Chapter 71 - 29: Star Sword Peak, the Path to Heaven

Chapter 71: Chapter 29: Star Sword Peak, the Path to Heaven

"Hehe, Sister Hanyan, you’re also set on Star Sword Peak?"

The moment she saw the young woman, Xie Hanyan’s already cold expression became even frostier.

"Where I want to go is none of your business."

Hearing these cold, dismissive words, Xie Lianxing didn’t get angry at all. Instead, a wronged look crossed her face. "Sister, you think too poorly of me. Of course, I can’t control where you go. Star Sword Peak has its own rules and tests for recruitment. It’s just a coincidence that I’m also here for the assessment."

"And here I was, hoping we could get along..."

Despite her words, the tense, hostile atmosphere between them was obvious to anyone with eyes.

This scene gave Jiang Xuan quite a headache. He had a vague premonition that his entrance assessment this time was going to be full of complications.

And as it turned out, he wasn’t wrong.

On Star Sword Peak’s territory, neither of them intended to cause a scene. They proceeded without incident, and the three of them smoothly made their way to the registration area. It only took a few minutes before it was their turn to have their information recorded.

Xie Hanyan handed over the information for all three of them, and the pre-assessment registration for Star Sword Peak officially began.

During this process, Xie Hanyan naturally had no issues. An Earth Level Top Grade Spirit Root was considered top-tier Talent even in the entire Shenxiao Sect. Star Sword Peak would never refuse such a promising prospect.

Zeng Jun also passed without a hitch. His Earth Level Upper Grade Spirit Root was considered upper-middle tier among the disciples vying for a spot on Star Sword Peak.

But when it was Jiang Xuan’s turn, the situation took a nosedive.

His Profound Level Middle Grade Spirit Root was glaringly conspicuous among the other records. Not only was he the least talented of the three, but he was also at the very bottom among nearly all the disciples present for the selection.

After reading Jiang Xuan’s information, the young disciple in charge of recruitment, Hua Xuan, frowned instantly.

If Xie Lianxing hadn’t been there, given Xie Hanyan’s reputation, she might have been able to put in a good word for Jiang Xuan, and he might have gotten a chance to participate in the assessment.

But a cold sneer from Xie Lianxing, who was standing nearby, and a young man beside her suddenly stepping forward, sent Jiang Xuan’s situation spiraling downward.

"Cousin, has your Star Sword Peak really fallen so low? You’re even considering a Cultivator with this level of Talent?"

"Exactly! This would totally lower the standards of our Star Sword Peak, wouldn’t it?"

"If someone with a Profound Level Middle Grade Spirit Root can even take the peak’s assessment, people who don’t know better might think Star Sword Peak is some kind of unrated, Lower-Class Dharma Vein."

Hua Xuan hadn’t paid Jiang Xuan any mind to begin with. The only reason he hadn’t immediately driven him away was out of respect for Xie Hanyan.

But now, on one side were several prodigies from the Daozi Courtyard, while on the other was only Xie Hanyan. Moreover, the fact that Xie Lianxing had managed to enter the Daozi Courtyard while Xie Hanyan could only remain to cultivate at the Chen Daoist School made the gap in their status self-evident.

In the end, Hua Xuan, the disciple in charge of recruitment, unsurprisingly sided with Xie Lianxing’s group.

"Of course not. An Earth Level Spirit Root is the minimum requirement for recruitment at Star Sword Peak."

"Hahaha, I knew it! Senior Brother Hua, you’re the most reasonable one!"

WHOOSH! Before the people up ahead had even finished their conversation, Jiang Xuan shrugged and turned to leave.

Xie Hanyan naturally saw this. For the first time, she took the initiative to speak to Jiang Xuan, her voice tinged with apology. "I’m sorry."

"It’s fine. This isn’t your fault, and besides, it doesn’t affect me."

Glancing back at Star Sword Peak and Hua Xuan, who was in charge of recruitment, Jiang Xuan’s state of mind was just as he said—completely calm.

’If this place doesn’t want me, another place will... Besides, failing to enter Star Sword Peak isn’t necessarily my loss.’

SWISH.

Jiang Xuan’s departure was clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. His demeanor made many in the crowd sigh to themselves, "He didn’t even try to argue. I guess he has some self-awareness."

"Hah. If he really had any self-awareness, he wouldn’t have come here in the first place. Star Sword Peak is no place for someone like him."

