Hua Jian shook her head, indicating she hadn’t used any Spirit Technique to cheat.
She had simply stood her ground without dodging, wanting to see just how strong she really was.
And the results of that test left her quite satisfied.
Even in her beast-transformed state, Youye was no match for her in terms of pure strength.
Why did Hua Jian come out here?
Not just to test herself against Youye, of course—she genuinely intended to let Youye walk out of this Secret Realm alive. It’s just that… some minor adjustments would be needed first.
Youye needed to sincerely believe that Wanhua had handled this matter properly, humanely, and that she should actively spread the word about how righteous Wanhua’s actions this time had been.
With a senior Disciple of the Demonic Sect like her singing their praises, it would certainly improve Wanhua’s and Hua Jian’s reputations quite a bit.
As for how Youye, who had been tricked by Hua Jian once before, could honestly sing Wanhua’s praises—well, you don’t need to worry about that. Life Finds a Way.
With all the abilities at Hua Jian’s disposal, she could give Youye a full Mind Reconditioning service, and one that operated directly on her Spiritual Soul Origin at that.
When the time came, if Hua Jian told Youye to admit she was a dog, Youye would excitedly bark twice.
As long as one’s abilities were strong enough, there was no need to fear the target’s resistance. In the end, she would always agree.
No matter how excessive Hua Jian’s actions were now, Youye wouldn’t remember any of it.
By then, she would only remember Hua Jian’s kindness and truly consider her a Good Sister.
The hissing Cat now would eventually become a docile, clingy little sweetheart~
And right now, Hua Jian was going to properly discipline this bad kitty into a good one!
“Not bad strength. Show me everything you’ve got—if you don’t, you’ll definitely regret it!”
Hua Jian let out two hearty laughs and lunged at Youye of her own accord.
Vines sprouted from within her body, acting as her arms, joining the assault against Youye.
At this point, the two of them hardly looked human anymore.
Facing Hua Jian’s aggressive onslaught, Youye hadn’t held much hope at first—until one of Hua Jian’s Vines bit down on her arm and viciously tore a chunk of flesh away.
“Impossible, how can these plants possibly hurt me…” She clutched her bloody arm and stumbled back two steps, muttering in disbelief.
Even if her Dragon Transformation Secret Art was incomplete, she was still not someone a cultivator who hadn’t even reached Spirit King Mid-Stage like Hua Jian should be able to bite through.
And yes, the key point was bite through!
When did Wanhua ever cultivate such aggressive plants?
“What are you so surprised about? Haven’t you seen these little cuties?”
Hua Jian looked at Youye with confusion, gently patting the top of the vine that had bitten Youye, as if it were a little pet she had raised herself.
“Oh my, you really don’t know? This is a gift your Master gave me. Its name is Longxueteng—a plant that specializes in eating dragons~”
Longxueteng? Youye’s gaze faltered for a moment. She had never heard of such a plant.
And what did she mean, her Master gave it to Hua Jian? She certainly didn’t recall Hua Jian ever meeting her Master.
“Lies and slander! Don’t try to fool me!”
“I’m not lying to you. She really did give it to me… it’s just that she doesn’t know about it herself.”
Hua Jian chuckled twice, tapped her toe, and used the Flying Petal as cover to dash straight to Youye’s side.
This matter couldn’t be explained in a few words, and even if it could, Youye wouldn’t remember it afterward anyway. So better to save it for later.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll give you a good Dream~”
Illusory, colorful flowers bloomed from the air around Hua Jian, sending Youye scrambling backward in fright.
She didn’t know what kind of technique this was, but her instincts screamed that this was definitely one of Hua Jian’s schemes.
Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she swung out two Flame Claw Strikes with all her might.
The Black Dragon Flame was her strongest trump card—every time she had used it before, it had forced her opponents to retreat in defeat.
She thought that no matter how bizarre Hua Jian was, she should still fear her Black Fire at least somewhat.
This was a flame seed personally planted by her Master.
Though it was only a wisp of Origin Fire so small it could almost be ignored, it was enough to grant Youye unstoppable power within the Lingwang Boundary.
The power of a Venerable approaching Sagehood was essentially artillery in the Lingwang Boundary.
But this artillery had just run into something far more terrifying.
The Black Fire was a sliver of Origin Fire bestowed by a Spirit Lord, but Hua Jian was a genuine Sage Reincarnation—the two weren’t even on the same scale.
