Chapter 10 Part 2
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This chapter is edited by omileye nofisat. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 10: Stop Where It Should Stop (2)
The sword cut through the snowfield, shattered the attic, and shot into the vast night, radiating cold white light like a lighthouse illuminating the four corners of the world.
Finally, red, yellow, blue… countless petals slowly drifted down from the sky.
Some landed on Taoist Lingye.
Some fell onto the ice-covered ground.
It was hot.
—
Taoist Lingye stood frozen, as numb as a startled chicken.
More than a dozen breaths passed before everything returned to calm. He squinted slightly and saw the sword hovering just a foot away from his neck. If Bai Lian had pushed it even slightly to the left…
“This is called ‘stop where it should stop’!” Bai Lian said.
“…”
“And this,” she added, “is what Special Effects should look like!”
“…”
—
Bai Lian slowly withdrew the Dirt Free Sword. She stood calmly by the broken wall of the attic, her expression unshaken, as though nothing had transpired.
Before her stood the disheveled Taoist Lingye, and behind her lay the bustling world.
—
Taoist Lingye’s lips trembled. After a long pause, he finally said, “I’ll give you the fairness you want.”
The silent Bai Lian nodded, turned, and walked away. She waved her sleeve, taking nothing from Taoist Lingye.
—
Taoist Lingye remained in place, standing amidst the frozen remains of the attic for a long time. He raised his hand and touched his cheek.
Blood.
It was just a small cut on his cheek.
Looking up at the hanging moon, he sighed.
“This young person…” he muttered with admiration, “is still a very good young person.”
Had it been someone else, they might not have spared his life.
Sigh.
Forget it. He would let this matter go and quit. If he worked harder, he could still earn enough Spirit Stones.
—
Taoist Lingye waited until the members of the Chuncao Pavilion rushed in from downstairs, their faces anxious.
“Taoist Lingye, what happened?” they asked.
He recounted the story with a wry smile.
“Should we send someone to follow her?” one person suggested.
“Fools!” Taoist Lingye snapped. “Do you think our Chuncao Pavilion is strong enough to provoke such a person?”
“…”
“You can’t even say that out loud!”
—
Just then, several unfamiliar figures appeared in the attic.
“?”
Taoist Lingye immediately felt the weight of danger.
—
Chaos in the City
The city of Hening was in turmoil.
Even on the remote paths, people ran past in the silent night. Bai Lian walked with purpose, her hand brushing against the hilt of her sword.
The Dirt Free Sword had been too powerful earlier, enough to alarm the city patrol guards of Heluo.
Her fault.
Had she controlled her spirit Qi better, none of this would have happened.
—
As she walked, she suddenly halted.
Someone was following her.
Her Divine Sense was sharp; she would not mistake such a presence.
The pursuer was powerful, their aura as blinding as the sun in the dark.
—
“I see now.”
Bai Lian understood. The reward for standing up for her second martial sister—the Tianshu Sword Array—wasn’t because Taoist Lingye was formidable. It was because someone far stronger was lurking behind him.
“So, he lied about giving me the fairness I wanted?” Bai Lian frowned.
It seemed she would need to pay Taoist Lingye another visit.
—
Stopping at a roadside stall selling Hening City’s specialty snacks, she addressed the vendor.
“I’ll take four.”
As she waited, she released a Phantom Butterfly for reconnaissance.
—
It was a low-level surveillance spell and likely to be discovered by the pursuer. But it was all she had.
“Go, Phantom Butterfly.”
—
Ju Buyi’s Dilemma
Perched on a rooftop, Ju Buyi watched Bai Lian as she examined the snacks with apparent interest.
An inexplicable feeling stirred in his heart.
This girl shouldn’t appear so ordinary.
—
Ju Buyi’s thoughts drifted back to the sword strike.
It should have been a strike brimming with murderous intent. Yet when she finished, it radiated an intoxicating vitality.
Terrifying.
—
“What a strange woman,” he muttered.
Her strength was undeniable.
Ju Buyi was at the early Soul Changing Stage, but even he doubted he could match her. At least, if he had held the sword, Taoist Lingye wouldn’t have been rendered immobile when he attempted to break it.
“If she fully unleashed her spirit Qi, she might be ten times stronger. There’s no chance I could fight her.”
—
He didn’t want to come.
But it was his responsibility.
Ju Buyi hoped Bai Lian wouldn’t notice him. He needed her to lower her guard.
—
“It’s time to move…”
Ju Buyi stood, shaking off his hesitation.
—
Then he froze.
A Phantom Butterfly hovered less than two feet away, its translucent wings fluttering.
—
Phantom Butterfly!
He hadn’t sensed its arrival.
Ju Buyi’s composure cracked.
—
“She sent this. Bai Lian knows I’m here.”
And there was likely a deeper meaning.
A cultivator of her level must have more advanced surveillance spells. Yet she deliberately used this simple spell.
—
“What’s this? A show of power?”
She was sending a message:
“I can bypass your perception even with something this low-level.”
—
Ju Buyi’s face darkened.
“I need to leave. I can’t fight her.”
He vanished from the butterfly’s sight.
—
Bai Lian’s Reaction
Bai Lian stiffened.
Was he retreating? Or gathering reinforcements?
She quickly paid for her snacks and left the stall, her grip tightening on the bag in her hand.
