Chapter 206

"Eldest Young Master Su might not be afraid, but what if High Divine Officer Liu sets his sights on us? How are we supposed to respond?" the girl asked, her brow furrowed with worry.

Her master shook his head slightly. "He won't have the time for that. This scheme involves more than just Eldest Young Master Su's intervention. And as for us—do you think we have a choice? If we had the option, no one would want to get involved in a game at this level. But think about it: who in this world can truly live freely?"

The girl fell silent.

"Alright, don't overthink it. Stay sharp. We need to keep watch on everyone traveling with the team of experts they dispatched this time."

"Then what about the Clear Wind Temple...?" the girl asked.

"That's not for us to handle. Liu Wujun's branch is too strong, and that person in the Liu family can no longer sit still. If they are allowed to grow any stronger, that person's future will be grim. So... this conflict might seem like a coincidence, but in truth, everything was decided long ago," the white-haired elder nearby chuckled.

The Su family and the main branch of the Liu family had actually joined forces to deal with the Liu siblings. Hearing this, the girl didn't know how to react. Unbeknownst to all, every faction with a grievance against Liu Wujun had quietly aligned.

"To capture Liu Wujun's mother, Liu Shenglan, they first have to break the Clear Wind Temple's surveillance and defenses around the Lin Manor. As long as the Clear Wind Temple's forces remain, no one can easily infiltrate the compound and strike. After all, they have too many people and maintain close ties with the Inspectorate Division. The higher-ups could directly mobilize experts, but their every move is watched by countless eyes. Therefore, capturing a Divine Officer like Liu Xiao, though seemingly difficult, actually presents a far greater opportunity than going after Liu Shenglan directly. That makes mid-level figures like us the linchpin of this operation," the girl's master explained.

He slowly drew the long saber from his back.

"Alright. She's nearly out of patience and is about to come out. Everyone, get ready. The Relic must be activated in time—relying solely on our own strength, we won't be able to capture a Divine Officer like Liu Xiao."

"Understood," the white-haired elder nodded.

"Ling'er understands. Rest assured, Master," the girl nodded.

…

Meanwhile, on the distant battlefield, a woman who had been disguised as an ordinary Clear Wind Temple disciple suddenly tore off her veil and lunged like a fierce tiger toward the nearest Hongfei Sect martial artist.

The woman was slender, with sharp, striking features. Her eyes blazed with killing intent. Striking out with her palm, she unleashed a killing move from the Rain Palace's high-tier martial art, the Rushing Thunder Palm.

The strike was swift and ferocious, carrying the overwhelming strength and speed of the Divine Officer realm. Void Force twisted around her hand, blasting the air into a temporary vacuum and kicking up bursts of wild wind wherever it passed.

Just as her palm was about to land on the Internal Force martial artist's chest, a dark shadow charged in from the side like lightning. Mirroring her exact posture, a right palm saturated with Internal Force clashed fiercely against Liu Xiao's.

Bang!

Countless layers of Circulation Internal Force were shattered by the Void Force. The dark shadow used the momentum to fall back, throwing out successive Internal Force palm shadows to absorb the residual shockwave.

"A Grandmaster?" Liu Xiao's expression changed. Realizing she held no advantage in speed or strength—and was even slightly outmatched—she knew at once this was no impulse; it was premeditated.

"Divine Officer Liu, I trust you have been well since we last met." The grizzled-haired man who had intervened held a saber in one hand and faced her palm with the other, watching her calmly.

"Fu Chunxing of the Carefree Pavilion? When did you come to the Hongfei Sect's aid?" Liu Xiao asked coldly.

A Minor Three Harmonies Grandmaster held a slight advantage over a Divine Officer in pure strength and speed, but a Divine Officer's limitless use of Void Force offered superior destructive power and lethality. Thus, a battle between these two realms ultimately came down to combat skills, secret arts, environmental factors, and physical condition.

"Do you still not understand, Divine Officer Liu? The moment your esteemed elder brother made that public statement at the Inner City tea gathering last week, today's battle was destined," Fu Chunxing said mildly.

"My brother had too much to drink and said some things he didn't mean—that's all," Liu Xiao said, her expression darkening.

