Chapter 51

Ni Jinxuan quickly handed over the high-grade five-colored stone flower she had brought back, and Jiang Liang personally refined it into a Bone-Reforming Pill.

However, Lin Du couldn’t take the pill immediately; she needed to first recover from the energy deficiency caused by the reverse flow of spiritual power.

Feng Chao was deeply touched as she held the map of the secret realm that Lin Du had completed along the way.

“So, this is my surprise?”

Lin Du silently looked at the inner treasury token in her hand.

In a way, the key to this storyline still ended up in her hands.

“Yes,” Feng Chao patted her on the head, “Even when I’m not around, you can now access the inner treasury by yourself.”

Lin Du hesitated for a moment. “Though I appreciate it, Senior Sister, giving me the token is one thing, but why give me the ledger as well?”

Feng Chao, smiling brightly and without a hint of guilt for passing the responsibility to a child, replied, “In the future, if anyone wants to take something from the inner treasury, they can come to you. All you need to do is register it, it’s very simple.”

“I’m still a child,” Lin Du tried to push away the burden of the ledger, “I don’t know how to keep accounts.”

“Are you trying to fool me? I seem to recall that one of the books I gave you included *The Ten Mathematical Classics*, right? You didn’t skip that, did you? I even took the trouble to imprint my consciousness in it…”

Looking at her senior sister, Lin Du suddenly thought of her beautiful elementary school teacher. Though beautiful, she carried a real sense of intimidation.

“How could I not, haha,” Lin Du forced a laugh, “Of course I studied it. Without your guidance, how could I have started learning formations? I was just…”

“Oh, right. You’re learning formations, so your arithmetic and spatial arrangements must be excellent. Keeping the inner treasury ledger should be very easy for you, right?”

Feng Chao’s elegant and noble face beamed with a kind smile. Lin Du quietly accepted the ledger.

Stop smiling, it’s terrifying.

Even her demonic master didn’t make her feel this pressured.

Lin Du silently accepted her new role as the inner treasury manager, figuring that the treasury wasn’t accessed frequently anyway.

“Good boy, take care of yourself, and tomorrow, come with me to a meeting.”

Feng Chao’s smile grew even gentler. “By the way, how much of the residual power from the Lan Gu Realm is left?”

Lin Du probed a bit, “Not much. The remnants can only cling to the Soul-Nurturing Wood, but they’re too fragmented to even be called a soul. There’s no way to restore them…”

“Then let someone skilled in sound cultivation, who can strengthen the soul, go with you. At least keep the remnants together long enough to speak.”

Lin Du nodded. One of the important abilities of sound cultivators was to invigorate and strengthen the current will, allowing someone to tap into their final potential.

Feng Chao assigned a series of tasks, then let out a long breath, her face showing fatigue after the tension had eased. “If there’s nothing else, go and rest.”

Lin Du did have a question.

“Senior Sister, if a cultivator isn’t recognized by this world’s Heavenly Heaven, they can’t appear on the Chongxiao Ranking, right?”

“Of course. The ranking is determined by the Heavenly Heaven. If you’re not born of this world’s Heavenly Heaven, you won’t be ranked.”

Lin Du continued, “Although it’s said to be determined by the Heavenly Heaven, I’ve researched the histories, and these two heavenly pillars didn’t originally have rankings. There’s no record of when the rankings first appeared, but it’s clearly noted that 6,000 years ago, someone challenged a person on the list and made it onto the ranking for the first time.”

“Yes,” Feng Chao was puzzled by Lin Du’s sudden interest in these rankings.

“Since then, those on the rankings have been frequently challenged. Many have fallen or been crippled, and some have even specialized in studying the techniques and characteristics of those on the list.” Lin Du paused, “I have a feeling that being on these two rankings isn’t a good thing.”

The saying “The tree that stands out gets blown down” is a truth everyone understands.

If the Heavenly Heaven truly favored them, why would there be Heavenly Heaven arenas descending next to the two rankings?

Just among the 100th generation of Supreme Sect disciples, three had already met their end halfway through.

Feng Chao’s eyes flickered, as if recalling something distant and painful. After a long pause, she softly said, “As long as one is strong enough, even if they stand out, the wind cannot topple them.”

