Volume 1 Chapter 29: Senior Sister Bai Is About to Cry

Volume 1 Chapter 29: Senior Sister Bai Is About to Cry            

Feng Yudie crash-landed headfirst onto the platform.

Watching this disgraceful entrance, Bai Yuelin, the examiner for this match, immediately felt her mood sour. This girl had been called three times before she showed up—and had clearly been thrown onto the platform by someone else.

‘People like this are usually troublemakers,’ Bai Yuelin thought coldly.

She shot Feng Yudie a sideways glance, let out a faint sigh, and then frowned as she demanded:

"Where’s your bow of respect?"

Feng Yudie quickly scrambled to her feet, wiped her face, then glanced at her empty hands—only to realize her sword was still back near Pei Lengxue. It hadn’t been tossed up with her.

Awkwardly, she shuffled to the edge of the sparring platform and picked up one of the standard wooden swords, giving it a couple of experimental swings.

"Mmm! Feels okay."

Only then did she return to the center of the platform and give a proper martial bow, bending low in front of Bai Yuelin.

"Please instruct me, Senior Sister."

"Senior Sister?" Bai Yuelin’s face darkened. "You haven’t even entered the sect yet. You should be addressing me as ‘Senior.’"

"Ah— right. Please instruct me… Senior."

Bai Yuelin narrowed her eyes. She studied the silver-haired girl before her. That silvery-white hair was a rare sight, and this girl’s features carried an ethereal grace—a faint air of immortality.

Perhaps it was jealousy, or maybe just irritation at how carelessly this girl treated the proceedings. Either way, a flicker of annoyance flared up in her chest.

‘Let’s teach her a lesson,’ Bai Yuelin thought. ‘Let her know not to treat this like a joke.’

As the one controlling the pace of the match, she had full discretion. Normally, the examiner would pull their punches a bit—after all, these were merely outer sect applicants in the Qi Refining Realm. If they used their full strength, most would be blown off the stage in a single strike.

But this girl...

Bai Yuelin lowered her wooden sword at her side and tilted her chin upward.

"Go on. Make your move."

Feng Yudie nodded, glanced briefly at Bai Yuelin’s grip, then softly warned:

"Senior, please be careful."

Then she gently parted her lips, drew a breath—

And vanished.

In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance, appearing right in front of Bai Yuelin with a burst of wind.

Swoosh—!

A flash of cold light. The sword whistled through the air, the strike swift and precise.

Bai Yuelin barely had time to react. Her eyes widened and she instinctively raised her sword to block.

Clang!

But the moment the wooden swords clashed, she felt an intense shock travel up her arm. Her wrist screamed in protest—as if she’d just tried to block a boulder, not a sword.

Then—

CRACK

Her wooden sword snapped clean in two.

"Ah—!" Feng Yudie jumped in surprise and hurriedly redirected her attack.

What had originally been aimed at Bai Yuelin’s neck suddenly veered upward, glancing past the tip of her nose and harmlessly flicking the air.

Half of Bai Yuelin’s broken sword clattered to the ground.

She stood frozen, eyes wide, unable to process what had just happened.

She stared at the shattered remains of her own weapon… then at the intact sword in Feng Yudie’s hands.

‘Same wooden swords. Same clash. Why did mine break… and hers didn’t?’

"Thank you for the match, Senior."

Feng Yudie took two steps back and offered another polite martial bow.

A single clash—and the outcome was decided.

Even the disciple tasked with keeping records stood frozen in shock.

There’s a saying: “The onlooker sees clearly what the player cannot.”

But even as an onlooker, he hadn’t seen anything clearly at all.

All he heard were two sounds—“swoosh” and “crack”—and then it was over.

He looked at Bai Yuelin, then at Feng Yudie, hesitated for a long moment, and finally called out in a dazed voice:

"Feng Yudie—win by disarming."

The words echoed across the training ground—and instantly, the formerly noisy test field fell silent.

Even the duels on the other sword sparring platforms came to a halt as everyone turned their heads toward Sky Cloud Peak’s platform.

None of them could believe it.

Someone had actually disarmed a Sky Cloud Peak disciple.

Sky Cloud Peak, the stronghold of sword cultivators in the Profound Star Sect.

And yet a Qi Refining Realm outer sect candidate had just broken the guard of a disciple from there.

But what stirred even more curiosity than who had delivered the disarming blow… was who had been disarmed.

This year's entrance sparring trial wasn’t like previous years.