At that gathering, Liu Wujun had been engaged in a sparring match. After his opponent conceded, the man remarked that beneath Liu Wujun's gentle exterior lay a heart as cold as solid ice—that anyone who made an enemy of him would be remembered and dealt with, one by one, with no possibility of reconciliation.

Liu Wujun had not refuted the claim.

Liu Xiao, who had been present, felt his silence was inappropriate. But surrounded by top-tier mind-spirit experts, any lie Liu Wujun told would have been easily seen through, so he had opted to remain silent.

She never expected that incident to serve as the fuse for all of this...

As Liu Xiao was momentarily distracted, the figure before her blurred, and Fu Chunxing drove a palm straight at her head.

Massive amounts of Circulation Internal Force poured out, forming a white palm shadow five or six meters in diameter that surged toward her forehead.

Liu Xiao immediately snapped back, activating her Void Force and re-engaging her opponent with absolute concentration.

It wasn't just her. Across the battlefield, the Clear Wind Temple team was steadily losing ground.

Although there were only six or seven attackers—fewer than their own numbers—every single one of them was at the Perfected Internal Force level. Moreover, they seemed to understand the Clear Wind Temple's martial arts intimately, anticipating their attack patterns with uncanny precision.

This left the Clear Wind Temple disciples hopelessly reactive from the first exchange.

Furthermore, the opponents' movement speeds were blistering, evidently the result of targeted training. More alarmingly, certain details in their footwork bore a striking resemblance to the Clear Wind Temple's Nine-Section Swift Sword.

It was obvious: the Clear Wind Temple's martial arts had been leaked.

Less than half a minute into the fight, two disciples let out muffled groans, stumbled, and took wounds that drew blood.

Seeing this, Liu Xiao grew increasingly anxious.

She had a short temper to begin with, and right now she was completely pinned down. Before setting out, she had promised her younger brother, Lin Hui, that she would look after this team. Yet the disaster had struck before they had been out long.

The more she dwelled on it, the more her anxiety surged, and her attacks grew increasingly chaotic.

Fu Chunxing was a veteran Grandmaster of the Carefree Pavilion with unparalleled combat experience—his battle record far outstripped Liu Xiao's. Noticing her frantic state, he exploited her openings, viciously slashing three consecutive arcs of Internal Force saber qi across her back.

Instantly, Liu Xiao bled.

Watching his peers fall into a disadvantage one after another, Chen Sui knew that without an outside variable, they would soon be wiped out entirely.

Grasping the gravity of the situation, he let out a loud roar. "Stop hiding it, everyone! Activate your secret arts!"

He held nothing back. His leg muscles surged and swelled, his entire aura shifted, and the flow of his Internal Force accelerated sharply.

In an instant, his movement speed skyrocketed.

With two piercing slashes, he drew blood from both legs of the Internal Force martial artist opposite him.

The rest of the Clear Wind Temple disciples activated their secret arts as well. Their Internal Force circulation surged drastically, and their footwork turned ghostlike in speed.

Suddenly, the tide turned completely.

But before they could press the advantage, an invisible force descended upon the open ground, blanketing a radius of several hundred meters.

It forcibly suppressed the Internal Force circulation speed of all the Clear Wind Temple disciples by half.

At that moment, another white-haired elder joined the battlefield, teaming up with Fu Chunxing to besiege Liu Xiao.

Their true objective was obvious: to capture her. Provoking the Clear Wind Temple had been merely a feint; pinning Liu Xiao down was the actual goal. If she hadn't come out this time, they had other methods to lure her out. All they needed was the window of opportunity provided by her vacation.

Once the invisible Relic's force field was activated, the Clear Wind Temple group had no path back to the advantage.

Unable to evade in time, disciples took hit after hit throughout the exchanges. Stripped of their speed advantage, their base combat strength proved slightly inferior to their opponents'.

After all, the weakest among the enemies was at the Perfected Internal Force realm, and they were burning through their Internal Force without restraint—fighting to overwhelm through sheer volume and area suppression.

