Silence.
A deathly silence.
Opposite him, Sima Lie's face flushed bright red, the veins on his forehead bulging. He pointed a trembling finger at Bai Zhirou. “You... you, you...”
He stammered on “you” for a long while, utterly at a loss for what to say next.
“What are you gibbering about? Scram!”
Jiang Ye, looking completely impatient, let out a cold snort. Raising his sword, he charged forward of his own accord!
Chu Qianfeng was still dazed by his junior sister's series of flashy maneuvers, but before he could snap out of it, Bai Zhirou's figure brushed past his shoulder, heading straight for Sima Lie.
Chu Qianfeng's eye twitched, and he hurriedly shouted, “Junior Sister, watch out—”
The word “out” got stuck in his throat, choked back because he was once again—for the umpteenth time—dumbfounded.
The moment Jiang Ye drew close to Sima Lie, a familiar scene played out again. The young girl executed an incredibly flashy sidestep, turning her back to her enemy once more. She reached up with her right hand to flip her hair, revealing a casual yet arrogant profile.
【Perfect Dodge!】
Inside her mind, Bai Zhirou watched this cringe-inducing display and let out a couple of dry laughs. It turned out that when a person was pushed past the limit of speechlessness, they really would laugh.
This time, however, Jiang Ye's movements were visibly more fluid and seamless than in the previous run. In his professional gaming terminology: he was currently in the zone.
Thus, he reduced the number of ground rolls, which had a higher margin for error, and instead relied on clean, precise positioning and continuous perfect parries.
Aside from the occasional hair-flipping to show off, his entire sequence of movements actually possessed an elegant, ethereal quality.
Watching this, the toes of the spectating disciples, which had been curled tight in second-hand embarrassment, finally relaxed a bit.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The crisp, metallic clangs blocked every single strike from Sima Lie's long whip.
Just as Sima Lie, exactly like in the previous run, was beaten into a disheveled, frenzied state by Jiang Ye's relentless combos and was about to reach for that purplish-black Tier Three talisman treasure—
Jiang Ye's gaze shifted.
This time, he didn't give his opponent a single chance!
Instead of rolling back, he used his momentum to execute a low slide across the ground, immediately following up with a stylish upward slash from the blind spot!
Slash.
Sima Lie's right hand, which had just reached halfway to retrieve the talisman treasure, suddenly met a flash of cold sword light.
It felt as if he had actively slammed his own hand into Bai Zhirou's blade.
Plop.
Three fingers, still bearing his spatial ring, were instantly severed at the base. They fell to the ground alongside the Tier Three talisman treasure, which he hadn't even had time to activate.
“AAAAAHHH—!!”
A scream of agony, several times more wretched than a slaughtered pig, suddenly echoed across the entire area.
Sima Lie clutched the stumps of his severed fingers with his left hand. His face was as pale as paper, and his entire body trembled violently from the pain.
Chu Qianfeng, whose hand had been raised to rush to the rescue, slowly lowered it. He could only mimic his junior sister's earlier action, running a hand through his own hair to ease the awkwardness.
Good grief. Every time he thought Junior Sister Bai was in mortal danger, he would ultimately find that his worries were completely superfluous.
Inside her mind, Bai Zhirou also let out a long, slow breath.
Just now, watching Jiang Ye's combo sequence—which was akin to dancing on the edge of a blade—her heart had practically leaped into her throat.
Now that she had recovered, a subtle wave of emotion suddenly welled up in her heart.
Seeing “herself” become so powerful gave her a faint sense of pride; yet, the thought that the one controlling her body was actually a smooth-talking fiend made it feel rather bizarre.
The young girl thought to herself, “If only... I could be this strong too. Perhaps back then, I could have saved my parents from the demon race...”
Jiang Ye paid no attention to the shifting expressions of the crowd. It was time for a player's favorite part of any game: looting.
He picked up the talisman treasure from the ground, slipped the spatial ring off the severed hand, wiped it on his clothes with a look of disgust, and slid it onto his index finger.
