"Yes," Chu Lingwei said, seeing her second senior brother's surprise. "Second Senior Brother, do you think Liu Yao is unlikely to go to Bingji Cliff?"
Nangong Luo pondered for a moment. "Given his usual temperament, he wouldn't typically venture out for training, but there's always an exception to every rule."
"What exception?"
Chu Lingwei pressed on. She had a feeling something was amiss with Liu Yao and, if he wouldn't admit it directly, she would investigate it herself in private.
"Liu Yao is very likely to be the future Sect Master of Zhaoyang Mountain. To become a sect master, one cannot always act according to their own will."
Chu Lingwei nodded. That was true.
Nangong Luo was curious why his junior sister was so concerned about Liu Yao. "Junior Sister, tell your brother, what's so special about this Liu Yao?"
"I just want to understand him better," Chu Lingwei sighed. "I originally planned to visit Zhaoyang Mountain, but it seems I don't know when that will happen now."
"Junior Sister, if I were Master, I wouldn't dare let you leave the Cultivation Academy." Nangong Luo opened his fan and sighed. Whenever his junior sister went out, something unexpected was bound to happen.
Chu Lingwei: "..."
"Second Senior Brother, regarding the matter of Bingji Cliff, I am the most innocent party." Chu Lingwei's expression darkened, a flicker of anger rising in her heart. "I must capture the culprit who harmed me."
"This is the world of cultivation. Sometimes, we don't even know when we die," Nangong Luo sighed, thinking of how many people met untimely ends.
"Second Senior Brother, are you praising me, or..." Chu Lingwei picked up the spiritual tea and drank slowly, feeling somewhat restless. She wanted to go out and had no inclination to cultivate.
"Of course, I'm praising Junior Sister for her good fortune." Nangong Luo stood up and stretched lazily. "Junior Sister, why don't we go into the city for a look?"
Chu Lingwei's heart leaped with joy. Her second senior brother understood her best.
"Alright."
Chu Lingwei changed her attire and, with Nangong Luo, successfully left the Cultivation Academy and arrived in the city.
Compared to a few months ago, Xiuling City had not changed at all; it remained bustling and prosperous.
"Junior Sister, where do you want to go?" Nangong Luo led Chu Lingwei from shop to shop, buying anything his junior sister fancied without hesitation.
"Let's go to a spiritual tea house and see what major events have been happening lately."
Spiritual tea houses were the fastest places for information to spread in the cultivation world. Spending a day here, one could hear almost any news they desired.
"Junior Sister, are you sure?" Nangong Luo's eyes twinkled with amusement. Going to a spiritual tea house at this time meant hearing rumors about his junior sister almost everywhere.
"Of course, I'm sure. As the saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.' " Only by knowing how Xuan Tian Continent discussed her could Chu Lingwei better conceal herself on her next outing.
The two of them sat on the second floor of the spiritual tea house, where they could observe the pedestrians on the street and overhear everyone's conversations within the building.
"Did you hear? There was a celestial phenomenon over Wuhui Mountain a few days ago." As soon as they sat down, voices from all directions reached Chu Lingwei's ears.
"What celestial phenomenon? That was a tribulation." A person at a nearby table sneered, implying that everyone in Xiuling City knew about it except the speaker.
"But there was a phoenix," the first speaker continued.
"That's the spirit beast of Dean Beichen's youngest disciple."
Hearing the explanation, Chu Lingwei's eyes widened. She turned to look at the two cultivators who were conversing. Judging by their attire, they appeared to be rogue cultivators.
Even rogue cultivators knew that Feng Ming was her spirit beast.
This news was truly astonishing.
"Is that Fellow Daoist Chu Lingwei?" a cultivator exclaimed. "Truly worthy of being Dean Beichen's direct disciple; her spirit beast is a divine beast."
"What's so amazing about that? Not long ago, Chu Lingwei slaughtered thousands of Snow Spirit Beasts at Bingji Cliff for a day and a night, emerging unharmed." When speaking of Chu Lingwei, the cultivators began to chatter endlessly.
"She's truly formidable."
The inquiring cultivator was left only with exclamations.
"Who can say otherwise? A cultivator in the Rongtian realm was able to slaughter a thousand Snow Spirit Beasts, many of which were fifth or sixth-tier." The explaining cultivator's expression was filled with admiration. "This combat strength alone is enough to rival a Supreme realm cultivator."
"No wonder Dean Beichen took Chu Lingwei as his direct disciple; she's truly a genius..."
Nangong Luo listened to their conversation and chuckled softly. "Fellow Daoist Chu Lingwei's strength is indeed formidable."
"If it weren't for her senior brother and third senior brother arriving, she probably wouldn't have been able to hold on," Chu Lingwei interjected, feeling that she wasn't as powerful as they described.
"Without that strength, she probably wouldn't have lasted even an hour," Nangong Luo shook his head, sounding like another rogue cultivator discussing the matter.
A cultivator sitting nearby couldn't help but agree. Without strength, she wouldn't have lasted until her two senior brothers rescued her.
Chu Lingwei smiled, a hint of displeasure in her eyes. Even her second senior brother was adding fuel to the fire.
"I actually think Fellow Daoist Leng Xing and Fellow Daoist Su Yan are even more formidable," Chu Lingwei could only bring out her senior brothers as shields.
"Naturally. None of Dean Beichen's disciples are not formidable." Nangong Luo's eyes held even more amusement. He hadn't spoken incorrectly.
"Second Senior Brother, we came here to listen to others, not to participate," Chu Lingwei quickly transmitted mentally. They had come to gauge external opinions, not for him to get involved.
"If we don't say anything, don't you think they'll find us strange?"
Nangong Luo shrugged and looked towards the street. He pointed at a pair of cultivators. "Junior Sister, look at those two cultivators. What's different about them?"
Chu Lingwei leaned towards the window. They were a very ordinary-looking male and female cultivator. The female cultivator seemed to rarely venture out, showing curiosity towards everything around her, stopping and looking frequently. The male cultivator was much steadier, his eyes filled with vigilance, and he stayed close to the female cultivator's side.
Since Nangong Luo hadn't transmitted his voice, the patrons on the second floor of the teahouse heard his words. Some cultivators sitting by the window subconsciously looked towards the pair.
"What's different?" Chu Lingwei had only lingered for a moment on the male cultivator's body before meeting a pair of incomparably cold eyes.
Chu Lingwei immediately averted her gaze and looked back at her second senior brother.
"Those two... they don't seem like ordinary cultivators. Let's follow them." Nangong Luo stood up and quickly led Chu Lingwei downstairs. The pair had already disappeared from the street.
"Let's go ahead and see." Nangong Luo walked at a leisurely pace, not like someone chasing someone, but more like someone sightseeing.
"Second Senior Brother, are you sure they're still here?" After leaving the spiritual tea house, several presences had been following them at a steady distance.
"Mhm, they wouldn't leave Xiuling City so quickly after arriving." Soon, they walked outside Xiuling City, and the number of cultivators instantly decreased.