Chapter 34: Are You Afraid?

With the vast expanse of the heavens as their backdrop, two figures streaked across the sky like phantoms, whipping up wind and clouds in an unrelenting clash. They had no idea they had been drawn into a wager.

After several exchanges, Lu Shiyuan felt utterly stifled, suppressed at every turn. She shared a perfect communion with her Azure Frost Sword and knew the real problem lay not with the spirit weapon, but with her own body.

She could sense she possessed the power to match Qin Xinying—even to floor her, just as Shang Si had claimed.

Yet the vast spiritual energy pooled in her dantian like a useless lump of dead matter, impossible for her to mobilize.

It belonged to her, but she could not wield it. That was why, to Qin Xinying and Qin Lan, she always seemed to be on the back foot, unable to turn the tide.

Lost and uncertain, Lu Shiyuan probed for answers while holding her own against Qin Xinying.

Finally, as the sharp sword tip pressed close only to be repelled once more by her opponent’s protective golden light, a change came over Lu Shiyuan’s expression.

Almost simultaneously, Qin Xinying drifted closer. Assuming her foe intended to retreat, she tried gentle persuasion. “Shiyuan, little sister, you’re no match for me. If we keep going like this, I won’t be able to hold back—you’ll get hurt. Why not just…”

This spar had begun on a whim, sparked by Shang Si’s few provocative words. Qin Xinying’s initial battle fervor had stemmed from uncertainty about Lu Shiyuan’s strength, but after those exchanges, her hot-blooded impulsiveness had faded.

There was no point in taking a fellow nascent cultivator under a century old so seriously.

That was what Qin Xinying thought. She waited for Lu Shiyuan to concede, ready to end this farce before things turned serious and someone got badly injured—something that would embarrass Ye Lord.

But Lu Shiyuan ignored her words entirely. Instead, she closed her eyes, a faint curve rising at the corners of her lips.

In the next instant, the heavens shifted.

The Azure Frost Sword responded to its mistress’s will, humming as it locked onto Qin Xinying ahead. In a flash, it seemed to devour all the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, blazing with brilliant blue light. Before Qin Xinying could react, it was upon her.

The sword tip met Qin Xinying’s enveloping golden light once more.

In that moment, two hues of spiritual radiance erupted, blending together and bleaching half the sky. Even those on the ground below had to squint against the glare.

At the sight, Qin Lan straightened up, shedding her earlier laziness.

Shang Si, like a cat that had just feasted to her heart’s content, let a satisfied, silent smile spread across her face just as worry tightened Qin Lan’s expression.

She had known her Shiyuan would not disappoint.

Before long, the dimming golden light was overwhelmed by the sword’s spiritual glow, like the rise and fall of tides swallowing everything in an instant.

Qin Xinying heard the faint cracking of her light shield at her ear. Then the sword pierced her left shoulder, filling the air with the thick scent of blood.

Her prized golden protection had been shattered by Lu Shiyuan—just like that.

And the ridiculous part? Only a second ago, she had been wondering how to let Lu Shiyuan lose without too much humiliation.

Now, it seemed that might not be necessary.

“Young Clan Leader, forgive the offense.” The bloodied Azure Frost Sword flew back into Lu Shiyuan’s hand. The woman hovered in the air, her dark hair drifting, her robes stained crimson, a devastating smile curving her lips that dimmed the colors of heaven and earth in that instant.

Qin Xinying’s golden light was, in truth, an invisible protective barrier. Through her repeated assaults, Lu Shiyuan had silently tested and calculated. Every attack that seemed to fail and rebound had been deliberate groundwork.

She had been gauging the barrier’s limits, advancing it by fractions with each strike—dozens of times over—for this one unexpected, decisive blow.

Only now did Lu Shiyuan finally understand why Shang Si had insisted on this fight with Qin Xinying. Pinned down with no room to counter, under such extreme pressure, she had found a way to draw out the vast spiritual energy in her dantian.

