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Qing Xuanling could still see the bewilderment in the eyes of the fox-masked man's decapitated head. She almost burst into laughter at the sight.
But in a way, she understood him. Who would imagine that an attack named "Six Waves" would have a seventh wave, trading all the power gathered in the previous six strikes for explosive speed?
She shook her head. Perhaps what she admired most about her sword technique was that each movement was deadlier and more sinister than the last. She truly wondered what kind of person the creator of such a sword art must have been.
He must have been someone fascinating if the saying that a sword cultivator's technique reflects fragments of their personality held any truth.
She shook her head with a soft chuckle and turned to the rest of the battles, which had also concluded. There were no other peak-stage cultivators, so her companions hadn't faced much difficulty, unlike her.
Qing Tanwei sighed upon seeing her injuries. "Hah... I knew it wasn't a good idea to leave that guy to you. Look how you ended up."
"You know anyone else would've fared worse if they'd faced him. A sword cultivator is still a sword cultivator." Qing Xuanling held no grudge; after all, she was the one who chose to fight that man.
The others had nothing to say. None of them were confident in facing a sword cultivator. Even Qing Tanwei, who had the best defenses and had once dared to stop a sword with her bare hands, had only done so because that sword was wreathed in sharp Qi, not actual Sword Qi.
Her hand would have been cleanly cut off if that had been the case.
Qing Rannuan suddenly approached and began patting all over Qing Xuanling's body, making her blush slightly, but she said nothing and let Qing Rannuan do as she pleased.
Finally, the curly pink-haired girl shook her head.
"You don't have any serious injuries. Your skin is tough enough to cushion the enemy's strikes so your organs came out unscathed. A healing pill will be enough."
Qing Xuanling sighed in relief upon hearing Qing Rannuan's verdict. Though she could feel she had no grave wounds, it was best to rely on an expert's opinion. Otherwise, it would be a waste not to utilize the medical skills of an immortal doctor like Qing Rannuan.
Yes, Qing Rannuan was an expert in the art of medicine, an immortal art closely related to alchemy. Though the two were quite different in essence.
Everyone relaxed momentarily after the battle, but then someone opened their mouth...
"Let's take advantage of this moment to loot the enemies' corpses. They seemed to belong to a major clan or sect, so they should have quite a bit..." Qing Huayan blinked when she noticed everyone staring at her.
"What?"
Qing Xuanling shook her head with an ironic smile and actually searched the fox-masked man's corpse. That guy was undoubtedly someone wealthy.
She found a pleasant surprise while casually checking the corpse's hands.
"A storage ring!"
She exclaimed excitedly, looking at the simple-looking bronze ring in her hand. Her heart pounded.
The others looked at her with envy.
"So lucky! Just the storage ring alone is worth more than everything we could get from these bastards' storage pouches..." Qing Wentian sighed in grievance while kicking a nearby corpse.
Qing Tanwei smiled, happy for Qing Xuanling. "Not to mention the ring's contents. I suspect that guy came on behalf of a clan or sect to purchase various resources, so there's probably quite a lot of stuff inside!"
Qing Xuanling's smile grew wider with everything she heard. But in the end, she simply slipped the ring onto her finger and didn't inspect it carefully.
Storage rings were imbued with their owner's divine sense, so Qing Xuanling had to erase the previous owner's divine sense before she could use it. That would take time, so she left it for later.
The team and the children began moving after that brief episode. They quickly reached the room through which they had entered the Immortal Market.
Qing Muyu took the lead and opened the door, but surprisingly, his body suddenly distorted and stretched before vanishing!
The children screamed in panic at the sight!
"Calm down, calm down~" Qing Tanwei soothed them with a warm smile. "This is just how we leave here. Nothing happened to Brother Muyu."
It took some effort to convince the children to go through the door, but after Ye Fan did so (at Qing Xuanling's request), the rest followed suit.
Soon, everyone was back in the basement of Su Meiren's base, which remained as clean as before. The door leading upstairs was locked, so they had no choice but to wait for her to return.
The wait stretched on for two hours.
Su Meiren's face was pale when she finally returned.
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Half an hour earlier.
"Pah!"
Su Meiren coughed up blood as she leaned against the wall of a secluded alley. Luckily, no one was in sight, otherwise they'd be terrified by her paper-pale skin.
She had dark circles under her eyes and tightly gripped one of her arms while trembling. It was clear she was severely injured.
"Are you happy now?"
Someone asked suddenly, but she didn't flinch. She simply smiled faintly. "Are you seriously asking? I finally took the first step after five years of fruitless searching. Though I really didn't expect you to help me... Elder Sister."
