Chapter 33

Yao Yue had a good idea in her heart, but still asked, "What do they look like?"

"Quite beautiful — the most I've ever seen in my life."

Gong Guangjie answered instinctively, then his heart gave a jolt, and he hastily added, "Of course, compared to the heroine here, the two of them are far, far inferior."

Those words weren't entirely empty flattery either.

In Gong Guangjie's view, those two maidens were indeed exceedingly beautiful, but compared with the palace-attired woman before his eyes, they seemed somewhat dimmed.

It was just that the gap between the two sides wasn't as exaggerated as he had made it sound.

Yao Yue did not quibble with him over it, nor did she grow smug because of it.

What her own appearance was like, she knew better than anyone.

Even compared with the peak beauties of the mortal world spoken of in the diary's owner — Wang Yuyan, Xiao Longnu — she was confident she would lose nothing to them.

At the same time, Gong Guangjie's answer also let Yao Yue basically confirm that those two maidens were the owners of the diary replicas.

"In these three days, besides those two, has anyone else come to the Wuliangjian Sect?"

"I didn't see any, but I heard my junior brothers mention that two days ago, two more women came to Wuliang Mountain, and yesterday there was one more. As for whether there were even more, I wouldn't know."

Hearing this, Yao Yue's heart sank.

Five people!

At least five people had arrived here one step ahead of her!

She didn't know whether the "Northern Nether Divine Art" and "Lingbo Weixu" had already been snatched up by someone else.

"Take me to your rear mountain forbidden ground."

"Yes! Yes!"

At once, with Gong Guangjie leading the way in front, he brought Yao Yue and her party to the edge of the cliff at the rear mountain.

"That over there is the 'Immortal Sword Dance' stone wall… huh? There's a rope here."

Gong Guangjie had only just begun to introduce it when he cried out in surprise.

Without needing her to say so, Yao Yue had already seen it one step ahead of him.

Arriving at the cliff's edge and glancing down, Yao Yue gave an order: "Keep a close eye on him."

Then she leaped down.

Gong Guangjie let out a low cry of fright.

Hua Yue Nu said coldly, "Don't even think about running. Behave yourself, and you'll have one path to survival."

"Yes, I won't run! I won't run! How would I dare…" Gong Guangjie wore an ingratiating smile and repeatedly gave his assurances.

……

After Yao Yue leaped down the cliff, borrowing force several times along the way, she finally landed steadily and safely at the bottom.

Looking around, she saw on the cliff to the left a great waterfall hanging in the air like a jade dragon, tumbling down and pouring into an unusually clear great lake.

At the lakeside, clusters of camellias grew, swaying gracefully in the hazy sunlight.

Suddenly, Yao Yue's heart stirred — she had heard some sounds of movement.

Even though the rumbling waterfall nearby interfered, those sounds still did not escape her ears.

Without hesitation, Yao Yue went straight toward the sound, and at last saw a cave.

Within the cave, voices could be faintly heard, and a dim light glowed.

"Sigh, we've searched everywhere — there just isn't any Wu Gong secret manual!"

"Could the diary's owner have remembered wrong?"

"Impossible! For such an important matter, how could he have remembered wrong? That 'Northern Nether Divine Art' was something he was forever pining over."

"Could it be somewhere else on Wuliang Mountain? Not here?"

"That's not very likely either. This place is so hidden — tucked away at the bottom of the lake — we only found it after searching together for so long. It's almost certainly here."

"I don't want to look anymore. I'm giving up."

"We're already here, let's keep searching a bit more. What if we find it the very next moment?"

Hearing this from outside the cave, Yao Yue's heart leaped with joy, and without the slightest hesitation she flashed inside.

After passing through a stretch of passage, descending more than ten stone steps, and crossing through several chamber doors, a palace-attired beauty suddenly appeared before her eyes, holding a long sword with its tip aimed at Yao Yue's chest.

Yao Yue dodged aside, a cold glint flashing in her eyes, and struck out with a backhand palm!

But in the instant of looking back, she discovered that although the woman was graceful and dignified in every way, she was not a living person — she was a jade statue carved from Bai Yu.

Realizing she had made a mistake, Yao Yue hurriedly sent out another palm strike.

This palm was swifter and fiercer, arriving first despite being launched later, dissolving the force of the previous palm.

Rumbling sounds rang out, and broken stones flew.

