Chapter 100
Si Nidie scolded Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang so thoroughly that both men lowered their heads in shame.
Only after venting a good portion of her frustration did Si Nidie finally feel a little better.
Then she noticed Luo Buqi standing nearby.
The man looked far too pleased with himself.
Seeing that smug expression, her eyes immediately rolled.
"Fellow Daoist Luo," she said coolly, "don't celebrate too early."
She folded her arms across her chest.
"At the very least, our Wendao Sect still has two junior disciples fighting inside the trial."
Her gaze swept over him from head to toe.
"As for your Bailing Sect..." A faint smile appeared on her face. "Not a single disciple remains."
Luo Buqi's smug expression instantly stiffened.
That remark had struck him right where it hurt.
After all, Si Nidie wasn't wrong.
Every Bailing Sect disciple participating in this small world had already been eliminated.
Whether the sect could recover any face now depended entirely on the disciples competing in the other small worlds.
The Foundation Establishment competition was divided into twelve separate small worlds.
Only the top three participants from each world would advance to the second round—the arena battles.
Thirty-six spots.
That was the limit.
Yet thousands of disciples from the Seven Sects were competing for those positions.
The competition was brutal.
Whenever disciples from different sects crossed paths, conflict was almost inevitable.
As time passed, more and more eliminated participants appeared in the plaza, which was gradually growing crowded.
Luo Buqi's expression shifted several times before he finally forced out a cold snort.
"Fellow Daoist Si, don't be too pleased with yourself."
His tone was noticeably stiffer than before.
"Failing in this small world doesn't mean Bailing Sect disciples won't qualify through the others."
Si Nidie's mood instantly improved.
After all, Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang were her fellow disciples.
She could criticize them all she wanted.
That didn't mean outsiders had the same privilege.
She folded her arms and snorted.
"I'll wait and see."
Luo Buqi scoffed.
Unable to continue watching the scene, he flicked his sleeve and returned to the Bailing Sect disciples.
Inside the small world, Lou Yuqing had no idea that a lively argument was taking place outside.
After calling for Si Nidie several times and receiving nothing but silence in return, she finally accepted the reality before her.
Senior Sister had been eliminated.
A trace of helplessness flashed across her face.
When she had been dragged into the formation earlier, a terrifying force had immediately invaded her body, attempting to tear her apart from within.
Fortunately, the protective treasure her master had given her activated at the critical moment and shielded her from the worst of it.
Without that treasure, breaking out of the formation would have been impossible.
Si Nidie, however, possessed no such protection.
Given the power of that formation, she had most likely been eliminated the moment she was dragged inside.
Thinking of this, Lou Yuqing's mood grew heavier.
Then her thoughts drifted to Ling Yunxiao, Shen Lijun, and Chu Qingyang.
A slight frown appeared between her brows.
None of them were weak. How had they fallen into a trap so easily that even their identities had been replaced?
If her master hadn't prepared protective treasures for her before the trial began, their entire group might have been wiped out by now.
Suppressing the unease in her heart, Lou Yuqing spread her divine sense outward.
It swept across Xue Family Village in an instant.
The impostor wearing Shen Lijun's face was nowhere to be found.
A flicker of resentment rose within her.
She still hadn't settled that score.
Just then, her expression shifted.
Her divine sense had picked up two cultivators approaching the village at high speed.
One man.
One woman.
The instant her divine sense brushed against them, the pair seemed to notice her presence. Without the slightest hesitation, they changed direction and flew straight toward her.
Lou Yuqing frowned slightly.
Rather than retreating, she remained where she stood and quietly waited.
If they thought they could overwhelm her with numbers alone... they were welcome to try.
Whoosh—!
The sound of rushing wind tore through the air.
Two streaks of light shot toward the village, entering Lou Yuqing's field of vision in the blink of an eye.
She immediately recognized the robes they wore.
Medicine King Valley disciples.
What caught her attention, however, wasn't their identities but the panic written across their faces.
The pair looked as though something terrifying was pursuing them.
The male disciple's eyes lit up the moment he spotted her.
"Fellow Daoist, help us!"
His voice was filled with urgency, as if he had just stumbled upon his last hope of survival.
