Chapter 165: The Overbearing Dominance of the Demonic Maiden

Seeing that Junior Sister Xiaoxiao was unusually willing to listen to him, Zhang Yu smiled and said, "This Mr. Shi is exceptionally fortunate. He is about my age and has already reached the late stage of Golden Core. Were he not plagued by a strange illness, he would surely have inherited Master Dai Huashen's legacy."

At this point, he deliberately lowered his voice with a feigned air of mystery and a hint of smugness, saying, "Before I left for the Xianyun Sect, he sought me out and asked me for a small favor. You might not know this, Junior Sister, but back when he had not yet entered Master Dai's tutelage, his cultivation was merely at the seventh layer of Qi Condensation. Senior Brother was at the sixth layer back then, and we even got into a fight over a momentary war of words. That is what they call making friends through a clash."

Looking at Zhang Yu's expression, Hong Jian suddenly felt a complex mix of emotions.

She remembered the young Zhang Yu of the past, who would either whisper to her, "Is Junior Sister Fang actually the top of the water spiritual roots today? How remarkable for someone so young," or pat his chest and promise, "Rest assured, with me here, no one dares to bully Fang Zheng." The torrent of time had unwittingly killed off that spirited youth of yesteryear.

Seeing her strange gaze, Zhang Yu felt a prickle of unease and could not help asking, "What is it? Do you not believe me?"

Hong Jian quickly recovered and gave a cold chuckle, "Is that the same kind of making friends through a clash as the one between you and my brother?"

Zhang Yu's face instantly turned the color of an eggplant.

Yet after a moment, he figured the other party was likely just acting out of habit rather than intentionally mocking him, because no sooner had Hong Jian picked at his scab than she acted as if nothing had happened and asked him a favor. "Since Senior Brother has finished helping, shouldn't you go and report back to him? Take me with you when you go; I want to take a quiet look at what my brother's little grand-uncle looks like."

At these words, Zhang Yu broke into a sweat and hurriedly said, "Mr. Shi is ill, so I'm afraid it wouldn't be very convenient. Besides, he didn't summon me; let's wait until his health improves a bit."

Joking aside, this demanding aunt had no filter and did as she pleased, offending everyone completely without even realizing it. How could Zhang Yu ever dare take her out to stir up trouble?

Yet his refusal could not stop Hong Jian from roaming about. Within three to five days, once Hong Jian had settled in, she finally extended her demonic claws beyond Fei Chengji's territory.

The first to suffer misfortune was a late-stage Foundation Establishment practitioner named Shi Yong.

Shi Yong's master, Ye Zhengxin, was a junior brother of Fei Chengji, and his cave dwelling was relatively close to Guihua Garden, making it easy for Hong Jian to cross paths with people from that side during her strolls.

The outbreak of conflict could not entirely be blamed on Hong Jian deliberately provoking trouble; Shi Yong bore a heavy share of the responsibility as well.

Fei Chengji had taken a trip to the Xianyun Sect and picked up a female disciple with a water spiritual root halfway; these matters had already spread across Xiangji Peak over the course of a few days. Hearing that Zhang Yu actually had the opportunity to enter the Xianyun Sect's sect boundary secret realm, Shi Yong held considerable resentment in his heart. He felt that Zhang Yu's cultivation was inferior to his own, and that the sect's arrangement was entirely due to Grandmaster's partiality toward Senior Uncle Fei's faction. Therefore, even before seeing Hong Jian, he had already formed a preconceived bias.

When he saw a strange female cultivator in the distance, dressed in such a bizarre fashion, Shi Yong immediately realized who the other party was, and his spirits lifted significantly.

Instead of rushing up to greet her, he went back to call his senior and junior brothers to come quickly and look at Senior Uncle Fei's newly accepted beautiful disciple.

A water spiritual root—that was bound to be a beauty.

