"I listened to your report, and after comparing it with the jade slip's information, didn't you notice that every single incident has Jian Lu's shadow behind it?"
Jian Jun tapped her folded fan against her palm as she spoke to Jian Li.
Jian Li frowned for a moment before answering.
"You're saying there's something wrong with Jian Lu?"
"Not exactly. I keep feeling like she knows something. Otherwise it wouldn't all line up so neatly. Too many coincidences always mean someone made it happen."
"If that's the case, what's Jian Lu trying to accomplish?"
"That's something only she can answer. But at the very least, everything she's done so far hasn't harmed the Sect. She's even avoided several disasters."
"I get it. Junior Sister Jian Lu's always straightforward. Once she finishes her closed-door healing, we'll just ask her directly."
Jian Li said it without hesitation.
"Sure, I've got no objections. Still, she slipped into the Heavenly Demon Palace under Mo Yue's identity, and she's doing great over there. Her reputation's pretty big now, isn't it?"
"When we first discovered the black armored insects, she happened to advance to Nascent Soul. The Demon Sect's territory was already chaotic because of those insects, so she volunteered to go there to investigate. Somehow she ended up becoming Mo Yue Zūnshàng."
Jian Li sounded helpless. Someone doing undercover work to this degree was almost unheard of.
A faint smile curved across Jian Jun's striking features. From the moment Jian Lu dared to scheme against Xu Hai Sect's Xu Meixia and Han Pengfei to expose the black armored insects, she'd known the girl wasn't ordinary. That was why she'd recruited her into the Law Enforcement Hall. Looking at things now, her choice had been incredibly wise.
"Tian Yun Zhēnzūn also wants to meet her because of this, right?"
"Yeah. The day Mo Yan Zhēnzūn from the Heavenly Demon Palace visited, I don't know what he told Tian Yun Zhēnzūn, but I got summoned right after. He questioned me about Jian Lu entering the Heavenly Demon Palace as Mo Yue. I knew I couldn't hide it anymore, so I just told the truth."
Jian Li spread his hands helplessly.
"So she used healing as an excuse to hide for a while."
Jian Jun twirled her folding fan, laughing lightly.
"Relax, Jian Lu's bold but careful. Once she recovers, she'll definitely meet Zhēnzūn."
Jian Li understood Jian Lu well enough to know she wasn't someone who'd run from responsibility.
"I think it's not that simple."
Jian Jun's tone grew strange, and just when Jian Li was about to ask more, both of them sensed a sudden disturbance in the spiritual energy above. They flashed out of the Law Enforcement Hall's main building and followed the flow of power. Their divine sense swept straight toward Tianyue Peak.
"Jian Lu's advancing to Mahayana!"
At the same moment, every high-level cultivator in the Heavenly Sword Sect sensed the commotion. Even Tian Yun Zhēnzūn and Tian Hong Zhēnzūn, who were inside the forbidden grounds behind the mountain, felt it.
Tian Yun Zhēnzūn smiled as he turned to Tian Hong.
"Junior Brother, you lost."
They'd been betting on whether Jian Lu would come straight to them once she realized her identity had been exposed, or if she'd try to increase her strength first before facing questioning.
"It's fine. If the Sect gains a powerful Mahayana Zhēnzūn, I don't mind losing."
Tian Hong didn't mind at all. His eyes even glowed with excitement. He'd finally have another sparring partner.
He then tossed a jar of spirit tea to his senior brother. That was their wager. He didn't even like that useless spirit tea anyway. Its spiritual power was so weak it couldn't even fill the gaps between his teeth.
Right then, Jian Dan, who was right in the middle of her advancement, suddenly felt a chill run through her entire body. She immediately released her divine sense. After confirming she was in a safe place, she steadied her mind and prepared for the heavenly tribulation.
Once her injuries healed, her meridians filled to the brim with spiritual power. She circulated it through her body and charged the barrier to Mahayana. This time it was unusually easy. After only three impacts, the barrier shattered and she stepped into early Mahayana. The tribulation clouds gathered almost instantly.
Jian Dan removed the protective barrier with a wave and flashed onto the open sky above Tianyue Peak, ready to face her tribulation.
The first set of nine lightning bolts slammed down without a single pause. She chose to endure them with her body, using the chance to refine the last remaining drop of True Dragon Blood in her system to strengthen her physique.
After the first three waves of nine bolts each, the dark clouds churned angrily, as if displeased that Jian Dan hadn't been blasted into dust. The storm began building power again.
Jian Dan looked up at the thick black clouds, watching purple arcs flicker inside. She could tell the remaining bolts wouldn't be easy to handle.
She shut her eyes and stopped paying attention to the brewing storm. Instead, she sped up her cultivation technique, rapidly refining the tribulation lightning already inside her body. Before the fourth wave descended, she channeled the lightning she couldn't finish refining into her Purple Palace. A tingling numbness spread across her sea of consciousness and her vision went dark.
At that exact moment, the fourth wave struck. She repeated the same process again, and the next two waves dropped faster and faster, as if the heavens were afraid she might escape. Only after the sixth wave did the thunderclouds pause.
Jian Dan felt sore all over. Every bolt that entered her body automatically found a bone and began tempering it. The pain was so intense she wanted to release her array disk and shield herself, but the tribulation lightning didn't give her the chance.
While she wrestled with the lightning in her meridians, the final three waves fell together. They carried specks of black light and engulfed her completely in a pillar of thunder.
"That's the Purple Star Tribulation Lightning."
Tian Yun Zhēnzūn's low voice reached Tian Hong's ears.
"Tch, what did that little brat do to provoke something that strong? I really don't know if she can survive it."
Everyone watching the tribulation broke into cold sweat for Jian Dan.
Stunned by the Purple Star Lightning, Jian Dan felt like she was bouncing endlessly between life and death, challenging both herself and the heavens.
"Chuan, what's going on?"
She grit her teeth while dispersing the lightning inside her body and sent out a voice transmission.
"Tch, you're asking me? You should be asking yourself!"