169: Chapter 169 Rebellion! Leng Ning Shuang Points Her Sword at the Sect Master?

Sixty years ago, when Leng Ningshuang first entered the Hehuan Sect, she was still a shy little girl.

It was Sect Master Xiao Nianyin who spotted her among thousands of Outer Sect Disciples at a glance, saying she had a "Pure Ice Heart and was a talent worth cultivating."

Fifty years ago, she successfully reached Foundation Establishment. The Sect Master personally bestowed the first three levels of the Mystic Ice Heavenly Maiden Art's Mind-Cultivation Technique, telling her: "Ningshuang, this Cultivation Technique emphasizes the Ice Heart Reflecting the World. You must always remember—keep your heart like a bright mirror, unstained by dust."

Thirty years ago, she achieved a Breakthrough to the Golden Core and became a True Disciple.

The Sect Master summoned her to Ningyin Hall and spoke eight words to her: "If the Mirror Heart remains unbroken, the Great Dao is within reach."

Three months ago, however, the Sect Master suddenly announced the recruitment of a Personal Disciple—and a male one at that.

She remembered that many years ago, Xiao Nianyin had said to her: "Ningshuang, the future of the Sect may be entrusted to you."

Yet Xiao Nianyin had suddenly announced she had a Personal Disciple!

For this reason, she had caused a scene at the Outer Sect Assessment Competition, pointing her sword at Xu Ruyu, wanting to personally test if Xu Ruyu was qualified.

Because of this, Xiao Nianyin had set this Three-Month Agreement.

But only half of the Three-Month Agreement had passed when Xu Ruyu, representing the Hehuan Sect, defeated the people of the Meiying Sect. Xu Ruyu, who should have gained everyone's recognition, was inexplicably abandoned by the Sect Master and driven out of Ningyin Hall.

The Sect Master had also summoned her into the hall, personally guiding her in a secret room and teaching her a Killing Secret Technique, finally saying: "This Xu Ruyu holds my secrets and endangers the safety of the Sect.

In the battle of the Three-Month Agreement, you must kill him."

Every word and sentence still rang in her ears.

But thinking back now...

How much of those words were sincere? How much was manipulation?

"If the Mirror Heart remains unbroken, the Great Dao is within reach..."

Leng Ningshuang murmured these eight words, suddenly laughing miserably.

Mirror Heart?

Her Mirror Heart had been an illusion created for her by someone else from the very beginning!

The Sect Master said Xu Ruyu was a threat, so she believed it.

The Sect Master said killing Xu Ruyu was for the Sect, so she believed it.

The Sect Master said she was the most trustworthy Disciple, so she believed it.

She had believed for sixty years.

Believed until her Dao Heart shattered, believed until she was covered in wounds, believed until... at this moment, kneeling here, she felt like a joke.

"I..." She slowly raised her head, looking at Xu Ruyu through blurry, tearful eyes, "What should I do?"

This was the first time in sixty years she had asked someone else "what should I do."

She had always been proud, independent, and had her own judgment.

But now, she didn't know anymore.

Xu Ruyu looked at her and remained silent for a long time.

Then, he said something that Leng Ningshuang would never forget for the rest of her life:

"Senior Sister Leng, you Cultivate the 'Mirror Heart,' not 'Another's Heart'.

What to do shouldn't be asked of me; you should ask the mirror in your own heart—even if it is now shattered."

After a pause, he added:

"A shattered mirror can instead reflect more authentic fragments."

Leng Ningshuang trembled all over.

A shattered mirror... can instead reflect more authentic fragments...

Yes.

A complete mirror might reflect the "complete picture" that others want you to see.

But a shattered mirror—every fragment reflects an original, true, and unadorned partial reality.

Perhaps...

Her constant pursuit of a "complete Mirror Heart" was wrong in itself?

Perhaps...

A shattered Dao Heart isn't the end, but the beginning?

This thought flashed across her mind like lightning, illuminating the dark ruins in her heart.

She slowly lowered her head, looking at her hands pressed against the ice.

