Chapter 28: Piaomiao Peak

Tianji City, Ascension Assembly Registration Office.

Those who had been waiting to watch a good show were now holding their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Where did this expert come from?

She spoke in perfectly coherent arguments without a single curse word, yet every word struck like a dagger to the heart.

Phrases like “lazy governance” and “undermining unity” were practically unheard of in the cultivation world, but strung together, they carried a bone-chilling bureaucratic lethality.

The receptionist’s breathing grew rapid, his lips trembling slightly.

His earlier arrogant flame had been thoroughly extinguished, replaced by sheer panic.

Standing behind Bai Yue, Xiao Yueluo watched in a daze.

She had braced herself to be thrown out, to be thoroughly humiliated.

That bone-deep inferiority and despair had nearly drowned her.

But now, the woman who usually pricked her with cold words and made her jump with rage was standing in front of her like an insurmountable mountain.

Those harsh words, now reaching Xiao Yueluo’s ears, sounded like a heavenly melody.

The atmosphere in the hall grew suffocating.

Bai Yue watched the receptionist, who was now drenched in cold sweat and pale as a sheet, and knew the time was right.

The essence of workplace psychological manipulation was: after the stick, it was time to show the card.

She turned her wrist slightly, and a neatly folded letter appeared between her fingertips.

Slap.

The light piece of paper landed on the desk with a barely audible sound.

The receptionist instinctively looked down.

The moment his gaze fell on the vermilion seal in the lower right corner of the envelope, his pupils contracted sharply.

His knees buckled, and he crashed heavily against the wooden panel inside the counter.

Piaomiao Peak!

One of the six main peaks—the core of the Du Xian Sect’s inner circle.

His so-called “official status,” which he had been so proud of, was nothing more than an outsourced menial laborer in the face of that seal.

After a brief moment of dead silence, the receptionist snapped to attention, his hands pressed rigidly against the seams of his trousers.

His voice trembled, his words tumbling out at breakneck speed, as if even a half-second delay would have him dragged to the Punishment Hall: “This fellow cultivator’s admonishment is absolutely correct!

My thinking has slipped, my awareness is shallow!

That thunderously enlightening guidance just now was like a wake-up call from above!”

Bai Yue said nothing, simply watching him quietly.

The watching rogue cultivators were dumbfounded.

Moments ago, this disciple of the immortal sect had his nose in the air—now he was delivering a self-criticism smoother than a child who’d been rapped on the knuckles in a mortal private school.

“Enough.”

Bai Yue curled her index finger and tapped the desk.

“Her paperwork.”

“Right away!

Immediately!”

The receptionist moved so fast his hands became a blur.

He grabbed a form, ground the ink, lifted his brush.

“This junior sister’s name?”

“Xiao Yueluo.”

“What a beautiful name!

One can tell at once that her fate is extraordinary!”

The receptionist didn’t even look up, his brush flying across the page.

“At the prime age for cultivation!

A talent like this—the sect would be overjoyed to have her!”

Xiao Yueluo stood to the side, completely stunned.

She watched as the registration form for a ruined spiritual root—which she had thought would be crumpled and thrown away—was filled out in the receptionist’s most meticulous regular script and finally stamped with a red seal with the utmost respect.

Then Su Qingyan was processed in the same manner.

“Th-That’s it?”

Xiao Yueluo murmured.

“All done!”

The receptionist handed the receipt jade token to Xiao Yueluo with both hands, his face beaming with a warm, spring-like smile.

“Junior sister, please keep this safe.

With this token, you may proceed directly to the Ascension Assembly preliminary selection grounds in one month.”

He then turned, retrieved an exquisite jade teapot from the cabinet behind him, and poured out three cups of steaming tea, placing them neatly before the three of them.

The tea was a pale green.

The moment it was poured, a refreshing spiritual energy wafted through the air.

“Three distinguished guests, you must be tired from your journey.

