Mist swirled around the vast mountain range as a woman descended from the heavens like a deity.
Wen Xinyun appeared to have hurried all the way from Jiangnan. Her frantic rush left the overwhelming might unique to someone beyond the Saint Realm completely unmasked as it pressed down. The surging waves of qi tore through the remnants of post-rain clouds, forcefully cleaving open a patch of clear, cloudless blue sky to make way for her arrival.
Her gaze, like that of a monarch ruling over the realm, swept casually across the crowd below, ultimately landing upon the youth in the blood-stained robe.
Their eyes collided in midair.
The flames of hatred that had cooled amid everyday entanglements suddenly flared back to life the instant he saw the very tinder that had ignited them.
Xu Yuan had prepared himself to meet Wen Xinyun again at the Sword Sect's mountain gate. He had even drawn up schemes to slay another of her external incarnations. Regrettably, reality dictated that he would have no such chance this time.
During their clash in Zhenxi Manor, Wen Xinyun had not exerted pressure so absolute that it seemed insurmountable. Even when he was pushed to his last embers and confronted her bizarre external incarnation, he had only felt the bitter frustration of being schemed against, drained of origin qi, and defeated.
But this time was different.
With just this single glance, Xu Yuan felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the back of his head.
Might he die?
No—more accurately, he would definitely die.
If a fight broke out, even with all his countless life-saving means, he would still be a hundred percent certain to die somewhere along the road of pursuit.
Wen Xinyun's gaze seemed to emanate from beyond the firmament. Even after arriving at the Sword Sect, she did not withdraw her cultivation technique. Vast, suffocating pressure rolled outward in wave after crushing wave.
This was an appalling might the likes of which Xu Yuan had never seen.
Not even on that day, when Li Junwu burned through her very life to summon the immense power of a military array, had he experienced such a feeling.
Beyond the Saint Realm.
A powerhouse on the same level as his father.
"Compared to when we last met, you have grown much stronger."
Wen Xinyun's gaze was placid and gentle, though the aura of one beyond the Saint Realm rendered that gentleness thoroughly condescending.
Xu Yuan remained silent for a moment before retorting with a half-joking question:
"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?"
Wen Xinyun lowered her eyes to glance at her palm, shaking her head.
"This was always my power to begin with. How could it be called growing stronger?"
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and asked with a slight laugh, "So this is all of your power?"
Wen Xinyun gave neither confirmation nor denial. Staring into the unmasked killing intent in Xu Yuan's eyes, she chuckled softly.
"Why not take a guess? Or put whatever thought is in your mind into practice and test it with your own hands. If you manage to kill me, you will know whether I possess any other external incarnations."
"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.
Just as had been mentioned during his past conversation with his father, no amount of caution was excessive when dealing with someone beyond the Saint Realm who had roamed the world for over a thousand years. Yet seeing her now, it seemed their vigilance had still fallen short.
He could not be certain whether this woman radiating such horrifying pressure before him was her true body. If she was not, then the scenario he dreaded most might truly come to pass.
As the close friend of the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal from a millennium ago, even if Wen Xinyun's natural talent was slightly inferior to Xu Yinhe and the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal, it could not be by much.
Though Wen Xinyun had erased her own presence from historical records over the passing centuries, ancient texts and the words she had spoken herself suggested she had been around a hundred and twenty years old when the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal fell. By that time, she should have already reached the realm beyond Saint.
And if one followed that timeline...
How much cultivation could she have amassed through external incarnations?
Still, analyzing the current situation, Xu Yuan figured there had to be severe constraints on Wen Xinyun's method of accumulating power through external incarnations.
Were there no shackles, she could easily have manifested at least ten external incarnations beyond the Saint Realm by now. Possessing such power, why would she ever need to be so passive?
At that thought, Xu Yuan took a deep breath and spoke softly:
"Whether we fight is hardly something for a guest like me to decide. But as for you, Madame Wen—trouble has been brewing in Jiangnan of late. Is it truly wise for you to wander out here to the Sword Sect's mountain gate so rashly?"
Jiangnan was the most economically developed region of Great Yan, but along with that bustling commerce came countless spies.
Over the past several decades, though the imperial family and the Prime Minister's Manor had been unable to reach their hands directly into Jiangnan, where the Sect Alliance was at its strongest, they had used economic means to riddle the place with holes like a sieve. Massive amounts of confidential intelligence from Jiangnan had flowed into Di'an City alongside lucrative trade.
In peacetime, the sects and aristocratic clans of Jiangnan had turned a blind eye to maintain the immense profits generated by commerce. Now that war was imminent, Wen Xinyun's immediate priority should have been purging these malignant tumors from within.
