Bai Yuexin lightly bit her lips and swallowed her shame as she stood on the sword-testing platform, waiting for the next contestant to come on stage.
She could now hear the gossip of those in the audience.
---"This senior sister is so weak that she was defeated by a little cultivator who is one level behind her."
---"I also don't think Feng Yu Die is that good. I think I could defeat that senior sister too."
Although not everyone was questioning her, now, such words sounded extra loud and harsh.
Bai Yuexin even wanted to refute those people loudly. "You guys have the guts to come up and try?! You don't know what happened!"
It was a pity that she couldn't shout, so she just had to swallow her grievances.
In her mind, she kept recalling Feng Yu Die's previous sword test, trying to find the reason why she was defeated. However, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't figure out why Feng Yu Die broke her sword while her own wooden sword was not damaged.
At this point, Bai Yuexin felt even more dejected.
If she could understand where she lost, she could still think she was defeated because she was sloppy, but the fact that she couldn't figure it out meant that the gap between her and the silver-haired girl was more like a moat around a city.
After decades of painstaking sword cultivation, in the end, she was no match for such a little girl.
Bai Yuexin wondered, all those decades of sweat and exhaustion, and in the end, for what?
"Compared to those geniuses, someone like me can only be inferior forever?" She lowered her head and laughed bitterly, "Hehehehe..."
Meanwhile, Pei Lianxue stepped onto the stage. Because it was her first time being watched by so many people, she was quite stiff and uncomfortable. Just like Feng Yu Die before her, she picked up a wooden sword and bowed deeply before Bai Yuexin.
Then, she took a deep breath and shouted energetically, "Please teach me, senior!!!"
This roar drew the attention of the audience, even the pensive Bai Yuexin was startled. Coming to her senses, she looked at her strangely and asked, "Why are you shouting so loudly?"
"Oh..." Pei Lianxue kept her fists cupped, and replied weakly, "My brother used to say that saluting must be energetic and not lifeless, so..."
Bai Yuexin exhaled and glanced at the disciple who was taking notes.
The disciple quickly said: "Three spiritual roots of water, wood, and earth and completed the Qi Refining stage."
Bai Yuexin nodded and reminded her according to the procedure. "You came here as an accompanying student, and the standards are not so strict. I will take it easy on you. If you can't stand it halfway, you can throw away the sword and stop."
"Yes."
"Don't force yourself just to get a high score. In the past, a few accompanying disciples got a high score in the sword test, but they were seriously injured as a result."
"Thank you senior for reminding me, it's fine."
Anyway, let's finish the group I'm in charge of ... Bai Yuexin let out a long breath, and with a flick of her finger, she took down a wooden sword from the sword rack next to her.
"Then, come on."
"Senior, take care."
Pei Lianxue closed her eyes and lowered her stance as if she was planning something.
Just when Bai Yuexin was wondering about what kind of sword technique this girl practiced, she suddenly felt a piercing killing intent, and the next moment, Pei Lianxue swung her sword at her.
"Ha!"
Hearing the young voice, Bai Yuexin's eyes suddenly widened.
Those pupils full of horror reflected six figures, each holding a wooden sword in their hand and slashing at her from six different directions.
"What the...?!" Shocked, Bai Yuexin quickly raised her sword to block, but two hands were no match for four, let alone twelve hands.
Although she blocked three of the figures, the swords of the remaining three landed solidly on her shoulder, waist, and left thigh.
With a 'boom,' Bai Yuexin flew directly to her right and even crashed into several disciples waiting to participate in the sword test.
All this happened in just one breath.
The disciple who kept the record was dumbfounded again, even more so than at Feng Yu Die's sword test. In his eyes, that girl named Pei Lianxue just swung her sword at Sister Bai, and then Sister Bai directly flew off the platform.
Stupefied, he could only look up at the elders' seats, and after he got a nod from one of them, he announced, "Pei Lianxue won!"
With this announcement, the sword exam venue became completely silent once again.
The disciples on the other sword-testing platforms looked towards the Heavenly Cloud Peak platform again, but it was different this time; at least before, Bai Yuexin was still standing on the stage, but now she wasn't even there.
After a while, they realized that Bai Yuexin should have been knocked off the stage.
In theory, after being kicked off the platform, she should have jumped up immediately, saluted her opponent, and continued with the next round of testing, but now Bai Yuexin was lying on the ground motionless.
It wasn't that she was knocked down by Pei Lianxue. She used a wooden sword and didn't hit any vital points. With her Foundation Building level, she definitely wouldn't faint.
She didn't stand up simply because she didn't want to go back on stage.
She was so tired...
Being defeated by that girl named Feng Yu Die, a Qi Refining cultivator, although it was very uncomfortable, she could barely accept it, after all, she was a genius.
But this time, the person who knocked her off the stage was not a genius, but a small cultivator with three spiritual roots whose aptitudes were nowhere near as good as hers.
If Feng Yu Die's appearance made her doubt her hard work over the years, Pei Lianxue's performance confirmed that her decades of sweat and toil meant nothing.
She felt that returning to the platform would further disgrace her master, fellow cultivators, and the whole Heavenly Cloud Peak .
"Woo--- I'm such a loser! Woo hoo..."
It seemed that she was being talked about in the noisy venue, but Bai Yuexin couldn't hear anymore.
Several disciples of the Heavenly Cloud Peak rushed over to check on her condition, but they saw that her gaze was blank, as if she had lost her soul. They had no idea how to comfort her, so they got a stretcher and carried her back to the disciples' residence on Heavenly Cloud Peak .
A few female cultivators who took part in the exam heard the news and rushed over. Knowing that Bai Yuexin's personality was not very strong and she suffered such a big blow today, they were afraid that she might think about suicide, so they brought her favorite candied fruit and said comforting words to her.
However, Bai Yuexin was lying on the bunk in her bedroom, staring toward the window with dull eyes the whole time.
"Sister Bai, it's okay. We asked Master, and that Feng Yu Die is a heavenly spirit root and a direct disciple of Great Master Taixu, so it's not a shame that you couldn't beat her."
"..."
"Sister Bai, I brought you your favorite candied fruit. Take a rest and eat. It's so sweet."
"..."
"Let her take a good rest." Another sister also advised, "Sister Bai, just get some sleep. We will help you if there is anything you need, and you don't have to worry about Master."
...
The sun went down, and the sky gradually darkened.
The night cicadas in the mountains also began to sing.
The sisters who came to see her have all gone back now.
Who knew how long it took, but Bai Yuexin's lifeless eyes gradually regained some sparkle.
She got out of bed, looked at the comfort gifts brought to her by the senior sisters, and her nose was sore. Taking a deep breath, she wiped the corners of her eyes and sat at the desk in the room, grinding the ink and moistening the pen.
She picked up the pen and sobbed as she wrote a letter.
[ Master, brothers, and sisters,
Thinking back, I, Bai Yuexin, was a modest student with little talent and knowledge, unable to repay her master's kindness.
Therefore, I will resign and go another way.
------ Bai Yuexin ]
"Sniff--"
After writing this letter, Bai Yuexin took off her Black Star -- Heavenly Cloud Peak uniform, folded it neatly, and placed it on the bed along with her sword and ID tablet, putting the letter on top.
She took two steps back and bowed toward the items.
"..."
Wiping her tears, she packed up her things, walked out of the house, summoned her flying sword bought after two years of savings, and left the Black Star Sect.