Xin Qiujian spat a mouthful of blood, then hastily formed a heavy sword technique, Thousand-Jin Overhead Smash. A massive black blade shadow condensed above his head and came cleaving down toward Yunxi.
"Good timing!"
Yunxi shouted, hurling the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff.
In midair, the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff expanded in an instant and slammed head-on into the enormous blade shadow.
A string of thunderous crashes exploded in the sky. Blade and staff collided three times in rapid succession. In the end, the blade shadow shattered, and the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff flew back into Yunxi's hand.
Xin Qiujian felt his blood surging chaotically. He had not expected this little girl's strength to be so real. There was nothing ornamental about her moves.
Yunxi gave him no chance to breathe. With a flick, she unleashed the ice technique Illusory Iceblade Rain. Within the Wind and Snow Domain, the tempest grew savage. Uncountable ice blades turned into a torrential squall and tore toward Xin Qiujian.
The cold seeping from the blades could freeze even the air. Xin Qiujian swung his saber frantically to cut them down, but the ice blades seemed endless. No matter how many he shattered, more rushed in to take their place.
Seizing the moment, Yunxi swallowed a top-grade Spirit-Replenishing Pill. To maintain the Wind and Snow Domain while pressing the attack, her consumption was no small thing.
Fortunately, she had not acted rashly against Bao Jun and Xun Yue earlier. She had conserved her strength, struck first, and seized the rhythm of the fight. That was why she now had the mid Nascent Soul Xin Qiujian suppressed.
Even so, she knew dragging this out would favor him. If he risked everything on escape, he might forcefully break through her newly comprehended Wind and Snow Region. She needed to end this quickly.
In the next instant, she summoned the Mystic Frost Needle. One became ten thousand. Under cover of the iceblade rain, the needles surged toward Xin Qiujian.
A chill prickled the back of his neck. Every hair stood on end. Sensing deadly danger, he whipped his blade back to defend.
A harsh clangor rang out again and again. His heavy saber trembled wildly in his hands, barely holding back the hail of needles.
This was the opening Yunxi had been waiting for. She poured the remaining spiritual power in her dantian into the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff, then pointed to the heavens, drawing down the thunder within the clouds. Punishment Thunder fell like a waterfall.
At the same time, the Yaoguang stars embedded in the staff resonated with her move, releasing the Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder they had absorbed. Punishment Thunder became seamless, without a flaw to exploit.
Terror flashed through Xin Qiujian's heart. He felt locked onto by tribulation lightning. The last time he had felt this was during his Nascent Soul tribulation. He could only throw his giant sword overhead to meet the descending violet bolts.
Wind blades, Mystic Frost Needle, and tribulation lightning closed in from all sides. For the span of a breath, Xin Qiujian lost focus. Yunxi's spiritual sense had been circling him the whole time. She struck decisively with Soul-Piercing Thorn, sending her soul force straight into the point between his brows, into his sea of consciousness.
He reflexively raised a hand to block. Too late. Yunxi's soul strength overmatched his. In an instant, she shredded his sea of consciousness.
"Aaah!" The agony of a ruined sea of consciousness sent Xin Qiujian crashing to the ground. He could not even control his greatsword.
With nothing left to blunt it, Punishment Thunder slammed into him. Nine bolts in total. Smoke rose black from his body, and countless ice needles pierced through him an instant later, sparing only his dantian by Yunxi's deliberate choice.
She had destroyed his sea of consciousness. If she wanted to search memories, she would need the Yuányīng intact, so the Yuányīng could not be harmed.
Right then, his Yuányīng burst from the dantian, clutching the heavy sword and a storage ring. It ignited a secret art, preparing to flee at the cost of burning itself.
"Trying to run? Did you ask for my permission?"
Yunxi snorted coldly and flicked out a wisp of purple flame. In a blink, Zi Yan wrapped the Nascent Soul entirely.
"Don't—!"
For the first time, true fear showed on the little face of the Yuányīng. It cried out.
Only then did Yunxi recall the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff and the Mystic Frost Needle. With her left hand she gripped a top-grade spirit stone to replenish what she had spent. With her right hand she pinched the Yuányīng in her fingers and said flatly,
"So, you actually seized Xin Qiujian's body."
The Yuányīng did not dare move. Its life was literally in her grasp. It drooped and said weakly,
"Wei Yunxi Zhēnjūn's methods are superb. I concede defeat. Ask what you will. Please, do not destroy my Yuányīng."
Yunxi squeezed a little harder, voice ruthless.
"Be grateful you still have some use. Otherwise I would have crushed you already."
With a thought, her spiritual sense stripped the heavy blade and storage ring from its arms. These were now her spoils.
That done, she took out a white jade vial from her storage bracelet, shoved the Yuányīng inside, sealed it with a bloodline secret art, then tossed the vial back into her bracelet.
She considered the corpse on the ground. This time she did not have Zi Yan erase it. Instead she took out a separate storage pouch and packed the body away. Only then did she set out a meditation cushion, sit, and cultivate to recover.
She had just driven off two waves of enemies. Who knew if the evil cultivators still had contingencies? She had to keep herself at her peak at all times to deal with any cowards who tried to strike from the shadows.
An hour later, her state fully restored, Yunxi tidied herself, withdrew the Wind and Snow Domain, and flashed away from the spot.
Not long after she left, the soil atop a nearby slope twitched. A quarter of an hour later, a short, weaselly-looking male cultivator poked his head out. Staring after Yunxi's fading aura, he muttered,
"That Wei Yunxi is terrifying. Those were three Yuányīng Zhēnjūn, and she wiped them all out. Tsk, tsk. No wonder. No wonder."
Muttering done, he pulled out a jade slip and began to record:
"Year 98,000 of the Weiyu Realm, Fourth Month of Summer, Day of Xinsi. Wei Yunxi Zhēnjūn of Haoran Sect was tailed by 'Bao Jun and Xun Yue'…"
Not long after Yunxi returned to her sect, the news spread across the Western Region. The ignorant Bao Jun assumed his Dao partner Xun Yue had been killed by Yunxi, so he pocketed the deposit and went into hiding, naturally with a beauty at his side. Stung by Yunxi's earlier provocation, Xun Yue was enraged. She cut ties with Bao Jun completely and set off on a path of solitary cultivation.
In truth, Yunxi had long noticed a little shrimp hiding nearby to watch the fun. Since he meant no harm and was only at the early Golden Core stage, she could not be bothered. As she left, she sent a message to Xun Kun Zhēnjūn of the Southern Region, inviting him to come to Haoran Sect. There was an important matter to discuss.
Southern Region, Kunmo Sect
Xun Kun had just finished cultivating when the communication jade slip in his storage ring vibrated twice. He opened it to find a message from Wei Yunxi inviting him to Haoran Sect.
He felt there had to be something important. He picked up the black, filigreed mask beside him, put it on, and went to see his master, Lin Lang.
Lin Lang Zūnzhě had been busy in recent days. She was currently taking a stolen moment to prune her red camellias. Seeing Xun Kun arrive, she smiled and asked,
"Good disciple, what brings you to see your teacher?"
Xun Kun cupped his hands, a touch helpless.
"Master, this disciple wishes to make a trip to Haoran Sect."
"Business?"
"Wei Yunxi has invited me as a guest."
"Oh? Are you two so close?"
"We formed a bit of a rapport during the Baohua Mountain secret realm incident. Even so, her sudden invitation surprised me. She says there is an important matter to tell me."
Only then did Lin Lang set down her spiritual shears.
"Are you sure you can reach Haoran Sect safely?"