Chapter 3: Would You Mind Taking on a Worthless Disciple?

The person blocking his way was Li Tianhen, the Sect Master of the Four Gods Sect. Sinan Sheng recognized him at a glance, though something about the scene before her felt strangely out of place.

In her previous life, she too had been punished in this grand hall, but at that time, Li Tianhen had not been present.

“Li Tianhen, do you intend to meddle in the private affairs of our Sacred Heaven Sect?” Feng Zeyan’s expression was displeased, his bravado thinly veiling his uncertainty.

“Sect Master Feng, you are mistaken. I simply believe that since this child dared to swear an oath upon her inner demons, she cannot be a bad person. Why not give her a chance to prove her innocence? If your little disciple lying on the ground was telling the truth, what fear is there in letting her swear an oath as well?”

Li Tianhen looked at Feng Zeyan with an indifferent gaze. Instantly, Feng Zeyan’s face grew exceedingly grim, clearly struggling to contain his anger.

“Furthermore, how old is this child? With such weak cultivation, Sect Master Feng, was that blow truly meant to teach her a lesson—or to take her life?”

After speaking, Li Tianhen swept his gaze over everyone in the hall, his smile cold and mocking.

“Fellow cultivators, what do you think?”

Upon hearing this, the crowd in the main hall instinctively nodded in agreement, and someone spoke up for Sinan Sheng.

“Li Sect Master is right. Sect Master Feng, blaming the child without listening to both sides is unjust. And your attack just now was indeed too heavy-handed—were you truly trying to end her life?”

“I would never take her life! I merely meant to teach her a lesson,” Feng Zeyan replied uncomfortably.

“A lesson? So, a full-force strike is what you call a lesson, Sect Master Feng? Those who know she is your disciple may understand, but anyone else might have taken her for your mortal enemy,” Li Tianhen drawled lazily.

“Li Tianhen, you’d best not interfere in the affairs of our Sacred Heaven Sect,” Feng Zeyan said, his tone thick with menace. Yet Li Tianhen seemed utterly unconcerned, as if he hadn’t noticed at all.

Li Tianhen gave a cold laugh, about to say more, when he noticed Sinan Sheng staring at him.

Her gaze was clear, without a hint of grievance.

“Thank you, Senior Li, for speaking on my behalf—but Master still refuses to believe me.” Sinan Sheng pouted, feigning a pitiful look.

“If none of them believe you, why not leave?” Li Tianhen raised an eyebrow at her.

“She? A good-for-nothing like her—where could she go after leaving Sacred Heaven Sect?” Shen Jingyuan sneered at Sinan Sheng.

He simply couldn’t believe she would be willing to leave. No matter what, she was a direct disciple here; outside, she’d be nothing but useless.

“Does Master and Senior Brother think of me as Second Brother does?” Sinan Sheng looked at Feng Zeyan and Su Heng with wide, innocent eyes.

No one answered her question, and disappointment clouded her face.

“Senior Li, do you happen to need a disciple?” Sinan Sheng took a deep breath and looked at Li Tianhen, her expression aggrieved.

Li Tianhen regarded her quietly for a moment. “…I do.”

“Would you mind taking in a useless disciple?” she continued.

“I don’t mind. The Four Gods Sect is small, but we can still feed a little good-for-nothing,” Li Tianhen replied, ignoring the stares of others and smiling at Sinan Sheng.

He observed her, curious about the mettle of this twelve-year-old child—how she’d handle the difficulties imposed by her sect, and how far she could go.

Upon hearing him call her a little good-for-nothing, Sinan Sheng didn’t sense any insult. Instead, she detected a trace of fondness, a tenderness she had never before experienced—something uniquely hers.

“Then, when I leave Sacred Heaven Sect, may I join the Four Gods Sect?”

“You may.”

At that, Sinan Sheng beamed at Li Tianhen, her smile radiant.

“Thank you, Senior Li. So even if I leave Sacred Heaven Sect, I still have somewhere to go.” Tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes.

In the eyes of the others, she was nothing but a pitiful little thing abandoned by her own.

“Sinan Sheng, what are you playing at? With so many elders present, saying such things—aren’t you putting Master in a difficult spot?” Senior Brother Su Heng glared at her, furious. What Sinan Sheng had just said to Li Tianhen was a hard slap to Feng Zeyan’s face!

She hadn’t even officially left the sect, yet she’d already arranged her own escape route.

“I don’t want to leave either, but none of you believe me. Second Brother even wants to dig out my spiritual root for Sister Xuewei. If that happens, I’ll be crippled, unworthy to remain in Sacred Heaven Sect. Since Senior Li is willing to take me in, of course I’ll choose to leave with him.”

Sinan Sheng’s eyes reddened as she staggered forward, drawing a small wooden sword from her storage ring.

“This is the last time I’ll call you Senior Brother. This wooden sword—you carved it for me yourself when I first joined Sacred Heaven Sect. You said that as long as I had it, you would always be my Senior Brother, and I could come to you with anything. Now, the sword remains, but I no longer need you. I return it to you, and ask you to give back my jade pendant—it’s the only thing my parents left me.”

She handed the small wooden sword to Su Heng and, with her other hand, took the jade pendant from his waist.

“Sinan Sheng!” Su Heng gritted his teeth, staring at her.

How dare she?

In the past, she had cherished that little wooden sword above all else, unwilling to let anyone else even touch it. Yet now, she returned it to him of her own accord.

And the jade pendant—she had once given it to him with joy, but now, she reclaimed it before so many witnesses.

“My things, I take back myself—as is only right,” Sinan Sheng said quietly, glancing at him.

“Sinan Sheng, don’t you dare regret this!” Su Heng snapped, snapping the little wooden sword in two and tossing it to the ground.

He expected Sinan Sheng to be as heartbroken as before, but she didn’t spare it a single glance.

Sinan Sheng’s heart was cold with laughter. In her previous life, it had been Su Heng who broke that sword. Back then, she had begged him in tears to spare it.

But he had said that she was not worthy to possess his things.

Now, she no longer cared. What was there for the exalted chief disciple of Sacred Heaven Sect to be so angry about?

“What do you want? I haven’t taken anything from you!” Shen Jingyuan frowned as Sinan Sheng approached him.

“Of course, I don’t intend to retrieve anything from you. When I first entered Sacred Heaven Sect, you gave me a few gifts, but later on, you took them all back and gave them to Liu Xuewei. All that’s left with me is a fire-element sword manual you once gave me. Unfortunately, I have a water spiritual root and cannot use it; I never even studied it. Now, I return it to its owner, and I owe you nothing.”

She stuffed the manual into Shen Jingyuan’s hands and turned away without so much as a backward glance.

Shen Jingyuan looked at the sword manual in his hands—it was just an ordinary technique he’d used before, a token he’d given her to win her favor.

He never expected she’d keep it all this time—let alone return it in front of so many people!

Frustrated and humiliated, he threw the manual to the ground.

Sinan Sheng had done this deliberately, to shame him before everyone.

When she reached Li Tianhen, Sinan Sheng handed him her jade pendant.