I manage female characters in all the heavens.

"A slip of the tongue?" Yaoyue tilted her head slightly, her emotionless eyes fixed on her. "So, deep down, you really think Yingri is more suitable to be the Palace Master than me?"

"No... not..."

"Palm mouth."

"Snapped!"

A disciple in palace attire stepped forward and slapped the female disciple across the face without hesitation. This was Yaoyue's maid.

She struck so hard that the disciple was knocked to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Pat again."

"Snapped!"

Another slap.

Yaoyue watched all this indifferently until the female disciple's cheek was swollen high, then slowly raised her hand:

"stop."

She stood up, walked down the steps, and stood before the three female disciples, looking down at them condescendingly.

"I know that you think Yingri is amazing, that she wiped out the Eastern Depot's army and brought honor to the Yihua Palace."

"I do not deny that she did do something commendable."

She paused, her voice suddenly turning icy: "But no matter how remarkable she is, she is still my junior sister, the Third Palace Master of the Yihua Palace."

"You may respect her, you may admire her, but if I hear anyone say that she is more suitable to be the palace master than I am—"

She reached out and gently patted the swollen cheek of the leading female disciple: "Then you are challenging my authority and the rules of the Yihua Palace."

"I never show mercy to those who challenge my authority. This time it was just a slap in the face. If there is a next time, I will cripple their martial arts and expel them from the Yihua Palace."

"Did you understand?"

"I...I understand..." the three replied in trembling voices.

"roll."

The three of them felt as if they had been granted a pardon and scrambled out of the Yihua Palace.

Yaoyue watched their departing figures, her face expressionless, but a barely perceptible shadow flickered deep in her eyes.

Yaoyue was angry because her authority had been challenged, which made her, who was always the one to do what she wanted and was domineering, very unhappy and gave her a sense of unease that the situation was getting out of control.

Therefore, she punished the few Yihua Palace disciples who had overheard praising Yingri, in an attempt to suppress this unhealthy trend and bring the situation back under control.

She turned around and instructed the female official beside her: "Pass down the word that from today onwards, all disciples in the palace are strictly forbidden from discussing the three palace masters. Those who violate this rule will be severely punished."

"Yes."

The disciple accepted the order and departed.

However, her actions were ineffective and had the opposite effect.

The disciples of Yihua Palace felt even more that Yaoyue was petty and narrow-minded, and they respected the approachable and cheerful Third Palace Master even more.

The idea that "inviting the moon is not as good as reflecting the sun" has become so popular that it is almost an irreversible trend.

They're all incredibly audacious people.

Inviting the Moon: "..."

She stood alone in the empty hall, gazing at the portraits of the past masters of Yihua Palace on the wall, remaining silent for a long time.

Am I going to become the first palace master in the history of Yihua Palace to be forced into power?

For the first time, Yaoyue felt that this junior sister's existence posed a real threat to her.

It wasn't a threat of force—she was confident that her Mingyu Kung Fu had reached the ninth level, making her invincible.

Rather, it is... a threat to people's hearts.

Lianxing Pavilion.

Lianxing sat by the window, holding a cup of warm tea in her hands, gazing at the darkening sky outside, a complex expression on her face.

She naturally overheard the discussions about Junior Sister Yingri and herself.

Everyone says, "The Second Palace Master is an excellent deputy," but why can't I be the head? Am I not worthy?

She admitted that she felt a little bittersweet.

After all, she was the second palace master of Yihua Palace, a peerless master of the eighth level of Mingyu Gong, and the chief steward in charge of the daily operations of Yihua Palace.

As a result, in the eyes of his disciples, he was just an excellent deputy?

Sure enough, once a butler, always a butler; never a master.

She felt somewhat disappointed, as if her role as the Second Palace Mistress was becoming less and less significant.

I used to be suppressed by my older sister, and now I'm suppressed by both my older sister and junior sister.

Is she destined to live her whole life in the shadow of others?

She got up and walked towards Yingri Pavilion.

Feeling down? Go out and soak up some sun.

……

Headquarters of the Demon Extermination Alliance.

An emergency meeting is underway, but the atmosphere is more somber than ever before.

They also received news that the Demon Lord Yingri had single-handedly defeated the Eastern Depot's army, which made them realize even more clearly the invincibility of their opponent. Their ever-growing confidence in destroying the demon was immediately put to the test, and there was a tendency for it to be extinguished.

They were suffocated by Ying Ri's strength and no longer knew whether their own demon-slaying army could defeat Ying Ri.

The hall was filled with over a thousand people, all of whom were leaders, elders, and veteran martial arts masters from various sects. Each of them had a solemn expression and a furrowed brow.