In the past, perhaps one or two Grand Elders might attend as a formality.

But this time, all five Grand Elders were present—along with the sect master’s Golden-Plume Parrot, a famously sharp-tongued judge of skill.

Even disciples from weaker peaks like Lunar Spring Peak had steeled themselves for the trial, afraid of bringing shame upon their lineage.

Yet someone still got disarmed.

Sympathetic glances soon turned toward Bai Yuelin.

Everyone knew—when she returned to Sky Cloud Peak, she was going to face serious punishment from the elders.

Bai Yuelin swallowed hard, still unable to believe what had just happened.

But the broken sword lay clearly at her feet.

She still held the hilt in her trembling hand.

There was no way to explain it away.

If it had at least been a back-and-forth match…

If she’d put up a fight before being disarmed, the loss would’ve stung less.

But this… this had happened in an instant.

Her legs began to shake.

She looked up and saw her fellow disciples on other platforms—all staring at her with a mix of pity and disbelief.

Her face flushed bright red. Her ears burned.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Just then, the Sky Cloud Peak disciple doing the recordkeeping quickly sent her a voice transmission:

"Senior Sister Bai, don’t just stand there! Do the bow! Get that girl off the stage before this gets worse!"

"A-ah…" Startled by the reminder, Bai Yuelin hurriedly blinked back the tears threatening to spill and stiffly offered Feng Yudie a martial bow.

"T-thank you… for the match…"

Feng Yudie lowered her gaze, looking at Bai Yuelin’s face.

Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, she quickly offered a few words of consolation.

"Senior, in battle, victory and defeat are common. There’s no need to take it to heart. Losing to me really isn’t that shameful!"

Feng Yudie genuinely meant to comfort her.

But to Bai Yuelin, those words landed like a slap.

"..."

She sniffled and quickly lowered her head, using the sleeve of her robe to wipe at her face, trying to hide the tears before they could fall.

Off to the side, the recordkeeper disciple shot Feng Yudie a pleading look:

"Get off the stage already!"

Feng Yudie got the hint. She bowed deeply to Bai Yuelin once more, then carefully returned the wooden sword to the nearby rack and hopped down from the platform, jogging back to the rest area.

As she reached Pei Lengxue and the others, she saw Xiao Yunluo staring at her in disbelief. That look immediately made Feng Yudie feel rather proud. She rubbed her nose smugly and gave a goofy smile.

"Hehe, I'm amazing, right?!"

"You..."

Xiao Yunluo bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

She had originally thought that lasting half a minute on Sky Cloud Peak’s platform was already impressive enough—that it would earn her first place and give her something to show her mother as proof of her growth.

But now, all the spotlight had been stolen by this silver-haired girl who looked like she didn’t have a single serious bone in her body.

“…” Xiao Yunluo clenched her fists.

Still, she nodded in acknowledgment and admitted,

"Yeah... to disarm a disciple from Sky Cloud Peak—yeah, that's seriously impressive."

"Hehe."

Feng Yudie giggled again, then turned to Pei Lengxue and gave her a cheeky wink. With a bashful little shuffle, she asked:

"Junior Sister Pei… so… um… about that hug you promised?"

"When did I ever promise that?" Pei Lengxue looked at her with a face full of disdain.

But then she remembered—there was a chance she might also draw the same senior sister in her match. So she asked instead:

"That senior sister... was she strong?"

"Hmm—"

Feng Yudie drew out the sound, thinking for a moment. Then she gave a thumbs-up with a bright grin.

"Junior Sister Pei, you've got this! If you draw her, you’ll totally win. Piece of cake!"

Pei Lengxue gave a small, hesitant nod, clearly lacking in confidence.

Just then, the call came from the Sky Cloud Peak platform.

"Next—Pei Lengxue, attendant of Feng Yudie! Sky Cloud Peak Sparring Platform! Step forward!"

"A-ah—Here!!!"

Pei Lengxue immediately leapt to her feet, standing bolt upright.

Xiao Yunluo stared at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah…" Pei Lengxue froze for a second, then pressed her lips together in embarrassment.

"My senior brother once told me, when your name’s called, you should always shout 'Here!' real loud… I guess it just became a habit."

Xiao Yunluo raised an eyebrow, then giggled.

"Your senior brother sounds like a weirdo."

"He is kinda weird sometimes..."

Pei Lengxue pictured her senior brother’s face and gave a shy, silly little smile.

"Ehehe~"

"Go on, get up there already."

"Mhm!"