Zhi Xuan, who had been pushed away, rose slowly. A faint, hoarse laugh played upon his lips, a sound that dampened Zhu Qinglan's anger. He ignored the lethal hiss from the woman and simply looked at the Side Pavilion door with an amused gaze. He knew that Zhu Yanghai was an unreliable guardian.

  "Holy Son Zhu always knows how to disrupt the silence," Zhi Xuan murmured as he stepped forward, returning to sit cross-legged on the silk cushion.

  Zhu Qinglan, whose back was stiff and radiating a piercing chill, did not answer. She struggled hard to control her wild aura. The lingering feeling of shame and awkwardness in the room was the only thing preventing her from immediately hunting down Zhu Yanghai and freezing him.

  Weakness—that quiet acknowledgment—made her feel exposed and angry. She turned slowly, her eyes cold once more, though a slight flush remained on her cheeks. She sat back down on her own silk cushion, restoring her perfect and calm posture.

  "Qing'er," Zhi Xuan called hoarsely, but this time cloaked in a veiled, mischievous smirk. He only wanted to see Zhu Qinglan's reaction, so that he would no longer have to worry about anything and could move forward with ease. "Qing'er, you look much cuter when you are angry."

  Zhi Xuan moved his fingers and manifested the Four Directional Blood Shield around his body, only after saying such a provocative thing to Zhu Qinglan. He knew what was coming, yet he intended to wait for it; it was the only way for Zhu Qinglan to be free from her worries and not weigh him down as he stepped forward.

  The air in the Pavilion, which had been peaceful and filled with the scent of sandalwood and spiritual essence, suddenly tightened as if pulled by an invisible force. The Pure Ice aura coiling around Zhu Qinglan, which had just been calmed, now exploded into a wild storm. A bone-chilling cold shot from her body, freezing a thin layer of frost on the Heavenly wooden floor around her.

  The weight of her Soul Transformation realm was fully released, pressing down on Zhi Xuan with a cold and sharp Will, like an ice blade aiming for the soul. Zhu Qinglan's face, which had been decorated with only a faint blush, was now entirely covered in an icy white hue, like an angry jade statue.

  Her light gray eyes radiated a lethal blue flame. That intimate and reckless address had torn through the self-control she had held so firmly. That name, in the face of such shameless mischief, felt like an insult beyond limits.

  "Zhi Xuan!" Zhu Qinglan hissed, her voice containing the rumble of cracking ice. It was no longer the voice of a Holy Princess, but the angry cry of the manifested Pure Ice Law.

  With a movement faster than a flash of lightning, Zhu Qinglan swung her hand. Not with a fancy technique, but with a release of pure Spiritual Essence backed by burning rage. Countless Pure Ice blades, sharp as shards of eternal crystal, shot toward Zhi Xuan, targeting the Four Directional Blood Shield he had just formed.

  KRANG! KRANG! KRANG!

  The Blood Shield forged from the essence of Zhi Xuan's Heavenly-Blood Body vibrated violently. Although the ice blades did not carry a Law of destruction like Shi Xing's lightning, they contained the purifying and penetrating power of Zhu Qinglan's Pure Ice Dao. Every collision emitted a crippling ripple, aiming not just to destroy the shield, but to shake Zhi Xuan's Sea of Consciousness. Behind his blood-red shield, Zhi Xuan laughed softly. The laugh was hoarse and cheerful, without a hint of fear.

  "Qing'er, do you really dislike that name? It sounds just right to my ears," Zhi Xuan teased, his voice slightly muffled by his shield. He did not use additional essence to strengthen his defense. He let his shield withstand the attack, testing the tolerance limits of his own Dao. He understood that this anger was a release of burden—the release of the fear he had caused.

  "Silence!" Zhu Qinglan roared, standing tall as her robes fluttered in the ice storm she had created. She raised both her hands. The Pure Water Law she had absorbed resonated, creating a vortex of Ice and Water moving rapidly around her, condensing the Spiritual Essence in the Pavilion to its limit.

  A Pure Ice Dragon forged from thousands of ice blades, three zhang in size, swirled and lunged toward Zhi Xuan. The dragon radiated a cold that could freeze the soul of even a Soul Transformation realm cultivator. The dragon roared loudly and threatened Zhi Xuan, but Zhi Xuan had another, easier way to deal with it.