A strange expression crossed Lou Yuqing's face.
Help them?
What exactly gave him the confidence to think she would do that?
If the two of them dropped dead on the spot, she'd be more inclined to applaud than intervene.
The female disciple clearly sensed her lack of enthusiasm and immediately grew anxious.
"Fellow Daoist, don't think this has nothing to do with you!"
She glanced behind her while urging her flying artifact forward.
"The person chasing us is extremely powerful. Even working together, we couldn't stop him. If we die, you'll be next!"
Before Lou Yuqing could respond, her gaze shifted past them.
Another figure was rapidly closing the distance from behind.
The face was so familiar that she recognized it instantly.
Shen Lijun.
Or rather, the impostor wearing Shen Lijun's face.
"You can't escape."
The fake Shen Lijun laughed loudly as he pursued them.
"Just accept your—"
His voice cut off abruptly.
The smile on his face froze.
His eyes widened as though he had seen a ghost.
"You..."
His gaze locked onto Lou Yuqing.
"You're still alive?!"
Lou Yuqing narrowed her eyes.
The amusement on her face vanished, replaced by cold seriousness.
"Sorry to disappoint you."
She took a step forward, her gaze fixed firmly on him.
"Your formation wasn't enough to kill me."
A dangerous smile slowly curved her lips.
"Now it's time to settle our accounts."
The two Medicine King Valley disciples immediately brightened.
They had long noticed the hostility between the pair. Seeing that Lou Yuqing and the fake Shen Lijun were clearly enemies, they abandoned any thought of fleeing and landed beside her without hesitation.
A temporary alliance formed on the spot.
Lou Yuqing had no objections.
The more people fighting, the better.
The male disciple quickly explained, "We're both injured. We won't be able to fight at full strength."
He glanced at his companion before looking back at Lou Yuqing.
"How about you take the lead? We'll support you from the side."
Lou Yuqing nodded.
Their auras were indeed somewhat unstable.
Whether that was due to their injuries or because the impostor before them was simply too strong, she couldn't say.
After all, managing to force two Foundation Establishment cultivators into such a miserable state wasn't something an ordinary opponent could accomplish.
Fortunately, she kept that thought to herself.
Otherwise, this newly formed alliance might not survive another breath.
The fake Shen Lijun let out a cold laugh.
"So what if you survived?"
His gaze swept over her.
"Breaking out of that formation couldn't have come without a price."
A malicious glint flashed through his eyes.
"I wonder how much strength you still have left."
Before the last word had fully left his mouth, a sphere of crackling lightning shot straight at him.
The thunderball expanded rapidly as it flew, unfurling into a massive lightning net more than thirty feet across.
Purple arcs of electricity danced wildly over its surface.
Anyone trapped inside would be in for a very unpleasant experience.
"Why don't you find out for yourself?"
Lou Yuqing's voice was cold.
The fake Shen Lijun's expression shifted slightly.
He had no intention of testing the spell with his own body.
The instant the lightning net descended, he darted backward. His figure flickered across the village road, weaving through the narrow streets as afterimage after afterimage appeared behind him.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of identical figures filled the area.
Real and fake overlapped so completely that distinguishing between them became nearly impossible.
"Trying to hide?"
Lou Yuqing let out a cold laugh.
Her fingers moved through a quick series of seals before she pointed forward.
The enormous lightning net abruptly exploded apart.
Countless arcs of electricity shot outward in every direction like hunting serpents.
Wherever they passed, afterimages shattered one after another.
Pop.
Pop.
Pop.
The illusions vanished in rapid succession.
Within moments, the countless figures filling the street had disappeared completely, leaving only a single body standing in place.
The fake Shen Lijun's face darkened.
His movement technique had always been one of his most effective methods for confusing opponents.
He hadn't expected Lou Yuqing to dismantle it so easily.
Before he could react, the scattered arcs of lightning converged once more.
The giant net reformed in midair and came crashing down.
Though its power had weakened somewhat after splitting apart, its speed remained terrifying.
Bang!
The fake Shen Lijun tried to evade, but he was a step too late.
The lightning net wrapped tightly around him.
