CHAPTER 12
The Overbearing First Disciple Has Arrived
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After lunch, Ye Qinghan practiced for a while before setting off.
"Qinghan, don't be nervous. Don't be afraid. Just follow the plan. With me here, nothing will go wrong."
Su Cheng watched the tall figure stepping onto the immortal sword. She seemed like a departing general, yet also like a daughter leaving for her wedding. His emotions were too complex to articulate. After much hesitation, he could only manage a single word of caution.
It was like that kind of coldness a mother feels, fearing her child might freeze. Ye Qinghan mused inwardly—shouldn't it be Pingyun Sect who should be nervous and afraid?
Ye Qinghan understood Su Cheng's feelings. She could hear her master's worries and feel the depth of his care for her.
"Master, do not worry. Your disciple will return swiftly. Please sit and watch Qinghan warm wine to vanquish Pingyun!"
"Qinghan, you know the story of warming wine to slay Hua Xiong?" Su Cheng looked astonished, wondering inwardly if this world also had the Three Kingdoms?
"Huh? Who is Hua Xiong?" Ye Qinghan didn't understand her master's words, nor did she grasp the world he referred to.
But then again, it made perfect sense that a master as formidable as hers could roam freely across different worlds!
"Never mind…"
The graceful figure stepped onto the celestial sword, a golden streak of light streaking across the sky in an instant. Su Cheng watched her depart, feeling a strange emptiness in his heart…
Hands clasped behind his back, he gazed toward the horizon. Qianying had long vanished, her form no longer discernible to the naked eye. Still, Su Cheng murmured softly…
"Hmph. Looks like I've got no choice but to play the villain."
Meanwhile, Ye Qinghan showed no urgency. After flying a short distance, she turned and headed in another direction.
In the frigid northern frontier, beneath a thousand-mile expanse of snowfields, Ye Qinghan returned to his homeland after two years.
He descended slowly, his footsteps crunching softly on the snow. Though he could walk without leaving a trace, Ye Qinghan cherished this sensation.
He recalled when he was still a young fox, unable to take human form, yet able to leave tiny snowflake prints in the snow.
Following the path etched in his memory, Ye Qinghan found his former home—the Northern Demon Capital, now reduced to ruins.
Her parents' remains had long since vanished. Sitting atop the ruins of the gate tower, Ye Qinghan gazed at the land scorched by fiery flames. Even years later, this place remained untouched by snow, perpetually shrouded in intense heat.
"Mother, I have returned."
"I have found a wonderful master who does not despise my dullness and has taken me as his direct disciple."
"Master understood my fate and bestowed the name Qinghan, seeking to alter my destiny against the heavens."
"Master did not scorn my lowly origins. He bestowed the Six Rites upon me, taught me immortal arts, and treated me as his own flesh and blood, never looking down on me."
"Your daughter now lives well and has grown very strong! Hehe."
"This visit is merely to offer greetings. Mother, please do not worry about your daughter."
"Next time I come, I shall bring the heads of our enemies to appease your spirit in heaven. This blood debt… Qinghan has never forgotten."
It wasn't that Ye Qinghan didn't want to visit the city—she dared not. With her blood feud unavenged, she had no face to meet her mother. How could she show herself before her mother, living such a cowardly existence?
A flower formed from frozen ice replaced her silhouette—like a maiden guarding an empty city, or like a ray of light glinting off a solitary grave. Ye Qinghan departed.
This was the only snowflake that could remain upon the eternal scorched earth.
Slicing through the sky on her sword, Qinghan set off to work.
The immortal sword descended slowly, its scabbard crashing heavily before Pingyun Sect's gates like a death knell, banging open the gates of the Underworld's Hall.
"Who goes there?"
"My name is Ye Qinghan. I hear you've been looking for me?"
Ye Qinghan sat atop the sword case, dangling her jade-like legs, utterly unhurried. She had made all preparations as instructed by her master—no one could escape.
Her master's treasures were all top-tier Heavenly Grade artifacts at the very least. Even if the Pingyun Sect's leader himself arrived, escape was impossible!
Ye Qinghan had come on her master's orders to wipe out the entire clan. Within the reach of the Fallen Immortal Ruler, she would spare no living soul!