Shi Yong's senior brothers were older and higher in cultivation, with steady temperaments, and were unwilling to join in the commotion. Shi Yong did not dare to force them, and ended up dragging along two younger junior brothers. The two of them did not understand his intention and assumed he genuinely wanted to look at a beauty, so they excitedly followed along. The result, naturally... was a terrible shock.

In terms of cultivation, Hong Jian was currently higher than all of them; in terms of the might of divine sense and true qi, Hong Jian was someone they could not hope to catch up with, even by whipping their horses. Hong Jian had long since spotted the peeping Shi Yong, but had simply chosen to ignore him. At this moment, hearing the three of them whispering among themselves, she frowned.

The "Xiaoxiao" persona she had adopted merely possessed eccentric attire and manners, without hindering them in the least. Yet these male disciples of the sect were discussing her loudly behind her back, paying no heed to being overheard by the principal party herself, showing not an ounce of the bearing and refinement expected of disciples of a major sect.

Hong Jian had only been away for a little over twenty years, yet the atmosphere of the Danya Sect had fallen to such a degenerate state—how could it not break one's heart?

She thought to herself, "Since you are so utterly useless, I shall act on behalf of the sect's past grandmasters to teach you a thorough lesson. When you wake up to yourselves in remorse later on, you needn't thank me!"

Shi Yong was still winking and smiling craftily, saying, "When I caught a glimpse just now, I thought some courtesan from some pleasure house had run up to our Xiangji Peak. Where do you suppose Senior Uncle Fei dug up one like this?"

A junior brother standing beside him opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word in, he felt a blur before his eyes and a wave of fragrant wind brushed his face. The "courtesan" who had been far away just a moment ago was now right in front of them. So fast!

The Foundation Establishment stage did not yet possess the ability to shrink the earth into inches or teleport instantaneously. Hong Jian had not employed any magical artifacts; she had simply utilized the lightweight martial arts technique "Eight Steps to Chase the Toad" taught by Lu Yanzhang, which naturally appeared utterly unexpected in the eyes of Shi Yong and the others.

Facing Shi Yong directly, Hong Jian wore a half-smile as she asked, "This Senior Brother, what is a 'courtesan'? Which 'courtesan' of your acquaintance looks so much like me?"

The fragrance emanating from her was sweet and cloying, intoxicatingly heavy.

Believing that his side had superior numbers, Shi Yong did not think this flashy woman could do anything to him. He arched his eyebrows, and his words were thoroughly discourteous: "A 'courtesan' is nothing more than those playthings specially trained to wait upon men and amuse them. Since you deign to call me Senior Brother, I shall take it upon myself on behalf of Senior Uncle Fei to teach you properly: go back and take a good look in the mirror at what kind of ghostish appearance you've dressed yourself up in, before you have the face to ask!"

Having finished his reprimand, Shi Yong felt immensely refreshed. Who told the other party to deliver herself right to his doorstep to invite humiliation? At any rate, he had vented his foul Qi.

Little did he expect that the moment this thought arose, the ghostly white face of the female cultivator opposite him would press in close, her blood-red lips hovering right by his ear. Though she stood so near, her voice was by no means low: "Senior Brother is truly knowledgeable. I wonder if those 'courtesans' also treat you quite like this?"

As these somewhat eerie words rang out, a formidable aura surged forth. To his horror, Shi Yong discovered that he had fallen into a state of total suppression; his body could no longer move. Not only him—this suppression was simultaneously targeting all three senior and junior brothers. The opponent was merely at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment; how could she possibly possess such ferocious strength?

At that moment, Shi Yong was given no leeway for wild thoughts. After easily subduing him without employing any magical techniques, Hong Jian simply channeled her water true qi to envelop her fist and delivered a heavy blow straight to his face.

Shi Yong let out a groan of pain as blood gushed from his nose. Worse still, what caused him utter humiliation and the desire to die was that this punch struck his tear ducts, instantly causing uncontrollable tears to stream down. Indeed, he had never suffered such shame in his entire life.

