She couldn’t die here. She refused to accept it.
But that hand tightened further, and her struggles grew weaker. Only a buzzing sound remained in her ears.
Just then, a sharp green light cut through the air.
That green light was as fast as lightning, striking precisely at the hand gripping Ruan Se.
Yin Wuji abruptly released his grip and retreated. His reaction was swift, but the shockwave still injured his arm.
Blood seeped from under his cloak, dripping onto the ground.
Ruan Se fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Her vision was still blurry, but she heard a voice—a voice she knew all too well.
“Who allowed you to touch my sister?”
Yin Wuji’s entire body tensed.
He slowly turned around.
At the entrance to the alchemy room stood a woman.
She was tall, with a pair of eyes burning with restrained fury, her features radiating a breathtaking cold beauty.
Ruan Qin.
A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on Yin Wuji’s back.
Why was she here? She should have been staying in the quarters arranged by the Dan Sect Branch, half a Yunze Market away from this place.
Ruan Qin’s gaze passed over him and landed on Ruan Se behind him.
Ruan Se raised her head and cast a difficult glance in her direction. Her usually cool amber eyes were now brimming with tears.
Ruan Qin’s eyes reddened slightly.
She stepped over the threshold and walked into the alchemy room, one step at a time.
With each step, her spiritual pressure rose by a notch. The aura of pressure from Late Core Formation crushed everything around, forcing Yin Wuji to take an involuntary step back.
He was at Early Golden Core; facing a Late Core Formation cultivator, whether he could even survive was a question.
“Who are you?”
Faced with Ruan Qin’s question, Yin Wuji did not answer.
He subtly shifted his center of gravity toward the door, ready to flee at any moment.
Seeing this, Ruan Qin condensed a mass of green flame in her palm, illuminating half the alchemy room like a ghostly realm.
“Touch my sister,” she said, each word deliberate, “and you seek death.”
Before her words faded, her figure had already vanished from the spot.
Yin Wuji’s pupils contracted sharply as he dodged to the side, but he was no faster than Ruan Qin. The green flame had already sealed his escape route, forcing him to block head-on.
He hastily channeled spiritual power to block. The two forces collided with a boom, and the entire alchemy room let out a strained groan.
Yin Wuji was knocked back several steps, his right arm numb.
One strike was all it took to determine the victor.
Ruan Qin did not pursue.
She flickered back to Ruan Se’s side and pulled her sister into an embrace.
“Where are you hurt?”
Ruan Se leaned on her shoulder, shaking her head with the last of her strength.
Ruan Qin looked down at the marks on her sister’s neck, her gaze turning utterly dark.
She gently set Ruan Se against the wall and then straightened herself.
The aura of pressure from Late Core Formation was fully released. Yin Wuji felt his knees go weak; his spiritual sense was suppressed and unable to extend outward under this pressure.
Grinding his teeth against the pressure, he had no combat intent left, only wanting to escape immediately.
Yin Wuji no longer hesitated.
He turned and dashed toward the door.
As soon as he rushed out, a fiercer green flame descended from above.
Ruan Qin had already predicted his escape route. Yin Wuji hastily halted, dodging the green flame sideways, but the residual fire scorched half of his cloak’s hood.
He tumbled onto the courtyard in a mess. The white crane had already awakened, flapping its wings and shrieking.
Yin Wuji flipped back to his feet, a vicious glint flashing in his eyes. If he couldn’t run, he’d have to fight.
He took out a talisman from his sleeve and crushed it.
But Ruan Qin did not give him a chance; she continued closing in, aiming to finish him with one blow.
Suddenly, a red light shot from a blind spot behind her side.
By the time Ruan Qin noticed, it was too late to dodge.
She barely turned, but was still hit on her left arm.
Her sleeve was instantly pierced, blood seeping through the fabric, staining a large dark patch.
She let out a muffled groan, covering her arm, and lifted her head to look toward the courtyard wall.
On the wall, a person had appeared without her noticing.
That person was also wrapped in a cloak, taller and more robust than Yin Wuji, standing in the moonlight like a black tower.
In his hand was a strange-looking magic artifact, its tip still emitting faint red smoke.
The opponent was also at Late Core Formation. Ruan Qin’s heart sank.
Yin Wuji’s expression turned to delight upon seeing the newcomer.
“Haha, you came quickly.”
“Didn’t expect an unexpected bonus.”
