[Hahaha, little brother, what you said makes it sound like you’re his nemesis, but when you think about it, you really are. Now I truly suspect that before his tribulation, he might seek you out to resolve his inner conflicts.] The fishing old man’s system laughed heartily.
Yan Zui didn’t pay much attention: [He can come if he wants. Although I don’t like endless fighting, I’ve never backed down from trouble.]
Perhaps because he’s been fishing for too long, he’s become calmer.
A day later, Jin Congshuang woke up. Finding out there was no major issue with her condition, her face was still gloomy.
Like Jin Congmo, she also resented Ah Chen, even if she didn’t think the bracelet’s explosion was Ah Chen’s fault.
"Let’s recover first. Anyway, we never intended to let those connected to Pei Feixue go," Jin Congmo said, "Just got news from our master, our sect discovered a Secret Realm and has already secured the entrance. Right now, they’re negotiating with other sects. Once it’s settled, our sect will send in disciples to explore it, batch by batch."
The siblings have always had good luck, almost every outing yields rich rewards.
The sister’s Spirit Beast List was obtained during one of their past training sessions. Once she contracted her first spiritual beast and its power increased, she could unlock various skills and contract more spiritual beasts. As long as they don’t surpass a certain stage, she could even contract them forcefully.
Those within the sister’s contract range would submit as soon as they see her.
The last training didn’t go well; they lost the sister’s strongest spiritual beast, and he sustained serious injuries.
The new Secret Realm definitely has various spiritual beasts, and the sister should be able to contract one to compensate for last time’s loss.
Maybe there will be other fortuitous encounters too.
The rage in Jin Congshuang’s heart indeed calmed down, and she smiled slightly, "Alright, everything for the bigger picture. We are still too weak right now."
"Luckily this time, I had the magic treasure father sealed within me. Otherwise, even if I survived, my foundations might be ruined. Whoever made this Jade Bracelet is insane; we didn’t provoke them, yet we were implicated," Jin Congshuang said with some resentment.
Jin Congmo replied, "Such incidents aren’t rare in the Cultivation World, not exactly common either. We really were a bit unlucky this time."
When they heard Jin Congshuang woke up, those familiar with her came to visit, including Ah Chen, whom they met on the way with a few of her senior and junior brothers.
Jin Congshuang quickly hid the strange look in her eyes when she saw Ah Chen. After all, that bracelet used to belong to Pei Chen. Even if she wanted to treat it normally, she couldn’t.
Regarding the bracelet, she couldn’t reveal a thing, suffering in silence.
While the siblings felt uncomfortable, Ah Chen, on the other hand, seemed very pleased, which was precisely her intention.
It’s better for them to feel stifled.
Maybe because their disciples kept encountering problems, even Supreme Elder Qi Feng felt uneasy, gifting the siblings plenty of defense spiritual treasures, armoring them tightly.
Ah Chen was unaware of this and wouldn’t care even if she knew. No matter how well-protected they were, if Ah Chen intended to trouble them, it wouldn’t matter.
That day, Zhuo Hong unexpectedly came to find Ah Chen.
After the conflict on the Flying Boat last time, Zhuo Hong had been avoiding Ah Chen, apparently finding the incident somewhat embarrassing.
After all, being a Golden Core Stage cultivator embarrassed by someone piled up from medicinal use at the Foundation Establishment Stage was fortunate not to have spread. Otherwise, it would have been even more humiliating.
So, when she came looking for Ah Chen, Ah Chen was somewhat surprised.
"Have you really given up on Junior Brother Jin?" Zhuo Hong said right off the bat, "Junior Brother Jin seems to have feelings for you now; why give up?"
She obviously thought Pei Chen wasn’t a match for Jin Congmo, but seeing Pei Chen completely give him up made her feel a little sad about how downcast Jin Congmo looked when seeing Pei Chen.
She was inherently hot-tempered, feeling stifled and came over to ask.
Ah Chen was in the midst of feeding the spiritual beasts that snuck into her cave, and she looked up at Zhuo Hong with a bit of surprise.
Zhuo Hong had feelings for Jin Congmo. Even though she acted briskly, she never expressed them and didn’t interact much with Jin Congmo.
Yet at crucial times, Zhuo Hong was always there.
Ah Chen had seen through many people over her time and could tell at a glance.
"Second Senior Sister, this matter seems unrelated to you?" Ah Chen didn’t answer her question, feeling she was overstepping.
The Commissioner had taken so many disciples, and each had their own thoughts; Ah Chen didn’t care much.
Not to mention the disciples taken in, even one’s own children have their minds.
Moreover, this is the backdrop of the Cultivation World.
Of course, in front of Pei Feixue, they all behaved decently enough; what they truly thought was known only to themselves.
They were somewhat smart people, measured in their words and actions. Even if Pei Feixue encountered them, she could only be displeased without finding any real fault.
Being Sect Master, often enough, was a binding position.
Managing such a large sect isn’t easy, and if not handled well, one might indeed lose popular support.
Of course, if Pei Feixue was absolutely powerful, reigning over the sect, that would be different!
But obviously, that wasn’t the case.
With a sour look, Zhuo Hong hadn’t anticipated her little junior sister would be so hard to talk to: "As your senior sister, isn’t it permissible to ask about these things?"
"Senior Sister doesn’t even care about me; why so many questions? If not for the sake of my mother, I doubt you’d even show this much courtesy. Is there ever a time, Senior Sister, when you didn’t come to me just to scold me without hearing me out?" Ah Chen scoffed, uninterested in sparring words with Zhuo Hong and putting up a smiling face only to be met with cold shoulders.
At least the Jin siblings were cordial on the surface, humoring her.
She wasn’t a masochist.
"Second Senior Sister, if you fancy Senior Brother Jin, just pursue him. Don’t trouble me, can you?" Ah Chen broke it off bluntly, seeing Zhuo Hong’s face flush red with excitement as she returned to feeding the spiritual beasts.
She glared at Ah Chen, overwhelmed by such embarrassment of being exposed, feeling she wished the ground would swallow her up.
"Did you come to me today because you think I’m unworthy and pity Senior Brother Jin? Second Senior Sister, do you truly consider me your little junior sister?"
"Honestly, if you are so dissatisfied with me, then stop recognizing my mother as your master. We then have no relation, and you wouldn’t suffer so much. You despise me while enjoying the privilege of being my mother’s disciple; isn’t that rather ungrateful?"
Seeing Zhuo Hong’s constantly changing expression, speechless, Ah Chen sighed inwardly.
Among Pei Feixue’s disciples, few truly knew gratitude.
The first disciple, Xie Jiuqing, was proud and indifferent, disdaining those wasting time and resources, neither targeting the Commissioner nor really acknowledging them.
The second disciple, Zhuo Hong, admired high talent deeply, believing brilliance meant everything, and anything less was worthless. Because of Jin Congmo, she loathed the Commissioner.
The fourth disciple, Fu Yue, and the fifth disciple, Liu Yao, were jealous of the Commissioner. Wishing they were the Sect Master’s children, they found her displeasing all over.