"Jūnshàng, where are we going?"
Miao Yunrong and her attendants quickly realized the carriage was not heading back to the Xianlai Inn. Tension grew in the air, especially among the attendants, who began to regret not staying behind with Mo Su.
If anything happened to the little palace mistress, none of them would escape punishment.
"What's wrong? Realizing you're afraid now?"
Jian Dan's expression was relaxed as she lazily swept her gaze across the group. Even the teardrop-shaped mole at the corner of her eye seemed to glint with cold light.
"Jūnshàng must be joking. I knew from the start that I acted rashly. It was thanks to being with you that we avoided disaster. I trust Jūnshàng will surely see us home safely."
Miao Yunrong's scalp prickled. The way Jian Dan was looking at her made her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles. She had originally planned to use Jian Dan to sway her senior brother's opinion, but she had only ended up harming herself. Jian Dan truly had no interest in her senior brother and had picked a male cultivator back at Jun Pavilion. Meanwhile, Miao Yunrong had pretended to be clueless for so long, only to fall victim to the very drug she had prepared.
"Yes, yes, I promised Mo Su I'd bring you all out safely, and look, here we are. As for what happens next…"
"Please forgive us, Jūnshàng," Miao Yunrong's first attendant quickly stepped forward, trying to defuse the situation. "Our palace mistress admires Mo Su Jūnshàng. Seeing your closeness with him, she lost her composure. Please pardon her youthful emotions."
The weight of the situation left Miao Yunrong with no choice but to lower her head in silence, not daring to say a word more.
"Heh. What are you all so nervous about? I was just teasing the little palace mistress."
Jian Dan smiled with mock amusement, the tension in the carriage easing slightly. But only the people involved knew the truth. Jian Dan's divine sense had already locked onto everyone in the carriage. No one dared move a muscle, fearing she might lash out at the slightest excuse.
At that moment, the carriage halted in midair. Jian Dan vanished in a flash and appeared outside. There, beneath the dark night sky, a pitch-black flying vessel hovered silently. Jian Dan flicked a small sphere of demon qi from her fingers, striking the vessel's protective barrier and causing it to tremble.
Within three breaths, several figures flew out of the vessel. The strongest among them, a Nascent Soul cultivator, immediately replaced his angry scowl with a smiling face upon seeing Jian Dan. Bowing low, he greeted her.
"Greetings, Jūnshàng. I am the steward of the Jia Family Trading Company from Yunling City. We're transporting goods and just passing through. Might I ask why Jūnshàng has stopped us?"
"You're not qualified to ask me anything. Tell the one in charge to come out."
Jian Dan casually brushed a finger beneath her right eye, directly pointing out the person hiding in the shadows. Jia She's heart skipped a beat. Something had gone wrong. Her words were too pointed to be coincidence. Saying more would only make things worse. She signaled the crew and stepped aside.
The vessel's doors opened, and out walked a Divine Transformation stage cultivator. Her face was identical to the one Jian Dan had encountered earlier in Jun Pavilion. She stepped through the air and faced Jian Dan head-on.
"There's no need to be so aggressive. We're simply conducting legitimate business."
Jian Dan tilted her gaze slightly. This one was far more dangerous than the weak-willed Divine Transformation cultivator from earlier.
"Legitimate business? I don't care what you sell. But using cauldrons to control cultivators, and letting those foreign black beetles infest them? That concerns me."
Before she had even finished speaking, the other woman attacked. Her palm strike was followed by a coordinated maneuver. Some of her allies protected the vessel and fled, while others flew around Jian Dan, targeting the suspended golden carriage drawn by the pegasi.
Jian Dan's Mó Yuè Zhǎn spun through the air and dispersed the incoming palm force. The clash below destroyed a section of forest in an instant. Realizing Jian Dan was no easy target, the enemy summoned a lotus-shaped candle stand. As the candle lit, it released a dense red mist, thick with an overly sweet fragrance.
The red mist enveloped the two combatants, the golden carriage, and the black flying vessel, surrounding them in a haze. "Disgusting. Still trying to use pleasure incense at a time like this?"
Jian Dan's voice was full of contempt, but she was already prepared. The Demon Shadow Umbrella opened above her head as she calmly stepped toward the other woman.
The opponent was visibly surprised. The red mist wasn't just for concealment; it disrupted divine senses. Once inhaled, it couldn't be forced out with spiritual power. The only way to dispel it was through intercourse, which also resulted in the victim falling under her control. Yet Jian Dan had immediately seen through the scheme.
What she didn't know was that Jian Dan had already learned all this through soul-searching. Her twin sister, in the moment of her death, had been completely drained by the black beetle and had vanished from this world.
Though she hadn't received word, she sensed something was wrong and had tried to flee. She didn't expect to be intercepted, and fortunately, her opponent was only a newly advanced Divine Transformation cultivator—someone she could still handle.
No matter how many times she shifted positions, Jian Dan was able to track her every move. Realizing this wasn't just luck, she prepared to strike. But just then, a voice rang out at her ear.
"What are you hiding for? Playing hide-and-seek?"
A powerful punch struck her incoming palm, and the clash of energies forced both back. Jian Dan retreated only a few steps, while the other woman stumbled three or four before stabilizing herself. The difference in physical strength was clear—Jian Dan's body cultivation was superior.
Her opponent tensed, while Jian Dan, feeling invigorated, was already in a good mood. This enemy had decent strength. A perfect warm-up, and maybe she could be captured alive.
Jian Dan raised one hand, commanding the Mó Yuè Zhǎn into the red mist to guard Miao Yunrong and the others. The Demon Shadow Umbrella floated steadily overhead, spinning slowly to block the mist from above.
Then Jian Dan formed a series of hand seals. A glowing Manjushahua flower bloomed in her palms, drifting forward and growing larger until it enclosed the battlefield and its surrounding space.
This was a spatial barrier technique Jian Dan had comprehended after her advancement to Divine Transformation. It trapped both herself and the enemy within a sealed domain. Not only did it prevent collateral damage to innocents, but it also ensured the opponent could not escape unless Jian Dan was killed or a Void Refinement or stronger cultivator forcibly broke the barrier.
Such spatial techniques were usually only accessible to Divine Soul stage cultivators or above. But Jian Dan, who cultivated both the Dao and demon paths, also practiced body refinement. Her physical body was powerful, her divine sense exceeded her realm, and her grasp of space allowed her to deploy this technique as a Divine Transformation cultivator.
The plump mid-stage Divine Transformation woman quickly realized everyone on her side had been sealed inside. Knowing she had run into a tough opponent, she stopped holding back. Twin daggers appeared in her hands, and with a flurry of strikes, she sent glowing arcs slashing toward Jian Dan.
Jian Dan didn't retreat. Her fists, shrouded in thick demon qi, met every blade of energy head-on. She shattered them all with precise movements, then stepped forward. Each punch targeted her enemy's head, chest, dantian, and even her legs. The barrage of fist shadows wrapped the woman in a deadly storm of force.