A temporary lodging of the
All the heavyweights of the Purple Sun Sect had gathered in one place.
Perfected Zixu, as Sect Master, naturally had to play the part. He consoled her: "Junior Sister Shuiyue, everyone knows you have a temper, but your heart has always been for the sect. This matter had many contributing factors—it wasn't entirely your fault. It's just that the other three sects have always been jealous of our Purple Sun Sect, so when an opportunity arises, they'll never let it slip by."
"Exactly. Junior Sister need not blame herself. A mere secular martial artist who doesn't know his own limits. When he arrives at the Heavenly Spirit Region one day, our sect's geniuses will be sure to avenge Junior Sister's honor."
"Well said. Though this boy has impressive talent, compared to our Purple Sun Sect's top geniuses, the gap is still obvious."
Everyone spoke up in turn, offering comfort to Master Shuiyue.
It wasn't that they had particularly close ties with her—they all knew this woman had taken on a remarkable disciple.
That disciple would sooner or later become a pillar of the sect. Even Patriarch Zhuiyang had said that among all disciples,
It was all because of her Innate Body. The Innate Body was superior to any sect genius's potential.
With everyone's consolation, Master Shuiyue felt somewhat better. But ever since her return, she still didn't dare meet Patriarch Zhuiyang's gaze.
This time, she had truly made a grave mistake. Especially since the Patriarch had already issued orders for her not to act rashly.
She had disobeyed his wishes, thinking herself clever, only to end up burning herself and shooting herself in the foot. Not only had she lost face, but she had also lost two direct disciples.
"Patriarch, Shuiyue is incompetent. Please punish me." Master Shuiyue feared nothing under heaven or on earth, but there was one exception—Patriarch Zhuiyang.
In the Purple Sun Sect, no matter how formidable a senior might be, none dared act presumptuously before Patriarch Zhuiyang. Master Shuiyue was no exception.
"Hmph! Shuiyue, taking on Long Juxue was one merit. Disobeying my decree this time—that was one fault. Merit and fault cancel out. Consider the matter settled."
Patriarch Zhuiyang let out a cold snort, giving Master Shuiyue a way to save face.
Bitterness welled up inside her. She knew that with the Patriarch's words, the merit she'd earned from taking on Long Juxue had been completely wiped away. She would have no special privileges in the sect going forward.
This was quite a blow.
But since the Patriarch had spoken, she didn't dare haggle further. After all, defying the Patriarch's decree was a grave charge. Not being punished for it was already an enormous show of mercy.
"Patriarch, there is one matter I must report." Master Shuiyue hesitated for a moment, then mustered her courage.
"What?"
"I suspect this secular prodigy is very likely Long Juxue's enemy from the mundane world—that is,
The moment these words left her lips, the entire room was stunned.
"What did you say?" Perfected Zixu couldn't stay seated either. "Jiang Chen? You mean the boy the other three sects were frantically fighting over before the competition?"
This question—Patriarch Zhuiyang had in fact harbored similar thoughts before, but hadn't pursued them deeply. Now hearing Master Shuiyue raise the matter, he couldn't help but ask: "Do you have proof?"
"I don't have conclusive proof, but ever since this boy entered the secondary rounds, he's been particularly antagonistic toward our Purple Sun Sect. Why is that? Moreover, I always sense an undercurrent of unease around him. You should know—for martial artists at my level, psychological disturbances don't arise without cause. I worry that this intuition may prove to be true."
Martial intuition!
A martial artist's intuition was never baseless—it rarely appeared without reason, and when it did, there was always a cause.
This time, even Patriarch Zhuiyang fell into deep thought.
He was an Origin Realm Venerable, with a far deeper understanding of martial intuition. When a martial artist's heart suddenly produces strange thoughts out of nowhere, those thoughts often prove startlingly accurate.
The stronger the martial artist, the more reliable the intuition.
"Could it be that the secular prodigy really is Jiang Chen?" Patriarch Zhuiyang had never paid Jiang Chen much attention before. From his lofty vantage point, so-called geniuses were nothing special.
Without the potential to reach the Origin Realm, one couldn't even catch his eye.
Among the Purple Sun Sect's geniuses, there were a few he deemed promising. The one most likely to reach the Origin Realm was Long Juxue.
With her Innate Azure Phoenix Body, as long as everything went smoothly, she had at least a seventy to eighty percent chance of reaching the Origin Realm.