The little Dragon Girl’s tail felt ice-cold to the touch, and if Hua Jian had to describe it in one word, she would unhesitatingly call it exquisite.
If she could touch a dragon’s tail like that every day, she’d even be willing to join Yaochi and become Saintess Linglong’s junior sister!
What girl could resist such a temptation?
That night, while cultivating, Hua Jian kept recalling the sensation of that tail. She felt certain she would never forget the experience of that evening for the rest of her life.
She was definitely hooked on the little Dragon Girl—how tragic.
……
Early the next morning, Linglong gathered the elite disciples of Yaochi and charged fiercely toward the abandoned village, while Hua Jian stayed behind at the temporary camp to keep watch.
Her abilities were of little use on the front lines, and if she unleashed her ultimate skill, who knew if the Qianshi would be affected?
Either way, her teammates would definitely all be knocked unconscious.
This was no game world; friendly fire was a real danger. Her Mist Array was a massive control technique that didn’t distinguish friend from foe.
For all these reasons, Hua Jian was much better suited for solo operations.
Boom—
Distant sounds of battle echoed. Hua Jian flew to perch on a dead tree branch and gazed into the distance, vaguely seeing the Five Great Sacred Sects surrounding a Qianshi General.
She wondered how the sects had agreed to take down the Qianshi first without worrying that one faction might secretly hide their strength and launch a shameless sneak attack after the others had exhausted themselves, stealing the treasure outright.
“Do you really trust them that much?”
“Trust what?”
A chill swept over her back. Without turning, Hua Jian immediately knew who had come up behind her.
With the Five Great Sacred Sects’ elites all out, and so few familiar Saint Sect disciples left, who else but that certain Magic Path cultivator would be here chatting at a time like this?
“Could you please not bother me during the day…” Hua Jian turned toward the voice and found not Youye herself but a small black bird with blood-red eyes perched behind her.
Well, it seemed Youye still knew how to keep things secret.
Reaching out, Hua Jian gently stroked the little bird’s head and asked, “What kind of magic is this? A clone technique? Or puppetry?”
“Just a magic puppet. My real body is nearby on the battlefield, preparing to clean up the leftovers.”
“Sounds useful… Hey, how exactly do you plan to clean up the leftovers? You’re just going to casually run out and take everyone down?”
“Hmph, I’m not that stupid. Of course, I’ll cover my tracks so these fools think the attack came from within their own ranks.” Youye snorted coldly. She wasn’t a reckless fool.
Besides her formidable strength, she possessed great intelligence. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have become a rising star of the Demonic Sect at such a young age and been entrusted with this crucial mission.
The sect had pinned all its hopes on her. Her success or failure would determine the fate of the Demonic Sect!
“Oh, then good for you.”
“Why are all of you Wanhuagu people like this, tsk…” Youye was visibly annoyed. Among the famous Demonic Sects, Wanhuagu was undoubtedly the most uncooperative.
They seemed to lack any real conviction; the entire valley was filled with useless layabouts.
They only cared about lining their pockets and deceiving more people, completely indifferent to the Right Path’s suppression of the Magic Path and the hardships of Demonic cultivators.
“Why don’t you focus on the world situation and contribute to the Magic Path’s resistance against the Right Path?”
“Tch, you giving me money? Right or Magic Path, what does it matter to me? Life’s about doing whatever makes you happy.”
Hua Jian was completely unfazed. She wasn’t Magic Path, so Youye’s words had no effect on her.
Besides, the Magic Path had no persuasive slogans. The Right Path’s façade was well-maintained, and the Magic Path lacked any truly rebellious claims.
Hua Jian thought the Magic Path was doomed sooner or later. If she had to choose, she’d rather be Right Path—or at worst, an independent cultivator on good terms with the Right Path.
“You do your big mission, I’ll continue with mine. After this, we have nothing to do with each other.” Hua Jian grabbed the black bird off her shoulder and tossed it away with some force. “Go!”
……
“Canglei Zhenxie! Slash!”
Blinding lightning wrapped around the Ling Sword, piercing heavily into Lingwang Qianshi’s body.
