The nail polish on Jiang Zhi’s fair and tender jade feet had finally dried, and Jiang Huai breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
He noticed how the polish on her delicate, white feet seemed to shimmer slightly. Her white and tender toes curled subtly, exuding an inexplicable allure. A sense of accomplishment, difficult to articulate, bloomed in Jiang Huai’s heart, but he understood that this was no place to linger.
“Then I’ll be going…”
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Zhi interrupted him, “I have one more question for you.”
“Hm?” Jiang Huai asked, confused.
“Tomorrow, you’ll be fighting that young prodigy named Mu Jiaoyang. You’re confident of victory, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“True Person Qingmu has left his entire inheritance to this Eastern Region Grand Competition. If you win, it will all be yours. But if True Person Qingmu survives, the Qingmu Immortal Palace and his Spirit Treasures may not necessarily be left to you. Even so, would you still be willing to let me save him?”
Jiang Zhi had expected to see even the slightest hesitation or wavering on Jiang Huai’s face. However, Jiang Huai responded almost instantly, “Whether I have those things or not makes no difference. I don’t care.”
Jiang Zhi was momentarily lost in thought. In that instant, she felt as if she saw a shadow of her Master in Jiang Huai’s eyes. Both of them seemed to disdain and disregard many things.
“I understand,” Jiang Zhi nodded gently. She then waved her hand and said softly, “You may go. If there’s an opportunity tomorrow, I will find a way to save True Person Qingmu and Xia Wanyu.”
“Thank you, older sister,” Jiang Huai said as he stood up and left.
***
The next day.
In the early morning, when Jiang Huai awoke, his left and right hands were bound by Wanwan and Qingyu, respectively. His arms were pressed against their soft, smooth chests. He moved his body slightly, and the girls beside him slowly opened their eyes and murmured softly.
Outside, the rain poured down, a gentle patter that was especially conducive to sleep. Yet, today was the day for the final match of the Eastern Region Grand Competition, and he had to wake up early. Jiang Huai slowly sat up, got out of bed, and began to put on his clothes. Wanwan, who had woken up first, finished dressing herself and then began to help Qingyu with her underwear. Qingyu’s white and tender skin still bore a few pink marks where the ropes had been tied.
Last night, Qingyu had tried to bully Little Huai with her white and tender little feet, attempting to curb his arrogance. Her slender ankle was then tied up by Jiang Huai with ropes. Her wrists were also tied together, held high, and her eyes were covered, causing her body to tremble slightly from the playful torment.
“Jiang Huai Gege was quite the bully last night,” Luo Qingyu pouted slightly.
“Wanwan was too,” Jiang Huai said innocently, blinking at her. Seeing Qingyu’s puffed-out cheeks, he leaned in and planted a kiss on her cheek. Her slight pout quickly melted away, and she was all smiles again.
Wen Wanwan finished dressing Luo Qingyu in a gorgeous black dress. Wen Wanwan herself was still in her grey Daoist Robe, simple and elegant, yet unable to conceal her cold and aloof demeanor, like a lotus emerging from water.
The heavy rain outside the courtyard drummed on the bricks and tiles with a ding-dong sound. Jiang Huai walked between Luo Qingyu and Wen Wanwan. Spiritual Qi shielded him from the raindrops, so he didn’t need an umbrella. They arrived at the Main Hall of the Qingmu Immortal Palace. Everyone had already gathered. Fang Qingmu announced the rules for the final competition. In reality, they were no different from before. The only distinction was that the victor would receive his final inheritance: the Qingmu Immortal Palace.
Many of his Spirit Treasures had already been claimed by the younger generation during various trials. The remaining Spirit Treasures would be awarded according to the rankings. But first, the match between Jiang Huai and Mu Jiaoyang had to take place.
Mu Jiaoyang was dressed in black today, his expression grim.
As Jiang Huai stepped onto the stage, the scattered strands of rain parted around his body. He used three Experience Scrolls, elevating his cultivation level to the Fifth Level Transc. Shielding himself from the rain was naturally effortless.
Mu Jiaoyang’s aura, at this moment, was even more terrifying than before. His cultivation level seemed to have reached the peak of the Spirit Transformation tenth layer, only half a step away from the Sixth Realm, Void Refinement.
The power of the Nascent Soul within the Nascent Divinity Stage doubled, and the Soul was gradually nourished, allowing for the use of various Soul techniques. Upon reaching the Void Refinement Stage, one could break through the Nascent Soul to teleport or briefly manifest external avatars.
“Normally, you have no cultivation, yet every time you fight me, your cultivation level skyrockets,” Mu Jiaoyang slowly drew his sword from its sheath, and a glint of cold light instantly froze the raindrops in the vicinity.
Jiang Huai then noticed that the sword in Mu Jiaoyang’s hand was not the one he had used before. That was also a Heavenly grade Spirit Sword, but the aura emanating from its blade was far inferior to the one he held now.
This sword was already at the peak of Heavenly grade, just one step shy of becoming Supreme grade.
As he sheathed his sword and gripped the hilt, his cultivation aura changed again, as if he were infinitely approaching Void Refinement, only a hair’s breadth away from fully entering it. The falling raindrops turned into ice shards scattered on the ground, and frost and cold air condensed around him.
“You look flashy, but your sword-wielding hand is trembling uncontrollably?” Jiang Huai drew out his Night Condensation sword, ignoring the icy aura pervading the entire arena and Mu Jiaoyang’s released Soul Domain. He simply took a calm step forward, “Still three moves. If I can’t defeat you within three moves, consider me defeated.”
