The girls beside him also looked up. They didn't know Tianming, but they laughed at the sight of Qingyu and gave each other smug looks. To think that girls could be so mean among themselves.
"Oh, it's the sect master's daughter."
"You're here to train at the Imperial Ninefold Gates again? Haven’t you broken through to the fifth level of Unity yet?"
"To think that you're a member of the Apex Branch with your level of talent...."
"Apex indeed, eh?"
They clung to each other as they talked and giggled. Tianming couldn't help laughing either. "Wow, you're also mocked all the time like I was. It seems that we really are siblings after all."
Qingyu forced a smile. "I'm already used to it." For the Apex Branch to fall to its current state, many people couldn't help but want to kick them while they're down. Not to mention, Qingyu didn't fit in well with the crowd, as she didn't praise anyone she didn't mean to, or spout false platitudes to match the group rhetoric. It went without saying that she would eventually be isolated; female cliques were notoriously complicated. Also, Qingyu was far prettier than they were, which threw jealousy into the mix of already negative feelings.
"It's fine. Prove yourself with your power. It'll be far more productive than wasting time arguing with these people," Tianming encouraged with a pat on her shoulder.
"Okay."
"Who's this white-haired person? Is he only at Spiritsource? Don't tell me he's your boyfriend...." The one who said that was Elder Su Zhen's granddaughter, Su Li. She was tall and slender, but developed in the right places. Despite her young age, she was a rather charming lady herself.
"Who knows?" the rest said.
"Li Qingyu, you haven't done any missions from the Wuyou Faction for quite a while. You’d better watch out or you’ll be kicked from the faction by Sister Wuyou. If that happens, you can only go to the Abyssal Battlefield by yourself in the future," Gongsun Yu said.
The rest were still squabbling away, but Tianming and Qingyu already turned towards the fifth gate.
"What's the Wuyou Faction?" Tianming asked.
"All disciples of the sect are free to form their own factions with a leader and administrators. Those factions are free to select their members from the disciple population. Outer disciples generally have their own factions. Factions belonging to inner disciples, however, occasionally accept outer disciples as members.
"The main reason one would join a faction is to fulfill sect missions and go to train in the Abyssal Battlefield in groups. In a dangerous place like that, it's always safer to have more allies to watch our backs. Many factions have a history dating back thousands of years. To go to the Abyssal Battlefield, I joined the Wuyou Faction that’s comprised exclusively of female disciples. The faction leader is called Su Wuyou. Back then, the faction was named Fengling Faction, but Su Wuyou was too powerful. She wanted the name changed to hers, and others couldn't do much about it," Qingyu explained.
"Then we'll let your fellow faction members witness your potential. If they say you can't do it, what should you do?"
"Prove myself!" she said with grit teeth.
"Alright. Now, show them what you've got!"
"Okay!"
Tianming just so happened to want to see what the hype about the gates was all about. He sat down in front of Qignyu and watched her begin cultivating. Feiling would definitely be able to help her out, too.
When it started, Tianming could feel it. The gate above him had five saintly heavenly patterns putting pressure on Qingyu's body. At the same time, her lifebound space was also compressed, along with the Grandwhite Kunpeng within it.
Immediately, her Moonlight Field was unleashed right before Tianming's eyes, and moonlight illuminated the area around them. Thanks to Spiritual Attachment, Qingyu's skin glowed subtly. Seeing her trying so hard and resolutely, despite having to endure the pain and suffering, Tianming suddenly had an epiphany. It was rather great to have a sister worth protecting. Back then, he had been quite kind to Li Xuejiao; however, both she and Madam Huang were influenced by others. In the end, Tianming didn't feel this kind of familial bond with them at all.
But now, he could feel it towards someone that wasn't even his real family. This wasn't love; he didn't have any desire towards Qingyu at all, given that he already dedicated himself to Feiling. However, he still didn't want Qingyu to feel unhappy, nor would he tolerate anyone else bullying her.
"Qingyu, we still have a long future ahead of us. I’ve never had a sister of my own, so from today onward, you will be my sister. I can't promise anything, but at least I'll try to do whatever a big brother is supposed to. From now on, you have to speak out for yourself, your parents, and the clan. I’ll stand together with you as your brother," he passionately said.
