Chapter 81: Never Look Down on a Girl Just Because She’s Poor

“Not at all, not at all.” The siblings shared a knowing smile and shook their heads. “There are two reasons why we’ve advanced so quickly.” Gu Qingxiao glanced at Nangong Lin with a mysterious air and said, “First, the Academy nurtures us with all its resources. Second, our cultivation was higher than yours to begin with, so it’s only natural.”

“R-Really?” Nangong Lin’s eyes went wide as she looked at Gu Qingxiao. Flustered, she scratched her head and mumbled.

“Of course! Come on, let’s head downstairs. I’ve been cooped up so long I’m about to suffocate.” Gu Qingxiao stepped forward, grabbed Nangong Lin, and tugged her downstairs without giving her time to react.

“Oh, alright then.” Nangong Lin was half coaxed, half dragged away by Gu Qingxiao.

………………

The three of them left the fourth floor together.

Their striking figures slowly appeared on the third floor.

Around them, the other cultivators stopped what they were doing and turned to look. Their faces lit up with excitement and they called out cheerful greetings.

“Senior brother! Senior sister! You both feel even more powerful now, have you broken through again?”

“Yeah, I can sense your aura’s way stronger than it was just half a month ago!” others exclaimed. “Would you mind sharing how you cultivate? You’re advancing faster than anyone we’ve ever seen!”

Faced with the enthusiastic juniors crowding around, the three could only force a smile as they squeezed past.

Just then, a group of junior sisters rushed over and hugged Nangong Lin and Gu Qingxiao.

None of them dared to hug Gu Qingyi though. The junior sisters all agreed—she gave off an untouchable air.

Gu Qingxiao looked at the delicate junior sisters gathered before her, touched her forehead helplessly, and gave a wry smile.

…………………..

“Honestly, it’s pretty simple. Just work hard and you’ll succeed.” Gu Qingxiao, for once, put on a sage-like smile as she looked at the junior sisters. “It’s eighty percent talent, twenty percent effort!”

“Really, senior sister?” The girls fell into deep thought. It sounded legit—they must not be working hard enough!

“Just remember to give it your all! Bye now!” Taking her chance as the junior sisters spaced out, Gu Qingxiao grabbed Gu Qingyi and Nangong Lin and dashed away, calling back over her shoulder.

“Wait a second—that can’t be right, senior sister! Eighty percent talent, twenty percent effort? If working hard was all it took, why would we need geniuses?” The junior sisters snapped out of it. But the trio were already long gone, vanished without a trace.

………………….

They reached the second floor and immediately heard a noisy commotion ahead.

Turns out the young lord of Baihu City, Mo Chen, was leading his minions as they bullied their fellow disciples in front of everyone.

They were arrogant and domineering, lording it over everyone. Mo Chen even laid a cruel hand on a delicate young girl, earning the fury and resentment of those watching.

A handsome young man, leading his own followers, stood berating the frightened Nalan Xue, who’d collapsed on the floor. “Stupid girl, you should be grateful this cultivation room caught my eye. It’s a blessing for you—most people could only dream of this luck. All you had to do was hand it over, and I’d have given you two high-grade spirit stones in return, but you just don’t know what’s good for you.”

He paused, then sneered, “And then you had the nerve to claim the room for half a month, making me fail my breakthrough. I’ve had my men waiting for you all this time and now you finally show up. Today, you’re getting a lesson you won’t forget. Otherwise, how am I supposed to keep my authority in the Academy? Come on, give her a beating!”

“At once, young lord!” The burly men he’d brought charged at Nalan Xue, landing blow after blow.

“S-stop… don’t come any closer!” Nalan Xue saw the thugs closing in. Despair overwhelmed her so badly that she shut her eyes, trying to resist—but against this crowd, she never stood a chance.

Off to the side, Nalan Su saw everything and lost it. Furious, he rushed in and shouted, “Get away from my sister! If you want to hurt her, you’ll have to get through me first!” He stood in front of Nalan Xue, shielding her like a wall that would never fall.

But his strength was nothing against the mob.

In the blink of an eye, Nalan Su was beaten black and blue and collapsed, half-dead, in front of Nalan Xue.

