"You—!"
Gu Yuena's voice carried the embarrassed fury of someone whose secret had been exposed.
The silver-white phantom swayed slightly, as though even her own aura had been thrown into disarray by those words.
She took a deep breath. Her silver eyes fixed fiercely on Li Qinglian's still faintly teasing face, her voice carrying a chill she was forcing herself to maintain.
"Unless you truly gain the strength and potential to stand beside me, don't try to flirt with me."
Her tone was fierce.
Yet a fleeting softness passed through those silver eyes, so quickly that even she failed to notice it.
When she saw the cold sweat on Li Qinglian's face, his lips slightly pale from having his heart gripped, and the fine beads of sweat seeping from his brow, more than half the anger in her heart suddenly dissipated.
She pursed her lips, fell silent for a moment, then lowered her voice slightly.
"...Enough. Stop pretending to be dead. I didn't even use any strength."
Li Qinglian braced himself against the wall and straightened up, rubbing his still faintly aching chest. A somewhat weak smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Sister Na, you call that not using strength... I thought I was about to go meet the Grim Reaper."
A trace of softness surfaced in Gu Yuena's silver eyes as she looked at him like this.
She did not respond. She merely turned her face away, her silver-white hair swaying slightly with the motion. Her voice was deliberately cold and flat.
"You deserved it. Who told you to talk nonsense?"
"Alright, alright. I'll be more careful from now on."
Li Qinglian smiled.
Li Qinglian looked at the faint silver-white glow on the Dragon Abyss Ring and did not continue teasing her.
He merely chuckled softly and