"I got it, Big Brother." She was no weak girl. In fact, she was stronger than anyone else. Tianming's words became a lifeline she could use to hold herself together.
"Now that the clan’s fallen from grace, we’ll definitely suffer the mockery of others. That isn't anything surprising, it’s just the way people act. In a world of competition, people don't just get along with everyone for no reason. However, we can't give up because of that. We have to grit our teeth and endure to our last breath. We have to have the courage to fight. Eventually, a victor will emerge. The heavens will definitely reward smart and hardworking people." He said that not just as a reminder to Qingyu, but also to himself. He knew he had boundless talent, but also wanted to warn himself to take each step carefully, without rushing.
The pressure coming from the gate was incredibly fierce. Qingyu was already sweating from the effort and her face was pale, but she still endured. Back then, she might not have been able to hold on for so long. She wasn't a top genius, and everything she had achieved so far was due to her own efforts. But today, with another girl like Feiling, she could open herself up to someone cheering for her from within her body and a brother that stood tall and firm, like a mountain she could rely on, she changed once more. Perhaps fate was cruel to her, but she wasn’t one to give up.
This was the inner demon she had to face.
"Qingyu, you’ll prove yourself one day! Those of us from the Li Saint Clan don't fear hardship, and we don't surrender to fate! If what lies ahead of us is the hard path, we’ll defy fate and carve our own path! This is the will of our clan! I believe that while our clan has fallen, our clan's will still lives within us! Our forebears were so glorious; there's no way we can be trash that other people look down upon!"
The moment he’d entered the mausoleum, he felt the glory of his ancestors when their blood boiled within him. Since he’d inherited their blood, he also had to inherit their will!
"We won't perish without a fight!"
As simple as those words were, Qingyu's body shuddered when she heard them. At that moment, only Tianming noticed that her irises had vanished, leaving her eyes completely white and shooting out a blinding light, just like two round moons.
Tianming thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. The next moment, a dense wave surged forth from her body, greatly strengthening her Moonlight Field. The surge of power caused Tianming's blood to boil until he felt a calm power radiating from within Qingyu's body.
Lunar Eyes? By the time he stood back up, he saw that Qingyu was also standing, her eyes back to normal. She looked at Tianming with a face full of joy; while it didn't seem like much about her had changed, she had broken through to the fifth stage of Unity. Tianming was overjoyed for her success, but why was she so agitated?
"Big Brother!" she cried, and rammed straight into Tianming, almost sending him flying, with her eyes tearing up.
"Big Brother!" she called out once more, rubbing her teary face on his chest.
"Qingyu, calm down." He really didn't know what she was so emotional about. It was just a breakthrough. They weren't real siblings, either. He figured Feiling would give him a sound beating for the intimacy they just showed.
Even so, she didn't let go. "Thank you! Thank you! From now on, you're the most important person in my life!"
"What do you mean, sister mine?" Tianming was flabbergasted. All he had done was give her a hot-blooded speech. Surely there wasn't a need to be so moved by that. She almost seemed like someone who hadn't made a breakthrough in a whole decade.
Pulling her hands apart, he looked at her face that was still tearing up for some reason. All those tears made her hair rather wet, but her eyes radiated nothing but hope.
"Big Brother...."
"Calm down and tell me what happened," he said with a smile.
She stepped back a bit and said, "Look." Carefully, she pulled up her sleeve to reveal her forearm, then stopped for a moment and immediately covered it back up, lest others see. Even so, that was enough to completely flabbergast Tianming. There weren't just three interlocking rings on her arms, but five blinding moon-like rings! It was like a sky with five moons! In other words, she had grown from a tribane into a pentabane!
More shockingly, her rings had changed color, just like the second ancestor, Li Xinghe's! They’d turned from black to silver, and their positions and appearances had also morphed. Not to mention, Li Xinghe was only a tetrabane, with four bane-rings, but Qingyu had five. She was a Pentamoon Skybane!
"Oh, ancestors, have you all gone mad?" Tianming felt that it wasn't a mere coincidence. There were many who believed that the number of bane-rings that appeared on the day their Lifesbane was cured would remain constant throughout their lifetimes, but it seemed that they were underestimating their unique constitution.