After Luo Luo discovered Li Zhaoye's sword practice journal, the incomplete Li Zhaoye began playing dead.
The wooden puppet regained its solemn deanor, ignoring her.
Luo Luo knew he was embarrassed—even with a fragnted soul and damaged mories, he was still that prideful Li Zhaoye.
"I knew it. Soone as arrogant as you would crawl back from death."
Luo Luo felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces, yet every jagged edge was filled with blood and honey.
Li Zhaoye. Li Zhaoye.
She held back her tears, watching as the wooden puppet pretended to pace around the hall with exaggerated dignity.
When it was ti to give her spirit stones, puppet after puppet marched in, their wooden faces cold and haughty, tossing heavenly-grade spirit stones in front of her with a thud.
Luo Luo: "..."
Now she understood why the Netherworld was filled with piles of demonic organs.
She hugged the spirit stones, turned around abruptly, and faced the wall to cultivate.
Instead of advancing her cultivation, she focused on refining her fire-infant spirit to slowly distill spiritual energy into mist, channeling it into her divine consciousness.
She was determined to restore Li Zhaoye’s soul.
Qing Xu hadn’t noticed anything missing.
He helped Chen Xuanyi stabilize his Dao heart, fixing his cultivation at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
Qing Xu drawled, "There. Below the Divine Transformation realm, you’re unmatched. The championship should be yours this ti."
Chen Xuanyi scoffed. "Just a warm-up. You think I care that much?"
Qing Xu: "."
Keep pretending, you insufferable brat!
"Before, I was just unlucky," Chen Xuanyi said with a smirk. "But now, with the divine sword and true essence, I’ll uncover the secrets of the Dao Union!"
He clenched his fist, reveling in the vitality of his youthful body.
Qing Xu sneered inwardly but played along. "Yeah, yeah, sure."
Him, unlucky?
A spoiled young master who’d never faced hardship—if not for Qing Xu, he’d have died long ago in Guangling Prefecture.
If he hadn’t stolen Qin Wuyi’s cultivation, he’d be stuck at the early Divine Transformation stage for life.
With his temperant, how could he withstand the erosion and assimilation of the Heavenly Dao after reaching the Dao Union?
He was just digging his own grave.
Unable to resist, Qing Xu taunted, "Right, Li Zhaoye was more talented, and the Taiyi Sword chose him. Now that’s luck!"
Chen Xuanyi laughed. "You’re such a sourpuss!"
Knowing Qing Xu’s temper, he swiftly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, where’s Gu ng lately?"
Qing Xu’s face twisted in disdain. "What, missing her? Did you actually fall for her?"
Chen Xuanyi burst into laughter. "Hardly. I plan to use her to absorb all this Yin-tainted waste energy."
"Tsk." Qing Xu raised a brow. "You’re ruthless!"
Gu ng hadn’t gone to Mirror Twin Peak because she’d sprained her leg.
But she wasn’t the only one plagued by misfortune.
Recently, disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect had noticed sothing eerie—badmouthing Luo Luo brought bad luck.
Take Zhao Yu from Laojun Peak, for example. The mont he joined Gu ng in gossiping about Luo Luo, he lost his treasured dicine pestle.
It was later found in a latrine.
A dicine pestle! In a latrine!
From that day on, any pill refined by Zhao Yu beca more terrifying than poison. Everyone avoided them like the plague.
Cut off a man’s livelihood, and you destroy his spirit.
Other disciples, though less vocal, suffered milder misfortunes—tripping, losing belongings, finding strange objects in their food, or inexplicably waking up to soaked bedding. The list went on.
The "culprit" was elusive, appearing and vanishing without a trace.
What truly sent chills down their spines was that even when alone, speaking ill of Luo Luo would still be "heard," and retribution followed instantly.
This was downright supernatural.
Senior Disciple Yang shuddered. "The—the heavens see all!"
He didn’t dare say ghost.
:)
Luo Luo remained oblivious to the outside world.
Dizzy from refining spiritual mist, she summoned a wooden puppet and forced it to drink her soul-infused blood.
The puppet refused and bolted.
Luo Luo stared at her left wrist, then belatedly recalled the second line in Li Zhaoye’s journal: Drink her blood. (Crossed out, with a note: Will get beaten.)
"..."
She was torn between exasperation and amusent.
