When the Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Meets the Unbeatable Protagonist | Chapter 7

Peifeng Sect has seven main peaks, each overseen by a different leader responsible for various areas, generally divided by the different cultivation methods. There are nearly two thousand disciples under the sect, with dozens of management personnel, making it a medium-sized sect in the cultivation world. After all, the number of people with the aptitude for cultivation is limited. The Yunshang Immortal Sect, with over ten thousand disciples, is currently the largest sect.

In terms of sect competition, it all comes down to talent resources. When the Yunshang Immortal Sect recruits, it’s known throughout the nine provinces. After rigorous screening, many still manage to enter. Having a large number of people is an advantage; no one knows if there’s a future hope for the sect hidden among the crowd.

The consequence of this is that even though the sect occupies a vast area with numerous spiritual veins, the resources allocated to each individual are still pitifully small. To seize even a little opportunity to stand out, the disciples below are caught in fierce competition, even to the point of mutual slaughter, while the Sect Leader and Elders hardly intervene.

Some smaller sects have high entry barriers, preferring to take in fewer but more capable disciples, aiming to pass down their foundational teachings. If a disciple can become famous, that’s even better.

As for Peifeng Sect… Lin Ji observed for several days in private and concluded that the entire sect was surprisingly unambitious!

To be fair, Peifeng Sect has more spiritual veins and fewer disciples, making it much more comfortable than his previous life in the Yunshang Immortal Sect. Especially since the teaching locations for disciples are uniformly set at Lingxiu Peak, where Elders come to teach and guide every day, and disciples can attend if they wish.

You have to know that in the Yunshang Immortal Sect, disciples practiced on their own, and if they had questions, they had to seek out their Elders. When would an Elder take the initiative to explain things to a disciple?

Lin Ji was quite satisfied with this classroom-like teaching method, but the overly casual atmosphere left him puzzled. The Elders taught slowly, and the disciples learned with a laid-back attitude; the whole place was harmonious and comfortable, with no sense of urgency for cultivation at all.

After a few days, he had already become a key training target in the eyes of the Elders, each of whom valued him highly. At first, Meng Wanqiu would earnestly wait in the pavilion at Luoxia Peak, waving at him: “Do you have any questions today?”

Lin Ji honestly walked over and said, “No.”

The next day, Meng Wanqiu asked again, “Do you have any questions today?”

Lin Ji replied, “No.”

This continued for three days, and when he returned, the pavilion was empty. Lu Xiaobai said that Meng Wanqiu, seeing he had nothing to do, simply went to sleep.

“The old man might be feeling a bit defeated; this disciple is too outstanding, leaving the master with no room to shine. You’re just too honest; you should flatter him a bit.”

Lu Xiaobai shook his head repeatedly, looking at Lin Ji with a teasing gaze. The old man’s luck in taking on disciples was too poor, unable to find any sense of achievement or enthusiasm.

Lin Ji scoffed dismissively, “Isn’t the master still counting on you? Besides, the master is in his prime; why call him old?”

He couldn’t fake the things he was familiar with from his past life, and in this life, Lin Ji’s talent seemed to be valued even higher in others’ eyes.

Lu Xiaobai retorted, “I never made the old man worry either!”

“Who said that?” Meng Wanqiu stretched lazily as he walked out. “You were the one who worried me the most in the past.” He patted Lin Ji on the shoulder and pointed at Lu Xiaobai, “And you called me old? A Ji speaks the truth!”

“I’m hungry again; let’s go eat.”

“Cut it out,” Lu Xiaobai jumped forward, “If you’re so capable, don’t eat the food I make!”

“Get lost; A Ji is learning too, and you two can cook for me together in the future, haha!”

“…”

The three of them headed toward the kitchen, and Lin Ji sadly realized he was starting to get used to this leisurely life of eating, sleeping, and finding things to do every day.

But he couldn’t understand Lu Xiaobai. While the latter was washing dishes, he couldn’t help but probe, “When do you plan to go to Lingxiu Peak to cultivate? Do you really think sweeping the floor every day is enough?”