Violent currents surged through his body, instantly spreading from his limbs to every corner of his meridians.
A powerful numbness seized him.
At the same moment, the two Medicine King Valley disciples struck.
Spiritual light flashed.
Countless vines burst from the earth and coiled around him layer upon layer, binding him so tightly that not even a finger could move.
The restraints tightened relentlessly.
Then, the fake Shen Lijun crashed heavily to the ground.
His body twitched uncontrollably as residual lightning crackled across his skin.
A mouthful of blood sprayed from between his lips, splattering across the dusty road.
For a moment, he looked thoroughly miserable.
The female disciple stared at Lou Yuqing in astonishment.
"Fellow Daoist, your lightning techniques are amazing!"
There was genuine admiration in her voice.
Before this, they had tried repeatedly to trap the impostor with their vines, only for him to slip away every time.
Only after Lou Yuqing's lightning immobilized him had they finally managed to land a clean hit.
Even the male disciple couldn't hide his respect.
Lou Yuqing, however, remained perfectly calm.
Her gaze swept over the two disciples, who looked ready to celebrate already.
Then she spread her fingers.
Crackling arcs of electricity gathered before her, condensing into a sphere of lightning nearly three feet across.
"Save the compliments for later."
Her eyes remained fixed on the struggling figure inside the vines.
"Finish him first."
The two Medicine King Valley disciples immediately sobered.
She was right.
Now was not the time to relax.
The pair dropped to one knee simultaneously and slammed both palms against the ground.
Green light surged outward.
The earth trembled.
Countless vines erupted from below, twisting and writhing like giant serpents as they rushed toward their target.
Within moments, the fake Shen Lijun disappeared beneath a tide of vegetation.
From a distance, it resembled an enormous cage woven from living wood.
A prison that tightened with every passing second.
At first, everything seemed under control.
Then several sections of the cage suddenly bulged outward.
The thick vines creaked and strained.
Clearly, the fake Shen Lijun was resisting from within.
The female disciple's expression immediately became awkward.
She nudged her companion with her elbow.
The male disciple coughed lightly and forced out a smile.
"Our injuries are affecting the technique."
His tone carried more than a trace of embarrassment.
"Otherwise, he wouldn't have lasted this long."
After a brief pause, he added, "We'll probably need your help."
Lou Yuqing's lips twitched.
"As if I was planning to let him off."
As she spoke, she raised one hand.
The lightning sphere hovering before her immediately responded.
It expanded.
And expanded again.
The crackling thunder grew louder with every passing moment.
The sphere shot forward, swelling rapidly as it crossed the sky.
Ten meters.
Twelve.
Fifteen.
By the time it reached the midpoint between them, it had transformed into a colossal mass of lightning.
The surrounding houses were dwarfed beneath its shadow.
Half the sky seemed to be swallowed by violet thunder.
The two Medicine King Valley disciples stood frozen.
Mouths hanging open.
The enormous sphere of lightning crashed into the wooden cage without the slightest pause.
BOOM—!
The vines didn't even have time to resist.
They disintegrated instantly.
Like dry branches thrown into a blazing furnace, the thick green vines blackened, crumbled, and scattered into ashes.
Inside the collapsing cage, the fake Shen Lijun had just begun celebrating his imminent escape.
Then he looked up and his expression froze.
A colossal sphere of lightning occupied half the sky.
His face instantly lost all color.
"No..."
The word had barely left his mouth when the sphere exploded.
Endless arcs of lightning erupted outward.
Thunder intertwined with thunder, spreading in every direction and swallowing the surrounding streets in a vast sea of crackling light.
At the center of it all stood the fake Shen Lijun.
Or rather, where he had been standing.
His scream never had the chance to travel far before it was drowned out completely by the roaring storm.
Silence followed.
The two Medicine King Valley disciples stared blankly at the lingering lightning.
A chill ran down their spines.
The way they looked at Lou Yuqing immediately changed.
The admiration from before had vanished completely.
In its place was naked fear.
Lou Yuqing paid them no attention.
She merely lowered her hand and asked calmly, "So?" Her gaze swept across the pair. "Are you leaving on your own?"
A faint crackle of lightning still danced around her fingertips.
