Chapter 048

Chapter 48: He Won’t Admit Defeat!

People tried to comfort themselves, thinking that since Ji Chang Huai was a disciple of Dao Sovereign Yan Ding, he could not lose to a nameless little girl. But Ye Wan Wan’s way of breaking the formation was something they had never seen. No one had ever watched someone handle rune lines right in their hands. Even Fang He An had not seen it, and because the four of them had a silent agreement to hide their true strength, he would never point out that he did not understand his junior sister’s method. Let the others guess.

So now Li Yun and his group could not make up their minds. Someone complained, voice full of regret: “Senior Brother Ji is too gentlemanly. Why did he let that little girl go first? If she broke it first, then there’s nothing left for them.” The others did not speak, but they were thinking the same thing.

Ye Wan Wan watched with cold eyes. [He won’t lose.] Ji Chang Huai’s formation skills were taught by Yan Ding himself. If a small third-level restriction could stop him, he wouldn’t be Ji Chang Huai.

Soon, the restriction faded. Everyone heard the door crack open. Li Yun and the others lit up with joy: “It’s open!” They almost rushed forward to clap and cheer.

But the first thing Ji Chang Huai did was turn to Ye Wan Wan, as if asking for praise. His face was still bright with the thrill of breaking array arts, and he blurted out without thinking: “Junior sister, look-”

The next second, he met Ye Wan Wan’s eyes and felt the sudden quiet around them. He snapped back to himself. No, she was not his junior sister.

Li Wan Zhi and Fang He An slid in front of Ye Wan Wan at once and blocked him, snapping: “What are you doing, trying to snatch our junior sister?” Pinching his voice and raising it loud, Li Wan Zhi said: “I already told you, not just anyone gets to be my junior sister’s senior brother.”

Li Yun and the others turned dark with anger. One of them sneered: “Senior Brother Ji only mistook Junior Sister Ye of the Supreme Sect for being here. Did you think he was calling your little waste? Junior Sister Ye formed her Core Formation at fifteen, and yours-”

“Tsk tsk tsk…” That face said it all and made people furious.

Li Wan Zhi ground his teeth. [Hold it in… He held it in. No, he couldn’t.] Before he could explode, a white figure flashed past. Bai Jian threw a punch that sent the speaker flying off the cliff. If he hadn’t used Sword Flight in time, he might have died. Bai Jian said, cold and clear: “Shut up.”

Everyone fell silent. Late Golden Core. Forget it. They could not win.

Ye Wan Wan laughed softly and said, calm and cool: “Senior sister, don’t waste your breath on them. They’re just a bunch of second-generation trash. I don’t care. Young Master Ji, shall we begin?”

She looked at Ji Chang Huai. She understood his daze and his loss. Before Ye Qian arrived, she had stayed by Ji Chang Huai’s side through long, boring periods of insight. She had accompanied him through Dao Sovereign Yan Ding’s many trials. She had encouraged this eldest senior brother who felt like both a brother and a father, helping him walk out of confusion, and in the end he entered formations with his own body and broke through. She had looked up to him like a faithful admirer, watching him become Azure Cloud Peak’s top array dao genius, a new star in the Cultivation World, the one everyone thought would inherit Azure Cloud Peak. But he was also the one who pushed her into the abyss.

Ten years. This body was only seventeen. Not counting her last life, she had spent almost two thirds of her time in the Supreme Sect. The more she depended on them, the deeper the hurt. The deeper the despair.

Ji Chang Huai recovered and, from embarrassment, spoke stiffly: “The time I took to break it was about the same as yours. We can’t say who won.”

Li Yun and the others started to worry: “Then what do we do?”

Ji Chang Huai looked at Ye Wan Wan and said, steady and serious: “I have a proposal. Break the next formation with me.”

“No!” Li Wan Zhi and Fang He An said together. Even Bai Jian looked over at once, eyes sharp like she was guarding against a thief, and put Ye Wan Wan firmly behind her, as if afraid Ji Chang Huai might steal her away.

Ji Chang Huai frowned. Their faces and posture were too strange.

Li Yun and the others scoffed: “Senior Brother Ji didn’t say it was impossible. Why are you jumping in to object?”

Li Wan Zhi and Fang He An went black-faced. They had no wish to let Ji Chang Huai be alone with their junior sister.

Watching them, Ye Wan Wan froze for a moment. After she understood, a lost feeling rose in her chest along with a long-lost warmth. She soothed them, voice gentle: “Senior sister, since Young Master Ji brought up a suggestion, let’s hear his terms. Once the door is open, how do we divide what’s inside?”

Ji Chang Huai pressed his lips together and said: “By our contribution while breaking it.”

“You want me to keep guarding against you stealing credit while we break it?” Ye Wan Wan asked, voice mild but sharp.

Ji Chang Huai’s eyes sank. This person was truly not his junior sister. His junior sister would never be so stubborn. He said evenly: “I am not the kind of man who schemes in the dark.”

“Fine,” Ye Wan Wan said flatly: “I don’t want to waste time. We act together, and whoever opens it gets it.”

“You mean…” Ji Chang Huai frowned. That did not sound like teamwork.

“We each open our own,” she said, then stepped forward first.

Ji Chang Huai’s face changed. He reached out to stop her. He only meant to warn this headstrong girl that the third-layer restriction wasn’t simple. But Ye Wan Wan reacted fast and knocked his hand away. Her eyes were ice-cold as she said: “Don’t touch me.”

Ji Chang Huai’s hand hung in the air. Anger stirred in his eyes: “You-”

“Alright, everyone relies on their own skill!” he said, then rushed ahead.

Ye Wan Wan’s eyes went deep as she strode after him, but Ji Chang Huai turned back to block. She slipped past him, and at the same time thrust out a palm. With a boom, the Water Arrow Technique slammed into the cave door.

The third-layer restriction triggered. The entire formation spread, taking in the whole cliff.

Ji Chang Huai’s face went dark: “To win, you really don’t care about anyone else.”

“Right back at you,” Ye Wan Wan said.

The restriction opened. This fourth-level challenge was far harder than a simple third-level. A sea of fire rolled in from both sides, and Li Yun and his group screamed: “Quick, circulate your energy and defend!”

Fang He An and Li Wan Zhi obediently hid behind Bai Jian and relied on her aura to block the storm of fire. “Senior sister is the best,” they muttered with relief.

Ji Chang Huai stared at Ye Wan Wan. The two of them stood in the center, swallowed by flames, but neither retreated. The key to cracking the array sat on the door. There was only one chance. Whoever backed away would lose.

Ji Chang Huai punched. Ye Wan Wan caught the blow. Relying on their footwork, they traded more than ten moves back and forth at the doorway. Ji Chang Huai had not expected a girl at the Qi Refining Stage to stand up to so many of his strikes.

“Are you hiding your cultivation?” he asked.

“So what if I am, so what if I’m not,” Ye Wan Wan said coolly.

Ji Chang Huai gathered his spiritual power. Pressure crashed down like a wave and slammed Ye Wan Wan back. Without looking, he grabbed the beast head on the cave door and poured in spiritual energy.

Ye Wan Wan flicked out a Spirit Talisman and shouted: “Bind!” In an instant, rune lines wrapped Ji Chang Huai’s wrist. The girl tapped her toe against the ground, moved like a flying swallow, and pressed the beast head before he could, pushing in her own energy.

A flood of water poured down from above.

Li Yun and the others yelled, panicked: “What is this now?” It was ice and fire together.

Ye Wan Wan turned the beast head. A hidden mechanism behind the cave clicked open. The door swung inward. Without a word, Ye Wan Wan slipped through.

“You dare!” Ji Chang Huai shouted.

“I said each of us would rely on our own skill,” Ye Wan Wan snorted.

He stopped caring about anything else. He would not lose to some wild girl whose name he didn’t even know. Moments later, he rushed in after her.

Behind Ji Chang Huai, another shadow turned into a streak of light and slid inside as well. No one noticed except Bai Jian. She narrowed her eyes and murmured: “That looked like…” [Junior brother?]