Chapter 56: Doubt

Jiang Yu had intended to kick the servant, but when she saw it was Xue Miao, she restrained the urge to kick and instantly stepped aside.

"Pull me… you!" Xue Miao hadn't expected it to be her, and angrily rolled downward with an uncontrollable body.

Jiang Yu didn't watch where she rolled, focusing solely on bearing the pressure and climbing upward, clashing with the sword qi that shot at her from time to time.

She only occasionally glanced back for Guan Xun'er, and never gave a look to anyone else rolling down from above.

Until she saw Senior Sister Gu and Senior Brother Lin tumble down together, she leapt and grabbed one of them, halting the rolling momentum.

"Jiang Yu!"

"Junior Sister Jiang."

The two rose, thanked her, and shared advice: "When the heavy pressure makes your bones creak, stop climbing, or it will kick you down."

"Alright." Jiang Yu put distance between herself and them and kept moving; at this moment she looked around and saw many disciples from other sects, while Guan Xun'er's figure was still absent.

She exhaled, steadied her mind, and strained to climb the steps, finding that the higher she went the denser the sword qi, her body riddled with cuts, and under the restriction of spirit and perception she could not take pills to heal.

Just as her left foot stepped onto the fiftieth step, gravity pressed her bones, making a crackling sound.

Jiang Yu realized she couldn't go further, withdrew half of her left foot, and a strong gust struck her right ankle.

Lacking stamina and unstable, she tipped sideways.

"Junior Sister Jiang." Gu Bingwen tried to turn and block, but Jiang Yu had already rolled down several steps.

Jiang Yu didn't forget to watch who acted; when she saw Xue Miao reappear on the side, laughing, she restrained herself, fearing her Dao heart might turn demonic.

So she vaulted onto a stone step, using the force to lunge diagonally, willing to break a bone to steer her body toward the opponent.

Xue Miao startled and dodged, but the opponent fired a hidden weapon; Xue Miao dodged again, slipped, and Jiang Yu grabbed the hem of the skirt, and they both rolled down together.

As they passed other cultivators, some stepped aside, some pretended to block, but they couldn't stop Xue Miao's mischief, and one forcefully kicked at Jiang Yu.

The kick missed, actually accelerating their roll, and in a moment they reached the bottom, rolling out of the step area.

Along with them rolled Jiang Yu's sword and a piece of licorice candy used to strike Xue Miao.

"Senior Sister Jiang." The young lady Guan, who had already stepped down the steps, tossed aside the crane feeding on the candy, swiftly moved to support Jiang Yu, and decisively scattered the bag of licorice candy on the ground.

The piece Jiang Yu used to hit someone blended naturally with the light and dust, and Guan Xun'er's crane stretched its neck, sucking each one into its mouth one by one.

In midair, the group of Nascent Soul cultivators who had witnessed the whole scene: …

Zhuang Zhenren turned his head away from the scene and telepathically asked the person beside him, "Senior Sister Sang, will you handle it in a moment?"

Before Sang Zhenren could nod, Xue Miao pushed aside a rushing fellow disciple and unleashed a Foundation Establishment pressure toward the bone‑setting Jiang Yu.

"Hmph, a proper Daoist disciple, resorting to hidden weapons to scheme against a fellow practitioner—what are your intentions?"

Jiang Yu was instantly immobilized by the pressure, her broken bone nearly misaligned, while Guan Xun'er let out a startled "ah" and slipped.

"Senior, that's unreasonable; I have never schemed against anyone."

"I was knocked off balance when the powerful wind from your kick struck my foot," she said, pushing against the spiritual pressure, having just learned from Jiang Tu's telepathic message that the licorice candy had been devoured by the crane.

As for whether any Nascent Soul cultivators will come forward to testify, hehe, I believe those real cultivators also saw that Xue Miao was the one who first schemed against me.

And as long as our own elders keep their wits, when we seek to make up for it, they will never let the other side speak for themselves.

Indeed, in the Grand Void Sect's Foundation Establishment area, which hasn't yet ascended the Immortal Step, a female cultivator stepped forward at Sang Zhenren's signal.

She advanced, waved her spiritual energy, reducing the opponent's pressure, and said, "Fellow disciple Xue, you cannot tarnish someone's innocence out of thin air."

"What do you mean 'out of thin air'? The hidden weapon she just launched is still there."

"I was dragged by her and got a half‑face abrasion…" Xue Miao didn't even mention that she had acted first.