"Or do you want me to send you off personally?"
The two disciples nearly burst into tears.
That wasn't a question.
That was a threat.
A very obvious threat.
They had survived countless dangers to make it this far. Neither of them was willing to leave the trial just yet.
The male disciple clenched his jaw and forced himself to stand straighter.
"We're not activating our jade bracelets." His expression hardened. "If you want to eliminate us, then do it yourself."
The female disciple immediately nodded.
"That's right." She lifted her chin stubbornly. "Disciples of Medicine King Valley would rather die standing than live kneeling."
Her gaze locked onto Lou Yuqing.
"That attack just now was certainly impressive."
A calculating look flickered through her eyes.
"But..." She paused deliberately. "...how much spiritual energy do you have left?"
Lou Yuqing's expression immediately became strange.
For some reason, those words sounded awfully familiar.
"Not much."
Lou Yuqing casually tossed a small sphere of lightning up and down in her palm.
"About half."
Her tone was so relaxed that it made the answer even more terrifying.
"As for another attack like that..."
She glanced at the crackling sphere.
"That won't be a problem."
Then she smiled.
"Can you survive it?"
Without waiting for an answer, she pointed toward the scorched remains of the fake Shen Lijun.
"Anyway, he couldn't."
The two Medicine King Valley disciples immediately fell silent.
Their expressions wilted.
No.
They absolutely could not survive it.
Moments ago, they had convinced themselves that Lou Yuqing was bluffing. Surely an attack of that scale had consumed most of her spiritual energy.
Twenty percent left.
Thirty at most.
If they risked everything on a trump card, perhaps they still had a chance.
Now it was obvious they had been comforting themselves.
The male disciple forced out a stiff smile.
"Goodbye. We'll never meet again."
The two moved almost simultaneously, reaching for their jade bracelets.
Before either of them could activate the bracelets, two bolts of lightning flashed out.
Their hands were knocked aside before a single strand of spiritual energy could enter the jade.
Lou Yuqing lifted her chin slightly.
"Not so fast."
The smile on her face remained perfectly pleasant.
"Tell me everything you know first."
The two disciples instantly fell silent.
In your dreams.
The male disciple's expression darkened.
Without another word, he secretly sent a strand of spiritual energy toward the bracelet.
A violent numbness suddenly surged through his body.
His legs folded beneath him, and as he pitched forward, he caught sight of the female disciple collapsing beside him as well.
His heart instantly sank.
Lou Yuqing withdrew her hand.
Tiny arcs of lightning danced across her fingertips.
"I knew you wouldn't listen."
She crouched down in front of them and smiled brightly.
"I'll ask one last time."
Her voice was gentle.
"Are you talking or not?"
The lightning around her fingertips crackled softly.
"If not, I'll just keep electrocuting you until you do."
The two Medicine King Valley disciples fell silent.
The female disciple lasted less than a breath before giving up.
"I'll talk." She sighed. "What do you want to know?"
Lou Yuqing got straight to the point.
"What hint did your small world identity receive?"
The female disciple answered honestly.
"It said we were spirit farmers searching for the Snow Lotus and that we had to complete the autumn harvest task."
There was no point hiding it.
For all she knew, Lou Yuqing had already pieced together most of the truth. If she lied now only for her companion to contradict her later, the consequences would be even worse.
As expected, their identities were different.
Lou Yuqing's eyes flickered thoughtfully.
Herbal gatherers.
Demon hunters.
Miners.
Spirit farmers.
Four separate identities.
Four separate paths of investigation.
Yet every trail seemed to point toward the same destination—the Snow Lotus.
After a brief moment of consideration, she raised a hand and erected a soundproof barrier, isolating the female disciple from her companion.
Only then did she lower her voice.
"Have you found the Snow Lotus?"
The female disciple nearly choked.
She couldn't help cursing inwardly.
This woman was far too cautious.
With no chance to coordinate their answers, lying would only create more trouble later.
In the end, she answered truthfully.
"We found it."
Lou Yuqing's gaze sharpened.
"Where?"
"At Baishi Sect."
A thoughtful look crossed Lou Yuqing's face.
Then the questions began.
