It took three days for Baili Zhuixingâs mouth to fully heal. Sitting on a barren mountain, he thought back to his defeat with a grim look on his face. But the more he thought about it, the more terrible he felt. He had wasted two Starry Tomes, which made him feel even more terrible. Suddenly, a young lady dressed in white appeared before him. The lady was cold, and one could sense a chill just by standing beside her.
When Baili Zhuixing saw her, he asked, âNing Wushuang, has Yun Zhenzhen left?â
âShe has.â
âHow is it?â
âThereâs no problem. But sheâs looking down on you now because you didnât manage to take back the Thunderfiend Chains with your cultivation in the Earth Saint stage, not to mention that you even got trashed,â Ning Wushuang said coldly.
âDo you really have to mock me? I tried my best, and I can only say that Li Tianming has some ability,â Baili Zhuixing said with gloomy eyes.
âYun Zhenzhen said Li Tianming could cultivate in the Infernal Soul Barrier. Moreover, he just stepped into the Heavenly Will stage a few months ago, and heâs already reached the ninth level of Heavenly Will. Can you believe that?â Ning Wushuang asked.
âNo way. Yun Zhenzhen must be lying. That person mustâve hidden his strength; he probably didnât use his best to defeat the three Qin brothers,â said Baili Zhuixing.
âItâs possible to practice battle arts in the Infernal Soul Purgatory, but you canât increase your cultivation, let alone make rapid progress, as Yun Zhenzhen described. But I have a feeling that heâs indeed making progress in his cultivation. The Infernal Soul Purgatory seems to be ineffective against him.â Ning Wushuang lowered her head.
âIt doesnât matter anymore. I was defeated by him, but our plan succeeded,â said Baili Zhuixing.
âLet me have a look at the scale,â said Ning Wushuang.
Baili Zhuixing took out a blue dragon scale and placed it in her hand. As Ning Wushuang fiddled with it, she continued, âHis dragon lifebound beast is unique. The shape of this scale is one of a kind. Thereâs no way you can find such a unique scale in the Ancient Qilin Clan, and we can use it as hard evidence.â
âWhat about the Thunderfiend Chains?â Baili Zhuixing asked.
âItâs with me,â said Ning Wushuang.
âYou got your Thunderfiend Chains by coincidence, and no one knows about it. With this scale and your Thunderfiend Chains, weâll be able to mess with him,â said Baili Zhuixing.
âYeah.â Ning Wushuang returned the dragon scale to Baili Zhuixing.
âHave you decided when?â Baili Zhuixing asked.
âYun Zhenzhen said that her father would be entering the middle layer of the Infernal Soul Barrier in about a month to replace her grandfather. So we can make our move when the father and son are both in the Infernal Soul Purgatory,â said Ning Wushuang.
âTwo sky saints. One of them will hold back Bai Zijin while the other kills Li Tianming. Itâs more than enough,â Baili Zhuixing sneered.
âYeah.â Ning Wushuang nodded as her eyes grew colder.
A long while later, Baili Zhuixing said, âWushuang, why do you not have any confidence in the elders? You think theyâll hand over Li Tianming in six months and let him get away with it?â
âThatâs right. I can see through them. Theyâre too overcautious, and itâs impossible for them to take revenge.â Ning Wushuang lowered her head. She was seated on a scarlet rock, playing with a pebble in her hand.
âActually, you can learn from me and try provoking him into attacking you. With your strength, itâll be easy for you to trash him. I donât think thereâs a need for you to take it so far,â said Baili Zhuixing.
âIâm a woman, so do you think itâs appropriate for me to insult his mother?â Ning Wushuang asked.
âWell, I guess that makes sense.â
âBaili Zhuixing, youâre not me. You have no idea how much I hate his father!â Ning Wushuangâs eyes become bloodshot.
âI know. There arenât many among the younger generation of the clan that can be compared to you. If it werenât for the lifetime curse, youâd probably be famous by now, and your cultivation would be at least three levels higher. The lifetime curse destroyed youâLi Muyang destroyed you. But youâre not the only one here,â said Baili Zhuixing.
âItâs not the same.â Ning Wushuang gnashed her teeth.
âIs it because of your father?â
âThatâs right!â Ning Wushuangâs eyes narrowed into slits. âBack then, my fatherâs talent could be ranked among the top five in the Divine Capital when he was in his teens. But he was the first to be branded with the lifetime curse after that incident. As time passed, the gap between him and his rivals grew bigger. Everyone that he had once defeated started to surpass, then humiliate him! He fell from being a genius and lived a depressing life, then committed suicide when I was three. I canât even remember what he looked like anymore!â Ning Wushuang took a deep breath and crushed the pebble in her hand. âI donât care about the Cyclic Mirror. But no matter what the elders think, I want his son dead!â
âBut the elders are trying to force Li Muyang to return. So wonât this ruin their plans?â Baili Zhuixing asked.
âI donât think so.â Ning Wushuang stood up and continued, âItâs already been more than a month, and Li Muyang still isnât back. There isnât any response from him either. Moreover, the elders have already reported Li Tianmingâs existence to the Ancient Theocrats, but they donât seem to care about Li Muyangâs son. If this goes on, his son will get away with it, sooner or later. Since thatâs the case, Iâll give Li Tianming another month. When Yun Zhenzhenâs father comes, and Li Muyang still hasnât shown up, Iâll make my move. Iâve already had enough of the Ancient Qilin Clan being so cowardly for the past forty years!â
......
âThe seventh level of Heavenly Will!â Tianmingâs progress had been smooth over the past ten days. His spiritsources were constantly growing, and Bai Zijin even thought that he was trying to reach the Saint stage.
