"..."
Su Xiaobai's face darkened as he met her gaze.
Elder Bai's beauty was striking—her elegant, refined face framed by silky black hair, and those lips... they were almost too perfect, the kind that made a man forget himself for a moment.
Yet there was something more dangerous than her beautiful face!
It was the way she held that parasol.
Casually, almost lazily, she twirled it at her side, as if she were a noblewoman strolling through a garden rather than standing in the midst of a dangerous trial. There wasn't an ounce of worry on her face, no tension in her posture. It was the ease of someone who had transcended the petty struggles of the world.
'She's an old monster,' Su Xiaobai thought grimly. 'The kind who doesn't even need to act like a warrior anymore because they are already at the top.'
For a moment, their gazes locked.
Her eyes, deep and unreadable, seemed to appraise him, as if she found his bloodied, disheveled appearance... amusing.
Swoosh!
Then, with a casual lift of her foot, she began to float toward him, her movement slow but deliberate, as if every step was measured to draw his full attention.
"..."
Su Xiaobai felt his heart skip a beat. Why is she coming over here? He didn't trust this woman for a second. The only woman who'd ever truly loved him was his mother—everyone else? Crafty vixens with hidden agendas. And Elder Bai? She was the very definition of a dangerous woman.
Her every movement radiated power, and her eyes—those sharp, magnetic eyes—held a depth that made even his nerves twitch.
As she glided toward him, her face perfectly composed, Su Xiaobai's mind scrambled. He forced a stiff smile, the kind of smile you give when you've walked into a trap but still hope to bluff your way out.
"Didn't expect to see strangers... Here" His voice was strained, his instincts screaming that something was off. 'Play it cool, Xiaobai. You're not trapped yet... right?'
Her eyes, however, gave nothing away as she approached, her expression serene. Su Xiaobai's heart pounded in his chest. What did she want? Why now, of all times?
As she hovered in front of him, Su Xiaobai's stiff smile remained, but his mind was racing.
Please tell me this isn't going where I think it's going...
"You are alive, aren't you going to try?"
Contrary to Su Xiaobai, who was on high alert and ready to fight for his life, Elder Bai landed gracefully before him, her voice soft, like the whispers of a spring breeze gently stirring the leaves.
The words drifted to his ears, soothing and unhurried.
Su Xiaobai's face darkened immediately.'Is she trying to lull me into a false sense of security before stabbing me in the back?'
He didn't trust her—not one bit. Pretty faces always had ulterior motives. That much he knew.
What Su Xiaobai didn't know, however, was that this world, unlike his own, was divided between the Righteous and Heretic sects.
Ning Gufan's knowledge, though vast, was outdated and narrow in scope. Ning had cared only about the names of the major continents, and as someone who came from the lofty Four Heavens, this small world was as insignificant as a grain of sand to him.
But Xiantian Sect, the sect to which Bai Yujian belonged, was part of the Righteous faction. The consequences for committing evil openly were not something to be taken lightly, not in this realm.
Still, here in this isolated chamber, if Bai Yujian did decide to kill him, no one would know. So Su Xiaobai's suspicions weren't entirely misplaced.
'People pretend to be righteous, but they can be as vicious as anyone else.' He knew that firsthand—he was the perfect example, after all.
However, unlike him, Bai Yujian practiced the Righteous Dao. Anything that went against her principles would create a heart demon, making it harder for her to progress.
The Righteous Dao was like a shackle—once you started down that path, you could only move forward. It forced people to act kindly, and if they didn't truly believe in their actions, the heart demon would fester, leading to Qi deviation... and, quite possibly, death.
In contrast, heretic cultivators embraced a lawless existence, free from such constraints, doing whatever they wanted to gain strength. Su Xiaobai found that approach far more reasonable, but he wasn't foolish enough to think everyone else did.
Hearing Bai Yujian speak so casually, her sharp eyes narrowing slightly as they focused on him, Su Xiaobai felt a flicker of discomfort. Her words were calm, but her gaze was sharp—too sharp.
He turned his attention to the others, still fighting their reflections in the Lake of Reflection. With a glance, he narrowed his eyes. "They're going to lose," he muttered.
"Not yet," Elder Bai replied with serene confidence, her gaze not even shifting toward the struggling disciples. It was as if she already knew they would pull through.
Su Xiaobai, however, wasn't convinced. "..."
The more she stared at him, the more wary he became. There was something unnerving about the way she looked at him, her gaze lingering as though she were studying a rare, exotic creature. What is she plotting?
Then, suddenly, she moved. Before Su Xiaobai could react, her hand gently touched the top of his head.
His entire body tensed, it was too late to respond.
"My sect's disciples have troubled you earlier. Consider this compensation," she said, her voice as calm as ever.
Before Su Xiaobai could process her words, a warm surge of energy flowed from her hand into his meridians.
His eyes widened as the energy, gentle but potent, coursed through his body, weaving through his Qi pathways like a silken thread.
By the time he blinked again, Elder Bai was already back in her original spot, standing with her usual elegance, her parasol twirling slightly in her hand.
It was as if nothing had happened, but the energy she had transferred into him was still there, coursing through his meridians.
Suddenly, the blockages in his pathways burst open, and his entire body felt light.
His Qi, which had been stagnant for so long, began to flow freely. He could feel it—he was on the verge of a breakthrough.
Su Xiaobai had been stuck at the edge of this breakthrough for years. His unstable foundation had caused him to stagnate, unable to push forward despite accumulating more than enough Qi over the past twenty-seven years.
He had the resources but not the refinement. Over time, most of his Qi had dissipated, but even the small amount that remained had condensed, trapped within his meridians like a storm waiting to be unleashed.
Elder Bai, with just a simple touch, had liquefied that condensed Qi, turning it into dense True Qi and sending it surging toward his dantian. As the energy exploded within him, it was as if a dam had burst.
Su Xiaobai felt his body go light, as if he could float right off the ground. The energy roared through him, filling every corner of his being with a vitality he hadn't felt in years.
His meridians expanded, his dantian swelled, and the blocked pathways that had held him back for so long were finally clear.
Without a second thought, Su Xiaobai sat cross-legged on the stone floor, ignoring the ongoing fight in the pond.
'Breakthrough!'
He closed his eyes, focusing inward. His entire body trembled as the Qi roared through him, condensing in his dantian. He was on the cusp of breaking through, and nothing would stop him now.