Faced with Xu Yuan's mockery, Wen Xinyun showed little change in expression, only smiling gently.
"Compared to those dregs, I care far more about you, Third Young Master."
Xu Yuan's eyebrow twitched as he said softly, "What, did you travel tens of thousands of li specifically to cut me down?"
"Hardly specifically, but if an opportunity arises, I will give it a try." A meaningful glint flickered in Wen Xinyun's beautiful eyes. "So I hope you have sufficient trump cards to keep yourself alive."
Xu Yuan's importance was self-evident.
He was the future of the Prime Minister's Manor, a second Xu Yinhe in the eyes of the Sect Alliance.
Under the Prime Minister's Manor's strictly centralized structure, if he died here at the Sword Sect, it would instantly disrupt the order in which his father was placing his pieces on the board for the future. In the worst-case scenario, his death might even trigger the disintegration of the Prime Minister's Manor.
Thus, if she could kill him, Wen Xinyun would show no mercy whatsoever.
Yet Xu Yuan remained unbothered, merely returning her earlier words:
"You can take a guess, or come test it for yourself."
Meeting his gaze for an instant, Wen Xinyun shook her head gently.
"Now is not the time."
"Is that so?"
Xu Yuan muttered, then said, "Since you don't intend to strike, Master Wen, your conduct is a bit lacking in manners."
With that, his gaze shifted sideways toward the three high-ranking members of the Sword Sect who stood silently nearby.
By proper etiquette, upon arriving at the Sword Sect's mountain gate, Wen Xinyun ought to have greeted Luo Wei first. Instead, she had completely ignored the Sword Sect leadership present.
Hearing this, Wen Xinyun casually shifted her gaze to the trio from the Sword Sect. The oppressive aura of one beyond the Saint Realm kept Luo Wei and the other two on high alert. Observing their guarded expressions, she said in an unhurried voice:
"Sect Master Luo, I require an explanation."
"An explanation?"
Luo Wei's expression remained composed, though her eyes were dark.
Wen Xinyun nodded. "At a juncture such as this, Xu Changtian has been permitted to linger within your mountain gate. Shouldn't the Sword Sect give me an explanation for this?"
Her voice was soft, yet laden with unquestionable authority.
"..."
Luo Wei said nothing.
Well, now she was being even ruder.
Wen Xinyun was the guest and Luo Wei was the host, yet the guest was interrogating the host on the host's own territory.
Still, Xu Yuan had no intention of intervening to back Luo Wei up.
Though sentimentally he would have liked to help the Big Ice Block's master's wife, watching the Sword Sect and Wen Xinyun go at each other like dogs fighting dogs suited his interests far better.
The winter morning after the rain was deathly silent.
Luo Wei did not answer the question, instead countering:
"Does Madame Wen intend to interfere in the internal affairs of my Sword Sect?"
As soon as she spoke, the Seventh Elder of the Sword Sect chimed in with a reminder:
"Madame Wen, according to the Sect Alliance's Wartime General Regulations, you ought to have notified us prior to entering our Hongnong War Zone."
The Sword Sect leadership gave Wen Xinyun no warm reception.
Though they were currently allies, their sharp eyes could easily tell that their Sect Master's blood debt stemmed from this very woman beyond the Saint Realm.
Hearing this reply, Xu Yuan sighed inwardly.
An unyielding response, yet the Sword Sect currently lacked the capital to stand tough against Wen Xinyun.
In the next moment, just as expected, Wen Xinyun's words were blunt and direct:
"It seems my Jiangnan clans have provided a bit too much aid to the Sword Sect—so much that you can even spare a portion of it to aid the enemy."
As her words fell, a gust of wind rustled through the treetops.
A heavy accusation indeed, yet Luo Wei and the others did not immediately refute it.
Because refuting it was pointless.
The accusation of aiding the enemy was merely a pretense; the aid they supplied was the real threat. So long as the Sword Sect relied on the assistance of the Jiangnan aristocratic clans, they could never truly refute her words.
Reason existed solely at the tip of a blade.
The confidence that allowed Xu Yuan to converse as an equal with Wen Xinyun came from the Prime Minister's Manor's four hundred thousand troops entrenched north of Hongnong. The Sword Sect possessed no such confidence, so their defiance was destined to end in a farce.
"Why no answer?"
Looking down upon Luo Wei's fluctuating expression, Wen Xinyun pressed harder step by step. "I now need your Sword Sect to prove its stance."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan's brow twitched slightly.
Wen Xinyun was forcing the Sword Sect to make a move against him...
After a brief silence, Luo Wei finally spoke, dragging the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion into the water with them:
"Master Wen, we are currently in the midst of the Tianyuan Grand Tournament. Allowing Xu Yuan to participate was a decision reached after consultation between the Sword Sect and that Saintess."