After so thought, she decided to feign sleep and ambush the puppet at night.
Midnight.
After pretending to sleep for hours, Luo Luo was about to open her eyes when she sensed movent.
A wooden puppet crept closer.
Heart pounding, she kept her breathing steady.
Sothing cold pressed against her cheek.
With a faint click, the puppet opened its mouth—and bit her face!
Luo Luo: "..."
Stunned, a mory flashed through her mind.
She recalled the first ti she’d shared a bed with Li Zhaoye.
She’d slept fitfully, feeling like she was being gnawed by a dog.
Yet her dreams had been sweet.
In them, she and he had shared sugar-dusted rose cakes.
...Wait.
Li Zhaoye’s teasing voice echoed in her mind.
"Treat to sugar, won’t you?"
"You said it yourself!"
"After I eat the sugar, it’s your turn!"
Luo Luo was floored.
She’d thought it was a dream—but he’d really been nibbling on her!
Before she could react, the puppet released her cheek and tilted its head, clamping onto her lips instead.
Luo Luo: "!!!"
Another mory surfaced.
He’d taken advantage of her deep sleep, tricking her into "treating him to rose cakes."
Turned out, the "rose cake" was her mouth.
Her chest pounded like a sudden downpour—thumpthumpthump! Thumpthumpthump!
He didn’t go further, just gnawed her lower lip like he had her cheek.
Was it really that delicious? Luo Luo mused bitterly. If so, why did he stop?
By the ti he died, he hadn’t even held her hand properly.
Her heart ached.
Resolved, she circulated her spiritual energy, rging it with her soul blood. Biting her tongue, she suddenly kissed back!
Her blood-coated tongue pushed past the puppet’s wooden lips, delving inside.
Empty.
The puppet had no teeth, no tongue—just upper and lower jaws, gaping like a toothless fish.
Luo Luo scraped against the wooden cavity.
Staring at its expressionless face, breathing in its woody scent, she felt no shyness.
She pressed deeper, forcing more soul blood into it.
The once-agile puppet froze, bending stiffly as she fed it.
That night, she succeeded in transferring a great deal of soul blood.
At dawn, Luo Luo checked the mirror—only to find dark circles under her eyes, her whole spirit drained, like a luckless man sucked dry by a demon.
"...Li Zhaoye, you damn monster!"
For days, she trained diligently by day and kissed fervently by night.
Soon, the Ascension Assembly arrived.
Luo Luo carefully concealed her cultivation level, suppressing her fiery spiritual energy to make it utterly undetectable. When Qing Xu called her to co out, she was on high alert, fearing he might be leading her to her demise.
Stepping onto the flying vessel, Luo Luo still couldn’t quite believe it.
She glanced around and saw the head disciple of the main peak, Xu Junzhu, seated at the front, giving her a slight nod to signal her to sit.
Dazed, Luo Luo took her seat, feeling as if she were floating in a dream.
Had Qing Xu really just let her out like this?
Chen Xuanyi and Gu ng sat across from her. Gu ng bit her lip, shot Luo Luo a glance, and began feeding Chen Xuanyi grapes.
But Luo Luo had already found Li Zhaoye—she couldn’t care less about these two.
She looked around blankly at the others.
Whoever she looked at would smile at her, their expressions brimming with sincerity and warmth. (No one dared offend soone versed in the mystical arts.)
Luo Luo: "???"
This was nothing like what she’d imagined!
Since when was she this popular?
The journey passed in silence.
When the flying vessel arrived at the Jianmu, Luo Luo registered her na at the sign-up station. After a mont’s thought, she added Li Zhaoye’s na as well.
Zhao Yu rubbed his hands awkwardly and looked at Chen Xuanyi. "Uh… Little Junior Sister signed up for the senior brother too?"
"Not him," Luo Luo corrected. "I signed up for my late husband."
Everyone: "…"
A chill ran down their spines.
"Late husband"—why did that sound so much like "haunting ghost"?
Gu ng imdiately flared up. "How could you—"
Before she could finish, the others cut her off.
"Hey, just have your man use a different na!"
"It’s no big deal, pick an alias. Last ti at the Qingyun Tournant, our senior brother even carried Little Junior Sister here in a chicken cage—why cling to an ex-fiancé’s na after changing your heart?"
"Yeah, yeah! Just change it!"