Next, he fumbled around his trouser leg, retrieved the spatial ring that Sima Kong had “gifted” him before dying, and slipped it onto his middle finger. Then, he casually tossed the Tier Three talisman treasure inside.
Seeing his seamless, practiced movements, Sima Lie—who was still twitching in pain—looked as if he had seen a ghost. His eyes widened slowly as he stared intently at the rings on Jiang Ye's fingers, before roaring hysterically:
“The ring... my cousin's ring!! It really was you! You killed Sima Kong!! Everyone, charge! Kill this wench!!”
Sima Lie screamed until his voice went hoarse.
Yet, ten seconds passed, and the surroundings remained dead silent.
Turning his head in confusion, he discovered that out of the twenty-odd Yin-Yang Sect disciples he had brought, only two or three of his trusted lackeys were hesitantly shuffling forward with their sabers drawn. The rest had actually taken several steps back in unison.
Sima Lie was so enraged he nearly spat blood. He bellowed, “I told you to charge! Are you all fucking deaf?! I am the deacon leading this team!!”
The Yin-Yang Sect disciples cowering in the back turned a deaf ear. Some even began looking around, clearly scouting out escape routes.
After all, they didn't belong to Sima Lie's faction; they had merely taken a tracking quest from the sect.
Completing the quest would net them a few dozen low-grade spirit stones at most. They were fine with joining a fight they were guaranteed to win, but risking their lives? Who the hell would throw their life away for a few measly spirit stones?!
Amidst this awkward, dead silence, Jiang Ye toyed with his longsword while clicking his tongue.
“You can't even beat me, a mere Qi Condensation cultivator. There's no need to mention how inflated your Foundation Establishment cultivation is, right? No wonder none of your followers respect you.”
“You... all of you...” Seeing his men's morale crumbling, Sima Lie went completely wild. He pointed at Bai Zhirou and shrieked crazily:
“Charge! Whoever kills this wench will be heavily rewarded! Not only will I give you a thousand low-grade spirit stones, but I'll also throw in this top-grade magic tool!!”
The moment these words were spoken, the retreating Yin-Yang Sect disciples all halted in their tracks.
A thousand spirit stones! Plus a top-grade magic tool!
This massive fortune instantly ignited the greed in their bones.
They exchanged glances, their breathing growing heavy as they stared greedily at Bai Zhirou.
They were all thinking: There's strength in numbers. If we all swarm her at once, we can easily wear down a single Qi Condensation cultivator, can't we?
“Motherfucker, using my own stuff to reward other people, are you?” Jiang Ye's slightly annoyed voice rang out.
Sima Lie: “?”
Those are clearly my fucking spirit stones and magic treasures!
Jiang Ye held his sword and turned his head, raising an eyebrow at Chu Qianfeng, who was still lost in his wild imaginations.
“Senior Brother Chu, do you believe that I can solo this entire crowd of Qi Condensation cultivators, plus a Foundation Establishment one, all by myself?”
Chu Qianfeng's expression froze, and his lips couldn't help but twitch violently.
He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his emotions, and only spoke after careful consideration:
“Junior Sister Bai, that might... be a bit difficult.”
Chu Qianfeng frantically reminded himself in his head: I must keep my composure this time! I absolutely cannot let her shock me again! That was why he didn't outright dismiss the idea.
Jiang Ye rolled his eyes and muttered speechlessly, “Then why aren't you guys charging?!”
“Ah?!”
Chu Qianfeng blanked, his face instantly flushing red with embarrassment as he hurriedly shouted:
“Oh, oh... All disciples, heed my command! Charge!!”
“Kill!!”
Though the Azure Mystic Sect only had a dozen or so disciples on their side, they were clearly far more united. After all, everyone belonged to the same Sword Peak lineage.
In an instant, the two factions clashed fiercely. The flashing of blades and the roar of spells turned the village entrance into absolute chaos.
Rate on N.U.
