The pink light slowly solidified, forming strands of thin silk that spread like blooming flower petals, veiling the curves of the body that had now fully transformed. The figure in the center of the room was no longer the rugged and mysterious Xu Han, but a woman possessed of a beauty that would make the twin moons of the Nine Plains feel too ashamed to show themselves.

  Her skin was as white as the finest porcelain, and her eyes, now shaped like peach blossoms, glinted with sharp intelligence and a deadly softness. She wore a pink silk robe embroidered with gold thread that exposed her smooth shoulders—a garment coveted by many female practitioners, yet one only the Holy Maidens of the Ancient Clans were fit to wear.

  "Ah... much better," she sighed while smoothing her long hair. She gave a thin smile and looked exactly toward where Zhi Xuan’s shadow lingered. "Are you pleased with what you see, Brother Zhi?"

  The figure vanished for a moment, fading into a haze of heavenly flowers that blurred the vision. Seeing this, Zhi Xuan did not wait for a second chance; he bolted, moving like a living shadow. He leapt from his elongated shadow and sped down a long, dark corridor.

  "Where do you intend to run, Brother Zhi? Or should I call you... the Little Craftsman from Cangyun Village?" The voice sounded right beside his ear, as soft as a breeze yet as cold as eternal ice. Zhi Xuan did not stop; he spun his body in mid-air, gray sword intent exploding from his fingertips, slashing the empty space behind him to create distance.

  WUSS—!

  His blade of sword intent merely sliced through air filled with slowly wilting pink petals. The woman reappeared ten zhang in front of him, standing calmly in the middle of the narrow corridor, blocking the exit with an oppressive elegance. Her silk gown fluttered despite the lack of wind, radiating an authority that seemed to freeze the spatial laws around her.

  Zhi Xuan froze in mid-air, his form forced to solidify as if dragged out of his shadow state. He stood stiffly, his limbs locked by a thin seal that contained an extraordinary weave. He was pushed backward until his back hit the wall, causing fine cracks to spiderweb across the stone.

  The woman stepped closer, each tap of her heels on the ancient stone floor producing a resonance that vibrated through Zhi Xuan’s pulse. The aroma of heavenly flowers was now overwhelming, expanding in the air until it filled his lungs, bringing a sensation that was both warm and paralyzing.

  Zhi Xuan tried to summon his Six Paths of Reincarnation Wheel, but he found that every time he attempted to rotate his law energy, invisible pink threads around him would tighten, sewing his spiritual essence flow shut at the primary meridian points.

  "Do not force it, Brother Zhi," the woman said, her voice as soft as silk yet carrying an authority that could command a storm. She stopped exactly one step in front of him, leaving only inches between their faces. "The seal of the Feng Clan cannot be broken by raw sword intent alone, even if you are the strongest weaver of a True Domain."

  Zhi Xuan stared into her eyes—a pair of clear peach-blossom eyes that were as deep as an ancient ocean. "The Feng Clan... you are from the Feng Mie Plains?" Zhi Xuan hissed sharply, his voice raspy from the pressure of the seal.

  "Correct... Senior Zhi," the woman replied, her slender fingers moving slowly, almost brushing his jaw. "I am Feng Yaoyue, the Holy Maiden of the Feng Clan. I have been watching you ever since you sent little Yan Fenghuang home during the Three Plains Competition."

  Zhi Xuan felt a chill creep into his marrow. That name—Feng Yaoyue—was not a name one uttered lightly. In the Nine Plains, the Feng Clan was the Phoenix lineage, ancestors whose blood allegedly descended from the Phoenix, one of the Ten Sacred Beasts. Realizing the woman before him was the Holy Maiden meant Zhi Xuan was facing one of the pinnacles of power that monitored the world’s laws from behind the clouds.