  ROARR! WHUMP! WHUSH!

  Just as the Pure Ice Dragon roared toward him, Zhi Xuan turned into a strand of reddish lightning that shot behind Zhu Qinglan; he smiled thinly and moved to catch her again. However, it did not go smoothly as the same earthen palm belonging to Zhu Qinglan, which had slapped him twice before, now slapped him for the third time.

  WHUMP! DUAKH! WHUSH!

  That slap, created from Zhu Qinglan's Law, shot from her blind side, as she unexpectedly still possessed the backup reflexes to protect her back. The slap contained no killing intent, but rather pure anger supported by a firm Dao foundation, trapping and slapping Zhi Xuan's back with humiliating accuracy.

  Zhi Xuan did not have time to react fully. His strand of reddish lightning instantly condensed back into a human figure, and he staggered forward, falling face-first onto the silk cushion, his body trembling slightly. He felt the tingling and familiar sensation of the momentarily paralyzing Palm—a sensation he could only receive from Zhu Qinglan's hand.

  The Pure Ice Dragon, having lost its target, instantly vanished into a ripple of calm Pure Ice as if it had never existed. Zhu Qinglan turned her body quickly, her hand still raised in the air, her defensive posture perfect, but her light gray pupils dilated slightly.

  She had not expected her invisible Earth Palm attack to actually hit Zhi Xuan. She stared at the prone Zhi Xuan, whose silver hair bound by the Snow Phoenix Jade looked slightly askew. Zhi Xuan's face, which should have been in pain, was instead decorated with a suppressed, mischievous smile.

  "Three times," Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice hoarse and slightly strained from the impact, yet full of amusement. He moved his numb shoulder, feeling the weight of the Earth Palm pressing on his meridians. "Twice at the Thousand Heaven Sect and now here, Qinglan. The most familiar and embarrassing paralyzing power. No one has ever been able to slap me besides you."

  He rose back to a cross-legged sitting position, ignoring the tension still surrounding Zhu Qinglan. He brushed aside the Four Directional Blood Shield, which had functioned well to test the strength of Zhu Qinglan's Dao.

  "Why didn't you fight it?" Zhu Qinglan asked, her tone cold, but the question was filled with confusion. She knew that with lightning speed and Zhi Xuan's Perfect Five Element foundation, avoiding her Pure Ice Dragon was child's play. Yet, Zhi Xuan chose not to react to her final Earth Palm.

  Zhi Xuan shrugged, his relaxed attitude contrasting with the gravity of the previous situation. He reached out his hand, and the spiritual essence around him swirled, stabilizing the remaining ripples of Pure Ice in the Pavilion, immediately making the previous event as if it had never happened.

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  "If I fought you," Zhi Xuan replied calmly, a thin smile drawing the corner of his lips again. "Then I would truly be crippled, and even the Hongmeng Emperor would replace me. News would emerge: the Devil who even withstood the Shi Clan's attack is now lying on the floor after receiving a slap from the Holy Fairy."

  Zhu Qinglan stared at Zhi Xuan with a look of near disbelief. She knew this man always tossed out absurd words, but weaving a humiliating scenario about his defeat before the entire Xing Luo Plains was the peak of unparalleled mischief. She felt the weight of awkwardness and shame that had previously enveloped her slowly replaced by a burning frustration. She sat back down, crossing her legs with perfect posture.

  "You!" Zhu Qinglan hissed, clutching the silk cushion beneath her. "You deliberately made me angry just to test the limits of my Dao, didn't you? You cunning Devil!"

  "Cunning brought me to be bound with the Holy Fairy," Zhi Xuan replied calmly, continuing to turn Zhu Qinglan's words back on her as he clasped his hands and bowed vaguely with mischief. "Receiving Dao guidance from the Holy Fairy is a blessing; truly, this troubled Daoist thanks the Holy Fairy for her instructions."

  Zhu Qinglan closed her eyes for a moment, resisting the urge to call upon the Earth Palm once more and slap the cunning smile off Zhi Xuan's face. However, hearing that hoarse voice—the voice that now called her with an amused tone, turning her anger into a joke—made her give up.

