The system had once given Xiaoqing a mission to erase the reborn Feng Yao.
Was it wrong for her to decide to complete that mission now?
Why was Feng Yao looking at her so strangely? The stare was so unsettling that cold sweat appeared on Xiaoqing’s skin.
Just what sort of nonsense was that reborn woman imagining?
The instant Xiaoqing finished speaking, Feng Yao was utterly shocked. Her breathing fell into disorder and refused to calm.
What did this cultivator think she was? A mortal to be played with as she pleased? A toy to be used and casually discarded?
Feng Yao stood still and drew several deep breaths before replying stiffly.
“My appearance is ordinary, and I possess no special talents. I am unworthy of the immortal maiden’s affection. In the future, I will remove myself whenever I come within three hundred meters of you. F-Feng Yao will take her leave.”
She gave a cold laugh, drew herself up with the untouchable dignity of a sacred maiden, and marched away.
Xiaoqing stared after her in silence.
She merely wanted to take Feng Yao’s life. What did affection have to do with anything?
Come back and let her explain!
> Ding! Congratulations, Player. The reborn woman’s hatred for you has reached one hundred percent. The system must applaud this method of attracting hostility.
Never mind.
Xiaoqing sighed. She resolved to explain everything before taking Feng Yao’s miserable life. Xiaoqing was not a scoundrel who preyed on another person’s vulnerability. She did not feel the slightest romantic interest in the woman!
Wait. Was that the aroma of soup dumplings?
Good grief, she was so hungry that she had begun hallucinating. Time to eat.
No—wait.
Faint doubt appeared on Xiaoqing’s delicate face.
“Could the person eavesdropping here be my destined rival, Cheng Yun?”
The invisible Cheng Yun appeared from empty air. Her lip curled into a cold smile. Violet-blue flame sprang from her fingertips and burned the soup dumplings she had waited half an hour to buy into ash.
“Today was not a wasted trip. I witnessed quite a performance.”
An ancient-looking wooden sword appeared in Cheng Yun’s hand. Nothing about it seemed remarkable, but its point aimed directly at Xiaoqing.
Xiaoqing’s expression became serene. “You’ve finally revealed your true intentions after hiding them for so long. You want to murder me for my treasures, don’t you? There was no need for all this trouble. Come—fight me!”
*System, you unreliable wretch, are you still there? Help! I can’t beat her!*
> Ding! The system is not present. Player, take care!
*Not present, my foot!*
Xiaoqing abruptly changed tactics and adopted a patient, persuasive voice.
“Cheng Yun, think carefully. You and I are both pillars of the sect’s future—its brightest stars. Losing either of us would be a terrible blow.”
Saying it aloud was rather embarrassing.
Cheng Yun threw back her head and laughed. The sound was so cold that the surrounding air seemed to freeze.
“Lin Xiaoqing!”
“Yes?”
The moment Xiaoqing answered, Cheng Yun stepped forward. She raised her right hand and struck her storage pouch. A streak of light shot from it and flew into Xiaoqing’s mouth with brutal accuracy.
She had swallowed it.
“What did you feed me?”
Xiaoqing tried to reach into her throat, but the soft object had dissolved the instant it entered her mouth. Its flavor was half bitter and half sweet, two opposite sensations colliding on her tongue. She had already swallowed every trace.
It was over.
Her face twisted as she snarled, “This isn’t finished between us, Cheng Yun! Even if I can’t beat you, today we fight!”
A translucent, jewel-bright artifact emerged from her storage pouch in a blaze of gorgeous light. A jade-green tiger appeared in the air. It was only as long as an adult’s arm, and its sleepy eyes seemed barely able to open.
The little tiger looked ordinary, but the pressure of peak mid-Core Formation radiated from its body, making it difficult to look at directly.
It stared at Cheng Yun with a humanlike coldness.
Clutching her storage pouch, Xiaoqing adopted an air of absolute confidence.
“The sect bestowed this treasure on me for protection. In addition to this Core Formation jade tiger, I possess a jade sky leviathan containing a sliver of an ancient leviathan roc’s soul. It can withstand more than twenty strikes from a late Nascent Soul cultivator. A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like you cannot defeat it.
“Now hand over the antidote obediently, and I can pretend nothing happened. Otherwise, I have plenty of ways to make you wish for death without granting it.”
Should she add, *Don’t assume I wouldn’t dare kill you*? Xiaoqing was wondering whether her speech lacked force when she met Cheng Yun’s black eyes.
They reflected sorrow and disappointment.
What was that supposed to mean?
Something snapped in Xiaoqing’s mind. She retreated abruptly and placed the jade tiger between them, gaining the smallest sense of safety.
“W-what are you trying to do? Young people make mistakes. What matters is correcting them. You’re still young, Cheng Yun. Don’t do anything foolish. Fighting me until one of us dies—or both of us perish—is the stupidest thing under heaven. Stop coming closer! I’ll truly recite the command. I’ll order the jade tiger to—”
A bolt of violet lightning suddenly roared down from the sky, flying straight toward Lin Xiaoqing.
Was heaven about to strike her with five bolts of lightning? What had she done to inspire such fury?
After freezing for three seconds, Xiaoqing reacted. She hurriedly recited an incantation. A roar shook the air, and the motionless jade tiger launched itself at the fierce bolt.
Lightning met the beast in an eruption of fire—and the jade tiger swallowed the bolt whole.
Xiaoqing had barely sighed in relief when another bolt descended. Then another. The storm only grew more violent.
What was this madness?
> Ding! Player, do not hesitate. Survive the Core Formation lightning tribulation and enter Core Formation successfully. The system believes in you.
“Damn it! Xiaoqing, you haven’t fully absorbed the Spirit-Congealing Pill. I didn’t expect the tribulation lightning to arrive so quickly.”
Cheng Yun emptied several magic artifacts from her storage pouch and thrust them into Xiaoqing’s hands.
“I’ll establish a formation to keep anyone from disturbing you. Focus on your tribulation.”
Xiaoqing had imagined many ways her future might unfold. She had never imagined forming her core under circumstances like these.
She had no preparation at all for a lightning tribulation in which nine out of ten might die.
*Cheng Yun, I swear this isn’t finished between us!*
