Chapter 30: All Talk and No Substance

"Do you really think I can't hear you whispering and yapping up there?"

"Or do you think I have no temper and am easy to bully?"

"How can a bunch of weak-willed trash like you have the nerve to judge me? Do you think you're any more noble than I am?"

"We are all human... oh wait, you lot are at best the refuse your parents spat out. Calling you animals would be a compliment."

She pointed her finger and scolded everyone in the vicinity, regardless of gender, as long as they were strangers to her.

Only when Jiang Zao felt satisfied did she stop. She swept a gaze of unbridled disdain over the stunned crowd, then turned around with a smug expression, walked to the edge of the dueling platform, and leaped off, leaving them with nothing but a cool, detached silhouette.

"Oh, right. If you're not satisfied, you can come find me. I’m always waiting—as long as you don't end up crying and running away."

After venting her emotions, she felt wonderful; even the surrounding air seemed sweet.

*Whew, that was... so satisfying!*

If the time and place hadn't forbidden it, she would have laughed out loud toward the heavens. It was simply too gratifying!

However, the people she had just berated were not in such high spirits. Some were so angry they couldn't speak, pointing at her with bulging eyes; if not for the breath they were clinging to, they might have blacked out and collapsed on the spot. Her final words of contempt were the ultimate finishing blow.

Wait, nobody said she had such a sharp tongue!

"Junior brother, your little apprentice's sister has a truly formidable tongue. She rendered hundreds of disciples speechless all by herself."

Jiang Daochuan observed Jiang Zao from his high vantage point, genuinely startled by her eloquence. He hadn't expected such a young girl to be so unconcerned with her image when berating others.

*Hm, why haven't I ever met such an interesting girl?*

She was the type who refused to suffer a loss. If only he could recruit her to Wangyou Peak; it wouldn't be so gloomy there every day.

However...

Jiang Daochuan secretly glanced at He Mobai and sighed.

*Never mind.* The girl was in the Wenxian Sect anyway; it wouldn't be impossible to find a reason to bring her to Wangyou Peak.

He Mobai listened to his subtle praise and let out a cold, dismissive snort. "All talk, no substance."

Jiang Daochuan was choked by his remark and gave a light cough to hide his embarrassment. He couldn't help but feel that his junior brother was overly hostile toward the young girl.

At the Yuling Peak viewing area.

Jiang Zao walked over with a swagger. Having witnessed her ferocity, the crowd along the way couldn't wait to stay far away for fear of being caught in the crossfire, so no one dared to block her path.

"Zaozao, are you alright?" The three of them gathered around the moment she arrived, full of concern.

Although they were shocked by her passionate outburst earlier, that didn't mean she wasn't hurt herself.

Jiang Zao could clearly feel their worry, and her heart warmed. She smiled slightly and shook her head. "I'm fine, Sister."

"You don't need to worry. They’re just idle, malicious words; they can’t get under my skin."

*It’s all just child’s play. The insults they think are so venomous are painless to me; they can't cause any real harm.*

*The more viciously they scold, the more it proves their own inferiority and incompetence. Their dirty minds are just like rats in a gutter, unable to see the light of day.*

What Jiang Zao didn't realize was that, in the eyes of the three, she was just putting on a brave front, while internally she was surely devastated, merely trying to spare them from worry.

"A-Zao, don't worry. I will definitely root out the person spreading the rumors and drag them here for you to deal with." Lou Si's eyes were filled with fury, his hands clenched in determination.

Jiang Zao smiled slightly. "Okay."

...

The competition continued. In her spare time, Jiang Zao sat in the viewing area, eating spiritual fruits and cracking melon seeds, quite content. It wasn't until Jiang Zhuoran went up that she stood up from her chair, looked at the dueling platform below, and shouted to Jiang Zhuoran:

"Sister, go for it!"

Standing on the platform, Jiang Zhuoran was dressed in white, looking confident and spirited. She gripped her long sword and bowed to her opponent. "Yuling Peak, Jiang Zhuoran."