For the first time, Wen Xinyun's expression shifted. Her delicate brows knitted slightly in contemplation.
"The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion..."
After considering it for a moment, her demeanor returned to normal, and she said in a measured voice:
"If so, then it was I who acted presumptuously without knowing the full circumstances."
"Things within your Sect Alliance change in the blink of an eye, don't they?"
Xu Yuan suddenly cut in, a teasing smile playing on his lips. "The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion and your Jiangnan clans just launched an offensive against the Sword Sect, and the next moment, the Pavilion turns around and reaches an agreement with them."
"There is no need for the Third Young Master to indulge in such clumsy sowing of discord." Before Wen Xinyun could reply, Luo Wei snapped back at Xu Yuan.
No matter how chaotic the Sect Alliance was internally, it was not Xu Yuan's place to meddle.
The threat currently endangering the Sword Sect's survival was none other than the four hundred thousand troops belonging to the Prime Minister's Manor.
Aware of this reality, Xu Yuan did not argue. Instead, he steered the conversation back to today's match and smiled.
"Senior Luo's lecture is well taken. But returning to the matter at hand—why hasn't my opponent for today shown up yet? Could it be that she's scared and wants to forfeit directly?"
Luo Wei cast a glance at the Second Elder beside her, Liu Wenzhou.
Seeing her look, Liu Wenzhou spoke up:
"The scheduled time for the match is the first quarter of the Snake hour. It is not yet time. Third Young Master, please be patient."
Xu Yuan remarked, "So there are still two quarters of an hour left?"
Liu Wenzhou replied, "Yes."
Xu Yuan murmured softly, "Still that much time..."
Liu Wenzhou's expression remained steady. "Those are the rules."
"I know they're the rules, but waiting around doing nothing is dull. So..."
Xu Yuan cut him off. A spark of blood-red flame flared in the depths of his eyes as he looked toward the woman beyond the Saint Realm and smiled.
"...Master Wen, being someone beyond the Saint Realm, do you have any interest in warming up with this young master?"
"Warming up?"
"What, you don't dare?"
"To the death?"
"Techniques have no eyes; life and death will naturally sort themselves out—"
Buzz—
Before his words fully left his lips, a dazzling aura of five-colored light erupted around Wen Xinyun without any warning.
And then, a beam of light shot out from it, catching everyone off guard as it pierced straight through Xu Yuan's skull.
A brand-new lethal move.
This sudden, unexpected turn of events caused Luo Wei's pupils to contract violently. The immense power of the military array surged around her in an instant as she shouted sharply:
"Wen Xinyun, what do you think you are doing?!"
Wen Xinyun merely cast an indifferent glance her way.
"Sect Master Luo, why the rush? The warm-up has only just begun."
As she spoke, silhouetted against the morning sun in the firmament, she looked down at the youth whose brain had just been impaled and said softly:
"I assumed you would rely more on your spatial techniques."
No blood flowed from the pierced skull; there was only a wispy, eerie black vapor swirling around it. His lips curled into a smirk as Xu Yuan rubbed the gaping hole in his head and said in a low voice:
"This young master wouldn't dare take someone beyond the Saint Realm lightly. Still, your beam of light managed to bypass the Void Flash I set up. Did you not use it last time because you couldn't?"
BOOM!
In an instant, chaotic qi spilled outward, shredding the surrounding formations to pieces. Bewitching blood-red qi stained the sky crimson, and the howling gale swept through like dead rot being crushed, instantly flattening hundreds of feet of dense forest below!
Watching the two silhouettes collide in the sky before plummeting rapidly to opposite sides, Liu Wenzhou furrowed his brow. Concealing the astonishment in his eyes, he glanced at Luo Wei, who was enveloped in the power of the military array, and said:
"Acting Sect Master, we cannot allow this farce to continue!"
The intensity of the clash between Xu Yuan and Wen Xinyun had completely exceeded his expectations. In a mere instant, the battle between these two monsters had shattered the formations erected for the tournament, their colossal qi already churning heaven and earth.
He had never imagined that Xu Yuan could go toe-to-toe with someone beyond the Saint Realm with merely a Transcendent body without falling into a disadvantage. Yet with his discerning eyes, he could tell that although Xu Yuan's explosive combat prowess was shocking, it was achieved at the cost of massively burning through his origin qi.
His gaze swept over the two massive craters below.
Amid snapped tree trunks and billowing dust, Wen Xinyun's blue robes remained immaculate and free of dust, whereas Xu Yuan was already drenched in blood.
Xu Yuan could not outlast Wen Xinyun.