Mei Yechan rolled her eyes. "You only call me that when you need something... And don't do it again. We both know it's no longer appropriate. Besides, I didn't do it just for you."
"I know, I know! You know, I'm seriously envious of that Qing clan girl! What the hell did she do to bewitch you like this?" Su Meiren smiled bitterly. "Do I need to use a technique to make myself younger so you can treat me like a little sister?!"
A hint of displeasure appeared on Mei Yechan's face. "Meiren, you know you arbitrarily dragged that girl into your plans. She might have been in danger without your intervention, but it would have been enough to just tell her that person had set a trap for Qing Yenglan. Qing Xuanling didn't need to look for that."
Su Meiren pointed at Mei Yechan as she retorted. "There it is, that damn favoritism! Why should I do favors for that girl for free?! I already did enough by giving her so many protective items! I even gave her a formation-breaking crystal, you know??"
"That thing costs at least sixty thousand spirit stones!"
Even Mei Yechan was slightly surprised. Her gaze softened a bit.
"...I apologize. I'm just a bit on edge. Having to wait so many years, enduring this...!" A wave of killing intent flashed through Mei Yechan's eyes before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. "...It's exhausting me. I've never been a particularly patient person."
Neither spoke after that.
Mei Yechan had little else to say, while Su Meiren's expression was complex.
"Sigh... no. Don't apologize. I didn't give her those things just for you." Su Meiren looked at the sky with resignation. "That girl has a certain charisma. Even though I didn't spend much time with her, I grew somewhat fond of her. I also felt a bit guilty for using her so arbitrarily."
The corner of Mei Yechan's lip lifted slightly. "I know. She's an enchanting girl. I met her when she was barely fourteen, but the way she's grown over these two years still amazes me. I sometimes still wonder how far someone like her will go."
Su Meiren felt a pang of envy seeing Mei Yechan's expression at that moment. She couldn't help but snort as she tossed an object from her storage ring.
"Here. Even though you didn't act, your mere presence was enough to keep this guy from just walking away." A mocking smile appeared on Su Meiren's face. "What a face he would've made if I'd told him before he died that you couldn't act at this moment anyway?"
Mei Yechan looked coldly at the object on the ground. It was a head. It was supposed to be a human head, yet it lacked hair, eyes, or any other features belonging to a human face.
It looked like a mannequin's head.
But it was undoubtedly a human head.
Mei Yechan's green eyes were icy as she casually pointed at the head with her finger. A red mist emanated from her fingertip, enveloping the head and lifting it to face Mei Yechan.
"...You were certainly lucky that it allowed you to live so long. It was a pity I couldn't kill you myself for waiting for someone more valuable to arrive, but since this happened, I hope your death stirs the waters at least a little. Though I doubt the death of someone so insignificant could achieve that."
The head began to wither as it was surrounded by the red mist. In the end, nothing remained but a skull with a thin layer of skin.
"Take this." Mei Yechan tossed a pill to Su Meiren. "Though I didn't ask you to act today, what you did helped improve my mental state"
Su Meiren looked at the pill in her hands with complex emotions.
"...I had promised I would never accept anything from a traitor again."
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"I see you were quite successful, eh?" Su Meiren smiled as she guided everyone out of the basement and into the courtyard inside the teahouse. "I really didn't expect to run into so many people when I returned..."
The Qing clan members laughed nervously. They hadn't told Su Meiren anything about the university mission. Aside from distrust, it wasn't really necessary. Though now they felt slightly embarrassed.
Su Meiren shook her head with a smile. "Alright, alright, this elder sister will forgive you just this once. But now... Did you get what I asked for?"
Everyone looked at Qing Xuanling.
She smiled, took an object from her storage bag, and handed it to Su Meiren. It was a metal box. "It was the only unusual thing I found in the office you sent us to search."
Overwhelming joy flashed in Su Meiren's eyes when she saw the box, but she quickly hid it and smiled delicately. "Good, good, you've done excellent work. This elder sister will prepare a banquet in gratitude!"
Qing Xuanling's eyes lit up. "Does Elder Sister know how to cook?"
"No!" Su Meiren replied with a straight face. "But my subordinates do, so it's the same thing!"
Everyone laughed.
They parted ways after that. Everyone needed to wash up after all the action. Qing Xuanling too. She felt somewhat disgusted at being so dirty.
But someone tugged at her robe as she was heading to the baths.
"Little Fan?" Qing Xuanling looked at the brown-haired boy with curiosity. "Do you need something?"
Ye Fan had left a deep impression on Qing Xuanling. It was rare to see children his age—he was only eleven now—make such decisive choices, like sacrificing themselves for others.
