Tiangang Sect, Reflecting Cliff.
A group of people crowded around the cliffside, watching a young girl hanging from the tree.
The girl's head was lowered, her face unclear. Judging only from her figure, she seemed to be thirteen or fourteen years old. Her hair was tied into two bun-like styles, secured by a rice-white silk ribbon. On one side of her hair bun, a small pearl flower nestled.
“Changyu Buqi, let go of me!”
A roar of anger woke Changyu Buqi up in a snap.
However, she was bound and hanging at the edge of a sheer cliff.
Changyu Buqi recognized this place; it was the Reflecting Cliff that the Tiangang Sect used to punish the new disciples.
This wasn't her first time being here.
But, wasn't she sleeping in her room?
“You worthless one! Dare to skip class! Reflect for three days. No one is allowed to plead or visit!” Elder Muliu coldly commanded and left with a flick of his sleeve.
On the side, a young man worriedly glanced at Changyu Buqi, hesitated for a while, but didn’t step forward. He was shoved away by the crowd.
Yet from this group of disciples, a few stealthily stayed behind.
Once the crowd dispersed, they emerged from their hideout in the bushes.
"Changyu Buqi!”
The leader was a young lady, holding her head high in an aristocratic manner, resembling a proud peacock. She was none other than Ji Gongqing, who seemed to be at odds with Changyu Buqi, as if from a past life, within Tiangang Sect.
Buqi slowly opened her eyes. "Oh, it's Miss Ji that graces us with her presence! What brings you here? Are you here to enjoy the views of this Repentance Cliff?"
Ji Gongqing is the only daughter of the Ji family, one of the top ten families in the Cangyun Continent.Charming and intelligent, she was loved by many disciples.
However, she was also known for her nefarious plans.
Leading a few followers, Ji Gongqing approached Buqi, her eyes reflecting both jealousy and self-satisfaction, "Vixen, I'd like to see you seduce my dear brother Feng one more time!"
The 'dear brother Feng' Ji Gongqing mentioned was the boy who almost stood up for Buqi, only to turn his back in the end.
"If you could keep your dear brother Feng from me, I'd surely thank you for it!" scoffed Buqi.
She had no interest in Feng, the wealthy and spoiled brat whose every conversation revolved around making her his concubine.
Ji Gongqing heard something different in Buqi's dismissal, though. "Buqi, aren't you being arrogant?" She smirked and took slow steps towards Buqi, "What would happen, let's say, if a bolt from the blue strikes you, or if this tree branch suddenly breaks?"
"Ji Gongqing, don't forget," Buqi retorted, "the Elder Mu Liu has forbidden anyone's visit here. Your presence..."
Ji Gongqing quickly turned to the girls who came with her, "We've had our spirit-charming lessons, we've been studying all along!"
The girls, her minions, hastily nodded in agreement, "Exactly, Gongqing was with us!"
With a smug smile, Ji Gongqing conjured a ball of fire in her right hand. As it fell on the ground, the fire transformed into a human figure resembling Ji Gongqing, only with her eyes and hair, looking like burning, flickering flames of red.
"You managed to exert your spirit in the figure!" Buqi gasped in surprise.
The disciples within the Nine Sects studied spirit charming, whereas the prestigious families outside the Sects focused on various forms of martial arts. However, Ji Gongqing, having joined the Tiangang Sect just four years back, had managed to exert her spirit in the figure!
"Hmm, what a pity to see this centuries-old tree on the Repentance Cliff burn!" Saying this, Ji Gongqing waved her hand and the fiery figure transformed into a pillar of fire, rushing towards the tree by the side of Buqi.
The fiery pillar, appearing like a whirlwind, enveloped Buqi along with the tree, causing her to writhe in pain. But it was no use, she was tied up.
In the blink of an eye, the tree, hundred years old, was entirely engulfed by the pillar of fire.
"Buqi, you deserve to die!" Mixed with the crackle of the burning fire was Ji Gongqing's vicious curse.