"She... is truly cold," Feng Yi whispered, admiration and fear mingling in her eyes. She realized that facing Holy Maiden Zhu would be far more difficult than facing a clearly arrogant Devil.

  Fei Sheng only smiled faintly, opening his jade fan and gracefully covering his handsome face, his suppressed chuckle nearly inaudible. Su Baolian, standing beside them, only shook his head in healthy confusion. The path walked by these geniuses from the Main Peaks was far more complicated than anything he had ever imagined in the wilderness.

  While the bustle of the Annual Disciple Celebration continued in the Great Hall, Zhi Xuan had long since left the crowd. He did not care for applause or accolades. That victory was the fulfillment of an obligation, not a search for glory. After stepping out of the Great Hall, Zhi Xuan felt that every step was heavy, not just from exhaustion, but from a cold satisfaction. He had repaid that slap with the destruction of a Dao, and he had left an unmistakably clear message.

  He stepped into the deserted sect courtyard, preparing to carve the runes for a cosmic step. However, as his divine sense began to spread, a strand of ice-white light shot out and locked his surroundings. Zhi Xuan shuddered as he saw the figure now standing before him; those light grey eyes stared as if they wanted to swallow him alive. Without being able to open his mouth, he could feel an essence-blocking seal creeping into his body, making him unable to release spiritual essence and leaving him frozen in place.

  Zhu Qinglan. She had discarded her pearl veil, revealing her perfect face, now adorned with a layer of frost so cold it radiated a deadly Five Element essence aura. Her peerless beauty felt like a cruel Law of Nature, whose mere presence was a punishment. She stood only a few feet in front of Zhi Xuan, radiating the frozen Law of Water, locking every inch of space and halting every flow of spiritual essence around him.

  Zhi Xuan, despite his exhaustion, instinctively resisted. However, the Law of Water seal from the Five Element realm felt so profound, suppressing his Consciousness Transformation core and locking his meridian pathways. Even his divine sense, recently recovered and sharp, felt shackled. He could not release techniques, could not move, and could only stare into Zhu Qinglan’s eyes, which radiated a storm far greater than his own Divine Furnace.

  "Holy Maiden Zhu," Zhi Xuan greeted with a smile that was more like a strange smirk, his eyes weary yet cold as they gazed at Zhu Qinglan. It was as if he had not just humiliated her in public. "What is the meaning of this seal? Do you wish to take me to your Silk Bed again?"

  Those words, spoken in a low, hoarse voice full of crude intimacy, hit Zhu Qinglan like a spiritual blow. Her perfect face, which should not have shown any emotion other than elegance, was now clouded with a rage so pure it felt lethal. Her Law of Water aura, which was previously only cool, suddenly plummeted to a temperature that could freeze the soul.

  "You dare," Zhu Qinglan hissed, her voice as cold as cracking ice, barely audible, yet carrying the oppressive weight of an Ancient Clan and thousands of years of recognition. "You dare, wild Devil. After all I have done to save your foundation, you repay it with public humiliation and filthy slander!"

  She raised her delicate hand. The movement was slow and graceful, yet it radiated a pressure that nearly forced Zhi Xuan to his knees. It was pure will, not intended to wound, but to punish. In her palm, sharp strands of ice water solidified, ready to cut his veins if Zhi Xuan uttered any more indecent words.

  Zhi Xuan maintained his ridiculous, wild smile. Even under the Weaver Transformation pressure from the Great Supreme Elder, he had never flinched or felt fear. Yet, in front of Zhu Qinglan, he felt like a wild ape facing a deadly tigress again, as if his karma grew thicker every day.

  "Slander?" Zhi Xuan countered, his voice hoarse due to the suppressed essence. He leaned his head slightly forward, challenging the ice water strands in Zhu Qinglan’s hand. The slap mark on his cheek was now completely gone, but an invisible spiritual slap felt like it was burning beneath his skin. "I only spoke the truth, Holy Maiden. You, with your Heavenly Silk, slapped me like a naughty brat, force-fed me, and threw me away. Is that not worthy of being repaid with a little... intimate honesty?"

  A cold flash flickered in Zhu Qinglan’s eyes. The ice water strands in her hand suddenly elongated, their sharp tips resting a hair’s breadth from Zhi Xuan’s throat. The air around them felt so cold it almost tore at the spiritual tissues. She could not accept this insult; she could not allow this Devil to tarnish her elegance.

  "Intimate honesty?" Zhu Qinglan laughed softly, a laugh that sounded like breaking crystals in the cold air. "You underestimate the karmic bond, Zhi Xuan. And you retaliate by destroying the Dao of a promising cultivator, in front of the entire sect, just to prove a claim you have yet to fulfill!"

  She moved her delicate hand, and the ice water strands now coiled around Zhi Xuan’s neck, feeling as cold as death. Zhi Xuan felt his Consciousness Transformation essence tremble wildly, trying to rebel against the oppressive Five Element seal. He knew this woman was truly angry. Not because of Xu Sheng, but because she viewed Zhi Xuan’s actions as wasteful and immature, belittling their grand mission.

