Not too far from where Long Xueyi was, a different scenario was unfolding.

Ming Ren and Ye Lanlan stood in situ. Standing in front of them was a figure draped in black.

"Didn't you say—"

"Shh! Quiet," Ye Lanlan whispered in a tense voice, looking at the hooded figure.

They were blind to Long Xueyi's location and had almost given up hope when Ye Lanlan said she found her. The two eagerly came to this location only to see an avatar of Long Xueyi dissipate in the mist. Before they could make sense of the situation, this hooded figure appeared. Once Ye Lanlan and the hooded figure saw each other, they froze, drawn into a contest of epic stare down which left Ming Ren confused and nervous on the sidelines.

When Ming Ren spoke, he inadvertently broke the tense atmosphere.

"We have nothing against each other," the person in the hood said, "how about we go our separate ways?"

"Who are you?" Ye Lanlan's voice was low. "Someone like you shouldn't be here."

"One could say the same about you," the hooded person said.

"I will not ask again," Ye Lanlan said as she took a step forward. "Who are you?"

"If you want to fight, I will accompany you," the hooded figure chuckled. "But don't blame me if something happens to your little prince."

Ye Lanlan paused in her tracks. A wave of anger rippled across her delicate face, but it was soon dispersed, replaced by the usual calm.

"Maybe we should leave?" Ming Ren, who had noticed things weren't right, said.

"Wise decision, little prince," the hooded figure chuckled. "It looks like you will live longer than your brother."

"My brother, you know him?" Ming Ren was stunned.

Very few people knew he once had an elder brother, whom he never had the fortune to meet. His elder brother was said to be a genius, peerless throughout the ages. However, he was too eager for success and died during cultivation.

In the hundred years after his death, most people had already forgotten that there used to be a genius called Ming Zixin. Especially among the younger generation, there shouldn't be anyone who knew about him.

However, this unknown individual in the front casually insinuated that his brother's death was abnormal which was the same as his father's guess.

Ming Ren involuntarily trembled, convinced that the person in front of him was some old monster. It was no surprise that even Ye Lanlan was wary of him.

"Stay focused. He is just trying to scare you," Ye Lanlan said.

"W-what?" Ming Ren was startled. "B-but he—"

"He is bluffing," Ye Lanlan snorted. "If he had the ability, he wouldn't have wasted so much time." She looked at the hooded figure and sneered. "Your aura looks strong but isn't dense enough. Cultivators with low cultivation cannot tell the difference, and will only feel the insurmountable pressure. When in reality, masters of our level would never leak so much aura that it's practically overflowing."

The hooded figure remained motionless.

"If I were to guess," Ye Lanlan wasn't bothered by the opposite party's silence and continued, "Perhaps you had such strength in the past, but now you don't. It may be due to some injury or a cultivation backlash, but you are no longer as strong as you used to be. You are a mere paper tiger, yet you dare to threaten me?"

The hooded figure remained quiet for a long time. "I may not be as strong as before," he said, "but do you want to bet your lives on it? "

"It's not always that I get to fight against opponents of my level," Ye Lanlan said, a rare trace of excitement in her eyes.

Next to Ye Lanlan, Ming Ren broke into a cold sweat. "Lanlan, do you have to fight him?"

"Don't worry. He may have the experience, but he lacks the strength to kill me. For me, he is the perfect sparring partner. Besides," Ye Lanlan turned her head and looked distantly into the forest, "he is after Long Xueyi."

"What?" Ming Ren was surprised and understood why Ye Lanlan was so intent on fighting.

Long Xueyi was harboring some big secret. It was why she entered the realm. Although they still didn't know what it was, the person in front of them did. His father's intentions were clear—they only had to find out what the secret was and not necessarily win it, to maintain their diplomatic relationship. Whatever that secret was, they couldn't let it fall into the hands of someone unknown who had sneaked into the realm. It would be better to let Long Xueyi have it and sell her a favor.

