White Lotus sect, morning.

Sitting peacefully in her office with her eyes closed, Tian Yun silently enjoyed the sunlight that rained on her. Like a flower, she loved the sun.

She hadn't always loved it; however, ever since she became bedridden due to a certain illness, she longed for the sun. Now, every time she saw it, she no longer sought cover as frequently as ordinary people.

In a way, it was close to a form of appreciation for life.

Of course, the one she appreciated the most was Kierra, who directly saved her life. The gratitude she had for the archwizard slowly became a form of intimate affection, and somewhere along the line, she realized that she loved Kierra.

Her love was ordinary.

She simply wanted to spend more time with Kierra, be under her care, and share warmth with her. Kierra was that attractive inside her mind.

This time, her crush had gone on a trip that she unfortunately could not follow, so it was quite sad for the white lotus.

'Kierra... I hope you have a great time.'

That was the least she could do for her—a prayer.

Meanwhile, Kierra:

(ꐦ𝅒_𝅒)

'Should I blast this clan away...'

She thought as she stared at the young man in front of her. As her instinct was telling her, this guy was trouble, and he indeed was. The moment he noticed her group, he once again went over and flirted... with all of them?!

Just how greedy could he get?

In particular, she showed great interest in Kierra and August, the two clear outliers in the group. This made Kierra even more infuriated, and August wasn't any better.

Don't even start on why the archwizard didn't hide their presence. She didn't want to be inconspicuous here, where people were supposed to compete to prove their strength.

In any case, the young man was alone this time around, which was a sign of confidence coming from one of the Dragons—he didn't need escorts even in this place.

''How about it, my ladies?''

''Hm... Namgung Jin, was it? Screw off, will you?''

At August's slightly bashful tone, Namgung Jin was even more intrigued. He had never encountered such a daring beauty before! She appeared to be an ordinary person without a cultivation base, so he briefly wondered how she got here, but that didn't matter to him anymore.

Needless to say, in this relatively quiet space, every eye was on them.

While Kierra and co. were wondering how to get rid of this 'thing,' Yan Shi timidly pulled the archwizard's sleeve.

''You need to smash him in the head strongly.'' She said nonchalantly. ''I've been through this a lot. Only that works well.''

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''...''

Kierra suddenly felt bad for Yan Shi.

In any case, it did appear as though she had to destroy the clan... no, maybe that would be too much. Giving this guy a good beating should be enough.

''You.'' Kierra addressed the man. ''There is a tournament tomorrow, isn't it?''

''Yes?''

''If you can win against this disciple of mine, I will accept your offer.''

'His offer was going on a boat trip or something...'

Either way, Kierra confidently pushed Bai Qing forward. The fresh young girl who had just reached the tender age of twenty-four was naturally flustered.

''E-Eh? Me...?''

She was about to say, 'Why not Kang Shuren?!' but then remembered that the daughter of the Lightning Tiger was actually over a hundred years old. A hundred and ten, to be exact.

Among them, only she was around his age, so she couldn't deny that she was the only suitable candidate.

Biting her lips, Bai Qing could only sigh.

Meanwhile, Namgung Jin was puzzled. This girl, her cultivation base barely reached the Core Formation Stage!

He could finish her in one strike!

After all, he was the sole genius of the prestigious Namgung clan, who had reached Golden Core while only being twenty-two.

And that was precisely when he made his life's biggest mistake: Underestimating Bai Qing.

By normal standards, Bai Qing was a decent cultivator. But her cultivating talent only stopped at 'decent,' unlike her magical counterpart. There was a reason Kierra selected Bai Qing as one of her more important disciples.

In reality, she had already proved her worth when she defeated the young prodigy of Mount Hua in the Sprout Tournament a few months ago, and that same prodigy, Yuan Ning, was also a Dragon. Unfortunately, he wasn't present in this hall as he had gone into seclusion.

After Namgung Jin agreed to the offer and finally moved away, no one dared to come closer to Kierra's group. Perhaps the young master of the Namgung clan was blinded by lust, but everyone else realized something was wrong from the beginning.

Not counting the fact that these women somehow got into the hall itself, there was an abundance of reasons to be wary of them. The most obvious one was...

Beauty.

The more one cultivated, the more beautiful one became. Their skin would become lustrous, their hair would remain smooth through time, their face and figure would morph to create an ideal ratio, and their voice would change into a captivating one.

Generally, ordinary beauties would never reach the level of a cultivation master.

With a single glance, they could see that three out of these five women were inhumanely beautiful, which meant that they were probably hidden masters in disguise.

After the war with the unorthodox faction, everybody knew that it was won thanks to a mysterious master's aid, yet unfortunately, few knew that that person was Kierra.

Nevertheless, with a slightly tenser atmosphere, the initial gathering continued. After a while, the Immortal League's leader came out for a short speech before disappearing again, making the occasion relatively uneventful.

The next day, however, things were different.

Many spectators were present to witness the next generation of geniuses, and they were all so-called 'bigshots.' Through these matches, it would be decided that the best of these prodigies would receive support from them.

In a sense, it was an opportunity to make it big for the dragons and phoenixes.

Needless to say, the tension was suffocating.

''Hm? The sword marks of the Heavenly Shura?''

''It's supposed to be the prize for the winner of this tournament. Ah, the winner gets to see it, I mean.''

''Hm...''

Sitting at the corner table of the room, as usual, Kierra pondered over Kang Shuren's explanation. She wasn't too interested in those, but August certainly was.

''Au, you want to see them?''

''Why not?''

''Mhm. Bai Qing, win the tournament for me.''

Bai Qing: ''...Eh?''

Why did the demand change?!

However, Bai Qing couldn't do anything about it. Her name had already been registered, and she was going to fight through the matches like any other candidate.

''It will be a good opportunity for the White Lotus Sect as well.'' Kierra didn't forget to add. ''We can receive more support.''

''Support...''

'If I can get more cultivation resources for my little martial sisters...'

Seeing Bai Qing fired up in real time, Kierra sighed in relief. Once again, she realized that the woman named Tian Yun might not be so oblivious and naive as she might have thought.

To think this far when sending them here... she had the qualities of a sect leader, through and through.

Meanwhile, Tian Yun slumped onto her desk, cheeks inflated.

''Mhm... when will the snack arrive...''

She longed for the Hanam's specialty snack.