Tn: Edited at 8 / 10 / 2025
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Volume 1 Chapter 43: Thunderous Might
Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Feng Yudie was so furious her teeth nearly cracked from clenching them.
She had completely forgotten that there was still a hole in her left shoulder, blood steadily seeping out.
It wasn't until Xiaotian flew over and reminded her that she sucked in a deep breath and swallowed her rage.
『Yudie, there's a hole in your shoulder.』
Feng Yudie blinked, stunned for a second.
She looked down and saw that the blood had already dyed half her skirt crimson. Only then did the piercing pain from the wound register.
Glancing over at Pei Lengxue, she paused for a moment—then suddenly sat down on the ground and began moaning dramatically.
"Owww! Owwww! It hurts, it hurts so much!"
"Huh?!"
Hearing her pitiful wails, Pei Lengxue hurried over, crouching down and tearing open Yudie's sleeve to check the wound.
Seeing this, Feng Yudie immediately put on her most fragile voice.
"Junior Sister Pei, I think I'm dying. Can you grant me one last wish? I've always wanted to—"
Pei Lengxue ignored whatever she was rambling about.
The hole in her shoulder was quite large, and with no healing pills for such injuries in her storage bag, she fell back on what her Senior Brother had once taught her about treating external wounds.
Normally, pills would be the best option. But in their absence, the method was simple—disinfect first, then bandage to stop the bleeding.
So, Pei Lengxue flicked her fingers and took out a jar of salt left over from roasting deer earlier. Twisting the lid open, and poured it directly over Feng Yudie's wound.
"Bear with it, this might hurt a little."
"Eh?"
Yudie glanced at the jar, assuming it was medicine, and said nothing.
Then the first grain of white-yellow crystal landed on her wound—
From the swamp erupted a scream so shrill it could have passed for the slaughter of a pig.
And not just any pig—a particularly unfaithful, lecherous one.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH—!!!"
Moments later, Feng Yudie's eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.
"Hm."
Pei Lengxue nodded in satisfaction, then tore a strip from Yudie's skirt to bandage her up, leaving her there without a second thought.
Afterward, she turned her gaze toward Xiao Yunluo.
At the moment, Xiao Yunluo was crouched in front of the corpses of "Second Brother" and "Third Brother," muttering encouragement like "Come on!" and "Don't be scared," while her tiny hands hovered indecisively over their storage bags.
Pei Lengxue walked over with a puzzled expression.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah?!" Xiao Yunluo jolted upright in fright. "I'm just… trying to find my sword. Those guys took it from me earlier."
"Oh…" Lengxue nodded. "Did you find it?"
"Uh… I…"
Xiao Yunluo pressed her lips together, looking shifty.
Truth was—this was her first time seeing such fresh corpses.
And she was scared.
But admitting she didn't dare to touch their storage bags felt humiliating. She was the Young Mistress of the Profound Star Sect, after all! How could she be afraid of something this trivial?!
After a brief hesitation, she mumbled, "I was just worried their storage bags might have traps or something, so I didn't really want to touch them."
"Oh."
Lengxue nodded, fully understanding.
But Xiao Yunluo, worried she'd still be seen as timid, quickly added, "It's not that I'm scared! My elders always told me to never touch another cultivator's storage bag carelessly. There could be poisonous insects or– or worse!"
"You could always scan it with your spiritual sense first, you know."
"Ah… right…"
Xiao Yunluo gave an awkward laugh, then clenched her fists, finally gathering the courage to send her spiritual sense into "Second Brother's" bag.
Meanwhile, Pei Lengxue began examining "Third Brother's" belongings.
Unfortunately, aside from a few pills and some spirit stones, there was nothing else inside.
Seeing she'd come up empty-handed, Xiao Yunluo's face fell. After a moment's thought, she asked, "Other than the two who escaped, weren't there two more people? Could they have my sword?"
"We'll check when we head back." Pei Lengxue nodded, then pointed at Feng Yudie—still lying on the ground.
"Stay here with her. If anything happens, call me. I'm going to take a walk in the forest."
"Uh… alright."
Without another word, Pei Lengxue darted into the trees.
Earlier, her Senior Brother had used the iron whistle to signal the location of the formation's core—meaning he was somewhere nearby. Feng Yudie was fine, since she was unconscious, but… if Xiao Yunluo were to see her Senior Brother and develop feelings for him, then she'd have yet another rival on her hands.
So, after making sure Xiao Yunluo wasn't following, Lengxue cleared her throat and imitated a bird call to summon him.
Chirp-chirp~~ chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp~ chirp-chirp~
Chirp-chirp~~ chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp~ chirp-chirp~
Unfortunately, she called out more than ten times without getting a single response. She pouted, cheeks puffed in mild frustration.
"Where is he? He was here just a moment ago…"
She waited for quite a while longer, but when her Senior Brother still didn't appear, she finally returned to where she had started.
Just then, streaks of sword-light flashed in from the distance.
