Chapter 75

Chapter 75: She Will Conquer This Sky!

However, Immortal Maiden Azure Luan would not listen to her defense at all. She tilted her head and said, cold and sure: “Chang Li has passed his household-guarding technique to you, and you say you have nothing to do with him? Heh.”

[That small-minded mutt is not generous enough to hand that art to a stranger.] Azure Luan also noted how some of Shen Sang Ruo’s expressions looked exactly like that annoying man’s, which made her teeth itch.

Even if they were not Master and disciple, they were clearly close.

Azure Luan flicked her sleeve and said, cutting off any more excuses: “Save your sweet talk. If you must blame someone, blame that dog Chang Li for narrowing your path.”

Shen Sang Ruo blinked, stunned: [So Immortal Lord Chang Li is a repeat offender.]

Azure Luan showed the same cold, wicked smile as before and said, voice sunny and fake: “Hehe, come on, let’s do it again.”

Shen Sang Ruo measured the gap in strength. In front of Azure Luan, her own cultivation was nothing. She guessed Azure Luan was at least in the Divine Transformation Stage. Running was not an option.

Once again, Azure Luan grabbed her, floated them above the clouds, and let her drop.

At least Azure Luan did not invent a new way to torture her. Shen Sang Ruo was more prepared this time, with fresh experience to rely on.

It was just more flapping. She would treat it like trying out an Avian Clan specialty.

But when she tried to do what she did before, she immediately felt the Wind Domain was much weaker than last time.

Azure Luan’s voice drifted down with a cold smile: “You thought I would let you slide that easily? Enjoy.”

She had planned to savor Shen Sang Ruo’s suffering, but when the weaker wind made the girl flap even harder, Azure Luan fell quiet again and looked away: [Am I really the one suffering here?]

With less wind, everything got harder.

Shen Sang Ruo clenched her teeth and poured every drop of Spiritual Power she could muster into her arms.

Burning pain rose from her dantian. She had no choice but to draw more Spiritual Power from the air, greedily, until every channel in her body felt scorched. Still she did not stop.

Her technique shifted naturally from the Fanning Wind and Stirring Fire Art into the Sunset Glassfire Art.

Another crash thundered out, louder than before.

This time, Shen Sang Ruo trembled as she climbed from the pit and barely kept her feet.

She took a Spirit-Replenishing Pill from her Cosmos Pouch and swallowed it. The burning in her channels and dantian eased a little as Spiritual Power flowed back in.

Azure Luan appeared behind her again and asked, a brief spark of surprise flashing in her phoenix eyes though her tone stayed chill: “Rested? Continue.”

Shen Sang Ruo said nothing. She let Azure Luan carry her up and throw her down.

She panted, chest heaving, but her gaze on the endless height turned serious. A steady fighting will lit in her eyes.

Azure Luan’s look held a trace of appreciation: [Oh? She is starting to see it.]

Azure Luan waved her fair hand and shaved more force off the wind.

Shen Sang Ruo pushed the Sunset Glassfire Art even harder, using raw Spiritual Power to fight the speed of her fall.

She barely found a balance when a cyan, feather-shaped blast of Spiritual Power smacked her forearm.

Azure Luan clicked her tongue and said, unable to help herself: “I really can’t watch this. Your flapping is outrageously ugly. It hurts my eyes.”

Pain bit Shen Sang Ruo’s arm and broke her rhythm. The delicate balance snapped, and her falling speed spiked.

[This is bad.] She had to draw every last drop of Spiritual Power from her dantian, face flushing red as she bit her lower lip until it left a line of blood.

But Azure Luan seemed set on getting in her way. Cyan feathers kept flying at Shen Sang Ruo’s arms, always when she was about to steady herself, breaking her effort again and again.

Only when she was about to hit the ground did Azure Luan stop, letting her adjust at the last instant and meet the impact.

Shen Sang Ruo crawled out of the new pit using a branch as a cane, her whole body shaking from exhaustion.

She swallowed two more Spirit-Replenishing Pills. Azure Luan appeared behind her once more.

Shen Sang Ruo beat her to the punch and said, voice hoarse but firm: “Continue.”

A smile bloomed at Azure Luan’s lips. A request like that was new even to her. With a swirl of her sleeve, they rose into even higher clouds.

Shen Sang Ruo felt no fear. She leaped off on her own.

The higher they went, the weaker the Wind Domain became. Add Azure Luan’s now-and-then cyan feathers, and this became the hardest trial yet.

She drove the wind-control part of the Sunset Glassfire Art to its limit and also realized something else: Azure Luan’s attacks were correcting the way she moved her arms.

Watching for the moments Azure Luan paused, Shen Sang Ruo copied the posture she hinted at and fixed her own.

With the right form, it did get a little easier, though only a little. Her arms were not as tired, but because she was not skilled yet, the effect was still worse than the wild flapping earlier.

Heat flooded her dantian and channels, then her skin. Every inch of her turned rose-red.

[Yes, a girl’s blush beats any sweet talk.]

The ground rushed up. She felt like she would burn away, yet she threw herself into the final push.

[So close. Just a little more.]

Another boom shook the valley, and the new crater swallowed all the old ones.

This time, Azure Luan landed at the rim and watched the dust roll. Shen Sang Ruo did not climb out right away.

Azure Luan frowned.

In a daze, she felt something tug her foot.

She looked down. Shen Sang Ruo was dragging herself up from the pit, too spent to stand but with eyes bright as stars.

Azure Luan’s frown deepened as she said, voice softer than before: “If you give up now, it’s still in time.”

Shen Sang Ruo panted out one word, and Azure Luan heard a thread of excitement under all that fatigue: “Continue.”

Azure Luan’s smile turned real as she said: “Good. Do not regret it.” For the first time, her tone toward Shen Sang Ruo held respect.

But the trials so far were only appetizers. To earn true recognition, Shen Sang Ruo would have to pass all of Azure Luan’s tests.

Right now, Shen Sang Ruo’s fighting spirit burned white-hot. She was giddy with it, the battering pain fading to a far echo.

She had been just a step away. Just a little more and she would succeed.

She was grasping the core of it now and felt a deeper harmony with the Sunset Glassfire Art. With every fall, her control grew.

If she tried again, she could do even better.

She would conquer this sky.