It wasn't just her imagination; someone was watching.
"Who's there?!"
Jian Xiaolou's sharp senses picked up a spiritual presence spying on her. She locked onto its location and unleashed her divine sense to retaliate without hesitation.
Her spiritual attack hit a faint energy barrier, brushing against the intruding presence. The clash sent a tremor through both of them. The opposing spiritual energy was slippery, like a fish darting into the sea, disappearing without a trace.
It likely retreated to Zhan Tianxiang's sea of consciousness, a domain Jian Xiaolou couldn't penetrate. The sea of consciousness was a cultivator's ultimate line of defense, a sacred and private sanctuary even its owner couldn't easily share.
But who could that presence belong to?
It didn't match Zhan Tianxiang's aura.
One was clean and clear; the other was cold and violent.
Yet it moved freely in Zhan Tianxiang's consciousness as if it owned the place.
When that presence vanished, the oppressive weight lifted from Jian Xiaolou's mind. She easily exited her fusion state and began piecing things together. The humiliating comments from the Zhan family twins surfaced in her mind. A realization dawned on her—her repeated failures in practicing the fusion technique might not have been her fault after all.
Zhan Tianxiang's body housed a second spiritual entity with its own consciousness. That entity had been rejecting her attempts, sabotaging every fusion.
Had it not been for today's chance mishap, she might have abandoned the technique entirely.
Suddenly, a hand lunged at her neck!
Her instincts flared. Having just disengaged the fusion state, her protective aura wasn't fully formed. But she had been on guard. Reacting swiftly, she manipulated the ground beneath her feet, forming a shield of hardened earth as she leapt backward several meters.
Standing her ground, Jian Xiaolou glared at "Zhan Tianxiang."
"Who are you?!"
"Quick reflexes," he said.
The man withdrew his stiff hand and smiled faintly, locking eyes with her.
It was Zhan Tianxiang's face, Zhan Tianxiang's smile, but his eyes were devoid of warmth. Instead, they burned with killing intent.
In the blink of an eye, a sinister wind swept through the forest, churning the sand and stones into chaos.
Hovering a foot off the ground, "Zhan Tianxiang" tilted his head, examining his hands with a cold laugh.
"How foolish. Leaving yourself unguarded, allowing anyone to invade your body—utterly hopeless."
Jian Xiaolou steadied herself against the gusts with her earth shield, her expression grim. "I don't care who you are. Leave his consciousness immediately, or I won't hold back!"
"You, a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, plan to stop me?" He laughed again, baring four sharp fangs. "Still, I should thank you. That fusion technique of yours cracked my seal. If I'd known this earlier, I'd have let you in sooner…"
His gaze turned razor-sharp, his killing intent as chilling as midwinter.
"Well, I'll kill you first—then deal with Zhan Tianming!"
With those words, he spread his hands. Killing energy gathered between his palms, coalescing into a shimmering ethereal sword.
"Go."
The sword flew toward her with deceptive slowness, yet the stray energy it radiated sliced hundreds of towering trees clean in half.
Though Jian Xiaolou couldn't gauge his cultivation level, the destructive force of his strike far surpassed Zhan Tianxiang's own capabilities.
The sword's pressure alone sent her flying into a thorny bush ten meters away. The impact made her wince in pain.
Escape seemed wise. But how could she abandon Zhan Tianxiang?
She clenched her fists. No choice but to fight!
Slapping a spirit-enhancing talisman onto her hand, Jian Xiaolou opened her energy channels. A surge of spiritual power flooded her body, electrifying her limbs.
"By the will of Heaven and Earth, grant me strength!"
Reciting an incantation, she unleashed the talisman's full power. Leaping into the air, she slammed her palm into the ground.
Boom!
A shockwave erupted from the impact, rippling outward like a rolling earthquake. Stones whipped through the air, only to crash back down under the force of her gravity technique, pelting the area with a rain of rubble.
Caught off guard, "Zhan Tianxiang" wobbled mid-air and landed ungracefully, his energy sword dissipating.
"What kind of technique is that?" he demanded, clearly startled.
It was her first time fully unleashing the powers of the Earth Treasury Sutra, a technique given to her by Chan Lingzi. Though she had doubted its immediate effects, the results far exceeded her expectations.
Still, she knew the truth—she had only overpowered him because his condition was weak. His spiritual presence was fragile, almost infant-like. Taking control of Zhan Tianxiang's body required time.
But time was all he needed.
"I'll say it once more," she warned. "Stop trying to seize his body. I won't let you succeed."
"What body? This is mine to begin with!" he snarled.
Ignoring his claim, Jian Xiaolou's eyes flicked behind him.
"Hey! How did you two get back here?" she exclaimed in mock surprise.
He turned instinctively. In that split second, she closed the gap, initiating another fusion. But this time, instead of nurturing his energy, she used the Destructive Sub-Fusion Technique, siphoning his spiritual power and attacking his soul directly.
"Apologies, Long Legs. It's the only way to save you."
As "Zhan Tianxiang" closed his eyes to expel her, she chanted rapidly, targeting his consciousness.
"Wake up, Long Legs!" she called.
"You'll regret this!" he bellowed, his eyes blazing red.
"Wake up!"
"You're dead!"
Those were his final words before Zhan Tianxiang's body collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.
Exhausted from the spiritual battle, Jian Xiaolou slumped to the ground. Her earlier energy surge had strained her meridians, and the sub-fusion technique had left her even weaker.
She managed to sit up and pat his face. "Hey, you okay?"
But before she got an answer, the forest filled with howling. She extended her spiritual sense and saw a stampede of porcupine demons charging through the woods, some as strong as second-tier beasts.
"Great," she muttered. "I should've checked the almanac before leaving today."
Dragging the unconscious Zhan Tianxiang onto her back, she grumbled her way toward safety.