“Is my brother... okay?” Bai Yumo's voice trembled slightly. She couldn't bear to imagine what the demoness might do to Bai Feng, prompting him to rush to Tianjian Sect for refuge.

Chu Ningyan didn’t keep her in suspense: “You can rest easy on that front. Bai Feng has a great talent for formations; he broke through the array and escaped. Your father acted in time, but unfortunately, the demoness still managed to slip away. It’s no surprise, though—she is the Hundred-Faced Saintess, after all. To escape from the hands of the God of War Bai is quite impressive.”

Upon hearing that Bai Feng was unharmed, Bai Yumo let out a sigh of relief, her emotions gradually stabilizing.

“Master, I want to go out and take a look…” She glanced at Chu Ningyan, “I’m suddenly curious about the new disciples’ assessment.”

“Just say you want to see Bai Feng; no need to beat around the bush,” Chu Ningyan said, lightly tapping Bai Yumo on the head. “But I’m a bit curious too. Elder Jin is going to oversee the assessment, so why don’t you come with me?”

“Thank you, Master!”

---

**Chapter 20: Let’s Not Talk About That!**

“He actually ran away.”

The Hundred-Faced Saintess hid among the crowd, but this time her expression was far from the delight she had shown before.

Was it a sign of cowardice on her part, or was it a show of decisiveness?

If she had merely frightened him into seeking refuge at Tianjian Sect, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But the speed and determination with which he fled—almost as soon as she left, he was gone—didn’t he feel embarrassed?

“Ugh, how boring. I’m leaving.”

Having lost her greatest amusement, the Hundred-Faced Saintess stepped out of the crowd and gradually disappeared down the street.

She could guess where Bai Feng had gone—most likely to one of the righteous sects at Tianjian Sect.

While she dared to intrude on the Bai family to capture someone, she certainly wouldn’t dare to play around at Tianjian Sect.

That place was easy to enter but hard to leave.

However, she could keep an eye on the news from Tianjian Sect.

She didn’t believe Bai Feng would stay cooped up there forever.

---

“Is there a way to stay at Tianjian Sect without having to go out?”

Though Bai Feng hadn’t yet entered Tianjian Sect, he was already contemplating how to take it easy.

From what he knew about Tianjian Sect, whether inner or outer disciples, everyone was required to go out on missions every month. Even those with special talents in alchemy, weapon forging, or formations had to complete tasks, albeit with lower difficulty.

Unless one was truly exceptional—so exceptional that the sect couldn’t bear to let them go out—or became an elder.

The former would draw too much attention, and given his identity as a villain, he would likely become a target for the favored ones, which was counterproductive to his goals. The latter was simply impossible.

Wait, he realized, he didn’t have a good reputation at Tianjian Sect anyway; he was already meant to be targeted. So, being targeted a bit more didn’t seem too unacceptable.

Bai Feng suddenly had an epiphany. He was already quite famous at Tianjian Sect, and his reputation was already poor. Being a bit more notorious didn’t seem to matter.

It was like being caught in the rain without an umbrella; at first, when his clothes were still dry, he would look for shelter. But once he was soaked, he would fear nothing—the rain could pour harder, but it wouldn’t affect his stride home.

With his mastery of formations, securing a position that didn’t require him to go out on missions should be easy enough, right?

Then he could just close the door and stay home every day. Even if someone wanted to target him, they wouldn’t have the means to do so.

As Bai Feng sat on a stone, pondering how to lounge around at Tianjian Sect, an elder approached him, looking at him and the old man beside him.

“Senior.” The elder cupped his hands in greeting to the old man.

The old man merely nodded, his gaze shifting to the elder’s back.

Compared to an ordinary elder, the peak master of Tianjian Sect was clearly more worthy of attention.

And she was accompanied by Bai Yumo.

“Old Bai, you’re still looking quite spry!”

Chu Ningyan greeted the old man with a smile. As the grand elder of the Bai family and a formidable figure in the Fusion Stage, she, as the peak master of Tianjian Sect, had to show him a certain level of respect.

“I’m not as good as I used to be; just running on fumes now,” the old man waved his hand. “You all go ahead with the assessment; don’t mind me.”

“Haha, with Bai Feng’s unique talent, he should breeze through the assessment.”

After a few pleasantries, Elder Jin, standing to the side, didn’t dare to interject, as he was just an ordinary elder.

