After fruitless questioning, they moved to treatment plans and gu research. By the meeting’s end, dusk had fallen outside, with a light rain starting.
Lu Mingyi had no desire to linger. She left the hall straight away.
“It’s like this in the southwest—lots of fog, overcast skies, and rain,” Guan Du said, catching up and pulling two umbrellas from her Storage Ring. “Here, rain shields.”
“Didn’t bring one. Thanks…” Lu Mingyi took the disposable artifacts, about to activate them, when she spotted a white shadow in the distance.
It was a crane, pure white from head to tail, save for a single red spot on its crown. Its fluffy, soft feathers were soaked by the rain, some clinging wetly to its body. It stood alone in the downpour, gazing toward them.
Lu Mingyi’s movements paused for a moment. That crane was so conspicuous—without a doubt, it was the one by Jiang Liuzhao’s side: Tingyu.
She recalled that the last living thing she had seen before her death was this very bird.
At the time, she wasn’t sure if it was her dying vision playing tricks, but she had felt as though she saw tension and panic in the bird’s eyes.
But at this moment, as Lu Mingyi gazed at the white silhouette standing in the rain, she felt that it seemed rather dazed.
Tingyu was a crane, but she remembered that this bird’s eyes were black, not red; regardless of the color, they shouldn’t look so vacant and unfocused.
Guan Du noticed Lu Mingyi hadn’t followed and turned to look along her line of sight. “Eh, there’s a bird here?”
“You… don’t recognize this bird?” Lu Mingyi’s brows furrowed lightly as she asked in confusion.
Guan Du looked equally puzzled. “Huh? Is this some rare spirit beast?”
“…No, it’s just a crane.” Lu Mingyi opened her mouth, but waves of turmoil surged in her heart.
Tingyu was Jiang Liuzhao’s spirit pet, and Guan Du had been on Sword Peak for over a century—how had she never seen Tingyu?!
She wondered if she had misidentified the bird and was about to take a closer look when someone blocked most of her view.
Lu Mingyi lowered her gaze and recognized the newcomer—a familiar face: Lin Heng, the young mistress of the Lin Family.
In her previous life, during the trial at Pure Clarity Hall, this young mistress of the Lin Family had mocked and targeted her relentlessly. What was she jumping out for now?
Lin Heng met Lu Mingyi’s cold gaze, then focused on the woman’s dazzlingly brilliant features. She licked her lips nervously, took a breath, and said, “Fellow Daoist… I’m Lin Heng, the eldest daughter of the Lin Family. Might we get to know each other?”
Lu Mingyi nearly burst out laughing upon hearing this. Does Lin Heng even realize she’s actively cozying up to someone she once looked down on?
But her expression remained impassive as she said indifferently, “Young Mistress Lin, you’re too kind. I’m just an ordinary cultivator—hardly worth your time.”
Lin Heng froze, clearly not expecting such a thorough rejection.
Yet as Lu Mingyi’s gorgeously stunning face swayed before her eyes, she couldn’t suppress the itch in her heart. “Wait, Fellow Daoist! You… you’re surnamed Jing, right? From the Lingnan Jing Clan?”
“No, I’m from the Jing Family of Jiangxia.” Lu Mingyi let out a soft scoff.
“Oh… okay, got it.” Far from being deterred by Lu Mingyi’s cold attitude, Lin Heng pressed on more eagerly. “My third sister, Lin Chang, also participated in the Nine Provinces Grand Competition. She told me you saved her in the Secret Realm…”
Lu Mingyi had no desire to listen to Lin Heng prattle on, so she cut her off directly. “Saving someone was no big deal, Young Mistress Lin. No need to say more. I have matters to attend to—excuse me.”
With that, she summoned Billowing Waves from behind her back and soared away on the spear.
“Hey, Lin Heng, if you’ve got the hots for her, no need to be so hasty!” Guan Du winked mischievously at Lin Heng. “She just got grilled in there and is exhausted! You should offer to warm her up and fend off the chill!”