As expected, the best way to master a sudden surge of power in short order was through battle.

The momentum shifted dramatically with Lu Shiyuan’s explosive outburst, especially after that strike piercing Qin Xinying’s shoulder. Hunter and hunted swapped places in an instant.

Dozens more clashes followed, until Qin Xinying finally shed her underestimation. She shifted into her Phoenix Demon true form and battled Lu Shiyuan fiercely.

Yet any onlooker could tell that when a demon race member revealed their true form, it meant not only a surge in power, but that the fight’s end was near.

Either defeat or victory—only those two outcomes remained.

“To actually force A’ying to reveal her true form… No wonder you think so highly of her. Strictly speaking, Lu Shiyuan really is an excellent cultivation prospect.” The unfolding situation caught Qin Lan somewhat off guard, but she only betrayed mild surprise, showing no hint of panic. “Still, that’s as far as it goes.”

No matter how exceptional one’s talent, it could never compare to the ancient bloodline flowing through the veins of their Phoenix Demon Clan.

Qin Lan finished muttering her thoughts aloud, and only then did Shang Si reach for the jade porcelain cup on the table, lifting her gaze slightly. “Qin Lan, do you know… about Nectar and Jade Liquid?”

The moment those four words left her lips, Qin Lan’s brow twitched, a bad premonition stirring within her.

She turned her head, glancing toward Shang Si.

Shang Si curved her lips faintly and continued, “You just came out of seclusion and ran straight into this mess, so your daughter probably hasn’t had the chance to tell you what I gave to Shiyuan yet, has she?”

In just a few words, the answer hidden within was all but spelled out.

“You gave her Nectar and Jade Liquid!?” Qin Lan’s expression suddenly grew grave, the short sentence squeezing out through gritted teeth, word by word.

“It was something that stingy Lin Xiao dug up. Waste not, want not.”

“You know it wouldn’t do much for me anyway. Better to give it to her.” Shang Si beamed with satisfaction, her smile radiant and carefree. But those light words stabbed into Qin Lan’s ears like knives, each one drawing blood.

What was Nectar and Jade Liquid?

The younger generation like Qin Xinying might not know, but anyone with a bit of age and experience understood. It was a true immortal treasure left behind from the fall of the Immortal Realm—a delicacy that even ordinary immortals back then could rarely taste.

And yet, such a rarity, impossible to find anywhere in the Three Realms, had been casually handed to Lu Shiyuan.

Not only could it revive the dead and regrow bones, but if used on some old monster on their last legs, it could extend their life indefinitely.

The Kunlun Sect had guarded the entrance to the Immortal Realm for millennia, earning them this slim stroke of fortune. And now, Shang Si had passed that fortune straight into Lu Shiyuan’s hands.

Qin Lan’s heart bled at the thought.

Right now, all she wanted was to grab that little old man Lin Xiao and demand to know what he had been thinking.

Her shifting expressions were a sight to behold, which put Shang Si in high spirits. Unable to resist, she twisted the knife a little deeper. “Well, Clan Head Qin? Do you still stand by your initial opinion?”

A Companion Fire Spirit Spike might not match the value of Nectar and Jade Liquid, but it wasn’t some common roadside weed either.

Qin Lan ground her silver teeth to dust before she finally realized she’d walked right into Shang Si’s trap.

No wonder the woman had been so bold and confident, unafraid of the wind biting her tongue. Lu Shiyuan’s original talent and cultivation had already been impressive enough, and now with that immortal treasure swallowed down, her strength and cultivation would skyrocket in short order. The outcome of this fight was suddenly far less certain.

With that in mind, Qin Lan let out a heavy snort, her face darkening as she shot back, “The Ye Lord schemes deeply—surpassing even your elder sister from back in the day.”

Those same words had been spat by more than one person lately. Not long ago, Lin Xiao had jumped in fury, grinding his teeth as he said them too.