After all, an insurmountable chasm existed between the Transcendent Realm and someone beyond the Saint Realm. Perhaps in half an hour, or perhaps in two quarters of an hour, he would be defeated.
Luo Wei's eyes flickered with conflicting emotions as she swiftly weighed the pros and cons, sending a voice transmission:
"Are you saying we should cooperate with Wen Xinyun to slay Xu Changtian here and now?"
Regarding what to do with Xu Yuan, the Council of Elders had debated endlessly these past days, and voices demanding he be surrounded and slaughtered on the spot were constant.
They needed Xu Yuan's death to prove the Sword Sect's innocence, and even more, they needed the prestige of slaying Xu Yuan to counterbalance the aristocratic clans and hidden sects. Yet Luo Wei, Liu Wenzhou, and others had insisted on forcibly suppressing those voices.
Because...
"In the long run, Xu Yuan dying here would better serve the Sword Sect's interests, but only on the premise that the Sword Sect actually has a future."
Liu Wenzhou's voice was calm and even. "Acting Sect Master, as the Master of Formation Sword Peak, you should be well aware of the current situation in Hongnong. Our odds of defending the Tianyuan Mountain Range in this Hongnong campaign are not even thirty percent. If Xu Yuan dies within our mountain gate right now, that 'escape route' to the secret realm will be utterly cut off."
"But that kid proposed this 'warm-up' himself!"
Luo Wei's voice was tinged with helpless anger.
She could not fathom where Xu Yuan got such sheer audacity!
Surrounded by enemies, he should have kept himself in peak condition to handle any eventuality, yet he had actively provoked someone beyond the Saint Realm and weakened himself.
Watching the battlefield in the distance, Liu Wenzhou was silent for a moment before saying rapidly:
"Xu Yuan wants to force our hand. Given our public stance, we should ostensibly want Xu Yuan dead. The moment we step in to stop Wen Xinyun, that woman will realize something is amiss and might even deduce our secret dealings with Xu Yuan."
Having reached this point, Liu Wenzhou paused briefly, gazing at the blue-robed woman's bizarre Five Elements techniques before continuing in a low murmur:
"Furthermore, Xu Changtian probably also wants to seize this chance to glean some intelligence on Wen Xinyun's techniques."
Luo Wei raised a hand to rub her temples, gripping the sword blade wrapped in military array power as she murmured:
"What a cunning brat. I need a legitimate pretext..."
"We can stop it under the pretext of the tournament."
With that, Luo Wei glanced at the horizon and asked:
"That still requires Xu Yuan's opponent for today to arrive. Wasn't this duel arranged at the request of your old friend's daughter? Where is she now?"
Xu Yuan's opponent today was none other than Jin Pingyue of Zang Village.
Liu Wenzhou hesitated for a moment before murmuring:
"She shares a blood feud with Xu Changtian, so she will definitely come. But as for her specific situation..."
"Speak the truth!"
Decades of camaraderie made Luo Wei intimately familiar with her old friend's temperament. "Second Elder, you should know that this is no time to let personal sentiment cloud your judgment!"
After a brief silence, amidst the earth-shattering roars in the distance, Liu Wenzhou finally spoke:
"Yue'er said she wanted to break through to the Transcendent Realm."
"What?"
Luo Wei reflexively turned her head, her eyes filled with disbelief. "That girl's cultivation is still a hundred and eight thousand li away from the Transcendent Realm. How could she possibly break through?"
"Among those who came to participate in the tournament, there was a man radiating monstrous fiendish aura. She wished to use him as a bait Gu to forcibly break through to the Transcendent Realm in exchange for the power to fight Xu Changtian."
"Demonic Gu arts? Was that person a rogue cultivator?"
"I am not certain."
"..." Luo Wei was speechless.
She opened her mouth, then held her tongue. Dabbling in such wicked demonic arts at a critical juncture like this would leave them completely open to reproach, but matters had progressed beyond worrying about that.
"And the result?"
"Unknown."
"You—"
Just as Luo Wei was about to lose her temper, she suddenly sensed a streak of qi rushing toward them from the horizon. It was indeed Jin Pingyue, of whom they spoke. Yet when the two extended their intent souls to probe her, they found her aura remained merely at the Primordial Origin Realm...
The biting wind high in the sky ruffled the woman's black hair. Mountain forests receded rapidly beneath Jin Pingyue's gaze as memories of that day repeatedly flashed through her mind.
She had already forgotten what thoughts had crossed her mind the moment she saw that crimson qi descend upon the Sword Sect's mountain gate. The Xu father and son had slaughtered every single loved one she held dear. The malice born of hatred had nearly devoured her entire mind, yet the colossal might Xu Changtian displayed upon his arrival had forced her to stay rational.