Moreover, among the plants Hua Jian had absorbed was the Longxueteng, which specialized in countering the Dragon Race.
The Heilong’s fire was tied to dragons, so it naturally fell within Longxueteng’s domain of suppression.
The Dragon Venerable could use Longxueteng because his strength was sufficient, but Youye simply didn’t have that kind of power.
Her Black Fire was nothing more than a Fire Spark in front of Hua Jian.
The Vines swatted away the flames Youye released, and Hua Jian rushed forward swiftly, continuing her ferocious assault on Youye.
Youye was beaten back step by step.
She could tell that many of Hua Jian’s techniques weren’t perfectly practiced, but Hua Jian’s beautiful stats more than compensated for all of that.
So what if she had flaws? Could you actually exploit the openings? And if you did, would it even do any damage?
The few counterattacks she managed to land on Hua Jian felt like being scratched by a kitten.
Everything about this was simply too bizarre.
Youye could clearly feel herself landing solid hits on Hua Jian. She even saw Hua Jian’s arm bend unnaturally when she struck it.
For a normal person, that would have meant a broken arm, useless for the time being.
But Hua Jian was different—after her arm was broken, she casually swung it once and it snapped right back into place.
And in subsequent uses, there wasn’t even a trace of injury.
The same went for attacks landing elsewhere on Hua Jian.
Youye’s counterattacks had struck Hua Jian’s chest and abdomen with real, tangible feedback, but Hua Jian was completely unaffected.
Internal injuries, fractures—none of it existed!
Youye couldn’t imagine what kind of opponent she was facing. How could she not suffer even a single negative effect?
“What kind of Monster are you?!”
“Calling me a Monster is too harsh. This is merely my Special Constitution.” Hua Jian suddenly slowed her pursuit, standing still with a smile as she explained, “Think of it this way—compared to you, I’ve walked much further down the path of being human. Using methods meant for humans against me simply won’t work.”
That, Youye could understand. She had punched and clawed Hua Jian so many times—didn’t she know exactly how inhuman Hua Jian was?
Tsk. No wonder Wanhua had chosen her as their Saintess. She was annoyingly tough!
“Alright, enough with that bitter expression. The real show is about to begin.” Hua Jian brushed off her clothes, and the smile on her face grew a bit more reckless.
“I’ve never found a suitable opponent to test this Spiritual Garment’s power before. But now, I’ve finally found one worthy enough.”
“Be proud—you’ll be the first person to see its true form!”
Is there anything more despair-inducing than spending ages grinding down a boss’s first health bar, only for the boss to tell you it actually has a Second Phase?
Yes, there is, folks. Yes, there is.
It’s when you haven’t even chipped away a single bit of the boss’s health, and the boss just goes straight into Second Phase.
Hua Jian stopping her attack wasn’t mercy for Youye—it was to bring Youye the deepest despair.
“This is my Saintess Spirit Garment. While using it, some of my abilities receive a tremendous boost. Try to withstand these next moves of mine!”
Petal after Petal flew from Hua Jian’s palm, swirling around her side and condensing into swords, which then shot straight toward Youye.
Youye didn’t just sit there waiting to die.
She slammed her claw against the already shattered ground, raising a Fire Wall in a desperate attempt to block the incoming Flying Petal.
This time, she succeeded halfway.
The Spirit Technique Hua Jian released was indeed affected by the flames—about a third of it was burned away.
But the remaining two-thirds still came stabbing straight at her.
Each of those Petals was as sharp as a blade. If they struck her head-on, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Maybe Youye would just have to change her name to Youye Jam.
Even knowing there was no escape, Youye refused to give up. She kept fighting, searching for any sliver of a chance to turn the tables.
If—just if—she could take Hua Jian hostage, wouldn’t she be able to force Wanhua to send her out of the Secret Realm safely?
And even if she couldn’t, she would make Hua Jian, this deceiver, pay the price she deserved!
The scattered Petals landed where Youye had been standing moments ago, exploding into brilliant, colorful fireworks.
The surging Spirit Energy fluctuations made Youye grateful she had made the right choice.
Standing still and taking the hit would have been the worst option by far!
But the space she had to move in was rapidly shrinking.
Because of the Dragon Venerable’s destruction, the Secret Realm’s space had already crumbled beyond recognition.
Earlier, she and Hua Jian had been fighting on the last remaining large fragment.
Now, with Hua Jian going all out, there was hardly any room left for her to dodge.