"I'm sure you all already know the news that the Demon Lord Yingri defeated the Eastern Depot's 50,000-strong army." Xu Yuanzhou, one of the 36 elders of the Demon Extermination Alliance and the leader of the Canghai Sect, who was sitting in the main seat, spoke slowly.

The Demon Extermination Alliance is not the kind of alliance with a leader; all matters are discussed and decided by an elder council composed of 36 elders, which is very democratic.

His voice was hoarse and his tone was somewhat somber: "The reason I have gathered you all here today is to discuss countermeasures."

"A countermeasure?" A burly man looked confused. "What other countermeasures can we discuss? Fifty thousand elite troops couldn't defeat her. Our Demon Extermination Alliance doesn't even have ten thousand men. How can we fight her?"

“That’s not how it works,” another old man said, stroking his beard. “Although the Eastern Depot’s Jiangdong garrison is elite, it is ultimately just a secular army.”

"The warriors of our Demon Extermination Alliance are all elites from various sects and schools, far superior to ordinary armies."

"Then what should we say?" The burly man snapped out of his daze, his temper flaring, and sneered.

"Do you know how long it took that Demon Lord Ying Ri to defeat his army of 50,000? The time it takes for an incense stick to burn! His 50,000 men were routed! Even if our martial artists are stronger than the government troops, how much stronger can they really be?"

"So, according to you, we'll just give up and let that devil go free?"

That's not what I meant...

"Then what do you mean!"

Just as the two sides were about to start arguing, Xu Yuanzhou suddenly slammed his hand on the table:

"enough!"

The hall fell silent. Xu Yuanzhou took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, his voice heavy:

"Is there anyone knowledgeable enough to analyze for us whether our Demon-Slaying Army has a chance to destroy the Sun-Reflecting Demon?"

An elderly man with white hair and beard, dressed in scholar's robes, stepped forward. He came from the Murong family and wielded immense power in both the martial arts world and the imperial court; he was a professional.

After his analysis, he concluded that although their hastily assembled demon-slaying army was individually powerful, it was not much stronger than the 50,000 elite troops of Jiangdong led by the Eastern Depot, who maintained strict order.

This further dampened the already waning confidence of the Demon Extermination Alliance, causing many to become disheartened and believe that they had already failed even before taking action.

Someone else spoke up, and this time it was a bombshell: "Since Yingri has gone to war with the Eastern Depot, and they've even gone to the point of using their brains, it seems that the previous claim that Yingri was Liu Xi's godmother was probably just a rumor."

"The actual release date was not Liu happy's godmother, but she also had a grudge against him and the Eastern Depot. The two sides were not on the same side."

"If that's the case, why should we go against Yingri?"

This directly diminished the legitimacy of the Demon Extermination Alliance's campaign against Yingri. Many who had joined the Demon Extermination Alliance to fight Yingri because of the Eastern Depot were now confused and reflecting on what foolish things they had been doing these past few days.

Various opinions arose, and the meeting room instantly turned into a noisy marketplace.

For a time, the Demon Extermination Alliance even showed signs of falling apart.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.

"Report! It is Wei Wuyuan, the leader of the Twelve Constellations and the master of the Toothless Sect, who requests an audience!"

Upon hearing this, the argument abruptly stopped, and the entire room erupted in uproar.

"Wei Wuyuan?! Didn't he die in Anqing?"

"Wasn't it said that he fought the Demon Lord Yingri at the Jiang residence and was beaten to a pulp? How is he still alive?"

How many rumors are there in this world!

Xu Yuanzhou frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said, "Please let him in."

A moment later, a short figure slowly entered from outside the door, wearing a new wheelchair, but his shifty eyes remained unchanged.

Wei Wuyuan sat in his spare wheelchair, his face somewhat pale.

He glanced around, met the wary gazes, grinned, revealing a set of uneven, yellow teeth:

"Gentlemen, please don't be so tense. I'm here today not to cause trouble, but to offer my help."

"Help?" Xu Yuanzhou stared at him. "Help with what?"

"Of course, I'll help you destroy the demons." Wei Wuyuan pushed his wheelchair slowly to the center of the hall.

"I see you're arguing fiercely. I have some firsthand information here that can help you strengthen your resolve and unite as one."

Everyone looked at each other.

"What intelligence do you have?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Wei Wuyuan smiled and asked, "Do you all know what kind of martial arts that 'Sun-Reflecting Demon' uses?"

"Of course, it's the Bright Jade Skill and the Jade Shifting Technique of the Flower Shifting Palace!"

“That’s right.” Wei Wuyuan nodded. “But what you don’t know is that she also knows an even more terrifying martial art—the Absorption Technique.”