Lu Xueqi stood tall, left hand gripping the scabbard, right hand forming a sword seal.
The Tianya Sword hovered overhead, glowing like a star, its light spilling in every direction.
Zhang Xiaofan stood beside her, arms folded calmly, as if unbothered, almost like a master watching over his disciple.
With a sharp gesture, Lu Xueqi unleashed her power.
The Tianya Sword split into a dozen blades of azure light, swirling around her like divine soldiers.
Her voice rang cold and clear:
"Monster! Show yourself!"
She pointed at the cavern ceiling.
The dozen swords shot forth, streaking like comets.
They struck the dark recess above with a deafening crash, dislodging rubble.
From the shadows, a figure leapt out.
The swords converged into one, merging back into the Tianya Sword, which flew at the intruder.
The figure landed gracefully on a boulder, blocking the strike with ease.
He wore Confucian robes and wielded a folding fan...elegant and composed despite the battle.
With a few flicks of his fan, he diverted the Tianya Sword's assaults as though swatting away leaves.
Lu Xueqi recalled her sword to her hand, eyes narrowing.
Another figure emerged beside him...dressed in crimson, a black mask covering his face, a sword held at his side.
Zhang Xiaofan's eyes sharpened.
The man with the fan was none other than Lin Feng, wielding the legendary Mountain and River Fan...
That weapon, when unfurled, could summon mountains and summon gales, crushing enemies with the force of nature itself.
The masked swordsman beside him was Xiao Zhou. But Zhang Xiaofan knew the truth.
This was Xiao Yicai.
The eldest disciple of Taoist Master Daoxuan. Once the number one genius of Qingyun Sect.
Sixty years ago, he had reached the peak of the Yuqing realm, defeating all rivals at the Seven Clans Martial Competition.
He carried the Seven Star Sword, passed down personally by Daoxuan. His strength was extraordinary.
But two years ago, Daoxuan had sent him undercover into the Demon Sect. His mission was to root out their secrets from within.
And so here he was, disguised as a demonic cultivator.
Zhang Xiaofan's lips curled faintly. So I'm not the only one pretending to be weak. Xiao Yicai is slacking off too.
With Xiao Yicai here, Zhang Xiaofan felt strangely reassured.
If he wasn't the only one playing this dangerous game of concealment, then perhaps things would unfold just as he needed.
Zhang Xiaofan's eyes locked with Xiao Yicai's.
The two men silently measured each other.
Xiao Yicai had already received word: this young man before him was the first place winner of the Seven Clans Martial Competition, his strength overwhelming, his cultivation already at the peak of Jade Purity.
For Xiao Yicai, who had cultivated diligently for over a century, this truth was difficult to swallow.
He remembered clearly....five years ago, Zhang Xiaofan had been nothing more than a neglected disciple in Jade Purity Hall, dismissed and even ridiculed by the six chieftains.
At that time, Xiao Yicai had even worried whether this junior would ever make it past the most basic levels.
Yet now...five years later...Zhang Xiaofan stood proudly at the top of the Seven Clans, his cultivation soaring past all peers, dazzling like a comet across the heavens.
What kind of monstrous talent is this?
Xiao Yicai could not help but sigh inwardly. Compared to Zhang Xiaofan's meteoric rise, his own hundred years of painstaking cultivation seemed pitiful.
Still, he quickly suppressed his envy and began plotting:
Such a man cannot be made an enemy. If I am to ascend to the position of sect leader one day, his support will be indispensable. I must win his goodwill."
Fortunately for Xiao Yicai, he did not know the whole truth...Zhang Xiaofan was already beyond Jade Purity, having stepped firmly into the Upper Purity Realm.
Had he known, he would have spat blood on the spot, cursing that his hundred years of effort had been in vain.
A sultry, mocking voice suddenly broke the silence.
What a pity. Such fine skin… it would be a shame not to peel it off."
From the darkness emerged a figure.
A woman stepped gracefully onto the stone platform, her movements serpentine, seductive. She wore a form-fitting crimson dress that hugged her body, her snow-white arms exposed.
Her beauty was breathtaking, but her aura was drenched in cruelty.
Through the long slit of her dress, her slender legs shimmered with cold allure, every curve seemingly sculpted to ensnare men's hearts.
She was none other than the infamous Beautiful Woman of the Blood Refining Hall. As her name suggested, she was enchanting....yet her beauty was venomous, like a rose sprouting from blood.
In her hand coiled the Immortal Binding Rope, its eerie glow twisting like a venomous snake.
Her eyes, as cold as they were charming, settled on Lu Xueqi as though she were a prized prey waiting to be devoured.
Zhang Xiaofan's face darkened. His voice thundered through the cavern:
"Witch! You dare set your sights on my Naiqi? If I don't rip one of your arms off today, I'll take your surname instead!"
His words echoed like an oath of blood.
Lu Xueqi stiffened, her icy gaze snapping toward him.
"Who is your Naiqi?"
Though she glared at him, her heart betrayed her. Instead of anger, a strange warmth surged within....an unshakable sense of security.
This man…
Calling me Naiqi so bluntly before everyone… does he have no shame? No respect for me, Lu Xueqi?
If not for the deadly enemy before her, she would have frozen him with her glare until even Qi Hao, Zeng Shushu, and their allies from Tianyin Temple and Fenxiang Valley burst out laughing at his audacity.
But at this moment, she could not deny it....Zhang Xiaofan's voice, his fury, made her heart stir.
Not far away, Li Xun's brows furrowed.
From the moment he had first laid eyes on Lu Xueqi, he had been entranced.
Her unmatched beauty, her unyielding spirit, and her mastery of the sword....she was like a celestial being who had descended to the mortal world.
After countless battles fought side by side, his admiration had deepened into something more: a love as heavy as a mountain.
Now, hearing Zhang Xiaofan openly call her "Naiqi," his heart burned with jealousy, though he forced himself to remain silent.
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