Zheng Yue had originally been trapped in a narrow, boundless void, with no way to break free. Now that the environment around him changed abruptly, he reacted instantly.
The moment he appeared, he immediately sensed the presence of those around him.
There was Feng Songhua… and… Su Wenjing!
Zheng Yue swiftly locked onto Su Wenjing’s location, and was about to make his move.
But the first one to stop him wasn’t Su Wenjing—it was Feng Songhua.
Feng Songhua’s chains wrapped around Zheng Yue’s hand.
Zheng Yue turned angrily, demanding, “What are you doing?!”
By rights, Feng Songhua and he were supposed to be on the same side.
Though Zheng Yue was angry, furious even, after being pulled back by Feng Songhua, he really did stop.
These two Nascent Soul cultivators stationed at the Ascension Platform had a considerable level of trust in each other.
Li Yunxian and Su Wenjing realized this immediately.
This wasn’t strange.
Back at the Ascension Platform, Feng Songhua, acting as a neutral party, had shown some bias as well.
If his relationship with Zheng Yue had been poor, things would have turned out very differently.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
At the time, Feng Songhua certainly wouldn’t have chosen to capture Li Yunxian.
But in this situation, even if it ended up as a two-on-one, Su Wenjing was unafraid.
Su Wenjing’s only response was to move slightly closer to Li Yunxian, so he could deploy a space defense for her at the first sign of danger.
Li Yunxian glanced up at Su Wenjing, but at this moment she didn’t bother saying anything like, “I don’t need anyone’s protection.”
A necessary show of weakness can be useful.
If the other side had guarded against her, she wouldn’t have so easily subdued that Nascent Soul back at the Ascension Platform.
***
Meanwhile, Feng Songhua didn’t notice the subtle reaction between the two of them. Hearing Zheng Yue’s furious voice, his previous irritable tone when chatting with Li Yunxian faded, replaced by calm.
“This is a hotel. There are civilians here,” Feng Songhua said.
Other than the invited guests, everyone inside the Ascension Platform was above the Nascent Soul stage.
If they fought, then so be it—none of them were so easily killed. At worst, it would only wear down the Ascension Platform.
But here at the hotel, there were many people with low or even no cultivation at all.
An attack at the Nascent Soul stage—even just a bit of released spiritual pressure—could easily cost these people their lives.
Only now did Zheng Yue notice something was off about the location. His face darkened as he glared at Su Wenjing, but he still put away his weapon.
Before Zheng Yue could say a word, a female voice echoed in everyone’s ears.
“So you are capable of holding back after all. I thought your morality only ever used yourself as the standard.”
Li Yunxian’s voice was gentle, almost soft and tender, but to those on the receiving end, it felt no different from having someone point at your nose and curse you out.
Su Wenjing froze, turning to glance at Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian had only been casually watching the two opposite them, never expecting Su Wenjing would be the first to react.
Li Yunxian: “?”
She looked back at him, puzzled.
What kind of reaction was that from Su Wenjing?
He hadn’t spoken—wasn’t he the one who usually failed at trading barbs with the other side?
Thinking back on her conversations with Su Wenjing, most of the time it was him who ended up storming off in frustration.
The few times he got in a retort, he’d gloat over it for ages.
Given that, and now that fighting was out of the question, clearly the only thing left was to argue—so of course it was her turn to step in, wasn’t it?
Is there a problem?
Of course… no problem at all.
Being protected by someone else was truly a novel experience for Su Wenjing.
He hadn’t gone through something like this in a very, very long time.
Su Wenjing gave Li Yunxian a complicated look, then quietly averted his eyes.
Li Yunxian: “??”
This fox doesn’t seem to be any good at talking, and maybe not much better at thinking, either.
Zheng Yue, on the other hand, was so angry at her words that he nearly fainted.
As a righteous cultivator who had cultivated all the way to the Nascent Soul stage, this was the first time anyone had ever called his character into question so directly.
After taking a deep breath, Zheng Yue regained his composure, glaring at Li Yunxian with a nasty expression as he mocked, “Is this a situation where a junior like you gets to speak?”
Li Yunxian remained in her feeble, fragile posture, answering calmly, “So you only pretend to care about the weak in general, but when it comes to a real person, the act vanishes, huh?”
“Before, you felt the Nascent Soul was weaker than you, so you didn’t care about his wishes, and casually handed his information over to those who meant him harm.”
“Now that the Nascent Soul has beaten you up and you don’t dare say anything, you’ve started picking on me, a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”
“You really are getting more and more pathetic with age.”
Listening to Li Yunxian’s last, reflective summary, Su Wenjing fell completely silent.
What a poisonous tongue!!!
When others were around, Su Wenjing used to think he just made excuses about not being able to argue with the Ascension Platform crowd.
He would flex his muscles first, look for an opportunity to fight.
