Shen Manyi rolled out of bed and went over to open the door.
Several disciples in matching robes stood silently outside.
The woman at the front had a graceful figure and attractive features, but her brows carried an unmistakable air of arrogance.
When they saw Shen Manyi opening the door, a flash of amazement quickly passed through their eyes.
But after their divine sense swept over her and revealed her pitiful cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, that amazement immediately turned into undisguised scrutiny and contempt.
“You’re the woman the Venerable brought back?”
“I’m Liu Qin, an inner-sect disciple. I’ve come on Elder’s orders to register your identity.”
Her tone was far from pleasant, and she held herself with an air of superiority.
Shen Manyi frowned slightly, already taking a dislike to this group.
However, as she had only just arrived, she suppressed her feelings and answered honestly.
“My name is Shen Manyi. I have a wood-element celestial spiritual root and am at the third level of Qi Refining. My Brother brought me here.”
Liu Qin frowned. “May I ask which Senior Brother of the sect your elder brother is?”
“My Brother is… he’s your Sword Venerable.” Shen Manyi spoke with complete confidence.
She felt that since her Brother was undercover, she definitely could not reveal his identity casually.
So using the title “Sword Venerable” couldn’t possibly be wrong, right?
The moment she said this, the air seemed to freeze.
Then Liu Qin suddenly burst out laughing.
“Little sister, did you sleep yourself silly? Or is there something wrong with your head?”
She laughed so hard that her whole body shook, the mockery in her eyes practically spilling out.
“You said the Sword Venerable is your brother?”
“Do you even know what kind of person the Sword Venerable is?”
The disciples behind her also broke into laughter.
“The Sword Venerable has cultivated in seclusion for a thousand years and has always been alone. Forget about a younger sister—even a female mosquito can’t get near him!”
“Exactly. If you want to curry favor with someone, at least pick a more believable target. You actually dare to lay claim to the Sword Venerable!”
“I think she’s living in a dream. She believes she can make up any identity she wants and stay on Supreme Peak.”
Liu Qin stopped laughing, her gaze turning cold and contemptuous.
“The Sword Venerable is aloof and peerless. When has he ever had a younger sister?
“Making up a connection out of thin air like this—aren’t you afraid the wind will blow your tongue away?”
“I’m not pretending to be related to him! He really is my Brother!” Shen Manyi was enraged by their unrestrained mockery.
Although there was indeed a bit of a stretch to this relationship, Xiao Mo had personally acknowledged it. She absolutely refused to admit that she was making things up!
“Heh.” Liu Qin let out a cold laugh.
“Even if you were something the Sword Venerable happened to bring back, so what?
“Supreme Peak isn’t a place just anyone can enter at will.
“What qualifications does a little nobody at the Qi Refining stage like you have to live here?”
She looked Shen Manyi up and down as though inspecting a piece of trash that could be thrown away at any moment.
“I think you’re nothing more than some plaything the Sword Venerable picked up on a whim. Once he gets tired of you in a few days, he’ll probably throw you out.”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Shen Manyi’s face flushed with anger.
“Senior Sister, why waste your breath on her?” a disciple beside Liu Qin said impatiently. “Can’t you see that the Sword Venerable dumped her here and stopped caring about her?”
“I’ve seen plenty of women like this who try to rise through their looks. Just drive her down the mountain. We can’t let her sully the Sword Venerable’s place of secluded cultivation.”
“You’re right!” A vicious glint flashed through Liu Qin’s eyes.
The spiritual pressure belonging to a Foundation Establishment cultivator surged from her body and swept toward Shen Manyi like a tidal wave.
“Little Girl, I’ll advise you one last time: be sensible and roll down the mountain on your own.
“The Venerable’s place isn’t somewhere just any stray cat or dog can set foot in.”
The golden pupils of Tangyuan, nestled in Shen Manyi’s arms, instantly narrowed. A dangerous purr rumbled in its throat.
“Why should I leave? This is my Brother’s place. I can stay as long as I want!”
Shen Manyi felt as though her waist could barely straighten beneath that spiritual pressure, but she still did not retreat a single step.
