Dong Gua gently reached out and lifted one corner of the curtain, carefully observing for a moment from the corner of her eye.
Her mind raced, considering whether there was any other way out of this situation. Dong Gua's gaze turned again to Lin Luoyu's exceedingly calm eyes.
Dong Gua understood that with someone so suffused in Haoran qi, the more selfishly she behaved, the lower her goodwill would sink. She said in a firm tone:
"I still have some strength left to block them. I'm also their primary target. I'll stay — you take Xi Gua and go."
Cui Hao timely put on a slightly dull-witted look.
Lin Luoyu rose to her feet.
"No need for that. You stay and protect my junior brother. He knows which way to go."
"I'll stay and stop them."
Hearing this, Dong Gua felt a rush of relief in her heart — if she could keep her life, she really did want to keep it. But her expression still pretended urgency as she said:
"But those are two Golden Core cultivators, and they might…"
"They're just two demonic cultivators." Lin Luoyu pushed Cui Hao aside and stepped out of the carriage, her tone calm and reasoned. "Since ancient times, evil has never overcome righteousness."
Cui Hao's expression remained astonished, and he hastily reached out to try to grab Lin Luoyu's sleeve — but the next moment, Lin Luoyu had transformed into a streak of rainbow light and flown off.
Dong Gua felt boundless relief in her heart.
Her worst-case plan had been to actually go out and fight to the death, letting Lin Luoyu take Xi Gua and leave.
At the very least, she needed Xi Gua to convey all the recent critical intelligence back.
Even if she had to die, she had to die meaningfully — and ideally, if possible, she would avenge her too.
Dong Gua looked at the somewhat panicked Cui Hao, then squeezed her way out, grabbed the reins, and drove the carriage forward rapidly.
"Don't hesitate. Trust your Senior Sister."
"You come from a great sect, so naturally you have your fair share of protective treasures. Even if you can't win, you should be able to retreat."
"We can't reinforce you, but we also shouldn't drag you down."
Cui Hao didn't answer this. His gaze was locked on that streak of Haoran rainbow light.
Even though it was a fake fight, his Senior Sister had never been much of an actress. Would she give away some tell?
Dong Gua's divine sense also extended toward Lin Luoyu's direction.
She needed to gauge the situation. If Lin Luoyu couldn't hold out for long, she would have to make other plans.
But the next moment, an immense burst of Haoran qi surged upward from nowhere. Even though Dong Gua was observing with her divine sense, she couldn't help turning back to look.
Lin Luoyu stood in the air, the Haoran Sword in her hand.
Before she even drew the sword, Haoran qi constantly poured from the hilt, the clear white aura drifting like morning clouds and mist.
Even the Haoran Sword yearned for its first drawing against an enemy.
Lin Luoyu chuckled softly.
Draw the sword!
The heavens turned piercing cold, the sword light flowed, and Haoran qi fully bloomed.
Yu Jing and Wen Zuo's forward speed instantly changed. They looked with extreme shock at Lin Luoyu, who seemed to be held aloft in the air by Haoran qi.
That clear, cold spiritual power matched this Haoran qi, and the cold gleam of the spirit sword in her hand was absolutely peerless — a biting sensation scraped outward in all directions.
Was this the presence an early Golden Core cultivator could possess?!
Yu Jing's figure came to a slight halt. He gripped the longsword in his hand tightly, but didn't dare try going up to test it.
If he went up and got one-shot by his own teammate, who would he even argue with?
He had thought the position of Cult Leader alone was earth-shaking enough. He hadn't expected the Cult Leader's junior sister to be no slouch either.
Wen Zuo's movement also halted slightly, his expression somewhat astonished. Clearly, he too feared that this righteous Haoran qi cultivator didn't know the meaning of "acting."
Dong Gua looked at that figure, her heart in a complicated turmoil. Was her luck good or bad — to randomly encounter a cultivator who was this kind of heaven-chosen prodigy?
At this thought, Dong Gua's gaze turned slightly to glance at Cui Hao.
To be the junior brother of a heaven-chosen prodigy… could he really be the useless sort?
Dong Gua looked at Cui Hao's expression — the proud look that said "look, that's my Senior Sister."
