Chapter 068

Chapter 68: Others Can’t, But I Can

The scene turned strange. From Ye Qian’s body, a cultivator with a Water Spiritual Root, the Golden Core that had been dug out was actually fire element. The sharp contrast made many people freeze. Those who knew more muttered one term: “Spirit Shift.”

Someone asked in a low voice: “Attribute conversion?”

Another person explained: “Yes, using special methods to switch the five element attribute.”

A third voice gasped: “There is even a method like that? Then different attributes can be changed too? But what about spiritual roots? If the roots are different, won’t it cause problems?”

The answer came back steady: “There will be an effect. In general, swapping Golden Cores of the same attribute is best. But if you cannot find one, using a Golden Core one grade higher still works.”

Li Yun whispered: “Using Spirit Shift drops the grade by one.”

The reply was quiet but firm: “Right. High Grade falls to Middle Grade, Middle Grade falls to Low Grade, so most people will not do it.”

Li Yun pressed on: “Then if you want to keep a Supreme Grade Golden Core, you would need to use…”

Someone cut in with a breath held at the edge of a word: “Heaven…”

Heaven Grade.

Silence fell. At last a whisper slipped out: “Where would she get a Heaven Grade Spiritual Root cultivator’s Golden Core? Even if one existed, who would give it up?”

They were right. Who would replace a Supreme Grade with a Heaven Grade? That would be wasteful. Heaven Grade was too rare. Among one hundred thousand gifted cultivators, you might not find one.

A voice floated from the crowd: “Fire element, Heaven Grade… could that be the junior sister from Azure Cloud Peak?”

Another countered: “Isn’t the Azure Cloud Peak junior sister Ye Qian?”

A third corrected: “No, there is also Little Seven. Many people mistake them for the same person. But I heard that junior sister died last year. We have not heard news since.”

Someone breathed a doubt: “Did she really die?”

The thought flashed through everyone’s mind: cultivators do not fall sick so easily.

Eyes turned to Ji Chang Huai and his companion, long looks carrying a hidden meaning. Supreme Sect did not seem so clean after all.

No matter what, Ye Wan Wan had dug out Ye Qian’s Golden Core in front of all cultivators. It was shocking, and it was not something a righteous person would do. As many turned accusing looks on Ye Wan Wan, Dou Ming seized the opening. He flared a tool and burst out from under Ye Wan Wan’s pressure.

He shouted with a fierce voice: “Stone Prison Cage!”

Countless rocks tore up from the ground and shot toward Ye Wan Wan. Needle-like spikes lunged between Ye Qian and Ye Wan Wan, driving straight for the girl’s wrist. If Ye Wan Wan did not dodge, she would be pierced. If she dodged, she would have to release Ye Qian. Dou Ming meant to force her hand.

Ye Wan Wan gave him a sidelong glance and said, cool as ice: “I told you, I will let her go.”

She lifted her hand and slammed the spikes back. The backlash made Dou Ming spit blood on the spot. Then Ye Wan Wan flicked her wrist and tossed Ye Qian to the charging Dou Ming. Hugging the bleeding Ye Qian, Dou Ming’s eyes turned red, yet fear still flickered there.

He bent over her and said with a trembling voice: “Junior sister, do not be afraid, senior brother will heal you.”

Ye Qian kept coughing blood and rasped: “Thir… third senior brother.”

Ye Wan Wan spoke lightly: “No need to pretend you are parting at life and death. This kind of wound will not kill.”

Dou Ming snapped and screamed: “I will kill you! I will kill you!”

Ye Wan Wan laughed under her breath and mocked him: “Have you not killed before?”

Veins stood out in Dou Ming’s eyes. [He could not understand why someone could hate them this much.] Spiritual power swelled in his palm and the earth quivered.

Ye Wan Wan’s smile thinned: “Seeking death.”

“Then you die first!” Dou Ming roared.

The litter of stones all over the ground shuddered and then exploded. The violent shock slammed into Ye Wan Wan’s pattern lines and shook the footing of everyone from Heavenly One Sect. Grabbing his chance, Dou Ming set Ye Qian down and charged at Ye Wan Wan as he shouted: “Eldest senior brother, lend me your strength!”

He believed that as long as they broke her Array Arts, he could kill this woman.

Ji Chang Huai’s body trembled as he said with a struggle: “But…”

“But…” The word stuck in his throat.

Dou Ming shouted again: “Do you not want to avenge our junior sister? She was crippled!” He added with a roar: “Crippled by an outsider!”

All the while his charge never paused. He slipped past the force of the Array Arts, kept cracking the earth, and summoned Rockfall Strike again.

Boom, boom, boom. Before the stone gate, rocks fell in a storm. The ground turned into a wreck. Ruins spread in every direction.

In the ruins, Dou Ming locked his eyes on Ye Wan Wan. By wrecking the ground and breaking the array lines, he kept closing the gap between them, even while pressure from the array still weighed on him. He did not stop.

Fang He An’s eyes narrowed as he said quickly: “He has a tool on him.”

Li Wan Zhi blurted: “Then what do we do?”

Fang He An could not find a way to cut in. But he knew one thing: junior sister’s cultivation had most likely been force-raised by some method. They could not drag this out.

He muttered to himself: “We need a way.”

Inside the rubble, Ye Wan Wan moved with calm steps, dodging while her gaze searched Dou Ming for a flaw. Dou Ming was known as a king on land. Fighting him on the ground was a disadvantage. But if she gave up the array, she would fall into his plan. So she did not leave.

Dou Ming was gambling that she would not.

As the ground tremors spread wider, a cage gathered out of thin air high above and formed over Ye Wan Wan’s head. Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Dou Ming’s stare turned cold as he said: “Die. Go underground and repent for your crimes.”

Ye Wan Wan looked at him and answered, voice faint: “An attack from above and below, is it? You learned well. But did you forget who taught you how to do it?”

Dou Ming fell silent.

Ye Wan Wan sounded as if speaking to herself: “And the way to break it is very simple too, Third Senior Brother.”

The drawn-out taunt, word by word, made Dou Ming’s pupils tighten.

Ye Wan Wan stepped, and while the high cage was still forming, she vanished. The next instant, the cage appeared over Dou Ming’s head.

He looked up. He knew that if a prison cage with a locking aura appeared above him, it meant-

Dou Ming spun around.

Ye Wan Wan stood right behind him.

Her voice brushed his ear, agile and clear: “Third senior brother, your idea of an up-down pincer is good, but it is too slow. If the enemy appears behind you at the fastest speed and locks you along with the cage, what will you do?” He remembered his old answer: “No one can be that fast.”

Ye Wan Wan smiled and said: “But I can.”

He stared at the girl’s face. In that moment, the long-held discomfort he felt around her snapped into clarity.

“Sev…” The word junior sister stuck in his throat.

The cage fell. At the exact moment it dropped, the girl had already moved away by a single step. She stood only one step from the cage, one inside and one outside.

From within, Dou Ming stared through the bars at the girl outside as she spoke in a calm voice: “Giant Rockfall Strike.”

It was his move, but from her lips it flowed even smoother. In the sky, black cracks tore open. Countless boulders crashed down. They smashed into the prison cage. The earth shook.

The girl turned and walked away without a glance back.

She walked toward Bai Jian and the others.

As the Glimmerstone Gate flashed with flowing light, everyone understood and murmured: “It is over.”