Lianshan Xin realized that he and Lin Xiangwen shared quite a bond of fate.
His innate ability rarely triggered twice on the same person.
For it to activate on the same person after an interval of only a single day was rarer still.
Yet Lin Xiangwen had managed it.
Whether Lin Xiangwen was extraordinarily lucky or profoundly unlucky was hard to say.
Or perhaps, along with the growth in his own cultivation, his innate ability had evolved as well.
In any case, Lianshan Xin felt that his luck was remarkably good.
"Where is Ruoyu?"
Lin Xiangwen had arrived to demand accountability.
He had originally promised Thousand Faces not to make trouble for Lianshan Xin for the time being, but he couldn't just sit by when Lianshan Xin actively picked a fight with him.
As one of the Seven Worthies of Bailudong, He Ruoyu had received his true teachings.
And Lin Xiangwen had no descendants of his own.
He viewed He Ruoyu as his mantle successor.
Now that his chosen successor had been seized by Lianshan Xin, he naturally could not tolerate it.
"What is going on?"
Qi Shiyun's delicate brows furrowed slightly.
Having just emerged from seclusion, she knew nothing about the matter concerning He Ruoyu—she did not even know who He Ruoyu was.
Lianshan Xin gave a brief explanation.
Qi Shiyun nodded slightly. "If an investigation turns up nothing problematic, then release him. Feuds among us younger folk truly aren't worth playing for keeps."
She was reminding Lianshan Xin that Great Yu had its own established ways; playing by the rules worked to Lianshan Xin's advantage as well.
As long as everyone followed the rules, everyone could enjoy the protection of the novice grace period.
If Lianshan Xin broke the rules, seniors would have free rein to bully the junior, and Lianshan Xin would simply have to endure it.
Lianshan Xin naturally caught Qi Shiyun's warning.
Yet he now held actual evidence.
"What if the investigation does turn up a problem?"
Qi Shiyun looked somewhat surprised. "There really is an issue?"
"A very real one. He Ruoyu can be considered a grand-disciple of Thousand Faces."
Qi Shiyun turned her gaze toward Lin Xiangwen.
Lin Xiangwen's heart gave a jolt, followed by a surge of furious rage. "Lianshan Xin! Deputy Hea—Thousand Faces did indeed give me some pointers, but how does that count as a master-disciple relationship? In all of vast Bailudong Academy, countless people have received pointers from Thousand Faces. Kong Ningyuan, the very man who recommended you, is even an officially registered disciple of Thousand Faces on the academy's rolls!"
This was indeed an issue.
This blemish in background alone made it exceedingly difficult for Kong Ningyuan to ever rise to a second-rank high official.
Naturally, Kong Ningyuan likely had never imagined reaching the second rank anyway.
He was unlike Lianshan Xin, who had turned down the advances of two princesses in succession, all because imperial court regulations capped an imperial son-in-law's official rank at the third rank.
Young Master Xin possessed lofty ambitions; he sought to serve as a commanding general in the field and a chancellor at court. The third rank could never satisfy him, so he had no choice but to painfully forgo marrying a princess.
Qi Shiyun accepted Lin Xiangwen's defense on that point.
Still, she looked toward Lianshan Xin and asked curiously, "Is He Ruoyu the problem, or is Lin Xiangwen the problem?"
Before Qi Shiyun, Lianshan Xin didn't spout wild fabrications, but spoke the truth: "I just discovered that Lin Xiangwen has a problem."
At that, Qi Shiyun smiled. "Then Lin Xiangwen's luck is truly terrible, running into you right after your breakthrough. Under normal circumstances, he should have been able to hide it well. It's just that right after a breakthrough, one's perception is at its keenest."
*Is that so?*
*Even I didn't know that.*
Lianshan Xin found that Qi Shiyun seemed to understand his innate ability better than he did.
He would have to hurry to the Nine Heavens headquarters in Shenjing to brush up on his knowledge; so many of the world's paramount secrets were entirely closed to ordinary people.
One truly needed to climb to the mountaintop to see the view.
Qi Shiyun did not ask what Lianshan Xin had discovered. Instead, she looked at Lin Xiangwen with eyes regarding a dead man. "Will you confess voluntarily, or would you prefer to put up a stubborn resistance before confessing?"
Lin Xiangwen clenched his fists tight. "Tanhua Qi, there is a misunderstanding between us."
