Chapter 125: The Sword-Wielding Sect

"Mother, focus on your tribulation," Yu Youwei said, sweeping out from ten meters behind her mother like a wisp of smoke.

To prevent the lightning tribulation from mutating, Yu Youwei had specifically gone to where the night owl called to see if the unfortunate soul she had killed was truly dead. To her surprise, she discovered that the man was Mo Heiying.

The thirteen strongholds of Yanyun Dang in the secular world were once an evil faction with strength not inferior to the Xuancha Palace. Yu Youwei had single-handedly challenged them, turning the place into a river of blood and earning her the fearsome reputation of the "Poison Maiden." In truth, this was an exaggeration; the reality was that Night Five had secretly assisted her. The cause was that Mo Heiying and his son had slaughtered the town where her wet nurse’s family lived.

Although she had been guarded against the servants around her since childhood, Yu Youwei held her wet nurse in high regard. When the nurse’s son married, she gave her a sum of money to return to her hometown for a peaceful retirement. Just as the nurse had begun holding her grandson, she sent her son to deliver red eggs to the Mu family estate. Yu Youwei had prepared gifts to deliver personally, only to find the entire town massacred.

After discovering through the Bai Xiao Tower that the culprit was the son of Mo Heiying, Yu Youwei, in a fit of rage, stormed into Yanyun Dang. Night Five, who happened to be visiting the Mu family estate to see his own mother, followed her. She only executed the ringleader, but Night Five and his men washed the thirteen strongholds in blood, thoroughly dismantling that mid-level evil force.

It was from that moment that Yu Youwei realized the Thousand Poison Palace was far more powerful than it appeared.

Mo Heiying had escaped that catastrophe by being away from home. He did not know that members of the Thousand Poison Palace had intervened, and he hated Yu Youwei to the bone, though he did not recognize her when he saw her. The man was tenacious; even with his body cleaved open from his right neck, he had not died after several hours, and he actually opened his mouth to beg, "Save... me!"

When a lightning tribulation forms, if there are living beings other than the one undergoing the trial within the zone, it triggers a mutation. Yu Youwei swung her sword, severing Mo Heiying's head and kicking it away before leaping into the distance. Behind her, the first bolt of tribulation lightning rolled down from the sky.

Standing on a fan-shaped rock, Yu Youwei watched her mother’s tribulation from afar. Having witnessed Ning Baixia’s tribulation and later her own with Yu Shiyu in the Phantom Demon Realm—both of which were mutated tribulations of far greater intensity—she found the current scene somewhat dull. It wasn't until the tribulation ended and her mother let out a cry of surprise that she reacted: "No way, it's over already?"

To her mother’s face, however, Yu Youwei was very considerate. Picking up the tattered clothes her mother had changed out of, she feigned shock and said, "Mother, you are truly formidable! You endured such a ferocious tribulation without a scratch?"

Mu Qingxi, simple-minded but not stupid, curled her lips and said, "You’re just like Fourth Master, always saying the opposite. Are you bullying me because you think I don't understand?"

Yu Youwei chuckled but did not argue, handing her mother some medicinal pills: "These are congratulatory gifts. You must not refuse."

"Oh! Blood Ganoderma Pills, and Cloud Astragalus Ginseng Pills? And this is the Ginseng and Velvet Antler Vitality Pill! These are all pills useful for the Foundation Establishment stage—where did you get these?" Mu Qingxi exclaimed, examining the pills one by one.

"Given to me by the Ning family," Yu Youwei lied kindly to put her mother at ease, sparing her the worry of knowing she had been mixing with evil factions. Seeing her mother carefully tuck away the pills, Yu Youwei urged, "Take them when you need to. Don't live so frugally anymore. It would be best if you used the dowry you saved for me to get yourself married off."

"I saved it for so long, and it didn't end up being used," Mu Qingxi sighed, sounding regretful.

Although she had abandoned the idea of persuading her mother to find a new partner, Yu Youwei spoke out of habit: "Otherwise, you could give birth to a little sister for me, then it could be put to use."