Lu Xiaobai’s smile didn’t fade, “Are you hoping I go? Actually, for someone like me, it doesn’t matter whether I go or not.”

…Just like what the inner sect Elder said that day.

“Xiaobai, whether you go or not is the same. He’s been in the sect for two years, and both Wanqiu and I have thought of many ways to try to change his spiritual root aptitude, but unfortunately, the results have been minimal, or rather, there have been none at all.”

“Do you believe that even if I poured twenty percent of my spiritual power into him, it would be like a cow entering the sea, with the spiritual energy directly returning to his mundane body’s chaos?”

“It’s really rare for talent to be this poor; perhaps there will be great fortune in the future. For now, we can only try to be more open-minded.”

Lu Xiaobai was fine in every way, and his personality was likable. Currently, the Sect Leader and Senior Brothers could only comfort themselves, at least keeping Meng Wanqiu company, making him happy while he healed was also good.

The Elders of Peifeng Sect had a habit of being hands-on. One of the inner sect Elders came over, putting his arm around Lin Ji’s shoulder, and earnestly taught, “Lin Ji, it seems you need to work a bit harder. In the future, you will inherit the teachings of Ling Yun Zunzhe, protecting your Senior Brother and Master; wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Lin Ji’s face darkened: “…”

He was already struggling to keep up with a tenth or twelfth of his previous life’s efforts, and the elders were placing such high hopes on him.

Suddenly feeling a bit angry, he thought, “If you want to give up on yourself, you might as well go down the mountain early! The master only needs one disciple to bring him glory.”

The Long Aotian protagonist he knew in his past life wasn’t like this!

Lu Xiaobai felt utterly baffled. Not going to Lingxiu Peak was giving up on oneself? Usually, he would secretly compete with him for the old man’s favor, but now he was looking down on him… that was too much!

Could he tolerate this? He couldn’t. So, Lu Xiaobai decided to visit Lingxiu Peak tomorrow; it was indeed time for him to check on his cultivation progress. However, he still waited until Lin Ji left for a few hours, only going after the sun was high and he had slept enough.

Today was another boring day. Lin Ji easily submitted perfect scores on various basic cultivation theory tests and quickly mastered the spells in the teaching competition, ranking first.

His start was really smooth; if it weren’t for his past experiences, he still couldn’t imagine how he would end up like that in the end.

Recently, his silkworms were also thriving. The spiritual energy of the immortal mountain gathered without regard for earthly seasons, and the celestial silkworms grew rapidly; they would probably start spinning silk in less than a month.

At that time, as long as he refined them, they could become concealed weapons for emergencies.

Lin Ji sheathed his sword and turned around, wanting to go somewhere else when someone called out, “Lin Shixiong!”

Su Qinghe approached with a few followers, looking quite interested: “Do you know where Lu Xiaobai is?”

Lin Ji was momentarily dazed, squinting at him: “Are you looking for him for something?”

“Don’t look at me like that; it was all a misunderstanding before.” Su Qinghe chuckled awkwardly.

So what if he entered the sect late? Ranking by seniority could be deadly. Su Qinghe originally wasn’t convinced, but after seeing Lin Ji perform so excellently recently, he accepted it. “You don’t know what I know; I’ll take you to see!”

Lin Ji knew Su Qinghe wasn’t a good person, but curiosity was piqued. He pretended to be aloof and proud while being led to a certain trial site on Lingxiu Peak.

Duanwang Cliff was steep and towering, filled with sharp stones and overgrown with withered vines and wild grass. For many disciples who hadn’t yet learned to control their swords, it was not only dangerous but also quite challenging.

“So it’s a mountain climbing competition.” Lin Ji covered his mouth, realizing that ever since he had read thousands of books in the void, strange words kept popping up in his mind.

There were quite a few disciples gathered nearby to watch the excitement, and their numbers were gradually increasing.

“Xiaobai, think it over; the trial isn’t difficult for Feng Shixiong, but for you…”

After all, Lu Xiaobai’s ability to control spiritual power was too poor. For anyone, it was just a matter of reaching the cliff top a bit slower, but if he fell, he could at least end up half-paralyzed.