  "Fulfill?" Zhi Xuan replied with cold arrogance, his sapphire eyes staring directly into those beautiful light grey eyes. "A mere fake Dao Protector, who sits on silk cushions every day and sends two guards to obstruct me at Heaven Sword Peak. The Dao of a promising cultivator? I have seen dozens of cultivators with Daos deeper and purer than your dog’s tail."

  Zhu Qinglan took a sharp spiritual breath; her long-suppressed rage finally exploded, not in a roar or physical attack, but in a deadly affirmation of Law. The ice water strands on Zhi Xuan’s neck suddenly solidified into a Law of Water Essence Seal, choking every fluctuation of his spiritual essence. Sharp pain crept through Zhi Xuan’s entire body, sending warnings from the Devil Tree of Life.

  "Then show me, Holy Maiden Zhu," Zhi Xuan hissed, his breath hitching due to the Law of Water Essence Seal, yet his wild smile remained plastered on his face. "Show me a Dao deeper than the destruction of your dog's tail Dao. Show me why I should protect you, instead of defiling you!"

  The word defiling, spoken with hoarse intimacy, was the final trigger. It was an insult aimed directly at her dignity, elegance, and the sanctity revered across the Nine Plains. Zhu Qinglan could no longer hold back. She had tried to stabilize, calm, and educate this wild Devil, but all she received was insult thrown back with insane arrogance.

  "Vile Devil Path!" Zhu Qinglan did not scream, but her cold, low voice trembled, echoing in Zhi Xuan’s spiritual corridors. "You are no better than him!"

  Her words referred to a dark shadow from the past, a madness Zhi Xuan had once seen in the Ancient Devil Sea of Consciousness. It was the ultimate insult—equating him with the truly vile creature he had fought to save his life. Cold tears of anger and frustration gathered in her light grey eyes, but she held them back. She would not allow weakness to be seen before this Devil.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "I am neither better nor worse," Zhi Xuan said, maintaining his arrogance even on the brink of piercing exhaustion, every locked meridian struggling for vitality. "I walk upon bones and blood. Since I began cultivating, I have known no white. I only know black."

  Zhu Qinglan stared at him with a frozen gaze. Those words, spoken with brutal and cold honesty, were the purest Devil Path. It was not a Path of wickedness, but a Path of absolute pragmatism that knew no mortal morality. She realized this Devil could not be saved through gentleness or even ordinary physical punishment. Zhi Xuan did not fear death; he feared failure and helplessness.

  Zhu Qinglan let out a long sigh, and the elegance of a Holy Maiden enveloped her again like a cloak of ice. The anger did not vanish, but it had been transformed into a deadly focus. She realized her mistake. She had tried to punish a Phenomenon who only cared about survival, and that had only given him satisfaction.

  She withdrew the ice water strands from Zhi Xuan’s neck. The pain from the Law of Water Essence Seal immediately receded, replaced by a sudden yet stinging relief. Zhi Xuan coughed softly, his locked Consciousness Transformation essence beginning to spin slowly, trying to regain control.

  "You are right, wild Devil," Zhu Qinglan hissed, her voice calm, as cold as a remote snow mountain. "I should not waste my time punishing a stubborn stray dog."

  She stepped forward; the distance separating them was now only a hair’s breadth. Her perfect beauty, now so close, felt like a lethal physical threat. Zhi Xuan could smell the faint scent of ice lotus from her body, a scent that seemed capable of purifying every sin. Zhi Xuan instinctively turned his face away, pulling his head back as a sign of arrogance that refused to be broken.

  "I will use you to reach my path toward Soul Transformation," Zhu Qinglan whispered softly, like the sigh of a zither that made all the hair on Zhi Xuan’s neck stand up in threat. "The Seven Lotus Yin Fruit is something you must fulfill."

  Zhi Xuan remained turned away. However, his face seemed unwilling to turn, pulled back as he felt a touch as soft as silk on his jaw from Zhu Qinglan’s slender hand, his breath hoarse and hitting the Holy Maiden’s face. His sapphire blue eyes still stared wearily due to spiritual exhaustion. He turned his mind quickly, searching for any way to escape this situation.

  "Be gentle," Zhi Xuan said, his voice hoarse as he curled a thin, slightly naughty smile. He seemed to lean into Zhu Qinglan’s hand. "After all, I have already touched your silk bed."

  The smirk on Zhi Xuan’s lips was so thin, so naughty, as if he truly enjoyed that deadly touch, enjoying the tension between pain and sanctity. He did not retreat; he instead leaned forward, challenging the Holy Maiden to surpass the limits of her elegance. Zhu Qinglan’s face, perfect and stainless, was now clouded by an aura full of shock.

  "You, Wild Devil!" Zhu Qinglan hissed, the tinge of redness on her cheeks unable to lie. She had not expected that the man before her would continue to provoke her just to be released. Even amidst the Five Element pressure, he still had time to toss out such a naughty flirtation. He even leaned into her hand, which she had intended as a threat.

