"Are you afraid?"
Bai Jingjing's form was petite, but as she floated in the air, treading upon the void with feet as small and delicate as jade porcelain, she could still look down upon Pei Yuhang.
"I'm not afraid."
"But your Dao Heart is in turmoil."
The expression on Bai Jingjing's face never changed, as constant as the ten-thousand-year ice and snow of the Cold Palace Sword Mansion, its chill not diminishing one bit due to her master's agitation.
"Your cultivation is formidable now, so why are you still afraid of the Yin Yang Sacred Land? So what if they discover your identity? The Cultivation Realm respects strength above all else. No one would dare to gossip in your presence.
If you're unhappy, just take Silence and slay everyone who irritates you."
Seeing Pei Yuhang turn away, unwilling to look at her, Bai Jingjing simply lifted her delicate, rounded toes, trod upon the void, and appeared before him once more.
"What are you panicking about? For fear of breaking Ye Liyuan's heart? For fear she might find out that the great Brother Pei she idolizes was just a Witch's Cauldron Slave for cultivation? She can barely protect herself now. Even if she found out, she couldn't leave you. She'd probably just pretend not to know and let you keep supplying her with resources…"
"Enough! I certainly hope you didn't appear just to be snide with me."
Pei Yuhang looked up angrily, but after seeing something he shouldn't have, he quickly lowered his head again.
"Shameless! How many times have I told you? If you're going to manifest in a human body, after you put on your outer clothes… you need to wear underwear too!"
Bai Jingjing's expression remained unchanged. "By what right do you hold me to human morals?" she said matter-of-factly. "I was not human in life, nor am I human in death. It's only natural that I don't need to completely imitate them."
"Besides, I am a Sword Spirit that belongs only to you. No one else can see me, so I have nothing to be reserved about."
The petite Sword Spirit's voice was arrogant. She looked down at Pei Yuhang, and through the clear water of the Cold Earth Spring, she could clearly see every muscle of his body.
She quite enjoyed this feeling of looking down on her "master."
"…I can't be bothered to argue with you."
As he spoke, Pei Yuhang stood up. He used his Spiritual Qi to evaporate the water from his body. With a flick of his finger, his clothes flew over from a short distance away and dressed him automatically, as if they had a life of their own.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Pei Yuhang thought he faintly heard a laugh.
And besides him, the only other one present was that bratty little imp of a Sword Spirit floating in the air.
But how was that possible? The girl before him would never smile at him; she was probably thinking about killing him at every possible moment.
To this day, Pei Yuhang still remembered his agreement with Bai Jingjing.
His death must be carried out by Bai Jingjing's own hand, wielding Silence.
...…
「Three days later.」
Pei Yuhang stood on a sword shadow condensed from Spiritual Qi, speeding through the sky above the Xuanyuan Dao Sect.
Silence, meanwhile, was worn at his waist, because Bai Jingjing would never allow Pei Yuhang to stand on her to perform Sword Flight.
Since the Sword Spirit was unwilling, Pei Yuhang certainly wasn't going to humiliate her by forcing the issue. In any case, he didn't need a Flying Sword to race through the void.
Soon, Pei Yuhang arrived at the entrance of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect.
Flanking the entrance to the Xuanyuan Dao Sect were Divine Mountains tens of thousands of feet high. Their forms were as straight as sky-piercing swords, soaring directly into the clouds.
Legend had it that these two Divine Mountains were once one and had even given birth to a Divine Mountain spirit of the Integration Stage—a Mountain God.
However, this Mountain God had a malevolent nature. With every breath, it flooded the mortal realm; with every twitch, it caused the land to crack and splinter.
So, the first Sect Leader of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect drew his sword in anger and struck down the Mountain God. With a single slash, he obliterated its Divine Soul and cleaved its physical body in two, creating what would become the gateway to the Xuanyuan Dao Sect.
To this day, when Pei Yuhang gazed at these two halves of the Divine Mountain, he could still feel an unfathomably deep Sword Intent emanating from them.
Even Bai Jingjing, who seemed to despise everyone, would fall silent whenever they passed the Divine Mountains.
When Pei Yuhang arrived at the sect entrance, he found a group of Xuanyuan Dao Sect disciples already waiting there. When they saw him approach, they hurriedly bowed.
"Greetings, Palace Master Pei!"
Pei Yuhang didn't care much for such formalities. He nodded, then with a flick of his finger, released a surge of Spiritual Qi that lifted everyone to their feet.
"I am leading the Xuanyuan Dao Sect delegation to receive the envoys from the Yin Yang Sacred Land. Just remain silent on the journey and do not act without orders. Let's prepare to depart."
Pei Yuhang was concise. He knew that these disciples, who had been hand-picked by the Sect, had surely been briefed in advance, so he didn't say much more.
'Keeping things simple is for the best. After all, my only job is to lead the party and bring back that group of wicked women from the Yin Yang Sacred Land. I don't have to manage anything else. There will be people specifically assigned to talk with the Yin Yang Sacred Land's envoys.'
Pei Yuhang infused a wisp of Spiritual Qi into the Jiezhi Storage Ring on his finger. A magnificent Spirit Ship, shimmering with brilliant golden light and echoing with the harmonious cries of dragons and phoenixes, flew out of the ring and floated in midair, casting its shadow over everyone below.
'Of course, I'm not the owner of such a luxurious item,' Pei Yuhang thought. 'If I had a High Tier Spirit Ship like this, I would have sold it for Spirit Stones long ago to pay for Liyuan's healing.'
This was the property of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect, lent to Pei Yuhang for this occasion to keep up appearances.
"Heh. It seems you high-level human Cultivators are no different from common street mortals. You can't rid yourselves of greed, delusion, anger, or arrogance. You're all just vulgar people who happen to be stronger and live longer," Bai Jingjing said mockingly from within Silence.
She had never liked humans; or rather, few in the Demon Race had any fondness for humanity.
Pei Yuhang knew that nothing he could say would change Bai Jingjing's poor opinion of humans, but he still patiently conversed with her using his Divine Sense.
Because she was his Sword Spirit, he had both the duty and the right to educate her.
"The word 'Cultivator' implies a person first and foremost. Since we are all human, we are bound to share the common traits of our race. This was how the Celestial Dao designed the Human Race at its inception.
There are many who achieve extraordinary bodies, but few who can achieve a transcendent disposition. Those who can may be called 'Saints.'
But the enlightenment of a Saint is a matter of serendipity, not something one can seek out. Ninety-nine percent of people cannot achieve it, so there is no need to feel shame for that.
Being common doesn't mean being evil. No one has the right to condemn them for it."
BUZZZZ—
Silence trembled slightly, like a small child shaking their head nonstop in protest while being lectured by an adult.
Pei Yuhang stroked the hilt as if soothing a bristling kitten. Slowly, Silence finally stopped vibrating.
"You can continue with your grand principles. I've sealed my Divine Sense anyway, so I can't hear a thing."
Pei Yuhang didn't continue the conversation with Bai Jingjing. He knew that when this one got bored, she would start talking to him on her own initiative anyway.
The White-clothed Sword Immortal took a step, transforming into a streak of light and arriving in the depths of the Spirit Ship.
He had just used a Transmission Token to give his instructions. The task of receiving the Yin Yang Sacred Land delegation was now entirely in the hands of a Nascent Soul Cultivator named Gao Peng.
He himself would not be making an appearance.
'This way, nothing should go wrong.'
Pei Yuhang muttered to himself, stroking the faintly trembling hilt of Silence.