“I have long heard that the Liuli Valley’s jurisdiction is a place where the yin flourishes and the yang declines. Seeing it today, it’s truly extraordinary…”
“Hey, tell me, do you think the eldest young master of the Yun family can handle it?”
“I’m not sure if he can handle it, but the news I heard is that this eldest young master of the Yun family is truly elegant, charming, and refined — he passes through thousands of flowers without a single leaf sticking to him.”
“Isn’t that a term used for a lecherous thief? Aren’t you truly afraid he’ll find out and kill you with a dharma treasure?”
“Oh, it’s about the same. Besides, everyone says the eldest young master of the Yun family has a very good temper. As long as you don’t bully his little book boy, no one can provoke him.”
“Oho, the book boy is involved too? A love triangle!”
“Shh — be quiet, I can’t hear anymore.”
Outside Liuli Valley, five Nascent Soul Stage cultivators dressed in the uniform robes of the Heavenly Way Academy’s Array and Talisman Department were whispering among themselves.
Though their cultivation was around the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, every one of them stood far away from the two peerless women, as if they were terrified that one of them might get upset and kick their heads around like balls.
Su Zhenxue stood with her sword on her back, dressed in a green robe. Her face was like frost and her aura was like a startled swan, looking like a true fairy stepped out of a painting.
On the other side, Ling Yao, dressed in athletic attire, had a gloomy face. A water spirit flickered in her hand, occasionally condensing into a sword and occasionally transforming into a spear.
Although her cultivation was the lowest among everyone present, she made everyone who met her gaze feel an extreme pressure from the Nine Serenities abyss.
Many rocks and trees at the entrance of Liuli Valley had already been hacked to pieces, and a thick scent of gunpowder filled the air.
In fact, Su Zhenxue had been very polite at first. After respectfully handing a letter to the gate-keeping disciples to request entry to find Yun Heng, she stood in place and waited properly.
She even exchanged pleasantries with the disciples of the Heavenly Way Academy since she would become their junior sister next year.
However, as soon as this woman named Ling Yao arrived, she asked if Su Zhenxue was there for Yun Heng.
Upon receiving a confirmation, she suddenly started charging into Liuli Valley like she was mad. Su Zhenxue, disliking her lack of manners, prepared to teach her a lesson on behalf of Liuli Valley.
But she didn’t expect this woman at the Foundation Establishment Stage to be quite difficult to deal with.
Various strange and unseen magical powers and techniques emerged one after another. Even with the suppression of her higher cultivation, it was difficult to decide the winner within two or three moves.
“Don’t lecture me about rules.”
Ling Yao took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing a certain restless emotion in her heart. “I’m in a hurry and have no time to play house with you. Either move aside, or die.”
She was annoyed to death by Su Zhenxue.
She was already irritated by seeing this former fiancée of Yun Heng from his previous life, and now this girl’s cultivation was higher than hers. She had inexplicably attacked her, and Ling Yao still had no way to kill her…
If this dragged on any longer, what if Yun Heng disappeared again?
Ling Yao was very anxious now, extremely anxious.
She had originally only followed the bloodline to find her rival, that “half-sister” of hers. But as soon as she arrived at Liuli Valley, she saw Su Zhenxue. After asking, she learned that Yun Heng was actually here.
Thinking back to the aura that had abruptly erupted yesterday, Ling Yao now had a very, very, very terrifying guess in her heart that, if confirmed, might lead to despair — that six-vane transformation pill that connected her bond with Yun Heng had most likely been used on that damn monster!
“…Vulgar.”
Su Zhenxue’s brow furrowed slightly before she slowly pulled Rinsing Jade from its scabbard.
The sound of the sword ringing, like spring water striking jade, echoed in the air.
It was clear and cold, even vaguely causing ripples in this space-time.
“Tch.”
A deep purple light suddenly flashed in Ling Yao’s eyes. Without saying another word, the water spirit in her hand transformed into a whip.
In the next second, 100 ice needles as thin as cow hair condensed in the air beside her.
Silent and ghostly, accompanied by the whistling sound of air breaking like the howls of resentful spirits, they reached Su Zhenxue’s major pressure points and spiritual sense within a few breaths.
This move was not meant to wound the enemy, but to disable their cultivation and block their spiritual consciousness.
“…What a sinister method.”
Su Zhenxue’s pupils shrank. The Rinsing Jade sword didn’t move, but the scabbard rang out on its own. In the blink of an eye, it spun around her body, turning into a seamless curtain of jade-like light.
*Ding, ding, ding, ding!*
A series of crisp sounds like heavy rain exploded as every single ice needle was accurately shattered.
However, before Su Zhenxue could make her next move, she felt a chill penetrate the light curtain, making her sword-holding fingertips go slightly numb.
It was Ling Yao!
At the same instant Su Zhenxue blocked, Ling Yao’s entire body vanished like a reflection in water. By the time Su Zhenxue reacted, Ling Yao had already appeared 3 feet to her side.
That water whip, which had also remained still, transformed into a venomous snake’s tongue at that moment.
Carrying the weight of heavy water, it struck directly at Su Zhenxue’s vital point behind her heart!
No reaction could possibly keep up with this strike. It was a “combat instinct” born from the tempering of a real battlefield, a way to find life within death.
For the first time, a look of surprise crossed Su Zhenxue’s cold face.
Although she hadn’t intended to fight seriously and was indeed holding back — and she was certain that even if she did nothing and used no dharma treasures, a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator could never break through her outermost astral qi defense — she now had a profound understanding of Ling Yao.
Su Zhenxue had always been proud. Unlike the children of great families who used elixirs to pile up their cultivation, her peak Nascent Soul Stage cultivation was almost entirely reliant on her own practice.
Although Su Zhenxue rarely participated in actual combat, she had ranked first in every small and large examination since childhood. Therefore, Su Zhenxue never felt that her combat ability could be that bad.
…Yet she had to admit that her combat ability was indeed inferior to the weakling in front of her who was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
‘Is my usual sparring with my clan elders and fellow disciples really just training in a greenhouse?’
‘No wonder Uncle Yun Wangji always hinted that I shouldn’t leave the upper three provinces… The cultivation world really is full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.’
Su Zhenxue secretly made up her mind that she must study combat diligently after returning home.
Otherwise, even if she advanced to the Deity Transformation Stage before the age of 20, she would be nothing but a ‘mediocre Deity Transformation Stage expert.’
In that split second of thought, the cold air around them suddenly felt as if ice water had met spring, warming up instantly.
“Enough, enough. What is with you girls, brandishing spears and swords all day long?”
Yan Qingli appeared between the two women at some point. Then, like an elder, she lightly tapped each of them on the head with her palms.
The terrifying and aggressive aura was easily neutralized by her.
Yan Qingli looked at Su Zhenxue, who was biting her lip and seemed to have fallen into a state of deep unwillingness.
Then she looked at Ling Yao, who slapped her hand away and charged toward the depths of Liuli Valley with an old woman following her, and sighed.
“Yun Heng already left early this morning. You won’t be able to see him now.”
Seeing Ling Yao’s figure pause slightly, Yan Qingli added as if talking to herself, “If I’m not mistaken, he should have already arrived at the Flowing Fire Prefecture by now.”
“So, please do not cause trouble in my Liuli Valley, or I won’t be as gentle as Lady Su.”
In truth, Yan Qingli didn’t understand why Yun Heng wanted her to tell Ling Yao this seemingly correct yet seemingly incorrect location.
Regardless, that was Yun Heng’s intention. Yan Qingli didn’t really want to get involved in the love and hate of these juniors, so she simply did as he said.
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