Chapter 29 Part 2

Over the past 180 years, Xiao Yuxie had refined the Taiqing Sword Art to a masterful level. Her strikes were graceful yet carried the force of a thousand jun, pressing Shen Mingzheng step by step. Shen Mingzheng’s sword momentum was grand and sweeping, but her moves were even more entwined and plaintive, lingering like a tearful lament.

Lu Mingyi had never seen this sword style before, but seeing how Shen Mingzheng, despite her slightly inferior cultivation, held her own in the exchange, she figured it must be something extraordinary.

“Stop it, both Senior Sisters!”

As their duel intensified, Qi Yinxue ignored her own insufficient cultivation and drew Chilling Twilight to intervene.

In an instant, golden, cyan, and white sword lights intertwined, plunging the heavens and earth into alternating brightness and shadow.

All three combatants were top figures in the Cultivation World.

Shen Mingzheng and Xiao Yuxie needed no introduction as the young mistress of the Nine Provinces’ first family and the head of the second. And Qi Yinxue was the youngest peak master in nearly ten thousand years of the Taiqing Sect’s history.

Such a spectacle was far rarer than the once-in-a-century Nine Provinces Grand Competition. Even with the pressure scattering in all directions and making it hard to breathe, more and more cultivators gathered—Taiqing Sect disciples among them.

“Whoa, that aura… Have those two advanced again? Why are they fighting so fiercely? And why is Peak Master Qi here too? She’s gonna get sliced!”

“Hold on, why is Senior Sister Xiao here? She’s not competing in the Nine Provinces Grand Competition! And she’s not in Xiao Family uniform either…”

“Why else? It’s all for Xie Wenxin! Back at the sect, whenever there’s an argument short of fists flying, Senior Sister Xiao shows up for her. Now in the secret realm, she’s probably worried she’ll get hurt!”

“I say, good thing Senior Sister Xiao’s here—at least someone can keep that Shen Young Mistress in check! Her Immortal Flag Array nearly blanketed the whole secret realm. She skipped the last two Grand Competitions—don’t tell me she’s here to sweep the top ten single-handedly!”

“But… even though Senior Sister Shen set up the Immortal Flag Array, she hasn’t used it to hunt beasts or seek fortunes. Instead…”

“Instead what?”

“Instead, she’s been grabbing people everywhere and asking if they’re from Jiangxia!”

One person chimed in irritably after the two Taiqing Sect disciples, his face full of frustration. “I’m just a loose cultivator—bad luck running into that Shen Young Mistress. She asked where I’m from, I said Jiangxia. Damn! She grilled me from birth to cultivation, spiritual root, even my love life!!”

He even raised his wrist, where his sleeve was charred black. “I tried to leave at first, but she wouldn’t let me!”

The Taiqing Sect disciples: “…”

The crowd swelled, including disciples from various sects in the Grand Competition and members of Nine Provinces families.

The feud between Shen Mingzheng and Xiao Yuxie was infamous across the Nine Provinces over the past century. With the Xiao Family’s rapid rise under Xiao Yuxie, their rivalry had escalated into a shadow contest between clans.

Now, their brawl in the Jiangxia Secret Realm—was this the prelude to an open rift between the Shen and Xiao Families?

“Wait… isn’t there someone else over there?”

Suddenly, someone in the crowd finally noticed the motionless figure at the center of the trio’s clash.

“Standing so casually under Nascent Soul pressure—who is that? Such profound cultivation!”

“Yeah… but damn, she’s gorgeous! Even prettier than Senior Sisters Xiao and Shen. Which family’s young miss is she?”

“Look at you!! You’re here for the Nine Provinces Grand Competition!”

“—But seriously, who is she?”

If Lu Mingyi could hear them, she’d scoff coldly: Unmoving? I want to move but I can’t!

Shen Mingzheng’s swordplay was graceful and entwining, but her blade was vicious, slashing toward the deep wound already on Lu Mingyi’s wrist to break free of Xiao Yuxie. Meanwhile, Qi Yinxue harassed from the side. Lacking the others’ cultivation, she tried to wedge in and force a truce.

And in this de facto two-on-one, Xiao Yuxie somehow spared extra spiritual power to reinforce the Water Prison around Lu Mingyi!

Lu Mingyi knew she couldn’t wait passively. Glancing at the three battling overhead and the gathering onlookers, she saw her golden chance to escape.

Just then, Shen Mingzheng swept her sword in a wide arc, the light morphing into a half-crescent moon!

Xiao Yuxie barely blocked it, but Golden Core-stage Qi Yinxue took a long gash across her forearm.

