A quarter of an hour later, as no one else arrived, Zi Lingling lazily stood up and said, "Alas! You people are too slow, like crawling turtles. If there were a real enemy attack, you'd all be dead."
"Who are you? How dare you insult our Ancestor's statue! Get down at once!"
A stern-faced elder stepped forward, reprimanding Zi Lingling harshly.
This man was Leng Shiren, the Law Enforcement Elder of the Flowing Cloud Sect.
To display his authority, Leng Shiren maintained a perpetual scowl, his expression rarely changing. He was known behind his back as "Cold Death Man."
Zi Lingling gave a cold smile. "Insult? Then I'll insult it a little longer!"
"If you don't come down immediately, don't blame me for being impolite!"
Cold Death Man's grim face darkened, and a hint of anger flickered in his eyes.
"Impolite? I'd love to see how impolite you can get!"
Zi Lingling remained perched on the statue, looking utterly unfazed.
Her robes fluttered, and her voice dripped with disdain.
"You!"
Leng Shiren's face contorted with rage. He wanted to act, but dared not.
If he were to damage the Ancestor's statue, the loss would far outweigh any gain.
"Oh, right. From today onwards, the Flowing Cloud Sect belongs to me!"
Zi Lingling dropped a bombshell.
This was the truth. Back in the Misty Forest, Fu Liuyun had already agreed to surrender to her.
Although Fu Liuyun had been forced at the time, the deed was done, and even the King of Heaven himself couldn't deny it.
"Hmph!"
Leng Shiren snorted, cursing, "You brat, barely out of diapers, and you already have designs on the Flowing Cloud Sect? What do you take our sect for?"
Zi Lingling's aura turned icy. Spiritual energy gathered beneath her feet, and she launched herself off the statue.
"Slap!"
Before anyone could react, a loud smack echoed through the air.
Immediately after, a figure went flying.
Everyone was astonished, for the person sent flying was none other than Leng Shiren, who was in the middle stage of the Yuan Core realm.
After sending Leng Shiren flying, Zi Lingling drifted back to the statue, her expression serene.
She said coldly, "You're old enough to know better, yet your mouth is still so foul. You truly deserve a slap."
Leng Shiren, spun around seven hundred and twenty degrees in mid-air before crashing onto the plaza floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Pfft!"
He scrambled to his feet, spitting out a mouthful of blood in his fury. "I'll kill you!"
Spiritual energy rapidly coalesced in his hand, and a blast of wind shot towards Zi Lingling.
Of course, he had calculated the trajectory. Even if he missed Zi Lingling, it wouldn't damage the Ancestor's statue.
Zi Lingling lightly leaped, leaving the statue.
Not only that, but she also used her soul power to alter the direction of the wind blast.
Thus, Leng Shiren's carefully calculated target shifted from Zi Lingling on the statue to the statue itself.
"Crack!"
"Crash!"
As expected, the statue shattered.
Leng Shiren was dumbfounded!
The other elders were dumbfounded!
Even the disciples were dumbfounded.
From their perspective, the statue had been struck directly by Leng Shiren's palm strike and shattered.
"Oh my! How audacious! Daring to shatter the Ancestor's statue, you have some nerve!"
Zi Lingling's casual remark instantly snapped the stunned crowd back to reality.
All eyes shifted from the shattered Ancestor statue to Leng Shiren, glinting with schadenfreude.
These fiery gazes made Leng Shiren wish he could disappear into the ground.
He was the Law Enforcement Elder and had offended many people during his tenure.
Now, seeing that he had shattered the Ancestor's statue, committing a heinous crime, even if no one overtly rebuked him, they would surely make a note of it.
"You impudent girl, stop trying to sow discord! Today, I will capture you and make amends to the Ancestor!"
Saying this, Leng Shiren attacked Zi Lingling once more.
Zi Lingling dodged leisurely, her voice nonchalant. "Make amends? Indeed. Since Fu Liuyun has graciously gifted the Flowing Cloud Sect to me, I am obligated to purge any traitors."
As her words fell, Leng Shiren felt himself immobilized.
He looked down and found himself bound by a vine. Greatly alarmed, he channeled all his spiritual energy, attempting to break free.
But it was all in vain. No matter how he struggled, the vine remained unmoving.
How is this possible?
Leng Shiren stared at Zi Lingling in shock. He simply couldn't believe that this girl, who appeared to be only twelve or thirteen years old, could capture him so easily.
"Who exactly are you?"
Zi Lingling gave a faint smile. "Didn't I just tell you? From this day forward, the Flowing Cloud Sect belongs to me. So, who do you think I am?"
Leng Shiren sneered. "With you alone, you want to be the Sect Master of the Flowing Cloud Sect? Let alone the fact that our Sect Master has not abdicated, even if he did, it wouldn't be your turn, a mere child!"
Zi Lingling coldly chuckled. "Is that so? Then look, what is this?"
She said, and then produced an object – a Sound-Image Stone.
The Sound-Image Stone recorded Fu Liuyun's oath.
"Heaven bear witness, from this moment on, the Flowing Cloud Sect sincerely submits to Miss Zi, never to betray her. Should this oath be broken, the sect shall be destroyed, and its people perish!"
Within the Sound-Image Stone, Fu Liuyun's every word struck the hearts of everyone in the Flowing Cloud Sect like a hammer.
"How can this be? This isn't real! The Sect Master wouldn't do this!"
Leng Shiren stared at the endlessly looping Sound-Image Stone in disbelief, his face a mask of fury.
"Pfft!"
He spat out another mouthful of blood.
"Can't you tell if it's real or not?" Zi Lingling sneered at him. "Now, does this position of Sect Master belong to me, a mere child?"
"Impossible! Impossible! I want to hear the Sect Master admit it himself!"
"Admit it himself?" Zi Lingling shook her head. "I cannot make a dead man admit this to you personally."
"A dead man? You killed the Sect Master?" The flames of fury blazed in Leng Shiren's eyes.
Zi Lingling scoffed. "I wish I could have personally killed that disobedient dog, but alas, your Ancestor, who wears human skin, beat me to it."
Given the strange rule that each generation's Sect Master could only serve for ten years and must enter a forbidden area to the demon seal before their death, Zi Lingling had no doubt that the Flowing Cloud Sect's Ancestor was connected to the black-robed figure.
Leng Shiren roared, "Silence! Ignorant child! Not only do you insult our Sect Master, but you dare to insult our Ancestor!"
"Insult?" Zi Lingling chuckled coldly. "Do they need me to insult them?"
"Fu Liuyun coveted the treasures I possessed and attempted to kill me for them, but he was defeated. To save his life, he agreed to surrender the entire Flowing Cloud Sect to me and swore a heavenly oath. Yet, he acted one way outwardly and another inwardly, luring me into the Flowing Cloud Sect, setting a trap, and trying to kill me. Does such a scumbag need me to insult him?"