Feng Yu Die and Zhang Yihe waited silently by the lake for two hours without making a sound.
The rising sun was quickly reaching its zenith directly above their heads, and at last, the formation was set.
Pei Lianxue raised both hands in a seal, then flung them open, and the seven knots of the formation shone with light, converging on the end of the *Snow Jade Spirit Sword* hilt.
*"Girl, activate the formation."*
After receiving the message through Elder Tianxing's mind, Pei Lianxue opened her eyes, gripped the sword hilt with both hands and thrust it into the frozen lake.
The sword plunged three feet into the ice, and surging spiritual energy emanated from it, spreading in all directions.
The mountain fire that spread across the entire **Jade Snow Peak** instantly dissipated, swept away by the cold energy waves.
The lava constantly spewing out from the *Snow Dragon Cave*'s entrance also calmed down under the action of this spiritual energy.
Everything returned to its original form. The snow clouds that were perched in the sky above **Jade Snow Peak** after Yun Tianchong achieved the *Deification* stage here, dissipated, and the chaos in the earth's veins triggered by the thunder tribulation of his transformation, was completely quelled, suppressed by the *Snow Jade Spirit Sword*.
Pei Lianxue's feet slowly landed on the icy lake surface, with a hint of fatigue on her face. She looked around, searching for her brother's figure, wanting to be praised by him.
But instead of seeing her brother, she saw Feng Yu Die, who was sitting on the edge of the lake dozing off and blowing snot bubbles, which instantly filled her with disgust.
"Sigh---"
She then prepared to pull out the *Snow Jade Spirit Sword* stuck in the ground.
But as soon as she grasped the hilt, six spiritual lights descended from the sky.
Elder Tianxing and the other five Elders of the Sword Sect arrived and directly surrounded her. One male cultivator frowned when he saw her pulling out the sword. "Girl!!"
"..." Pei Lianxue was startled by this roar and answered weakly, "What?"
"This sword does not belong to you."
When the spiritual power of the *Nascent Soul* cultivator suddenly manifested, although Pei Lianxue had lived next to a sixth-level demonic beast's cave with Ye Anping for a month before and had trained to resist the spiritual pressure of high-level cultivators, she still felt slightly uncomfortable and bit her lip.
But her brother gave her this sword!
She met the male cultivator's eyes and bluntly replied, "It's mine."
Seeing that Pei Lianxue could still speak, the male cultivator was somewhat surprised. But at this moment, Elder Tianxing quickly waved his sleeve and blocked the man's spiritual power from reaching Pei Lianxue.
"Elder Wu, of course, it is Master Yun Jian who has the final say on who this sword belongs to."
After Elder Tianxing spoke, the man paused, then withdrew his spiritual power, crossed his arms, and said nothing else.
Pei Lianxue took the opportunity to take the sword out of the lake, waved it, and weighed it in her hand.
Seeing her holding the hilt tightly without any discomfort, Elder Tianxing seemed to understand something. He stroked his beard and said, "Everyone, this *Snow Jade Spirit Sword* is the original spiritual sword of Master Yun Jian. Without his permission, it would be impossible for this girl to pick it up. If you don't believe it, you can always try to lift it...
Although the other five people were somewhat unsure about his words, they didn't want to try it either; it would be quite embarrassing if they really couldn't pick it up.
A female cultivator said, "So, do you mean Immortal Yun Jian passed this sword on to this girl? But she..."
She squinted, scanning Pei Lianxue up and down, and the others also understood what she meant.
---Pei Lianxue was not a descendant of the Yun family. Not only that, she wasn't even a disciple of the Sword Sect. In fact, she wasn't even a cultivator from the **Southern Region**. She was simply an outsider with no connection to the ***Moon Shadow Sword*** Sect.
They really couldn't understand why Master Yun Jian would hand over his inheritance to an outsider.
Moreover...
"Three spiritual roots, mid-stage *Foundation Building*... How old are you, girl?"
Pei Lianxue replied, "Sixteen."
"To reach mid-stage *Foundation Building* at sixteen is quite impressive, but..."
Two of the six people present now had the idea of killing her and taking the sword for a moment, but after Elder Tianxing said that they wouldn't be able to pick it up, they gave up that thought.
At this time, a flying sword came out of the woods by the lake.
Hu Tianyue saw that a long time had passed and Feng Yu Die and Zhang Yihe had not returned, so she grabbed Yun Xi with her left hand, Yun Jiujiu with her right hand, and, with Yun Yiyi on her back, she rushed over on the flying sword.
Seeing this group of old foxes surrounding a little girl, she frowned and asked, "What are you guys up to?"
Everyone's attention was drawn to the three Yun sisters, and seeing them covered in wounds, they all frowned.
"Elder Hu... What is this? And what happened with the three Young Ladies?"
"It's a long story." Hu Tianyue flew in front of them with the three girls. "In short, Zhuang Yan had his disciples come over last night to kidnap these three little ones, and this spirit fire today is also his doing."
"What? Elder Zhuang?"
Hu Tianyue shrugged, pointed at Yun Jiujiu and Yun Yiyi, and continued, "Well, if it weren't for Yun Xi coming to my place last night and dragging me out of bed, these two little ones would have met their end right here."
