Soon, only Lin Jiu and two Wang family members remained on the white jade platform. One of them was the young woman who had exchanged barbs with Lin Jiu earlier. “Go on!” she sneered. “I want to see how a toad falls into the water.”
Lin Jiu looked young and inexperienced, with shallow cultivation. Still in the golden core stage, she hadn’t even passed her heart tribulation yet, so it was expected that she wouldn’t make it across the void.
“Yanzhi, forget about her. Let’s go together,” the other remaining Wang family member said to her, looking a bit awkward. He reached out and tugged at the young woman’s sleeve, trying to persuade her in a low voice.
“Hmph,” the woman named Yanzhi glared coldly at Lin Jiu. “Let that useless trash stay here; I doubt she’ll dare follow us.”
With that, the two stepped into the invisible ‘bridge’ over the void.
Lin Jiu also walked to the edge of the jade platform and tested the air with her spiritual aura. As expected, it was completely empty. This ‘bridge’ had no substance—if you believed it existed, it did. If you doubted, it didn’t. It was all very metaphysical!
Although the principle was clear, fear wasn’t something you could simply turn off. The more you feared, the more real it felt. Like sitting alone late at night, knowing there’s nothing behind you, but unable to stop imagining something lurking there.
“Hey, you useless thing! Are you really too scared to come?” Wang Yanzhi, having walked some distance, taunted again upon seeing Lin Jiu still standing at the edge.
Correct, Lin Jiu was indeed scared. Before forming her Golden Core, she might stand no chance, but now that she could project her spiritual aura outward, she had a plan. She crouched down at the platform’s edge, carefully releasing dark golden spiritual aura, shaping it into simple lines to crawl into the void ahead. The feeling was strange, like playing with a rubber snake, but much more flexible and responsive to her will.
Seeing this, Wang Yanzhi sneered again and immediately mocked her further. “Are you blind or just brainless? Didn’t you see? Using aura doesn’t work! You have to step out, solidly, one step at a time!”
Lin Jiu ignored the background noise, but the black crow perched on her shoulder grew impatient. “Caw.”
Lin Jiu glanced at the crow and saw its expression of disdain, with a slight tilt of its head that had an oddly charismatic, even cool, vibe. Paired with its cold “caw,” it suddenly reminded Lin Jiu of the aloof male leads in Korean dramas—the cold, arrogant types who, when telling someone to get lost, would furrow their brows slightly and lazily mutter a single word: ”Scram.”
“…Pfft! Hahaha!” Lin Jiu burst into laughter. ‘No way! The image is simply too hilarious!’
The black crow bristled, clearly offended by her laughter.
Lin Jiu finally made a move, sending a long strand of spiritual aura toward the two Wang family members.
“You’re courting death!” Wang Yanzhi shouted angrily, her almond-shaped eyes blazing with fury.
“Calm down, Yanzhi!” her companion urged. “She’s just trying to disturb our focus.”
Wang Yanzhi’s contempt grew deeper. “Useless trash, you’re digging your own grave. You’d better not to follow us!”
‘Why is this woman so fixated on me?’ Lin Jiu couldn’t help but feel a bit confused. However, now wasn’t the time to dwell on such trivial matters. Since this woman was so hostile, she’d make the perfect test subject for her next move!
Staying composed, Lin Jiu carefully controlled the strand of aura she had released, guiding it to follow alongside the two Nascent Soul cultivators as they advanced a significant distance.
“As expected… as long as the aura isn’t placed directly underfoot, it doesn’t count as breaking the rules,” she thought happily. “Next, I’ll need to practice making my control more precise.”
Being in a good mood, Lin Jiu casually patted the black crow’s head.
The crow’s feathers puffed up in an instant as if it had been struck by lightning.
“Nice, soft feathers,” Lin Jiu noted, tapping its beak lightly.
The black crow: “…” ‘Very well. Very, very well!’
Lin Jiu stopped teasing the crow and focused on the task on her hands, practicing the technique again and again until she could control the aura to form simple shapes within three to five meters.
The black crow’s dark, glossy eyes showed a hint of confusion. He had lived countless years, yet for the first time, he truly had no idea what someone was scheming right in front of his eyes.
Meanwhile, Wang Yanzhi and her companion soon crossed the void and reached the ancient bronze gate on the other side.
