Both of them were people who had experienced Rebirth.
Especially in their previous lives, when Luo Mingyue still considered Bai Nishang a close friend and told her everything without reservation.
She had even shared some of the fundamental secrets of her livelihood with Bai Nishang.
Among these were details about her sword,
as well as the sword manuals and sword techniques she had chosen for herself.
It was fair to say that Bai Nishang understood her almost as well as she understood herself.
Yet Luo Mingyue had no idea that
every time she thought she was sharing confidences with a best friend, Bai Nishang viewed it as a blatant display of arrogance.
All of this filled Bai Nishang with boundless jealousy! Why? Why should Luo Mingyue be stronger than her? Just because she possessed the Inborn Sword Body?
Bai Nishang had long been consumed by a maddening jealousy, but now, having experienced Rebirth,
what she intended to do
was to replicate Luo Mingyue's path and leave Luo Mingyue with nowhere to go!
Consequently, she had preemptively seized Luo Mingyue's sword.
Today, she had waited outside the Sword Pavilion early in the morning and had her loyal bootlicker Lu Yan intercept Luo Mingyue outside.
Her sole purpose was to steal the sword manuals and sword techniques that Luo Mingyue had cultivated in her past life.
She wanted to replace Luo Mingyue! To become the second Luo Mingyue!
As for why Luo Mingyue—despite being a person of Rebirth and supposedly retaining her memories from the past life, which should have allowed her to cultivate even without manuals—could not do so,
such a situation simply did not exist in this great-heroine web novel titled *Ripples in Canglan*! The original author's logic defied all reason.
To suppress Luo Mingyue, the author had added an absurd rule:
Upon rebirth, one remembers everything except the cultivation techniques and sword techniques.
Therefore, even though Luo Mingyue had undergone Rebirth,
she still needed to reacquire her sword manuals and sword techniques.
Yet right now,
the two jade slips cradled in Bai Nishang's arms were precisely the sword manual that Luo Mingyue had practiced in her past life,
the *Ascending Wind Sword Manual*,
along with its matching sword technique,
*Ascending Wind*.
"Senior Sister Mingyue, what are you up to this time?"
Bai Nishang asked with a cheeky smile, turning the jade slips over and over in her hands.
"Could it be that you failed in your attempt to snatch my sword yesterday,
and now you want to steal my sword manual today?
Senior Sister Mingyue, I really misjudged you. Why do you want to grab everything your junior sister has?
Perhaps next time, you'll even want to snatch my mother away?"
As soon as these words fell, nearby Sword Sect disciples stopped in their tracks and instinctively glanced over in this direction.
Sure enough, they saw Luo Mingyue staring intently at the jade slips in Bai Nishang's arms, and immediately frowned.
"Senior Sister Mingyue,"
one disciple said, "Junior Sister Nishang came to the Sword Pavilion very early today, and she spent a long time searching for this sword manual. If you really want a suitable sword manual, you should find one yourself.
Besides, a sword manual that suits Junior Sister Nishang might not suit you."
"That's right, that's right! Senior brother is right,"
Bai Nishang chimed in, adopting her pitiful, innocent-flower expression once again.
"But if Senior Sister Mingyue truly wants this sword manual of mine, I suppose I can just give it to you.
After all, since we're good sisters, we shouldn't let a mere sword manual ruin our bond as best friends."
As she spoke,
she held out the sword manual toward Luo Mingyue.
While her face looked pitiful and aggrieved, the depths of her eyes were filled with utter disdain and provocation.
She understood Luo Mingyue, which was why she was gambling!
She was betting that Luo Mingyue cared too much about her pride and would be forced to swallow this bitter pill in silence.
Just like yesterday's sword! When Bai Nishang had brazenly and proactively offered it to her, Luo Mingyue had no choice but to endure it! Haha.
This feeling was endlessly satisfying!
Sure enough, seeing the jade slips extended toward her, Luo Mingyue's expression turned ashen.
She turned on her heel, intending to leave right then and there!
The mocking smile at the corners of Bai Nishang's lips grew even wider.