Please, have some Spirit-Nourishing Tea.

This is a special reserve—approved by the head steward himself, exclusively for honored guests.”

The receptionist made a welcoming gesture with a smile, his service impeccable.

Su Qingyan picked up her cup, took a sip, her eyes flickering with thought, but she said nothing.

Xiao Yueluo cradled the warm cup in her hands, staring down at the spirit leaves floating on the surface, then turned to look at Bai Yue, who was seated beside her.

She had thought she was destined to be humiliated in public today, perhaps even thrown out of Tianji City.

But this woman…

Bai Yue blew on her tea and took two leisurely sips.

With the matter settled, it was time to leave.

“Well, if there’s nothing else, we’ll find ourselves some lodgings.”

Bai Yue set down her cup, brushed off her robes, and stood up.

“Wait!

Fellow cultivator, there is one more thing.”

The receptionist suddenly lowered his voice, calling out to stop her.

“What is it?”

Bai Yue paused.

The receptionist rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming with eager anticipation: “You see, with such an honored guest gracing us, a lowly receptionist like myself can’t make decisions alone.

Perhaps you could wait in the inner hall for a moment—let me invite our head steward to personally welcome you?”

Bai Yue looked at him, expressionless.

That look in his eyes was all too familiar.

It was the look of a grassroots employee who had just caught a chance to leapfrog up the chain of command and desperately wanted to prove himself.

Fellow cultivator, aren’t you a little too eager for advancement?

Seeing that Bai Yue didn’t object, the receptionist took it as agreement.

His voice rose an octave with excitement: “Excellent!

Please wait a moment, fellow cultivator—I’ll go fetch the head steward immediately!”

With that, he turned and scurried toward the back hall with delightfully quick, mincing steps.

Then—

“Go.”

Bai Yue turned, grabbed Xiao Yueluo’s wrist, and shot Su Qingyan a look.

“Huh?

Go where?”

Xiao Yueluo was still processing.

“Running.”

The three hurried out of the reception hall and quickly melted into the bustling street crowd.

Inside the back hall, the receptionist returned to the front desk in a rush, accompanied by a beaming, plump head steward.

“Head Steward, look—the honored guest bearing the Piaomiao Peak token is right—”

He pointed to the desk, only to find three empty teacups sitting there.

A breeze swept a fallen leaf through the open door.

At a secluded but quiet inn in the southern district of Tianji City.

***

Bai Yue tossed out a few spirit stones and booked a top-tier room, settling Su Qingyan and Xiao Yueluo inside.

As for why she only booked one room—well, that was so the couple could have some quality time together.

“The Ascension Assembly is still a month away.

Stay here during this time and don’t wander around.

Food and expenses are on me.”

Bai Yue stood at the door and gave a few simple instructions.

Xiao Yueluo opened her mouth as if to ask something, but ultimately swallowed her words and muttered a dull, “Oh.”

Bai Yue didn’t bother with her complex internal drama.

After settling the two clueless ones, Bai Yue turned and closed the door behind her.

The light outside the inn was approaching dusk, painting the silhouette of Tianji City in molten gold.

She didn’t linger for a moment.

Her figure quickly melded into the flowing tide of people.

Now, she had more important matters to attend to.

Reporting back.

Just thinking about those two words gave Bai Yue a headache.

The original owner had gone to investigate the secret realm—not only had the mission failed, but she had nearly lost her life.

It was there that the original owner had acquired the system.

According to the game’s plot, after returning, the original owner had tried to conceal the system by being vague about what happened in the secret realm, which aroused great suspicion among the sect’s higher-ups.

Bai Yue also needed to conceal the system.

But she was different from the original owner.

The original owner had no idea what the secret realm was, nor what the system was.

She could only lie passively, full of holes.

Bai Yue, however, knew everything.

So she planned to reveal the “truth” of this world.

A truth shocking enough, horrifying enough, to shift everyone’s attention elsewhere.