At that moment, a figure in white returned—Qin Yunxi.
Lin Jiu continued to calmly manipulate her spiritual aura, but beneath her facade, she was highly vigilant, ready to defend against any sudden attack.
“Qin Yunxi, you only have one chance to strike. If you fail, you’ll be sent out, and finding another opportunity to kill me will be difficult. Think carefully.” She calmly warned him.
“I know. I don’t need your reminder,” Qin Yunxi’s eyes were cold.
Lin Jiu stopped her movements and slowly turned to face him. “So, you’re here to watch me, huh? You’re afraid I’ll escape and find Wei Liang to reveal your secret.”
“That’s right.” Qin Yunxi did not bother to beat around the bush with her. “I won’t attack you here because if I fail to kill you in one blow, it will only create more problems. But once you’re out of the secret realm, I’ll hunt you down and stop at nothing to end your life. If you want to extend your time, you’d better survive as many trials as you can. Though I doubt you’ll make it past the first one.”
Lin Jiu shot him a glare. “Well, thanks for the encouragement! You know, people being chased by rabid dogs often unleashed a tremendous burst of strength and end up running faster than everyone else.”
Qin Yunxi smiled faintly without saying another word and simply gestured for her to continue.
Lin Jiu sneered. “Anyway, I’m not here to snatch the treasure you guys covet, so I’m not in a hurry.” After that, she resumed practicing her control over the projected aura.
“You are Lin Qiu.” Qin Yunxi, standing tall with his hands clasped behind his back, spoke with certainty as he noticed her stalling again. “Just like me, you’ve gone back through time, and you’ve mastered the devil arts you learned in your previous life.”
Lin Jiu’s eyes narrowed slightly. According to the plot, the vicious side character Lin Qiu was indeed killed under the accusation of ‘practicing the devil art.’ However, she had revealed the killing move of the karma lotus in order to protect Wei Liang from the fatal attack of Ji Yuan’s blood puppet.
Perhaps because the Lotus Shatter was far too dazzling to belong to a mere side character, the novel never described Lin Qiu’s so-called ‘devil art’ in detail. It only mentioned that she had fallen into the path of devil cultivation and was imprisoned in the Nine Sun Pagoda by Wei Liang, who ultimately slain her.
This was precisely why Lin Jiu was so frightened of Wei Liang, who never showed mercy when it came to evil practitioners. There was no hope he’d show any leniency.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Lin Jiu said calmly, “I’m not. I didn’t. Stop making things up.”
A faint hint of ridicule appeared in Qin Yunxi’s cold eyes. “I once wondered why you turned over a new leaf and became a good person in this life. Now I understand. You’ve also returned. So, tell me, what are you plotting? Are you in league with Ji Yuan, yes or no?”
At the mention of Ji Yuan’s name, Lin Jiu immediately deflated. Truth be told, she’d love to be in league with that devilishly handsome villain. Unfortunately, the female lead halo meant that all supporting male characters and important villains would eventually fall into Lu Qingyin’s charm, giving others no chance at all!
“I wish I could,” Lin Jiu muttered softly, lowering her head dejectedly to continue fiddling with the spiritual aura in her hand.
The black crow yanked at a lock of her hair, pulling it hard.
“Ow—!” Lin Jiu turned her head to see the crow’s eyes glazed with a layer of ice, with flames raging beneath. She couldn’t help but shudder as an unsettling feeling crept over her as if she were being closely observed by a terrifying presence.
She shook her head, forcing herself to stop overthinking. The biggest threat was the man beside her, not some unknown, imaginary entity. If Qin Yunxi had the chance to kill her in a single strike, he would definitely take it.
“I’m crossing it now,” Lin Jiu said, taking a deep breath. “If you’re really a man, don’t try to break my focus while I’m making my way through.”
Qin Yunxi’s lips curled into a faint, mocking smile as he replied, “Rest assured, I wouldn’t stoop to such petty acts. If I strike, it won’t be by taking advantage of your weakness.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Lin Jiu gave him a long, meaningful look, then turned her head away. With a wave of her spiritual aura toward the void, she resolutely stepped into nothingness!
The black crow’s eyes narrowed, and a faint killing intent surrounded him.
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