Yet at that exact moment, the iron sword behind Luo Mingyue let out a sharp "whoosh" as it shot out from its scabbard.
The next instant,
it slashed straight toward Bai Nishang! Luo Mingyue's eyelids twitched, and her expression changed drastically.
"No!"
Bai Nishang was equally terrified, never expecting that Luo Mingyue would dare to attack her right here. In her panic, she dropped the jade slips she was holding
and scrambled backward.
The two jade slips hit the ground with a soft thud.
Yet how could items from the world of immortal cultivation be broken so easily? The two jade slips landed on the ground completely unharmed.
However, immediately afterward,
spiritual energy erupted from the iron sword, and it slashed directly downward at the jade slips on the ground.
With a crisp "crack,"
the jade slips shattered into pieces!
The iron sword slid back into its scabbard.
Silence descended upon the Sword Pavilion.
A trace of panic still lingered on Bai Nishang's pale, unsightly face.
"You..."
"You..."
"Luo Mingyue..."
After a brief moment of shock, Luo Mingyue regained her composure.
"Since it was given to me, I have every right to destroy it!"
"You destroyed a Sword Pavilion manual! Luo Mingyue, you are in big trouble."
Bai Nishang shrieked hysterically.
She had spent the entire morning searching the Sword Pavilion just to find the sword manual Luo Mingyue had cultivated in her past life.
How could she not fly into a rage now that it had been destroyed by Luo Mingyue?
"Then go report me to the Enforcement Hall,"
Luo Mingyue said calmly.
"You can also ask the elders of the Enforcement Hall whether my Inborn Sword Body is more important, or a mere sword manual.
Let the elders of the Enforcement Hall weigh which is heavier and which is lighter."
Bai Nishang froze completely.
Although Luo Mingyue appeared lighthearted and unconcerned at the moment, her overall aura carried a crushing, overwhelming pressure—completely unlike the Luo Mingyue she remembered.
What...
what was going on here?
Could it be that losing her sword yesterday had dealt such a heavy blow that her personality had completely changed?
"Hmph!"
"Anyway, I will not let this matter rest today."
Deciding to drop all pretense, Bai Nishang turned to face the Sword Sect disciples who were watching the scene unfold. Her face instantly shifted to one of fragile, heart-wrenching vulnerability.
"My fellow senior brothers, you've all seen this.
I'm afraid Senior Sister Mingyue and I can no longer be sisters after today.
Even now, I still have no idea how I offended her. Back on Sunday in the Sword Tomb, she tried to snatch my sword,
and today she destroyed my sword manual!
From this day forward, I, Bai Nishang, will be at irreconcilable odds with Luo Mingyue, and our bond as sisters shall sever like this lock of hair."
With that, she swung a blade, and a strand of hair fell from beside her ear.
Yet when Bai Nishang turned back to look for Luo Mingyue, she discovered that Luo Mingyue had already vanished without a trace.
Bai Nishang's expression grew even uglier.
It felt as though she had eaten dog feces, or thrown a heavy punch only to hit a soft cloud.
...
At the same time,
at Sword Peak,
within the Sect Master's Main Hall.
Jian Wuming, the Sect Master of the Sword Sect, wore wide-sleeved azure robes and possessed an extraordinary bearing.
Bai Yue, the Master of Spirit Sword Peak, was a middle-aged woman.
Though well-maintained and smooth-skinned, faint wrinkles still lingered around the corners of her eyes and brows.
"Sect Master Senior Brother, I wonder what business you had that brought Junior Sister here today?"
Bai Yue asked with a light chuckle.
"Junior Sister spent the entire night cultivating, and was just in the middle of a bath when Senior Brother's summoning sword talisman called me over."
Jian Wuming frowned.
He bypassed the subject entirely and asked,
"Was Junior Sister cultivating on Spirit Sword Peak last night?"
"Of course."
Bai Yue replied nonchalantly with a nod.
"As the Peak Master of Spirit Sword Peak, naturally I cultivate on Spirit Sword Peak. What do you mean by asking that, Senior Brother?
Could it be that you think I neglected my duties?"