Chen Xuanyi & Gu ng: "…???"
Luo Luo was slow to react, belatedly realizing she was just as bewildered.
She’d fully expected a shouting match—or even a fight.
The registration clerk from the Heavenly Dao Sect was happy to enjoy the spectacle. "Registered, registered! So, Li Zhaoye, he…"
Luo Luo: "He forfeits!"
The Heavenly Dao disciple replied briskly, "Done!"
Now, Chen Xuanyi had no choice but to use his real na.
The Qingyun Tournant—Luo Luo was here to kill.
In the early stages, she kept a low profile, her ranking hovering in the middle.
Chen Xuanyi stole the spotlight, while Gu ng repeatedly provoked her, but Luo Luo paid them no mind.
Every ti she kissed the shattered fragnts of Li Zhaoye’s soul, the heart-wrenching emotions buried deep within her fernted into a dark tide.
Hidden within it, her murderous intent pulsed fiercely.
In every match, Luo Luo revealed just enough strength to barely edge out her opponent.
She was too powerful!
With a flawless foundation, a supre Nascent Soul cultivation, and an endless supply of spirit stones, if she didn’t hold back, her brilliance would blind everyone—but she feared Chen Xuanyi wouldn’t dare fight her otherwise.
After a "hard-fought" climb, she finally broke into the semifinals and stepped onto the championship stage.
The golden bell rang.
Their eyes t—like fate itself.
"Chen Xuanyi," Luo Luo smiled. "Li Zhaoye and I are here to take your life."
Chen Xuanyi scoffed. "Bragging won’t help you win."
Luo Luo wasn’t one for words either.
She struck.
[Eight hundred words of intense battle—see author’s notes.]
In an instant, the clash of swords ceased.
Autumn Water Sword pierced Chen Xuanyi’s dantian.
Facing the threat of crippling, he had no choice but to forcibly break through to the Divine Transformation stage!
His true self manifested—Chen Xuanyi revealed his real appearance to the world.
Luo Luo looked toward the audience.
The disciples of the Tai Xuan Sect showed no surprise, only dawning realization.
"So it was Senior Brother haunting the sect all along…"
"Damn, his hands are ruthless! No wonder it was him!"
Luo Luo didn’t have ti to dwell on it. In one swift motion, she summoned Changtian Sword from her sword vault and drove it through Chen Xuanyi’s chest, cleanly severing his heart ridian!
Golden wisps of Taiyi True Essence rose from his body before dissipating into the air.
Sensing sothing, Luo Luo turned her head.
Sure enough, she saw Qing Xu narrow his eyes, taking a deep breath as a faint golden light flickered at his brow before vanishing.
The execution had been too swift—only now did the crowd erupt into gasps and shouts.
Luo Luo stored Li Zhaoye’s corpse in her Qiankun pouch.
The Qingyun Tournant’s arbiter, True Lord Pangyue, stamred, "The Qingyun finals… Luo Luo… wins… right?"
Beside him, the frosty Master Lingxue took the voice-amplifying artifact and declared, "Luo Luo wins!"
Luo Luo’s heart trembled. She lifted her gaze to et Master Lingxue’s eyes.
The senior, who had always been at odds with her, gave a slight nod—her gaze conveying: I’ll stand by you.
Suddenly, tears welled up.
In a secluded spot, Luo Luo opened her Qiankun pouch, first pulling out Li Zhaoye’s corpse, then a wooden puppet.
She slashed her wrist and recklessly splashed her soul blood onto both of them.
"Li Zhaoye!" Her voice trembled slightly. "Wake up!"
She had stuffed Chen Xuanyi’s freshly dead body into the pouch—it was still warm.
"A piping-hot corpse for you—possess it now!"
She urged him, pressing a hand against his chest. "Heart, start beating!"
Thud.
A pale hand gripped her wrist.
The corpse let out a hoarse, exasperated sigh. "The heart ridian’s severed… Stop pressing! Can’t you see the blood gushing?"
Luo Luo: "Oh! Right!"
She scrambled for hemostatic pills, fumbling in panic—then froze.
Whirling around, she saw the corpse’s handso face twisted in annoyance as two pale hands reached into its own chest, reconnecting the ridians.
Luo Luo: "…"
Luo Luo: "Li Zhaoye, you’re back!"
From this mont on, history realigned, surging forward.
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