So admirable, Fairy Ranran!
Even at the dining table, she still thought of that man… Wait, who exactly was he?
Tang Xiangyin chewed her pastry and studied the man who had suddenly appeared. He was unexpectedly handsome.
An Xiaolin's brows and eyes were refined like a painting. He did not waste words.
He turned his gentle gaze toward Yao Ranran. "Mingzhi should pass on."
!!!
That master… was actually the famed Master Mingzhi!
Yao Ranran stared in shock. How could he possibly know that? And what did he mean?
An Xiaolin's gaze shifted slightly, and his whole figure shone like a spill of moonlight as he soared into the sky.
The barrier of the Divine Tree Jianmu posed no obstruction to him.
"Fairy Ranran, who is that man?" Tang Xiangyin asked with undisguised envy as she watched him fly off. He seemed incredibly powerful!
"…That's my nominal master," Yao Ranran replied, frowning as she turned over his parting words.
"Nominal master? Does that mean… not very valuable?" Tang Xiangyin widened her eyes. She looked down at the pastry in her hands, and suddenly her appetite vanished.
If even a master was treated by Fairy Ranran like a bargain commodity, then the more food she ate, the higher her own selling price would be?
…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A massive crimson heart, wrapped in countless glowing veins, floated in midair.
Mu Jialing and Pei Xianqiao approached the glowing aura of the heart. Radiant Buddha-light shone around them. Pei Xianqiao gripped her chilling Cangling Snow Sword, exchanging a wordless, knowing look with Mu Jialing.
Mu Jialing gave a slight nod.
The two instantly shot into the air. Both unleashed their signature techniques, aiming to shatter the gigantic heart.
Rustle, rustle!
Countless blood-red veins surged and writhed, wrapping layer after layer around the heart.
Ignoring the suffocating entanglement, Mu Jialing and Pei Xianqiao slashed again and again, icy light cleaving open cocoon after cocoon, until the surface of the heart was exposed.
…
"So, you are here."
The deep, distant voice came from every direction. Yao Ranran and Tang Xiangyin clutched one another as the ground beneath them suddenly surged upward like bamboo shoots breaking through earth, hurling them back to the surface.
But the air outside was far from fresh.
Red walls collapsed with deafening roars, choking the sky with dust and rubble.
Yan Family Fortress was instantly drowned in smoke and chaos.
Yao Ranran waved the dust aside and saw the two figures locked in confrontation.
"Master Mingzhi!?" she cried out.
So it was Master Mingzhi who had just spoken!
"Fairy Ranran, what an amusing junior." Mingzhi's pale gray eyes swept over her before settling coldly on An Xiaolin.
"So, Shu Xi Palace hasn't been completely exterminated after all?"
His face was as serene as a Buddha, but his words dripped with cruelty and ice.
An Xiaolin's expression remained unchanged, his tone calm as drifting clouds. "If you die, Shu Xi Palace will never perish."
"You cannot kill me."
"I will not be the one."
"You would rely on those two juniors? Even if they've found my heart, they cannot harm me. Unless you strike me down in a grievous state… but what you failed to do before, you have even less chance of doing now."
Mingzhi's voice was lifeless, his gray eyes as dead as ash.
"It will not be me," An Xiaolin repeated with a shake of his head.
Mingzhi frowned faintly. "Not you. Not them. Someone else?"
This time, An Xiaolin finally nodded.
A sense of unease pricked Yao Ranran's heart.
Then she saw An Xiaolin's jade-white fingertip slowly extend—pointing at her. Across from her, Mingzhi's gray, deathly eyes stirred with killing intent.
"…It's not me!" Yao Ranran waved her hands in panic, trying to stay calm.
"And it's definitely not me!" Tang Xiangyin quickly echoed, matching the rhythm. If the Fairy denied it, then of course she had to deny it too!
Mingzhi and An Xiaolin: "…" Who would ever suspect her in the first place?
Neither spared Tang Xiangyin a glance. Both looked straight at Yao Ranran.
"I suspected long ago you were concealing your cultivation," Mingzhi said with a chilling calm.
"I'm not, I swear I'm not! Master, don't you point at me!" Yao Ranran nearly cried. She really was only first level Qi Refinement—why did no one ever believe her?
An Xiaolin gazed at her tenderly. "Don't be afraid, my good disciple. It is time to reveal your true strength."
This disciple of his was flawless: beauty, cultivation, temperament—all excellent.
But she was far too modest and restrained. Normally that humility let her blend well with ordinary people. Yet in times of crisis, only by pressing her could he force her to fight for real.
Yao Ranran: "…Master, when you said Master Mingzhi should pass on, you meant I should be the one to send him off?"
An Xiaolin nodded approvingly. "Correct. What the master cannot do, the disciple should accomplish."
"…" She had thought her master was formidable!
Yao Ranran was speechless.
What kind of master pushed his disciple into this kind of deathtrap? Truly, nothing good comes cheap.
She wasn't the heroine—so why did she have to face a heroine's fate?
"Have you two finished? You don't seem very familiar as master and disciple," Mingzhi mocked blandly.
"You could tell?" Yao Ranran asked in wide-eyed surprise.
An Xiaolin even nodded in agreement.
Mingzhi: "…Enough. Since the master cannot, let me test the disciple instead. I happen to be interested in sparring with you."
The last remnants of faith power clung to Yao Ranran. From the very start, Mingzhi had never planned to let her go.
An Xiaolin immediately drew Tang Xiangyin aside, opening wide space for battle.
"My good disciple, master believes in you."
"I believe in Fairy Ranran too!" Tang Xiangyin said solemnly.
If Fairy Ranran lost, wouldn't they all be doomed?
Dragged to the frontlines, Yao Ranran muttered, "…I don't even believe in myself!"
Since when did she have the ability to duel someone at the half-step Ascension realm? Yet judging from her so-called master's hopeful gaze, he was expecting her to slay this demonic monk!
At this rate, the one passing on to the next life wouldn't be Ming Zhi, but the three of them instead.
From the corner of her eye, Yao Ranran caught sight of the collapsed red walls. Countless evil creatures surged out, vanishing into a black pit.
She knew they must be heading toward Pei Xianqiao.
"You face me, yet you still spare thoughts for others." Mingzhi's empty stare locked on her.
Yao Ranran's eyes collided with his—her soul felt as though it was being pulled into a bottomless abyss.
"Hiss!" For a moment, the two clashed. Mingzhi staggered back half a step, disbelief flashing in his gray eyes.
Yao Ranran did not hesitate. With a metallic chime she drew the Nine Lotus Ring and leapt skyward. White lotus light burst out, dazzling everyone's vision. Mingzhi narrowed his eyes to slits, palms pressed together as he chanted scripture.
Dusky Buddha-light and radiant lotus brilliance collided. An Xiaolin and Tang Xiangyin had to squeeze their eyes shut, unable to withstand the blinding clash.
Who had won?
Both of them wondered the same thing.
Yao Ranran wondered too.
She hurled the Nine Lotus Ring forward and in the same breath slipped toward the black pit where the evil creatures poured in.
There, she saw the people of Yan Family Fortress, huddled within, their eyes filled with grief and despair.