217: Chapter 217 A Series of Questions

Night fell over the back mountain of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. The moonlight was sliced into shattered silver by the dense layers of ancient tree branches and leaves, scattering onto the leaf-strewn path. A figure in a moon-white robe stood with her hands behind her back in the forest. Her long hair was loosely tied up with a jade hairpin, and her cool, elegant face appeared even more aloof under the moonlight. Elder Ling Xi looked up at the crescent moon hanging amidst the treetops, a trace of solemnity that only she understood churning deep within her usually indifferent eyes.

Hun Muxiao strolled leisurely down the path, her fiery-red flowing fairy dress exceptionally striking in the moonlight, with seven ribbons in her hair fluttering gently in the wind. She stopped a few Zhang behind Elder Ling Xi, still wearing that lazy smile. "Elder Ling Xi, inviting me to the back mountain so late at night... surely it's not just to treat me to tea?"

Elder Ling Xi turned around, her cool eyes staring straight at Hun Muxiao. She did not beat around the bush, questioning her immediately with a voice as crisp as a cold spring. "Hun Muxiao, who on earth are you? Your cultivation is definitely not just at the Tongtian Realm Great Perfection—someone who can defeat Shen Cangsheng with a single strike of a sword must be at least at the Sovereign Realm or above. An eighteen-year-old in the Sovereign Realm is something that has never occurred in the history of the Five Great Spiritual Academies. Your sword, your movement technique, and that faint, fleeting aura of malevolence when you strike are not things that an ordinary rogue cultivator family could nurture. What exactly is your purpose in coming to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy? I hope it is not to the academy's detriment."

The barrage of questions shot forth like a rapid succession of arrows, each one precisely piercing through to Hun Muxiao's secrets. A faint fluctuation of a spiritual array permeated the air—while speaking, Elder Ling Xi had already quietly sealed off the surrounding space. Although she had not actively attacked, the pressure of a Fifth-Grade Spiritual Array Sovereign had silently spread out.

The smile on Hun Muxiao's face faded slightly. She had always respected capable people. Elder Ling Xi was the top combat power in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, second only to the Beiming Dragon Kun, and her cultivation as a Fifth-Grade Spiritual Array Sovereign made her a powerhouse even in the outside world. That was why Hun Muxiao had been polite to Elder Ling Xi before, observing every rule she was supposed to. However, this did not mean she would allow herself to be interrogated like a criminal. "Elder Ling Xi," her voice still carried that lazy tone, but the politeness in her demeanor was gone, "I respect you as an academy elder, which is why I was polite to you before. As for who I am and my background—I advise you that it's best not to want to know, and best not to ask. Knowing too much won't do you any good."

Elder Ling Xi's gaze suddenly turned cold, and the pressure of a Fifth-Grade Spiritual Array Sovereign erupted from her body without reservation. The surrounding ancient trees trembled violently under this pressure, and fallen leaves drifted down like rain. Even the air under the moonlight seemed to freeze slightly under this force. "What? Are you threatening me?"

Looking at Elder Ling Xi's frost-cold eyes, Hun Muxiao suddenly smiled. The smile was completely harmless, even carrying a hint of a young girl's natural innocence, but the light swirling in her peach blossom eyes caused a shiver to involuntarily run down Elder Ling Xi's spine. "You can understand it that way."

Elder Ling Xi's pupils shrank slightly. With a shift of her body, she sought to widen the distance, her hands simultaneously forming seals to activate a spiritual array. However, Hun Muxiao's speed was more than a notch faster—the fiery-red figure closed the distance almost the exact instant the thought crossed Elder Ling Xi's mind, her right fingers clamping onto Elder Ling Xi's neck like iron pincers, lifting her up with a single hand. With her feet off the ground, Elder Ling Xi felt a terrifying power transfer from that fair, slender hand on her throat, a power that made her very soul tremble. The moment Hun Muxiao gripped her neck, all the spiritual energy in her body was completely sealed by an invisible force, leaving her unable to activate even a single spiritual array. Before this red-clothed girl, a Fifth-Grade Spiritual Array Sovereign was as fragile as a child who had just learned to walk.

Hun Muxiao maintained her harmless smile, her voice as gentle as if she were chatting with a friend. "Elder Ling Xi, you may leave. I hope you will keep tonight's matter buried deep in your heart. I indeed have a purpose in coming to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, but this purpose holds no harm for the academy. I have already answered your questions—as for those things you wish to pry into, I advise you to stop asking. Knowing too much really won't do you any good."

She released her grip, gently placing Elder Ling Xi back onto the ground. Elder Ling Xi stumbled backward several steps, only managing to steady herself when her back hit the trunk of an ancient tree. Gasping heavily for air, she involuntarily pressed her right hand against her throat, where the icy sensation of being gripped by that slender hand still lingered. She looked up at the red-clothed girl who was still smiling, her usually cold and indifferent eyes churning with an unprecedented shock—not anger, not humiliation, but pure, undisguised shock. She could not see through her. She, a Fifth-Grade Spiritual Array Sovereign, actually could not see through the cultivation of an eighteen-year-old girl. Someone who could crush a Fifth-Grade Spiritual Array Sovereign with one hand had to be at least at the Earth Supreme Realm or above. An eighteen-year-old Earth Supreme, or perhaps even higher. A genius of this caliber was rare not just in the Five Great Spiritual Academies, but in the entire Great Thousand World. Her true identity was likely far more terrifying than she had imagined.

Elder Ling Xi took a deep breath to suppress the raging waves in her heart, gave Hun Muxiao a deep look, and then turned to walk out of the forest without a word. Her steps still maintained the composure befitting an elder, but her fingers tightly gripping her sleeves betrayed her current inability to remain calm. Her moon-white robed figure soon vanished into the depths of the night.

Hun Muxiao watched Elder Ling Xi leave. Only when the moon-white figure had completely blended into the darkness did she turn to look toward the dense thicket of shrubs at the end of the path. Her peach blossom eyes still held that lazy smile, and though her voice was not loud, it echoed clearly across the entire back mountain. "You two, you've watched the show long enough, haven't you? It's time to come out."