"Shouldn’t you all be taking the assessment? What are you doing crowded around here?" Just as Jiang Xuan was walking out of Star Sword Peak’s entrance, another young woman slowly emerged from within the peak.

The moment he saw her, the aloofness on Hua Xuan’s face vanished instantly. He hurried over to greet her respectfully.

"Eldest Miss, what brings you here?"

"To take the Star Sword Peak assessment," the young woman replied faintly, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. "And don’t call me ’Eldest Miss.’ Today, I’m just an ordinary student here for the assessment, like everyone else."

"Yes, yes, of course..."

Faced with the most outstanding direct-line successor of this generation under the Peak Master, Hua Xuan could only nod in agreement repeatedly. At the same time, he hoped to gloss over what had just happened and get away with it.

Unfortunately for him, someone in the crowd stepped forward and didn’t let him have his way.

And the person who stepped out was none other than—Zeng Jun!

He didn’t step forward because he was from the same Daoist School as Jiang Xuan and wanted to seek justice for him. Nor was it some foolish fantasy of trying to curry favor with Su Xingying; he was well aware of the vast chasm between them.

Before stepping out, he had secretly glanced at Xie Hanyan.

It was obvious his actions were meant to stand up for Xie Hanyan, hoping to win her favor.

And to some extent, his move was a success.

Although the previous incident had ended with Jiang Xuan’s departure, in everyone’s eyes, Jiang Xuan was merely one of Xie Hanyan’s followers. His public dismissal was, in reality, a loss of face for Xie Hanyan.

In an atmosphere where everyone was just watching the drama unfold, the fact that Zeng Jun dared to step up and speak fairly made Xie Hanyan look at him in a new light, and her attitude toward him softened slightly.

Of course, this action came at a price. Hua Xuan was now glaring at him, full of displeasure, and the students from the Daozi Courtyard nearby were also looking at him with unkind eyes.

Zeng Jun felt all of this clearly, but he didn’t care in the slightest.

’I didn’t have much of a chance of getting into Star Sword Peak anyway, so there’s no point in sucking up to the people here. Instead of worrying about them, I should focus on maintaining a good relationship with Miss Xie.’

’Besides, with Miss Su here, they wouldn’t dare do anything to me.’

Just as he predicted, after Zeng Jun explained the whole sequence of events in detail, no one else had any mind to cause trouble for him.

Seeing the anger rising on Su Xingying’s face, Hua Xuan immediately looked embarrassed and quickly bowed his head. "That Jiang Xuan has a Profound Level Middle Grade Spirit Root. He had no hope of entering our Star Sword Peak. I sent him away for his own good... I’m sorry, I was out of line."

Under Su Xingying’s gaze, Hua Xuan finally bowed his head and admitted his mistake.

After putting Hua Xuan in his place, Su Xingying shot a cold glare at Xie Lianxing and the others. "You are not to cause trouble on Star Sword Peak’s territory."

"We understand, Sister Su."

As a direct-line descendant of Star Sword Peak’s Peak Master, even though she wasn’t his biological daughter, she had been personally taught by the Peak Master for a period of time. This gave Su Xingying an extremely high status, so much so that even Xie Lianxing and the others, who also came from the Daozi Courtyard, didn’t dare to offend her lightly.

After subduing everyone present, Su Xingying walked over to Xie Hanyan, formally apologized to her, and began to comfort her in a gentle voice.

"I’m sorry. One of our peak’s disciples handled things improperly and wronged you."

At the same time, she also made a point of asking about Jiang Xuan’s situation. It was clear that she was a young woman with a strong sense of justice who valued the reputation of Star Sword Peak greatly. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Unfortunately, Jiang Xuan was already long gone. Even if she wanted to make amends, there was no way for her to do so.

And while she was defending the reputation of Star Sword Peak, the discussions among the crowd below took a strange turn.

"That guy’s name was Jiang Xuan, right? What a pity. He left a bit too early..."

"His luck really is terrible. If he had just waited a moment longer, he would have seized this opportunity."

"Heh, that’s not bad luck. He was just being too pretentious."

"Exactly. What’s a Lower Classes Cultivator with a Profound Level Spirit Root doing, acting all cool and aloof? Well, look what happened. Missed his chance, didn’t he?"

Regarding Jiang Xuan, whether the people present felt it was a shame, a pity, or just found him laughable, everyone silently agreed on one thing: he had missed a golden opportunity.

But was Jiang Xuan really the one who had missed the opportunity?