"Only the two of us are here. Who else could be mocking your name?"
Yao Ranran blinked innocently, then pointed at the terrified gatekeeper disciple.
"Of course, it was him!"
The disciple: "…"
"It wasn't me, it wasn't me! How can you wrongly accuse me?"
The disciple's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, scrambling backward in panic.
Hei Yangjiu gave a cold snort. "A woman like you… hmm? No, a woman as beautiful as you, I've truly never seen before!"
The gatekeeper disciple and the three thousand demon cultivators: "…"
Sensing the awkward silence, Hei Yangjiu's expression flickered with unease.
"Which sect's witch are you from? Why have I never seen you before?"
He scrutinized her with suspicion, muttering, "Don't tell me you're from the Hehuan Sect?"
Yao Ranran lifted her gaze. "Hovering that high in the sky—aren't you tired? Also, I am not a witch. I am a righteous cultivator."
Hei Yangjiu: "…" He floated that high just to look imposing!
The wind beneath Hei Yangjiu's robes suddenly dissipated, and he landed on the ground. With mock regret, he said, "With a face like yours, it's a shame you don't join Hehuan Sect."
Yao Ranran looked at him speechlessly.
This was the difference upbringing made.
"Daoyou, would you be interested in joining my Yinluo Sect? With your beauty, I could grant you a Heaven-rank charm technique. You'd surely reach Nascent Soul with ease."
Hei Yangjiu grinned.
Dragging virtuous fairies into corruption had always been his favorite pastime.
Yao Ranran shifted, rising to her feet.
"I already have a Heaven-rank technique. The one you're offering—can it compare to mine?"
Hei Yangjiu narrowed his eyes, a trace of surprise flashing in them.
"The Heaven-rank technique I speak of is of the middle grade! If what you have is merely lower grade, there's no need to cultivate it at all!"
Pride colored his face.
A middle-grade Heaven-rank technique was already a treasure beyond market value. A lower-grade one might occasionally appear in large auctions for the wealthy, but a middle grade or higher? Impossible. Such things were hoarded by great clans and sects.
Yao Ranran looked disappointed.
"Oh, so it's only middle grade. Then there really is no point."
"What?" Lost in his own scheming, Hei Yangjiu failed to process her words at first.
The gatekeeper disciple's jaw dropped. "You… you refused a middle-grade Heaven-rank technique?!"
Yes, it was a demonic charm technique, but still—middle grade Heaven-rank!
If such fortune had fallen to him…
The disciple unconsciously touched his own face, even batting his eyes seductively.
"If I'd had that chance when I was young, maybe the one standing here tonight would've been me…"
Yao Ranran: "…"
The demon cultivators: "…"
"You say my middle-grade Heaven-rank technique isn't worth cultivating? Could it be that the one you possess is…"
Hei Yangjiu's face grew solemn, staring at her with grave intensity.
"Yes. The technique I cultivate is a Heaven-rank upper-grade technique."
Yao Ranran remained utterly calm. The two were already enemies, and she was fated to defeat Hei Yangjiu and drive these demon cultivators away.
"What is your name?" Hei Yangjiu asked seriously, eyes sweeping over her.
She looked young, her talent seemingly ordinary. If she truly cultivated a Heaven-rank upper-grade technique, she had to be the child of some formidable figure.
Hei Yangjiu was already weighing whether to kill her on the spot once she revealed her identity.
"Niohulu Fairy Yao Ranran!"
Everyone was dumbfounded. What on earth? Since when were names that long?
"Oh, apologies, that was my former name. My current name is simply Yao Ranran."
She looked apologetic.
Hei Yangjiu's lips twitched.
"Yao Ranran? That illegitimate daughter of Yu Weifeng who stirred up such a storm in Central Domain not long ago?
I heard he wants to add you into the family genealogy. That Heaven-rank upper-grade technique you cultivate—it must be the Yu Clan's treasured Great Heavenly Derivation Art, isn't it?"
Yao Ranran paused in thought for a moment.
"Yes, I do cultivate the Great Heavenly Derivation Art. I am qualified to do so."
"Hahaha! So it's true you've been added into the Yu genealogy? And even Xing Rui allowed such absurdity?"
Hei Yangjiu burst into laughter, as if savoring the drama.
Yao Ranran frowned. "When Yu Weifeng courted my mother, he claimed he was single. I never needed the genealogy. It was the Yu Clan who wronged us. Passing the technique to me was only fair."
"Claimed he was single? Did you all hear that? Yu Clan's patriarch Yu Weifeng is unmarried and unattached!"
Hei Yangjiu turned and shouted to his men.
"Hahahaha!" The demon cultivators roared with laughter.
The gatekeeper disciple, however, felt guilty.
"Fairy Ranran, I misunderstood you earlier. Once the sect master arrives, I'll ask him to open a side passage for you to enter! Please, you must endure for now. Do not provoke them. Our Yun Gu Sect has an ancestral sect-protection array, but… wait, wait, Fairy, don't go over there!"
Yao Ranran walked forward, saying calmly, "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
The disciple froze in place.
"This was bad. Sect master, hurry!"
This was Central Domain's number-one beauty, Fairy Yao Ranran!
"Fairy, you've changed your mind? You're ready to join Yinluo Sect?"
Hei Yangjiu's face twisted in amusement.
Behind him, the demon cultivators laughed uproariously.
Yao Ranran drew out the Nine Lotus Ring.
"Cultivators settle grudges not with words but with combat. Hei Yang Daoyou, I'll let you make the first move."
"Hiss! Fairy Ranran, are you mad?!"
The gatekeeper disciple gasped. No wonder he'd felt something off—this fairy must have been provoked to madness!
"Hahaha, hahahaha—"
Hei Yangjiu suddenly grabbed a laughing subordinate and crushed his skull. Blood spattered across his face, dyeing it crimson.
The demon cultivators fell silent, mourning their foolish comrade.
Who told him to laugh when Yao Ranran had dared call their sect master Hei Yang Daoyou?
"Fairy Ranran, you've been in the Eastern Wilderness for almost a year. And you still don't know my greatest taboo?"
Hei Yangjiu's tone dripped with venom.
Yao Ranran replied coolly, "Of course I know. The dead have no taboos."
The sound of collective gasps echoed all around.
How dare she!
Hei Yangjiu's lips curled into a cold smile.
"Good. You said you'd let me have the first move? Then I'll let you have three. After three moves, the world shall never again see such a dazzling face."
"Fairy Ranran, I'll fetch the sect master right away!"
The gatekeeper disciple shook violently, stumbling as he bolted toward the main hall.
Yao Ranran didn't stop him. Once she defeated the head of Yinluo Sect, the Yun Gu Sect master could come out to conclude matters.
"I never bully the weak. Hei Yang Daoyou, as a sect master, you are generous indeed. Then I'll accept your offer and only let you make the first move."
Each time she addressed him as Hei Yang Daoyou, Hei Yangjiu's veins bulged in rage.
"Enough nonsense! Make your move—"