  Zhi Xuan was indeed right. He had deliberately provoked her anger to release Zhu Qinglan's emotional burden and test her Dao strength, all for a higher purpose that could only be understood by a sharp-minded Devil. Soul Transformation cultivation was naturally far different from the Five Elements; indirectly, Zhu Qinglan provided an understanding and pressure from the Soul Transformation realm that gave Zhi Xuan wordless guidance.

  Zhi Xuan allowed silence to creep back in, this time not filled with boiling anger, but by an unspoken understanding. He knew that Zhu Qinglan had released the burden of her fear, and now he could speak of more serious matters.

  "Zhu Qinglan," Zhi Xuan called, his tone now calm and serious, all elements of mischief gone. He returned to a formal address, an acknowledgment of boundaries and respect for the woman's Dao. "Tell me, where will the Three Plains Competition be held?"

  Zhu Qinglan opened her eyes. She liked this tone—the tone that only appeared when Zhi Xuan truly intended to be straightforward. She looked at Zhi Xuan with a sharp gaze, exhaled softly, cleared her throat, and answered Zhi Xuan's question with a serious tone.

  "The Three Plains Competition will be held on the Yao Gu Plain," Zhu Qinglan replied calmly, indicating she knew the ins and outs of the competition. "That plain is also considered a Sacred Plain, where the Sacred Lands of the Ancient Clans are located. Although the Ancient Zhu Clan has only visited a few times for the Meeting of the Nine Ancient Clans, the Yao Gu Plain is quite stable, and perhaps few cultivators there even reach Weaver Transformation except for the Ancient Clans."

  Zhi Xuan was silent for a moment. Yao Gu Plain—his mind returned to the meeting with Jing Zi at the Green Wind Sea, where whispers said Jing Zi also came from the Yao Gu Plain and had been a disciple of the Sacred Pavilion of Heaven Leaves. Hearing Zhu Qinglan say that Yao Gu was a Sacred Plain, he imagined it as a beautiful place filled with life and sanctity.

  "Yao Gu," Zhi Xuan repeated calmly; he already knew that Yao Gu, Feng Mie, and Xing Luo were the participants in this competition. "What do you mean by the difficulty of cultivation there? Isn't it a Sacred Plain?"

  Zhu Qinglan nodded vaguely, her sitting posture perfectly upright, reflecting the precision and weight of an Ancient Clan.

  "The Yao Gu Plain is indeed called the Sacred Plain," Zhu Qinglan replied, her tone cold and informative, as if she were reading an ancient history scroll. "Not because it is filled with mortal sanctity, but because it has a concentration of Heaven and Earth Laws that are far more stable and pure than Xing Luo. However, that stability actually creates an insurmountable limit for cultivators."

  She moved her hand, and a drop of Pure Ice floated in the air, radiating a soft blue light.

  "The Xing Luo Plain has chaotic and wild laws, making it easy for cultivators to break through realms because of that chaos—like you, who are able to use destruction for rebirth," Zhu Qinglan explained, her eyes fixed on the drop of ice. "The Yao Gu Plain, on the other hand, deeply reveres Heaven and Earth. The Laws of that Plain force every cultivator to have a perfect foundation at every realm. Passing through each realm requires dozens of times more effort than in Xing Luo. If the foundation is even slightly flawed, the Dao will collapse."

  Zhi Xuan nodded in understanding. The Yao Gu Plain, the Sacred Plain that demanded perfection. That explained why Jing Zi, despite being in the Soul Transformation realm common in the Xing Luo Plain, possessed such a stable aura and unique weight.

  "So, if our foundation is not perfect, we will not be able to compete with the geniuses of Yao Gu," Zhi Xuan concluded. "They cultivate with a Heavenly Path that is so solid."

  "Exactly," Zhu Qinglan replied. "The geniuses from the Yao Gu Plain, the best of them, have Dao foundations as solid as Heavenly steel. They may not have a wild Dao filled with chaos like yours, but every one of their attacks is a manifestation of pure Heavenly Law. They leave no openings. In the Three Plains Competition, Xing Luo is always at the bottom."