"There is no misunderstanding. I came to Jiangzhou precisely to slay demons and vanquish evil," Qi Shiyun interrupted sternly, righteous and unyielding.
And so Lianshan Xin understood: Qi Shiyun was holding a grudge against Lin Xiangwen for choosing Zhang Aniu over her.
Even if Lin Xiangwen had favored her, she would never have accepted him, but losing to Zhang Aniu was something she could not abide.
It was an utter insult to her personal charm—after all, she had lost out to a man.
"I want to see Lord Heavenly Sword."
Lin Xiangwen calmed down in an instant; his rage vanished as reason reclaimed the high ground.
The reason was simple enough—he was no match for Qi Shiyun in a fight.
"Tanhua Qi, you and I are both Grandmasters. If you wish to dispose of a Grandmaster, your status is insufficient; Lord Heavenly Sword must appear in person," Lin Xiangwen said in a heavy voice.
Lianshan Xin looked at Qi Shiyun in confusion. *There's a rule like that?*
Qi Shiyun told him that such a rule truly existed.
"Grandmaster experts are pillars throughout the jianghu and capable of shouldering great responsibilities within the imperial court. Therefore, without evidence, they are not easily convicted. This is the court's preferential treatment toward Grandmaster experts," Qi Shiyun said.
Lianshan Xin realized all the more that Great Yu had its own unique realities. After all, this was a feudal dynasty where martial artists walked everywhere; one couldn't naively assume imperial authority was invincible throughout the realm. Those who needed to be brought into the fold still had to be appeased.
Grandmasters received preferential treatment, Great Grandmasters could blind a princess... so if he became a land immortal, wouldn't slaying a princess be practically nothing?
Thinking this way, Lianshan Xin felt an even stronger urge to advance.
"Then let's take Lin Xiangwen into custody first," Lianshan Xin said with total ease. "As for evidence, we'll have it once we interrogate him."
Lin Xiangwen looked at Lianshan Xin as though looking at an idiot. "A fledgling brat who knows nothing of jianghu rules! You have no authority to interrogate me whatsoever."
Lianshan Xin chuckled. "Rules? You want to talk rules with our Heaven's Chosen lineage?"
Qi Shiyun sneered coldly as well, slashing out with her saber.
The imperial court indeed had many rules, and the jianghu had plenty of unwritten rules of its own.
Yet say what you will, in this world there was ultimately only one rule: the strong reign supreme!
"Qi Shiyun, how dare you—"
*Bang!*
Before Lin Xiangwen's Purple Lightning Sword could even clear its scabbard, Qi Shiyun's saber blow sent him flying.
Before Lin Xiangwen could counterattack, Qi Shiyun shifted like a phantom, already appearing in the air right above him.
Then, dropping like a thousand-jin weight, she stomped Lin Xiangwen straight into the dirt with a single foot.
Meeting Lianshan Xin's gaze—three parts shock, seven parts admiration—Qi Shiyun said proudly, "Even among Grandmasters, there are ranks. A Grandmaster like Lin Xiangwen is someone I could have slain back in the Qi Condensation realm."
Lianshan Xin clasped his hands in deep admiration. "Tanhua's divine might is truly invincible."
*And this is only the tanhua.*
*Aniu is truly something else.*
Spitting out a mouthful of clotted blood, Lin Xiangwen hissed in a low growl, "Qi Shiyun, have you lost your mind? To settle a personal grudge, you would viciously strike an academy master? Aren't you afraid of throwing the entire academy into panic?"
Qi Shiyun said nothing.
"I am the academy's Master of Martial Studies, a man of reputation in the Jiangzhou jianghu! Qi Shiyun, if you touch me, you will draw the enmity of the entire Jiangzhou jianghu and every master in the academy! You will leave Nine Heavens surrounded by enemies on all sides in Jiangzhou, and bring about catastrophic trouble!"
Qi Shiyun's eyes lit up. "Is that so?"
Lin Xiangwen's heart gave an uneasy thud.
What little knowledge he possessed about the Heaven's Chosen lineage surfaced in his mind.
*Disaster. This is a doctrinal heritage that thrives on sheer chaos.*
Seeing that Qi Shiyun was genuinely prepared to execute him on the spot, Lin Xiangwen bordered on utter despair.
At the critical juncture, a savior arrived on the scene: "Madwoman Qi, stay your blade!"
Chapter 66