Those present on Golden Peak were all alarmed. Even Zu An felt something drop in his stomach. Why was Yun Jianyue’s identity being exposed right now?
Qiu Honglei’s expression changed slightly. She quickly looked at her master. Meanwhile, Yun Jianyue turned to look in the direction of the mountain entrance.
There was a group of people quickly approaching. The one in the lead was a disheveled, but rather fierce-looking middle-aged woman. Her appearance normally wouldn’t be anything special, but her features were those of Emptiness Isle’s Elder Peng. Meanwhile, there was a young lady standing by her side who also had a distinctively unattractive face.
Jadefall Palace’s Wan Guiyi widened his eyes. He had previously thought that there was an air of strength in her appearance, so how could he forget that face? He quickly looked at Qiu Honglei with wide eyes.
Golden Peak had previously been filled with noise, but it was now completely silent.
Guan Chouhai and the others looked at Yun Jianyue and her disciple, then looked at Elder Peng and her disciple. They instinctively kept their distance from both parties.
“What is going on?” Zu An secretly asked through ki.
“I don’t know,” Yun Jianyue replied with a serious expression. “Something must have happened in the place I locked them up in. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have just taken their lives.”
The other group of people also walked over. Guan Chouhai was stunned and called out, “Elder Lian?”
A white-haired elder in the group cupped his hands and replied, “Sect Master Guan!”
Many people from the daoist sects had met this elder before. They all greeted him in a friendly manner. However, they suddenly noticed the issue. There were two Elder Pengs and two Peng Wuyans. What exactly was going on here?
Wan Tongtian asked gravely, “Elder Lian, what is going on here?”
The elder gave the middle-aged woman next to him a look and said, “Junior sister Peng, you should tell them.”
That Elder Peng said, “I was on my way to Violet Mountain with Wuyan to participate in this Great Daoist Competition, but I ended up falling victim to an ambush near Violet Mountain by the Devil Sect and was imprisoned. Then, they used some strange drugs and smeared them on my face, which we later found out was actually in order to create masks to impersonate us.”
The others’ gazes shifted to Yun Jianyue and her disciple. They were all on guard.
Yan Xuehen also looked at her in surprise. Could this really be Yun Jianyue? They really were meant to clash with each other!
...
Zu An had a huge headache. They hadn’t even dealt with Manman’s situation, and yet now something was happening to Yun Jianyue and Qiu Honglei. He couldn't just walk away from all of this, right? There was nothing he could do but watch the situation play out for the time being, though.
Yun Jianyue remained calm and retorted, “Nonsense. Elder Lian, you actually dare to collude with the Devil Sect bastards to slander me? This really is a disgrace to our Emptiness Isle!”
Fuming with anger, Elder Lian exclaimed, “You demoness, what nonsense are you speaking?!”
“Am I wrong? You were found to have been colluding with the Devil Sect, but then you slinked off for fear of punishment, betraying Emptiness Isle. Now, when Emptiness Isle has earned the greatest glory in all of our history, you’re actually stepping forward to start trouble! Just how much do you hate Emptiness Isle?” Yun Jianyue retorted, firing round after round of attacks, leaving even Elder Lian a bit stunned.
Zu An was left in admiration. As so many people recognized Elder Lian, Yun Jianyue had decided to not dispute his identity, instead declaring that he had betrayed Emptiness Isle.
Emptiness Isle was rather secluded compared to the other sects and wasn’t all that connected. As such, there were many people who hadn’t even seen Elder Peng before. If Elder Lian really had betrayed Emptiness Isle, there would be no way for them to confirm that for some time.
Sure enough, the others also increased their distance from Elder Lian for fear of him being a Devil Sect spy.
“You witch, cease your venomous slander!” Elder Lian shouted angrily. After being thrown for a loop by Yun Jianyue, he could only say that, as he was unable to provide any useful evidence.
“If I really were Yun Jianyue, I would have killed you all as soon as I captured you. Why would I give you the chance to ruin things?” Yun Jianyue harrumphed. Inwardly, however, she was a bit worried. The fact that Emptiness Isle’s representatives had been rescued meant something had happened on their Holy Sect’s side. She wondered just what was going on.