Realizing that he could not take a beating, the opponent stopped after one punch and instead rained blow after blow upon his chest and abdomen, doubling him over in agony like a cooked shrimp.

As she struck him, Hong Jian asked with a smile, "Speak up, tell me, do they really do that or not?" Her tone was exceptionally relaxed; with one's eyes closed, listening to her sounded just like she was coquettishly acting spoiled.

Shi Yong's two junior brothers stared dumbfounded at the scene, shivering in unison.

Shi Yong's initial curses were beaten right back down into his throat. Unable to muster any magic power to resist, his mind remained crystal clear: he had truly offended this woman beyond redemption. Though a smile lingered on her face, her eyes flashed with disgust and cold indifference, and her blows grew heavier by the second—she genuinely wanted to beat him to death right here!

Hong Jian's fist landed once again. Even a Foundation Establishment physique could not withstand such punishment, and Shi Yong finally let out a loud cry: "They won't! They won't do that!" With a loud retch, a large mouthful of fresh blood spewed out.

Hong Jian withdrew her fist, lifted her chin, and smiled at him, saying, "That's more like it. I suppose Senior Brother won't make the mistake of misrecognizing anyone next time." Having said this, without waiting for Shi Yong to reply, the corners of her lips curved upward as she turned and strolled away with a graceful, willow-like waist swaying at will.

Having suffered such a crushing defeat, Shi Yong naturally went to complain to his master, and thus Fei Chengji learned of the matter before long.

Ever since he accepted this disciple, Fei Chengji had known such a day would come, yet he was still somewhat surprised that the younger sister of Xiao Guangdu could beat Shi Yong with such ease. Appearances could be deceiving; it seemed she truly was a genuine Great Perfection Foundation Establishment practitioner.

Given her temperament, trying to discipline her would most likely yield the opposite result, but if she were left unchecked, this girl would undoubtedly court ever-larger disasters.

Fei Chengji snapped off several strands of his beard before finally summoning Tong Dai.

Fei Chengji assigned a task to Tong Dai: to accompany her junior sister at all times, keep a close eye on her, and prevent her from stirring up trouble. Having Zhang Yu do this job would ultimately be inappropriate given the difference in gender.

Though feeling helpless, Tong Dai had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the task once her master gave the command. Fortunately, while Junior Sister Xiaoxiao was difficult to serve and shared no common language with her, she was not entirely unreasonable; whenever she wanted to do something and Tong Dai expressed a desire to tag along, she never refused.

After a little time spent this way, Tong Dai also grasped a bit of her junior sister's temperament: as long as you turned a blind eye to all her bizarre hobbies and attire, humored her, and pampered her, she could appreciate your kindness and would subsequently return the favor.

Truth be told, a junior sister like this was far better than those hypocritical fellow disciples who were sweet-mouthed on the surface but harbored daggers in their hearts.

Moreover, going out with Xiaoxiao had another advantage. Tong Dai noticed that ever since Xiaoxiao gave Shi Yong a sound thrashing, not only did those disciples under Senior Uncle Ye avoid them like a plague god from afar, but even the subordinates of other senior uncles and aunts gave them a wide berth. For the traditionally cautious and prudent Tong Dai, this was truly a novel experience, and she felt quite a sense of vindication trailing along in her wake.

One day, Hong Jian prepared to go out once more. Knowing she could never sit still, Tong Dai came over early to wait for her.

The two descended Xiangji Peak one after the other. As they passed through the Narrow Pass, Hong Jian naturally reached out and took Tong Dai's hand, a detail Tong Dai only noticed much later.

She couldn't help feeling a daze wash over her: since when had she lost all sense of resistance toward Xiaoxiao? When had she actually begun to feel what it was like to be a senior sister in her company?

Yet as if sensing her thoughts, Xiaoxiao turned her head, flashed a warm and affectionate smile, and uttered words that nearly scared Tong Dai out of her wits: "Senior Sister, let's sneak over to Red Wheel Peak right now. Won't you quietly point out that water-rooted senior brother of yours for me to see?"