Chapter 12: What Is Your Current Strength?

The sky was so blue! The clouds were so white! The mood was so marvelous! Fan Zifan, brimming with enthusiasm, led the way ahead; just moments ago, he had used a messaging talisman to ask the disciples to start a wager.

He’d wanted to do this a hundred years ago. Why should Wen Xiaowu be able to shuffle his medicine mountains while he could only swallow his grievances? In those days, Wen Xiaowu was unapproachable—if he’d dared even think such a thing, she would have twisted his neck off and kicked it like a ball. Now, finally, he’d come upon this chance to sing the song of the freed serf, how could he not be overjoyed!

Of course, none of this escaped Huo Yongfei’s notice. Like Shan Hongxing, Huo Yongfei was stern and taciturn, an immortal exiled to the heights. Yet they differed as well; regarding Wen Jinge, Huo Yongfei always carried a faint smile, while the other was a chill that warned off all.

“Who’s the wager on?” asked Huo Yongfei.

Fan Zifan paused, looking a little embarrassed. “It’s Wen Xiaowu, of course!”

“What’s the bet?” Huo Yongfei continued.

“That she’ll lose!” Seeing Qiao Yu turn his gaze as well, Huo Yongfei pressed, “You’re steady by nature—how can you bet she’ll lose?”

“Precisely because I’m steady, I dare to bet,” Fan Zifan replied, puffing his chest with pride. “I’m someone whose medicine mountains she’s destroyed ten times over; would I not know her? Shan Hongxing is cold outside but warm within—even if he wins, he’ll probably be sickened half to death, so I wagered on her winning first, then losing.”

“I recall there were nine and a half medicine mountains?” Huo Yongfei teased. “There’s still a small one left—mind your words, don’t ruin the master’s reputation entirely.”

“Didn’t we used to ruin the master’s reputation like this?” Fan Zifan replied carelessly, with a hint of regret in his voice. He muttered, “Then came someone even more monstrous than the master—what misery for me.”

“I—I…” Qiao Yu, singled out, opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words.

Luckily, he could already see his master from afar.

“Want to get closer?” Fan Zifan wasn’t interested in Qiao Yu’s answer; by the time he returned to himself, they’d reached the edge of the battlefield. “Watch your master well, even if you can’t see clearly. It’ll benefit you in confirming your ninth-rank cultivation.”

“I’ve been tolerating you for a long time!” Shan Hongxing bellowed.

“My goodness!” Fan Zifan shrank his neck outside the field, hurriedly casting two layers of protective barriers over himself and Qiao Yu.

Nothing else to it—Shan Hongxing was accustomed to silence, but such fury was unheard of.

“Uncle Fan,” Qiao Yu called, glancing at his master’s slender figure, his heart burning with anxiety. “Will master really lose?”

“Do you hope she wins or loses?”

“My father once said,” Qiao Yu thought for a moment before reluctantly continuing, “a responsible man should never fight a woman. Blades and swords are blind—since it’s a duel, how can one not get hurt? It must hurt terribly. I don’t want master to be injured.”

Fan Zifan staggered, nearly twisting his back, and seeing Qiao Yu’s bewildered face filled with melancholy, he found himself in a bind. “Sorry, for safety’s sake, your words have already been passed on to your Mountain Uncle. You know, I’ve bet on your master. I’m not one to accept defeat.”

Qiao Yu was stunned for a long while. In that moment, he suddenly realized the treacherous nature of the sect.

“Wen Jinge! Today it’s you and me, with no end but death!”

Seeing the main force finally catch up, Wen Jinge grew serious, but it didn’t stop her from continuing to provoke Shan Hongxing. “Ying!”

“You and your disciple are both here to anger me, aren’t you!” The sound Fan Zifan sent was blocked to Wen Jinge, so as she saw the man’s fury escalate, she was surprised, but it didn’t stop her from acting. She transmitted, “Senior brother~ Little Sisi is still on the mountain, Sisi is so adorable, how could she upset you! It’s only Wen Wen, seeing you so talented yet alone—it’s such a waste, so I came to bring you warmth! Wen Wen is as warm as her name! Senior brother, why haven’t you shown your sword moves yet? Why are you just staring at me? Could it be, hehe… Come on! Come on! Come!”

Shan Hongxing felt as if a cloud of gloom hung over his head, suffocating him, destabilizing his spiritual energy. At this rate, he feared he’d lose control. Just as he was about to throw his blade at Wen Jinge—

Wen Jinge had already swung over with Gouchen, flicking several times at Shan Hongxing’s waist with a single hand. Light and shadow shifted unpredictably, but the change happened in an instant: “Biu-biu-biu! Dynamic light wave!”

With those words, the belt snapped.

Shan Hongxing: …

“Ha-ha-ha, didn’t I say so, senior brother…” Fan Zifan clung to Huo Yongfei’s arm, gloating. It was the disaster that had plagued him for a century finally transferred onto another—liberation at last. “Wen Xiaowu is never one to suffer losses. My goodness, I could die laughing.”

Crack—

A crisp sound.

The smile vanished from Fan Zifan’s face. He awkwardly raised his hands, stepped back a few paces, and laughed nervously, “I, ha-ha, I, ha-ha-ha, senior brother, wasn’t it just a few days ago that Wen Xiaowu broke your hand? Ha, how could I forget that?”

Huo Yongfei sighed, helpless. “It’s the other one.” As he spoke, he sealed his blood vessels with a spell and reset the bone.

“I—I didn’t mean to,” Fan Zifan’s laughter was stiff.

“It’s normal with age,” Huo Yongfei said no more. “Let’s watch.”

“Wen Jinge!” Shan Hongxing drew a deep breath, his head buzzing with pain. If he didn’t give Wen Jinge a thrashing today, he’d risk falling into chaos. Since Wen Jinge joined the sect, the two had been locked in conflict. At first, it was Wen Jinge provoking him unilaterally; later, as Wen Jinge grew stronger, it turned into one-sided domination. He wanted to win, to stand above her, to mock the world as she did…

He’d wanted all this for so long, it was almost a demon in his heart.

“I’m here!”

Shan Hongxing sat cross-legged, closed his eyes to focus, working to recall the formation he’d seen earlier. “Do you dare enter?”

“Well, well!” Wen Jinge patted the “nonexistent” in her mind. “Did I push him too far? Setting up an endgame?”

[You drew it like this yesterday as well. He truly wants to fight you, and he truly wants to test if you’re the Black Robed One.]

“I know!” Wen Jinge replied as a matter of course. “You think I’m acting with him for fun? It’s all to make him an enemy.”

[But you two are already at odds!]

“How silly! The satisfaction comes from creating a rift myself. He hates me, he attacks me, then I have a reason to kill him!”

[…]

“Do you know how to make someone who doesn’t want to fight you actually fight you?”

[No.]

“Then do you know how to make an enemy in front of everyone?”

[Poke their weakness!] That, it could do.

Wen Jinge entered the formation openly, causing Shan Hongxing a moment of surprise, which quickly turned to anger.

Because she said, “What’s your current strength?”