"Fu Peak, Sun Rui."

As the formalities ended, Sun Rui launched the first attack. As a Fu Peak disciple, her only means of offense was the talismans in her hands. She had to end the fight before her talismans ran out.

With the help of the talismans, Sun Rui moved extremely fast, occasionally popping off attack talismans toward Jiang Zhuoran. Jiang Zhuoran, finding it hard to track her movements, was forced into a steady retreat.

Being restricted to defense made her quite passive. While defending, she observed Sun Rui’s movement patterns; as long as she could find a flaw, she could defeat her in one blow.

*Found it!*

Jiang Zhuoran’s expression shifted. A tiny detail had been captured by her eyes—it was Sun Rui's opening.

She admitted that with the help of talismans, Sun Rui’s speed was indeed fast, but talismans had a drawback: once the spiritual energy within them was exhausted, they needed to be replaced. That brief interval was her best opportunity.

Jiang Zhuoran gripped her sword with one hand. She only had one chance; once Sun Rui realized this flaw, she would find a way to patch it, and it would be difficult to defeat her then.

Jiang Zhuoran’s breathing grew heavier as she seized the moment and struck with her sword.

"Pfft—"

Sun Rui collapsed to the ground in a sorry state, coughing up blood. A Fu cultivator was simply no match for a sword cultivator in a direct confrontation, even if Jiang Zhuoran was a level lower in cultivation.

In this battle, she lost with full conviction.

"Senior Sister, I concede the advantage." Jiang Zhuoran sheathed her sword and reached out a hand.

The latter wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, took her hand, and used it to stand up. "Thank you." She felt nothing but admiration for the girl who had defeated her.

"Yuling Peak's Jiang Zhuoran wins." Qi Shuqian announced the final result, and the competition continued.

"Sister, congratulations!" Jiang Zao ran to her side with a bright smile.

"Thank you, Zaozao."

Soon after Jiang Zhuoran’s match, it was time for Yan Wuqiu and Lou Si’s bouts. Unsurprisingly, both won with ease.

By the third round of the competition, Jiang Zao, who seemed to have the luck of the gods, drew a bye again. She even began to suspect if Qi Shuqian had rigged the draw.

However... a bye was definitely a wonderful thing.

Today's matches were drawing to a close, with less than a hundred disciples remaining out of the original five hundred and one.

To celebrate their successful advancement, Jiang Zao decided to lead the group down the mountain. It was less of a celebration and more of a craving for good food.

At dusk, a crescent moon rose quietly, accompanied by a few faint stars glowing around it.

The four of them walked toward the foot of the mountain as the sun set. Jiang Zao’s cheerful figure stood out among the three composed silhouettes. She could hardly wait to eat the delicacies at Liuxiang Tower.

Liuxiang Tower.

"Waiter, a private room!"

Jiang Zao swaggered into the tower, slapping a gold ingot onto the table. Her grand, spendthrift demeanor made the waiter’s eyes light up, and he looked at Jiang Zao with fawning obsequiousness.

"How many guests are in your party?"

"Four." Jiang Zao gestured to the three behind her and added a demand: "Also, give us the best private room available. Money is no object."

*Anyway, Fourth Brother is paying, but that doesn’t stop me from putting on a grand show.*

*I have to say, this feels truly great!*

The three behind her fell silent, watching her performance. She really could put on a show anytime, anywhere. She might be having a great time playing the part, but in the eyes of others, she had become a wealthy, gullible sucker.

"Very well, guest. Please, follow me."

The waiter hung on her every word, wishing he could treat her like a golden sponsor. Rich, dim-witted young masters were rare, and he usually couldn't squeeze any profit out of others.

This one, however, seemed different...

The four of them followed the bowing, scraping, and overly fawning waiter, but they hadn't taken two steps before they were called to a halt.

"Stop! We want that private room!"