Apropos the jade bed, Lu Ning was slightly dumbfounded.
She knew she was truly in trouble this time.
The three minutes of early Mahayana stage experience provided by the Blind Box Experience Card had been far too short.
Moreover, she had wasted too much time earlier trying to stop her rebellious disciple, Gu Qinghuan.
Now that the card’s duration had ended, she had reverted to being a weak woman with only a peak Soul Transformation stage cultivation.
In front of Ji Linglong, she was like a lamb targeted by a giant dragon, lacking even the qualification to resist.
“Little liar, weren’t you quite majestic just now?”
Ji Linglong’s fingertips lightly brushed across Lu Ning’s cheek, which had turned pale due to the sudden drop in her aura.
Her voice was full of playfulness.
“Why aren’t you speaking now? Are you tired, or are you afraid?”
Lu Ning felt a sense of helplessness.
Since she could no longer face her head-on, she could only choose to use her wits.
After gathering her senses, she looked at Ji Linglong with an affectionate gaze.
“Sister Linglong, the past affection between us runs deep. In the end, I simply couldn’t bring myself to strike you.”
Hearing this, Ji Linglong’s movements paused slightly.
She looked into Lu Ning’s pitiful eyes, a playful smile appearing on her noble and cold face.
“Little liar, were you unwilling to strike, or did you lack the strength to do so?”
Ji Linglong gently tilted Lu Ning’s chin upward.
“An Ning, you’ve become weak. You couldn’t even maintain your early Mahayana strength.”
A flicker of embarrassment flashed across Lu Ning’s face as her thoughts were exposed, but she quickly adjusted her mindset.
“Sister Linglong, how about this? I’ll give you the position of Sect Master of the Tianmo Sect. I only hope you can let me go.”
“An Ning, it seems you still don’t understand.”
Ji Linglong’s voice sounded in Lu Ning’s ear, carrying a hint of indulgence.
“What I want has never been the position of Sect Master. From beginning to end, the only thing I have ever wanted is you.”
She paused, a cunning light flashing in her golden phoenix eyes.
“However, I can naturally see that you held back earlier. As expected, you do have me in your heart. You still remember all the intimate things from our past. Therefore, I shall reward you well.”
“Sister Linglong, what… what do you want to do!”
Lu Ning’s voice carried a hint of panic.
However, Ji Linglong slowly lowered her head, her warm breath spraying against Lu Ning’s ear.
Her hands settled on Lu Ning’s oversized black Sect Master robes.
“An Ning, you wouldn’t want to wake your unconscious disciple beside you, would you? Then you’ll have to hold it in…”
Ji Linglong’s teasing voice echoed in Lu Ning’s ear.
“Of course, it wouldn’t matter if she woke up. If she goes berserk again, do you still have the strength to stop her?”
Lu Ning: “…”
After saying this, Ji Linglong gave Lu Ning no chance to react and began her reward.
Lu Ning attempted to struggle, trying to break free from the restraint, but her peak Soul Transformation cultivation was powerless before Ji Linglong.
Later, no matter how much she begged in a low voice for the other to stop, Ji Linglong only increased her overbearing doting.
“An Ning, don’t be afraid. I will be very gentle, just like back in the imperial palace.”
…
Half a day later, Ji Linglong finally let Lu Ning go, feeling satisfied for the time being.
She looked at the little liar who was now limp in her arms, her eyes hollow as if she had lost her soul, and a smile appeared on her face.
Just as Ji Linglong was about to lean in toward Lu Ning again, an incomparable and terrifying pressure suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping the entire Tianmo Sect.
That pressure felt as if it came from the primordial era, causing the heavens and earth to change color.
Inside the Sovereign Hall, Ji Linglong’s expression changed drastically the moment she felt this pressure.
She slowly stood up, gently placed Lu Ning back on the jade bed, and covered her with a quilt.
Then, she turned around, her gaze piercing through the walls of the hall to look at the sky outside.
The originally clear sky had turned pitch black at some point.
A giant beast, as massive as a mountain, was hovering silently above the Tianmo Sect.
It was covered in a layer of pitch-black scales, upon which purple-black flames burned.
Two pairs of hideous horns grew from its head, flickering with lightning.
Its four hooves stepped upon black auspicious clouds, and a world-destroying pressure radiated from its body.
It was A-Lin, who had rushed back from the outside!
She had returned.
Moreover, she had descended in her most powerful form, her true Dark Qilin body.
