Chapter 56

The Six from the Supreme Sect’s final performance stopped at 152 plates. Lin Du was the last to put down his chopsticks, glancing at the chef rubbing his arm, feeling a bit of belated apology.

“Tianu, should we get our master some ointment?”

Xia Tianwu agreed, but the chef’s hand gripping the knife was shaking. “No way, we still need to continue, right?”

Lin Du, although not very full, felt too embarrassed to eat more. “Of course not. Please rest, and put it on my tab.”

The group exited grandly, just as fireworks soared into the deep night sky and exploded into a brilliant light shower.

“Wow, this year’s fireworks are really big. I didn’t know the cultivation world had fireworks too,” Yuan Ye said, looking up at the night sky with his hands in his pockets.

Lin Du squinted. “I have a feeling… that there seems to be someone among those fireworks?”

Mo Lin shivered and looked closely, then exclaimed, “Damn!”

“Where are the Jun Ding Fu guards!!! Who dares to fight in Ding Jiu City!!!”

As he spoke, a dark gold sword staff appeared in his hand, and he was about to fly up, but Xia Tianwu pulled him back.

“Senior Brother, that person seems to be…”

“Even if the King of Heaven himself came, he shouldn’t be fighting in Ding Jiu City!”

“It seems to be our Sect Leader.”

Mo Lin froze, turning around with his eyes wide open, his double eyelids showing disbelief. “Who did you say?”

The six of them looked up at the sky, seeing a red figure suspended in mid-air. A surge of spiritual energy rushed towards her, creating a particularly dazzling wave of spiritual light. The red spiritual light was magnificent, spreading out several tens of yards, like an extremely beautiful blooming peony.

“Right, our Sect Leader is wearing red today,” Yuan Ye looked up for a moment, then suddenly responded loudly with a “Damn.”

“Our Sect Leader turned into fireworks???”

Lin Du twitched at the corner of her eye and said seriously, “The Sect Leader is putting on fireworks to celebrate the New Year. Let’s say thank you to the Sect Leader.”

Ni Jinxuan was the first to respond obediently, “Thank you, Sect Leader.”

Yuan Ye followed instinctively, “Thank you, Sect Leader.”

Yan Qing felt something was off but, out of courtesy, echoed, “Thank you, Sect Leader.”

Mo Lin’s mouth twitched. “No way, if someone wants to make the Sect Leader do this, I need to check it out.”

Just as he leaped up, he heard a very familiar shout.

“Senior Sister! Senior Sister, no! You’re the Sect Leader! This is our Ding Jiu City!!! You can’t break the sect rules yourself!!”

“Hey, stop, stop, Senior Sister, why are you even hitting me!”

His punished master, who was accounting in Ding Jiu City, was holding an abacus, seemingly afraid of being accidentally injured, shouting from a distance.

“Don’t make me hear the word ‘Sect Leader’! It makes me angry!” Feng Chao sneered, her robes fluttering in the air. She turned and pointed at the spiritual energy fluctuations, angrily saying, “You still dare to come back?”

“Weren’t you supposed to leave the sect on your own? Why are you back?”

“If you’re a man, never come back in your lifetime!!”

“Fleeing in the middle of a fight, what kind of skill is that! You just left the Sect Leader’s mess for me to deal with. How dare you come back to take Supreme Sect’s things? Get out! Don’t even enter the Supreme Sect’s territory!”

Seeing Mo Lin fly up, Lin Du also summoned her flying magical tool to ascend. Upon arrival, she realized this scene seemed familiar from Lin Tuan’s script. She immediately looked towards the direction Feng Chao was pointing.

Among the spiritual energy light waves was a young man’s figure.

The man looked very young, dressed in white robes fluttering in the snowstorm, his hair blowing in the wind. Unlike the neatly dressed disciples of the Supreme Sect, his black hair was disheveled, with only a golden divine seal on his forehead faintly glowing. He looked like a figure with autumn waters for eyes and jade for bones.

Through the thick snowstorm, Lin Du met his intensely dark, indifferent eyes.

Those eyes were void of warmth, showing no sorrow or joy. Even when cursed at, they remained unmoved.

Lin Du could see clearly that he was not like her. Even when she was suppressing her anger, there would be some slight relief in her actions and expressions, but this person remained unaffected, as if he cared about nothing.

Even the millennium-old ice can give a chilling sensation, but he was not cold; he seemed like an insulator, overlooking everything with no joy or sorrow, no worry or compassion.

At that moment, she finally understood why Lin Tuan couldn’t warm such a person for three thousand years.

This person was clearly an insulator.

“Senior Sister, let’s not be angry. Although Junior Brother was at fault, it’s New Year’s. Since you’re here…” Ju Yuan was still trying to mediate.

Feng Chao sneered, “He just adds to the trouble during New Year. Even if he’s here, he should leave quickly.”

“Ah.” Feng Chao was hit by a gust of wind and couldn’t help but cough.

“Senior Sister, the wind and snow are so strong. Why are you still out here?”

A concerned yet casual inquiry cut through the wind and snow, reaching the nearly enraged Sect Leader’s ears.

Lin Du raised her hand, and spiritual energy from the Floating Life Fan poured out, gently speaking, “Stop.”

In an instant, the snow and ice ceased, suspended in mid-air as if frozen.

“The wind is too strong. Perhaps that Heavenist friend couldn’t hear your scolding. It’s all right now.”

Lin Du smiled as she put away the Floating Life Fan and tilted her head. “By the way, who is this wandering cultivator?”

Feng Chao hesitated for a moment before quickly smiling, “Come, little Junior Sister, let me introduce you. This is the former number one talent on the Qingyun Ranking, Hou Cang.”

She warmly waved to Lin Du, using spiritual power to bring her beside her, and happily hugged Lin Du’s shoulder, looking at Hou Cang. “According to your previous seniority in the Supreme Sect, this is your Junior Sister, the current number one talent on the Qingyun Ranking, Lin Du.”

The two successive number one talents looked at each other from afar—one as calm as snow, the other as free as the wind. Lin Du was the first to speak.

“Senior, I’ve heard much about you.”

Lin Du cupped her hands and bowed, her posture respectful, but her gaze was unruly, like a long wind sweeping through a thousand miles, rolling up grass and leaves.

After a long pause, a response came from the other side, “Junior Sister, you’re too kind.”

Feng Chao pointed to Hou Cang and said, “Junior Sister, remember this. This is the former gatekeeper disciple of our Supreme Sect’s previous Sect Leader. Six hundred years ago, he was a candidate for the new Sect Leader, but he defied his master and left without notice. Only now has he returned. In your opinion, should you address him as ‘Senior Brother’?”

Ju Yuan, who was still holding an abacus, was sweating profusely at the side.

Lin Du suddenly tilted her head and smiled, and the snow that had been frozen in the air began to fall again.

“Senior Sister, since the wind and snow are so severe today, why not ask Senior Hou Cang why he has come to Ding Jiu City as a guest?”