With the sudden eruption of thunderous light, the Lingwang Qianshi, which had battled the Saint Sect elites all day, met its end.
It was indeed strong and tough to deal with, but its opponents were far too many—and shameless to boot.
Perhaps because it looked nothing like a living creature, the Saint Sect cultivators abandoned all sense of chivalry when dealing with it.
Even the sword cultivators, who prized one-on-one fair duels above all else, felt no guilt about ganging up on it. That alone spoke volumes about how repulsive the creature appeared.
The monster guarding the treasure was successfully slain, and the tense and exciting process of dividing the loot began.
According to the pre-battle covenant among the sects, the sect that dealt the final blow would earn the right to choose the treasure first.
And the one who landed that final blow was none other than Saintess Linglong of Yaochi.
Her performance in the battle had won over everyone present. Even the Wanling Sect cultivators who had clashed with her before had to admit that Linglong was the greatest contributor in this fight.
She excelled at output, damage mitigation, and support—undoubtedly the MVP.
The rest of them were just the “couch potatoes” who carried Linglong while she recovered between combos.
“Saintess Linglong, you may choose the treasure.”
Linglong stood sword in hand, recovering in place. Exhausted both physically and mentally from the fierce battle, she had little interest in the treasure division and just wanted to return to camp for a good sleep.
Still, the formalities had to be observed.
She pointed to another capable junior sister in the Yaochi team and told her to lead the disciples of the other sects to fetch the treasure from the depths of the dry well.
Just as everyone thought the joint hunt would end harmoniously, a white figure suddenly dashed toward the dry well.
Moments later, chaos erupted on the scene.
“You Tiandao Sect scoundrels!”
“Hurry, stop that person!”
“That’s not one of ours!”
As the Tiandao Sect cultivator who had suddenly broken the covenant rushed into the dry well, the Saint Sect disciples instantly descended into chaos.
Most surged toward the well, intent on trapping the Tiandao cultivator inside.
Linglong exhaled in relief watching the sudden disorder unfold. If there hadn’t been chaos, she’d have worried.
Now that things were messy, she felt secure.
……
“Welcome back. The treasure was successfully stolen?”
“Yeah, that person’s movement skills are excellent, but the Sword Sect and Tiandao Sect are still chasing her.”
Perhaps to better conceal her identity, Youye hadn’t blatantly snatched the treasure from everyone but used a subtler approach.
That was, stealing quietly.
Taking advantage of everyone’s guard being down, she, disguised in Tiandao Sect robes, dashed into the dry well, grabbed the key, and ran immediately.
Nearly everyone assumed this was a Tiandao Sect cultivator blinded by greed who committed this shameless act.
The Tiandao Sect cultivators tried to explain but found no words to justify themselves.
They volunteered to hunt down the thief, knowing that only by capturing her could they clear their names.
The others distrusted the Tiandao Sect for good reasons.
This sect had a long history of misdeeds and was notorious for producing hypocrites who said one thing and did another—the least respected of the Five Great Sacred Sects.
They had committed too many scandals, and now the other four sects doubted any explanation the Tiandao Sect offered.
After all, the Tiandao Sect itself was no stranger to this kind of behavior in the past.
“What do we do next?” Hua Jian helped the wavering Linglong to the couch and asked about her plans.
She was willing to do anything, even just freeloading—she didn’t care.
The fierce friction between the Right Path and Magic Path had little to do with this unaffiliated cultivator.
“I need to rest for one night. With the Tiandao Sect and Sword Sect holding them back, that person shouldn’t achieve her goal so quickly.” Linglong was equally confused.
Her master had only told her to use a counterplan, but where exactly the plan was, she didn’t know.
Her master hadn’t shared the details.
There was no way she’d cooperate with that Magic Path scheme—what if the treasure was actually stolen by the Magic Path?
“As for after that, just follow the other sects’ lead.”
“So, this means it’s none of my business? I can leave…”
Hua Jian was about to say her farewells but was cut off by Linglong.
“The decisive battle with the Magic Path will be in the Secret Realm’s treasure pavilion. You have no interest at all?”
“…I do!” Hua Jian took a deep breath, realizing she was being manipulated by Linglong.