Many people nodded when they heard that. They had long heard of Yun Jianyue’s bloodthirsty nature, so why would she leave behind living witnesses? As such, they became even more vigilant when they looked at Elder Lian’s group.
Elder Lian’s group grew nervous when they saw the shift in attitude. Elder Peng cursed, “Who knows what kind of motive they had for leaving us alive? The Devil Sect’s bastards have always been crafty and cunning. How would we know why they did such a thing?”
Li Changsheng coughed lightly and said, “Ahem, you might not know about this, but they’ve already entered the finals of the competition, as well as being the ones favored to win.”
That Elder Peng laughed and said, “Do you really have no idea what our Emptiness Isle is capable of? How could someone we raised possibly win against Righteous Sun, White Jade, Jadefall Palace, Kunlun Void, and Heavenly Sorrow, all sects with tremendous resources?”
The others were stunned when they heard that. They had felt that Qiu Honglei was a bit too much even for a dark horse. Now that they thought about it, it really was too strange. Her performance didn’t really match Emptiness Isle’s expected strength!
Only Peng Wuyan’s face was entirely red. There was no need to degrade her for the sake of proving their identity, right? For better or for worse, she was a representative disciple, and she had her pride too.
Yun Jianyue quickly retorted, “What a joke. Our Emptiness Isle has experienced tremendous changes in the past few decades. Furthermore, after picking up some excellent saplings, what’s so strange about making a name for ourselves in this competition? You keep looking down on Emptiness Isle, and yet you’re still denying that you’re monsters from the Devil Sect!”
Even Qiu Honglei herself was almost convinced by what her master said. She suddenly felt that she was still far too lacking compared to her master in this field.
Elder Lian and Peng were so angry they were panicking. They began to berate the other side, but unfortunately, how could they be Yun Jianyue’s match in a verbal assault? They were pushed back bit by bit. More and more people began to think that Yun Jianyue was the real one.
Suddenly, Yan Xuehen, who had already remained silent for so long, said, “It is simple enough to determine who is real and who is fake. We can seal up both of your acupoints, and then, once we examine your bodies, it will be clear who is the fraud.”
Yun Jianyue cursed inwardly. This stone cold woman is my nemesis after all. She snorted and replied, “What kind of a joke is this? If I let myself be restrained by all of you, wouldn’t I just become meat on a chopping block? If you all had any ulterior motives, our Emptiness Isle would be done for!”
What she said was reasonable. Which cultivator in this world would be willing to hand their fate to another?
Yan Xuehen said indifferently, “The daoist sects are part of the righteous faction, and there are so many young disciples watching. We will not do anything that will bring down our own reputations.”
Elder Peng and Elder Lian, who had always been at a disadvantage, snapped out of their daze. They shouted, “We are willing to go through this examination!” Then, they acted as if they were surrendering themselves for inspection.
Yun Jianyue’s expression changed several times. This was clearly an overt plot, but she couldn't play along! If her identity was checked, there would be no way for her to escape. Furthermore, she would be restrained, so it would be impossible for her to resist even if she wanted to.
When they saw her expression, the others finally realized what was happening. The sect masters all moved closer to surround Yun Jianyue.
“Hahaha, so the daoist sects only amount to this, huh? You all shoot your mouths off constantly, and yet in the end, our Devil Sect’s disciple still took the first place!” Yun Jianyue declared as she decided to just drop the act. Her outfit exploded, revealing her long hair. There was a bewitching and dangerous beauty to her appearance.
After seeing that, Qiu Honglei also returned to her true appearance. Ki surrounded her entire body in preparation for a battle.
A commotion broke out all across Golden Peak! The daoist sects and Devil Sect were sworn enemies. Many younger disciples had listened to stories of the Devil Sect’s cruelty growing up. Yun Jianyue was especially famous for the seas of blood and the mountains of corpses she had created.
However, they had only heard of her, but they had never seen her in person. They hadn’t expected her to be such an extraordinary beauty! Apart from her, Qiu Honglei was also stunning. Just a single smile from her was enough to make most of the disciples flustered.
Only Wan Guiyi had a blank expression. Why had she changed? Compared to this weak-looking appearance, he preferred the strong beauty from earlier.