The jade statue was unharmed, but the ground became pitted and uneven.

The several people in the cave heard the commotion and turned their heads one after another, only to see Yao Yue standing beside the jade statue.

"So beautiful!"

"So powerful!"

Two different exclamations of wonder rose within the stone chamber, and six pairs of eyes all fell upon Yao Yue at once.

Her sleeves fluttered as if borne on the wind, her Bai Shan whiter than snow, her long hair like clouds.

She was of graceful, enchanting bearing, like a fairy treading the waves; she was of heavenly fragrance and peerless beauty, the fairest beneath all the heavens.

Even exhausting every word of praise to describe her still seemed somewhat inadequate.

That otherworldly beauty gave her a kind of captivating magic as if born within her.

Lofty and exalted, unendurable to look at directly.

Her figure was petite and exquisite, yet she gave off an intense, oppressive presence.

Within that tiny body, it seemed, lurked a primordial beast; the slightest provocation would unleash boundless power, tearing to shreds everything that stood in its way.

She stood quietly in place, yet gave the impression of being poised above the nine heavens, gazing down upon the mortal world with those indifferent eyes.

The faint sunlight, cleverly refracted, fell upon her snow-white palace gown, casting a soft halo that made her seem all the more holy and untouchably ethereal.

In an instant, Seeing Yao Yue outshone every woman present!

One of them, a black-clad woman with her face veiled in black cloth, stirred her gaze and studied Seeing Yao Yue's looks and figure closely, privately convinced she was no inferior to the other.

But when it came to bearing and presence, she fell far short.

Suddenly, a young girl in a blue robe beside her ventured tentatively, "A Diary Copy?"

The words were barely out before, without waiting for Seeing Yao Yue's reply, she turned to the black-clad woman and said, "Oops, I let it slip! Sister Mu, this lady here is also a holder of a Diary Copy!"

At that moment, another woman, a pipa cradled in her arms, spoke up: "Are you from the Yihua Palace? Palace Master Seeing Yao Yue? Or the Second Palace Master Lianxing?"

Seeing Yao Yue glanced over at the speaker. Seeing that she was no plain beauty and would be considered a great beauty anywhere else, she answered the question with one of her own: "And who are you?"

Far from taking offense at Seeing Yao Yue turning the tables, the woman smiled faintly: "This little woman is Lan Xiaodie."

The blue-robed girl waved at Seeing Yao Yue, her voice soft and lively: "I'm Zhong Ling."

Then she threw an arm around the black-clad woman beside her and said with a grin: "This is my Sister Mu Wanqing."

The black-clad woman shot her a glare and scolded: "Who asked you, little imp, to run your mouth!"

Hearing the faint hint of pique in her tone, Zhong Ling did not dare talk back; she lowered her pretty head slightly and gave a soft little "Oh."

Of the remaining three women, there was one whose beauty was in truth no less than Seeing Yao Yue's, yet she too lost out on bearing and presence.

Clad in white that outshone the snow, her elegance unmatched, her face expressionless, her voice cool and clear: "Mei Jiangxue."

"Wu Du Sect, Dugu Yiren." The fifth woman announced her own name.

Seeing Yao Yue's gaze shot toward her, and she knew at once that this coldly beautiful girl before her was the one who, three days ago, had killed Zuo Zimu with a single poisoned palm-strike.

The young girl behind Dugu Yiren, seeing Seeing Yao Yue's oppressively heavy gaze fall upon her, felt her heartstrings tremble. Summoning her courage, she said: "I… I'm Zhutao, just my young lady's maid, that's all."

036 Seeing Yao Yue: Silly little girl, and you dare compete with this Palace Master?

A maid?

But from the moment she obtained the Diary Copy, even a mere maid was no ordinary maid.

She was even more fortunate and honored than some imperial princesses!

Seeing Yao Yue cast a glance at Zhutao's appearance.

Though dressed as a maid, her features were delicate and her looks pretty, no worse than her young lady's.

No wonder she could possess a Diary Copy.

Seeing that all six had given their names, Seeing Yao Yue said coolly: "This Palace Master is Seeing Yao Yue."

"To possess such beauty and presence, throughout Yunzhou there are indeed only the two Palace Masters of Yihua Palace." Lan Xiaodie smiled faintly, not surprised in the slightest.

Seeing Yao Yue glanced at her: "You're not bad yourself."