Chapter Seven

Qin Bing wasn’t annoyed at all; instead, he puffed up with pride. “How am I shameless? If you can’t catch me, just admit defeat. Isn’t it even more shameless to drag my brother into it and try to force me to give in?”

“Qin Bing, you…” Qin Yao was so furious that he lashed out with thunderfire, blasting Qin Bing until his hair stood on end and he howled in pain.

“Brother, that’s not fair! I wasn’t wrong at all! Waaah!” He jumped around, patting out the thunderfire on his body. After finally smoothing down his singed, yellowish hair, he grew even bolder, hovering above the desk as if ready to take on all comers in a war of words.

“So tell me, if you can’t catch me, how can you beat me? Since you can’t beat me, I’m naturally in an unbeatable position.”

Xuanfeng had already snapped open his folding fan, swaying slightly as he sat back to enjoy the sight of the Dongyang gentlemen ganging up on Qin Bing. But just then, one person stepped forward.

“However, not losing isn’t the same as winning!” Ziye, who had originally intended to stay on the sidelines, finally stepped out, unable to resist the earnest pleas of Qin Yao and Ting Zhongtong.

Qin Bing turned his head triumphantly, but as soon as he saw the speaker was Ling Ziye, his expression instantly changed and his confidence waned considerably. He cultivated the Path of Directness and excelled in calculations; his mind was unimpeded, allowing him to shift through myriad forms and tread extraordinary paths.

It was extremely difficult for ordinary cultivators to catch him in a mistake.

But that never included Ziye, who cultivated the Dao of Natural Transformation.

Qin Bing looked down from mid-air and saw Ling Ziye smiling like a spring breeze. Her spiritual pressure quietly spread, instantly enveloping everyone except Jiang Xuanfeng, yet no one felt the slightest discomfort.

Just like him—he knew he was already caught in her spiritual pressure, yet he couldn’t muster even a trace of wariness. Qin Bing knew something was wrong but couldn’t find a way to escape it. It felt like no matter how he changed, she could understand and adapt.

“A-Ah, Ziye… y-you, you can’t do this.”

Seeing how nervous Qin Bing clearly was, the others snickered.

“Since when do you get to decide what my sister wants to do?”

Xiaoxue had always been close to Zhongqi. Seeing Qin Bing teasing him like this, she had long been displeased and naturally wasn’t about to be polite.

Already shaken, Qin Bing grew even more frustrated when Xiaoxue joined in. With Ziye there, even Jiang Yushan had turned against him, let alone the others who already had plenty of grievances with him.

Clearly, if he dared to retort even once, they had a thousand words waiting for him. How terrifying! Qin Bing shuddered and shook his head with a sigh. “Forget it, forget it. I’ll just count today as a loss.”

“Fine, fine. If you want to fight, I’ll be ready anytime you’re free. That good enough?”

Only then did Zhongqi nod slightly in satisfaction. The farce finally ended, leaving only Jiang Xuanfeng alone to lament this missed opportunity for entertainment.

With no more show to watch, the crowd naturally had no reason to stay crowded together and dispersed.

The moment the crowd scattered, Ziye realized she was only a few paces from Jiang Xuanfeng; a powerful sense of oppression suddenly washed over her, and the restless thing inside her, sensing its chance, began to act up again.

To avoid revealing anything, she forcibly suppressed the fluctuations of her spiritual pressure. Unable to completely block the pain from affecting her, a slight frown creased her brow as she prepared to turn and distance herself from Jiang Xuanfeng.

Xiaoxue noticed her pale face and hurried over, worried. Though her elder sister had entered the Dao Inquiry Realm, she still retained her original body and had to endure the mortal cycles of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Moreover, Dongyang had never pursued alchemical methods to strengthen the physique.

Thus, among those who had yet to forge a golden body, the people of Dongyang were always particularly weak in constitution and vitality.

Deeply concerned, Xiaoxue and Yushan wanted to help examine Ziye’s meridians, but she deftly evaded them. Helpless, she shook her head and said, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. It was just a slight clash of spiritual momentum.”

Despite her words, her face grew even paler. Xiaoxue, extremely worried, insisted on guiding her into a side room to regulate her breathing.

Yushan had originally planned to go along, but when she turned and saw her elder brother once again savoring the Seven Emotions Wine, she recalled how last time he had indulged so deeply in the perception of bitterness and pain that he had used his spiritual momentum to drag everyone present into the bitter wine’s realm, leaving them suffering for three days before they were freed.

Truly uneasy, Yushan decided to stay close to her brother to keep him from acting on a whim and causing chaos again.

After being reluctantly led into the side room, Ziye regulated her breathing for a moment and felt refreshed. Her tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.