Nalan Xue hurried to his side. Seeing his battered face, her delicate features twisted with fear and pain that tugged at anyone’s heart.

But Nalan Su was already unconscious, lying motionless on the ground.

Nalan Xue’s voice trembled as she cried, “Brother, are you okay? Are you still with me?”

Helpless and sobbing, her tears fell like broken pearls, silent and endless.

The young man leading the bullies spat at the ground in contempt and sneered, “So much for playing the hero. This is what you get for crossing me, Mo Chen. Next time, remember who you’re dealing with!”

……………….

The bystanders finally couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to step in, but someone held them back.

“Don’t you know who that is? You’d really risk it? Aren’t you afraid of dragging your family into this mess?”

“And who is he, exactly? How can someone from our Tianwu Academy dare bully his own fellow students and just get away with it? How am I supposed to ignore that?”

The first man sighed. “You must be new here. That’s Mo Chen—the young lord of Baihu City. He’s privileged, gifted, and strong. His father heads the Mo Clan, which all but runs this Academy. Mo Chen’s always been arrogant and wild; no one dares stand up to him. If you intervene, you’ll bring disaster not only on yourself, but also on your clan.”

“That explains it. No wonder he’s so arrogant.” Having heard the truth, the would-be hero could only back down in defeat.

……………………

By now, Mo Chen was standing right in front of Nalan Xue. He lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“You’re pretty enough, I’ll give you that. But what a waste—you’re just trash.” He said it with a cruel squeeze that made her jaw throb in pain.

Everyone watching seethed with indignation.

But Mo Chen and his gang were so intimidating that none of them dared step forward, so they could only look on in silence.

Nalan Xue fought back the pain, her eyes sparking with determination. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and bit down hard on Mo Chen’s finger.

Mo Chen yelped and let go, cursing loudly, “You damn brat, you dare bite me? I’ll kill you!”

He drew his sword from his waist and thrust for Nalan Xue’s chest.

At that moment, a golden streak of light shot over from the distance and struck Mo Chen’s sword, knocking it out of his hands.

A figure stepped forward, standing tall—it was none other than Tianwu Academy’s head senior sister, Nangong Lin.

…………………

Nangong Lin’s eyes blazed with fury, the anger in them enough to burn Mo Chen and company to ash.

“You bullies—you really don’t care about your senior sister’s authority, do you?” Her voice echoed like thunder throughout the Academy.

Mo Chen felt a trace of fear. He knew Nangong Lin’s strength and status were on par with his own—she wasn’t someone to take lightly.

But then he reminded himself, I’m the young lord of Baihu City. With my status, why would I be afraid of Nangong Lin?

“Senior sister, you’ve got the wrong idea.” Mo Chen forced a cheerful grin. “I made it clear I wanted this training room. If she’d just given it up, I was willing to pay two high-grade spirit stones.” He shot a cold glance at Nalan Xue. “But she refused no matter what. If being nice won’t work, then I have to use force.”

“Sorry if I disturbed you, senior sister. My apologies. I’ll be on my way.” With that, Mo Chen tried to leave with his gang.

…………………..

“Hold it! You think you can just walk away after hurting someone? Others might let you off, but not me!” Nangong Lin stopped him in his tracks.

“If I let you get away with this, then all the respect for your father, Uncle Mo, would go up in smoke!” With a flick of her wrist, several strands of spiritual power materialized out of thin air, binding Mo Chen and his men tightly in place.

“Today, you’re apologizing to Nalan Su and Nalan Xue. No one’s leaving until you do!” Her eyes were ice cold, her tone unyielding as she pointed to the injured siblings.

Mo Chen and his men tried to break free but quickly found doing so was hopeless. Their hearts sank—they hadn’t expected Nangong Lin to be so merciless.

……………….

“Senior sister, what is the meaning of this? I don’t recall offending you.” Mo Chen narrowed his eyes at the spiritual binds and then looked to Nangong Lin, feigning innocence.

“You may not have wronged me, but you’ve hurt someone. Shouldn’t you take responsibility? Or do you not care about the reputation of our Tianwu Academy?” Nangong Lin stared at his fake-innocent expression and shook her head, her voice cool as ice.