“I-I…” Lin Heng stared at Lu Mingyi’s departing figure, her face flushing crimson—partly from Guan Du’s teasing, partly from the blunt rejection.
She was the young mistress of the Lin Family, after all—someone of note across the Nine Provinces. Most people gave her face when she extended an invitation!
How could anyone reject her so straightforwardly?!
Guan Du wanted to tease Lin Heng a bit more—such opportunities were rare—but suddenly, a gust of wind whipped past her from behind, carrying rain with it.
“…Huh, what was that?”
“Looked like… someone flew off?”
“A person?”
Guan Du was still puzzling over who had left in such a hurry when Xiao Yuxie emerged from the meeting hall, following behind Jiang Liuzhao.
“Greetings, Master, Senior Sister!” Guan Du hurriedly bowed, and Lin Heng followed suit.
Xiao Yuxie seemed somewhat distracted. She pursed her lips, opened her mouth as if holding back, then finally said, “Master, I… I have something to attend to…”
“Go ahead.” Jiang Liuzhao’s response came swiftly, her voice clear and cold.
Xiao Yuxie blinked in surprise. “…Alright. But you’re not going?”
The rain on the mountain grew heavier, a fine mist of droplets drifting over. Jiang Liuzhao gazed at the near-solid curtain of rain and the crane that had been standing vigil in it. Her long lashes trembled, but she didn’t answer Xiao Yuxie.
Meanwhile, Lu Mingyi had flown some distance when she suddenly sensed a powerful surge of spiritual energy from behind, rushing straight toward her!
At this speed, she couldn’t evade it. Lu Mingyi hurriedly gathered her spiritual power into a barrier wall, colliding directly with the incoming force! The impact nearly threw her off balance, sending her skidding several meters on Billowing Waves.
Once she steadied herself, Lu Mingyi turned to the newcomer, her brows knitting tightly. “Why is it you again…”
“Yeah! It’s me again!” an angry shout interrupted her.
Shen Mingzheng, clad in red robes soaked through by the rain curtain, hadn’t bothered with a rain shield or spiritual barrier. She let the downpour lash her body. But now, the redness at the corners of her eyes burned even brighter than her clothes.
“You heartless wretch—are you so desperate to never see me again?!”
Shen Mingzheng’s trembling voice echoed through the valley, leaving Lu Mingyi utterly baffled.
Heartless?
She’s saying that about me? And Shen Mingzheng of all people?
Lu Mingyi almost thought she was dreaming.
But seeing no reaction from Lu Mingyi only fueled the churning emotions in Shen Mingzheng’s heart—especially as she eyed the spear beneath Lu Mingyi’s feet, wreathed in blue-gold radiance. That glow felt like it was shredding her heart.
“How dare you—how dare you become a spear cultivator?! Have you abandoned your own sword?!”
As she spoke, Shen Mingzheng summoned Gu Li. Sensing its master’s turmoil, the slender golden sword hummed softly.
Lu Mingyi spotted Gu Li and heard the accusation, finally grasping her intent.
But it was too absurd—absurd enough to make her laugh. The doubt in her eyes gradually turned to chill.
She arched a brow, closed her eyes, and said, “My sword? Isn’t… that sword yours now?”
“For whose sake did I keep the sword?! If not for me, it would’ve become scrap metal long ago! And yet? Ha—you went and got yourself a spear!” Shen Mingzheng spoke through gritted teeth, gripping Gu Li tightly as its sword light flared. By the end, her voice shook. “You have no idea what switching to sword cultivation entails—swallowing all those pills to suppress your fire qi…”
“Of course I know.”
Lu Mingyi sighed, slowly opening her eyes. This time, resentment and mockery filled them more deeply, her tone soft: “Shen Mingzheng, you ask for whom I left Gu Li. I’d like to ask the same. Surely not for me?
“Counting this time, how many times have we crossed paths? Four, right?
“But until you spat out these accusations, wasn’t Gu Li… always in your hands?”
Shen Mingzheng’s pupils contracted sharply, her earlier fury draining away completely. Her hand, clutching Gu Li, trembled uncontrollably.
Lu Mingyi smiled on the surface, but her heart was ice-cold.
The first time she saw Shen Mingzheng with Gu Li, she had noticed that the other woman had abandoned her own spiritual power circulation method, mimicking Lu Mingyi’s instead, and had been taking pills long-term to suppress fire qi—all to deceive the sword.
Back then, she had felt only shock and complexity.
It was impossible not to be moved. Lu Mingyi had even thought perhaps there was a deeper misunderstanding between them.
That was why, later at the teahouse when Shen Mingzheng grabbed her, she had paused for a moment to hear her out.
If there truly was a misunderstanding, clearing it up might mean…
They couldn’t return to their old intimacy, but at least they wouldn’t harbor grudges and misconceptions.
Unfortunately, it seemed Shen Mingzheng’s actions stemmed more from obsession with Gu Li than any care for her.
Hearing those touching deeds recounted this way scattered the initial sense of being moved without a trace.
Opposite her, the red at Shen Mingzheng’s eye corners spread across her entire face, but now she couldn’t even meet Lu Mingyi’s gaze.
In the meeting hall earlier, when Lu Mingyi revealed she was a spear cultivator, half her reason had burned away. Seeing Lu Mingyi truly flying on a spear had obliterated the rest, making her forget all about “This is Tianyan Sect territory—act with caution.”
Lu Mingyi abandoning Gu Li for a new immortal artifact felt like truly discarding the past.
She was terrified. She didn’t want Lu Mingyi to abandon her.
But now, counter-questioned, Shen Mingzheng realized she couldn’t muster a single righteous retort.
Because for so long, she had already considered Gu Li her own possession.
The shame of having it pointed out, mingled with the pain of “being abandoned,” surged in her heart, stimulated further by Lu Mingyi’s nonchalant demeanor. Shen Mingzheng’s voice shook again: “How can you say that… How dare you say that!”
With a shout, she charged at Lu Mingyi once more, Gu Li in hand!
Lu Mingyi’s expression turned icy. She couldn’t fathom where Shen Mingzheng got the gall to question her again and again, as if she were the guilty one!
She lifted a foot, and Billowing Waves flew into her grasp, its spear tip gleaming with frigid sharpness. Clearly, this time she would go all out—no more holding back.
Even if their clash drew onlookers, it would be Shen Mingzheng, the Shen Young Mistress, facing the greater scrutiny.
When immortal sword met spear, they clashed with a crisp ring and blinding radiance.
The vast gap in cultivation made it taxing for Lu Mingyi even against this half-baked sword cultivator. The pressure of the immortal artifacts’ collision numbed her palms.
From that strike, Shen Mingzheng retreated a few steps, while Lu Mingyi was hurled back several meters.
But in the moment she was sent flying, Lu Mingyi swept her spear. The rainwater in the sky transformed into arrows, hurtling toward Shen Mingzheng!
Shen Mingzheng’s fine brows furrowed tightly, her heart filled with grievance and fury. She hadn’t expected Lu Mingyi to truly strike at her. With a swing of Gu Li, razor-sharp sword light pierced the water streams, slashing straight for Lu Mingyi!
This sword would draw blood!
Shen Mingzheng inwardly cried out in alarm and rushed forward to block it. Meanwhile, Lu Mingyi mobilized her spiritual power again, channeling Billowing Waves and the natural rain into a water shield to buffer the sword light.
In this split-second crisis, a curtain of water descended over the area, fully shielding Lu Mingyi from the blow.
A cyan sword light suppressed the glow of Gu Li in Shen Mingzheng’s hand. Lu Mingyi saw a figure like pale moonlight descend beside her.