She needed greater power to stand against this crown prince of the Prime Minister's Manor. Given his status, him being on his own like this might be the only opportunity she would ever have in her lifetime. Thus, at that very moment, she had known she had to act against Zhou Chen immediately.
Use him as bait to break through to the Transcendent Realm.
Then seize this opportunity to slay Xu Changtian at the Sword Sect!
And then...
She had failed.
It was through no fault of hers in battle; after Xu Yuan arrived at the Sword Sect's mountain gate, that man named Zhou Chen had abruptly vanished.
It was too coincidental.
So coincidental that one could not help but ponder the connection between the two. But the hatred burning in Jin Pingyue's chest left her no room to dwell on other things.
Over the past few days, she had searched frantically for Zhou Chen, yet his traces had vanished completely, as though he had never existed.
Without breaking through to the Transcendent Realm, vengeance was impossible. Yet Jin Pingyue had still chosen to rush to the dueling grounds today.
After all, nothing was absolute on a battlefield.
What if she won?
What if her Gu cultivation happened to...
Wuuuung!
A sharp sound of tearing air abruptly shattered Jin Pingyue's train of thought. But faster than the sound was the crimson afterimage caught in the corner of her vision.
It vanished in a flash, yet felt intimately familiar.
Though she had only glimpsed it from afar that day, it had been etched into her very bones.
Was that... Xu Changtian?
Her beautiful eyes slowly widened in bewilderment.
Today's combatants were supposed to be her and Xu Changtian. Why was he currently clashing with someone else?
Reflexively turning her head to look back, she saw that blood-red figure smash into a hillside, demolishing a swath of dense forest before a plume of smoke and dust billowed up.
And then, before she could even react,
A torrent of five-colored light, like a rainbow piercing the sun, descended suddenly from the heavens!
RUUUUMBLE—!
Heaven and earth lost color. The ground shattered like bean curd, and howling gales tore the lush forest to shreds.
"..." Jin Pingyue was struck dumb.
Staring at the devastation wrought by this single strike, Jin Pingyue's mind went completely blank. Her eyes were glued to the epicenter of the catastrophe.
The forest for several hundred feet around had been leveled in an instant.
The majestic might of the technique that had fallen so abruptly—even just its aftershocks—made Jin Pingyue feel like a lone leaf of a boat tossed upon a stormy sea.
What was this?
Whose technique was that?
A Saint?
Was Xu Changtian dueling a Saint?
No...
The point was that Xu Changtian had just taken a direct hit from that technique.
Under a technique of that caliber, not even a Saint would have the slightest chance of survival, right?
So... had her vengeance been exacted?
Hovering between doubt and belief, Jin Pingyue reflexively looked around to ask Uncle Liu what was happening. But no sooner had the thought surfaced than a mellow voice made her feel as though she had fallen into a pit of ice.
"Whoa... Master Wen, that technique of yours sure packs a punch."
From the devastated forest, a figure suddenly burst through the dust. A sea of blood-red qi bloomed beneath his battered, incomplete body, saturating the mountain woods below as though it were physical liquid.
He stepped forward in midair, steadily flying up toward Wen Xinyun.
As he advanced, the sea of blood-colored qi frantically corrupted everything in its path. The once-verdant woods withered instantly, their life force siphoned away by the blood qi the moment he passed over them.
At the same time, the whites of his eyes were devoured by darkness, and his pair of blood pupils flickered with a seductive golden sheen. His broken body, mangled by the technique, rapidly knitted itself back together under an indescribable power of death.
Gazing at this eerie spectacle from afar, Jin Pingyue's breath began to tremble.
Because she finally saw clearly who it was fighting Xu Yuan in the sky above.
Madame Wen.
That legendary figure of the Sect Alliance who was beyond the Saint Realm.
Xu Changtian was fighting someone beyond the Saint Realm?!
And...
Jin Pingyue's beautiful eyes remained fixed on Xu Yuan's gruesome, terrifying physique as a chilling thought crept through her heart.
Could the current Xu Changtian truly still be called human?
In stark contrast to Xu Yuan's grim, horrific tide of black and blood, Wen Xinyun stood poised beneath the dome of the heavens. The five-colored glow enveloping her shone down upon the earth like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal realm to slay demons.
Battling someone beyond the Saint Realm was even more perilous than Xu Yuan had anticipated, yet this gamble had not been without its rewards.
He had drawn out Wen Xinyun's fourth lethal method beyond her external incarnations, the Void Domain, and the secret technique of Spirit Implantation.
The five-colored glow wreathing her body right now was no mere manifestation of origin qi pressure—it was a genuine technique.
Light beams.