The amusement in Shang Si’s eyes faded slightly, a flicker of nostalgia crossing her thoughts for the long, long gone days when Eldest Sister was still around.

The two traded a few more barbs, back and forth, and in the span of those brief exchanges, the battle in the sky had reached a fever pitch.

Even after revealing her true form, the Phoenix Demon wasn’t gaining any easy advantage over Lu Shiyuan, despite her formidable demonic physique. Both combatants looked ragged and battered.

Yet the Phoenix Demon up there, adorned with those stunning fiery plumes, seemed to be gathering her strength for one final, devastating strike.

Sensing Qin Xinying’s intent, Lu Shiyuan retreated while swiftly forming hand seals with her hands. But halfway through the incantation, she hesitated for a moment and abandoned the technique.

Any sharp-eyed observer could tell Lu Shiyuan had no intention of counterattacking.

On the other side, however, Qin Xinying’s building attack carried world-shattering power. If Lu Shiyuan simply stood there and did nothing…

“Damn it.” Qin Lan shot up from her stone bench, a rare glint of gravity flashing in her eyes.

Qin Xinying was her daughter, after all. Of course she knew what that move entailed.

She whipped her head around, only to find Shang Si, who had been sitting calmly beside her moments ago, already gone.

Clearly, Shang Si had grasped Lu Shiyuan’s intentions a step ahead.

As the overwhelming blaze swept in like a tidal wave, scorching heat billowing forth and painting half the sky a vivid crimson, the breathtaking, magnificent red expanse reminded Lu Shiyuan of that grand wedding ceremony she had shared with Shang Si three years prior.

The flames were right before her eyes, and the exposed skin already felt the terrifying heat they contained—a faint stinging pain.

In the end, she fell into a soft embrace, just as expected.

After that man-made spectacle, once the blaze had burned itself out, nothing was left.

Qin Xinying had reverted to human form and was caught by Qin Lan. Lu Shiyuan was held securely by the waist and landed safely back in the courtyard.

On the surface, it looked like Qin Xinying had won.

Yet Lu Shiyuan, the one who had lost by the narrowest margin, showed no sign of annoyance. Instead, she was the happiest of everyone there.

Her clear, bright eyes sparkled more brilliantly than any star beneath that sky.

Shang Si glanced at Lu Shiyuan’s disheveled dress—torn here, charred there. There was no trace left of her earlier ethereal grace.

“Why didn’t you counterattack just now?” she asked.

“I’m not mortal enemies with the Young Clan Leader. It was just a spar, so we naturally pulled our punches. If I’d unleashed that move, it would’ve changed everything,” Lu Shiyuan replied, her lips curving into a smile as she glanced down at the scorched hem of her skirt.

Their strengths were evenly matched, and at that point, a decisive strike would have meant death or severe injury for one of them.

Her words rang with genuine kindness, utterly sincere.

Even Qin Xinying, momentarily blinded by her competitive spirit, felt a pang of shame. Such goodness was all too rare in this world.

Shang Si’s gaze softened in an instant. Feigning annoyance, she pinched the soft flesh at Lu Shiyuan’s waist. “But she went all out on you. That wasn’t some game. A Phoenix Demon’s natal true fire is the hallmark of an ancient bloodline—it can incinerate anything in existence, their innate and invisible weapon.”

Had Lu Shiyuan dodged a fraction too slowly, or had Shang Si arrived a heartbeat later, the result would have been a grievous wound.

Tickled by the gesture, Lu Shiyuan twisted away from Shang Si’s playful hand—only to turn right back and nestle into her arms.

That subtle distance always lingered between them.

Close, yet not quite—like the relationship outsiders had perceived over the past three years.

Lu Shiyuan rested her hands on Shang Si’s shoulders and tilted her face up, her eyes crinkling with laughter. “Why should I be afraid?” she asked.

“You were right there, watching me.”

With you there, why would I ever be afraid?