But now, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
Maybe his mouth really was useless after all…
Zheng Yue’s face went dark as thunderclouds, and the weapon he had just put away unconsciously returned to his hand, buzzing with spiritual energy.
“If you can’t win with words, you’re just going to use force?” Li Yunxian pressed her relentless attack. “Using violence to convince others—isn’t that the way of the foreign tribes?”
“Or do you honestly believe that everything you’ve done is perfectly justified?”
“Are our demands truly unreasonable?”
After she finished, Li Yunxian looked up slightly, her eyes carrying a hint of a smile. “Will you apologize, or insist you did nothing wrong? Senior, will you pick one?”
Su Wenjing and Feng Songhua both fell silent.
So ruthless.
To Zheng Yue, apologizing would be utterly humiliating.
But if he insisted he wasn’t wrong…
Those who walk the righteous path all have their own moral standards.
Usually, they’d tell themselves that nobody’s perfect, that the path of cultivation is a struggle against their own inner darkness, that it’s okay to accept the occasional mistake.
But accepting that in one’s heart, and outright declaring oneself blameless, were two different things…
Directly saying “I wasn’t wrong” would be tantamount to destroying his own Dao heart.
Two choices, but really only one.
People really shouldn’t make comparisons.
Feng Songhua remembered how, back at the Ascension Platform, all it took was a few of Li Yunxian’s barbs to get under his skin…
Li Yunxian actually seemed rather gentle with him by comparison?
Zheng Yue’s face twisted through a series of ugly expressions, glaring daggers at the two before him for a long moment, his teeth grinding audibly.
No matter how much he tried to bottle up his anger, in the end, after taking several deep breaths, his gaze finally settled on Su Wenjing.
“Fine, it was my fault, all right!” Zheng Yue snapped.
Receiving this apology he’d never even hoped to get, Su Wenjing felt a strange sensation in his heart.
He tilted his head slightly to glance at Li Yunxian.
She only gave him a subtle lift of her brow and eyes. Even with hardly any change in her expression, Su Wenjing could sense a bit of pride there.
It was as if Li Yunxian was saying to him—
The apology you wanted, I’ve gotten it for you.
Su Wenjing:
His heart pounded in his chest.
Suddenly, Su Wenjing felt like he understood, just a little, why in another world, those friends of hers would be willing to follow her in flipping the world upside down.
Being Li Yunxian’s companion versus her opponent—what a world of difference!
As for Li Yunxian herself, she merely swept Su Wenjing a glance before turning her attention back to Zheng Yue.
“That’s your idea of an apology?” Li Yunxian said.
Su Wenjing felt just getting Zheng Yue to spit out those words was enough, but Li Yunxian was far from satisfied.
“If a Great Ascension cultivator bullied you, then said, ‘Fine, it was my fault, all right,’ would you accept it?” Li Yunxian didn’t even wait for an answer. “If so…”
As her words trailed off, Li Yunxian gave Su Wenjing a tiny wave. “Then Su Wenjing, next time you see him, just beat him up every time. Afterward, be sure to say, ‘Fine, it was my fault, all right.’”
Zheng Yue’s face turned from green to white.
He valued his reputation far too much—there was no way he could utter a more genuine apology.
In the end, he grit his teeth and, instead, asked the two in front of him, “Do you two treat everyone this way?”
Li Yunxian replied crisply, “If you repay virtue with virtue, how will you repay grievances?”
She then calmly looked at Zheng Yue. “Toward those who aren’t my enemies, I think I still have a decent reputation in this respect.”
Stunned by Li Yunxian’s answer, Zheng Yue stared at her slightly pale, indifferent expression for a long moment, and only then did it dawn on him…
The person standing in front of him was Li Yunxian.
That Li Yunxian.
Recalling everything Li Yunxian had done in , Zheng Yue opened his mouth, but in the end, had nothing to say.
Li Yunxian really was qualified to say these things to him.
Zheng Yue felt as though his mind had suddenly cleared.
After a moment’s silence, Zheng Yue didn’t try to justify himself any further. He bowed to Su Wenjing.
“I’m sorry.”
“If necessary, I can offer some compensation.”
Su Wenjing looked at Zheng Yue before him, then at Li Yunxian.
…How did she do that?
Though still a little dazed, Su Wenjing had played the role of the calm, unflappable Professor Su for so long that nothing showed on his face.
Without any words of forgiveness, Su Wenjing merely followed up on Zheng Yue’s last statement with a single question.
“Who asked you about me, and who did you pass the message to?”
Zheng Yue was silent for a moment, then answered.
“Bo Xing, Ding Buchun.”
“He inquired, and I answered offhandedly without thinking much of it.”
“Though it sounds like an excuse, he is my friend and also a guest elder of the Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce. But I never expected so many people would end up knowing.”
Hearing this, Li Yunxian and Su Wenjing exchanged a glance.
The other Nascent Soul cultivator Su Wenjing had captured from Wanyu Mountain had also, according to the previous list, belonged to the Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce.