Chapter 68

Chapter 68: First Meeting Zhao Ji Xing

As Lin Zhao’s alliance took shape, every threat Jia Lan and Zhao Ji Xing had posted on Heavenlink Mirror—and every secret attempt to block her—turned into a joke.

Jia Lan watched their numbers climb until they could stand against his own and ground his teeth. “Those dogs. They think joining Lin Zhao means they can sleep easy? They should see whether she can even protect herself first!”

Zhao Ji Xing glanced at him. “Lin Zhao has enough people to resist us now. If you keep talking like that, it makes it sound like we’ve been cornered.”

Jia Lan knew. It didn’t make the anger any easier to swallow.

Zhao Ji Xing’s fingers toyed with a talisman slip. Then someone stumbled into their camp.

“Captain Zhao! Our squad got ambushed by Lin Zhao’s people. All our jade tokens were taken!”

Zhao Ji Xing’s calm expression cracked.

He lifted his head slowly, gaze darkening.

Even Jia Lan felt his heart jolt at that look.

The heavenly prodigy praised as the first Newcomer King had finally gotten angry.

“Lin Zhao,” Zhao Ji Xing said softly, like a beast before it pounces. “It seems you really want to die.”

He crushed the talisman slip in his hand.

—

Lin Zhao counted the jade tokens in her palm and split them evenly among her squad of a little over thirty. When she heard Zhao Ji Xing’s side planned to expand recruitment, she wasn’t afraid.

If anything, she looked more excited.

“Captain Lin, should we expand too?” someone asked.

Lin Zhao thought for a moment. “No. Post a message: we only target Zhao Ji Xing and Jia Lan’s teams. We don’t target neutral people.”

In other words, anyone who joined Zhao Ji Xing now declared themselves Lin Zhao’s enemy.

“Yes.”

Lin Zhao was satisfied with today’s gains. She was about to lead everyone back when someone staring at Heavenlink Mirror hesitated and asked, “Captain Lin, do you know a female cultivator named Yang Hui Hui?”

Lin Zhao froze. Then she remembered the maiden from the You Lan Empire who had helped her before. Her eyes tightened. “What happened?”

“She said she knows you,” the messenger said quickly. “Now Jia Lan’s people have their eyes on her.”

Lin Zhao’s breath went thin.

After confirming Yang Hui Hui’s location, she tossed the jade tokens she had seized to her team. “Split these. Follow the marks I leave and come find me later!”

It was an obvious lure. The one posting on Heavenlink Mirror might be friend or foe.

But Lin Zhao couldn’t ignore it.

As long as Zhao Ji Xing didn’t personally show up, Lin Zhao had confidence that no matter who was surrounding Yang Hui Hui, she could break them.

“Hui Hui,” Lin Zhao muttered, teeth clenched as she pushed her speed to the limit, “don’t let anything happen.”

—

A maiden in a red dress lay under a tree, face pale. She bit her lip and looked at the youth standing in front of her, sword raised.

“Martial Madman,” she pleaded, voice shaking. “Stop. Don’t mind me. Their target is me. It has nothing to do with you.”

The youth blocking her was Zhou Xiu Wu—the one who had fought her in the You Lan auction house over the Fire Spirit Sword until they had practically cursed each other’s ancestors.

He was tall and broad, skin slightly dark, features handsome in a wild, stubborn way. It was the kind of look that made him seem born to fight.

Yang Hui Hui had always disliked him.

Zhou Xiu Wu, a Foundation Establishment great perfection cultivator, had already blocked three moves from an Enlightenment first-level opponent. He was at his limit now, leaning on the Fire Spirit Sword just to stay upright. His lips were white as he rasped, “Firecloud Alliance’s little lady… we came from the same place. How can I watch you die?”

Yang Hui Hui lowered her eyes.

Seven or eight Enlightenment cultivators encircled them.

She closed her eyes, despair rising—yet somewhere under it was a thin sliver of relief.

At least Sister Zhao Zhao didn’t come… otherwise—

A familiar aura struck her. Yang Hui Hui snapped her eyes open in terror.

Blue.

Azure wings.

When she saw Lin Zhao knock down the encircling cultivators in a few quick moves, Yang Hui Hui didn’t look happy.

She cried, frantic. “Sister Zhao Zhao, run!”

Even the Enlightenment third-level cultivator Lin Zhao had dropped with one move smiled strangely as he hit the ground. “Lin Zhao, you came after all. Captain!”

The moment Lin Zhao heard that word, her blood ran cold.

In Jia Lan’s faction, the only one who could be called “Captain” without a surname was—

“Zhao Ji Xing.”

Lin Zhao stepped in front of Yang Hui Hui and Zhou Xiu Wu, Bone Sword flashing into her hand. Her smile was faint.

And razor-thin.

“You really dared to show up,” Zhao Ji Xing said. He looked at Lin Zhao and sighed, almost amused. “I don’t know whether to praise your courage or your loyalty.”

The pressure rolling off him hit like a mountain.

Lin Zhao formed the Hong Hu sword array instantly, forcing her qi to resist as her lungs tightened.

In the next breath, she grabbed Yang Hui Hui with one hand and Zhou Xiu Wu with the other, snapped open her Heavenly Phoenix Wings—

And ran.

Just from that brief exchange, Lin Zhao finally understood why Qu Shu and Ming Yue weren’t Zhao Ji Xing’s match.

Her earlier thoughts had been naïve. Enlightenment seventh level wasn’t even enough for Zhao Ji Xing to crush with one hand.

To truly confront him, Lin Zhao would have to reach Enlightenment great perfection.

Behind her, Zhao Ji Xing watched her vanish and lowered the talisman slip he had been about to use. His smile stayed gentle. “Fast runner. But Lin Zhao—are you going to spend the whole tournament running? That doesn’t match the arrogant words you posted on Heavenlink Mirror.”

Lin Zhao didn’t answer. She pushed her speed until her bones felt hot.

When she reunited with her team and finally stopped, even with her current cultivation, she still felt weak from the tension and the qi she had burned through.

She ran Phoenix Pulse Art slowly, forcing her breathing steady.

Then she closed her eyes and clenched her fist.

There was still more than a month until the final day.

How could she raise herself to Enlightenment great perfection in time?

Sensing her impatience, Granny’s voice sounded in her Sea of Consciousness. “Little girl, using pills to raise cultivation won’t work anymore at your Enlightenment stage. But you’re forgetting what your brother left you.”

Lin Zhao opened her eyes. “The Jade Pendant.”

“Chen Luo Luo had no right to use up everything your brother left,” Granny said, satisfaction threading her tone. “There’s still more.”

Lin Zhao’s heart thudded. “Are you saying the qi my brother left me is enough to push me from Enlightenment seventh level to Enlightenment great perfection?”

“Those leftovers alone won’t be enough,” Granny said, sounding pleased. “But your luck is good. What if, in Spirit Sparrow Pond, you add the impact of the Qingluan being born?”

Lin Zhao’s breath caught.

Granny continued, “While your Phoenix Fortune nurtures the Qingluan, at several major life stages, this high-bloodline Spirit Beast of the Phoenix Clan will feed back into your Phoenix Fortune. With that boosted Phoenix Fortune, Spirit Sparrow Pond’s massive qi supply, and the pure qi that can fuse completely with yours, what you want isn’t impossible!”

Lin Zhao’s heart burned hot—not only for her own breakthrough, but because the Qingluan was finally going to hatch.

For so long, she had pressed the egg to her chest during cultivation, feeding it qi again and again. Nothing happened. She had almost gone numb.

Now—

Perfect timing.