“Get out of the way!” Blood flecked Shen Mingzheng’s amber eyes. Seeing neither Xiao Yuxie nor Qi Yinxue yield, her immortal sword hummed louder and brighter.

Xiao Yuxie didn’t budge, though her face darkened subtly. “Shen Mingzheng, don’t push your luck here.”

Qi Yinxue clutched her wound, confusion in her eyes. “Why are you two so obsessed with this person? Why fight in the secret realm? Stop now!”

But their momentary pause gave Lu Mingyi her opening.

Her brows flicked up. She coughed to clear her throat, channeled a bit of spiritual power to amplify her voice toward the crowd, and cried in a drawn-out wail: “Help! They’re forcibly abducting a common girl!!”

The words hung in stunned silence.

Xiao Yuxie: “…”

Shen Mingzheng: “…”

Qi Yinxue: “…”

All three sheathed their swords and turned to Lu Mingyi, eyes wide in shock.

Lu Mingyi inwardly cackled. Spot on—whether Xiao Yuxie or Shen Mingzheng, aren’t they both trying to drag me off in broad daylight?

The onlookers wished they could go blind and deaf: The Xiao Family head, Shen Family young master, and Taiqing Sect Sword Peak master abducting a common girl? And fighting over the same one?!

Such sect and clan scandals—they couldn’t have heard that!

With the initial shock landing, Lu Mingyi fanned the flames, silently apologizing to her former second senior sister in her heart.

Struggling within the Water Prison’s bonds, she fished a white jade token engraved with “Guan” from her Storage Ring, waved it while feigning teary eyes: “I’m already with the Guan Second Miss’s household—the Guan Family tokens are right here! Everyone, help me reason this out!”

The instant they saw the token, Shen Mingzheng and Xiao Yuxie’s faces turned pitch black.

Their immortal swords flared brighter, pressure surging as they shattered trees in a shockwave.

Though Shen Mingzheng had set a barrier with Immortal Flags in the area, she hadn’t fully activated the Immortal Flag Array, so plenty of onlookers heard Lu Mingyi loud and clear.

After the initial shock, bolder disciples whispered:

“What? She’s with Senior Sister Guan?!”

“No way! When did Senior Sister Guan get a dao companion? She means Guan Family, right?”

“But Senior Sister Guan stays at the Taiqing Sect now, ignoring family affairs… And she only said Guan Second Miss, not the whole Guan Family!”

“No… so this means Senior Sisters Xiao and Shen and Peak Master Qi… are fighting over Senior Sister Guan’s person?!”

No one dared respond to that summary.

Lu Mingyi couldn’t hear the murmurs, but she knew neither Xiao Yuxie nor Shen Mingzheng could keep her now.

Her earlier cry of “forcibly abducting a common girl” amid the crowd had already cost them face. Dragging the Guan Family in? Mishandle this, and when the secret realm closed in days, rumors of bad blood between three clans plus the Taiqing Sect would spread across the Nine Provinces!

Lu Mingyi watched the two leisurely, spreading her hands. “Ladies, whatever grudge you have, let me go first—settle it between yourselves after?”

Qi Yinxue recovered quickest.

She’d only intervened to mediate; with Lu Mingyi speaking up, she stepped forward first, inspected the token, then nodded after reappraising the woman. “This is indeed Senior Sister Guan’s token,” she confirmed to Xiao Yuxie and Shen Mingzheng.

Xiao Yuxie’s grip on Flying Light whitened her knuckles, but the gloom on her face flashed away.

In a blink, she wore a perfectly measured smile. “So, fellow daoist, you know Junior Sister Guan. Looks like there was a misunderstanding between us.”

As she spoke, the Water Prison locking Lu Mingyi from neck to toe unraveled bit by bit.

As the Water Prison fully dissipated, Lu Mingyi’s body went rigid.

She sensed an icy, soft touch latch onto her wrist, bringing a tingling itch—yet nothing was visible there.

Looking up at Xiao Yuxie, the woman still smiled with elegant poise.

It seemed everything would resolve smoothly.

But Shen Mingzheng lunged forward and clamped Lu Mingyi’s wrist vise-like.

Her grip was brutal, instantly leaving a faint red mark on Lu Mingyi’s pale skin.

Sparks danced in Shen Mingzheng’s amber eyes, clearly reflecting the figure before her. “Guan Family? Let me see if you really are!”

Lu Mingyi’s temper flared at the treatment. She snapped coldly, “The family token’s right here—how else do you want to verify?! Or do you plan to twist right and wrong in front of everyone?”

“You claim Guan Family—then state your name!”