  Zhi Xuan only smiled thinly, a smile that this time contained no mischief, but a lethal promise. His resolve, strengthened by destruction and rebirth, now burned with an indescribable intensity. He had borne the karma of the Shi Clan for this one seat, and he would not let any Sacred Plain underestimate the weight of the Dao he carried.

  "Feng Mie... Yao Gu..." Zhi Xuan murmured, glancing at the Snow Phoenix Jade bound to his silver hair. "I will be an inevitable destruction for them, Qinglan. Their foundations may be solid, but they have never passed through the cycles of life and death in every realm. They do not know what it feels like to transcend mortal Order."

  Zhu Qinglan looked at Zhi Xuan, her light gray eyes radiating a small, calm flame—a flame of approval, not anger. She knew that when Zhi Xuan spoke in such a tone, he was not boasting. He was making a promise to the Heavens and his own Dao.

  "The competition on the Yao Gu Plain will be very fierce," Zhu Qinglan continued, her tone returning to cold and informative, as if she were deliberately shifting the conversation away from Zhi Xuan's private promise. "All envoys are permitted to use their resources without limitation. You have the Heavenly Sword on your back, which is an Immortal Artifact. However, there, every envoy carries an Immortal Artifact of their own. Only you and the Eighth Prince of the Empire possess Immortal Artifacts among the Xing Luo envoys."

  Zhi Xuan fell silent; he touched the Heavenly Sword wrapped in white cloth on his back. He knew that an Immortal Artifact was a treasure that could change the tide of battle. However, he had never relied on it too much. His Dao was his true weapon. A thought to increase his strength before he actually left for the Yao Gu Plain crossed his mind; he looked at Zhu Qinglan sharply.

  "When?" Zhi Xuan pressed coldly, trying to measure the time he could get before his steps seriously began in the Yao Gu Plain. "When will the five Xing Luo envoys leave for Yao Gu?"

  Zhu Qinglan furrowed her brows slightly, impressed by Zhi Xuan's sudden sharpness and focus. The question was direct and blunt, reflecting an urgent desire to immediately cultivate further.

  "One full lunar cycle," Zhu Qinglan replied. "The Imperial Elders need time to open the Heaven Star Gate, which connects the three mortal plains. That gate is not opened every day; its energy requires preparation from the Empire's Great Formation."

  One full lunar cycle. A very short time to prepare for geniuses who forged their Dao with Heavenly perfection. Zhi Xuan's face showed no panic, but rather cold calculation. His eyes narrowed, processing every remaining second of time.

  "One full lunar cycle," Zhi Xuan murmured. He nodded vaguely and clasped his hands. "Holy Fairy, thank you for this valuable information; I will try my best for the Xing Luo Plain."

  Zhi Xuan did not need to wait for an answer; he closed his eyes and sank into meditation, recovering himself and thinking about what could be done in this full month. Zhu Qinglan, seeing Zhi Xuan, remained silent and also closed her eyes in meditation.

  In his Sea of Consciousness, Zhi Xuan appeared near the Devilish Tree of Life. He looked at Xiao Die, who was sitting cross-legged near the roots of the Tree of Life, and he turned his gaze to Ruo Xianxue, who sat on a branch of the Tree, staring at her nails as usual, her nine tails swinging slowly.

  "Great Saint," Zhi Xuan called coldly, looking seriously at Ruo Xianxue. "How do I increase the number of my Slaughter Seals? The Heavenly-Blood Body Law needs to be tempered; the Heavenly Sword will not be enough. Tell me, where can I kill more and form the Slaughter Seals?"

  Ruo Xianxue, who had seemed indifferent until then, slowly raised her double-pupiled Sun and Moon eyes, looking at Zhi Xuan with a gaze that was both strange and interested. She smirked, a smile that carried a promise of ancient cruelty upon seeing the burning Zhi Xuan.

  "Oh? Finished playing with the Holy Fairy and now possessed by a desire to kill," Ruo Xianxue replied, laughing hoarsely like the scraping of obsidian against sharp gravel, breaking the silence of the Sea of Consciousness. "The Slaughter Seal—of course, you must kill more and absorb their blood. You cannot ask anyone for advice if you want to kill; you can only seek a place where killing is a natural occurrence."