The wounds on her palms, pierced by ice shards, were still bleeding. The blood spread across the ice, merging with her tears—a startling intertwining of red and white.

She looked at the pool of blood, looking at her own shattered and distorted face reflected in it.

Suddenly, she smiled.

It wasn't a bitter smile or a miserable one, but a smile of... relief.

"I understand."

She said softly, her voice still hoarse but no longer trembling.

She pushed off the ice and slowly stood up.

Her legs were still weak, but this time, she stood firm.

She raised her hand, wiped away the tear stains on her face, and her ice-blue eyes refocused on Xu Ruyu.

In her eyes, those cracks still existed.

But deep within the cracks, something new was quietly sprouting.

"Xu Ruyu," she spoke, her tone terrifyingly calm, "thank you."

Xu Ruyu was slightly taken aback.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," Leng Ningshuang continued, enunciating every word. "And thank you... for breaking my mirror."

She paused, turning to look at the six Senior Brothers behind her:

"Senior Brother Lin, brothers. This battle... I have lost."

Lin Feng and the others looked at each other.

"Junior Sister Leng, you..."

"My Dao Heart is shattered; I have no strength left to fight," Leng Ningshuang interrupted him, her tone resolute. "According to the Sect rules, since I have admitted defeat, I can no longer participate in the ensuing battle.

If you brothers wish to continue, please suit yourselves."

Having said that, she turned to face the dense crowd outside the barrier and took a deep breath.

Then, she did something that no one expected—

She raised her right hand and grasped the Sleeve Sword on her left arm that had just been sheathed.

"Clang!"

The Sleeve Sword was unsheathed!

But the tip of the blade was not pointed at Xu Ruyu.

Instead, it was—

The Ice-blue Barrier enveloping the Law Execution Platform!

"Junior Sister Leng! What are you doing?!"

Lin Feng barked.

Leng Ningshuang did not answer.

She just looked at the Sleeve Sword she had cultivated for ten years, which was supposed to be used to assassinate Xu Ruyu. A flash of complexity crossed her eyes, which then turned into resolve.

"Sect Master."

She spoke; her voice wasn't loud, but through some secret technique, it penetrated the barrier and spread clearly throughout the entire Law Execution Platform area:

"You asked your Disciple to kill Xu Ruyu, saying he was a threat, saying he was detrimental to the Sect."

"But only today did this Disciple realize—"

"The real threat is not Xu Ruyu."

"The real detriment to the Sect is also not Xu Ruyu."

She paused, her voice suddenly rising, carrying sixty years of suppressed anger and disappointment as it echoed through the skies:

"It is the deception! The exploitation! Using your Disciple as a blade while expecting her to be grateful—it's the hypocrisy!"

As her words fell, the Sleeve Sword in her hand slashed fiercely at the barrier!

"Break for me!"

"Boom—!!"

The ice-blue sword light collided violently with the barrier's light screen!

Blinding light exploded, and the entire Law Execution Platform shook violently!

On the surface of the barrier, web-like cracks spread crazily from the point where the sword struck!

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds—

"Crack!!!"

A crisp sound of shattering, like a mirror completely breaking apart.

The Ice-blue Barrier enveloping the Law Execution Platform exploded!

Fragments of the light screen splashed like a rainstorm, turning into a sky full of ice crystals that shimmered with a tragic beauty in the morning light.

And everything inside the barrier—the kneeling and weeping Leng Ningshuang, the still-standing Xu Ruyu, and the six Senior Brothers ready for battle—was exposed to everyone's eyes.

The entire field fell into a dead silence.

Everyone—including Xiao Nianyin in the high pavilion—widened their eyes, looking in disbelief at the white-clothed figure on the platform, holding a sword, her tear stains still wet but her gaze resolute.

Then, they heard the words Leng Ningshuang shouted with all her might:

"This battle is unfair! The Sect Master is hiding something from the entire Sect!"

The voice was like a clap of thunder, exploding over the Hehuan Sect.

It echoed for a long time.