Unless… she gambled everything and leapt off the fragment, into the Void Space that was incredibly dangerous for any Ling King.
But even if she did that, and Hua Jian didn’t chase after her, her chances of survival were practically zero.
The Void was such a dangerous place that even Ling Emperor cultivators couldn’t move through it freely, let alone a small Ling King like her.
But Hua Jian didn’t give Youye any time to think.
She was currently cycling through her spell list one by one, testing just how much the activated Saintess Spirit Garment amplified each of her various techniques.
Hua Jian’s spell list wasn’t long, and among it, Ling Wang Realm spells numbered only a scant few.
But even Spirit Master–grade Spirit Techniques, empowered by this Saintess Spirit Garment, could unleash power no less than that of Ling Wang Realm techniques.
As for the spells that were already Ling Wang Realm tier, their power skyrocketed even further.
Every single one sent Youye, this Heavenly Talent of the Magic Path, scrambling and scurrying for cover.
Hua Jian was like a Bomber right now, wantonly unleashing her overflowing firepower in this space on the verge of destruction, proclaiming her dominance in the most violent way possible.
Whoosh!
A colorful Arc Light traced an extremely long curved trajectory and, while Youye was dodging other techniques, struck her in the back from an impossibly cunning and vicious angle.
Her protective Spirit Tool triggered immediately, but the Arc Light’s explosion shattered the Spirit Tool’s Remaining Authority in one blow, slamming the full force into Youye and nearly driving her to her knees.
That moment of stiffness completely collapsed her resistance plan.
Before she could even recover from the pain of the sneak attack, a Flower Rain descended from above, falling on her without pause, blasting Flesh-and-Blood from her body.
If not for her enhanced defense after Dragon Transformation, she would probably be a pile of mush on the ground by now.
But she could endure for a moment, not forever. Looking up at the sky, the Flower Rain showed no signs of stopping. A flicker of despair crept into Youye’s eyes.
How was she supposed to fight this?
How was she supposed to resist?
She couldn’t help but swallow nervously, finding no strategy to turn the tide.
As long as Hua Jian kept attacking like this, Youye would definitely be defeated.
There would be no surprises. Unless—unless she really used her final trump card: Self-Destructing to attack Hua Jian.
“I can give you a chance. A chance to live.”
Just then, the Petals suddenly froze midair, as if time itself in this space had been paused.
The Petals between Hua Jian and Youye gradually transformed into steps, and Hua Jian descended along this dangerous Flower Petal Steps, speaking words that confused Youye.
She’s still trying to persuade me to surrender at this point?
This Hua Jian was truly a naive little brat!
Fine then. Let her teach Hua Jian a lesson, show her what useless kindness looked like.
“Really?” She looked up, putting on a face of excitement.
Hua Jian nodded gently, wearing the expression of a merciful Saintess, as if she had truly found her conscience and wanted to give Youye a way out.
“Of course it’s real. We’re Good Sisters, aren’t we?”
Hua Jian walked to an ambiguous distance from Youye and suddenly stopped.
This distance was roughly within range for Youye to lunge and hurt her, which showed Hua Jian was still wary of Youye in her heart.
So not everything was that stupid after all.
Youye clicked her tongue inwardly, her expression unchanged, “So what do I have to do? I’m telling you, I will never betray my Master!”
“You don’t need to do anything. Just say a few good words for Wanhua when you get out. After all, no one wanted to see this tragedy happen.”
Hua Jian acted as if she had been persuaded and took two more steps down.
“Our Secret Realm became a Battlefield for our elders’ duel. I’m deeply sorry about that. I hope you can deliver a message to the Dragon Venerable for me.”
“What message?”
Youye’s fist clenched silently. Just a little closer, and she could hit Hua Jian…
“Your disciple is quite useful. She’s mine now.”
“What?!”
Youye’s pupils contracted sharply. She didn’t have time to think—her body instinctively dodged to the side.
But none of her reactions could match Hua Jian’s long-prepared ambush.
Before Hua Jian’s words even finished, a Thorn Spike had already stabbed up from the ground behind Youye.
“Ngh!”
In an instant, Youye’s chest was pierced through by the Thorn Spike, and fine Barbed Restraint grew out from it, preventing her from pulling free.
The Thorn Spike began to grow slowly, lifting Youye up to face Hua Jian.
“Did you think I was naive? Easy to fool?” Hua Jian grinned as she looked at Youye, “Too bad—you’re the one who’s easy to fool.”
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