Xiao Mo had brought her here, after all, and before leaving, he had even told her to take whatever she needed from the storehouse.
Wasn’t that clearly an instruction to stay here?
Seeing her so stubborn and unyielding, Liu Qin’s expression darkened completely.
“You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!”
“Since you won’t roll away on your own, don’t blame me for being impolite!
“Today, I’ll purge the Venerable’s residence on his behalf and throw out a liar like you who doesn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she raised her hand. A whip formed from spiritual power lashed toward Shen Manyi’s face!
If that whip struck her, Shen Manyi’s face would be disfigured!
Some of the surrounding disciples watched gleefully, while others could not bear to look and turned their heads away.
Shen Manyi’s pupils contracted.
She had no time to react at all and could only watch helplessly as the shadow of the whip expanded before her eyes!
At that critical moment, a snowy-white blur shot out of her arms as fast as lightning!
“Meow—!”
A fierce yet kittenish cry rang out.
Immediately afterward came a sharp crack.
Liu Qin’s spiritual-power whip had actually been dispersed by a single swipe of Tangyuan’s paw!
The vicious expression on Liu Qin’s face froze.
Shen Manyi was so shocked that she forgot to breathe.
The disciples who had come to watch the spectacle stood there with their mouths hanging open.
Every gaze turned toward the tiny white cat, which had landed steadily on Shen Manyi’s shoulder and was now elegantly licking its paw.
A palm-sized cat had dispersed a full-power attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator with a single swipe?
How was that possible?
“What… what kind of monster is that?”
Liu Qin pointed at Tangyuan in horror, her voice completely distorted.
Tangyuan lazily lifted its eyelids and glanced at her. It did not take her seriously in the slightest.
Instead, it roared through its divine sense into Shen Manyi’s mind, “Little Girl, what are you waiting for?
“Quick, give this divine beast a pill to replenish its spiritual power.
“They’ve come right to our door and tried to ruin your face!
“Didn’t your Brother say it? Don’t let anyone bully you! We have to hit back!”
After being shouted at by Tangyuan, Shen Manyi instantly came to her senses.
That was right! She had someone backing her now!
Her Brother was the Sword Venerable! What did she have to fear?
With that thought, Shen Manyi’s back straightened at once.
She imitated Xiao Mo’s emotionless manner and cast a faint glance at Liu Qin.
“You just said that this isn’t a place any stray cat or dog can enter?”
She paused, seeming to feel that her presence was not quite imposing enough. She still had to rely on Tangyuan.
Thus, under everyone’s uncertain and astonished gazes, she flipped her little hand over and produced a jade bottle from her spatial realm.
Then she poured out a handful of crystal-clear pills overflowing with a rich medicinal fragrance, as casually as if she were pouring beans, and stuffed them into Tangyuan’s mouth.
In that instant, the eyes of the onlookers nearly bulged out of their sockets.
“Those… are those Spiritburst Pills? And they’re top-grade?”
“She… she just fed them to a spirit pet?”
“My heavens! What a waste! What a terrible waste!
“A single top-grade Spiritburst Pill requires a huge amount of contribution points to exchange for at the Alchemy Hall.
“She actually gave them all to that little cat just like that. Isn’t she afraid of making it explode from overeating?”
Liu Qin was dumbfounded as well. She had waited in line at the Alchemy Hall for three months just to obtain a single top-grade Spiritburst Pill.
Yet this girl of unknown origin had casually thrown them away?
Shen Manyi ignored everyone’s shock.
She put away the bottle, clapped her hands, and revealed an innocent smile.
“My Brother said that whoever makes me unhappy, I should make unhappy in return.”
She tilted her head and looked at Liu Qin, whose face had turned an ugly mix of pale and green. Her smile grew even sweeter, though the warmth did not reach her eyes.
“You’re making me very unhappy right now.”
The instant she finished speaking, Tangyuan, perched on her shoulder, seemed to receive some kind of instruction.
Its body suddenly expanded, transforming into a streak of white light as it pounced fiercely toward Liu Qin!