My owner swallows nervously at this. For a brief moment, I know she considers lying to Elder Qin, but she knows just as well as I do that the Elder would see through it immediately. Her gaze is set to somewhere distant, beyond the horizon, as she considers her options.

“She… returned to the Perilous Sword Valley,” Lan Xiaohui says.

Elder Qin’s reaction is visible for only a brief moment — too short for Lan Xiaohui to notice, but nothing that can challenge my processing speed. It is a reaction of deep confusion, in one part, and disbelief in another part.

“Did I hear you correctly?” Elder Qin says, tone quieter and meaning more direct than before. “She returned to the Perilous Sword Valley?”

“Yes, Elder Qin,” Lan Xiaohui says. “Sister Wu felt that it could help her advance her cultivation.”

Even a cultivator like You Feixue can be stunned into silence by a competent and death-seeking junior, it seems, because it takes several seconds for Elder Qin to come to terms with what she is hearing.

When she finally responds, she does so by laughing helplessly. “Advance her cultivation!?” she murmurs the words, barely audible. “The holy testing site of my clan abused for advancing one’s cultivation?”

Not sure what to do or how to react, Lan Xiaohui does the most logical thing: “I am sorry, Elder Qin,” she apologizes, even though she’s not sure for what.

“Zhu Xuelian,” Elder Qin announces my owner’s name, approaching closer and placing a hand on Lan Xiaohui’s shoulder. “I have underestimated you and Wu Yulan once again.”

For once, seeing Elder Qin wear that warm smile of pleasant surprise and acknowledgment of my owner’s abilities, I am capable of understanding a cultivator like Elder Qin. It must be not too dissimilar from my own observations of Lan Xiaohui’s capabilities.

From Elder Qin’s perspective, Lan Xiaohui obtained a glimpse of the Sword Law at the Foundation Establishment realm, comprehended an incomplete inheritance within a very short time, and returned from a place that not only has a destructive, rampaging qi but also demonic beasts of the Nascent Soul realm that have also comprehended Sword Law.

It is not just Lan Xiaohui — the entity that failed the Pagoda of Introspection trial — but Wu Yulan also. For an Elder to find one such disciple would be a blessing from the Heavens; to find two, on the other hand, is unthinkable.

I focus my attention on the box in Lan Xiaohui’s hands and peer through the hard outer shell which is comprised of a strange wooden material that is capable of suppressing the powerful qi and fragrance of the medicine inside.

Within the box, as expected, are two black pellets and a multi-colored pellet. The multi-colored pellet is without a doubt of the Emperor grade, but the two other ones, while lesser, are no less heavenly treasures themselves — Supreme grade or possibly even Immortal grade.

When my owner, in her heart, decided that she would no longer hide or try to find solutions to her situation by being passive and forgiving, she most certainly did not anticipate that this situation would come up. Now she is standing on the brink of dispelling all such illusions Elder Qin may have about just where her natural talents lie, and what the nature of those auspicious events are.

Perhaps Elder Qin is too overwhelmed by joy or the false premise that she was delivered two heavenly-gifted disciples to realize that such things are too improbable to happen. Lan Xiaohui’s talent has little to do with her destiny or luck, and everything to do with her determination and my assistance. Naturally, she is also fortunate, but even so, some things are simply too improbable to happen on their own.

Lan Xiaohui smiles awkwardly and a bit sourly, as she offers the box back to Elder Qin.

“Elder Qin, I cannot accept this,” she says. “Please take it back.”

Once more, her disciple manages to surprise Elder Qin. Who in their right mind would refuse a gift like this? The Rainbow-Colored Rebirth Lotus is a heaven-defying treasure — a medicine that can rebuild the spiritual roots and increase one’s aptitude for cultivation; it could save dozens of years and, by doing so, give one the advantage they need to become, perhaps, even the master of a sect.

The Core Revolving pills are so advanced that even with my [Critical Analysis] I am unable to divine how they were created or to reverse engineer them, though that is more indicative of my lack of Alchemical attainment.

However, no matter how surprising this news is, it cannot compare to the confusion that Elder Qin must be experiencing as she stares at my owner, trying to determine the reason behind such a refusal.

Perhaps anticipating Elder Qin’s thoughts, my owner smiles. “It is not that I am refusing the gesture, or declining to accept the apology. At first, yes, I was upset that we were sent there. If something happened to us, Yun Fei would have been on her own, to die because of me. Such a thing… it was not easy for me to look past it.”

At this point, Elder Qin accepts the box that Lan Xiaohui offers back and is fortunately too preoccupied with listening to my owner to even consider the more important question — where is Yun Fei?

“You asked me if I was ready to risk my life in order to be able to compete in the Conference, and I said I was,” Lan Xiaohui says. “Whatever happened after that was no responsibility of yours. In fact, I am even grateful to you, You Feixue, for doing this. Although the results were unpredictable and we nearly died, who but we, Wu Yulan and I, can decide if it was for the better or worse?”

Elder Qin blinks when Lan Xiaohui speaks those words, echoing Wu Yulan’s sentiment from earlier with which my owner fully agreed with.

Perhaps this is the reason why she has been able to recover from her trauma so swiftly. Wu Yulan’s infectious enlightenment has also mesmerized my owner.

Lan Xiaohui’s smile remains as she turns toward the distant forbidden land beyond the peak. “As Wu Yulan said, we are not lost; we are just wandering,” Lan Xiaohui says as if to confirm my thoughts.

Elder Qin looks at the box, and ponders it for several moments, before reluctantly putting it away within her dimensional storage ring.

“You still want to compete in the Conference?” Elder Qin asks.

A moment of hesitation, and then Lan Xiaohui nods. “I do,” she says.

Elder Qin chuckles and the rustle of her dress informs my owner that the Elder has jumped back on her sword. “Good,” she says. “You never disappoint, Zhu Xuelian. Regarding the rankings, who do you plan to challenge?”

At this, Lan Xiaohui lowers her head slightly, thinking for a moment. “The one who is ranked first: Tian Li.”

Tian Li; it is a name we’ve often seen in the rankings, having occupied the first rank since we arrived at the sect.

Elder Qin’s smile suggests she expected that reply. “Good, very good,” she says. “However, you should know; Tian Li is no longer ranked first. That title now belongs to Xie Zhiqiang.”

Without another word, Elder Qin pours her qi into her sword, and in a blast of essence and sword energy, takes off into the sky and is outside my perception radius within moments.

Lan Xiaohui is too distracted by her thoughts to acknowledge Elder Qin’s departure or to engage in more conversation.

There is a strange, mysterious blaze in my owner’s heart at the prospect of this coming Conference, and the ranking duel to decide whether she will have a place in it or not.

The Sky Continent Martial Conference is no longer just about the reward; it is far more than this.

Though, I am not yet sure exactly what that is.