Xu Yuan did not know how to describe this fourth killing technique of Wen Xinyun's, for it ran completely counter to the fundamental axioms of cultivation.
Techniques involving light were plentiful, but most were used for illumination. Those capable of causing lethal damage typically took the form of "lasers"—concentrating light energy and inflicting penetrating burns through sheer extreme heat.
Yet the five-colored beams Wen Xinyun had just displayed were entirely different.
She seemed to have directly endowed those beams of light with mass.
Instantaneous.
Irresistible.
And because they traveled at the speed of light, impossible to dodge.
The very instant the battle began, that beam imbued with mass had drilled straight through his brain, and the Void Flash that had previously allowed him to evade all techniques failed for the very first time.
Had it not been for his life-death Dao charm, he likely would have been instantly killed at the very outset.
Yet through this exchange, Xu Yuan had also figured out why that light beam could circumvent the Void Flash he had pre-set.
During the clash just now, he, Wen Xinyun, and the morning sun in the firmament had remained aligned in a nearly perfect straight line. Or rather, Wen Xinyun had deliberately kept the three of them along that exact trajectory.
Xu Yuan asked in a calm voice:
"Those beams of yours... did they come from the rising sun?"
Though he did not understand the underlying principle, light naturally originating from the sun would not trigger his Void Flash.
Silhouetted against the morning sun, Wen Xinyun slowly drifted downward and remarked regretfully:
"Xu Changtian, your brilliance is truly astonishing."
"It seems I guessed right," Xu Yuan said, his eyes filled with gravity. "You old fossil really have kept an awful lot hidden, haven't you?"
Seeing her secret exposed, Wen Xinyun appeared remarkably serene, her voice smooth and gentle:
"I thought I could slay you in a single instant with this technique, but it seems that opportunity has passed. Congratulations on surviving, Xu Changtian."
Xu Yuan furrowed his brow. He had still wanted to draw out more of her trump cards.
"What, you're not planning to continue?"
Wen Xinyun shook her head. "There will be plenty of time in the days ahead. The struggle between you and me will not end today, so why the rush?"
With that, she cast a glance at the southern-border maiden standing dazed nearby.
"The warm-up is over. Your true opponent for today has arrived."
Xu Yuan followed her gaze, only then noticing Jin Pingyue's presence.
During the clash just now, all his focus had been fixed on Wen Xinyun; he had not noticed anyone else's arrival.
Looking now at the attractive young woman who had stumbled into the combat zone, Xu Yuan found her features somewhat familiar. He must have seen her somewhere, yet he could not recall where for the moment.
While he was pondering, Wen Xinyun's voice drifted over again, tinged with reminiscence:
"Mm... to think I would see that little girl from Zang Village here."
Hearing that, Xu Yuan instantly recalled the woman's identity. So she was his former paper-waifu. No wonder she seemed both familiar and distant.
"...Jin Pingyue?"
Wen Xinyun showed a hint of surprise.
"Oh? You know her?"
Xu Yuan turned back to her and said:
"Qin Mo's sworn sister. Well... you probably wouldn't know Qin Mo—"
As he reached this point, Xu Yuan caught the faint, knowing smirk in Wen Xinyun's otherworldly eyes. Narrowing his eyes, he abruptly shifted his tone:
"It seems you know Qin Mo as well."
Wen Xinyun gave a faint smile, her eyelids drooping slightly.
"That little fellow was a monster I personally forged—a monster meant to link the entire Sect Alliance together. Do you think I know him?"
"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.
This sudden revelation momentarily stunned Xu Yuan, but in the next second, remembering that the Jiangnan Qin family was merely a hound at her disposal, everything clicked into place.
Back in Jingjiang Manor, it had been that eldest young master of the Qin family aiding Qin Mo from the shadows. Framed that way, it made complete sense.
At that thought, Xu Yuan suddenly felt a sigh for that protagonist of Cangyuan, murmuring:
"This Void Flash of mine originated from his Step Void Slash. To invent such a terrifying technique with merely a seventh-rank cultivation... he truly was a monster."
Wen Xinyun gave neither agreement nor denial, only remarking:
"Pity that before he could grow into his own, he was slain by another monster."
Xu Yuan snorted softly. "If he was so important, why didn't you step in to protect him back then?"
Wen Xinyun did not answer, instead turning the question on him:
"Shouldn't that question be asked of you?"
"Of me?" Xu Yuan's expression turned odd.
Wen Xinyun fixed her gaze upon his eyes, enunciating each word clearly:
"Shouldn't it? Why were you so intent on him back then?"
Xu Yuan laughed and ruffled his hair, murmuring:
"Because I couldn't stand the sight of him—how about that? A rustic country bumpkin daring to compete with royal scions like me over a woman."
