Sect Master Ouyang Zhen's question wasn't a mere sound; it was an event. Every syllable was imbued with the authority of a monarch and the weight of a mountain, causing the Qi in the grand Celestial Phoenix Hall to swirl into vortexes of expectant power. The silence that followed was so profound Lin Feng felt he could hear cosmic dust settling on the thousand-year-old ceiling beams. Every eye, beacons of Golden Core Realm power, was locked onto Xiao Lan, awaiting an explanation for a miracle that could redefine their destiny.
Lin Feng, standing a step behind her, felt a bead of cold sweat trace its way down his spine. His mind, forged in survival and sharpened by sarcasm, raced at a dizzying speed, crafting and discarding dozens of impossible alibis. 'You see, what happened was, we stumbled upon a celestial noodle stand, and the vendor gave us a realm-advancement discount.' Nope. 'I tripped, my head hit her dantian, and the sheer stupidity of my existence catalyzed her power.' A little too close to the truth.
But Xiao Lan didn't need his absurd fabrications. She was a complete system unto herself.
She inclined her head in a show of respect that was both flawless and utterly devoid of subservience. Her voice, when she spoke, was like the tolling of an ice bell in a winter temple: clear, cold, and resonating with an unshakeable truth—even if it was a meticulously constructed one.
"Sect Master, Grand Elders," she began, her tone perfectly level. "The Spirit Beast Trial led us deep into the Umbral Ridge. My teammates were injured and had to withdraw, but I, sensing an opportunity in the deeper zones, chose to press on. Disciple Lin, who had shown a surprising aptitude for survival and knowledge of ancient flora and fauna, offered to continue as my assistant."
She paused, allowing that first piece of information to settle. It established the scene, justified her and Lin Feng's continued presence, all without a single superfluous word. Lin Feng almost applauded her efficiency.
"In the depths," she continued, her face a mask of serene remembrance, "we encountered the legendary beast that the histories barely dare to name: the Glacial Ice Hydra. Its power was unfathomable, far exceeding the estimations of the bestiaries. The battle was… desperate."
The elders' eyes widened. The existence of the core was already proof, but hearing it confirmed from her lips added a layer of epic reality to the feat.
"I fought to the very limit of my strength," Xiao Lan said, and for just a moment, a calculated sliver of vulnerability tinged her voice. "My Qi was depleted, my bones creaked. I was on the threshold of death, the Hydra's icy breath on my face. It was in that moment, on the razor's edge between life and annihilation, that my Dao found its epiphany. And it was also when we discovered the treasure the beast was guarding."
Her gaze grew distant, as if reliving the moment. "A Thousand-Year Frost Lotus."
A collective gasp swept through the elders. Ouyang Zhen leaned forward on his throne, his beard trembling with excitement. "A celestial treasure! Where is it, Elder Xiao Lan? With that lotus and your newfound power…!"
"It is gone," Xiao Lan interrupted, her voice cutting through the elder's greed with the coldness of steel. "To defeat the Hydra and survive, I had no choice but to consume the Frost Lotus on the spot. The fusion of its extreme Yin energy and my Yang Fire essence, in the crucible of my impending death, triggered a catastrophic and miraculous chain reaction within my dantian. The result… is what you see before you. I defeated the Hydra, but the treasure was consumed to forge my new core."
The alibi was perfect. Flawless. It explained her leap in power, the absence of the second legendary treasure, and painted a picture of desperate heroism and sacrifice. It was so brilliant that Lin Feng, the only one who knew the truth, felt a shiver of both admiration and profound terror. This woman wasn't just a war goddess; she was a terrifying politician.
The ensuing silence was broken by a thunderous laugh. Sect Master Ouyang Zhen threw himself back in his throne and roared, a sound that shook the very hall, a bellow of pure, unbridled euphoria.
"Hahahaha! Splendid! Absolutely splendid!" he boomed, slapping the arm of his jade throne. "To sacrifice a celestial treasure to forge a peerless genius! A trade our Scarlet Cloud Sect would make a thousand times over! The heavens have truly smiled upon us!"
The Grand Elders joined in his elation. Their old-fox composure melted away, replaced by the feverish greed of merchants who had just struck gold.
"The Hissing Wind Sect and the Misty Sword Palace will no longer dare to look down upon our humble sect!" Grand Elder Fei declared, his face red with emotion. "With a Golden Core Realm expert in our younger generation, our status in the Southern Alliance will skyrocket!"
"We must secure more Spirit Stone mines! Forge new alliances!" Grand Elder Hong added, rubbing his hands together. "Elder Xiao Lan, your breakthrough is not just your own, it is the dawn of a new era for all of us!"
