“I declare the winner of this match is—Rogue Cultivator, Hua Yan’er!”
As the referee Elder made the announcement, thunderous cheers and applause erupted all around.
On the Spirit Boat, the two little girls Hua Xiangrong and Ning Shiliu clapped until their palms were red, their small faces flushed with excitement.
‘How should I put it? As expected of Hua Yan…’
Su Feiyao clapped along with the Xiaoyao Sword Sect disciples while watching the scene on the battle platform.
A hint of seriousness flickered in her smiling fox-like eyes.
‘Li Chengfeng was actually already very strong. Even I don’t have absolute confidence in facing him head-on. But he misjudged Hua Yan’s style from the start, recklessly closed in, put himself on the defensive, and then activated his Thunderous True Body. The Lightning Spear plus the lightning covering the entire field consumed too much of his Spiritual Power. When he fell into Hua Yan’s grand formation, he was completely suppressed by the metal-attribute formation. Even though he used Dragon-Tiger Transformation to convert his Wind-Thunder Spiritual Power into brute force and break free from some of the suppression, once Hua Yan switched the formation to earth element, he had no solution left and could only suffer a humiliating defeat within the formation.’
‘This is the predicament ordinary prodigies face against Hua Yan—no matter how strong you are in your own domain or how deeply you’ve studied, Hua Yan can always rely on her bottomless reserve of Magic Treasures to select the most countering methods, leaving you with no way to exert your strength. Not to mention, in recent years she had clearly trained the coordination of various techniques to an increasingly masterful level…’
‘Someone like her could basically be invincible within the same realm, and against mediocre higher-level cultivators, she could also win across realms. I’m afraid only that freak Yun Xuechang can suppress her within the same realm…’
The fox-eared girl clapping glanced at Yun Xuechang beside her, who was also clapping with a faint smile on her cool, elegant face, and sighed inwardly.
‘Only that freak Yun Xuechang can rely on absolute strength to achieve “One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws.” Being born in the same era as these two really puts a fox under immense pressure…’
Yun Xuechang clapped with a soft laugh, her gaze landing on the valiant red-haired figure on the stage.
Hua Yan was waving at the surroundings quite proudly, her dark form-fitting outfit making her look especially charming and lively.
Yun Xuechang’s smile was faint but sincere.
At that moment, a small hand tugged at her sleeve. She looked down to meet Hua Xiangrong’s sparkling pink eyes.
“Mommy, Mommy, let’s go to the stage and pick up Mother! I want to go congratulate her with Mommy!”
Yun Xuechang was slightly startled, then nodded.
“Okay.”
She had planned to just wait on the Spirit Boat and congratulate Hua Yan privately later—after all, she never liked being the center of attention.
But since her daughter wanted to go, she naturally wouldn’t disappoint Hua Xiangrong.
On the massive floating platform, Hua Yan stood with her hands on her hips, looking down at Li Chengfeng who was lying on the ground panting.
“Hey, since you’ve lost, shouldn’t you fulfill your promise? Swear that you won’t approach Xuechang anymore, and you’re not allowed to call her by her given name either?”
“You!”
Li Chengfeng, with a bruised and swollen face, looked up angrily and pointed a trembling finger at her.
“You what you? Are you trying to go back on your word in front of all these people? A man like you doesn’t deserve to be called a man!”
Hua Yan crossed her arms in dissatisfaction.
“Hurry up, take your oath, then go apologize to my daughter!”
“Yan’er!” “Mother!”
Two calls came from behind.
Hua Yan turned around and saw Yun Xuechang had already landed on the battle platform at some point, looking at her with a faint smile.
In her arms, Hua Xiangrong was excitedly waving her little hand at her.
‘Xuechang? Why did she come?’
Hua Yan’s body stiffened slightly.
Hua Xiangrong nimbly slipped down from Yun Xuechang’s arms, took her hand, and ran tap-tap-tap to Hua Yan’s side, plunging into her embrace.