"And so you summoned Xu Changge?"
Wen Xinyun analyzed aloud to herself. "Reasonably speaking, to deal with a Saint's remnant soul at the Grandmaster level and a nobody at the Iron Body Realm, the three Grandmaster guards you had by your side back then were more than enough. Yet you actually had Xu Changge descend in person upon Jingjiang Manor."
"Take a guess," Xu Yuan replied softly.
With his current standing, there was no longer any need to conceal anything. The various pieces of knowledge from his past life playing Cangyuan could now be used openly without having to offer explanations to anyone.
Seeing this, Wen Xinyun sighed softly.
"Mmm... Xu Changtian, you truly harbor many mysteries."
Xu Yuan gave no reaction. "Perhaps. But since you valued Qin Mo so highly, why didn't you personally protect him?"
"..."
Hearing this question, Wen Xinyun suddenly laughed, as if amused that Xu Yuan would ask something so naive.
"Why? Why did your father allow you to take the risk of going to Zhenxi Manor City to ruin my plans?"
"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.
Wen Xinyun strolled leisurely through the air, her voice detached and callous:
"He was an instrument for me to tie the Sect Alliance together. Naturally, I could not raise him in a greenhouse. If he died despite all the resources I provided him, it only proves he was unworthy."
"As expected," Xu Yuan muttered in a low voice. "You old fossil don't have nearly as much leeway as I imagined."
"There is no need for such petty probing, and what point is there in dwelling on the dead?"
Wen Xinyun shook her head, paying his remark no heed. She simply said, "We might as well talk about the living—for instance, you, Xu Changtian."
At this point, a glimmer of deep thought gradually surfaced in Wen Xinyun's eyes.
"Or, for instance, what is your true purpose in coming to the Sword Sect's mountain gate at the risk of your life?"
Meeting her gaze for a few breaths, Xu Yuan curved his eyes slightly, a frosty gleam flashing within them:
"Maybe it was to lure you here. Who can say?"
"You wish to slay me?" Wen Xinyun laughed.
"Are four hundred thousand troops not enough to slay you?"
"Can you teleport them over?"
"You can wait and see," Xu Yuan replied with a grin.
"..." Wen Xinyun fell silent, her eyes flickering.
Having said that, Xu Yuan cast his gaze upon his "paper ex-wife" and said in a relaxed tone:
"Sect Master Luo, the warm-up is over. We can begin the main event now."
"..."
Jin Pingyue glanced at the nemesis treated as an equal by someone beyond the Saint Realm, then looked back at the topographical devastation left by their clash.
Make her fight Xu Yuan right now?
Mm... better wait until she broke through to the Saint Realm.
The match concluded without a single ripple, ending with Jin Pingyue conceding defeat.
Yet after it ended, Jin Pingyue transmitted a voice message to Liu Wenzhou that caused a ripple of unease in Xu Yuan's heart:
Uncle Liu, I suspect that man with the monstrous fiendish aura is connected to Xu Changtian. The moment he arrived at the mountain gate, that man completely vanished without a trace.
Damn it.
Yuan Hao's bizarre quirk really was bound to cause trouble.
Before he could think of a countermeasure, however, a single sentence uttered by Wen Xinyun caused his pupils to contract abruptly:
"Sect Master Luo, the duel between your eldest disciple and that Saintess is also scheduled for today, is it not?"
The gentle words made Xu Yuan's breath hitch sharply. He whipped his head around to look at Luo Wei. In order to avoid causing trouble for the Big Ice Block these past days, he had strictly observed the etiquette of a guest, and thus had remained completely unaware of the scheduled match between the big and little ice blocks.
Observing the change in Xu Yuan's expression, Luo Wei's fair face grew somewhat strained.
To protect her disciple, she had used virtually every means at her disposal.
Today saw the final two matches before the tournament grand final.
Ran Qingmo stood no chance against Tianyan. In other words, the finalists for the tournament would inevitably be Tianyan and Xu Yuan.
This way, Luo Wei could prevent her disciple from grieving in secret over having to cross swords with Xu Yuan. She had never expected Wen Xinyun to expose it so casually with a single question. Yet matters having reached this stage, concealment was futile.
"Yes. Does Master Wen intend to go watch the match?"
"Does the Third Young Master wish to go?"
Wen Xinyun did not answer, directing the question to Xu Yuan instead. Yet before Xu Yuan could respond, Luo Wei cut in ahead of him:
"As a participant, the Third Young Master may not spectate the matches of other contestants."
Wen Xinyun did not insist, merely looking at Xu Yuan and remarking regretfully:
"What a shame. The match between the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion and the eldest disciple of the Sword Sect ought to be quite splendid. After all, techniques have no eyes."