As he thought about it, Ming Ren couldn't help but wonder if Long Xueyi deliberately led this mysterious powerhouse into them knowing they would help.

"Go and find Long Xueyi," Ye Lanlan said as she transmitted information to Ming Ren. "I will handle him."

Ming Ren knew it was useless for him to stay there. Once he had digested the information Ye Lanlan passed to him, he turned and sprinted off.

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After Ming Ren left, Ye Lanlan looked at the hooded figure in front of her and said, "Fight!"

The hooded figure raised his head at Ye Lanlan and sighed knowing that Ye Lanlan was determined and there was no escape. He shook his sleeve and an emerald green mantis crawled out onto his palm. "You know what to look for," he said to the mantis. The mantis made a clicking sound and disappeared in a flash of green in the direction Ming Ren left.

Ye Lanlan saw the mantis leave and frowned slightly, but didn't stop it.

The hooded figure looked at Ye Lanlan, "Fight!"

Ye Lanlan and the hooded person stared at each other. Their robes seem to flutter in the air despite the lack of wind—the air around the two had begun to churn.

The next moment, Ye Lanlan's and the hooded person's figure rose in the air and disappeared behind the floating ash clouds.

#

"Why is she so fast?" Hong Bai gasped. "She is not even using any movement technique!"

The three of them had been chasing Long Xueyi for a while now, but they couldn't even touch her skirt. They had to resort to their movement techniques and swift wind talismans just to keep up with her. This left them incapable of using anything other than the most basic flying sword attacks. Unfortunately, they were woefully inadequate when dealing with someone like Long Xueyi.

"Grandpa told me that she has awakened the bloodline of Ancestral Dragon," Fu Shen gasped. "Our physique can't compare to hers."

Ya Huan and Hong Bai's faces turned ugly. Despite being guys, they couldn't even catch up in physical strength to a girl who was younger than them.

The three were debating how to overtake Long Xueyi when she suddenly stopped.

"Finally," Long Xueyi sighed in relief as she raised her head and looked at the sky. She looked at the trio who came chasing her and grinned, "Did you have fun chasing me?"

Fu Shen, Ya Huan, and Hong Bai paused in a stupor. For some reason, the three of them felt that they had just stepped into the den of a tiger.

"Something's wrong," Ya Huan gulped.

"I-I feel it too," Hong Bai whimpered.

"I-I," Fu Shen was so shocked he could only mouth a few indecipherable words.

Long Xueyi's aura had changed. If she was a tiger before, she had now become a dragon.

The three stood rooted. Little did they know, Long Xueyi had been lenient with them only due to the circumstances. Now that the trouble had been temporarily taken care of, she could deal with them freely.

Long Xueyi raised her sword and slashed horizontally.

"Watch out!" Ya Huan's reaction was the fastest as he immediately pulled the other two to the ground along with him.

The three only felt the air above slice by a thunderous force missing them by hair's breadth. It hit the trees behind them and they came crashing down on them.

Long Xueyi snorted and flipped her sword. It hung several feet into the air with its tip pointing toward the trio that was covering underneath. Long Xueyi pinched a few hand seals and the sword began to pulse with golden qi.

"The golden dragon bares its fang," Long Xueyi whispered. The golden sword turned into a brilliant beam of gold and struck the clump of fallen trees.

Boom!

A pillar of light enveloped the area of a dozen meters. When it faded, only the sword was left standing in a crater that was deeper than a person's height.

Long Xueyi stood at the edge and looked ahead.

Ya Huan, Hong Bai, and Fu Shen stood huddled on the opposite side of the crater, hanging onto each other for support. Smoke wafted from their bodies, and the three were shaking.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

The pitter-patter of sounds akin to breaking glass followed in tandem.

A bracelet that Fu Shen wore broke to pieces…

A necklace around Hong Bai's neck split open…

A jade ring on Ya Huan's finger turned to dust…

"Pfft!" The three of them sprawled onto all fours and vomited blood.