Mu Jiaoyang’s expression shifted dramatically once more. In that instant, Jiang Huai unleashed that Soul Secret technique again, disappearing from his spot. The first strike was Silver Ray, the second was the Thirteen Forms of the Heavenly Profound Sword, and the third strike was a sword technique that Fang Qingmu had casually taught him recently while Jiang Huai was learning formations with him: Clear Radiance.
This move contained Fang Qingmu’s lifelong learning and his entire understanding of the Sword Dao. The moment he saw the sword strike, Fang Qingmu below the stage was somewhat taken aback. He recalled that Jiang Huai had learned about fifty percent of it last time, but he hadn’t expected that after only a few days, he had now fully comprehended his Sword Dao.
In terms of Sword Dao, Jiang Huai’s talent was even more terrifying than his prowess in formations.
In three moves, Jiang Huai had completely exhausted the Spiritual Qi of the Fifth Level Transc. This was, in fact, a rather shameless tactic, as he was certain he could defeat Mu Jiaoyang within three moves, thus eliminating any possibility of a prolonged struggle. Otherwise, his current Spiritual Qi would be insufficient to contend with Mu Jiaoyang, leaving him with no backup.
And the outcome mirrored his prediction. The harder Mu Jiaoyang had tried and the more persistent he had been these days, the more severe the backlash from the Soul Secret technique taught to him by Mu Yao had become. Mu Jiaoyang had no chance to resist the subsequent two sword strikes from Jiang Huai, allowing them to land on him. The first strike shattered his Spirit Qi shield, and the second directly sent him flying off the stage, leaving a bloody gash on his chest. Only then did he finally snap back to reality and realize that he had indeed lost.
Thus, the Eastern Region Grand Competition concluded, and the news of Jiang Huai winning the championship of the Eastern Region Grand Competition would soon spread throughout the Eastern Region once more, just as it had four years prior.
Mu Lanyan had been waiting below the stage and smoothly caught her son, Mu Jiaoyang, as he fell. Her beautiful eyes widened, filled with venom and resentment. She glared at Jiang Huai on the stage, “Masters of the Sword engage in sparring and competitions. What Soul Secret techniques did you use against my son in these past two encounters?! His aura has become increasingly unstable, and his Soul shows signs of fragmentation… How can you be so malicious at such a young age?!”
Jiang Huai simply blinked innocently. “Last time he even wanted to sign a life-and-death agreement with me, yet you’re here accusing me of using malicious techniques? If my strength had been inferior to his, my head would likely have been twisted off by now. Losing is losing, and still you try to argue. Senior Mu, you have no shame.”
Mu Lanyan’s face turned green with anger, and she was about to retort when she suddenly noticed that Chu Xianning and Luo Yueguan were standing beside Jiang Huai. True Person Qingmu also walked over slowly, shielding Jiang Huai behind him, and spoke softly.
“Mu Jiaoyang’s methods were equally brutal when he engaged in sword discussions with others previously. Now that it has happened to him, you seek to blame and accuse. Mu Lanyan, there is no such principle.”
Fang Qingmu, who had always presented himself as a gentle and amiable good-natured person, now spoke with a slightly cold tone. As he spoke, his aura instantly suppressed everyone present.
Half a step into the Ninth Realm, if he wished, he could kill half the cultivators present within an hour, without any need for principles.
Jiang Huai suppressed his smug expression and looked at Mu Lanyan with an innocent gaze, his eyes as naive as could be. The more he acted like this, the more furious Mu Lanyan became.
But with True Person Qingmu having already spoken, Mu Lanyan could only cast a cold glance at him and say nothing more, helping the now unconscious Mu Jiaoyang away.
Fang Qingmu was about to say something when he looked up. Thunderclouds were roiling in the sky, and his time was running out. He took out a piece of Spirit Jade and handed it to Jiang Huai, “This is the key to the Qingmu Immortal Palace. I have removed my imprint. I now give it to you. Once you reach the Eighth Realm, you can engrave your own imprint upon it. Until then, you can have someone keep it for you.”
“I have few final matters to attend to. After I perish, I would trouble you to take them to the treasure vault and use this key to open its door. All the young prodigies who participated in this Grand Competition can choose one Spirit Artifact as a gift. I had intended to take you all to choose this afternoon… but it seems there isn’t enough time.”
“At that time, if there are any conflicts over the treasures they choose, the right to decide will also fall to you.”
Jiang Huai glanced at Jiang Zhi in the distance. Jiang Zhi was watching him with a playful gaze. She quickly spoke to Jiang Huai, signaling that he didn’t need to say anything at this moment, just nod. So, Jiang Huai took the key, and Fang Qingmu seemed to have been relieved of a great burden.
He looked into the distance at Xia Wanyu, who was sitting in a pavilion, quietly listening to the rain.
He walked towards Xia Wanyu, and with each step he took, the falling raindrops around him turned into flying snow. When he reached her side, he extended his hand to her, gazing into her eyes.
Just as he had done many years ago when he first mustered the courage to reach out to Xia Wanyu.
Xia Wanyu took his hand and stood up. The two of them appeared in the sky in an instant. Rolling thunder flashed within the clouds, and they looked into each other’s eyes.
Because they held each other’s hands tightly, there was no longer any trace of fear in their eyes.