At least she wasn't sure if she would have made the same choice as Ye Fan at his age.
Ye Fan's small face was slightly flushed with embarrassment. He fidgeted nervously, not daring to meet Qing Xuanling's eyes.
She smiled at the sight and knelt down, bringing herself to eye level with the boy. "You can ask me for anything. I'll do what I can to help you. It's the least you deserve after going through so much."
Ye Fan's eyes widened at those words, and a new determination seemed to ignite in his blue eyes.
"How... How can I become as strong as you, Elder Sister?!" Ye Fan suddenly raised his voice, his eyes burning with determination and desire. "Can I also do that thing call cultivation to become stronger?!"
The boy's sudden question put Qing Xuanling in a difficult spot.
"That... we'll see." Qing Xuanling sighed. "We'll see what we can do after Elder Sister Su's banquet."
Ye Fan's spirits dampened slightly. He immediately noticed that Qing Xuanling seemed to think his cultivating would be difficult, but he didn't give up. At least it hadn't been a flat-out no.
The banquet prepared by Su Meiren's subordinates, as she expected, was magnificent. Dozens of dishes were laid out on a large table that could seat over fifty people, allowing everyone to take whatever they wanted.
The small event was quite successful. Everyone could chat and joke with each other, creating a lively atmosphere at the table. The banquet ended when it was nearly eight in the evening, and everyone retired to their own rooms.
However, Qing Xuanling, along with Ye Fan, followed Su Meiren to her room.
"Whether he can cultivate or not...?" A strange expression appeared on Su Meiren's face as she looked at Qing Xuanling.
The news that children with special lineages couldn't cultivate had already spread, so she couldn't understand why Qing Xuanling hadn't told the boy the truth immediately.
Qing Xuanling immediately realized what Su Meiren was thinking. "I was hoping you could check him... You have quite a deep background, so you might know more than the auction house people."
Su Meiren sighed.
"Fine, I'll do you this favor, but only with him. I don't want to waste time. Boy, come here." Su Meiren drew Ye Fan to her side and took his wrist. "Relax and don't resist the energy that will enter your body..."
Ye Fan did as instructed and closed his eyes, relaxing.
Su Meiren inspected Ye Fan's internal body for a few seconds, finding nothing unusual. But a shocked expression appeared on her face when she examined his spiritual roots.
"What a waste...!"
Qing Xuanling frowned at Su Meiren, while Ye Fan's face darkened.
"Is something wrong with Ye Fan's body, Elder Sister Su?" Qing Xuanling asked, though she had already expected something like this.
Su Meiren nodded, her eyes gleaming with a hint of helplessness. "I didn't realize it immediately, but his body still bears some aftereffects from the experiments performed on him, though nothing serious. The problem, however, lies with his spiritual roots..."
"Besides the fact that his spiritual roots took shape prematurely, they didn't fully develop due to a lack of natal Qi. I suspect the boy's natal Qi was damaged by the experiments. The tragedy is that this boy possesses a Celestial Thunder Root, but now he won't be able to cultivate... How cruel is fate."
Qing Xuanling looked at Ye Fan with shock and pity. She never expected the boy to turn out to be a Child of Heaven!
Though all that seemed rather pointless in his current situation...
"So... I-I won't be able to cultivate?" Ye Fan's eyes filled with tears, still not fully grasping the two elder sisters' words, but understanding the essence. That he was unfit for cultivation. "W-well, it's fine! I-I already imagined as much! It's not a surprise..."
Qing Xuanling sighed and gripped Ye Fan's shoulders as she led him to his room after bidding farewell to Su Meiren.
Su Meiren let out a soft sigh as she watched the boy's defeated back. Even she felt a pang in her heart thinking that the world had lost such talent.
But Su Meiren had never been a particularly compassionate person. She quickly pushed aside those useless feelings and took something from her storage ring. The metal box Qing Xuanling had found.
Su Meiren's divine sense scanned the metal box for exactly ten seconds before it began to glow. A smile of disdain appeared on her face.
"Such a simple code."
She shook her head and watched as the light emitted by the box began to transform into letters. In the end, the light formed several dozen characters.
[The three clans will hold a tournament on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. Attack. Decimate the people of the three powers from Ziyu City. Reinforcements will arrive that day.]
The message, though simple, caused a great stir within Su Meiren.
"Hahaha, Yechan was right! Those bastards need this city!" Su Meiren's eyes filled with madness. "This city will be the turning point! The true beginning of this long-stagnant path of vengeance!"
"We can finally avenge you, younger sister!"