Lin Du lowered her gaze and softly said, “Besides the wind, there are also ants that are hard to notice.”

Even a towering tree can collapse due to an ant’s nest.

Feng Chao didn’t hear her clearly. “What did you say?”

“I said, those two Heavenly Heaven rankings are like targets just standing there. It’s almost like they’re saying, ‘These are the most powerful people—defeat them, and you’ll be the strongest.’ But other than getting beaten up, what’s the benefit of being on the list?”

As soon as Lin Du finished speaking, she noticed that the woman’s phoenix eyes were sharp and clear, like unsheathed blades.

“You didn’t read the Heart Sutra I gave you, did you?”

Lin Du, uncharacteristically guilty, replied, “I was too focused on calculating formations. The Heart Sutra doesn’t benefit me much.”

Mainly because it was written in classical Chinese; she could memorize it, but understanding it was difficult.

It was really a challenge for a science-minded person like her.

“In the Heart Sutra, there’s a phrase: ‘Do not contend, yet win skillfully.'”

Feng Chao’s voice was clear and firm. In the twilight, her robe reflected golden light that shimmered in Lin Du’s eyes.

“You don’t have to contend, but you must win skillfully. This is the principle for disciples of the Supreme Sect.”

Lin Du was stunned for a moment, then quietly stood up and bowed her head. “Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister.”

She understood: you don’t have to strive to be first, but you must have the strength to win.

The next morning, Lin Du, who had been ordered not to use spiritual power and could only sleep, got off the hard, icy bed, half-awake, and began dressing on autopilot. It wasn’t until she boarded the ship and saw Yuan Ye, who was also sleepy-eyed, that she finally reacted.

“Why are you here?”

Yuan Ye spread his hands. “Master said my skills are enough to keep a remnant spirit going.”

Lin Du acknowledged this with a nod and slumped beside him, dozing off, until Feng Chao personally came over to rouse them.

The heads of the Three Sects, Six Schools, and Ten Schools had already arrived.

Lin Du was still half-asleep; winter always made people feel like they hadn’t slept enough, especially since she couldn’t use her spiritual power.

“The situation is basically like this. I wonder what the Sect Leaders think.”

Feng Chao spoke concisely, clearly explaining the matters of the secret realm.

“But… if the willow branches turned human, without blood and flesh, wouldn’t it be difficult for them to survive after leaving the branch?”

“If there really was a demonic cult consuming human essence, it’s unlikely that it would go undetected in the Zhong Zhou for six hundred years.”

“Sudden investigations might also cause the disciples to panic, right?”

Ji Shi Sect’s Jun Qian suddenly spoke, “But the white bones are a fact. All the elders who were present in the water mirror could see it. If we ask the disciples who entered, they would surely confirm that bones were indeed buried everywhere.”

“It’s not that I doubt you, but I still feel like this is making a mountain out of a molehill. There haven’t been any unusual occurrences for years. Is it really necessary to go to such lengths, even verifying souls?”

“There’s no concrete evidence.”

“Oh, but there is,” Feng Chao said calmly. Seeing that there was no response from behind her, she called out, “Lin Du, Yuan Ye.”

The two sleepyheads, who had been inconspicuous in the background, suddenly lifted their heads in surprise.

Yuan Ye instinctively wiped the drool from his mouth with his sleeve, then took out a xiqin (a type of Chinese bowed string instrument). “I’m ready, Junior Uncle.”

Lin Du took out the Soul-Nurturing Wood from her sleeve, inside which a remnant spirit was barely clinging to life. “There is evidence. This is the remnant spirit of the City Lord of Lance City from the Lan Gu Realm, which I brought out from there.”

Many of the sect leaders had heard of Lin Du. Rumor had it that she had even carried back the pillars and iron lions from the ancient city gates. They never expected that she wouldn’t even spare the remnant spirit—she truly picked up everything!

Yuan Ye spoke up, “Please wait a moment, everyone. I need to invigorate it, or this remnant won’t have the strength to speak.”

The sect leaders all choked back their words. Was the Supreme Sect really here to put on a show?