As for the Xuantian Holy Lord and the other two, the moment they saw A-Lin lose her patience and reveal her true form, they had immediately fled.
Against such an ancient beast of legend, they stood no chance at all.
Being able to escape with their lives was already extremely lucky.
At this moment, the Tianmo Sect was already in a state of chaos.
All the disciples and elders were scared out of their wits, trembling after feeling the terrifying pressure of the ancient beast.
They had no idea what was happening.
It seemed the Tianmo Sect had provoked an existence a hundred times more terrifying than the previous Righteous Path Alliance.
“What… what kind of monster is this?”
Elder Yanmo struggled to lift his head, looking at the giant beast that blotted out the sun.
His voice was shaking.
Outside the Sovereign Hall, Ji Linglong looked at the massive Dark Qilin in the sky, a flash of realization crossing her golden phoenix eyes.
She finally understood why that little girl from before could compete with her while only being at the peak Mahayana stage.
As it turned out, her true form was an ancient beast that only existed in legends.
Interesting.
The corners of Ji Linglong’s mouth slowly curled into an arc.
Her previous battle with Lu Ning had been too short, leaving her unsatisfied.
She happened to want to test what level she had reached after returning from the Divine Phoenix Ancestral Land.
She also wanted to see which was superior: her ancient Phoenix with a returned bloodline, or that Dark Qilin that had gone extinct in ancient times.
With this thought, Ji Linglong no longer hesitated.
Her figure blurred as she appeared directly in the sky above the Tianmo Sect, facing the giant Dark Qilin from a distance.
“Little thing, we meet again. It seems those three were quite useless since they couldn’t stop you.”
In the sky, the giant Dark Qilin’s eyes were filled with overwhelming rage the moment she saw Ji Linglong.
“Bad woman, you actually bullied her!”
A deafening roar erupted from A-Lin’s mouth.
She sensed the aura belonging to Sister Lu Ning radiating from Ji Linglong’s body.
Furthermore, that aura was very dense.
This meant that during the time she was away, this bad woman must have done something outrageous to Sister Lu Ning!
At the thought of this possibility, the fire of rage in A-Lin’s heart could no longer be suppressed.
“Roar — “
She let out a roar toward the sky, opening her massive maw that was large enough to swallow the world.
A terrifying pillar of fire, condensed from purple-black flames, swept toward Ji Linglong.
Everywhere the flames passed, space was incinerated as if a hole were being burned through the heavens.
However, facing this strike that could boil mountains and seas, Ji Linglong slowly raised her right hand and waved it casually toward the sweeping pillar of flame.
A surge of golden Divine Phoenix Fire erupted from her palm.
In the next moment, the two vastly different flames collided in mid-air.
The purple-black flames spat out by the Dark Qilin vanished silently the moment they touched the golden fire.
It was as if they had never existed.
Seeing this, A-Lin was slightly dumbfounded.
She hadn’t expected her innate divine ability to be neutralized so effortlessly by the opponent.
This bad woman was even stronger than before!
“Little thing, it seems you have plenty of strength but don’t know how to use it!”
Ji Linglong looked at A-Lin’s shocked expression, a “kind” smile appearing on her face.
“But it doesn’t matter. Today, I shall properly teach you what it means to use power.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the 100-foot-tall ancient Divine Phoenix avatar, burning with golden divine flames, slowly emerged behind Ji Linglong once again.
The avatar let out a high-pitched phoenix cry toward the sky.
Immediately following that, the entire heaven and earth were enveloped in a sea of golden fire.
Inside the Tianmo Sect, the elders hurriedly activated the defensive arrays to block it.
Above the sect, Ji Linglong hovered in the center of the golden sea of fire.
Her luxurious palace dress looked increasingly sacred and inviolable under the reflection of the divine flames.
The Divine Phoenix avatar behind her was lifelike, and every time it flapped its wings, it brought forth overwhelming waves of fire.
On the other side, A-Lin’s Dark Qilin form similarly displayed the supreme majesty of an ancient beast.
“Bad woman! What on earth did you do to Sister Lu Ning!”
Hearing this, Ji Linglong’s lips curled into a playful arc.
“Naturally, I did some things that should be done between us.”
Her words were casual but filled with provocation.
“You!”
A-Lin was so angry her head felt like it was spinning.
She no longer hesitated.
“Roar — !”
She roared toward the heavens, her massive body stomping forward.
Beneath her four hooves, black clouds tumbled, and streaks of purple-black lightning appeared out of thin air.
