Losing Face

A girl flapping a pair of wings hovered high in the air, then roared, "Which bastard stole my cub?" The question left everyone present breaking out in a cold sweat.

"Who? Who is it? Get out here and show yourself to this lady, don't act like a shrinking turtle!" Ignoring the crowd's reaction, the young girl scanned the people below and shouted again in a rage.

The crowd broke into another cold sweat; this little girl was truly fierce.

"Nobody move! If anyone dares to move, I will kill them. That guy must still be here; he can't have gone far. You lot, search! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find that bastard!" The two Poxue Realm experts from the Huang and Jiang families were so angry their heads were practically smoking. They had guarded this place so bitterly and even fought off several others who tried to snatch the prize, only to realize they had been working for someone else's benefit. They still couldn't fathom what that yellow paper that suddenly appeared was, or where it had come from. However, they knew for certain that this was the work of a human.

The snakes began to retreat the moment the girl stopped playing her snake-charming melody. In a scene of over two thousand people, no one dared to move, yet eyes darted everywhere, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person who had managed to snatch the tiger cub under such circumstances.

After signaling the Huang family to search for any anomalies, the two Poxue Realm experts turned their gaze toward the girl. A flash of surprise crossed their eyes—not because of the girl herself, but because of the pair of wings on her back.

Only Poxue Realm experts could fly through the air, yet this girl's own cultivation was merely at the Pi-Hai Realm. Her flight was clearly entirely dependent on the wings on her back. These were not part of her own body; they were an artifact.

Artifacts were items forged by the refiners of the Lianyue Continent. Much like the pills created by Alchemists, they served various functions. Artifacts on the Lianyue Continent were divided into six tiers based on their power: Mortal Artifacts, Refined Artifacts, Treasure Artifacts, Dharma Artifacts, Spirit Artifacts, and Divine Artifacts, with each tier further divided into three grades.

Mortal Artifacts were the most common and lowest-grade items, barely stronger than weapons forged from ordinary steel. At most, they contained ten runes inscribed by a refiner to enhance their power. The vast majority of people present were using Mortal Artifacts.

Refined Artifacts required at least twenty runes and at most one hundred. This meant the weakest Refined Artifact was at least twice as strong as the strongest Mortal Artifact, and up to ten times stronger. The lowest-grade Refined Artifact could easily destroy the highest-grade Mortal Artifact. This was why the Huang family guard had dared to challenge the spear in Chu Xiaotian's hand, which appeared to be a Mortal Artifact, with his own Refined Artifact sword. Of course, facts proved that the spear in Chu Xiaotian's hand was definitely not a Mortal Artifact.

Treasure Artifacts were items inscribed with at least two hundred and up to one thousand runes. Such items were already considered scarce across the entire Lianyue Continent; their prices were never low, and sometimes money simply couldn't buy them. Among those present, only the two Poxue Realm experts from the Huang and Jiang families possessed one such low-grade Treasure Artifact each; the others could only dream of owning one.

The subsequent tiers followed the same logic: low-grade items were far inferior to the lowest of the higher tiers, and the prices increased exponentially. Especially regarding the most powerful Divine Artifacts, to this day, the only ones known to the world were the national treasures held by each of the five great empires of the Lianyue Continent. In other places, such things were unheard of.

Although the two experts couldn't determine the exact grade of the wings on the girl's back, they were at least high-grade Treasure Artifacts, or perhaps even Dharma Artifacts or something even more advanced. Such items were things they could usually only gaze at from afar; owning one was nearly impossible. These were items only members of truly great families could possess. Yet now, such an artifact had appeared before them, and in the hands of a mere Pi-Hai Realm girl. A sense of uncontrollable greed began to stir within them.

Exchanging a glance, a smile played on both their lips. The Huang family's Poxue Realm expert suddenly pointed at the girl in the air and shouted, "Witch, stop your act! Hand over the spirit beast cub you've hidden, and we might spare you."

"Little witch, don't think we don't know you were the one who summoned those poisonous snakes. You've caused so many deaths; don't you want to give us an explanation?" The Jiang family expert also sneered. Under the previous snake attack, over a hundred people had been killed or injured, and more than a dozen had suffered the agony of having limbs severed. If they were to settle this debt, the girl wouldn't have enough lives to pay for it a hundred times over. The Jiang expert said this merely to label himself with righteousness, giving them a pretext to strike.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, the expressions of the crowd shifted slightly. The looks they cast at the girl were tinged with faint hatred, alongside a deep-seated fear. They weren't fools; hearing the Jiang expert's words and considering the girl's previous actions, it was easy to guess that those snakes really had been summoned by her. For such a stunning girl to send over a hundred people to their deaths without a flicker of emotion—her heart was truly ruthless.

