As soon as she went into her opening sword stance, Zhi Ruo no longer looked like an elegant and fragile princess.
Zhi Ruo became a soft sword. She might be a woman in appearance, yet she was also a sword.
Sharp. Swift. Agile... Heartless!
Yes, she was heartless!
She was a woman who loved the sword and the sword alone.
She was a girl initially abandoned by all. Her mother had died at childbirth, not that her mother was from any great family to start with. Thus, she had no support and was left to fend off the internal scheming within her clan on her own. If not for Zhi Ruo's superior talent and hard work, she would have been just like any of her father's daughters from a concubine... a mere political pawn without a say about her future.
Yes, she is a proud woman. It was because she paved her own bloody path to where she's standing right now! She deserved to be
A few minutes ago, inside Great Elder Zhu Wei's pocket dimensionUnder Yin's constant badgering, the female disciple called Li'er finally could no longer bear it. She was an alchemist in the first place and she was well-known for her soft heart. With the Patriarch giving her a subtle signal of approval, she gritted her teeth and handed Yin several ripe fruits from the nearest tree for her to snack on."What a good, tasty pear!" Yin exclaimed as each bite caused juice to run down her chin. "So good! I feel like I should be eating this as dessert every after meal."Hearing her words, both Shangguan Ke and Li'er nearly puked blood.This is a Red-Veined Holy Golden Fruit, okay?! What were you expecting? Every after meal? Could you afford it? Could your Grandpa Shangguan afford it? Could Great Elder Zhu afford it? F*ck, even this whole branch of Ming Yue Sect could not afford such luxurious treatment!
20 - I'm Just Getting Back What is Mine How could a porky toddler with a weak, injured body manage to sneak out from the divine sense of a hundred-odd-old fogey with a cultivation base on the peak of the Nascent Divinity? How did she slip out from the radar of a cultivator when she's just a mortal who had not even a wisp of spiritual qi cultivated inside her body? How?! Obviously, it's because... It's because... She is Yin! Even just a fragment of a soul, she is still Yin! She's the daughter of Primordial Chaos! The much loved and hated—well, more on the hated part— existence from the long-destroyed Land of Celestial Deities! As one of the first existences, how could she not know how to maneuver around her father's heavenly edicts? How could she not find the loop
21 - Operation Ice AgeGreat Elder Zhu Wei’s pocket dimension had completely turned into a white world, like those lands in the desolate north that were blanketed by ice and snow, covered by gloom and silence, and filled with a raging tempest of pure yin qi.Inside, everything was frozen.The plants, the ground, the air... and the people.Triggered by Yin's divine consciousness, all heavenly treasures and precious herbs that contained yin qi self-detonated. Their spiritual energies dissolved into their purest essence form, and the effect was not simply one yin qi plus one yin qi makes two yin qi. No, the qi they contained were multiplied. The indirect energy alone tore apart the edges of the pocket dimension, causing its space to become unstable, inevitably producing void
22 - Failure?The Absolute Yin Physique was like a raging flood dragon wreaking havoc in a mass of land, crazily swallowing and merging with all the great rivers, natural springs and proud lakes of that land in order to exponentially improve itself.On the outside, Yin's body was like an endless pit greedily absorbing the pure yin qi essence from the snowstorm surrounding her. Her skin looked like it had a layer of ice over it. Even her long silky black hair now had icicles forming in clumps.Her tender face flashed from red to white and then white to red, and her dainty brows were knitted together as if she was enduring a pain so immense, she would have otherwise puked blood if not for her willpower.'As if' being the keywords.Yin
23 - Help Me Bring These Back?Ye Mo and Zhi Ruo arrived at the foot of the Divine Moon Peak side by side, both of their shoes touching the ground exactly at the same time.This was not planned nor done deliberately... or at least, as far as Ye Mo was concerned, it was not. Ye Mo, in fact, did not seem to pay any attention to the Ming Yue Sect's precious third princess.It was all Zhi Ruo being true to her martial arts maniac title. Seeing his burst of speed, she actually felt her blood boil in excitement.As they were both cultivators at the peak of the Divine Awakening Stage of the Nascent Divinity Realm, she wanted to compete with and beat the well-known genius, Sword Flash Ye Mo, in his own game.Speed!
24 - I'm Strong! Believe Me!Ming Yue Sect's third princess, Zhi Ruo, was quietly following behind Ye Mo the entire time he was searching.No matter how fast Ye Mo was, Zhi Ruo was always just a little distance behind him. However, even with her willowy body and exquisite movement technique, it was difficult for her to remain neck and neck with him. Especially when they entered the Patriarch's Main Hall, she had nearly lost sight of him several times and had to rely on her divine sense to catch up to him. The icy wind and the thick, white fog did not seem to affect Ye Mo’s speed.He was worthy to be called Sword Flash!His speed could already be said to be the pinnacle of the Divine Awakening Stage! He could probably even rival those of the middle Nascent Divinity Realm, t
25 - Think of This as Your DowryAs an outsider, a third person in this strange situation, Zhi Ruo could actually see several questionable issues crystal clear.Strong?This wasn't even a question anymore! Being able to stand unharmed in the middle of this world of ice and snow, was that not a self-evident and glaring answer to her question?If a person without dense cultivation were to be stranded here, he or she would have turned into an ice statue in just several breaths of time!Zhi Ruo offered a gentle smile to the little girl who was wearing a giant pout."Miss Xiao (Little) Yin can call Ruo'er old lady if that is to your liking, though it is Ruo'er's blessing if the miss call
26 - A Warning, A Choice"What are you saying, you little brat?!"A certain young man completely lost his cool. His entire face, his neck, and even both his ears, were burning a bright shade of red, making him look like a human volcano about to spew out fire.On the other hand, a certain young woman only lightly coughed, opting to look away like nothing was heard or said. However, her frail shoulders were obviously trembling, whether from laughter or embarrassment, no one could ever say.Yin harrumphed. "You are a little brat! Your whole family are little brats!"Ye Mo would have pulled out his beard if he ever has one! "Why is your mouth so filthy? Have you been cursing from the moment you were in your mother's womb?"