Lina figured her Heaven and Earth Spirit Sealing technique had totally subdued Sulan, so she lazily turned toward this stranger who'd suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Sumin couldn't care less about the powerful aura radiating from Lina. She rushed to her Senior Brother's side, wanting to check what the hell had happened to him.
"Who are you?" Lina asked coolly.
"Senior Brother's new junior sister, Xiao Sumin." If this were any other time, the white-haired girl wouldn't speak to an elder with such anger and hatred in her voice.
Lina had heard about the recent events at Heavenly Jade Peak, but this white-haired girl standing before her with delicate features was undoubtedly a waste with crippled spiritual roots.
Beyond repair. Unable to cultivate.
Lina's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Taking in a girl who couldn't cultivate as a junior sister, giving naive young girl unrealistic fantasies, using that as bait to trick her up to Heavenly Jade Peak, exploiting and squeezing every bit of value from her, then kicking her aside once she was worthless.
How vicious!
How could the Celestial Gate allow such a bastard to exist within its walls!
"Did Sulan trick you into thinking he could bring you back and let you cultivate?" Lina's voice was ice-cold, like it contained countless hidden blades, releasing invisible pressure.
Hearing this, Sulan's brain kicked into overdrive. His spine went cold with shock.
Originally, if there hadn't been this whole junior sister situation, Lina attacking him out of nowhere would be completely unreasonable. But with Sumin in the picture, everything changed.
His motives for bringing his junior sister up the mountain were indeed impure. Even if he hadn't done anything truly despicable, if his junior sister, who he'd only known for a few days couldn't withstand the intimidation and threw him under the bus, he'd be screwed beyond belief. Even jumping into a spirit spring wouldn't wash him clean.
After all, how could he explain taking in a junior sister with crippled spiritual roots? Even if he told the truth, who would believe him?
He never expected that finding a junior sister to solve his immediate crisis would end up being like digging his own grave and jumping into the fire himself.
No hope left. Might as well wait to die. Hopefully next time I got isekaied, Heaven's Will wouldn't target me.
Sulan's hope was thoroughly crushed.
But then the situation took a dramatic turn.
"Senior Brother didn't trick me!" Sumin spoke the truth despite the pressure.
She'd once given up on pursuing cultivation, but the technique her Senior Brother taught her actually worked. It let her successfully draw spiritual energy into her body and reignited her hope and passion for cultivation.
If Sulan hadn't helped her, Sumin didn't dare imagine what miserable fate would have befallen her. If she hadn't met Sulan, maybe she wouldn't even have had the courage to keep living in this world...
So there was never any deception, only kindness!
Lina glanced at Sulan, thinking this little girl was too scared of his threats to tell the truth.
"You don't need to be afraid of him anymore. Be brave and tell me what really happened. I promise he can't hurt you anymore."
She looked exactly like a benevolent person rescuing an imprisoned girl.
"I told you already! He didn't trick me! You're the one who's wrong here, attacking Senior Brother without any explanation despite being an elder. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?" A powerful shout erupted from Sumin's frail body. Even facing Lina. A Level 6, she didn't back down one bit.
Seeing this mortal girl so determined, Lina began to sense something wasn't quite right.
Sulan was so moved he nearly burst into tears.
In all those cultivation web novels he'd read in his previous life, there was a famous saying that came up repeatedly: "Better a dead friend than a dead me." Plenty of cultivators would sell others out for their own benefit, but his struggling junior sister could resist both the pressure and temptation from someone so powerful. That was truly precious beyond words.
Lina grew suspicious but wasn't ready to accept that Sulan was innocent. So she deliberately put on a high-and-mighty attitude and said coldly, "You dare defy me?"
Sulan sprang into action, stepping in front of Sumin.
That golden light looked scary but didn't seem to have any real effect. He'd stayed motionless earlier mainly to observe how things developed.
He couldn't win or escape anyway.
But since his junior was enduring the pressure and coercion from authority while still insisting on his innocence, how could he as her senior brother cower on the sidelines, watching her carry all that pressure on her weak shoulders?
Sure, he would use his junior sister. His methods weren't exactly noble, and he couldn't argue if people called him scum. Sure, he was trash with cultivation only at Level 1, and he'd feel intimidated facing his junior brothers and sisters. But he was Sumin's senior brother!
"Lady Lina, come at me instead! Please don't make things difficult for my junior."
To Sumin, Sulan protecting her looked like a towering mountain. The girl's eyes sparkled with worship and longing, as if having Senior Brother there meant any difficulty could be easily solved.
Sulan wasn't actually planning to go head-to-head with Lina. He figured that with his junior sister on his side, things might turn around.
If this crazy woman had no legitimate reason to act, it would greatly restrict her actions. After all, she was the dignified Master of Jade Phoenix Peak and had to maintain face publicly. Even if she beat him up, she'd get a bad reputation for bullying the weak. Not to mention his master might come back and get revenge for him.
As long as his persona as Celestial Gate's senior brother didn't collapse, Lina couldn't do whatever she wanted.
Lina stared with wide eyes, her brows furrowed, gazing shockingly at him.
How's this possible? I specialize in all kinds of sealing techniques. That Heaven and Earth Spirit Sealing move I'd just used should completely lock down even someone at my own level, turning them into a statue. Yet this kid was totally fine and still bouncing around like nothing happened.
Crazy! This makes no sense at all!
"How can you still move?"
Sulan thought for 0.01 seconds and quickly realized Lina's must have used some kind of sealing technique, but she'd screwed it up and the seal failed, which was why he was perfectly fine.
Considering that she was someone who really cared about face, stumbling in front of a junior would be humiliating. He should probably play along so she wouldn't get so embarrassed and angry that she'd lose her mind and beat him up just to vent.
"Ah, My Lady, I can't move anymore." Sulan froze in place, not moving a muscle.
His tone of panic was perfectly convincing.
Lina was so furious that veins bulged on her forehead, forming a big "#" symbol. Sulan's words weren't particularly damaging, but they were incredibly insulting.