Chapter 35: Chapter 35 Sing, Dance, Rap
"Oh,” the young man issuing the missions was taken aback and hurriedly pulled out a bunch of wooden plaques and placed them on the table for Xu Zimei to choose from.
Xu Zimei watched Xiao Guizi acting bossy beside him but did not speak up to stop him. Smiling, she asked, “Could you show me some of the ungraded missions?”
Generally, when outsiders post missions at the True Martial Holy Sect, the levels of danger for some missions are unclear even to those who post them.
Therefore, these kinds of missions are classified as ungraded.
If a disciple takes on one of these missions and completes it later, they will be rewarded according to the difficulty of the task.
The young man nodded his head and pulled out another bunch of wooden plaques, reminding her, “Disciple Xu, the levels of danger for these missions are unknown, so be careful when you choose.”
...
Xu Zimei smiled and nodded, looked through them, and then picked up a wooden plaque.
Holding the wooden plaque, Xu Zimei left the mission hall, and along the way, Lin Ruhu asked curiously, “Brother Zimo, do ghosts truly exist in this world?”
"That depends on how you understand ghosts,” Xu Zimei explained with a smile: “Those born from heaven and raised by earth do not, but those created by human hands do.”
At this moment inside the great hall of the True Martial Holy Sect, the Deputy Sect Master Xu Qingshan and the seven Great Elders were present.
"Deputy Sect Master, I think we should allocate a large amount of resources preferentially,” said the Sixth Elder Xiao Yuexuan: “Xiao’er has inherited the Empress’ legacy and acquired the Flying Immortal Body.
She is absolutely qualified to compete for destiny, and perhaps in this generation, the True Martial Holy Sect could see the rise of another Empress.”
"The Sixth Elder is getting too emotional,” the Great Elder interjected: “Destiny is not something that can be easily competed for, and besides, Baili Xiao has only recently joined the True Martial Holy Sect and lacks a sense of belonging.”
"Oh, then what does the Great Elder suggest?” Xiao Yuexuan asked blandly.
"Yu’er is the most talented of this generation of the Holy Sect, with an Emperor-level talent that everyone has witnessed,” the Great Elder said slowly: “Moreover, he has grown up under all of our watchful eyes and can be safely cultivated.”
"I think my own senior disciple Xiao Xinghe is also quite outstanding,” the Second Elder added in.
"Xiao Xinghe won’t do. I’ve heard he often peeps at female disciples bathing, and his conduct is not upright,” the Great Elder said with a frown.
The Second Elder fell silent for a moment, wanting to defend his senior disciple.
At that moment, he really wanted to stand up and shout at everyone, “The one who peeped at the female disciples bathing was me; it has nothing to do with my disciple.”
But the Second Elder feared for his later years and thought to himself, as the saying goes, ‘Once a teacher, always a father.’
And since the son must pay for the father’s debts, with this in mind, the Second Elder felt much more at ease in his heart.
He felt no remorse for setting up his disciple.
"What does the Seventh Elder think?” Xu Qingshan pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the silent man in the corner and asked.
The Seventh Elder of the True Martial Holy Sect gave off an especially scholarly and refined impression, looking like a lettered scholar. He wore a gray robe and tied his hair in a topknot.
He did not carry an imposing aura and appeared rather ordinary, like an average schoolteacher.
The Seventh Elder smiled and replied: “I think Baili Xiao’s talent is quite promising. If we look into it and there are no problems, she deserves to be heavily cultivated.
I’ve heard that the Divine Sun Holy Sect has already determined their Saint Heir and Saintess candidates, ready to nurture them for the competition for destiny. We shouldn’t lag behind others.”
Upon hearing the Seventh Elder’s words, Xiao Yuexuan smiled and said, “The Seventh Elder’s disciples, the Ten Thousand Arrays Five Disciples, are each endowed with exceptional talents, not much less than Xiao’er.”
"They are not suitable,” the Seventh Elder shook his head, without elaborating further.
"The selection of the Saint Heir and Saintess cannot be taken lightly,” Xu Qingshan contemplated for a moment, then said, “Since no one can decide, why not have a competition?”
"I disagree,” Xiao Yuexuan objected, “Xiao’er has only been exposed to martial arts for a short time; this kind of competition would be unfair to her.”
"Sixth Elder, there’s no such thing as absolute fairness in this world. Besides, Baili Xiao has inherited the Empress’s legacy; she may not be that far behind,” Xu Qingshan said, “I’m not suggesting we compete now. In half a year, our True Martial Holy Sect will host a competition among the seven sects. We can determine the candidates for Saint Heir and Saintess based on their performance in the competition.
After all, we need to judge from multiple aspects, not just talent alone.”
Hearing that the competition would be held in half a year, Xiao Yuexuan thought it over and felt that there was ample time, so she agreed.
"I have no objections,” the other Elders nodded in agreement one after another.
After the conference ended, Xu Qingshan called Xu Zimei aside to Azure Mountain Peak.
"What do you think of the girl named Baili Xiao today?” Xu Qingshan asked tentatively.
"Just so-so,” Xu Zimei knew what his father was implying.
"I’ve discussed it with the Sixth Elder and decided to betroth her to you,” Xu Qingshan said after a pause.
"As expected,” Xu Zimei laughed, the same script as in his past life!
In his previous life, he had met Baili Xiao for the first time at the moment she inherited the Empress’s legacy.
He was deeply attracted by her appearance, temperament, and talent.
When his father was preparing to betroth Baili Xiao to him, he was ecstatic.
Baili Xiao readily agreed and did not object to anything, making everything seem so natural.
Only later did Xu Zimei realize he was just a pawn in her game.
Back then, Xu Zimei was like a dog that licked its owner, often hanging around the young girl.
She, however, was extremely cold to him, and whenever Xu Zimei was about to give up in disappointment, Baili Xiao would throw him a bone, reigniting his hopes
He was being played in the palms of others.
Baili Xiao’s aunt was the Sixth Elder of the True Martial Holy Sect, and with Xu Zimei as her fiancé and leveraging Xu Qingshan’s power,
She could do as she pleased within the entire True Martial Holy Sect, strengthening herself bit by bit with the resources of the sect.
Then, when she truly grew strong, she destroyed the engagement with a single word and turned to embrace her brother Chu Yang.
The True Martial Holy Sect was just a stepping stone in her life; probably no one expected that a girl from an ordinary small mountain village would harbor such ambition.
Recalling the miserable first half of his past life, Xu Zimei couldn’t help but laugh at himself.
"She’s not my type,” Xu Zimei’s thoughts returned to the present, and he said with a smile, declining.
"What type do you like?” Xu Qingshan asked in return.
"I like,” Xu Zimei paused for a moment, then confidently responded, “Singing, dancing, rap, and basketball.”