“It’s fine, Shimei; aren’t we all watching the competition? They wouldn’t just stand by and watch someone die, right?”

The Elder supervising the trial puffed out his beard; was that a challenge to him?

Lin Ji walked up with a cold face and saw Lu Xiaobai tying his usually loose hair up high, looking quite spirited.

He had just finished comforting a female cultivator beside him when he turned around and saw Lin Ji approaching. His lips curled up slightly, but then his expression changed: “Why are you with him?”

“I came to see what you were doing.” Lin Ji glanced at the girl beside Lu Xiaobai.

The girl had a small nose and mouth, but her eyes were big and bright, looking very cute. When she saw Lin Ji nodding to greet her, she raised her hand to wave: “You must be the new disciple of the Zunzhe, right? I’m Luo Xiang; it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lin Ji Shixiong.”

Lin Ji certainly remembered this Luo Xiang Shimei was Lu Xiaobai’s childhood friend and one of the ambiguous figures that readers believed the protagonist was most attached to.

Su Qinghe still wore a smug expression, looking dissatisfied as he glanced at the other competitor: “Feng Shixiong, why do you always waste time as a sparring partner for this waste? Although the Sect Leader wants the disciples to respect Ling Yun Zunzhe, you’re only doing this to take care of Lu Xiaobai. But now that the Zunzhe has taken in another disciple, wouldn’t it be more meaningful for you to compete with Lin Ji?”

Feng Funian didn’t want to bother with him. After greeting Lin Ji, he directly looked at Lu Xiaobai, “This time, I won’t use my sword; let’s see who can reach the top of the cliff faster.”

Lu Xiaobai stretched out his palm: “Don’t hold back, Shixiong; only when you give it your all is it fair.”

Feng Funian thought to himself that he didn’t dare to say he wouldn’t use spiritual power; in terms of physical training, who was helping whom?

Before the match, Lu Xiaobai pulled Lin Ji aside to whisper, “Don’t forget we have the same master; you have to stand on my side!”

Lin Ji crossed his arms, his voice cold, “I don’t see how you need my encouragement.”

Lu Xiaobai laughed and patted him: “You’re just what I need.”

Lin Ji was taken aback.

“Just don’t get mixed up with Su Qinghe; a person like him is a waste of a good name. You’re not like him.” After a pause, Lu Xiaobai suddenly wrapped his arm around Lin Ji, “Do you want to make a bet with me? If I win, you’ll give me a piece of the golden leaves in your bag?”

Lin Ji couldn’t follow the logic: “What’s it to me whether you win or lose? Why should I reward you with my own stuff?”

“And,” he pushed Lu Xiaobai away, “don’t touch me; isn’t it tiring to hold on like that?”

“…” Lu Xiaobai closed his eyes for a moment: Good, he remembered this strong sense of mockery.

Lu Xiaobai said that if he won, he could bring glory to himself and his master; shouldn’t that be rewarded? But until he stepped onto the field, Lin Ji didn’t budge: What a joke, how could a junior disciple reward a senior brother?

However, Lin Ji’s suspicion arose again. He wondered why Lu Xiaobai was fixated on the valuables in his bag.

In the cultivation world, the circulating currency was spiritual stones; no matter how precious gold, silver, or jewels were, they were merely decorative items for cultivators. What use would Lu Xiaobai have for them?

While Lin Ji was still pondering, a sudden gasp came from the crowd. He snapped back to reality and saw the competition had already begun.

Feng Funian used a dagger to climb the stone peak, while Lu Xiaobai started off barehanded, moving exceptionally fast, his agility surpassing that of a monkey.

He seemed to be doing it effortlessly, even stopping to turn back and wait for Feng Funian: “The stones and dirt are pretty hard; you’ll need time to stabilize yourself; your speed is too slow!”

Feng Funian was well aware, but he didn’t want to get his clothes dirty. Who knew that the next moment, Lu Xiaobai would dump a layer of dirt down from above, sending dust flying over his head.

Feng Funian gritted his teeth and quickly dodged, cursing, “Fine. You want to play dirty? Just wait!”