“So that’s what this is about. Senior sister is holding such a grudge, she’s pulling out all the stops just for this.” Mo Chen burst out laughing. “Release me and I’ll apologize right here, how about that?”

“You’d better.” Seeing his supposedly sincere attitude, Nangong Lin undid the binds.

………………

Mo Chen rolled his wrists as the bindings vanished, stretching out his arms. Then he walked right up to the Nalan siblings.

“Junior sister, I was wrong today. Please accept my apology. Here’s a hundred mid-grade spirit stones and three level-three spirit herbs as compensation. I hope you can forgive me.” Mo Chen pulled a brocade pouch from his robes and tried to hand it to Nalan Xue.

Supporting the still-unconscious Nalan Su, Nalan Xue didn’t even think before swatting the pouch aside.

“Today, you took advantage of your strength and numbers to bully my brother and me. I’ll never forget this shame.” She stared at him fiercely. “Thirty years the river flows east, thirty years it flows west—never look down on a girl just because she’s poor! Give me one month. We’ll settle this in the arena—winner takes all!”

She took a deep breath and looked at the battered Nalan Su in her arms, her voice cold. “If you lose, you’ll kneel on the ground and apologize to my brother in front of everyone. If I lose, you can do whatever you want with me! Deal?”

“Junior brother, I’ll give you a minute of silence—I hope you don’t get pummeled too badly in a month.” Gu Qingyi couldn’t help but mutter privately after hearing such familiar lines.

“See, senior sister? I tried to apologize but she wouldn’t have it.” Mo Chen turned and gave Nangong Lin a helpless look.

“You made this mess, so you’d better clean it up. But today, you have to settle this properly!” She shot Mo Chen a glare and snorted coldly.

Mo Chen rubbed his forehead, avoiding Nalan Xue’s icy eyes. “Fine. Since that’s how it is, I accept your challenge, junior sister. We’ll meet in the arena one month from now.”

Then he turned to Nangong Lin and said quietly, “Well, senior sister, I’ll take my leave then. Let’s go.” Mo Chen hurried off with his followers.

On the way back:

“Young lord, did we do a good job or what?” His followers crowded around him, hoping for praise.

“Praise? I just wanted to show off a bit—I never told you idiots to go that far.” Mo Chen cursed his subordinates in his heart but let out a helpless sigh. “I only meant to scare her with my sword, not truly hurt anyone. Now, that junior sister and I are pretty evenly matched. Odds are I’ll get beaten up next month and have to kneel and apologize to her brother in front of the whole Academy. My reputation will be in shambles!”

“Whatever. Dig your own grave, fill your own hole. I might not even lose anyway!” Mo Chen strode away, putting on a brave face.

………………….

“Xue’er, your brother is just unconscious, he’s not in any real danger. Let him rest a couple of days and he’ll be fine.” Nangong Lin dispersed the crowd of onlookers and walked over to Nalan Xue, speaking softly. “Actually, I’ve known Mo Chen since we were kids. He doesn’t really have a bad heart—he’s just obsessed with saving face, so he acts this way. He’s a playboy and pretty average at cultivation, always slacking off. When the time comes next month, try not to go too far. Just teach him a lesson.”

“Alright, I’ll do what Sister Nangong says.” Nalan Xue nodded after listening.

Before long, under everyone’s gaze, Nangong Lin and Nalan Xue carried the still-unconscious Nalan Su off for treatment.

“I need to work even harder—otherwise, I’ll never have the strength to protect myself, let alone fight back against people like that. I can’t always rely on others to save me.” Staring at her injured brother, Nalan Xue swore silently, “I’ll grow stronger. I’ll keep my brother safe!”

【Sword Qi Continent cultivation realm hierarchy: Ordinary Person, Sword Practitioner Realm, Sword Qi Realm, Sword Sea Realm, Sword King Realm, Sword Emperor Realm, Sword Saint Realm, (Demi-God Realm), Sword God Realm】

【The Demi-God Realm has never appeared in the world, so most people have forgotten about it. The Ancient Inheritance Scrolls state it’s also called the False God Realm.】