  "Yan Fenghuang..." Zhi Xuan muttered, his eyes narrowing. "So you’ve been watching me since then? Disguising yourself as Xu Han and leading me to Huang Tu... all of this was just a stage you set because the Feng Mie Plains couldn't accept being defeated by me?"

  Feng Yaoyue let out a small laugh, a melody that sounded like the chiming of silver bells in a silent midnight. She tilted her head, letting strands of her black hair fall and brush against Zhi Xuan’s chest, which rose and fell with his bated breath.

  "Senior Zhi truly loves to think the worst of me," Feng Yaoyue whispered, her pomegranate-red lips forming a sweet but deceitful curve. "The Feng Mie Plains are vast, but they aren't so petty that they would send their Holy Maiden just to avenge someone like Yan Fenghuang. Besides, her defeat at your hands was a good lesson for her arrogance."

  Feng Yaoyue leaned her face closer until her straight nose almost touched his. The warm breath of her heavenly peach scent brushed against his lips, momentarily clouding his thoughts.

  "I brought you here because I need you, Senior," she continued, her tone suddenly turning very coy, yet her lithe fingers began to trace his neck as if searching for the spot where his life pulsed. "Only a Weaver Transformation expert like you, with an understanding of Reincarnation, is capable of unveiling the deepest secrets of this Bronze Palace. I have waited for you for a long time... a very long time."

  Zhi Xuan gritted his teeth, attempting to exert the strength of his Heavenly-Blood Body to shred the threads binding him. "A need that begins with deception is not cooperation, Feng Yaoyue! You used the name Xu Han to snare me into your Feng Clan conspiracy!"

  "Oh, Senior... don't be angry," Feng Yaoyue pouted, an expression that appeared innocent yet contrasted sharply with the aura of power she radiated. She pressed her body closer to him, letting her thin pink silk robe rub against his rough black-and-white robes. "Call me Yaoyue, or Yue'er, if Senior pleases."

  Her hand, as smooth as silk, landed on the left side of his chest, right over his racing heart. She could feel his inner state remaining stable; despite the situation, the man before her was not swayed by worldly desires, but rather filled with anger and a turbulence that felt more like a confused Devil.

  "Holy Maiden Zhu and Holy Fairy Ye are very lucky," Feng Yaoyue whispered, gently stroking his robe. "Senior became the Dao Protector for both Holy Fairies. It makes Yaoyue quite envious..."

  "Therefore," she continued, her voice creeping like a sweet poison into his soul, "why don't you become my Dao Protector instead? Wouldn't that be much fairer?"

  Zhi Xuan felt his body tremble slightly from the energy blockage within his meridians caused by her seal. He steeled his mind, focusing his consciousness on the Heavenly Samsara Wheel within his sea of consciousness. He knew that every word and gesture from Feng Yaoyue was part of the seductive arts of the Phoenix Clan, capable of toppling the mental fortress of even a Divine Transformation expert.

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  "Enough!" Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice vibrating with sharp sword intent. "The Feng Clan is one of the respected Nine Ancient Clans because of the Great Emperor, yet its Holy Maiden is an expert at weaving spider webs. Release this seal at once!"

  "So fierce," Feng Yaoyue said, pouting her lips, though the sparkle in her eyes showed her satisfaction. "Senior truly has a pure Sword Heart. No wonder you could walk this far without the guidance of an Ancient Clan."

  Feng Yaoyue did not release the seal; instead, she slowly drew her body back, giving him room to breathe. She flicked her hand, and Zhi Xuan’s body was lifted helplessly as she pulled him to exit the Eternal Bronze Palace. The scenery around them changed drastically as Feng Yaoyue dragged him through hidden spatial corridors.

  Space and time seemed to warp beneath the Holy Maiden’s palm, turning the cold bronze walls into a dizzying swirl of colors. Zhi Xuan, still shackled by the pink threads, felt his body and soul being forcibly pulled through the eye of a narrow needle.