He glanced at Bai Feng, who was to be assessed by him—clearly, the rumors weren’t entirely accurate. Being personally escorted by the grand elder of the Bai family didn’t look like he was being abandoned at all.

At the same time, he noticed Bai Yumo sneaking over to Bai Feng’s side, seemingly engaged in conversation.

Clearly, their relationship wasn’t as bad as the rumors suggested. The notion that Bai Yumo had been forced to write a recommendation letter was utterly ridiculous.

Hmm, perhaps I should ease up a bit on the assessment.

Elder Jin stroked his beard, gradually forming a plan in his mind.

“Brother, are you okay?”

Bai Yumo scrutinized Bai Feng’s body, and only after confirming he was uninjured did she finally relax.

“I’m fine. Just got a bit of a scare. Luckily, she didn’t know I had some knowledge of formations; otherwise, escaping wouldn’t have been easy,” Bai Feng replied, not surprised that Bai Yumo knew about this. After all, he had to inform his father before heading to Tianjian Sect, and it was likely that his father had sent a letter after he left.

“That demoness is truly despicable. I wonder why she targeted you.” Although Bai Feng hadn’t been hurt, Bai Yumo couldn’t help but grumble.

Bai Feng felt a bit awkward. He couldn’t exactly say it was because the demoness had taken an interest in his lewd drawings, could he?

It was one thing for his father to know about his drawings; after all, he was the head of the Bai family.

But for his sister to find out? That was a no-go!

At the very least, she should wait until ten years after my death to learn about it!

“Brother, what’s wrong?” Bai Yumo noticed Bai Feng’s expression was off and quickly asked with concern.

“Nothing.” Bai Feng waved his hand. “Just regretting my decision to go listen to music.”

Bai Yumo immediately thought she understood why the demoness had set her sights on Bai Feng. She puffed out her cheeks: “Well, from now on, once you’re in Tianjian Sect, focus on your cultivation and don’t wander around in places like that anymore.”

“Sure, sure.”

Bai Feng nodded. As if he would still go listen to music? From now on, he wouldn’t even step outside.

“Ahem, can we start the assessment now?”

Elder Jin, seeing that the two had finally finished their conversation, quickly cleared his throat.

Bai Yumo nodded eagerly, a bit embarrassed as she stepped back to stand beside Chu Ningyan.

“Alright, please begin, Senior.”

Bai Feng was ready. Having gone through an assessment once before, he was well aware of the process.

However, this time was different. Last time, he had been assessed alongside other disciples from the Bai family, and his own talent had been average. He hadn’t even intended to pass.

This time, he had mastered formations; passing the assessment should be a piece of cake.

“I’ve heard your talismans are quite good, so let’s make the assessment about talismans.”

But at that moment, Bai Feng raised his hand: “Senior, I have some knowledge of formations as well.”

“Oh? In that case, let’s change it to formations.”

Elder Jin nodded, not displeased at all, and promptly changed the assessment content: “The assessment will consist of three parts: breaking through the Hundred Sword Formation, creating a basic formation, and repairing a damaged array. You only need to pass two parts to enter Tianjian Sect.”

Bai Feng nodded, unable to suppress a thought: This elder is quite easy to talk to. I thought I’d have to showcase my formation skills to change the assessment content.

“Let’s go; the Hundred Sword Formation is this way.”

Meanwhile, news of Bai Feng’s arrival at Tianjian Sect gradually spread among the disciples:

“Where’s Bai Feng now? I want to go beat him up—uh, I mean, I want to go make friends with him.”

“Haha, so eager to join Tianjian Sect? Just as I suspected, he’s only here because the Bai family forced Bai Shijie to write a recommendation letter.”

“Sigh, someone’s going to be disappointed. According to reports from the front, Bai Feng and Bai Shijie’s relationship isn’t as terrible as the rumors say; they’re still chatting outside.”

“Hmph, that’s definitely because of the Bai family’s pressure, forcing Bai Shijie to act friendly so that this useless Bai Feng can smoothly enter Tianjian Sect.”

“Exactly! And they’ve only exchanged a few pleasantries; how can that be called a good relationship?”

---

**Chapter 21: The Bai Family is Hiding Their Talents!**

The Hundred Sword Formation, despite its name containing the character for ‘hundred,’ isn’t made up of a hundred swords.

This formation is quite special; it can be composed of as few as five swords or as many as several hundred or even thousands, depending on the formation master’s skill.

The Hundred Sword Formation is primarily used to trap enemies. While it does possess considerable lethality, it pales in comparison to true killing formations.