxi was suffering from her cultivation deviation, Lu Dazhi could smugly berate the Saintess and criticize Qiushuiduan. But now that Li Wenxi had recovered... Lu Dazhi’s heart was pounding in his chest.

”Didn’t you all say earlier that since Qiushuiduan left the Merak Sect, he no longer counted as a disciple? Furthermore, Elder Lu, if I recall correctly, by seniority, Qiushuiduan should be your senior brother! Is... that how you speak to your senior brother?” Li Wenxi said coldly.

”Sect Leader, I happen to think Elder Lu is correct. If Qiushuiduan is a Merak Disciple, then he must abide by the sect’s rules. Elder Lu’s position as an Elder comes before his status as a junior brother. According to your logic, shouldn’t you also have to call the Grand Elder ’Senior Sister’? And listen to whatever the Grand Elder says?”

The speaker was the woman in the yellow dress who had previously blocked Qiushuiduan. She was also one of the elders. She looked at Li Wenxi; her voice was soft, but her words were barbed.

”The Grand Elder is my senior sister, and I was speaking of respect! By sect seniority, you are my junior sister. By sect rank, you are an Elder and I am the Sect Leader. Did I give you permission to speak?” Li Wenxi’s slender eyebrows arched as her tone grew severe.

The woman in the yellow dress immediately shrank back, not daring to say another word.

After rebuking the woman in the yellow dress, Li Wenxi looked at Lu Dazhi. ”You know how to talk about rank and status? The Saintess outranks an Elder! All of you Elders present, including everyone, which of you truly holds the Saintess in any regard?”

Her sharp gaze then fell upon the Grand Elder. ”Furthermore, you just struck Phoenix. Who do you think you are! You dare to strike my disciple?”

”You...” Grand Elder Leng Yu Lian was so furious she was practically fuming. ”Was I wrong to teach an ignorant junior a lesson?” she demanded angrily.

”First, she is not a junior! She is the Merak Saintess! Second, is she ignorant? She spent years in the secular world managing the Fengyue Building’s business for the Cangqiong Kingdom, bringing immense profits to the sect! The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the resources you use—is there a single thing... that wasn’t provided by my disciple?”

”As the Saintess of the Merak Sect, in what way has she been inadequate? I think you’re the one who is ignorant! I’m over here suffering from cultivation deviation, and you’re over there desperately arranging a marriage to send the Saintess away... When did our Merak Sect ever need to rely on a marriage alliance to protect itself?”

”The sect assembly two years from now...”

”What about the sect assembly?” Li Wenxi’s face was utterly glacial. A sharp light shot from her eyes, landing on the Grand Elder’s face. ”What does the sect assembly have to do with a marriage alliance? As the Merak Grand Elder, you neglect your duties. What right do you have to arrange the Saintess’s marriage?”

”AHEM... Quite the display of authority. She may not have the right, but do I?” A strange, sarcastic voice sounded from outside. The voice was aged, and with the sound of slow footsteps, an old woman with white hair but a youthful complexion pushed open the door and walked in.

”Supreme Elder!”

”The Supreme Elder is here!”

”Greetings, Supreme Elder!”

All the Merak Elders in the room who sided with the Grand Elder showed looks of delight and breathed a collective sigh of relief. Li Wenxi’s pressure had been suffocating them. They all rose from their seats to respectfully greet the Supreme Elder.

Li Wenxi remained seated, perfectly still. Before her cultivation deviation, no matter how displeased she was, she would never have breached etiquette.

Although the Sect Leader’s position was supreme, she was still expected to show proper respect to the sect’s seniors.

Otherwise, people would call you arrogant and conceited, someone who looks down on everyone.

For the leader of a sect to earn such a reputation, the consequences were easy to imagine.

But now, her patience with the Supreme Elder had reached its absolute limit!

For years, the Supreme Elder’s faction had done countless things to undermine her, both openly and in secret. Li Wenxi had always tolerated it, until... their ambition grew so large that they sought to replace her as Sect Leader!

In that case, there was no longer any need to endure it!

Leng Yu Lian had assumed that with her master’s arrival, Li Wenxi would be forced to adopt a subservient posture, no matter how reluctant she was.

But to her surprise, Li Wenxi remained in her chair, not moving a single muscle!

Just as she was about to say something, Li Wenxi spoke.

”Supreme Elder... you don’t have the right either!”

The moment she spoke, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone stood there, utterly dumbfounded. Even the sneering Supreme Elder was stunned into silence, unable to speak for a long moment.

”What did you say? Repeat that!” The Supreme Elder slammed her dragon-headed cane heavily onto the floor.

THWACK!

The hard cane striking the floor sent a sharp crack through the room.

Several people in the room shuddered involuntarily.

The Supreme Elder’s seniority was immense. She had been the Grand Elder for decades, holding power over the entire Merak Sect. In her eyes, a Sect Leader like Li Wenxi was nothing more than a little girl.

The Supreme Elder had almost never taken Li Wenxi, the Sect Leader, seriously.

”Sect Leader, your wings... have really hardened!” The Supreme Elder’s somewhat cloudy old eyes suddenly shot out two beams of light as she stared coldly at the seated Li Wenxi. ”To see me and not bow, fine! You are the Sect Leader. You can ignore this old bag of bones. But to say that I have no right to decide the Saintess’s marriage? Say that again so I can hear you clearly!”