As a sword cultivator, Wu Siyuan's strike was as swift as lightning. A flash of gold sword light circled around them before vanishing into nothingness.
Other than the female cultivator, every one of the five who had surrounded them moments ago now lay sprawled on the ground. Their dantian and spiritual seas were destroyed beyond repair. Dead.
Realizing the situation had turned against her, the woman tried to flee, disappearing in a flicker. But a streak of sword light caught her mid-air, flinging her back violently. She crumpled to the ground right in front of Jian Dan.
"Now, will you hand over the Water-Avoiding Pearl?"
Jian Dan stood tall and calm, looking down at her without the slightest urgency.
A flicker of venomous hatred passed through the woman's eyes. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and pulled off her storage bracelet, presenting it with both hands.
"Please, spare my life. Everything I have is in here. Let it buy my survival."
Jian Dan considered for a moment, then said, "I'm not that greedy. I only want the ten-thousand-year Water-Avoiding Pearl."
Her refusal to follow the usual script caught the woman off guard. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
"Did you forget which storage ring it's in?"
Jian Dan's voice remained unhurried.
Suddenly, the woman rolled on the ground and lunged. A curved blade scraped along the ground, slashing toward Jian Dan's face. Its edge was laced with poison, gleaming black and purple. Her malice was unmistakable. Everything happened in a flash—so fast that Bian Qikang and Lu Xuanyuan didn't even have time to react.
Jian Dan simply stepped back. The attack missed entirely. Before the blade could swing again, Wu Siyuan's sword light flashed. The poisoned saber flew from her hand, and in the same breath, his blade severed the woman's body cleanly.
Even decapitated, her eyes burned with hatred. Her mouth opened and closed as though still trying to curse.
"Hmph."
Jian Dan's face turned slightly cold. She raised her hand, conjuring three balls of strange flame, and sent them directly into the woman's lifeless eyes and gaping mouth.
Yue Liang had long since settled on Jian Dan's shoulder. The moment Jian Dan attacked, she let out a sharp cry and thrust her tiny paw into the air. Golden light gleamed at the tips of her five claws as she raked them fiercely toward the sky.
"Aaaargh!"
The scream echoed across heaven and earth. Even Lu Xuanyuan frowned. Uncle Lu immediately grew alert, scanning their surroundings with wary eyes.
Then all fell silent.
Jian Dan lifted her hand, and the woman's storage ring from her chest and storage anklet from her ankle flew into her grasp. The bracelet, however, remained untouched.
A burst of flame exploded like a scattering of blossoms. The nearby corpses disintegrated into ash, and with a wave of her sleeve, Jian Dan sent the ashes into oblivion.
Bian Qikang, wearing gloves as thin as cicada wings, carefully picked up the woman's storage bracelet and sealed it inside a jade box, then handed it to Jian Dan.
Jian Dan added a seal of her own, then sent a voice transmission to Wu Siyuan.
"That woman was a split soul of a evil cultivator. The items inside might allow her original body to track us. I've sealed it, but you need to return to the sect immediately and hand this over to Jian Li Zhūnzhǔ at the Law Enforcement Hall. Explain everything. It shouldn't take too long."
"Understood. I'll leave at once."
Wu Siyuan knew Zhūnzhǔ wouldn't call him back for no reason. He took the jade box, tore open space, and vanished without another word.
Jian Dan turned and called out to Lu Xuanyuan, "That was an example of offering peace before drawing the sword. Did you learn anything?"
Lu Xuanyuan nodded like a pecking bird, quick to respond, "I learned a lot. Zhēnjūn's power is a beacon on my cultivation path!"
Behind him, Uncle Lu nearly wanted to disappear from embarrassment. That flattery rolled off his tongue so smoothly, and he'd never seen him praise anyone like that before.
The road afterward was uneventful. No more troublemakers appeared.