But before she could finish, she heard an elder from her own sect telepathically say, "Xue, on the cloud layer, no fewer than thirty Nascent Souls are watching the Immortal Step; who did what is crystal clear."

"As a senior in Foundation Establishment, do you really intend to tangle with a junior in front of the elders of all sects?"

"Both of you, please step aside and rest a moment; our sect has prepared fine spiritual tea." A Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, responsible for reception, arrived in time, aiming to separate the two parties.

Xue Miao, suppressing irritation, glanced at Jiang Yu and, after only two breaths, decided, "Since you fell and got injured by accident, I'll forgive you this once."

"You are a senior from a friendly sect; how could I, a junior, dare to count the force you struck me with?" Jiang Yu refused to take the blame.

Xue Miao narrowed her eyes, reaching with one hand to grasp a technique to reprimand her, but sensing more gazes turning from midair, she ultimately held back, flicked her sleeve, and walked away.

Jiang Yu, under the care of her uncle and junior sister, took a bone‑healing pill; the spiritual medicine coursed around her leg, allowing her to walk immediately.

That's the only advantage of cultivation: as long as the spirit, soul, and dantian aren't endangered, spiritual medicine heals extremely quickly, which is why medicinal cultivators are becoming fewer.

She quietly sat at the tea pavilion the Ten Thousand Swords Sect had just erected, while under another pavilion, Xue Miao kept sending multiple messages.

So, after the Immortal Step game ended, Jiang Yu was only given a special body‑refining medicine pack from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, and when she and her fellow disciples moved into the guest quarters, several young Ten Thousand Swords Sect disciples came looking for her.

They stood at the open courtyard gate and shouted, "Which fellow cultivator is Jiang Yu?"

"Which cultivators?" Guan Xun'er ran out of the house.

The few people couldn't help but look at each other, "You are Jiang Yu?"

"With short arms and legs, doesn't look like a sword cultivator."

"How old are you, fellow cultivator?"

Guan Xun'er couldn't help but be impatient, even though the other wore Ten Thousand Swords Sect robes, "Who are you? When you come looking for someone, don't you introduce your family name?"

The first person clasped their hands and said, "Is this fellow cultivator Jiang?"

"We are inner‑gate disciples of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect; we heard Jiang was permitted to enter the Sword Pool to select a sword, so we came to meet."

"We wish to spar a bit on sword techniques and exchange insights."

"After all, being able to enter our sect's Sword Pool to choose a sword means one's swordsmanship must be formidable."

"Where did you get this information?" Xia Bing and Jiang Yu, along with several qi‑refining female disciples, stepped out from the adjacent courtyard.

The first person, who recognized Xia Bing, said, "Senior Xia, we heard rumors at the market and thus dared to come visit."

Xia Bing asked, "The market? Does the market have any legends, today's Immortal Step anecdotes?"

"Is there any talk that Jiang Yu was injured not long ago and isn't a sword cultivator?"

"Not that we know of," the group of teenage boys and girls exchanged glances.

"Hmm, you may go back; Jiang Yu is a cultivation practitioner, not a sword duelist." Xia Bing briskly saw them off.

In front of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, the few dared not act rashly and immediately took their leave.

"Jiang Yu, before entering the Sword Pool, you are not allowed to leave the Guest Courtyard, nor duel with anyone."

"You all are the same; without me and the Foundation Establishment senior uncles leading, you are not permitted to leave the Guest Courtyard."

"I will go find the elders to report," Xia Bing gave the order to the few.

The several female disciples all responded in unison; they followed together to gain experience, and must obey the elders' arrangements.

Ye Lian glanced at Jiang Yu quietly.

"Senior Sister Ye, you were just outside the gate; did you have something to say to me?" As everyone returned to their own rooms within the courtyard, Jiang Yu approached Ye Lian, suspecting something.

"No, I just thought the Wan Jian Sect market news was well‑informed," Ye Lian felt a bit guilty; she had been set up by Uncle Deng over Jiang Yu.

Moreover, two days ago at the Luo Yue Sect market, she had accompanied Uncle Deng and Xue Miao to a tea house meeting, and heard them mention the Wan Jian Sect's Sword Pool and Jiang Yu.

And today, Jiang Yu and Xue Miao had another unpleasant incident, and her name spread through the market.

One can guess who did it, but was Uncle Deng intentional or accidental in bringing up Jiang Yu in front of Xue Miao?