“Muxue!”
Shen Qinghan’s face lit up with joy. “You’re okay!”
“Nonsense, I’m Sword Immortal Mu Xue. The chance of something happening to me is even lower than those two old Yuan Ying suddenly exploding.” Xu Muxue said proudly, hands on her hips.
“What nonsense is this, little fox?”
Iron Qin Daoist snapped anxiously. “So unlucky!”
“It’s not Mu Xue’s fault.” Xu Muxue leaned back with her hands behind her head, shiftily averting her gaze.
Anyway, I don’t have a Nascent Soul yet, so let it explode if it wants to.
“You sly fox, always ruining my plans. Even as Xu Mu’s disciple, your slipperiness is a bit too much!” Jingchen Layperson struck out with another palm. “Surrender now, no one will get hurt!”
Yet this Yuan Ying stage attack dissipated completely without warning just before Xu Muxue.
Everyone present was stunned, and Jingchen Layperson stared at her own palm in disbelief.
“Hm? What’s this?”
Xu Muxue curled her lips into a smirk. “If this heaven can’t cover my eyes, if this earth can’t bury my heart, if all beings can’t understand my intent, then may all Buddhas vanish into smoke and clouds!”
Jingchen Layperson launched another palm strike. “No disrespect to the Buddha allowed—ahhh!”
Boom!
Xu Muxue was blasted away like a kite with its string cut, tumbling to a stop at Shen Qinghan’s feet. Her chest collapsed inward, and she vomited blood uncontrollably—she looked near death.
“Muxue?! …Eh?”
Shen Qinghan rushed over, only to see Xu Muxue’s sunken chest rapidly returning to normal, her complexion regaining color. In no time, she was sitting up as if nothing had happened.
“Y-you…” Shen Qinghan couldn’t even form words.
“Ah, it’s a revival ability.” Xu Muxue wiped the blood from her mouth. “Low key.”
This time Jingchen Layperson stopped staring at her own hand and rubbed her eyes in utter disbelief.
Is this some kind of joke?
Even as Xu Mu’s disciple, she’s only a Foundation Establishment junior. It’s already humiliating that the first palm didn’t kill her, and after taking a second solid hit, she’s fully recovered?
Is this little fox human or ghost?
“Hmph, there’s something strange about this person. Iron Qin Daoist, let’s strike together.”
Just as they were about to attack simultaneously, Xu Muxue lazily spoke:
“If you dare move rashly, I can’t promise what’ll happen to the Inviting Spirit Array.”
Their attacks instantly faltered.
“What do you mean?”
Jingchen Layperson asked suspiciously.
Iron Qin Daoist’s eyes narrowed as he sent a voice transmission: “Jingchen Shitai, you can’t be believing this little fox’s nonsense, right?”
“Look how fearless she is, we have to be careful.”
Xu Muxue just smiled as if she had expected this, tilting her head to glance at Qin Qin and the others quietly approaching the Inviting Spirit Array, calling out: “Hey, Master Qin, the two seniors are asking you something~”
“What do they have to do with us?”
Jingchen Layperson frowned.
“Why doesn’t Shitai ask herself?”
Xu Muxue smiled mysteriously.
“Is Qin Qin really from the Sword Sect? Why is she so concerned about the Inviting Spirit Array? And who’s this bright bald guy? Have you ever thought about these questions, Shitai?”
“Um…”
Jingchen Layperson was momentarily at a loss for words.
Originally, her deal with Qin Qin was simple: Qin Qin would betray the Sword Sect, she would eliminate Shen Qinghan, and also keep an eye on her disciple, someone named Song Yu, or so she thought.
From Qin Qin’s demeanor, her hatred for Shen Qinghan was genuine. Such things were common among female cultivators, usually born from jealousy. Qin Qin couldn’t match Shen Qinghan in looks, status, cultivation, or temperament; jealousy was understandable.
Not being an ordained practitioner, Jingchen Layperson didn’t see through it—it was a common thing.
She had witnessed too many cases where jealousy drove people mad, so she smiled and let it go, fully believing Qin Qin’s words without delving deeper.
But now, after Xu Muxue’s words, she realized something. If Qin Qin’s sole goal was to eliminate Shen Qinghan, why rush over as soon as the array was activated?
She should know nothing about the Inviting Spirit Array’s details as a Sword Sect member. So how did she sense something was wrong?
“Qin Xiaoyou, you’d better give us an explanation.” Jingchen Layperson narrowed her eyes, her pressure enveloping Qin Qin.
“Now that the real enemy is before us, it’s not the time for internal strife.”
Qin Qin’s face was calm, voice steady.
“Hmph, what enemy? One at late Forming the Golden Core and one at Qi Refining Third Layer—I could crush them with ease.”
Iron Qin Daoist’s small eyes glittered with killing intent, voice booming like thunder. “If you can’t explain yourself today, then explain yourself here by dying.”
Qin Qin was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
“You two old geezers really think you’re a big deal, huh?”
“You want an explanation? Fine, I’ll give it to you!”
With that, her aura surged wildly, breaking through late Forming the Golden Core, shattering the core, then condensing into a Nascent Soul. A small jade-white version of Qin Qin hovered above her head, solemn and sacred.
“Nascent Soul?!”
Iron Qin Daoist shouted. “You were hiding your strength before?!”
“No, she forcibly awakened her potential. Oh, I get it, you have a Heavenly Spiritual Root, right?” Jingchen Layperson smiled. “Forcibly using such a secret method will burn out your Spiritual Root, and you’ll end up a complete waste.”
But Qin Qin smiled oddly.
“A waste? I don’t think so.”
Her gaze landed on Shen Qinghan.
“If I swallow the Supreme Destiny on her, wouldn’t that restore me?”
“Supreme… Destiny?”
Shen Qinghan frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Before Qin Qin could answer, the two coldly snorted: “A Nascent Soul forcibly raised by secret arts, daring to talk big in front of us? We don’t even need to defeat you; just stall you for a moment, and your cultivation will fall on its own.”
“You’re not fighting me.”
Qin Qin snapped her fingers. Daoming understood, popping a pill into his mouth. An equally shocking aura burst forth from Daoming.
“A Raising Spirit Pill?! You’re from the Immortal Clan!” Jingchen Layperson gritted her teeth. “The Immortal Clan has finally put their hands into our Three Sects?”
“Now you know it’s three sects? Weren’t you having a nice internal feud before?”
Qin Qin sneered. “Daoming, take them out.”
Daoming’s eyes lost all light, like a puppet he mechanically nodded and charged at the two. Using his spiritual sense as the cost, he forcibly elevated himself to Nascent Soul by swallowing a Raising Spirit Pill. Now immune to pain but devoid of any spiritual consciousness, he had become a corpse-like existence.
This corpse Daoming fought recklessly, exchanging injury for injury, causing the two Nascent Soul cultivators to hesitate. The three clashed fiercely, neither side gaining the upper hand for a time.
Qin Qin nodded in satisfaction, withdrawing her gaze from the aerial battle group to look at Shen Qinghan.
“Now, it’s time to settle the score between you and me.”