Seeing the hopeless situation, the accompanying elders—Internal Force martial artists externally hired by the Clear Wind Temple—could no longer hold on. Without a word, they turned and fled, betraying the Clear Wind Temple disciples outright.

Chen Sui's eyes widened in fury.

"We're done for! I can't hold on anymore, Senior Sister Xia!" he roared.

"Alright, I heard you."

Suddenly, a beautiful young girl with shoulder-length black hair flashed into view, standing eerily behind Chen Sui's opponent.

The Internal Force martial artist's face contorted with horror. He hadn't realized anyone was standing behind him until she spoke.

But before he could turn around—

Squelch!

The girl gently gripped her sword. An invisible wind blew past.

The martial artist froze. His entire body, from shoulder to waist, was diagonally sliced in two, the pieces crashing to the ground.

"Didn't you say to try not to expose me?" The girl looked exasperated. Her bright black eyes showed no fluctuation after taking a life; the lethal sword strike had been no different from pruning a branch.

Thanks to a year of careful nutritional supplementation, she had grown to 1.45 meters, her figure acquiring the slender grace of a normal teenage girl.

But there was something deeply contradictory about Xia Si's demeanor. No matter what trouble or danger she encountered, she remained peaceful, smiling, and unhurried.

Just like at this very moment.

Even after slicing a man in half, she displayed none of the disturbance a normal person would feel.

"Senior Sister Xia!"

"Senior Sister Xia has made her move!"

"Hurry, Senior Sister, I'm about to collapse!"

"I love you, Senior Sister Xia! I want to have your b—"

Before the female disciple could finish her shout, she was struck by her opponent's palm and sent flying backward, coughing up blood.

"You really need to stop leaning on me so much," Xia Si said, exasperated.

Her right hand once again rested on her sword hilt.

She recalled the sword strike her Master had displayed for her back then. When the gentle breeze brushed past, all the monsters outside the window had dissipated like the wind.

What incredible speed. What dazzling brilliance. I want to wield my sword like that too—just like Master.

She closed her eyes, keen anticipation swelling in her chest.

Instinct. Tell me—what should I do?

Her grip on the sword slowly tightened.

Whoosh!

"Wind!" Xia Si suddenly spoke aloud.

In the next instant, the breeze rose again. Xia Si's figure appeared simultaneously behind every hostile martial artist on the field.

Every phantom swung its sword at the exact same time.

Squelch!

All the enemies were cut in two with a single strike.

"I will be like the wind—destroying everything, dissipating everything!" Xia Si opened her crystal-clear black eyes, looked at the cleaved bodies of her enemies, and offered a sweet smile.

"Oh!!" The Clear Wind Temple disciples—all except Chen Sui—cheered in unison.

Even though they had never seen a move like this in the Clear Wind Sword Technique, nobody cared. In truth, they couldn't have seen it. This move belonged to neither the Clear Wind Sword nor the Wild Wind Sword.

Rather, it was an instinctual sword art that Xia Si had comprehended entirely on her own.

Not far away, Fu Chunxing—still engaged with Liu Xiao—sensed the shift on the battlefield. His expression changed slightly, and his eyes met Xia Si's gaze from afar.

Alarm bells blared in his head. He turned and sprinted away with all his might, grabbing his disciple and vanishing into the ruined temple in the distance in the blink of an eye.

The other white-haired elder wasn't as fortunate. He turned to flee, but Xia Si intercepted him head-on. Catching her breath, Liu Xiao lunged at him from behind with a savage grin.

A moment later, the old man's corpse lay split in two, blood pooling on the ground as he drew his last breath.

Liu Xiao looked at Xia Si with a complex expression. She didn't know where Lin Hui had found this genius, but the girl's strength was truly impossible to gauge.

This girl... she kills people as easily as slaughtering chickens, yet she always wears that peaceful, warm smile. She's simply...

"Are you happy?" Liu Xiao asked.

"It's alright. I completed the task Master assigned me and didn't let him down. Isn't that worth being happy about?" Xia Si returned.

...She's a psycho.

Liu Xiao sighed inwardly. When it came to Lin Hui, she increasingly felt that she couldn't see through him at all anymore.