  The spatial view before his eyes surged violently, as if the fabric of the universe were being wrung by the invisible hands of Feng Yaoyue using the Feng Clan’s secret techniques. Nausea from the harsh dimensional shift hit his consciousness, but the pride of the Southern Devil refused to let him appear weak before the woman who had toyed with him.

  WUUUSH—!

  After a pull that felt as though it would tear his meridians apart, the dull gray light of the Heaven's Ruin Valley hit his senses once more. The dry air of Huang Tu, smelling of metallic dust, filled his lungs, replacing the suffocating heavenly peach aroma. They had returned to the outside world, right atop the giant stone altar at the bottom of the valley, which was now riddled with cracks from the previous formation explosion.

  Feng Yaoyue landed with the grace of a goddess descending from the heavens, her small feet making almost no sound on the stone surface. In contrast, Zhi Xuan was thrown down quite hard because his body was still locked tight by the pink thread seal.

  "We have arrived, Senior Zhi," Feng Yaoyue said cheerfully, as if the deadly journey they had just taken was merely a leisurely stroll in the back garden of the Feng Clan estate.

  Zhi Xuan snorted, cold sweat matting his brow. He gathered all his remaining spiritual essence, trying to rotate the Heavenly Samsara Wheel to call upon his Domain Law and resonate with his Heavenly-Blood Body Law, creating a searing heat to burn the silk threads binding him.

  "The Holy Maiden of the Feng Clan is apparently very fond of dragging people like cattle," Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice carrying a killing intent he no longer bothered to hide. "You seem to know the Eternal Bronze Palace well enough to exit with such ease."

  Feng Yaoyue only laughed softly, her fingers moving nimbly in the air. "Oh, that wasn't dragging, Senior. That was Yaoyue's way of ensuring our fates weren't severed halfway. Without me, you might still be trapped within the time-weave of that Bronze Palace."

  She flicked her fingers, neutralizing all of Zhi Xuan’s techniques as he tried to break the seal. "Don't persist, Senior. You will remain with Yaoyue."

  Zhi Xuan felt his essence flow brutally severed again just as his Heavenly Samsara Wheel began to turn. Every time the heat of his Heavenly-Blood Body Law rose, the pink threads would emit a cold light that instantly chilled his meridians, as if he were trying to boil water with a tiny spark.

  "Submit to reality, Senior Zhi," Feng Yaoyue said, walking around his body as he knelt on one knee. "The more you resist, the deeper these threads sew into your soul. I do not wish to harm such a precious body, but I also cannot let a little dragon like you fly too wildly."

  Zhi Xuan raised his head, his sapphire eyes glinting with cold hatred. "A Holy Maiden of the grand Phoenix Clan is nothing more than a thief who enjoys kidnapping low-level practitioners. If the world knew of your deeds, where would you hide your clan's face?"

  Feng Yaoyue stopped directly in front of him and crouched so her face was level with his. She touched his chin with the tip of her index finger, forcing him to look directly into her beautiful but cunning eyes.

  "Face?" Feng Yaoyue smiled widely, revealing rows of pristine white teeth. "Yaoyue does not kidnap; Yaoyue only secures destiny. Oh, and look at what Yaoyue took from the Eternal Bronze Palace."

  She patted her waist to retrieve something from her storage bag, pulling out a small bronze box—the same object they had seen earlier beneath the Bronze Throne. The box now emitted a dim but steady golden glow, indicating the ancient seal within had reacted to the Phoenix bloodline of the Holy Maiden.

  "The Heavenly Silk Fragment..." Zhi Xuan hissed, his eyes widening. "You managed to take it amidst that dimensional chaos?"

  "Of course," Feng Yaoyue spun the box on her fingertip casually, as if it were a mere toy. "Yaoyue does not forget the primary objective. Aren't women more meticulous in these matters, Senior?"

