The Price of a Plot

Jian Dan, He Jintang, Kong Yu, and Cao Chenfeng had been lying in ambush within a concealed formation for over three hours at a choke point on the way back to the sect. As the sun set and the moon rose, the number of passing cultivators dwindled.

Kong Yu was starting to lose patience. "Senior Sister Shan, you said we'd get to see something good. What exactly is the show?"

Cao Chenfeng remained silent, though his gaze was fixed on Jian Dan, clearly waiting for her response.

And she only said, "Isn't it coming now?"

A spirit boat slowly descended into the forest. Feng Nianyue stumbled out of it, her steps unsteady. She collapsed to the ground, as if suppressing something with great effort. Several times, she tried to sit cross-legged to meditate, but each attempt failed.

Seeing something was wrong, He Jintang instinctively moved forward, but Jian Dan stopped him with a hand, signaling for everyone to keep watching.

Sure enough, after Feng Nianyue collapsed unconscious, Hua Zhēnrén appeared.

Gone was her usual frail and pale demeanor—her face was now twisted with malice. With a wave of her hand, a male outer sect disciple in late Foundation Establishment stage appeared on the ground, his body trembling, his skin flushed red, even his exposed arms and neck burning with unnatural heat.

His bloodshot eyes locked onto Feng Nianyue, and he began crawling toward her.

"What are you doing?!"

Kong Qiankun's voice rang out as he appeared behind Hua Zhēnrén. Taking in the scene—Feng Nianyue unconscious and the panting outer disciple—his voice turned furious.

"I'm helping you fulfill your wish! With your cultivation and background, would Tian Yun Zhēnzūn ever agree to let his favorite descendant marry you? Only if she's tainted will you have a chance."

"So you set this up to ruin her?"

"He's just an unlucky disciple from your own sect. Blame fate for bringing him my way."

"Insane."

Kong Qiankun rejected Hua Zhēnrén's methods. With a wave, he knocked out the outer disciple, then lifted Feng Nianyue and fed her a pill before placing her back in the spirit boat. Without another word, he sped off toward the sect.

Hua Zhēnrén didn't stop him. Instead, she vented her anger by impaling the unconscious disciple with an earthen spike, then incinerating his body with a fireball.

Inside the hidden formation, the four observers held their breaths, regretting ever following Shan Shimei to "watch the show."

After Hua Zhēnrén flew away, no one spoke or moved. Jian Dan waited—and sure enough, an hour later, Hua Zhēnrén returned. This time, she unleashed her divine sense, scanning a ten-mile radius.

When her probing sense swept over their formation, the three men nearly stopped breathing, wishing they could turn to dust. Only Jian Dan remained calm, activating her Obsidian Bracelet. As her fists clenched, a faint violet glow enveloped them.

Suddenly, she leaped back a full zhang, landing in a kneeling stance before driving her fist into the ground—just as Hua Zhēnrén shattered their formation with an earthen spike. The two forces collided, canceling each other out in a burst of dust, but their cover was blown.

Hua Zhēnrén hovered in the air, looking down at them with contempt.

"A few insignificant fleas."

Golden Core pressure bore down on them. Jian Dan sprang forward, shielding the other three.

"Cotton Candy!"

"Here!"

A fluffball leapt from Jian Dan's hair, growing larger until it surrounded everyone—including Hua Zhēnrén—in a thick, swirling mist. The fog disrupted her spiritual sense and softened the weight of her pressure.

"Brothers, draw your swords! Today, we fight!"

Without a word, Cao Chenfeng was already ready, sword in hand. Through the gap Cotton Candy made for him in the mist, he struck with nine consecutive blows—an embryonic form of the Heaven Sword Nine Forms, each slash brimming with overwhelming sword force.

Within the fog, Hua Zhēnrén felt restricted. When she sensed the sword aura approaching, she swung her sleeve to neutralize it, but the nine slashes came in relentless succession. One finally tore through her sleeve.

The fact that a mere "flea" had managed to damage her clothes enraged her. Forming a hand seal, she summoned countless earth spikes that spiraled around her before shooting outward in all directions.

Kong Yu was nearly in tears. How had the three of them ended up dragged into this by a rookie like Jian Dan? Still, his feet didn't hesitate. He channeled his spiritual power to his soles and began darting through the Nine Palace Eight Trigram steps, narrowly dodging each spike.

He Jintang remained the calmest. Knowing things would not end peacefully today, he slapped a Vajra Defense Talisman on himself, launched the occasional sword strike, and asked Jian Dan,

"Senior Sister Shan, do we call for backup?"

Jian Dan punched through a wave of spikes that Cotton Candy had failed to block, and called back between strikes:

"That would be letting someone else steal the kill. Wear her down."

"She's not from our sect. She's a guest of Tianjian Peak. She probably has some kind of life-saving treasure on her."

"So when she targeted Feng Nianyue, she forgot this was Tianjian Sect territory? If we can't kill her, cripple her."

He Jintang nearly choked on his own spit. Kong Yu was a second too slow and got a scrape on his arm from a spike, but Cao Chenfeng stayed unfazed, slashing sword after sword toward Hua Zhēnrén.

"Cotton Candy will back us up. Form the Four Directions Array!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Cotton Candy guided the four into position, aligning them into a square formation. Hua Zhēnrén quickly realized her attacks were striking nothing but fluff.

Then, from above, a massive sword came crashing down.

It was the Heaven Sword Nine Forms, infused with the combined power of four late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, and amplified by Cotton Candy's support. This time, she couldn't dispel it. The sword struck true, slamming her into the ground.

The four had gone all in. Their spiritual energy was drained. Faces pale, three of them each swallowed a recovery pill.

Jian Dan alone stepped onto Cotton Candy and blinked forward, appearing directly in front of Elder Hua. She didn't waste a word. Her fist drove straight toward the spot where Hua Zhēnrén's Golden Core lay.

"Stop!"