Reaction

Outside Jingjiang Prefecture, Bieli Mountain. Bieli Mountain stood quite tall, offering a commanding view of the entire Jingjiang Prefectural city from its summit. At this moment, a man stood quietly upon a precipitous cliff at the peak, gazing into the distance at a vast residence within Jingjiang Prefecture, a faint, imperceptible smile playing on his lips. Suddenly, a graceful figure descended from the sky, landing a dozen meters away. The subtle sound of her footsteps made him glance over. Seeing who it was, he smiled immediately: "You're here?" Yulan showed no smile, her delicate brows knit tight. "Qin Weijiu, what is the meaning of this?" Qin Weijiu gave a soft murmur of mild doubt and countered: "The meaning of what?" Yulan's voice grew slightly harsher: "Don't play dumb with me. Why did you let that Qin Mo into the Xu Manor?" Qin Weijiu did not answer right away. He lowered his gaze, fiddling with an antique medallion in his hand. It was an item he and Yulan had found together in that secret realm. Seeing the medallion, Yulan looked even angrier: "Qin Weijiu, I am asking you a question!" Qin Weijiu raised his eyes with an unhurried smile: "Yulan... what's the rush?" "What's the rush?" Yulan narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly. "Ever since coming out of that secret realm, don't tell me you still don't know who the Saint residing in that soul ring is?" Hearing this, Qin Weijiu sighed softly and tossed the antique medallion to Yulan—the Sumeru ring was with her: "Of course I know." Frowning, Yulan caught it and stored the antique medallion into her Sumeru ring, but her tone hardened once more: "You know, and yet you still dared to send Qin Mo into the Xu Manor?" "I sent him precisely because I know." Qin Weijiu gently shook his head. "Don't you understand that adversity reveals true feelings? Qin Mo is willing to risk himself to save Jinxuan. Giving him a gentle push also helps foster the feelings between those two youngsters, doesn't it?" "..." Yulan took a deep breath, seemingly trying to calm her temper, but ultimately failed. In a cold voice, she said: "But if something happens to Qin Mo, the soul ring will fall into Xu Yinhe's hands. You can't be ignorant of what that means, can you?! That is a Holy Venerable of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion!" Qin Weijiu shook his head in soothing reassurance: "Yulan, calm down. "Sneaking into the manor to rescue her was Qin Mo's own decision. I only gave him a push from behind. Even if I hadn't helped, he still would have done it. Besides, if he dared sneak in, he must have some confidence. "Heh, moreover, even if Qin Mo is young and reckless, could the Saint helping him sneak into the Xu Manor be just as foolish?" "..." Yulan fell silent. Qin Weijiu turned back to look out over the city of Jingjiang Prefecture, his voice soft and slow: "Yulan, nothing in this world comes with a hundred percent certainty." "..." Yulan's eyes flickered for a moment before she said, "I hope you know what you're doing." Qin Weijiu smiled faintly, speaking in a calm tone: "Don't worry. If trouble breaks out in the Xu Manor, can't we just enter Jingjiang Prefectural city to get him out? This prefectural city is hardly a frontier military stronghold; the grand formation inside poses no threat to us. With the two of us acting, who in this world could—" His soft words suddenly broke off mid-sentence. A moment of dead silence. Almost simultaneously, Qin Weijiu and Yulan snapped their gazes toward the southeast. As far as the eye could see, the sunny sky was calm and peaceful. Yet they sensed that the Source Qi at the horizon was faintly being disturbed. Someone was speeding toward Jingjiang City at full throttle! At the peak of Bieli Mountain, silence fell so abruptly that one could hear a pin drop. Who was it? An Origin Realm expert? Rushing to Jingjiang Prefecture at this hour? After a few seconds of silence, as the rushing fluctuations of Source Qi grew steadily clearer, Qin Weijiu's steady breathing began to quicken, bit by bit. The familiar fluctuations of Source Qi drifting from the horizon caused scenes buried deep within his memory to resurface. Before the age of twenty, he had been confident and proud. Reaching Body Integration at seventeen, becoming a Grandmaster at twenty, and having been invincible among his peers since the age of fifteen had given him every reason to be proud. Yet laughably, the greatest praise the world offered him was merely that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Chancellor's son. One journey abroad, one Tianyuan Conference, had given Qin Weijiu the chance to prove that it was others who could only stand shoulder to shoulder with him. That had been a colossal canyon under the watchful eyes of thousands. That had been the Chancellor's son, with whom he had traveled side by side for months. And that had been... three sword lights so overwhelmingly potent they made it impossible to breathe! When the sword lights flashed past, everything shattered... His former pride seemed utterly ridiculous. And even more ridiculous was that afterwards, people had actually treated this as high praise to compliment him... Three strikes. Though he hadn't died, his mental state had utterly collapsed. "Xu Chang—" "Qin Weijiu! What are you spacing out for?!" The sharp shout from the woman beside him startled Qin Weijiu awake from the memories of the past. Coming back to his senses, Qin Weijiu paused for an instant, then suddenly chuckled softly. "Heh..." Qin Weijiu's laugh was laden with self-mockery. Sensing the fluctuations of Source Qi in that direction, the trembling in his hands gradually subsided. He raised a hand to pinch the space between his brows. "How unsightly..." "What?" Yulan asked, puzzled. Qin Weijiu looked toward the horizon and shook his head: "Nothing. Just remembered some old things. That aura at the edge of the sky should belong to Xu Changge." "Xu... Xu Changge?" Yulan suddenly understood why he had reacted so violently. She had also heard rumors of what happened back then, and her pupils quivered slightly. "Why is he here?!" "I don't know." Qin Weijiu shook his head and slowly rose into the air, his tone returning to its former calm. "But I think we need to intercept him now. After all, that soul ring must not fall into Xu Yinhe's hands." As he spoke, Qin Weijiu flicked his finger. A streak of white light shot out instantly, darting toward the Jingjiang Xu Manor. Hovering in midair, Qin Weijiu glanced at Yulan, who still stood at the mountain peak, and smiled. "I've already sent word to that kid Qin Mo. Are you going to keep standing there?" Hearing this, Yulan rubbed her brow. She casually tossed a mask to Qin Weijiu in midair and put one on herself: "What reason will we use when confronting Xu Changge?" Qin Weijiu donned the mask, his form turning ethereal as he gave a light chuckle: "Naturally, in the name of an old friend of the elders from Burial Village." Yulan also slowly rose into the air: "We stall him for a bit, then leave. The two of us might not be Xu Changge's match." Qin Weijiu shrugged: "Can't you have a little faith in my strength? What if I manage to slay him?" Yulan glanced at him: "Back then, you nearly had your head chopped off in three strikes, and just now you were scared out of your wits merely sensing his qi. How can you have the cheek to say that?" Qin Weijiu sighed, his mind now entirely composed, and smiled: "After all, that was an inner demon planted all those years ago. Now more than a decade has passed, and having entered the Origin Realm, one ought to have made some progress, right?" Emotions churned in Yulan's heart, but lacking the energy to scold him, she rubbed her brow: "Let's go." "Heh, women." With those words, the two transformed into two streaks of flowing light, hurtling toward the southwest.