âItâs not easy to enter the Saint stage. Why donât you rest for a while?â asked Bai Zijin. This was the first time she had seen such a desperate young man. But she had no idea that Tianming still had the Aeonic Grandbane to deal with.
âNo need.â After Tianming made his breakthrough, he immediately went back into cultivation, sprinting towards the eighth level of the Heavenly Will stage. On the other hand, Lan Huang had something new to doâcomprehend Oceanos Imperius. That was the key for Tianming to practice the fourth sword of the Shenxiao Sword Art.
This fellow hasnât reached the ninth-level of Heavenly Will yet? But his beast ki seems to be growing stronger. Heâs really amazing, defeating a first-level Earth Saint while heâs in the seventh level of Heavenly Will. Is a pentabane so powerful? The more Bai Zijin looked at Tianming, the more puzzled she was.
......
âNing Wushuang!â Yun Zhenzhen called out to the white-dressed lady walking in front of her.
âWhatâs the matter?â Ning Wushuang turned around.
âMy father is coming to the Infernal Soul Purgatory today, so why bring me here? Thereâs wildbeasts up ahead, and I have to return,â Yun Zhenzhen said.
âAlright, you can get going then,â said Ning Wushuang.
âAnd here I thought you had a way of dealing with Li Tianming,â Yun Zhenzhen said. Now that Tianming was hiding in the black heavenly pattern barrier, the younger generation of the Ancient Qilin Clan could only gnash their teeth with reluctance.
âActually, I do have a way.â Ning Wushuang raised her head as her cold pupils glowed.
âWhat is it?â
âCome here and Iâll tell you.â
âWhy are you being so mysterious?â Yun Zhenzhen rolled her eyes and walked toward Ning Wushuang. But all of a sudden, a blue chain shot out from Ning Wushuangâs hand and wrapped around Yun Zhenzhen, who was caught unprepared.
âWhat are you doing!â Yun Zhenzhen was dumbfounded.
âNothing much.â Ning Wushuang immediately tightened the chain, piercing into Yun Zhenzhenâs body. The part that was wrapped around her neck nearly snapped it.
âThe Thunderfienââ Yun Zhenzhenâs eyes were widened as she took her last breath. Even in her death, she was looking at Ning Wushuang with disbelief. She had no idea what was happening.
Ning Wushuang recalled the Thunderfiend Chain, then cleaned the bloodstains from her body. On the other side, Baili Zhuixing caught up and dealt with the Thunderhorn Qilin, who was trying to escape.
âHave you left traces of fire and thunder on the Thunderhorn Qilin?â Ning Wushuang asked.
âItâs already done,â Baili Zhuixing said in a hoarse voice. Looking at the corpse of his fellow clansman, he grew a little nervous and said, âWe have no way out now.â
âDonât think too much about it. Leave the dragon scale in her hand,â said Ning Wushuang.
âOkay.â Baili Zhuixing immediately did as he was instructed.
âAlso, take her clothes off and make it look like she was defiled before being killed,â said Ning Wushuang.
âWhat?â Baili Zhuixing asked with a headache.
âA father will naturally lose his mind if he thinks his daughter was defiled and killed,â said Ning Wushuang.
âFine. Youâre really ruthless.â Baili Zhuixing tore Yun Zhenzhenâs clothes apart, leaving some faint handprints on her body.
âDo you know what I meant by âdefileâ?â Ning Wushuang glared at Baili Zhuixing.
âB-but sheâs already dead!â Baili Zhuixing said in a depressed tone.
âIâm not asking you to do it personally. Just make it seem like it,â said Ning Wushuang.
âAlright....â In the end, they didnât leave until Ning Wushuang was satisfied.
âWhatâs next?â
âWe wait for her corpse to be discovered.â
......
Tianming had already been in the Infernal Soul Purgatory for two months. Not only was his cultivation not being delayed, but he even made faster progress than he had in the Grand-Orient Realm, which came as an unexpected surprise to him. On the seventy-fifth day, he made another breakthrough.
âEighth-level of Heavenly Will!â Tianming was pleased with his progress. He could clearly sense the transformation in both him and his three lifebound beasts.
âHow did your beast ki grow stronger?â Bai Zijin asked in shock.
âI already told you that Iâm not in the ninth level of Heavenly Will.â
âBut youâre there now, right?â
âNope, one step away from it.â
âWhat the....â Bai Zijin held onto her forehead.
âBig Sister Bai, how can you speak vulgarities?â
âDid I? I donât remember saying it.â Bai Zijin looked at Tianming as though she was looking at a monster. âIf itâs possible, Iâd really like to dissect you and see what kind of monster is hidden inside your body.â
âPesh. What a lecherous middle-aged woman.â
âMe? Middle-aged?â Bai Zijin wanted to knock Tianming on the head. What made her depressed was that Tianming hadnât only made a breakthrough in his cultivation, but he had also started practicing the Shenxiao Sword Art. Moreover, he was already at the fourth move!
âIf I remember correctly, the first ancestor only managed to learn the third sword, right?â
âThatâs right.â
âThen whatâre you doing now?â
âSomething the ancestor failed to do.â
Bai Zijin held her forehead again. âYour cultivation may be low, but youâll definitely surprise many people when you go to the Decimo Dao Palace.â
âYeah, thereâs still four months left in my seclusion. By that time, I should be able to extend my lifespan,â said Tianming.
âYouâre still a kid, so why do you want to extend your lifespan? Youâll have no issue becoming a sky saint or even an empyrean saint by the time you fully grow up,â said Bai Zijin.
âBig Sister Bai, Iâve already grown up.â
âWhere have you grown up?â
Tianming couldnât find the words to reply.
âBeing so irritable and impulsive, youâre clearly still a brat,â Bai Zijin smiled.
Tianming had thought she was talking about his body, but it turned out that she was talking about his mentality, instead.