"Go tell your sect leader—Ye Qinghan has arrived! Tell him to come out and face me!"
The Overlord's First Disciple has logged in!
Without the Master accompanying her today, Ye Qinghan was on a rampage. Did Ye Yanwang think he was joking?
"Who do you think you are? Do you even know where you are?"
Ye Qinghan sneered, sealing his throat with a single sword strike. Four immortal blades now drifted behind her.
"Don't you understand human speech?"
This time, the young gatekeeper got the hint and immediately dashed inside to call for reinforcements.
Before long, Ye Qinghan found herself surrounded.
"Our Pingyun Sect bears no grudge against the Immortal Lady. Why have you come to provoke us?" An elder pushed through the crowd to speak first, his tone laced with caution.
"Was it Cheng Liang who ordered you to kill Su Cheng?"
The old man froze, finally realizing this was Ye Chenmeng!
"That's not true. None of our Pingyun Sect disciples left the premises yesterday."
Ye Qinghan couldn't help but laugh! You even remember it was yesterday?
Smack! A resounding slap landed across his face!
"Are you out of your mind? Can you find someone with a functioning brain to talk to me?"
The old man was stunned. He was, after all, a Nascent Soul cultivator!
When had anyone ever slapped him across the face?
"What do you mean, young lady?"
Ye Qinghan felt utterly exasperated. This group seemed utterly brainless!
"Bring out your sect leader, or I'll slaughter every last one of you!"
No sooner had the words left her mouth than four divine swords shot forth. In the blink of an eye, several more corpses lay motionless on the ground, their faces serene.
This time, even the old man lost his composure. But he could tell—if these people dared come looking for trouble, they clearly weren't afraid of anything!
This person was likely no ordinary figure…
Better to summon the sect leader first…
Smack!
Ye Qinghan swung her arm wide and delivered another resounding slap. Good thing she didn't send the old man to meet his maker…
"Are you deaf? This lady is talking to you!"
As she spoke, Ye Qinghan realized this approach was still too gentle. She casually raised her hand, summoning a Demon-Suppressing Stele to float in the air—the very artifact used against Pingyun Sect's protective formation.
But there was no limit on how many times she could use it. It worked on anyone, and her master hadn't specified otherwise…
"No need for you to call him! This old lady will summon him personally!"
Her jade-like hand descended, and the sky-obscuring Demon-Suppressing Stele crashed down…
The old man watched as the sky darkened, feeling as if the heavens themselves had collapsed…
What kind of terrifying power was this?!
No one ever mentioned the Sect Leader knew such an immortal maiden!
Ye Qinghan stood atop her celestial sword high in the sky, watching the Demon-Sealing Stele crush Pingyun Sect into oblivion…
A single deafening crash shook the heavens and earth!
A towering column of smoke rose a hundred zhang high, instantly painting a scene reminiscent of the apocalypse.
The elder who'd just received two slaps had been relieved moments ago that he hadn't spoken out of turn and angered this immortal maiden. Now, his body was nowhere to be found…
"What offense did our Pingyun Sect commit to provoke the Immortal Maiden's wrath?"
"Are you the Sect Master?"
Ye Qinghan sat atop her immortal sword, looking down with utter contempt upon the ants below.
The speaker was merely a man past fifty, though by cultivator standards, he could hardly be called old.
"I am Qiao Yun, head of the Pingyun Sect."
Qiao Yun had initially intended to flee immediately, but discovered the area was already sealed off by barriers. The divine artifacts that had cast these barriers and protective fields were now visibly floating overhead.
"Did you not think before acting? You sent a few minions to kill Su Cheng? He is a sect master, after all. Did you think he was made of clay?"
Only then did Qiao Yun realize his failure had caused this!
That’s why the Immortal Maiden had come looking for him. But wasn’t it this very Immortal Maiden who had killed his men?
"Please forgive me, Immortal. Master Cheng said Su Cheng had no cultivation base, so I only sent Foundation Establishment disciples."
Qiao Yun wore an awkward smile on his face, but inside, he cursed Ye Qinghan ten thousand times over.
You bastard! You only became his disciple to steal his treasure, and now you want to take the treasure and run while claiming some noble reputation?
If your Su Cheng knew how pathetic you've become, he'd probably die of anger on the spot!
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