The newcomer’s gaze fell on Ruan Qin, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.
“Ruan Qin, the genius of the Main Sect of Alchemy Sect, the strongest female alchemist of the younger generation in Cangwu Realm. If a prodigy like this were to fall here, the Dan Sect would be pained for quite a while.”
Yin Wuji also gathered himself.
He straightened and said, “Fellow Daoist, you are wounded now. Two against one, what chance do you think you have?”
Ruan Qin quickly analyzed the situation. Although she was among the best at Late Core Formation, she was injured now, and her spiritual power circulation had become sluggish.
The odds were not high, but she did not retreat. Behind her was her sister.
“A Dan Sect disciple never calculates their odds of victory.”
Ruan Qin’s voice was cold, betraying no fear.
“Rather, the two of you, attacking a Dan Sect disciple in Yunze Market—aren’t you afraid the Enforcement Hall will investigate to the end?”
Yin Wuji sneered.
“Enforcement Hall? By the time they arrive, there will only be two corpses here. As for investigation, dead witnesses tell no tales. What can they find?”
“I see.”
Ruan Qin nodded slightly, her expression unchanging, but her body was subtly adjusting its stance, shifting her center of gravity downward.
“May I ask your name? Surely you’re not too cowardly to leave your name?”
Ruan Qin didn’t actually expect the opponent to give his name; she just wanted to drag the conversation out, to buy time.
“Attack.”
The cloaked figure on the wall cut her off.
Yin Wuji and the other acted almost simultaneously, two streams of spiritual light shooting forth, sealing off all possible escape routes for Ruan Qin. Gritting her silver teeth, Ruan Qin condensed green spiritual power into a fire shield in front of her.
Boom—!
The three forces collided with a thunderous impact. Ruan Qin barely managed to withstand the blow, but the shockwave traveled through the fire shield and pushed her back. The wound on her left arm tore open further under the violent spiritual power vibration.
The cloaked figure on the wall gave her no chance to catch her breath.
Another red ray shot from the strange magic artifact, hurtling straight for her throat.
Ruan Qin twisted her body, barely dodging the red ray, but she couldn’t react in time to Yin Wuji’s killing strike that followed immediately.
Just as she prepared to take the palm strike head-on, a figure dashed out from beside her, placing itself between her and Yin Wuji.
That figure raised its right hand and hurled a handful of something fiercely at Yin Wuji’s face.
Yin Wuji instinctively struck with his palm, shattering the objects on impact, which then exploded into an impenetrable mass of pink mist.
A full seven or eight Green Wood Harmonizing Qi Pills burst simultaneously in midair, the pink medicinal mist spreading like a tide, instantly flooding the entire courtyard.
The mist was so thick that one could barely see an outstretched hand. Neither Yin Wuji nor the cloaked figure was prepared, and both were swallowed by the pink fog.
Each ingredient in the Green Wood Harmonizing Qi Pill could, on its own, stir a cultivator’s most primal instincts, let alone the final product painstakingly refined by Ruan Se using a sixth-grade pill recipe.
That dry heat surged from deep within their dantians, spreading along their meridians to every limb and bone.
Yin Wuji felt his spiritual power spiral out of control in an instant. The originally smooth flow of spiritual energy was disrupted, rampaging through his meridians.
He hastily activated his cultivation technique to suppress the heat, but the more he tried to suppress it, the deeper the heat burrowed into his marrow. His breathing turned heavy, and veins bulged on his forehead.
The cloaked figure on the wall was no better off. The strange magic artifact’s aim was obviously off; a red ray shot crookedly, hitting the courtyard wall and blasting a charred hole.
“What… the hell is this stuff!”
Yin Wuji gritted his teeth.
Taking advantage of the moment while the two were trapped in the medicinal mist, Ruan Se used her remaining strength to drag Ruan Qin deeper into the courtyard.
She flipped her right hand, and another three Green Wood Harmonizing Qi Pills appeared in her palm.
Without hesitation, she threw them in various directions.
The pills exploded upon landing, layering pink mist upon mist, wrapping the entire courtyard into an impenetrable pink cocoon.
“Open your mouth.”
She produced two Heart-Clearing Pills from somewhere, stuffing one into Ruan Qin’s mouth and swallowing the other herself.
The Heart-Clearing Pill dissolved as soon as it entered the throat. A cool sensation rose from the dantian, barely suppressing the spreading heat.
