What Should I Do If My Junior Sister Is the Future Demon Emperor? - Chapter 10

This day was destined to be a chaotic blur for everyone. Outside the Great Hall, a swarm of disciples gathered, their whispers weaving into a restless hum.

“What is the situation? What did I miss this time?”

“No idea! Our elder was in the middle of scolding us when he was suddenly summoned away.”

“I heard Immortal Master Mingchen is furious.”

“What? Mingchen is still alive?”

“Wait, do you even check the spirit network?”

“Heh, my communication device is a two-hundred-year-old relic; it can’t even connect to the network.”

“Well, your lifestyle is certainly… vintage.”

“Is this the most complete gathering of elders we’ve ever had?”

“Maybe not. I don’t see Elder Jueming from the Medicine Peak.”

“By the way, what is the background of this Immortal Master Mingchen? How can she summon everyone in the Wanning Sect?”

“You must be new. You really don’t know?”

The disciple providing the explanation rubbed his chin. “Mingchen is the youngest Soul Transformation cultivator in history. She stepped into the Nascent Soul stage at just two hundred years old, and now she is at the late stage of Soul Transformation. She is only one step away from the Integration stage.”

A wave of gasps rippled through the crowd.

“But even if the sect doesn’t have many Soul Transformation masters, there are several elders in seclusion at that level. Why is Mingchen the only one with such… deterrent power?”

“Perhaps,” the knowledgeable disciple mused, “it is the difference between a tiger in a cage and a tiger in the wild.”

“That is not necessarily it,” another chimed in. “My elder told me to be cautious beyond measure. Mingchen’s strength is far more profound than it appears on the surface.”

“Whoa.” The crowd fell into a deeper state of awe. “So, can anyone tell me what actually happened?”

******

“So, why did this happen?”

Qiu Yuebai arrived in a frantic hurry only to find the disciples gossiping loudly in what they thought were hushed tones. A bold disciple approached her. “Elder Qiu, what is going on?”

Qiu Yuebai flicked her dossiers dismissively. “Go play somewhere else. Don’t squat here just to watch the spectacle.”

Yesterday, when Lin Xi had asked that pointed question, they realized instantly that she wasn’t actually asking the Medicine Peak elder. She was asking them. After seeing their hesitation, Lin Xi had said nothing and left with Ji Ling. They hadn’t expected her to go straight to the Sect Master today.

While her head throbbed with a headache, Qiu Yuebai also felt a sense of relief. When the spirit formations were first closed, she had asked the Sect Master what they would do if Lin Xi found out. At that time, the Sect Master was newly appointed and full of ambition, possessing no regard for Lin Xi at all. Now that Lin Xi had come to demand an accounting, Qiu Yuebai felt as if the sword hanging over their heads had finally dropped. Everything now depended on how the Sect Master chose to explain himself.

Qiu Yuebai straightened her sleeves, took a deep breath, and entered the hall. Almost everyone had arrived; thirty-seven inner sect elders were present, save for those too far away or in deep seclusion. The Sect Master had dragged them all here except for that medicine-obsessed maniac.

Qiu Yuebai stole a glance at Lin Xi. The woman’s face was perfectly calm, showing no emotion at all. She was harder to read than the six-hundred-year-old foxes currently filling the room.

“Six hundred and seventy-one spirit formations. Now, only thirteen remain, and most are restricted to inner sect disciples,” Lin Xi began the moment she saw the room was full. “Sect Master Qi, this is not the promise you made to my Master when you took your position. Did you think I would never return, and thus felt free to trample upon their life’s work?”

The sweat on the Sect Master’s forehead was nearly dripping, and his forced smile looked like a withered chrysanthemum. “Not at all, not at all. We were simply considering the sect’s best interests.”

“A matter as significant as opening the formations… should we not invite Immortal Master Shangsu to discuss it? No matter how high your cultivation, you should not ignore her opinion,” a voice from the crowd interrupted impatiently.