One after another.
"Besides the two of you, who else is still alive?"
"Why were you being hunted?"
"Where did the information about the Snow Lotus come from?"
"What secrets are hidden in Xue Family Village?"
"How many disciples entered this small world?"
The female disciple answered each question as honestly as she could.
Only after she finished did Lou Yuqing remove the barrier and question the male disciple separately.
The process repeated itself from beginning to end.
When the interrogation was finally over, Lou Yuqing compared the two sets of answers.
Not a single discrepancy.
Their credibility immediately increased by several levels.
According to the information they provided, twenty-one disciples had entered this small world in total—three from each of the Seven Sects.
Their assigned task was to deliver a specified amount of spirit rice before the harvest season ended.
Unfortunately, not everyone had managed to gather enough.
Faced with elimination, some disciples chose a different solution.
They stole from others.
The resulting conflicts quickly escalated into open fighting.
One battle followed another.
By now, only five participants remained.
Aside from the two Medicine King Valley disciples, the surviving cultivators came from the Cloud Soaring Sect, Haotian Palace, and Star Pavilion.
Although Medicine King Valley still had two surviving disciples and therefore held a numerical advantage, neither side dared make the first move.
The pair from Medicine King Valley understood their situation perfectly.
The moment one of them fell, that advantage would disappear.
The remaining three survivors understood it just as well.
Unfortunately, they trusted one another even less than they feared Medicine King Valley.
No one wanted to be the first to attack and no one wanted to expose their back to a potential ally.
As a result, the five of them remained locked in an uneasy stalemate, watching one another while waiting for someone else to make a mistake.
As for the Snow Lotus, the clue had come from an elderly spirit farmer in the village named Old Ji.
Not long ago, disciples from Baishi Sect had trampled his spirit fields, nearly ruining his livelihood and costing him his life.
The old man's resentment had long since reached its limit.
Believing he didn't have many years left anyway, he no longer cared about offending Baishi Sect.
So when the Medicine King Valley disciples approached him and carefully steered the conversation toward the Snow Lotus, Old Ji finally revealed a secret he had kept buried for years.
After learning where the Snow Lotus was hidden, the pair continued investigating Baishi Sect.
Their efforts eventually uncovered another piece of information.
Every year, on the day of the autumn harvest, spirit farmers from Xue Family Village were permitted to enter the sect.
And today just happened to be harvest day.
Their original plan had been simple.
Infiltrate Baishi Sect during the harvest.
Locate the Snow Lotus.
Then steal it.
Unfortunately, the plan never reached that stage.
Halfway there, the fake Shen Lijun appeared and began hunting them down.
The other three survivors were caught first.
By the time the two Medicine King Valley disciples escaped, they were the only ones left.
The female disciple let out a weary sigh.
"Everyone in this village is mortal. At first, I didn't think there was anything dangerous about the place."
A trace of frustration flashed across her face.
"But while we were being chased, our spiritual energy suddenly became sluggish."
Her expression darkened.
"Even now, I don't know when we fell into the trap."
Lou Yuqing glanced at her thoughtfully.
She understood what the woman was implying.
The two Medicine King Valley disciples weren't weak. If they had lost so badly, it was because someone had tampered with the situation beforehand.
Otherwise, two Foundation Establishment cultivators shouldn't have been helpless against a single opponent.
More importantly, that meant there was likely another hidden force in Xue Family Village.
"Where does Old Ji live?"
Lou Yuqing immediately shifted her attention to the most important matter.
Based on everything they had discovered so far, anyone connected to clues about the Snow Lotus deserved suspicion.
Old Ji was no exception.
The female disciple pointed toward a distant corner of the village.
"Over there."
After a brief pause, she added, "He can't move around anymore. He's been staying in the village the entire time."
Lou Yuqing raised an eyebrow.
"Then he's not participating in the spirit rice delivery?"
The female disciple shook her head.
"He can't."
A hint of pity surfaced in her eyes.
"He's just waiting to die."
For a moment, Lou Yuqing fell silent.
Then she asked another question.
"What about this stone house?" She gestured toward the building nearby. "Who lives here?"
The female disciple looked puzzled.
