The gathered group all looked up at the new arrival.

Xueling gazed down at the assembled people below.

There weren't even any Drifting Cloud disciples or elders present. Well, Su Qing hadn't been a particularly good person, so it made sense that the sect members felt no loyalty toward him.

Even so, she couldn't help feeling disappointed. It seemed she would have to rebuild the sect from the ground up.

Qingshan looked up at the newcomer nervously. He wondered who this person was. Although she appeared young, the aura she was radiating made him deeply uneasy.

"Who is fellow daoist?" Wuyang asked politely.

"You come to take over my sect, yet you don't even know me?" Xueling asked mockingly.

The three sect masters exchanged glances. Her sect? Was she a member of the Drifting Cloud Sect? Hadn't all of them already fled?

Wuyang seemed to notice something, and his eyes widened. "Are you... Su Xueling?" he asked. Although she looked somewhat different, he remembered her face. She was one of Su Qing's adopted children and possessed great talent.

"I don't use the Su surname anymore, but that's me. Now that you know who I am, you can go back to where you came from. I'll be taking back my sect," she said.

Hearing her words, Tianfeng laughed loudly. "Your sect? Little girl, go back to your hiding place if you know what's good for you," he said.

"Xiao Ling, why don't you also join in the competition if you want to fight for the sect? Do you have a representative, or will you step up yourself?" Wuyang said.

Xueling began chuckling, causing the people below to wear nervous expressions. "You come to my sect, yet you want me to fight for it?"

The sect masters observed her, wondering what she was planning.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested in playing games with you," she said.

At that moment, her aura erupted outward, crushing down on the people below and pressing them to the ground. Only the sect masters managed to remain upright, though their expressions had changed completely.

Xueling drew her sword, pointing it at the sect masters.

"Come at me, you trash," she said with a cold expression.

"This power..." Qingshan wore a surprised expression. This aura was even greater than Su Qing's had been. To think this kid had been hiding this deeply. He glanced sideways at his fellow sect masters, who wore the same shocked expressions.

"~This kid seems dangerous. Why don't we deal with her first and then settle our differences later?" he proposed through voice transmission.

The other two observed Xueling carefully. She was indeed dangerous. If they didn't team up and fought one by one, it was unclear who would win. It would be better if the three of them worked together to eliminate the threat first before dealing with each other.

Tianfeng smiled. Besides, she could also be considered the sect's legitimate heir. Having her dead would be for the best to maintain their public image.

"~Alright," both Tianfeng and Wuyang agreed.

The three then charged toward Xueling, who simply observed them with a slight smile.

…

Xueling looked at the incoming sect masters and exhaled slowly to relax herself.

"This could also be considered a training opportunity," she thought.

Although she was confident that she could face a peak Core Formation master by herself, facing three was something else entirely. She needed to be at her best performance.

She gazed at her sword. Yu Tian had told her not to rely on the rune.

She smiled - she didn't want to rely on it either. Her qi spread into her sword, and she charged at the enemy.

Xueling's blade met Qingshan's sword with a resounding crash that sent shockwaves through the air. She spun gracefully, deflecting Tianfeng's thrust while simultaneously parrying Wuyang's downward strike.

Ice crystals began forming where her blade touched theirs, forcing all three to quickly disengage.

Qingshan wondered just how strong she was to keep up with all three of them. They were all cultivators who had fought in countless life-and-death battles, yet this kid was easily keeping pace with them.

Xueling's moves flowed naturally as she maneuvered in between their attacks, her sword work precise.

When Tianfeng lunged forward with a powerful thrust, she sidestepped and countered with an upward slash that forced him to twist away desperately. Wuyang tried to take advantage of her extended position, but she was already moving, her blade deflecting his strike and sending him stumbling backward.

Wuyang deflected another sword strike and was pushed back. He felt his hand trembling. "I'm really losing my touch," he thought as he prepared another move. He looked seriously at Xueling, wondering if she might have had something to do with the death of Su Qing.

If so, then maybe she possessed his secret.

"~Everyone, don't hold back," he transmitted as even more energy gathered around him.

"~Hmph, I was about to say that to you," Tianfeng replied as he rushed toward Xueling, his sword blazing with qi.

"~I never expected us to fight together again. It's a pity Meihua and Qing are not here," Qingshan said, his own weapon crackling with power.

"~Talk less and fight more," Tianfeng snapped as he blocked a heavy attack from Xueling and was thrown back several meters.

The three sect masters coordinated their assault with ease. Even though it didn't look like it, they were people who had fought alongside each other before so this wasn't hard.

Qingshan attacked from the left while Tianfeng pressed from the right, forcing Xueling to defend against multiple angles simultaneously. Wuyang waited for the perfect moment to strike from above.

But even with the perfect coordination, Xueling didn't lose ground. Her battle instinct guided her movements as she ducked under Qingshan's horizontal slash, then spun away from Tianfeng's thrust, and raised her sword to catch Wuyang's descending blade.

The impact was strong, but she held firm.

She then launched into a series of flowing attacks that forced all three masters to give ground.

The three sect masters regrouped and entered their stances.

Xueling also readied her sword form a few meters away from them.

"Playtime is over. Time to end this," she said as ice began to spread along her sword.

She charged at the three, and they did the same, splitting from their formation and rushing toward her from different directions in a final, coordinated assault.

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