"Are you sure you don't want to take credit for that?" Elder Qiao's voice reverberated, halting Ji Wuye's steps as he was about to exit. He pivoted on his heel, his martial robe swishing, to face the young and charming Elder who elegantly leaned on Pinjing. Her sharp and bold brow arched inquisitively as she studied him with probing eyes.

Yet, Ji Wuye's expression remained inscrutable, a faint, enigmatic smile playing on his lips. "Of course. Because it's troublesome," he replied evenly, undeterred by her scrutinizing gaze.

Elder Qiao's brows climbed higher on her creased forehead. "But you want to participate in the Yearly Competition?" Her tone carried a hint of bewilderment, as if his contrasting behavior had her struggling to decipher his true motives.

But Ji Wuye offered no further explanation, that same maddeningly vague smile his only response, eyes squinting faintly.

Upon seeing this, Elder Qiao let out an exasperated sigh.

She was well aware Ji Wuye never acted without purpose.

In addition, considering Li Rong's account, she didn't believe he had simply been careless in revealing his martial prowess.

"So be it," Elder Qiao relented, her voice resigned. "Yi'er, give that to him." She shifted her gaze to her disciple seated below, back ramrod straight.

Su Xinyi rose with effortless poise, her lustrous brown tresses swaying with the motion.

Her expression remained impassive as she extended her hand, offering a token made of jade engraved with the characters for "Inner Disciple."

"This token proves your Inner Disciple status," she explained flatly, dark eyes meeting his without inflection as she deposited the jade in his open palm. "Use it wisely. Without this, you cannot access knowledge of 'Sword Aura' or anything beyond the fourth realm."

Then, Su Xinyi wordlessly resumed her statuesque stance beside the exit, seemingly awaiting Ji Wuye's departure while displaying impeccable poise.

"Of course, I have restricted access only to 'Sword Aura' knowledge. Any requests for other information would be rejected," Elder Qiao added, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Ji Wuye's gaze sharpened as he studied her, the jade token now gripped in his palm, yet something felt amiss.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The swiftness with which she had prepared everything - from restricting his access solely to sword aura knowledge, a process that typically demanded days, to the implicit trust she had placed in him without verifying the information he provided - it all reeked of suspicion.

'Has she also regressed in this timeline?' The thought flickered through his mind as his composed stare met Elder Qiao's nonchalant one. She seemed utterly unconcerned as she brought her long ivory pipe to her lips, exhaling a stream of fragrant smoke.

However, Ji Wuye swiftly dismissed the notion.

If that had been the case, those 'people' in Tianji Village along with 'that' Elder in the sect would have vanished from his sight long ago.

"Don't you need to verify the information, Big Sister?" he asked. Ji Wuye displayed a feigned reaction, forcing a faint lilt of confusion in his tone as he canted his head, blinking wider than usual.

Elder Qiao's lips curved in an amused smile at his atypical mannerisms. "Hehe, not yet, but I believe in you, Little Brother." She exhaled another stream of smoke. "Even if your information is wrong, completely nonsensical or fake, what could you do? I have everything in place to restrict your movements."

Her grin widened as if marking her victory, seeing the subtle shift in his typically unruffled demeanor. Her eyes crinkled with evident delight at having managed to perturb his customary composure.

"Ah!" Ji Wuye played along, shaking his head in feigned shock as his mouth gaped open before clicking his tongue. "You got me, Big Sister. Then this little one shall take his leave."

He pivoted on his heel, white martial robes swirling, as if to depart. However, his squinted eyes suddenly flew wide, pupils dilating as his gaze snagged on movement in his periphery. One of Elder Qiao's disciples seated below, a young woman Ji Wuye had paid little mind to before, abruptly shot to her feet.

image [https://i.ibb.co.com/R991vKM/Notif-2.webp]

Time seemed to distort, slowing to a glacial crawl as the disciple's hand blurred toward the jian at her hip.

The woman's movements were lightning-quick yet appeared to unspool in measured fragments before his eyes.

In the span of an elongated heartbeat, she had unsheathed the slender blade, its steel singing as it arced in a glinting crescent aimed squarely at Ji Wuye's shoulder.

But there was no killing intent laced into the strike, the jian's path clearly pulling short of any vitals.

'Dodge or not?' The thought flickered through his mind as his eyes coolly assessed the incoming blow. It seemed an almost farcical gesture given the lack of murderous intent.

But, it was then that he finally noticed, gaze snapping over his shoulder to where Elder Qiao was seated, the playful glint in her eyes extinguished.

Her pupils were the pinpricks of steel orbs sighted unblinkingly on the frozen tableau before her as she gripped her ivory pipe with the easy, well-practiced stance of one wielding a blade.

'A trick, a test,' Ji Wuye instantly concluded. At the same time, the whistling jian continued its final few inches toward his shoulder, moving at a snail's pace yet inexorably closing the gap.

However...

CLANK!

The metallic ring of tempered steel reverberated through the room. At the same time, a percussive blast of wind buffeted his white martial robes, accompanied by a faint cloud of smoke as his leading foot ground against the wooden floor.

image [https://i.ibb.co.com/B2rqSjR/Notif-3.webp]

"Wow, it's really a useful skill," Elder Qiao remarked, her voice reverberating through the room as the frozen moment began to unspool.

The disciple who had attacked Ji Wuye, her name seemingly Wei Xun based on the stunned reactions, was flung backwards by the force of his deflecting parry.

Her slippered feet skidded over the wooden floor, her white martial robes with dark red stripes billowing around her. With a harsh exhalation, she slammed into a low table, the impact splintering wood with a resonant crack.

Li Rong, observing from the sidelines, gasped audibly at the scene unfolding before her. Her eyes were like saucers, mouth agape as she witnessed her Senior Sister hurled away like a rag doll by Ji Wuye's effortless counter.

Even the unflappable Su Xinyi, poised with implacable tranquility beside the exit, started violently. Her calm facade fractured as Wei Xun's body impacted the table, sending shards of lacquered wood clattering across the tiles.