"I've only met him once. He said he was a hunter who catches snow rabbits."
After a brief hesitation, she couldn't help asking, "Is there something wrong with him?"
"Whether there is or not isn't your concern."
Lou Yuqing offered no further explanation.
Once she finished questioning the woman, she removed the barrier and repeated the same questions with the male disciple.
The answers matched perfectly.
Not a single discrepancy appeared.
Only then did Lou Yuqing stop wasting time.
A flash of lightning flickered.
The two Medicine King Valley disciples disappeared from the trial simultaneously.
A notification immediately appeared before her eyes.
Lou Yuqing narrowed her eyes.
Including herself, only six participants remained.
In other words, five opponents were still alive.
If their original team had survived intact, the outcome of this trial would have been all but decided. Whether they found the Snow Lotus or not wouldn't have mattered.
Unfortunately... she was the only one left.
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the communication jade slip suddenly lit up.
Lou Yuqing's eyes widened.
"Ling Yunxiao?"
A look of genuine surprise flashed across her face.
"You're not dead?"
After realizing he wouldn't be defeating Hu Ruoyan anytime soon, Ling Yunxiao had sent a shadow clone back to the inn and immediately used it to contact Lou Yuqing.
The moment he heard her voice, the tension that had been weighing on his mind eased noticeably.
"Mm. I'm still alive."
Lou Yuqing stared at the jade slip in confusion.
"Then what happened to the others?"
For a brief moment, an absurd possibility crossed her mind.
Had Ling Yunxiao somehow schemed against Shen Lijun and Chu Qingyang, then turned around and plotted against her and Senior Sister as well, intending to eliminate everyone in one move?
The idea was ridiculous.
She dismissed it almost immediately. After all, she knew exactly what kind of person he was.
Naturally, Ling Yunxiao could hear the trust hidden beneath her confusion.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Then he explained everything from beginning to end.
The more Lou Yuqing listened, the stranger her expression became.
"Wait... Hu Ruoyan is the mastermind behind everything? And the Snow Lotus we've been searching for all this time isn't some spiritual medicine at all, but actually her mother's name?"
She fell silent for a moment, trying to process that revelation.
Then her eyes widened.
"So we've spent all this time investigating a dead person?"
Ling Yunxiao rubbed his forehead.
Somehow, that wasn't the part he found most concerning.
Lou Yuqing, however, was already following the thought to its logical conclusion.
"Then doesn't that mean we're basically planning to dig up the Hu family's ancestral grave?"
"Cough—"
Ling Yunxiao nearly choked.
Caught completely off guard, he pressed a hand against his forehead.
"I have a theory." His tone became more serious. "Besides planning to wipe out the Hu family during the ancestral worship ceremony..."
He paused briefly.
"...Hu Ruoyan may also be trying to resurrect her mother."
"Resurrect her..."
Lou Yuqing repeated softly.
Then understanding dawned.
"That actually makes sense. The more she hates the Hu Family Head, the more she must have cared about her mother."
Her gaze drifted thoughtfully.
"After all these years, that obsession could easily have grown into something extreme."
Then she suddenly looked down at the jade slip.
"What exactly is wrong with your brain?"
Ling Yunxiao: "..."
For some reason, that sounded suspiciously close to a compliment.
Keeping his expression perfectly calm, Ling Yunxiao replied, "Think about it a little longer and you'll figure it out yourself. We'll infiltrate the Hu family during the ancestral worship ceremony, and by then, everything should become clear."
After a brief pause, he added, "Besides, I don't think the small world expects us to steal a corpse."
Lou Yuqing's expression immediately became strange.
"But stealing a living person doesn't sound much more normal."
Ling Yunxiao fell silent.
Unfortunately, he couldn't argue with that.
After a moment, he sighed.
"Either way, there's definitely more hidden behind all of this. We just don't have enough clues yet."
"Need clues?" Lou Yuqing immediately asked.
Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Come to Xue Family Village."
She quickly recounted everything the two Medicine King Valley disciples had told her, including the strange spiritual-energy suppression they had experienced.
After listening, Ling Yunxiao responded without hesitation.
"I'll be there soon."
A smile finally appeared on Lou Yuqing's face.