Ruan Qin took a deep breath, quickly steadying her mind and spirit. A flicker of complex emotion passed through her eyes.
After creating some distance, Ruan Se swept up the remaining Green Wood Harmonizing Qi Pills in her hand and hurled them into the pink mist.
The pills exploded simultaneously in midair, doubling the concentration of the medicinal mist.
Two stifled groans came from within the pink mist. Yin Wuji felt his body was nearly out of control.
“You bastard…”
Yin Wuji said viciously.
“A proper orthodox disciple, using such despicable methods…”
“Despicable?”
Ruan Se’s lips curled slightly, then she said coldly.
“Since you’re so knowledgeable about what’s despicable, why don’t you explain first: two Golden Core men sneaking around in the dead of night to ambush a Foundation Establishment female cultivator—is that despicable or not?”
No one answered from within the pink mist, only heavy panting.
Yin Wuji and the cloaked figure exchanged a glance, and bizarrely, each found the other’s appearance somewhat appealing.
Both suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing that tonight’s operation had failed.
What was supposed to be a sure kill had turned into a stalemate. If they delayed any longer, neither would be able to escape.
Yin Wuji shot a reluctant glance at the two blurry figures on the other side of the mist, formed a hand seal, and rushed toward the outside of the courtyard wall at his fastest speed.
Ruan Qin did not pursue.
She watched the two figures vanish into the night, confirmed that her spiritual sense could no longer detect their auras, and then let out a long breath.
The pain in her left arm became especially sharp at that moment.
She frowned, turned, and walked back to her sister.
Ruan Se was leaning against the base of the wall, looking up at her.
“What pill was that…?”
Ruan Qin’s voice was dry.
Ruan Se turned her face away.
“A pill that can save a life is a good pill.”
“You use unorthodox ingredients to refine pills, and you think you’re in the right?”
Ruan Qin’s voice rose.
“How many times have I told you? Wood Spiritual Root alchemy follows the righteous path—choose each ingredient carefully, cultivate proper conduct with each herb. But look at you—just looking at this mist makes my eyes feel dirty!”
Ruan Se lowered her eyelashes without retorting.
She knew her sister too well; nothing she said would help at a time like this.
Sure enough, once Ruan Qin started scolding, she couldn’t stop.
“Do you think I don’t know pharmacology? Hehuan Grass paired with Longyang Vine, plus Xuan Musk Incense and Jade Vase Spring Flower—do you think the Dan Sect’s rules are written for fun? If Master finds out, you’ll be expelled from the Dan Sect for sure! I told you from the beginning, living alone in Yunze Market would lead to trouble sooner or later…”
A dense barrage of trivial reproaches rained down, all harsh admonishments without a single word of sympathy.
The grievances of the past surged up at this moment, suffocating her.
“Then why did you come?”
Ruan Se cut off her sister’s words.
She looked at her sister’s frozen expression, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.
“Your mouth is full of sect rules, cultivation, and righteousness. Every word blames me for overstepping boundaries. Since I was wrong to use heretical pills to save my life, since I trouble you so much, why did you risk your life to save me just now? It would have been better to let me die at their hands, cleanly—at least that way I wouldn’t stain your righteous path, wouldn’t make you angry on my account.”
Moonlight fell on her profile, making the small scrapes especially clear. There was still a trace of tears at the corners of her eyes, and she met her sister’s gaze without flinching.
Ruan Qin’s heart seized.
She was rendered speechless by the words.
Under a surge of anger, she instinctively raised her hand to punish.
Ruan Se did not dodge.
She simply tilted her head slightly, closed her eyes, and waited calmly for the slap to fall.
She had long been accustomed to her sister’s harshness, but the expected slap never came.
Ruan Qin’s hand froze in midair, her fingertips trembling slightly, before finally dropping limply.
Seeing her sister covered in wounds, the anger in her eyes faded completely, leaving only an indescribable fear.
Ruan Se slowly opened her eyes and looked at her sister’s face, speaking softly.
“Sister… aren’t you tired of this? You risked your life to save me, only to scold me yourself?”
Ruan Qin did not speak.
She stood beside her sister.
Just then, the courtyard gate was banged loudly, and hurried footsteps came from outside.
“Enforcement Hall patrol! Open the door inside! Someone reported spiritual combat sounds here!”