“Mother, you’re so amazing! Mommy and I were watching from the side! You made that rude uncle run in circles, so cool!”
The soft little body crashed into her embrace. Hua Yan quickly steadied her, her own softness even jiggling from the collision.
‘She saw all that? And Xuechang… what will she think of me? Me fighting like this… will it…’
She looked up at Yun Xuechang with a hint of nervousness.
“Yan’er, you fought very well. Rongrong and I both saw it.”
Yun Xuechang walked forward with a faint smile, gently embraced the mother and daughter, and then—she placed a gentle kiss on Hua Yan’s soft pink cheek.
—From Su Feiyao’s Tips for Couples’ Affection: In daily life, use more kisses and hugs to express affection for your partner. Don’t hold back intimate gestures because she’s shy. On the contrary, get close more often so she gradually gets used to it. Only then can feelings be maintained long and sweetly.
After the kiss, she didn’t linger long. She released her embrace and just continued to smile at Hua Yan.
“Congratulations, Yan’er. You won.”
‘Huh? Huh?!’
Hua Yan was stunned.
‘Wait, Xuechang… she actually kissed me in front of so many people?!’
The warm sensation seemed to still linger on her cheek. Her face instantly flushed bright red.
The same woman who had been valiant and commanding on stage just moments ago had now instantly reverted to that shy, love-struck girl, even the tips of her ears turning rosy.
“Wooow—”
The surrounding cultivators let out good-natured jeers at the right moment, accompanied by bursts of light laughter.
Hua Xiangrong looked left at Yun Xuechang, who stood smiling without any self-awareness, then right at Hua Yan, who was holding her with a flushed face and lowering her head in embarrassment amid the teasing. Her eyes twinkled.
“Wow! Mommy, why did you kiss Mother just now? Not fair! You only kissed her!”
“I want a kiss too! I want a kiss too!”
“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss your head!”
Hua Yan was both embarrassed and annoyed by her daughter’s words. She stomped her foot and pinched her chubby little cheek.
“You like kissing so much? I’ll satisfy you!”
With that, she gave several loud smooches on Hua Xiangrong’s left cheek.
“I don’t want you to kiss me! I want Mommy to kiss me!”
Hua Xiangrong desperately pushed at her face and hands, struggling to escape.
“Pfft.”
Yun Xuechang watched the mother and daughter messing around and couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. She stepped forward again.
“Alright, then Mommy will kiss you.”
She bent down, gave a gentle kiss on Hua Xiangrong’s right cheek, then turned to look at Hua Yan.
“Yan’er, what about you? Do you want me to kiss you too?”
“I, I don’t need it! Who asked you to kiss me in front of so many people!”
Hua Yan quickly turned her face away, refusing with a red face.
“What Mother means is, with so many people around, she’s shy,” the pink-haired girl in her arms said with a serious expression. “Mommy just needs to kiss her secretly when you get home later!”
“Hua Xiangrong!”
“Wah! Mommy, save me!”
“Pfft hahaha…”
Li Chengfeng, lying on the ground, stared blankly at this scene, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
‘Xuechang… actually laughs so sincerely? He watched the gentle smile on Yun Xuechang’s cool, ethereal face as she faced Hua Yan and her daughter; he watched Hua Yan’s pretty face, which he had once thought arrogant and annoying, now full of shy tenderness; and that mischievous daughter, doted on by both of them… I… might have been wrong. Hua Yan’er didn’t scheme against Xuechang. She’s someone worthy of standing by Xuechang’s side, and they… truly love each other.’
Li Chengfeng lowered his head dejectedly, no longer having the courage to look at that warm scene.
‘I originally thought Hua Yan’er was just a scheming, opportunistic woman, and I wanted to defeat her to legitimately help Xuechang get rid of her… But looking at it now, I was completely wrong. And I’ve completely lost. Not only did I lose the match, I lost Xuechang’s true heart… Lost to a woman who suddenly appeared, lost to the Mirror Polishing Love I’ve always looked down on… In the end, I lost.’