"Okay."
At least she wouldn't have to face whatever came next alone.
After ending the communication, she remained where she was and quietly waited.
One notification after another continued appearing before her eyes.
Each notification felt like the tolling of a funeral bell.
Lou Yuqing's nerves gradually tightened.
Were the eliminated participants the same disciples who had gone to deliver spirit rice?
Just then, a disturbance came from the distance.
Lou Yuqing immediately spread out her divine sense.
The moment it swept over the approaching figures, her expression darkened.
Two unfamiliar spiritual fluctuations.
Neither bothered to conceal their hostility.
They were coming for her.
Lou Yuqing quietly circulated her spiritual energy.
After the earlier battle, she had recovered roughly seventy to eighty percent of her strength-enough to fight, but still far from her peak condition.
Soon, two figures appeared on the horizon.
One wore Chu Qingyang's face.
The other was a middle-aged man she had never seen before.
Blood stained both their faces, making their already expressionless features seem even colder.
Lou Yuqing wasn't surprised by the fake Chu Qingyang's appearance.
The middle-aged man, however, immediately drew her attention.
His appearance was utterly ordinary, the sort of face that would disappear into a crowd without a trace.
Yet the murderous aura surrounding him far exceeded even that of the impostor.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
The middle-aged man looked at her as though she were already dead.
"The one who's going to kill you."
Lou Yuqing let out a cold laugh.
"Arrogant."
The man offered no response.
Instead, the killing intent around him surged.
The pressure rolled outward like a tangible force, causing even the surrounding air to feel heavier.
Without another word, he and the fake Chu Qingyang shot forward simultaneously.
One from the left.
One from the right.
Trying to pin her between them.
Lou Yuqing reacted instantly, retreating sideways in a flash of lightning.
Their pincer attack missed.
A moment later, all three came to a halt.
The two opponents stood several dozen feet apart, while Lou Yuqing remained between them.
The three formed a tense triangle.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
The atmosphere tightened with every passing second.
Lou Yuqing slowly exhaled.
Escape was no longer an option.
The moment those two appeared, the initiative had already slipped from her grasp.
There was only one path left.
Fight.
Thunder rumbled as spiritual energy erupted from Lou Yuqing's body.
A sphere of lightning rapidly condensed in her palm.
Before she could gather more power, the enemy struck first.
Lou Yuqing remained calm. With a flick of her fingers, the lightning surged outward and expanded into a massive shield more than twenty feet across.
Boom!
The incoming attack slammed into the shield, sending sparks flying in every direction.
The impact was far stronger than she had expected.
Then a sudden warning flashed through her mind.
Without the slightest hesitation, she erected another spiritual-energy barrier around herself.
The next instant—a jet-black dart crashed into it.
Lou Yuqing's pupils contracted.
Had she reacted even a moment later, that dart would have pierced straight through her head.
A trace of regret flashed through the middle-aged man's eyes.
Several more black darts appeared between his fingers, dark energy twisting around them like living shadows.
Without pause, he sent them streaking toward her.
At the same time, confusion flickered across his face.
Something wasn't right.
Why hadn't she taken precautions beforehand?
Had her reaction speed really been that fast?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when a chill ran through his chest.
His expression changed abruptly.
A spiritual-energy dagger had already pierced straight through his heart.
His body froze.
Seeing the disbelief frozen on his face, Lou Yuqing planted her hands on her hips and grinned smugly.
"What? You're allowed to bring backup, but I'm not?"
The middle-aged man's body swayed slightly.
With great difficulty, he turned around.
Standing behind him was a young man.
His pupils trembled.
"Who... are... you?"
The young man smiled faintly.
"The one who's going to kill you."
The middle-aged man's eyes widened.
The next instant, the last trace of light faded from them.
His body collapsed backward.
Then something strange happened.
Before it even hit the ground, his corpse began dissolving into countless specks of white light.
The lights drifted together, gathering where his body had been.
Moments later, a snow-white flower bloomed in their place.
Its petals were pale and lifeless, as though every trace of vitality had long since been drained away.
Yet there was no mistaking it.
It looked exactly like the Snow Lotus they had been searching for.