  Zhi Xuan fell silent, his jaw clenching so hard his teeth creaked. He realized that from the beginning, he hadn't been cooperating with a wandering expert named Xu Han, but rather dancing in the palm of a peak predator. Feng Yaoyue’s success in retrieving the Heavenly Silk Fragment amidst a spatial storm proved her strength far exceeded anything she had shown thus far.

  "You have the fragment, you have my seal, and you have the exit gate," Zhi Xuan said, his voice returning to a calm that was far more terrifying than his anger. "Then what are you waiting for? Why not return to the Feng Mie Plains and claim your great reward?"

  Feng Yaoyue stood up slowly, letting the bronze box vanish back into her storage space with a graceful wave of her hand. She gazed at the fading horizon of Huang Tu, where the twin suns were setting, leaving a deep red hue like a pool of blood in the sky.

  "Return?" Feng Yaoyue repeated the word with a slight pout. "Senior Zhi, do you think being a Holy Maiden means having freedom? In the Feng Clan, I am merely a Phoenix in a golden cage. This fragment is my key to finding a path not dictated by the Great Elders."

  She waved her hand, and a token appeared—a token typical of the Ancient Clans used to traverse territories without facing the void storms. "Yaoyue will not return to Feng Mie; it is far too boring there. Thus, Senior will always come with Yaoyue. Let us leave this place."

  Feng Yaoyue waved her arm in a motion resembling a dawn dance. Instantly, the token in her hand exploded into thousands of golden lights, forming an energy carpet in the air. The carpet vibrated, slicing through the dry space of Huang Tu and creating a circular gate bordered by Phoenix flames that burned without heat.

  "Do not look at me like that, Senior Zhi," Yaoyue said, glancing at the shackled man. "If you keep staring at me with such thick hatred, I fear I might actually fall for your inner resolve."

  With a nimble snap of her fingers, the pink threads binding Zhi Xuan suddenly lifted him, making him float in the air to follow every step of the Holy Maiden. Yaoyue stepped into the gate of light, dragging Zhi Xuan into an inter-plain corridor far more stable than the dimensional vortex of the Bronze Palace.

  Inside the corridor, Zhi Xuan felt a strange, forced pressure. He tried to close his eyes, focusing all his thoughts on his core. Damn it... her cultivation base is truly unpredictable. These threads aren't just locking my physical form; they are sewing my sword intent before it even manifests.

  "Relax, Senior," Yaoyue's voice echoed in the corridor of light. Although she walked ahead, her voice felt as if she were whispering directly into his ear. "We are heading to the border of the Cang Hai Plains. Yaoyue dearly wishes to see the vast ocean, especially since there is a very beautiful city there. Senior, you must be obedient, okay?"

  "Cang Hai?" Zhi Xuan hissed, feeling a turmoil in his mind. He gritted his teeth before forcing his expression into one of half-peace. "Holy Fairy Feng, isn't that far too distant from Yao Gu, Xing Luo, or even your home in Feng Mie? We are in Huang Tu, and you, as a Holy Fairy, wish to go to Cang Hai?"

  Feng Yaoyue paused for a moment in the middle of the gold-glowing corridor, spinning around with a motion so fluid her silk robes wound around her long legs. She looked at Zhi Xuan as if looking at a pouting child, but behind it lay a deep glint of satisfaction.

  "Distant?" Yaoyue laughed softly, her laughter bouncing off the transparent dimensional walls. "For ordinary practitioners, crossing between plains might be a journey across a storm-filled void. But for Yaoyue, these Nine Plains are merely a boring little garden, if one knows where the hidden gates are located."

  She leaned in, letting her perfect face stay very close to Zhi Xuan’s until the heavenly peach scent once again dominated his senses.

  "Cang Hai is a quiet and stable place, Senior. There, I can disguise my Phoenix scent from the pursuit of those meddlesome clan elders," she whispered while touching the tip of his nose with her cold finger. "Besides, you haven't been there either, have you? Cang Hai is incredibly rich in resources; you can find limitless treasures and wealth there."