Like countless wildly dancing lightning snakes, they bit toward Ji Linglong frantically.
This was the innate divine ability of the Dark Qilin clan: Dark Thunder Heavenly Punishment.
If an ordinary peak Mahayana expert were hit by these thousands of lightning bolts, their soul would likely be reduced to ashes instantly.
However, Ji Linglong remained calm and unruffled.
She watched the overwhelming lightning approach and simply raised her right hand again.
“Divine Phoenix Barrier.”
The moment her words fell, the Divine Phoenix avatar behind her spread its wings.
A golden barrier condensed from pure Divine Phoenix Fire instantly enveloped her.
The countless streaks of violent purple-black lightning disappeared silently again the moment they touched the golden barrier, failing to trigger even a single ripple.
“How is that possible!”
A-Lin was shocked once more.
She hadn’t expected her ultimate move to be neutralized so effortlessly again.
This woman’s defensive power was terrifying to the extreme!
“Little thing, although your power is violent, it isn’t pure enough.”
A-Lin roared and launched another attack.
Her mountain-like giant paw, carrying the momentum to tear the sky apart, slammed ruthlessly toward the golden barrier.
Boom — !
A world-shaking explosion rang out.
The entire mountain range of the Tianmo Sect shook violently under the impact.
Countless rocks tumbled, and ancient trees collapsed.
However, the golden barrier remained perfectly intact, without even a single crack appearing.
A-Lin stared blankly at the scene.
She knew she had lost.
She couldn’t even break the opponent’s defense.
Just as her mind wavered, Ji Linglong’s voice rang out again.
“This farce should come to an end.”
As she spoke, the golden barrier instantly dissipated.
Ji Linglong’s figure appeared before A-Lin.
She extended a slender finger and gently tapped toward A-Lin’s massive head.
Right then, a slightly weary voice suddenly echoed through the heavens and earth.
“Stop.”
Hearing the voice, Ji Linglong’s movements paused.
She slowly turned her head and looked in the direction of the sound.
A black figure had appeared in mid-air at some point.
It was Lu Ning.
Her face, which looked somewhat pale after the recent “battle,” was currently wearing a helpless, bitter smile.
She had wanted to have a good sleep and think of nothing.
But the world-shaking commotion outside made it impossible for her to sleep peacefully.
She knew that if she didn’t come out, that silly girl A-Lin might truly fall at Ji Linglong’s hands.
“Sister Lu Ning!”
The moment A-Lin saw Lu Ning, she immediately transformed into a petite and cute young girl and rushed to Lu Ning’s side.
Like a bullied child who finally saw their parent, her tears began to flow uncontrollably.
“Waah… Sister Lu Ning, that bad woman bullied me…”
Looking at her pitiful appearance, Lu Ning felt both amused and exasperated.
She gently shook her head at A-Lin, signaling her not to panic.
Then, she turned her gaze toward Ji Linglong, her voice carrying a hint of exhaustion.
“Sister Linglong, I’m begging you. Please stop fighting. Can we just talk properly?”
Seeing Lu Ning’s humble attitude, a faint smile flashed through Ji Linglong’s golden phoenix eyes.
“Very well. Since you personally asked me, I will naturally give you this face.”
As she spoke, she withdrew the massive Divine Phoenix avatar.
In that instant, the terrifying pressure in the world also vanished.
After the battle concluded, Lu Ning doted on A-Lin by rubbing her small head to comfort her.
At the same time, she continued to address Ji Linglong.
“Sister Linglong, thank you for showing mercy.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Soon, they returned to the Tianmo Sect together. Upon entering the Sovereign Hall, Ji Linglong stepped forward and lightly pinched Lu Ning’s cheek, her voice full of playfulness.
“An Ning, you must remember. You owe me a favor. You must return this favor to me properly in the future.”
She placed special emphasis on the word “return.”
At that moment, Gu Qinghuan woke up.
The bizarre scene before her left her completely bewildered.
She saw her Master acting humble before Ji Linglong, and she saw her “Little Martial Aunt” hiding behind her Master with an aggrieved expression.
“Master…”
Gu Qinghuan’s voice was somewhat hoarse.
Upon hearing the voice, Lu Ning’s body stiffened.
It was over.
Now, all three time bombs were gathered together.
This shuraba would never end.
Lu Ning felt like her head was about to explode.
At this moment, she had only one thought.
‘Just destroy everything already. Hurry up.’