"..." Xu Yuan.
Luo Wei looked at the youth standing with bowed head in silence. She knew full well that his willingness to leave the Sword Sect a retreat was entirely because of Qingmo, and she equally understood that he would never meekly return to his quarters now. She said in a deep voice:
"Third Young Master, your status is unique. It is time for you to return to your residence."
Xu Yuan took a deep breath and slowly raised his gaze.
"Forgive me, but I fear this junior must act presumptuously."
Hearing this, Luo Wei instantly summoned the power of the military array around herself, pressing down toward Xu Yuan. But Xu Yuan's figure vanished from the spot in a flash, teleporting toward the other dueling ground with Step Void Slash!
Bolstered by the might of the military array, Luo Wei appeared before Xu Yuan to block him in the blink of an eye. Regrettably, Step Void Slash could break free from all debuffs and negative statuses; so long as he wished to flee, ordinary means had no hope of stopping him. Nor did Luo Wei dare to truly blast this legitimate son of the Prime Minister's Manor to pieces with the military array, given that he held the Sword Sect's lifeline. Thus, one after the other, the two sped toward the dueling ground of Ran Qingmo and Tianyan, while the other two high-ranking members of the Sword Sect bid Wen Xinyun farewell and followed closely behind.
Gazing at the distant silhouettes disappearing into the distance, a flicker of contemplation passed quietly through Wen Xinyun's calm, unruffled eyes.
Her purpose in coming to the Sword Sect's mountain gate was not merely for the possibility of slaying Xu Yuan. It was also to use Xu Yuan's hand to probe certain matters. Judging by the strength he had displayed just now, he should be more than capable of fulfilling her expectations.
With that thought, Wen Xinyun gradually restrained her aura, shadowing them like a phantom toward the place where the others had fled...
Yet right at that moment, an eerie sense of dissonance caused Wen Xinyun to halt instinctively.
Stillness.
The chirping of insects, the singing of birds, and the rustling of fallen leaves in the mountain woods had all fallen deathly still at some unknown moment. Even the radiance cast by the morning sun in the sky had turned chilly and austere.
After a moment of silence, Wen Xinyun slowly turned around, looking toward the golden-eyed maiden who had appeared behind her without a sound.
Locking eyes for a breath, Tianye asked with a beaming smile:
"Miss Wen, rushing over there in such a hurry—what do you plan to do?"
Looking at the intricate pavilion master's gown draped over her, Wen Xinyun's eyes held genuine gravity for the very first time:
"...When did the Pavilion Master of Overseeing Heaven change?"
Tianye hovered on empty air, arms crossed beneath her ample bust, looking down at the woman beyond the Saint Realm as she murmured:
"The previous one felt he wasn't up to the task, so he temporarily handed the position over to me."
In the soundless quiet of heaven and earth, Wen Xinyun stared at the golden-eyed girl who seemed more enchanting than an enchantress, saying:
"Yet as far as I know, every Pavilion Master of Overseeing Heaven is devoid of emotion. You, however, do not appear to be affected by the State of Godlessness?"
Tianye replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world:
"Because I'm a genius, so I'm different from them."
Wen Xinyun ignored Tianye's flippant remark and asked with slight hesitation:
"Are you the one who was inside that Saintess back then?"
"Good eye." Tianye beamed and gave her a thumbs-up.
Wen Xinyun shook her head, murmuring:
"I had my suspicions back then, but I never expected the very thing I dreaded most would actually come to pass."
Tianye paid the comment no mind, continuing with her inquiry:
"So, Miss Wen, what were you planning to do by chasing after them just now?"
Wen Xinyun's gaze turned cool, her voice as gentle as ever:
"Naturally, to spectate the Tianyuan Grand Tournament."
"You really aren't honest at all, little girl."
Tianye shook her head, chuckling as she laid bare Wen Xinyun's true objective: "You're going to probe the 'Tianyan Dao Method,' aren't you? With Xu Yuan heading over there, he's bound to clash with Tianyan. And given his current strength, he's certain to push Tianyan to that exact point."
"..." Wen Xinyun was silent.
"Looks like I guessed right."
Seeing her silence, Tianye let out a soft sigh. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her golden eyes curving into crescents:
"However, we can't let Miss Wen learn about the 'Tianyan Dao Method' just yet. Still, there's no need to be too disappointed. If you truly wish to probe my Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's 'Tianyan Dao Method,' you can always come test it against me."
Saying this, Tianye's golden eyes emanated a divine brilliance too blinding to behold directly:
"After all...
"I am also Tianyan—a Tianyan from twenty thousand years ago~"
Chapter 770