Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 148 - One Hundred and Thirty: Infighting

Chapter 148: Chapter One Hundred and Thirty: Infighting

Bai Fan was very strong.

Unlike with Brother Li, Xu Yuan saw the entire battle between Bai Fan and Shen Weixiu from beginning to end.

During the fight,

Bai Fan was always surrounded by a circle of black viscous liquid. This substance could change at will, forming armor or turning into a sharp blade, and it had a very strong corrosive nature!

Just after a few exchanges, the chief of the Taiqing Tao Sect’s indigo long knife was corroded by Bai Fan’s black substance, losing all its spiritual essence.

At that moment, the many disciples present were all exhilarated, thinking that a swordsman without his sword would have his combat power halved.

But the battle that followed made everyone realize

that Shen Weixiu’s forte was not with swords, but with attribute-based Daoist magic, especially in mastering thunder magic.

Bai Fan, actually, did not need to die.

The gap between him and Shen Weixiu was visible to the naked eye, but because of the black viscous liquid covering his body, Shen Weixiu could not kill him instantly.

Bai Fan showed not the slightest intention of admitting defeat, just like his usual loyal nature.

He wanted to avenge their big brother.

And then he died.

The blade formed from the dense black night grazed past Shen Weixiu’s cheek, while his chest was pierced through by the thunder magic.

It was a miss by a whisker, but it might as well have been an insurmountable gap.

...

...

"True Disciples, Jing He and Xiao Jianqing stay, the rest of you... disperse."

In front of Qionghua Hall,

as the words fell slowly with a tremble, the old man with white hair and beard said nothing, cradling Bai Fan’s body as he slowly stepped into Qionghua Hall.

His silhouette seemed to have aged a great deal in an instant.

Xu Yuan stood at the edge of the arena, watching as these core disciples with lowered heads left.

Within Qionghua Sect, they were all one-in-a-hundred, even one-in-a-thousand talents.

But in the current scene, feelings of powerlessness deeply rooted themselves into every cell of their bodies.

If the Sect Elders handled this properly, this humiliation could become the driving force behind their improvement. But if not, it could completely break the backbone of this generation of the Qionghua Sect.

As the crowd dispersed,

Tianyan suddenly grabbed Xu Yuan’s hand, and transmitted with her will-spirit:

"What do you plan to do?"

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, his voice carrying a smile:

"What do you think are my chances against Shen Weixiu?"

She had seen the battle too, and after a slight hesitation, Tianyan replied softly:

"At most, twenty percent."

"Twenty percent?" Xu Yuan’s voice carried a hint of surprise.

"Twenty percent is because he might not expect you to use your trump card right at the start. Bai Fan, until his death, never forced Shen Weixiu’s ’Dao’ to appear. This man must still have plenty of strength in reserve," Tianyan explained.

"No, I meant that you actually rate me so highly," Xu Yuan was very satisfied with Tianyan’s evaluation.

"Heh..."

Tianyan gave him an exasperated look.

She realized that this man had no arrogance about him at all.

She exhaled a long breath, then turned to ask, "Do you need me to go with you?"

Xu Yuan pondered for a moment:

"The reality is, Qionghua Sect has kept the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree. It’s unlikely for Jing He alone to overthrow Shen Weixiu and Tianrui by himself, so there must be some turns of events. I’ll go have a look at the situation first. You don’t need to rush to expose yourself."

After a pause,

Xu Yuan glanced at the Qionghua higher-ups:

"And we belong to the Sect Master’s faction. Both Brother Li and Bai Fan have died; next time there’s a life-or-death duel, it should be the Second Elder’s turn to send someone."

Tianyan thought for a moment and then nodded:

"Alright, I’ll wait for you in the room....."

"Jing He...."

As they spoke, a slightly hoarse voice suddenly came from beside the two of them.

Xu Yuan turned his gaze and saw Tang Jiuqing and Yun Xi, along with others.

Overnight, the faces of these young nobles had lost their initial sharpness.

Tang Jiuqing walked up to the two men with steady steps, gripping his longsword tightly, his voice thick with unwillingness:

"I’m sorry, the life-and-death duel is our True Disciples’ affair, yet you were dragged into it."

"Hmm?" Xu Yuan’s eyes flickered.

Tang Jiuqing glanced at the Second Elder, clenched his teeth, and said:

"Those old immortals from Jiatiange have agreed to hand over the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree sapling."

"..." Xu Yuan had a vague guess in his heart.

After coming to the Qionghua Hall with Tang Jiuqing and others, Xu Yuan found his guess confirmed.

Infighting.

Two factions within the Qionghua Sect were still engaged in infighting at this moment.

"Next up, let Jing He take the stage."

An elder with droopy eyelids suggested in a listless and flat tone.

His voice echoed through the spacious hall.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Tang Jiuqing, undeterred by seniority, snapped back:

"Jing He go up? Old man Wang, do you have the face to say that?

"With Jing He’s cultivation talent, he could have entered the rank of True Disciple six years ago—the spot was taken by all of you. Now that you need him to exert his utmost effort, you remember him?"

The middle-aged Elder frowned at these words but was not angered, merely responding:

"Tang Huaiqing, your kid really doesn’t understand any rules. If we go by your logic, Yun Xi, Bai Fan, Qingwu, and Zi Yue also took their spots from Jing He’s share."

"Bullshit!" Tang Jiuqing immediately retorted, "Whether it’s according to Sect contribution or cultivation talent, Yun Xi and the others rank ahead of the useless ones in your household...."

"Jiuqing, that’s enough."

The Sixth Elder suddenly called out to Tang Jiuqing, glancing at the middle-aged man on the other side:

"Zhou Guchang, that’s enough, Li Qiuyu and Bai Fan are already dead."

Another slightly portly elder from the Second Elder’s camp seemed to completely miss the subtext in the Sixth Elder’s words, replying cheerfully:

"Bai Fan wanted to go into battle; it was his own decision. What does that have to do with us?"

After a pause,

the portly elder locked eyes with the Sixth Elder, squinting as he spoke:

"Li Qiuyu took advantage of the Jiatiange Saint Heir and the Tao Palace’s chief being off guard, stole the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree sapling, and was executed...."

Before he could finish,

the Sect Master at the main seat suddenly slammed his hand down with force.

"Boom!"

The entire Qionghua Hall shook instantaneously as if an earth dragon had turned over.

The Sect Master’s eyes bore into the portly elder, speaking deliberately:

"Huang Chan, mind your words. Remember, you are an Elder of the Qionghua Sect."

The portly elder’s face changed color, but before he could speak, the Second Elder, who had been half-closing his eyes as if resting, suddenly spoke up to echo:

"Huang Chan, you did indeed go too far."

But immediately after, the Second Elder’s tone shifted, looking at the Sect Master with a cold smile on his lips:

"Old Bai, you kept the Enchantress Divine Sakura Tree sapling so well hidden. According to the rules, we old-timers should at least have the right to know. Now that those from Taiqing Tao Sect and Jiatiange have come to your door, you think of us; isn’t that a bit inappropriate?"

The Sect Master looked deeply at him, his eyes brewing with weariness and anger, and with a wave of his sleeve:

"Enough. Next up, Xiao Jianqing will take the stage, and Jing He will follow after."

"How awe-inspiring the Sect Master is," the Second Elder scoffed, cupping his hands in obeisance, "Let’s do as the Sect Master has said then."