One mess after another. After hearing this, all six Elders raised their hands to pinch their nose bridge, looking back and forth between Hu Tianyue and Pei Lianxue.
Elder Tianxing solemnly stroked his long beard and asked, "Elder Hu, do you know Zhuang Yan's purpose?"
"It's not clear. All we know now is that he planned to kidnap these three little ones, and at the same time, he is also refining something strange."
"That's not good..." Elder Tianxing looked at the others. "Elder Wu, please gather the disciples who are out and about first. Apart from those present here, this matter should not be mentioned to the other disciples for the time being..."
Another man pursed his lips and said, "Zhuang Yan... if he wants to hide, it is very unlikely that we will find him."
"Indeed." Hu Tianyue shrugged, then looked at Pei Lianxue and the sword she held, asking, "So what's the deal with this girl? Isn't she Third Miss' little sidekick?"
Everyone paused for a moment before shifting their gaze to look at Yun Xi, whom Hu Tianyue was holding with her left hand.
While Yun Xi was sleeping soundly, she probably felt the attention of a group of big shots in her dream, and suddenly woke up with a start.
However, seeing half of the Elders of the Sword Sect staring intently at her, she broke out in a cold sweat, blinked, and asked, "Elders... what's going on?"
*Click---*
As if on cue, the six Elders turned their heads to look back at Pei Lianxue.
Following their gazes, Yun Xi also noticed Pei Lianxue and the sword in her hand. After a pause, she jumped down from Hu Tianyue's arms.
Unfortunately, her foot slipped on the ice as soon as she landed.
*Bang---*
Yun Xi fell hard on her back and choked, but she got up, enduring the pain. She tiptoed to Pei Lianxue and asked, "Sister Pei, what did you do?"
"Immortal Yun Jian gave me this sword, and they asked me where it came from."
"...Ah? Yun... Yun..." Yun Xi stuttered, and her eyes suddenly widened. "Who?!!"
"The Immortal Yun Jian."
"Hiss--- are you saying my grandfather gave you this?"
Pei Lianxue nodded. "Yes."
"..."
Seeing Pei Lianxue's puzzled look, Yun Xi understood that she had no idea what kind of opportunity she had gotten.
But, although Pei Lianxue didn't understand, she did.
Since the Immortal Yun Jian passed his legacy to Pei Lianxue, she could now be considered his direct disciple. Moreover, Pei Lianxue's status had been elevated from a stranger to her father's junior sister.
In other words, all *Nascent Soul* Elders present must respectfully address her as "Master Pei", otherwise it would be disrespecting the teacher and ignoring the Ancestor!
It's good to have an aunt.
Moreover... Sister Pei seemed to be her father's illegitimate daughter...
This basically meant that two thousand years after his fall, Immortal Yun Jian appointed Pei Lianxue as the next head of the Sword Sect.
Under the hierarchy pressure, she, Yun Yiyi, and Yun Jiujiu would all have to take a step back regarding their inheritance rights.
However, after spending so many days together, Yun Xi felt that Pei Lianxue was a bit bland and didn't seem to be sect leader material. Also, now that she had just lost her older brother, she would become even more close to her.
Yun Xi rubbed her hands, then began the flattery, "Sister Pei, are you hungry? What do you want to eat tonight? I'll treat you to dinner at the best inn in the city."
"Huh?"
... ...
In the center of the lake, everyone debated for a long time without reaching a conclusion.
Feng Yu Die and Zhang Yihe stood at the edge of the lake but didn't feel comfortable approaching the others to chat. They could only wait there bored.
And, not far away, on a towering cliff, Ye Anping sat cross-legged on the edge, looking at the people on the lake with a smirk.
---Yun Jiujiu, Yun Yiyi, and Yun Xi conspired and fought for the position of the leader of the Sword Sect for more than ten years, but in the end, it was his little sister, an outsider, who became the next Sword Sect Master.
His little sister, whom he had raised since childhood, finally became successful.
Of course, he wouldn't actually let Pei Lianxue become the ***Moon Shadow Sword*** Sect Master. But to let her experience it for a while wouldn't hurt.
After the matter settled, he could go back to the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect and say to Ye Ao, "My wife is the leader of ***Moon Shadow Sword*** Sect." Ye Ao would probably roll his eyes in disbelief again.
"When we return to the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect, let's settle the marriage with little sister."
Ye Anping said calmly, then took out an iron whistle from his storage bag, put it in his mouth, and imitated an eagle screech.
*Yiii---!!*
The piercing sound echoed between the peaks, reaching the lake and entering Pei Lianxue's ears.
Pei Lianxue watched speechlessly as everyone discussed her identity when her ears twitched slightly, and following the sound, she quickly turned to look at the cliff where Ye Anping was.
Although she couldn't see her brother's face clearly from such a distance, she could feel him looking at her from over there.
At this time, Feng Yu Die sneakily took advantage of the chaos and came close to Pei Lianxue, blinking at her. "Sister Pei."
"Eh?"
She leaned close to Pei Lianxue's ear and asked softly, "Do you know where Young Master Ye is?"
Pei Lianxue frowned as she deliberated for a while before asking, "What happened?"
"I want to ask him what a 'birdie' is". Feng Yu Die pursed her lips and tilted her head. "Do you know?"
"A birdie?" Pei Lianxue raised her eyebrows. "I don't know."
