A spectacular shutdown: An Yi cut to the heart and berated Hu Jia into questioning her life

Hu Gan looked at his granddaughter's stubborn eyes and hesitated. In the end, he still did not reveal the terrifying truth that An Yi was already a "Dou Wang expert."

After all, a gulf like that might be too devastating for these proud children who had always considered themselves geniuses. It might even shatter their resolve to cultivate.

An Yi saw through it but said nothing, smiling as he followed Hu Jia's lead. "Mm, I should still be just a tiny bit stronger than you lot."

"Really? I don't believe it!"

Hearing the apparent hint of disdain in An Yi's tone, the fiercely competitive Hu Jia immediately burned with anger. She abruptly stepped forward, snapped the whip in her hand, and pointed it at An Yi as she loudly challenged him:

"Then I challenge you! If you lose, you have to give Xun'er to me and stay away from her from now on!"

The air around them froze again at those words.

An Yi's smile faded, and he slowly shook his head. "Forget it. I've never liked fighting girls."

"If I go too easy, it looks like playful banter, like I'm deliberately flirting. If I hit too hard, it makes me look like I don't know how to cherish a delicate flower. Neither is very appropriate."

An Yi paused, his gaze gradually sharpening as he looked straight into Hu Jia's eyes. "Besides, I really didn't like what you just said. What do you mean, give her to you? That's extremely disrespectful to Xun'er."

"Who she likes, who she doesn't like, who she wants to be with, and who she doesn't want to be with-all of that is her own business. It's her freedom."

"She's a living, breathing person, not an object you can casually hand over or use as