Deep inside the highest peak, where natural Qi was abundant, a woman with a veil on her face was sitting at the highest seat in an empty hall.
Her eyebrows furrowed, the news that came in today, once it gets out will surely put the entire sect under a veil of gloominess.
Those sharp eyes accompanied by a half-revealing fierce red-dress only made her look more alluring.
Her pitch-black eyes seemed to see through many things happening in the sect at once.
"Ughhh! I am so angry…those elders after being scolded by me ran away like chickens."
"All those elders have to do is just nurture good disciples who can raise our sect's reputation."
"I have provided them with both talented and outstanding disciples as well as abundant resources!"
"So why the fuck were we still last in inter-sect competition?"
Yes, this woman was no other than the Sect Master, the woman with the highest authority here.
From the morning she was looking forward to washing her tender skin in a bath prepared with some rare elixirs which she had collected painstakingly over the past two years but the happiness was too short.
She forgot that today was the day when the two most prestigious ranking lists would be updated every 20 years.
One was ranking for the strongest people and the second was the ranking of various sects/ organisations/ families across all 200 known floors.
She was worried- there have been a lot of excellent people being born in the past few years. Many new species and strong families have come to power at higher floors while their sect's talent is getting less and less.
This fact was quite obvious when one looks at the rankings.
The reason for her sour mood was as the sect master she was the first to get the updates regarding the ranking lists.
She herself had slipped from the 40th position to the 166th position while their sect had fallen from the tenth position to the twenty-first position.
In an hour or so the list will be made public, and then her sect would become a laughing stock across the entire tower.
Just as she was paying attention to things happening in the sect, her mind perceived a young boy entering Xenia's cave.
"Brat?"
"This waste dares to come back?"
-A red light gleamed at the rims of her iris which were pitch-black.
"Didn't last time he say he wanted to marry and start a family? Why is he back?"
"Wait, Xenia can now no longer cultivate due to her grave injuries. Does he plan to ask her for her spirit stones to cultivate himself?" -The more the sect master thought the more she felt she was right.
According to her, Shenshah had been like a parasite. In two years he used four years worth of high-grade resources yet he can only reach a mere Qi-gathering third stage? And, heck he even suffered backlash because of his lust!
"Just yesterday I had scolded Quanzhi that we cultivators can't go to the weddings of a lowly mortal like him as it's below our dignity and today, this trash boy himself came?"
Her eyes became stern as she saw Shenshah entering Xenia's cave.
"Let me see how you fool Xenia…dare to rob her spirit stones?"
With a snap of her fingers, she disappeared and came right to the entrance. Taking out an artifact from her spatial ring, her presence became blurry as she mixed into the air.
Walking slowly, she stepped inside to eavesdrop on what Shenshah was going to say to her innocent disciple.
——-x——x—
Just as I entered inside, I saw Xenia sitting on her bed.
She seemed to be lost while thinking about something, from time to time, there was an occasional muttering coming out of her mouth.
"Xenia?"
Hearing Shenshah's voice, Xenia's body jolted as she was dragged back to reality.
With her widened eyes, she looked at the boy whom she secretly liked.
"Shenshah, is it you?"
She still couldn't believe that I was standing in front of her.
"Yeah, it's me!"
Hearing my familiar voice, and seeing my silly smile, she finally believed it.
"But why are you here?"
"Quanzhi told me you are already married and are even expecting your first child."
"Shouldn't you be looking after her?"
The sect master who was eavesdropping secretly while hiding with her artifact couldn't help but gnash her teeth.
'Very good boy! It's hardly been 4 months since you went out and you are already married and expecting a child? Sure enough, a brat like you can't control his lust the moment he is set free.'
-The sect-master further became disdainful of Shensha's character.
"Wait, let me brew tea for you", Xenia tried to get up from the bed in a hurry.
It was at this moment an accident happened, she forgot that she was no longer the same Xenia, her legs which were gravely injured couldn't hold her weight as they gave in.
"Ugghhh!"-She exclaimed, her voice full of panic.
She closed her eyes thinking she would fall on the hard ground.
Before she could feel the impact, a pair of strong arms held her in an ardent embrace.
She could feel a strong manly smell enthralling her nose. Her face was too close to his chest that she seemed to hear his powerful heart-beat.
I, who held Xenia for the first time, was surprised by her soft yet supple skin.
This feeling was very different from Saharika's. Perhaps, it was the difference due to Xenia being a cultivator.
"Phew, that was a close call!"
"You must be careful now.
-Just as I was about to put her down on the bed, she held me tightly.
"Shenshah don't put me down!"
"That way you will see my ugly face which now has a scar on the right side...…You will see my broken legs which are useless without clutches", Not wanting to show her ugly side to Shenshah, she boldly hugged him even tighter, putting her face deeper inside his arms.
Seeing her like this, I sat instead while holding her. She still refused to let go~
With my gentle patting, she finally calmed down.
"Shenshah, you know?"
-"Hmmm?"
"Our Sect-Master is a bitch!"
"A very big-fuckinn bitch!"
Hearing Xenia's sudden outrageous words, the sect-master hiding in the shadows almost came out to beat them on the spot but she somehow stopped herself in the end.
...
A/N of course if you still can't figure out, the girl in the cover is Saharika.