Chapter 29: Joy Turns to Sorrow

In the end, Ji Yao was kicked out of the Sumeru space by Situ Jing.

Cradling the Qingyue Flute in her arms, Ji Yao lay on her bed, staring blankly at the ridge beam above, feeling as though the events of this night were too surreal to be true.

Outside, dawn had begun to lighten the sky, but the room across from hers remained empty.

Senior Situ’s soul had fully recovered; she could now control the Heaven and Earth Disk. With the protection of a divine artifact, Ji Yao no longer needed to worry about being discovered when entering and leaving the space. As long as she didn’t vanish in front of others, she could go in whenever she wished.

She now had a powerful mentor to guide her and someone to answer her questions. What delighted Ji Yao even more was that she had finally entered the path of formations and now had a weapon uniquely her own.

Recalling the moment when she voiced her final question—completely unaware of its implications—Situ Jing’s expression flashed through her mind.

She dared not dwell on it! In the end, Situ Jing had imparted to her a technique for sound-based attacks, then unceremoniously kicked her out, flute and all.

As Situ Jing explained, there was no room for pretentious elegance in the cultivation world; anything could be used as a means of attack. Since she held a flute in her hands, it ought to be wielded as a flute.

With that, Ji Yao found her schedule suddenly packed: she needed to cultivate, study formations, practice swordsmanship, and learn sound attacks. In just one night, she was on the verge of being forced into excellence.

Since she felt no sleepiness, Ji Yao sat up and began to cultivate her technique. She had barely completed two cycles before daylight fully broke.

At present, Ji Yao had attended all the lectures at the Outer Sect’s Teaching Hall and didn’t need to go regularly.

Riding the momentum from last night, she felt a faint sense of enlightenment and the stirrings of a breakthrough in her cultivation, so she decided to enter a short seclusion and push her cultivation directly to the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Swallowing a fasting pill, she set out the basic spirit-gathering formation disk she had carved during her entry-level practice and began to cultivate. Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and her advancement was smooth, without the slightest hindrance.

When Ji Yao stabilized her cultivation and put away her formation disk, she felt a surge of satisfaction.

This formation disk, carved from top-grade spirit jade, was truly remarkable—it required no consumption of spirit stones and gathered spiritual energy swiftly. Though a basic formation, its foundation was superb!

Top-grade spirit jade could automatically absorb spiritual energy and replenish itself; in a place rich in spiritual energy, the consumption when activating the spirit-gathering formation was negligible. If the jade ever ran out of stored energy, she only needed to leave it somewhere with abundant spiritual energy and let it slowly recover. With the Sumeru space at her disposal, Ji Yao felt no concern at all.

Her good mood lasted until the moment she opened her door and stepped out of the courtyard.

As soon as she left, Ji Yao noticed something was amiss. Several female disciples from nearby courtyards had grouped together, pointing at her courtyard and whispering among themselves.

After reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining, Ji Yao’s spiritual sense had grown, making her hearing sharper than before; she could naturally catch their words.

Because she heard them clearly, Ji Yao's mood instantly soured.

The female disciple who shared her courtyard had died.

Early that morning, someone had discovered the corpse and notified the Outer Sect steward, and the body was taken by the Law Enforcement Hall to the administrative hall.

Other Outer Sect disciples, picking up tasks at the administrative hall, saw the scene, and rumors began to fly—all kinds, the most outrageous being that Ji Yao herself had killed the girl.

Never before had Ji Yao so hated her keen spiritual sense, which let her hear every word.

Situ Jing had explained to her that the technique she imparted was for dual cultivation of spirit and soul, meaning Ji Yao’s spiritual sense would grow along with her cultivation, unlike others who only advanced their sense when they broke through realms.

Furthermore, Ji Yao’s spiritual sense would increase to twice the extent of others with each advancement. At first, it might not seem obvious, but what about when her cultivation rose higher?

Ji Yao also caught another piece of information: the Law Enforcement Hall would soon come looking for her.

Sure enough, a Law Enforcement disciple led the way, followed by two others holding specially crafted swords. The three appeared at the end of the path, trailed by a crowd of Outer Sect disciples eager for gossip.

Ji Yao hadn’t expected that, after often secretly eavesdropping on gossip herself, she would now become the center of attention.

Law Enforcement Hall disciples were easily recognized among the Outer Sect crowd—not just by their flying swords, but by their dark blue robes.

The disciples of Lingyun Sect wore uniform sky-blue robes, distinguished only by the color of the trim and the embroidered patterns.

Servant disciples had crow-black trim and no patterns, Outer Sect disciples had dark blue trim and likewise no patterns, Inner Sect disciples had indigo trim with matching thread embroidered patterns, Core disciples wore sapphire blue, and personal disciples wore azure blue.

Clothing alone marked the hierarchy clearly—no room for error.

As for the more elaborate robes with tea-white collars and cuffs, one bowed immediately upon seeing them, saying nothing more. Those who wore such robes were usually peak masters or elders of the same rank as the sect leader—sometimes ageless, eccentric elders hidden from the world, but that was another matter.

At this moment, the Law Enforcement disciple, whose collar bore a special insignia, had brought his group to Ji Yao’s courtyard.

“Excuse me, are you Junior Sister Ji Yao?” the leading disciple, who had recently reached Foundation Establishment, asked politely, showing no arrogance despite his status.

He seemed young, probably because he had only just established his foundation. In fact, the two Law Enforcement disciples behind him, both at the peak of Qi Refining, appeared older.

“Yes,” Ji Yao replied without elaboration. Though the group showed neither hostility nor murderous intent, the situation was unclear—less said, less mistaken.

The leader paid no mind to Ji Yao’s brevity, and carried out his formal duties: “Regarding the matter of Junior Sister Li Fanghua, the Law Enforcement Hall needs to ask you a few questions. Please accompany us.”

Li Fanghua was the female disciple who shared Ji Yao’s courtyard; Ji Yao had learned her name from others.

“Where was she found?” Ji Yao asked, not immediately following.

“If you have questions, please save them for the Law Enforcement Hall,” said the eldest-looking disciple behind the leader.

Ji Yao glanced at him but did not respond, merely stepping forward.

The two Qi Refining disciples instantly adopted ready stances.

The leader remained unmoved, his expression and aura unchanged, simply standing calmly until Ji Yao stepped fully outside.

Ji Yao looked at him and said, “Lead the way.”

The leader turned, taking two steps ahead. Ji Yao followed, with the other two Law Enforcement disciples behind, heading toward Tianlu Peak where the Law Enforcement Hall was located.

The crowd of gossiping disciples only trailed them to the intersection, where the sword-bearing Law Enforcement disciples drove them back, leaving none daring to follow further.

Yet the whispers, pointing fingers, and rumors behind her could not be ignored. Ji Yao found it impossible to pretend she hadn’t heard, and her expression grew darker by the minute.

The joy she had felt before opening the door was now replaced by utter gloom.

Who could tell her—did this count as joy turning to sorrow?

The problem was, apart from a head full of nonsense, she knew nothing about the actual situation!