Alright… perhaps he really was that useless.
Lin Luoyu stood in the air with sword raised, her gaze calmly regarding Yu Jing and Wen Zuo, who had both stopped in their tracks — two mid-to-late Golden Core cultivators.
Not bad opponents, though the auras of these mid-to-late Golden Core cultivators seemed somewhat unstable.
But after waiting a moment.
Lin Luoyu looked at the wary-faced Wen Zuo and Yu Jing, with no intention whatsoever of coming up to spar.
This was Lin Luoyu's first fake sparring match. There had been no rehearsal, no experience — only a few spoken words and Cui Hao.
But the people arranged to fake-spar with her should be the experienced ones, shouldn't they?
So… was she missing some part of the procedure?
Cui Hao was too unreliable — he hadn't reminded her of a single thing she should have said.
Lin Luoyu thought for a moment and understood — she must have skipped the talking part.
Master had mentioned in casual chat before — if possible, before the fight, your side should finish saying all the fine-sounding words, ensuring righteousness was on your side. That way, the fight would flow more smoothly.
"The Heavenly Dao is clear! You rabble of demonic cultivators — I don't even come looking for you, and you should count yourselves lucky you're still clinging to life!"
Lin Luoyu said coldly.
"Now you eagerly deliver yourselves to my door. Today I shall purge you blights who disturb the world!"
With that, Lin Luoyu raised her sword and charged.
The biting sword qi slashed toward the nearer Yu Jing.
The sword qi rolled, Haoran qi fused within. Just the locking intent from her raising the sword to slash was enough to put Yu Jing under enormous pressure, his divine sense wildly throbbing.
This sword strike seemed to hold nothing back.
At this moment, Yu Jing had only one question in his heart — was she planning to act, or was she really planning to purge him? Had the Cult Leader actually told her that he was one of their own?
But more important right now was whether he could withstand this earth-shaking sword strike.
Yu Jing mobilized the spiritual power of his entire body, the longsword in his hand transforming into rainbow light as he parried forward.
The two swords clashed. Yu Jing didn't sense any massive force or sharp spiritual power attacking him — quite the opposite, in fact. The force was quite light.
The Haoran longsword constantly flowed with terrifying spiritual power, but most of it went to Yu Jing's left and right.
Behind and to the side of Yu Jing — that was where the sword's true power lay.
The sword qi rolled, terrifying might continuously spreading outward.
When Yu Jing reacted, he could no longer hold back the force in his hand. One sword stroke sent Lin Luoyu flying a short distance.
Lin Luoyu's spiritual power surged violently around her. She used the Haoran Sword to shed most of the force before re-establishing herself in the air, looking at Yu Jing with some confusion.
Yu Jing lifted his gaze and met Lin Luoyu's somewhat puzzled expression.
Bad!
He hadn't expected that Lin Luoyu — with her righteous face and eye-catching Haoran qi — would be so skilled at fake fighting.
The force was full and true, but it landed everywhere else.
Yu Jing's thoughts raced. If this strike caused a misunderstanding, taking a full-force sword strike later would truly be fatal.
He immediately shouted, "Where did this blind cultivator come from! Cult Leader Li is on his way here — if you don't want to die, don't get in our way!"
Lin Luoyu naturally understood the hint. And seeing Wen Zuo's expression — which was completely at odds with his shout, even somewhat fawning — she understood that what had just happened was probably a misunderstanding.
At this, Lin Luoyu was also somewhat speechless.
No wonder Third Senior Sister said that most people outside were just amateur troupes.
How was their fake-fighting standard even worse than hers, on her very first time?
[
Dear Readers,
I post 3–4 high-quality chapters daily across multiple fictions, with free chapters unlocking every week.
Patreon Tiers:
$6 — 10 chapters in advance
$8 — 20 chapters in advance + bonus chapters
$10 — 30 chapters in advance + character images + bonus chapters
Note: Avoid the Apple App. It adds a 30% fee and delays payments by 2–3 months. Subscribe through your browser instead.
Your support keeps the daily releases going. If you cannot subscribe, reading and sharing is also appreciated.
Thank you.
Patreon: patreon.com/Alex_Cruise
]