They were so caught up in their ecstasy, in carving up the pie of a glorious future, that they almost forgot about the fly in the ointment. It was the third Grand Elder, Zhao, a man with small, shrewd eyes, who finally fixed his gaze on Lin Feng. His face wrinkled with disdain, as if he had just smelled something rotten.
"Sect Master," he said, his voice a sour croak. "We celebrate this glorious event, but there is a matter of decorum we must attend to. And what is this?"
The pronoun "this" was uttered with the same tone one would use to refer to a piece of trash found on a palace floor.
Xiao Lan turned slightly, her gaze like ice. "As I said, Grand Elder Zhao, he is Disciple Lin. An assistant whose knowledge proved… adequate. He survived through luck and my protection."
Sect Master Ouyang Zhen nodded, his euphoria giving way to an air of kingly authority. "Indeed. And his service, however insignificant, is concluded. A figure of your status, Elder Xiao Lan, cannot have a mere first-stage Qi Condensation piece of trash as her personal assistant. It is an insult to your presence. We will assign the top ten inner core disciples to serve you day and night. Jian Yue, the sect's number one genius before your… ascension, and his cohort will be at your beck and call."
On an upper balcony of the hall, where a handful of the most elite inner disciples had been permitted to witness the event, a handsome and arrogant young man named Jian Yue straightened up. His eyes flashed with a fierce ambition. The opportunity to serve the sect's new goddess, to win her favor, to be close to such power… it was a shortcut to glory he could not pass up. He and the others beside him could almost taste the opportunity.
Xiao Lan's response was so swift and so sharp that the air in the hall seemed to solidify.
"I refuse."
Two words. There was no anger in her voice, no defiance. Just a statement of fact—cold, absolute, and non-negotiable.
The Sect Master blinked, visibly taken aback. "Elder Xiao Lan?"
"I appreciate the Sect Master's generosity," she said, her tone not shifting one iota. "But I have grown accustomed to Disciple Lin's methods. He is efficient and does not ask unnecessary questions. Training someone new would be a waste of my precious cultivation time. He stays."
The declaration hung in the air, a conceptual bomb. On the balcony, Jian Yue's face went from hopeful ambition to livid, humiliated fury in an instant. The other inner disciples clenched their fists, their auras fluctuating with resentment. Rejected? Rejected in favor of trash?
Ouyang Zhen frowned. The situation was delicate. This trash could be a bad influence, he thought, his leader's mind analyzing the situation. Failure is contagious. His aura is weak, his presence a stain on our new Elder's prestige… but I cannot afford to alienate her. Not now. Her stability is the sect's highest priority.
He let out a long sigh, a cloud of pure Qi dissipating into the air. His gaze settled on Lin Feng with the intensity of a frozen sun.
"So be it," he conceded grudgingly, each word sounding like it was torn from his throat. "But listen well, outer disciple. You now serve the hope of the Scarlet Cloud Sect. If you hinder Elder Xiao Lan's cultivation in the slightest way, if you cause the most minor inconvenience, I will not expel you. I will personally extinguish your soul and erase your existence from the annals of this world. Understood?"
Lin Feng felt the weight of that threat down to the marrow of his bones. He bowed deeply, his face a mask of terrified humility. "Understood, Sect Master. I will serve Elder Xiao Lan with my life."
Wonderful, his inner voice thought. I've graduated from having low-level thugs wanting to break my legs to having the most powerful man in the sect promise me conceptual annihilation. Definitely a promotion.
"You may withdraw," Ouyang Zhen said, dismissing them with a wave of his hand, his euphoric mood visibly tarnished by this small annoyance.
Without another word, Xiao Lan turned and began walking toward the exit of the grand hall. She had won her first political battle, establishing her autonomy in a way no one had ever dared before.
Lin Feng followed, a step behind as always, her inseparable shadow. But as they left, he felt the stares. They were no longer of simple curiosity or disdain. The glares from Jian Yue and the other elite disciples were daggers of pure hatred and humiliation. The gazes from the Grand Elders were of suspicion and calculation. He had gone from being an insect to being the pet insect of the most powerful creature in the zoo, and all the other predators now saw him as a target—a way to get to her, or simply an eyesore to be crushed.
They walked in silence through the grand marble corridors of the inner sector, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the charged quiet. The secret pact they had forged in the Guardian's sanctum had just been sealed anew, not with power and visions, but with an open challenge to the sect's hierarchy in front of everyone.
His life in the sect was no longer a struggle for survival against petty bullies. It had become a political and deadly minefield, and he was walking right in the center of it, tethered to a phoenix flying far too close to the sun. The leash around his neck felt much tighter, but with a chilling certainty, he now knew the only hand permitted to pull it was hers. And that, in this terrifying new game, was the only rule keeping him alive.