Wang Shaoren arrived, leading seven or eight inner sect disciples on flying swords.
The moment he saw the three girls below and the two headless corpses, his brows knit tightly. Without hesitation, he ordered the disciples to spread out and search the surroundings, while he descended.
At first, Wang Shaoren had assumed they'd simply clashed with another group of entrance exam participants. But after questioning Xiao Yunluo and the others—and examining the corpses—his expression froze in disbelief.
The Profound Star Sect's protection formation consumed over a million spirit stones every year to maintain. Even a Divine Transformation Realm master couldn't breach it in such a short time. Yet somehow, a group of mere Foundation Establishment rogues had slipped in completely undetected?
As Wang Shaoren was sending disciples to hunt down the two escapees, a flash of lightning suddenly split the sky.
An eagle-eyed, white-bearded elder appeared, thunder still dancing in his wake.
Wang Shaoren immediately cupped his hands in salute.
"Grand Elder."
—This was Lei Wanjun, one of the sect's five Grand Elders, and a cultivator in the Divine Transformation realm.
Lei Wanjun swept a glance at the two corpses, his sharp gaze narrowing.
"What happened here?"
"A group of rogue cultivators infiltrated the back mountain, attacking the Young Mistress and two disciples who were participating in the exam. Two of them are still at large. I've sent people to pursue them."
Lei Wanjun's eyes shifted toward Pei Lengxue and Feng Yudie.
"I know these two. Weren't they the ones who defeated the tester on the sword trial?"
"Yes, that's them."
Wang Shaoren motioned for the three to step forward and pay their respects.
Realizing this was a Divine Transformation powerhouse, Feng Yudie immediately bent low in a formal bow.
"I greet the senior…"
Xiao Yunluo followed suit, cupping her fists.
"Greetings, Elder Lei."
Pei Lengxue, however, had her own… style. She straightened her back like a drawn bow, sucked in a breath, and bellowed at the top of her lungs—
"GREETINGS, SENIOR!!!!"
The shout startled even Lei Wanjun, but far from being offended, he chuckled warmly.
"You've got spirit, girl."
"Ah, my Senior Brother says you have to be loud when paying respects. Hehe…"
Lei Wanjun clapped her on the shoulder before stepping aside, eyes narrowing as he raised two fingers in a sword seal.
In an instant, the clear sky above them darkened, and countless thunderclouds bloomed into existence from nothing.
Thunder rumbled overhead for a long moment before Lei Wanjun flicked his hand.
The roiling black clouds dispersed instantly, leaving the sky as pristine as if the storm had never existed—like the thunderclouds had been nothing more than an illusion.
"These Foundation Establishment cultivators… slipped into the Profound Star Sect without a sound, and two of them escaped?"
Wang Shaoren, hearing this, immediately understood—Lei Wanjun had just swept the entire back mountain with his spiritual sense. Even so, the elder's words were hard to believe.
"They… escaped?"
"If they didn't escape, then it means they managed to evade my spiritual sense. Elder Wang, do you think that's possible?"
"This… of course not."
Lei Wanjun stepped over to the two corpses, examining them carefully.
"Two rogue cultivators… they're likely from the Seven Killers Sect." He looked up, eyes shifting to Feng Yudie and Pei Lengxue. "Seems one of you has had a hefty bounty placed on your head."
Feng Yudie blinked, utterly baffled.
"Eh?"
"Have you offended anyone recently?"
"I… don't think so? Probably not…?" she answered uncertainly.
Lei Wanjun sighed and waved a hand dismissively.
"Never mind. This matter is not to be spread. As for the Seven Killers Sect…"
He paused, mulling it over.
It would be best to smooth things over quietly. In a few days, he'd send an elder to pay them a visit—have their branch sect master apologize to these two juniors and offer some compensation in spirit stones or treasures.
But before he could finish that thought, an inner sect disciple came rushing over in a fluster.
"Elder!"
"Such carelessness. Where is your composure?" Lei Wanjun shot him a sharp look.
"It's not that—! This!! In one of the storage bags, I found— this map!"
Dropping to one knee, the disciple presented a scroll with both hands—the very one Ye Anping had hidden in "Fourth Brother's" storage bag.
Lei Wanjun took it, and the moment his eyes fell on the contents, the amiable expression he'd worn earlier turned instantly… nuclear.
Thunder cracked in the heavens above—
"The audacity of that Seven Killers Sect!!!"
Wang Shaoren flinched at the sudden outburst, then hurried over for a glance. The moment his eyes fell on the map, his own widened in shock.
'These lunatics— for the sake of money, do they really dare do anything?!'
They had actually investigated the location of the formation cores of the Profound Star Sect protection formation—and the most infuriating part was that they'd succeeded.
The nine marked points on the map were exactly the nine formation eyes of Profound Star Sect's protection formation.
If this map ever leaked, the sect's protection formation would be worthless—anyone could enter or leave at will.
To do such a thing… was no different from declaring war on the Profound Star Sect itself.