  Zhu Qinglan withdrew her hand as fast as lightning, as if the touch were a spiritual ember tarnishing her sanctity. Her perfect face was now completely flushed, not from the previous cold rage, but from acute shame and shock. She had never expected this Devil to use her touch as a new stage for his filthy provocation. The Five Element aura around her rippled wildly, nearly exploding in inevitable chaos.

  "You!" Zhu Qinglan hissed, her voice now cold again, but there was a trembling note in it, showing she had lost control. "You are but a Devil Phenomenon. You should not—"

  "Should not break the Law? Or should not touch the honor of the Holy Maiden?" Zhi Xuan interrupted, with a thin naughty smile, his eyes weary yet full of meaning. He was no longer shouting or challenging. He now took on the role of a seductive Devil who knew exactly where to pierce the woman’s defenses. "You saved my life, Holy Maiden. And I repaid it with the destruction of your dog’s tail Dao. That is a Balance of Karma. Now, please release this seal. I am exhausted."

  Zhu Qinglan stared at Zhi Xuan; her beautiful face, which had just flushed with shameful anger, now returned to a layer of cold and threatening ice. Zhi Xuan’s words ending this drama with a tone of karmic balance and such a casual request solidified his unbearable Devil arrogance. He had used physical contact, a promise claim, and even an intimate touch as weapons—all designed to make her lose her elegance, and he had succeeded.

  Zhu Qinglan closed her eyes for a moment, as if forcing a Supreme Law to calm her emotional turmoil. When she opened them, all the redness on her face had vanished, replaced by a frozen and deadly elegance. She looked at Zhi Xuan, and this time, her gaze no longer contained anger, but cold calculation.

  "Your seal has been released, wild Devil," Zhu Qinglan said, her voice returning to a calm rhythm, yet every word felt like piercing ice. She waved her delicate hand, and the Law of Water locking Zhi Xuan’s essence immediately vanished, leaving behind a spiritual void. "You will return to Heaven Sword Peak now. In five days, you will face me at Immortal Jade Peak."

  She stepped back, creating enough distance to restore her elegance, but the intimacy that had just occurred could not be erased. She looked up to stare back at the man who shook her Dao heart, whom she did not want to admit that the proximity earlier had nearly made her lose control.

  "Five days," Zhu Qinglan repeated, her voice carrying an undeniable weight. Without turning again, Zhu Qinglan floated away, her graceful body enveloped by a calm and cold Law of Water aura, disappearing among the pillars of the Great Hall, leaving behind a faint scent of ice lotus and an exhausted Zhi Xuan.

  Zhi Xuan coughed softly. He fell to his knees, not out of spiritual weakness, but because he was too tired to stand. He had forced his Dao to fight a Five Element cultivator and then used mentality and arrogance to fight a Holy Maiden with Ancient Clan elegance. He had won on both sides, but the cost was enormous.

  WHUSHH!

  The cold spiritual wind generated by Zhu Qinglan’s departure swept across the silent courtyard. Zhi Xuan let himself fall, his knees hitting the cold jade. His spiritual essence felt empty, as if the Three Ages Divine Furnace had sucked every last drop to withstand the Dao clash and Five Element pressure. He coughed again; the piercing pain in his meridians was now more real than the exhaustion.

  He lifted his heavy head, his sapphire eyes staring in the direction where Zhu Qinglan had disappeared. The thin naughty smile on his lips had faded, replaced by exhaustion and cold sharpness.

  "Beautiful women... why are they always dangerous," Zhi Xuan murmured, repeating the sentence he always believed, now feeling more real and piercing. "She doesn't just slap; she seals and then makes me question my own sanity. Her honor and her rage... they are poison."

  He knew that his filthy touch and provocation were the only ways to break Zhu Qinglan’s elegance. Zhi Xuan had successfully escaped the Five Element seal without physical injury, but his spiritual wounds now had to be closed again. He needed to rest.

  With a deep breath, Zhi Xuan forced himself to carve the Cosmic Step runes on the cold jade. Requiring far greater concentration than usual, he directed his divine sense to Heaven Sword Peak, the silent stillness he believed was the only safe place.

  In an instant, a strand of shadow shot out, and Zhi Xuan reappeared in the quiet courtyard of Heaven Sword Peak, right beside the Seven Star Boat lying listlessly. The peak was enveloped in a gentle thunder aura and cold sword energy, an atmosphere that felt much calmer than the bustle of the Great Hall.

  WHUSHH!

  The spiritual wind generated by the cosmic step immediately vanished, leaving behind absolute silence on Heaven Sword Peak. Zhi Xuan staggered, his knees unable to support the weight of his exhausted body. This time, he did not fall completely to the ground; he used his remaining strength to lean against the cold, hard hull of the Seven Star Boat.

  He closed his eyes, letting the cold essence of the peak seep into him, calming the spiritual turmoil left by the Dao clash and Zhu Qinglan’s Law of Water Essence Seal. He had won, but he was now like a sword blade sharpened too often, fragile and on the brink of destruction.

  He sank into the sea of consciousness; there he appeared near the Divine Furnace, which floated beneath the Tree of Life. Xiao Die was still in the form of a cocoon, waiting to be broken to emerge as an early juvenile moth, no longer a baby moth.