“You blocked me first, fellow daoist. If names are to be given, shouldn’t you go first?!”

Their argument carried, drawing gasps from the crowd.

Who in the Nine Provinces didn’t know the Shen Young Mistress’s explosive temper? This young woman spoke so boldly—didn’t she fear being incinerated?!

Shen Mingzheng gritted her teeth to retort, but Xiao Yuxie twisted her wrist.

That slender white arm now wielded crushing force, sending bone-cracking pain through Shen Mingzheng.

Xiao Yuxie smiled warmly. “Junior Sister Shen, so many eyes on us. For the Shen Family if not yourself—for the Taiqing Sect’s reputation.”

Qi Yinxue frowned at the scene but agreed Xiao Yuxie was right to stop her, so she stayed silent.

Normally, anyone daring to hurt Shen Mingzheng even a little would face a thousandfold revenge.

But now, she spared Xiao Yuxie not a glance, her grip unyielding as she fixed on Lu Mingyi’s cold, unfamiliar eyes. She spat hatefully, “Name… fine! I’m a direct disciple of the Taiqing Sect’s Pill Peak, young mistress of the Jiangnan Shen Family, I am… I am…”

Her last title trailed off, voice softening.

Shen Mingzheng’s ruby lips trembled, but she couldn’t voice it.

“Fellow daoist, all those titles and no name?” Lu Mingyi snorted coldly, ignoring whatever that last one was. She arched a brow lazily with a smile. “I don’t have fancy prefixes. Just a little loose cultivator, recently favored by Guan Second Miss. Name’s… Jing Yao.”

Shen Mingzheng still clutched Lu Mingyi’s hand, brows furrowed, eyes flickering as she bit out, “You truly don’t know my name?”

Lu Mingyi felt her patience fraying. Even the best-tempered person would be annoyed by now.

Besides, she wanted nothing more to do with Shen Mingzheng.

If Shen Mingzheng truly doubted her identity, what mindset let her block and interrogate her like this?

A clear look of disgust appeared on Lu Mingyi’s exceptionally beautiful face, her tone mocking. “I know. Didn’t you just say it? The Shen Family’s Young Master, Shen Young Mistress, right? What else do you want me to say?”

Shen Mingzheng’s pupils contracted, as if in disbelief. Even the grip on Lu Mingyi’s wrist loosened.

That stunning face instantly dimmed, like a blooming flower wilting overnight.

But in the next second, sparks reignited in her eyes.

Shen Mingzheng pulled a verdant jade ornament from her collar.

The jade was crystal clear throughout, of the finest quality—clearly top-grade imperial jade. It was intricately carved with several Luoyang reds, making it look all the more luxurious and noble.

Lu Mingyi eyed the jade pendant hanging from Shen Mingzheng’s neck and felt it looked vaguely familiar. Then, a flash of light burst from the pendant.

She realized at once: this wasn’t an ordinary jade pendant—it was a storage artifact!

Most cultivators kept their storage artifacts in convenient spots like pockets, belts, or—most handy of all—as storage rings on their fingers for easy access.

Who would have thought Shen Mingzheng hid hers inside her clothes, worn around her neck!

Thinking Shen Mingzheng meant to pull out some tool to forcibly subdue her, Lu Mingyi rapidly circulated spiritual energy in her Dantian.

But then a white flash appeared, accompanied by an incredibly familiar spiritual fluctuation within her perception.

Lu Mingyi’s eyes widened slightly.

She never would have imagined—never—that she would see her dearest companion here: her sword, Gu Li!

Even more shocking was that Gu Li lay cradled in Shen Mingzheng’s palm, its blade radiating dazzling, powerful golden light!

Gu Li had long developed a sword spirit, which only its sword master could activate.

If the sword master died, the spirit would perish too, reducing the immortal sword to a mere ordinary artifact, stripped of its divine might.

This was why countless Sword Cultivators regarded their immortal swords as family or lovers—the swords truly lived and died alongside their masters.

Yet right now, the Gu Li in Shen Mingzheng’s hand blazed with brilliant sword light, proving its spirit still thrived.

From the looks of it… Gu Li had acknowledged Shen Mingzheng as its new sword master?

Impossible!

Amid Lu Mingyi’s shock, Shen Mingzheng caressed Gu Li with utmost tenderness, her slender white fingertips gliding slowly along the blade as if stroking a beloved one.

Seeing this scene, Lu Mingyi finally had to admit that Shen Mingzheng had truly become a Sword Cultivator.

But Shen Mingzheng suddenly looked up at her, eyes burning. “Gu Li, look who this is!”