After saying that, he sped up to match Lu Xiaobai’s pace, sending a palm of spiritual power crashing down on the base where Lu Xiaobai stood. If Lu Xiaobai hadn’t grabbed a withered vine, he might have stepped into thin air and fallen, causing the onlookers to gasp in shock.

Lin Ji’s heart tightened. Feng Funian was a disciple under the Sect Leader; although he had entered the sect two years earlier than Lu Xiaobai, his talent was also quite good. Moreover, he could use spiritual power to attack and hinder competitors, so he shouldn’t lose to a mere mortal like Lu Xiaobai.

But his feelings were quite complicated; he didn’t want Lu Xiaobai to lose, but he also didn’t want him to win and show off. The Long Aotian should only lose to himself.

Duanwang Mountain towered into the clouds, and after half an hour, both figures disappeared from sight.

Su Qinghe strolled leisurely to Lin Ji’s side: “Feng Shixiong has strong spiritual power; it seems this Lu Xiaobai is going to suffer.”

Lin Ji shot him a sidelong glance, his voice suddenly turning cold: “Su Shidi, have you forgotten that Lu Xiaobai and I share the same master? If he loses, it would be a disgrace to Luoxia Peak; what good would that do me?”

Su Qinghe didn’t expect Lin Ji to directly undermine him. He stared at Lin Ji for a while, feeling that he hadn’t done much, yet he couldn’t help but shiver all over, suppressing his anger.

He felt that Lin Ji’s gaze was different from everyone else’s; even Lu Xiaobai had never shown him such a hidden, fierce look. It seemed that as long as the other party was displeased, he would suddenly want to assassinate him.

But losing a person doesn’t mean losing the battle. Su Qinghe averted his gaze, clearing his throat: “I thought you hated him, which is why I tried to befriend you. How could there be no benefit? Precisely because you share a master, the worse he performs, the more it highlights your excellence. Isn’t that good?”

Lin Ji took two steps forward, looking down at him, suddenly laughing: “No need.”

“In this world, there’s nothing more disgusting than stepping on others while watching the show.”

“Once you’re better than me, then teach me how to do things. I’m not on the same path as you; don’t bother me in the future.”

After saying that, Lin Ji flicked his sleeve, accidentally brushing against Su Qinghe’s arm, and turned to leave.

Su Qinghe stood there, stunned, and then exploded: What does that mean! Growing fast is impressive? Having high talent is impressive?

No matter how fast Lin Ji cultivated, he was still only at the Qi Refining Stage, while he had already entered the Foundation Establishment Stage. Why should the other party be so arrogant!

Wait, Su Qinghe suddenly shivered: “So, Lin Ji wants to participate in this year’s inner sect competition?”

Those watching the show didn’t expect that the trial competition between Feng Shixiong and Lu Shixiong would last for half a day. The disciples returned after dinner and still didn’t see any sign of them.

The sky had darkened, and the moon was about to rise, with countless stars in the sky. Those who couldn’t wait had already left, while some who wanted to see the results sat at the cliff’s base, drowsy.

Lin Ji looked on, sneering inwardly. The disciples of Peifeng Sect were indeed very lax, not focused on their own cultivation. What could they be doing with their time?

“Lin Shixiong, you’re still here.” Luo Xiang Shimei ran over to him.

“…”

Lin Ji stood up: “I’m here practicing my breathing techniques; I’m not wasting time! I’m just observing; I’m not waiting for anyone… I just don’t want my master to worry.”

“Ah?” She didn’t mean that at all. Luo Xiang came to her senses, looking up with a worried expression: “After half a day of exertion, I wonder if Xiaobai can handle it.”

Another disciple stepped forward: “I think Feng Shixiong must have given up on using spiritual power and is competing with Lu Shixiong on physical strength; otherwise, how could it take so long?”

That disciple was spot on. After a while, two figures appeared almost simultaneously, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“Hey, get out of the way!”

The crowd dispersed as the two landed. Feng Funian was half-squatting on the ground, panting heavily, and several people rushed forward to support him, handing him water and energy-replenishing pills.