Xiaoxue had been worried that something was wrong with her elder sister’s health. Now seeing her expression return to normal, she couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Elder Sister, are you feeling all right? If it’s really too much, you should reforge your spiritual body sooner so you don’t have to endure such constraints.”

Ziye, sitting cross-legged on the couch, replied with her eyes closed, "It's nothing. Their performance earlier stirred the energy currents too intensely. I was channeling my spiritual momentum to counteract it and accidentally inhaled some turbid spiritual breath. That's all."

"I see. The Dao of nature is indeed not easily grasped." Xiaoxue sighed with feeling. Seeing her elder sister had settled into meditation, she didn't wish to disturb her. Noticing several of her young friends had also entered the side chamber, she joined them to chat about lighter matters.

When Ziye opened her eyes again, the room was shrouded in dimness. A small candle flickered by her side, and Xiaoxue was sitting cross-legged next to the low table, propping her head on her hands, swaying gently with the candle's flame.

Cool moonlight crept to the windowsill. Ziye slowly walked to her side, gave a helpless smile, and called out softly, "Xue'er, it's time to go home."

Xiaoxue slowly opened her eyes, stretched lazily, and leaned gently into Ziye's embrace, complaining, "Elder Sister, I waited so long for you."

Ziye shook her head with a sigh. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Tomorrow, I'll take you to Mist Realm to enjoy the view as compensation, alright?"

Hearing this, Xiaoxue perked up immediately, raising her eyes to stare at Ziye for confirmation. "Really?"

"Really!" Ziye replied with a doting smile, gently stroking her hair.

In the depth of night, only silence remained.

Upon exiting the side chamber, the two realized the main hall was empty; they had no idea where everyone else had gone to enjoy themselves. As they walked through the long hall and were about to go downstairs, Xiaoxue suddenly slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "Oh no! I forgot the brocade robe Sister Qu gave me."

"You took another gift from her?"

Xiaoxue looked up at Ziye sheepishly, about to act spoiled, but the other stepped back with a wave of her hand and a feigned expression of disdain, signaling for her to quickly go fetch it. Seeing this, Xiaoxue happily ran off.

By the time Ziye looked back, the figure had vanished. She shook her head, both exasperated and amused.

Turning, she saw the main hall was spacious, dark, and quiet. It was already deep into the night; everyone had left, adding to the stillness—a thing she had never liked.

Fortunately, the misty rain and lingering glow to the east remained. She walked to the window and gazed at the hazy, beautiful scene before her, the corners of her mouth unconsciously curving upward.

Jiang Xuanfeng, who had climbed the stairs out of breath, looked up and was surprised to find someone still here.

Today, he had sealed his spiritual body, making it hard to sense his surroundings. Curious about who would linger so late at night, he peered inside. Through the hazy mist and rain, an orange glow fell upon a woman, the colors dreamlike and enchanting.

The woman's goose-yellow dress and strands of her hair stirred gently in the breeze.

She glanced back, serene and lovely, a flicker of starlight shining in her eyes that brought an unspoken peace.

Xuanfeng looked at her, feeling as though he could share the genuine joy within her heart, and couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth in response.

But only for a brief moment—Ziye soon sensed his arrival.

When she turned, her smile had already faded. She gave him a polite nod, her expression somewhat distant.

A little embarrassed, Xuanfeng rubbed his nose. Without a word, they both moved toward each other in perfect accord, only to brush past each other lightly as they drew near.

Ziye walked straight to the stairwell and waited for a while before Xiaoxue hurried over from the side room. With a smile, she hopped in front of her and called out softly, "Sister!"

After grabbing Ziye's arm, Xiaoxue turned her head back in puzzlement, asking as they walked, "Was that Brother Xuanfeng who just came back?"

Ziye nodded. "Yes, I saw him."

Xiaoxue bounced the sachet in her hand, and as if struck by a thought, she tilted her head and grinned. "Brother Xuanfeng? He didn't leave another illusion realm here, did he?"

Hearing this, Ziye couldn't help but pause. She glanced back involuntarily, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly as she replied somewhat awkwardly, "Probably."

"Ah!" Xiaoxue sighed with a laugh, her tone tinged with helpless wonder. "Sister, what kind of Dao exactly does Brother Xuanfeng cultivate? We practice for years and can hardly manage a single illusion realm, yet he can create them at will. Sometimes I can't even tell if he's already reached the Dao Breaking Realm. Otherwise, I really can't understand how he does it so effortlessly."

Ziye couldn't help but sigh along, a trace of helplessness and a faint bitterness lingering at the corner of her mouth.