Chapter 18: The Demonic Enchantress and the Aloof Devotee (4)

"A little pet?" a young nun asked curiously.

"That's exactly what it is!"

Fan Sijin opened her palm, where a tiny, multi-colored moth with fluttering wings was beating about.

"How beautiful!" the nun exclaimed. She was immediately glared at by Abbess Cifa, which frightened her into silence.

Fan Sijin cast a faint glance at Abbess Cifa. This old nun was too bigoted; she lacked even a shred of kindness for her own people. It would be a miracle if such a person could achieve true enlightenment.

"Why is the Abbess so guarded against me? We are not enemies."

"Is that a Seven-Colored Fruit Moth in your hand?" Abbess Cifa asked, her tone softening slightly before she pointed her horsetail whisk directly at Fan Sijin. "You are a witch from the Southern Border!"

Fan Sijin didn't care for that. What did she mean, "witch from the Southern Border"? Was she trying to condemn everyone from that region with one broad stroke?

Narrowing her eyes slightly, she said, "Abbess, I will give you one more chance to think about your words. What do you mean by 'witch from the Southern Border'?"

"The Southern Border is full of strange poisons. Your attire is not that of the Central Plains, and you have come here carrying toxic creatures. If you aren't a witch, what are you?" Abbess Cifa said as if it were self-evident.

The Southern Border was famous for its poisonous creatures; surely, the people there couldn't be good. Wasn't that obvious?

"Witch, witch, witch—even though you helped me catch that lecher, if you keep calling me a witch, I will lose my temper, you know," Fan Sijin said, her eyes narrowing with a hidden meaning.

She was clearly just a young girl, yet her aura was so sharp and overwhelming... Abbess Cifa’s face turned pale; she felt truly suppressed!

Fan Sijin was actually holding back. She still possessed the cultivation base from her previous life in a cultivation world; if she were to release her full pressure, this world might crumble. She was only using a tiny fraction to scare the old nun.

"I don't want to fight you."

"Hmph, that is not for you to decide!" Sensing the oppressive power disappear, Abbess Cifa let out a sigh of relief, convinced that what she had just felt was a mere illusion. Stubborn by nature and unwilling to show weakness, she glared at Fan Sijin. "Witch, today I shall end your life to prevent you from harming others! Disciples, form the formation!"

Fan Sijin: "..."

What had she done to make this old nun so determined to kill her?

This was simply going too far! It would be one thing to kill the truly wicked, but why hold such a grudge against a weak girl like her?!

Fan Sijin had a bold guess: perhaps it wasn't that Yueguang possessed a firm Buddhist heart, but rather that with such a paranoid master, she couldn't return to secular life even if she wanted to.

It must be said that, to a certain extent, Fan Sijin had hit the nail on the head.

A group of elegant nuns in pink robes danced as they formed the array. It... actually looked quite pretty.

The only pity was that it lacked rhythm and raw power; it might have been more effective if performed by a group of burly men.

Fan Sijin had learned martial arts in the Southern Border, but it was a completely different path from the Central Plains. However, having pushed swordsmanship to its limit in her previous life, the sword formations of this mortal world meant nothing to her.

As she watched the nuns, she began to point out their flaws.

"That one has a gap," she noted, "and that one lacks sufficient power." Her commentary made Cifa’s eyes blaze with fury.

How could she not be angry? This was a sword formation she had created herself, her proudest achievement. Yet, in this young girl's mouth, it sounded like child's play. How could Cifa swallow such an insult?

She was the senior who had lived for decades, yet this girl spoke to her with no respect whatsoever!

Fan Sijin had long since leaped out of the window. While the nuns were forming their array, she sat on the roof and watched. Only when they had completely surrounded her did she sigh, "Fine, I’m done playing with you. I’m leaving."

As she spoke, the nuns realized they were paralyzed. Even Abbess Cifa, who stood in a defensive stance with her whisk, was frozen. From her head to her toes, nothing could move except for her eyeballs!

"You recognize the Seven-Colored Fruit Moth, but I bet you don't recognize this," Fan Sijin said, extending a finger. Crawling on her fingertip was a creature that looked like a centipede, but it was completely snow-white, its very skeleton clearly visible.

"I have left an egg on each of you. When the Abbess is willing to apologize to me, I will cure you of the poison."

With that, she let out a bell-like laugh and skipped away, not forgetting to call back: "Since you know the Southern Border is full of poison, why did you dare to provoke me?"

After shaking off the nuns from the Emei Sect, Fan Sijin set off on her journey alone.

The eggs she had left on the nuns were harmless; they would only increase their appetite.

Seven days passed, and the Martial Arts Alliance Conference was about to begin. Fan Sijin sat in a tall tree in the distance, secretly observing the situation.

Among the crowd, she spotted familiar faces at a glance. In just a few short days, the once beautiful and slender nuns had all become much rounder!

In truth, the best way to deal with women was to make them gain weight, for fat could ruin everything.

Besides the Emei Sect, other major sects were arriving one after another.

She didn't care what these "righteous" martial artists were up to. She had sat in the tree for so long only to wait for the appearance of Kong Xuan.

According to the plot, this powerful and compassionate Buddhist son would certainly appear on such an important day.

After all, the leader of the Demon Sect had already declared his intention to become the Alliance Leader.

The position of Alliance Leader was originally created to crusade against the Demon Sect. Who would have thought the Demon Sect leader would volunteer for the post? Was this not a slap in the face to all the righteous practitioners?

Of course, they could not let him succeed, but the Demon Sect leader had somehow cultivated a bizarre and formidable martial art!

Though the righteous factions were unwilling to admit it, they knew they could not defeat him in a direct fight.

Thus, someone came up with a plan: to set a trap and lure him in before the Demon Sect arrived.

Famous sects gathered at the Wuyue Villa to discuss how to exterminate the Demon Sect.

In their conventional view, everyone knew the Demon Sect's behavior: they had no conscience, no humanity, and would kill anyone who stood in their way.

In reality, the number of times the Demon Sect actually slaughtered the innocent or ravaged the public was quite small. The main issue was that they were too powerful; they took whatever they wanted without hesitation or regard for others. Countless prominent figures had seen their reputations ruined by the Sect’s actions.

Furthermore, the Demon Sect was not originally called by that name; it was the Batian Sect.

One could tell from the name alone how vast their ambition was. "Batian" (Dominating the Heavens)—was that a name a normal person would choose?

The various sects possessed many treasures. On one hand, they had to guard against the Demon Sect's raids, and on the other, they had to protect their own treasures—regardless of whether those treasures were rightfully theirs, they considered them their own as long as they were in their possession.