Originally, both had reached the cliff top at the same time, which would count as a tie. Feng Funian stood on his sword, inviting Lu Xiaobai to come down with him.

But this guy grabbed the vine and leaped down: “Thanks for the offer, but I plan to return the same way!”

“I…” Damn, Feng Funian had no choice but to continue the competition.

He wasn’t new to trials, but Feng Funian didn’t expect the cliff to be so steep and high, with a seemingly endless path to run back and forth.

He no longer cared about winning or losing; he just wanted to end this torment as soon as possible.

The supervising Elder yawned and came over to take a look, “You two landing at the same time should be a tie.”

“Not at all.” Lu Xiaobai’s eyes darted, refusing to accept it.

The Elder looked at him: “What’s your question?”

Lu Xiaobai’s clear voice reached everyone’s ears: “Because I believe my condition is better than Feng Shixiong’s, and,” he lifted his left foot, “I was half a step ahead of him.”

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that Lu Xiaobai had indeed landed further ahead. After the trial, both were covered in dirt, but Lu Xiaobai was still standing, while Feng Funian looked more disheveled, with several scrapes and bruises on his arms.

“Although the rule is to see who lands first, isn’t the purpose of our trial to test ourselves? Elder, what do you think about who completed the trial better?” Lu Xiaobai had already started to show off, turning back to wink at Lin Ji, “When did you come over? Were you planning to help me?”

“…” Lin Ji retracted his hand, mercilessly undermining him in public: “Rules are rules; once set, they can’t be changed at will. You’re just being unreasonable.” He genuinely thought so.

The Elder suddenly clapped his hands, “Stop arguing; let me think. According to the rules, you two are tied, but in terms of the trial, Xiaobai’s completion was higher. However, Feng Funian voluntarily gave up using spiritual power and didn’t bully his junior brother, which shows his remarkable character!”

“…”

Everyone suddenly understood and applauded in agreement; the Elder really knew how to handle things.

“Whatever.” Feng Funian, regaining some strength, stood up and left, muttering curses that were carried by the wind to everyone’s ears: “Lu Monkey, if I compete with you again, I’ll be a dog!”

Lu Xiaobai felt no guilt; he hadn’t forced Feng Funian to come down the same way. Wanting to save face was just asking for trouble; he didn’t recognize it as his fault.

Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai often had mismatched schedules, but today they happened to return to Luoxia Peak together.

Lin Ji noticed that Lu Xiaobai’s success rate with the cleaning technique was quite high; his white clothes were as clean as new.

He looked slightly worse for wear, but walking didn’t seem to tire him, and he even appeared a bit eager.

Strolling leisurely on the thousand-zhang-high mountain was far from the frantic running back and forth, especially since it was a cliff. Feng Funian had been exhausted, yet Lu Xiaobai still had energy…

Lin Ji recalled that in his past life, Lu Xiaobai was a dual cultivator of law and body. Could it be that he had already started cultivating now?

“So, you’re not just sweeping and cooking at Luoxia Peak; you’re also running around climbing rocks to train your physical strength?”

Lu Xiaobai looked at him with a strange expression, muttering, “How much misunderstanding do you have about me? Even without anyone deliberately causing trouble, managing Luoxia Peak every three days is enough.”

“My talent is poor, but I’m still cultivating. I have my own path to comprehend; I just don’t go to Lingxiu Peak often, so you can’t see it.”

Lin Ji was at a loss for words, and for a moment, he felt a bit at ease: This was the kind of person worthy of being his rival.

Unfortunately, just as he thought that, Lu Xiaobai suddenly exclaimed dramatically, looking at him: “Logically speaking, since you became my disciple, these chores should be shared with you. Why is it all on me?”

“Don’t you think you should give me some compensation?” Lu Xiaobai revealed his little white teeth, rubbing his fingers together in a frenzied hint, “Besides, today the Elder said my strength is superior; what about the reward you promised me?”

“When did I promise you anything?”

The enthusiasm in Lu Xiaobai’s eyes was too genuine, and Lin Ji finally believed he was truly eyeing his money.