By the time they reached their temporary camp a hundred miles outside the city, the moon was high. Dawn was near. When the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect saw Jian Dan return with two others, they stood up at once.
"Greetings, Zhūnzhǔ!"
"Zhūnzhǔ."
Jian Dan didn't put on airs. She nodded with a smile and waved her hand. The sect's flying vessel emerged.
"Xiao Lu, I've asked Qikang to arrange a resting cabin for you. What about your escort?"
"No need to trouble Zhūnzhǔ. I'll share a room with Young Master."
Uncle Lu, noticing that Lu Xuanyuan was still in a daze, quickly stepped in to respond. He led the groggy youth after Bian Qikang to a cabin near the ship's stern.
Once the restrictions were activated, Lu Xuanyuan finally found his voice and asked in a hushed tone, "Uncle Lu, she's a Void Refinement Zhūnzhǔ?"
Uncle Lu shook his head, exasperated. The boy was usually quick-witted. Why so slow today?
"What else could she be? How else could she invite you onto the Heavenly Sword Sect's ship? Or chat as equals with the leading Elder of our Purple Sky Sect? And there you were, calling her Zhēnjūn so cheerfully. She didn't even correct you."
Having said his piece, Uncle Lu sat down to meditate.
The young master had luck on his side today. If they had run into that evil cultivator without Jian Lu Zhūnzhǔ, they might not have survived. Even if they did, they'd be missing a few pieces.
Lu Xuanyuan sat stunned for a long time. Then he started counting on his fingers. The last time he met Jian Lu, she was only at the Nascent Soul stage, and he was just a Qi Refining cultivator. It had only been forty years since then, give or take. Now she was already a Void Refinement Zhūnzhǔ. How had she cultivated so quickly?
While Lu Xuanyuan was still lost in his calculations, Jian Dan had already placed Yue Liang onto a plush couch. She stroked the little beast's glossy fur, then asked,
"Yue Liang, when that woman appeared today, you reacted strongly and insisted I kill her. Was there a reason?"
Yue Liang purred under her touch, her eyes narrowed contentedly, tail swaying gently. She placed her tail across Jian Dan's wrist, scratched her face with a tiny paw, then replied,
"Zhūnzhǔ, I'm a mutated raccoon beast, but Ancestor once told me my powers are actually the true abilities of our kind. I can harm the soul of any person or beast."
Jian Dan gestured for her to continue.
"I can only attack a soul if I can see it. In the market earlier, it wasn't obvious because of the crowd. But when she ambushed us, I saw that her body was crammed with dozens of souls. All of them carried deep resentment. That's why I insisted you eliminate her."
"Anything else?"
"Some were mortal souls, others belonged to cultivators. The cultivator souls were incomplete. She must have used some special method to extract and preserve them. Cultivators like her are enemies of my kind. Our ancestral law is clear: such creatures must be destroyed."
For once, Yue Liang's face held a rare seriousness.
"I see. If it's a mandate from your ancestors, then I'll respect it. If you see anyone or anything like that again, tell me immediately. Your enemies are my enemies too."
"Yes! Thank you, Zhūnzhǔ, for trusting me!"
Yue Liang beamed, curling up fully in Jian Dan's lap and nuzzling happily.
Jian Dan hadn't let that woman live because of the thick resentment clinging to her. Even her Bodhi prayer beads had started to burn. Combined with Yue Liang's reaction, there was no way she could be allowed to escape.
"Yue Liang, how does my soul look to you?"
Jian Dan asked playfully. Yue Liang jumped back onto her shoulder and replied with a happy chirp,
"Zhūnzhǔ's soul is pure and warm. It glows with golden light. I love being near you. You are my guiding star!"
"Hahaha! Now you're flattering me? Did you learn that from Xiao Lu?"
"Yes! Just a little bit!"
Yue Liang wagged her tail, delighted.
As laughter filled their cabin, a roar echoed from the depths of a bottomless cave:
"Who? Who dares destroy my split soul?!"