Lin Xi recognized the voice immediately as the Peak Master of the Artifact Peak. He possessed some talent for refinement and viewed Cen Shangsu as his life’s rival, though her Master had never truly acknowledged him. Every time he forged a new item, he would ask, “Who is greater, me or Immortal Master Cen?” Lin Xi suspected his brain had been rotted by the constant flattery of his own students.

Lin Xi took a sip of tea. “I didn’t see any of you notifying my Master when it came time to close the formations. Now you suddenly remember her?”

The room fell into a heavy silence. It was a classic case of shooting oneself in the foot.

“The Immortal Master has not managed sect affairs for two centuries, so she may not be aware. Running these arrays is immensely expensive. It is truly difficult for the sect to develop under such a burden!” Elder Qian spoke with the air of a man who knew the price of every grain of rice.

Lin Xi smiled faintly. “My Master considered that issue when she designed them. Running them for two hundred years costs about as much as the entry fee you charge for a single student. Now you tell me the cost is too high? Has Elder Qian developed a conscience and stopped charging tuition fees?”

Xing Yun rolled her eyes from her corner. Stopped charging? As if. If it hadn’t been for Immortal Master Cinian keeping him in check, this old glutton would have sucked the very marrow from the disciples’ bones. Now that no one was watching him, he had grown even worse. If it weren’t for the pressure of the sect rules, eighty percent of the students wouldn’t even be able to afford the walk up the mountain.

Lin Xi suddenly laughed, as if a memory had struck her. “A thousand years ago, when the Wanning Sect was founded, Immortal Master Cinian and the first Sect Master signed an agreement. One-third of the Wanning Sect’s income belongs to Fengming Mountain. Although she never treated it as a serious matter and even spent her own money to support the sect. The agreement still exists, and the contract was sealed. I understand if you do not wish to open the formations. Since they have been closed for so many years, you must have saved a great deal of money. Why don’t we settle the accounts today? We can clear the debt and be done with it. What do you think?”

“This… the Wanning Sect cannot produce that many spirit stones at once,” Elder Qian stammered.

Lin Xi tapped the armrest rhythmically. “The money from Fengming Mountain has been subsidizing the Wanning Sect, yet you cannot find the funds to run the formations? Your management skills seem rather lacking.”

Elder Qian’s face was soaked in sweat; he didn’t dare speak again.

“If you find the cost so burdensome, perhaps we should dismantle them and sell the scrap metal to support the sect. We wouldn’t want other sects to think Wanning is impoverished,” Lin Xi said, her smile deepening as she watched the various “jumping clowns” below her.

“Absolutely not!” a chorus of protests erupted.

Xing Yun looked up from the dossier she had smuggled in and heard a nearby elder mutter, “If the formations are dismantled, Wanning is finished.” She offered no opinion and went back to her work. After Immortal Master Cinian built the arrays, Master Shangsu had spent immense effort creating a series of artifacts to keep the sect running efficiently. Every corner of the Wanning Sect contained the lifeblood of Fengming Mountain. Even the communication devices everyone carried were Master Shangsu’s creation. Without these things, Xing Yun couldn’t imagine the primitive life she would lead.

Furthermore, the only reason Lin Xi allowed the sect to use her reputation, aside from Master Qiu retiring here, was because these formations were among the few reminders of her elders. If the arrays were gone, she would no longer be so civil toward Wanning. Dismantling the formations today would mean she would dismantle the sect tomorrow.

“The Immortal Master may not realize that we did this for the sake of the outer sect disciples,” the Elder of Ziyun Peak said, stepping in to smooth things over. She was known for her polite demeanor.

Lin Xi watched her with an interested expression, as if waiting to see what kind of creative lie she would spin. The Ziyun Elder nearly faltered. This mad dog’s century of gentleness is clearly a facade; she is just as difficult as she was hundreds of years ago.

“The sect has many disciples, yet those with exceptional talent are few. Most are destined for a life of mediocrity. If the spirit formations replace their work, where will those people go?”

