Such a straightforward declaration of "showing off her glory" left everyone stunned into silence.
A loose cultivator carefully ventured, "Hall Master truly thinks far ahead! To display your heroism is to showcase the might of Mingxin Hall itself. Hall Master must be doing this to strengthen everyone's faith in Mingxin Hall!"
Just for the sake of showing off? He didn't believe it. Even if beaten to death, he wouldn't believe it. Hall Master surely had deeper, far-reaching reasons.
"Yes, yes, Hall Master's words definitely carry profound intent."
"We'll spread the recording as soon as possible."
Voices rose one after another, echoing support.
Yun Jin sighed. "You old-timers really do think too much. What's so shameful about showing off? It's blood-stirring, youthful pride. When us young people do something worth celebrating, of course we should proclaim it to the world."
Old-timers????
Young people????
The crowd of cultivators, all at least close to a hundred years old: "..."
Their lips trembled, wanting to say something. At their age, they were perfectly normal among cultivators. In fact, the older one was, the longer one's lifespan and the stronger one's cultivation usually stood. Others spoke of age with envy.
But Yun Jin? Her tone made it sound like she despised them.
They really wanted to argue reason with her. But remembering their Hall Master's true age…
Forget it.
Arguing only brought heartbreak. Losing face in battle afterward would hurt worse.
"Come, to the next site. You—yes, you. When I strike, you are to record the whole thing. Not one detail is to be missed," Yun Jin instructed.
She had no choice.
She had earned plenty of Emotional Value, but she had an entire sect to support. If all went well, once Wushuang Sect was promoted to a super-grade sect, she could claim a construction token.
A system-produced structure would never be ordinary. If it turned out to be a vital building, wouldn't she have to find a way to upgrade it?
As Sect Master, her hands were tied. She could only flaunt her heroics everywhere to farm Emotional Value, barely maintaining their livelihood.
"Yes," the loose cultivator she singled out replied dazedly.
The group set off again.
The sect disciples followed in silence. Compared to when they first arrived, proud and aloof, they had grown noticeably more obedient.
Someone muttered to Kong Huai, "Senior Brother, why did Hall Master assign a loose cultivator to record? Aren't we capable of doing such a simple thing?"
Kong Huai froze, thinking they were about to criticize Yun Jin's actions. He opened his mouth to explain, but the disciple continued, "What, does she think we can't handle it?"
"Exactly! We can do it too!"
"Hall Master really does play favorites."
Grumbles of resentment spread.
Kong Huai fell silent.
????
This was dissatisfaction?
Why did it feel more like they were… competing for favor?
What was wrong with these people?
Yun Jin hadn't even done much, yet their attitudes were already shifting?
But he, Kong Huai, would not be like them. Just because Yun Jin called him a parasite, he would never bow his head. One day, he would prove that his life would never be lesser than anyone else's.
Soon, they arrived at the second mission site.
With lessons learned from before, no one dared act recklessly. Striking from stealth, they attacked the enemy stronghold head-on.
Yun Jin took charge of slaying the leader, leaving the rest to cut down the lesser fiends.
It was their second battle.
This time proved tougher than the first. Even Yun Jin could not cover everything.
At one critical moment, when a sect disciple was cornered, a nearby loose cultivator squad broke formation to shield him from a deadly strike.
The disciple froze.
"Still not fighting back?" a loose cultivator barked.
Awakened, the disciple fumbled his way back into the fight.
Later, when loose cultivators faced danger, sect disciples stepped in to defend.
Two groups once utterly divided began, through blood and fire, to merge.
By the time the lesser cultists were cut down and Yun Jin struck down their leader, she descended, surveying the scene.
Two battles had passed. The ones who had changed the most were clearly the sect disciples. Many were seeing life-and-death combat for the first time. Blood still stained their faces, but they ignored it, looking at Yun Jin with eager anticipation, waiting for her words.
"You all did well," Yun Jin said evenly. "Let's move quickly to the next site."
"Yes!" they answered in unison.
"Senior Brother Kong, Hall Master said we did well!" one disciple said joyfully.
Kong Huai barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. So excited over just a single line?
The flying boat took off once again. Yun Jin stood at the bow as before, but now the air aboard felt different. Sect disciples and loose cultivators who once glared daggers at each other had begun to converse.
Yun Jin did not look back, but her ears caught every word. Her lips curved into a subtle smile.
Zhai Ge and Shi Li had insisted on mixing sect disciples with loose cultivators for missions. They thought it would create chaos, making the task harder. They may have even ordered the sect disciples to sabotage or slack off. But could they really calculate the human heart?
These years, under the rule of Qingxiao Pavilion, disciples of upper-grade sects rarely took real missions. Even those registered with the Demon-Slaying Alliance enjoyed its benefits without lifting a hand, focusing only on personal cultivation.
They had never truly seen human suffering. Many had never even seen blood.
Were they selfish, indifferent? Yes.
They drained others' lifeblood without guilt.
But why? Because their elders told them it was their right. That they were geniuses, destined to enjoy such treatment.
How many could hold to their true hearts under such conditions?
Maybe a few. But Qingxiao Pavilion likely purged those few long ago.
As for mid and low-grade sects, Qingxiao Pavilion barely bothered. Those disciples were just another resource to exploit.
But upper and super-grade sects? They had been thoroughly infiltrated.
Did Lin Xiao design this scheme for the disciples' sake?
No.
He only wanted to take the most talented, most resourced geniuses, and raise them into nothing but waste. Sheltered talents who had never seen the world—when the true war between humans and demons came, how much could they contribute?
These disciples were a generation deliberately raised into uselessness.
But they were still human.
And humans had thoughts of their own.
This time, Zhai Ge and Shi Li made the wrong choice.
They sent sect disciples to fight alongside loose cultivators, thinking it would only breed conflict. But the battlefield was the greatest forge of bonds. Even wasted talents, once tempered in blood and fire, could yet turn to gold. They had already consumed vast resources, reaching high cultivation. Then let them be reforged.
If they could be salvaged, so much the better.
If not, only then would it be time to discard them.
Yun Jin's eyes at that moment were calm, terrifyingly so.