"S-strong!" Fu Shen, Ya Huan, and Hong Bai gasped for breath as they looked at each other in shock. A strike destroyed all their protective treasures and left them half-dead. If not for Hong Bai using an earth escape talisman at the last moment, they might have all died.

The three had heard of Long Xueyi's terrifying reputation before but didn't expect they couldn't even handle a single string from her head-on.

Long Xueyi gestured at her sword and it came floating back to her. She grabbed it, raised it high and the sword flashed with golden qi once again. Fu Shen, Ya Huan, and Hong Bai saw it and their faces became panic-stricken.

"W-wait!" the three of them screamed, their hearts pumping with fear.

Long Xueyi merely snorted. She was about to strike again when she frowned and looked down at her waist.

The cauldron had disappeared.

"When did it—" Long Xueyi was startled. She had used a sealing spell to restrict the cauldron. Unfortunately, she didn't dare use spiritual qi to avoid the pursuit of that hooded person. Without reinforcement from her spiritual qi, the spell weakened and eventually expired. The cauldron, smart as it was, waited for an opportune moment and escaped while she was dealing with the trio.

Long Xueyi frowned and took out her crystal but it was unresponsive.

"Damn!" Long Xueyi bit her lip, hard enough to almost draw blood. The crystal only worked over a very short distance. It was already lucky enough for her to run into the cauldron once. Would she be lucky again?

She had almost succeeded in her goal but failed at the last step. She glared at Fu Shen and his buddies. If not for these three annoying pests, she would have already been on her way back. In just a moment, her killing intent rose and hit its peak.

Long Xueyi wanted to simply butcher the three, but when her eyes fell on Fu Shen, she paused. She leaped over the pit and arrived in front of the three.

Long Xueyi shoved her sword into Fu Shen's face. "Hand it over!"

"W-what?" Fu Shen panicked, seeing the tip of the sword so close.

"The method to track the cauldron."

"I-I," Fu Shen hesitated. Once Long Xueyi mentioned it, he also noticed she had lost the cauldron. A faint hope rose within him. "I d-don't know what you are talking about."

"Do you want to die?" Long Xueyi snorted, and the thick killing intent she had been suppressing broke out.

"Y-you can't kill me," Fu Shen yelled. "M-my grandpa is Grandmaster Fu!"

Long Xueyi sneered and stabbed her sword. Just, the person she stabbed was not Fu Shen, but Hong Bai who was beside him.

"Argh!" Hong Bai howled. The pain was excruciating as Long Xueyi's sword had penetrated through the bone.

Fu Shen and Ya Huan watched this and their faces turned pale.

Long Xueyi pulled out her sword. She ignored Hong Bai and looked at Ya Huan.

"B-brother Shen, just give it to her," Ya Huan gulped, knowing he would be next if he didn't speak up.

"B-but," Fu Shen saw Hong Bai writhe in pain and his mind went blank.

"Brother Shen, just now, Brother Bai saved our lives," Ya Huan said, "will you watch him die?"

Fu Shen trembled. Perhaps Long Xueyi didn't dare kill him. But what about Ya Huan and Hong Bai? Could he live over the guilt of watching his companions die over his selfishness?

"Take it." With tears in his eyes, Fu Shen took out the wooden token and threw it. He slumped on the ground as if all his energy had been drained.

After getting the token, Long Xueyi quickly left, leaving the three to mourn over their misfortune.

"Brother Shen, you did the right thing," Ya Huan consoled Fu Shen as helped Hong Bai.

"T-thank you, Brother Shen," Hong Bai gasped a few words.

"I should be the one to thank you." Fu Shen gave a despondent smile as he wiped away his tears. "Let's heal first."

The three didn't even have the strength to move, so they decided to recover some strength first. However, while they were recovering, several tall and bulky figures emerged from the forest one after another and surrounded them.

When Ya Huan and Hong Bai saw them, the two had the same thought: they messed up.

They may have scrapped their plan, but the other party hadn't.