"Hmph, if you lack the skill, don't come to join the fun. Those lecherous fools deserved to die. As for you two old things, don't think I don't know what you're plotting. If you want my Flying Wings, you can just snatch them; I won't call you shameless. Also, if you're going to make excuses, find a better one. If I really had the spirit beast cub, do you think I'd still be here wasting my breath with you? If I wanted to leave, do you think the two of you could stop me? You don't look for the cub, I still have to; don't get in my way, or I won't mind turning your families into snake pits." The girl merely gave a cold laugh at the crowd's reaction, completely unbothered. She then mocked the two Poxue Realm experts.

Having said that, she ignored their reactions, flapped her wings, and prepared to leave to search for the cub's whereabouts.

The two Poxue Realm experts' faces turned incredibly ugly. Having their lies exposed by a little girl was hard to swallow, even for their thick skins. The girl was right; if she wanted to leave, the two of them really couldn't stop her. However, her final threatening words filled them with rage. This was a naked threat. If they didn't show some resolve, they would never be able to hold their heads high in Yufeng Prefecture again.

The two exchanged a look, a flash of light in their eyes, and their figures shot into the sky simultaneously. Appearing on either side of the girl, they swung their weapons down at the same time. Two streaks of Sword Qi erupted and slashed toward her.

The crowd below was startled, followed by a flash of disdain. Both were Poxue Realm experts, yet they had resorted to a sneak attack against a mere Pi-Hai Realm girl; it was truly too shameless. Although this girl had caused the deaths of over a hundred of them, they couldn't help but feel a bit worried for her. This was perhaps a woman's advantage; when they did something wrong, men would always find ways to make excuses for them.

Even the many young people of the Huang family felt a sense of shame at their ancestor's actions. At the same time, they sighed inwardly that their ancestor lacked the grace to cherish the fairer sex; how could he bring himself to strike such a delicate girl?

"Hmph, you two old shameless things, I knew you'd pull this trick." The two Poxue Realm experts didn't manage to hurt the girl. Before their attacks landed, she flapped her wings and vanished from beneath their Sword Qi. She then hovered above their heads and pointed at them, cursing, which made their old faces flush slightly. For two men of their age to sneak-attack a young girl was one thing, but to fail at it—they had truly lost face.

The girl cursed them once more, spread her wings, and flew off into the distance. The two men stood in the void, unsure whether to pursue or not. Their cultivation allowed them to stand in the void, but the girl had a pair of wings that were even more arrogant than their abilities. They couldn't sustain flight for long, certainly not as well as she could. If they failed to catch her and were counter-attacked, they might as well commit suicide. Besides, they still had to find the spirit beast cub.

Giving up the chase, the two landed back on the ground, using their spiritual sense to scan for any anomalies in hopes of finding the cub's trail. The girl, seeing they weren't following, didn't leave either; she continued to circle in the sky, searching for any clues that might lead to the Purple Flame Tiger cub.

While they were still searching, the true owner of the spirit beast cub, Chu Xiaotian, had already reached the edge of the dense forest. By combining the Invisibility Talisman and the Godly Speed Talisman, he had snatched the cub without anyone noticing. After taking it, he had sped out along a pre-planned route while everyone else was still in a daze. By the time the Huang family began their search, he had already been out for a long time.

Glancing at the people still searching in the valley and the girl circling in the sky, Chu Xiaotian smiled slightly, turned, and plunged into the dense forest. Although snatching something from a girl gave him a sense of guilt, the thought that she could send a crowd of people to their deaths without batting an eye—making her a total devil—lessened his guilt significantly.

Although the Godly Speed Talisman could last for a long time, the eight Invisibility Talismans combined could only sustain him and the cub for four minutes. He had used one minute to snatch the cub and escape, leaving him with three minutes. In such a short time, he couldn't run out of the forest, but getting a bit further away would increase his chances of not being discovered. Thus, ignoring what might happen behind him, he began to sprint the moment he entered the woods.