This cold-faced little Saintess was a master of playing with people’s hearts—so much for judging a book by its cover.
“If you want to go, stay here.” Linglong had already settled cross-legged and slowly entered a state of meditation.
Not long after, Hua Jian saw Linglong’s head tilt down slightly, which didn’t look like meditation at all.
Drawing closer, Hua Jian heard faint snoring.
Great, Linglong had fallen asleep sitting up.
“Looks like she’s really exhausted…” Hua Jian stared at Linglong’s sleeping face, resisting the urge to pinch her cheek while she wasn’t paying attention.
The usually cold little Dragon Girl’s face softened in sleep, revealing a unique kind of beauty.
Sigh, so beautiful, Hua Jian rested her chin on her hand and sighed softly.
She didn’t deny having some feelings for Linglong. Who wouldn’t like such a kind, beautiful, generous little rich lady?
More importantly, Linglong also had the little Dragon Girl form, which looked even more stunning!
Hua Jian truly adored Linglong’s little Dragon Girl form—the tiny dragon horns, the cool dragon tail, every bit hit right in her heart.
How could such a perfect person exist in this world? Hua Jian felt herself about to fall—becoming yet another victim of beauty’s temptation.
“No, I can’t give in. Cultivate!”
Biting her lip, Hua Jian puffed her cheeks, turned away from Linglong, and began cultivating.
If she didn’t look, it was as if Linglong didn’t exist!
……
“That thief is heading straight for the Imperial City. Her goal is clear!”
“We sent people to stop her, but she’s too strong!”
“She’s definitely not one of ours. If she were, the person leading the chase wouldn’t be me but her!”
To intercept Youye, the Tiandao Sect, Sword Sect, and three other allied Great Sacred Sects formed a joint task force, setting up roadblocks everywhere along Youye’s path.
But how could ordinary Spirit Masters stand up to Youye, a Ling King?
Even without unleashing her full power, the Spirit Masters sent to stop her were being broken through at a rapid pace.
In just one hour, Youye had shattered several defenses and driven many Saint Sect cultivators out of the Secret Realm.
This overwhelming combat power confirmed to the Tiandao Sect that the opponent was definitely not their disciple.
After all, their generation’s strongest disciple was right here. Would he not know the true weight of his own sectmates?
If such a genius existed in the Tiandao Sect, they’d have made a big deal of it already.
No way would Yaochi’s Saintess keep all the spotlight.
“If not your sect, then who? Which faction has such a powerful newcomer?”
“Who knows… tsk, could it be the Demonic Sect?” The Tiandao Sect’s leader clicked his tongue.
That woman didn’t bring a spirit beast, so she wasn’t Wanling Sect.
She didn’t use a sword, so not Sword Sect.
The Tiandao Sect was well-known by them; she definitely wasn’t Tiandao Sect.
The remaining suspects were only two: Penglai or Yaochi.
They could rule out Yaochi first. Linglong had already outshone everyone in the Qianshi battle, earning great benefits for Yaochi. Having someone equally strong steal the treasure was absurd.
Besides, if that person really belonged to Yaochi, their generation would have two Linglong-level geniuses, leaving no room for other sects.
As for Penglai… the Tiandao Sect leader thought that could be excluded too, since Penglai’s lack of talent was widely known. If a genius did appear, they wouldn’t be unknown.
Eliminating these options left only one possibility:
That faction that always showed up to stir trouble whenever the Right Path held a major event: the Magic Path sects!
This Secret Realm exploration gathered all the new generation geniuses from the Five Great Sacred Sects; it was undoubtedly a large-scale event.
It would be abnormal if the Magic Path didn’t try to cause some chaos.
“Magic Path? Not impossible!” A sword cultivator beside him nodded, agreeing with the Tiandao Sect’s assessment.
The thief’s behavior didn’t fit the Right Path, and her strange power made it highly probable she belonged to the Magic Path.
Just then, the jade token at the Tiandao Sect cultivator’s waist vibrated.
He touched the token, his pupils contracting sharply.
“Bad news! That person aims to open the Imperial City’s treasure pavilion and seize all the treasures alone! We must stop her!”