Mu Qingxi grew indignant: "Don't worry, I don't need you to support me in my old age. Ruyun said she would adopt her second son to me, and I will move next door to her. Her husband also received great kindness from Fourth Master, so he is happy to have his second son show me filial piety."

"Well, black cat or white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. If this adopted little brother can be filial to you, I will treat him as my own brother," Yu Youwei said, clapping and laughing. The moment she saw the "little brother," she felt her mother had been cheated: was she really adopting a son to care for her in old age, or was she just here to serve a crying infant?

Ruyun was a shrewd woman with a melon-shaped face and a willow-thin waist; even nearing forty, she remained strikingly beautiful. Her husband was like dough in her hands, spinning at her command without a single word of complaint.

"The Fourth Mistress is in seclusion. Does the Ninth Young Lady intend to meet the Third Young Lady openly, or should I notify her secretly?" Leaving the Yu residence, Ruyun remained loyal to her old masters, still addressing the daughters of Fourth Master Yu by their birth order.

Yu Youwei spoke briefly. People's hearts are hidden, and since Ruyun's family relied on the Sword Sect to survive, she didn't want to say too much. Had it not been for her mother’s insistence, she wouldn't have wanted to come to Flying Sword Peak to see Ruyun at all.

"The Ninth Young Lady looks more like the Fourth Master," Ruyun’s husband suddenly remarked.

"That is only natural; otherwise, why would the Fourth Master have passed the Qingshuang Sword to the Ninth Young Lady?" Ruyun’s gaze fell upon the Qingshuang sword on Yu Youwei’s wrist, revealing a look of sorrow.

It’s not just longing for her former master, is it? Yu Youwei pondered.

Ruyun was a decisive person and quickly recovered, saying, "Qingxi, you stay and help me watch the child; I will accompany the Ninth Young Lady up."

Perhaps accustomed to obeying Ruyun, Mu Qingxi nodded, though she clearly wanted to accompany her daughter.

Feeling that Ruyun at least cared for her mother, a warmth flashed in Yu Youwei’s deep eyes.

From Flying Sword Peak, an iron chain hidden in thick fog connected to Nanhua Peak of the inner sect. Ruyun took out two sword-shaped tokens and pressed them against the boundary stone at the end of the chain. The fog on the cable bridge rolled back to both sides. She handed a token to Yu Youwei and stepped onto the bridge first; Yu Youwei followed closely behind, holding her own token.

This iron bridge of the Sword Sect was also known as the "Heart-Refining Bridge." Trespassing without a token would surely trigger inner demons. As Yu Youwei walked across, her own state of mind was slightly unsteady, but the Qingshuang sword erupted with a cyan radiance, like a bucket of cold water dousing her, and her composure returned.

Ruyun nodded secretly, her eyes showing more respect for Yu Youwei.

The Southern Peak of the Sword Sect was where the inner sect entertained guests, and the pavilions and halls were extravagantly ornate. Ruyun led Yu Youwei around those grand buildings and headed north.

The original plans Yu Youwei had for entering the Sword Sect were unnecessary; under Ruyun’s guidance, entering the inner sect was as easy as visiting relatives. The inner sect disciples they passed all respectfully addressed her as "Aunt Ruyun," and no one questioned Yu Youwei’s identity, at most casting curious, bedazzled glances at her.

The two circled to the north of Nanhua Peak, where a stone beam only half a foot wide stretched over a bottomless abyss, leading to the opposite Yingxia Peak. On this side of the stone beam, one could see a woman in white standing against the wind amid the cascading glow of the clouds, motionless as a statue.

Ruyun whispered, "That is the Third Young Lady."

"You don't need to come over," Yu Youwei commanded naturally, and Ruyun complied, stopping in her tracks. Yu Youwei stepped onto the stone beam alone. Looking at the stranger who was her closest blood relative on the other side, she approached step by step with complicated feelings, never once noticing the narrowness of the path beneath her feet.