Lin Xi’s light brown eyes fixed on her for a moment, and the murmurs in the hall died away. The sudden silence was deafening. “If I remember correctly, Elder Xiao was also an outer sect disciple who worked her way up,” Lin Xi said slowly, exposing the past Elder Xiao had tried so hard to hide. “You should be grateful you were born in a better era. With your current aptitude, you wouldn’t even be allowed to water the herb fields in the current Wanning Sect.”

Xiao Sheng clenched her fists so hard her nails nearly broke. Though she wanted to tear Lin Xi apart, she forced a smile. “If the formations are opened, my Ziyun Peak will no longer need so many workers. Does the Immortal Master intend to take them all back to Fengming Mountain?” She stared at Lin Xi, certain the woman would never agree. No outsider had been allowed on Fengming Mountain for years; Lin Xi had even barred Master Qiu from entering.

“Um,” Xing Yun spoke up during the silence; a rarity for her during meetings. “If you don’t want those people, can you give them to me? The Discipline Hall has a bit of a backlog of dossiers.” Xing Yun didn’t look at the purple-faced elders and added calmly, “If the formations are opened and you feel your peaks are overcrowded, send them to the Discipline Hall. We are short-handed. Very short-handed.”

While she couldn’t take everyone, she could certainly use people for errands for a decade or two. Not even waiting for a resolution before starting to poach staff that was classic Xing Yun, always focused on the work. Qiu Yuebai gave her a silent thumbs-up.

Seeing a target, Xiao Sheng turned her venom on Xing Yun. “And once your tasks are finished, will you just throw them off the mountain? Will you sacrifice their futures for your own temporary convenience?”

Xing Yun flipped a page in her dossier and spoke the truth. “The accumulated cases in the Discipline Hall are enough to keep the outer disciples of three peaks busy for two hundred years.” Did they think she worked day and night out of love? No, it was because she had a conscience and felt the need to clean up the mess her predecessor had left her.

Qiu Yuebai coughed. “My Information Hall could use a few people as well. I’ll take whoever Elder Xing leaves behind. We aren’t as strict.”

“The Elder says the outer disciples are mediocre. Is it because they are not diligent?” Lin Xi stood up and scanned the room. “They are weighed down by mundane chores all day. Do you really think they have time to cultivate? They came here with hearts set on slaying demons and protecting the innocent, only to be relegated to trivial, petty tasks. Whether you care for the big picture or have other motives is something only your own hearts can answer.”

Finally, she looked at the Sect Master. “If you do not open these formations, I will. Whether you can keep your seat as Sect Master afterward will depend on your own ability.”

That was the warning. She walked through the crowd as the Great Hall doors opened automatically. The setting sun washed over her simple robes, coating her in a golden light. She stopped at the doorway and added one last thing: “My junior sister is quite fond of these fellow disciples. If I hear of any disappearing or being punished without cause, I suspect the elders wouldn’t mind having a cup of tea with me.”

Outside, more than half the sect’s disciples were standing on the steps, watching her with curiosity. Lin Xi’s eyes immediately found Ji Ling in the crowd. Ji Ling ran up and hugged her arm. “Senior Sister!”

A genuine smile touched Lin Xi’s face. Ignoring everyone else, she took Ji Ling’s hand and began the slow walk back toward Fengming Mountain. These people weren’t important to her; this outburst was simply because she couldn’t bear to see the life’s work of her elders destroyed.

Lin Xi looked back at the Great Hall. The characters on the “Qingyun Hall” plaque were powerful and bold that’s written with a brush, yet carved deep into the wood. One could still see the heroic spirit of the era’s greatest swordsman in the strokes. Cinian often spoke of those glorious years while drunk. They had built a small, fledgling sect into the greatest power in the cultivation world, hoping desperately for a better future and willing to pay any price for it. They wanted their light to illuminate the path for those who came after.

No one would be allowed to overshadow their legacy.

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