Chapter 11

When Luo Bingyao saw that Shen Xingyan did not dodge, she went a step further and hooked her arm around his neck, striking a provocative pose at Ye Qingyao.

Ye Qingyao felt as though her eyes had been sullied. She was about to leave when Ye Qingchuan beat her to it. "We won't interrupt your tryst. Senior Sister and I will be off." With that, the two strode away without looking back.

"What tryst? It's not what you think." Shen Xingyan had meant to chase after them and explain, but felt it would be beneath his dignity. Instead, he stood where he was and shouted at their backs.

After they left, Luo Bingyao shook Shen Xingyan's sleeve coquettishly. "My dear Shen, that Ye Qingyao looks as skinny as a bamboo pole. I barely touched her, and she acted like she was about to fall. Was she deliberately pretending to be hurt so you'd pity her?" Even as she spoke, she made sure to put down Ye Qingyao's figure for being too thin and not voluptuous enough, while accusing her of scheming.

To Shen Xingyan, however, this ploy was painfully crude. Since childhood, too many women had put others down in front of him to make themselves look better. Hearing it now only struck him as foolish.

Shen Xingyan looked at her affected face and shook off her hand in disgust. "How many times have I told you? Don't call me 'my dear Shen'!"

"My heart is yours, even if hers isn't. Why not cherish the one before your eyes?"

"Because the one before my eyes isn't the one in my heart."

Watching his cold retreating figure, Luo Bingyao flushed with humiliation and anger. Her nails dug deep into her palms. "Just you wait, Ye Qingyao!"

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Chapter 11

"Well, if it isn't Ye Qinghui, the genius sword cultivator! I'm Jiang Kui of Thousand Mechanisms Palace. I've admired your reputation for ages. Before the forest entrance opens completely, how about we trade a few moves?"

When Ye Qingyao and the others returned to meet First Senior Brother, they found someone challenging him. The newcomer had a roguish face with a prominent scar on his right cheek, and he wore an arrogant, swaggering expression.

Thousand Mechanisms Palace was a small sect that had risen only in recent years. It was neither one of the five great sects nor an established sect or cultivation clan. It had made a name for itself through its skill with hidden weapons, which had caught many people off guard and earned the disdain of the righteous. Jiang Kui was its most famous disciple. Though a sword cultivator, he kept over a hundred kinds of hidden weapons, earning him the nickname "Shadow Venomous Spider."

You never came looking for a match when Eldest Senior Brother's Inner Core was intact. Now you've heard something happened to him, so you're stirring up trouble, hoping to climb higher on his reputation.

First Senior Brother, don't fight a petty man like him. Even if he can't beat you, he'll ambush you with a hidden weapon.

"We all came for the Illusory Forest. Why resort to fighting? If you want to spar, we can have a proper match at the Immortal Sects Grand Tournament." Ye Qinghui cupped his hands politely and declined. He had come solely for the Ten-Thousand-Year Bodhi seed and had no wish to invite trouble.

"Exactly. Don't spoil everyone's excitement for the treasure hunt," Ye Qingyao chimed in.

"Does he not want to fight, or does he not dare?"

"I heard Ye Qinghui lost his Inner Core and became a good-for-nothing."

"Without an Inner Core, he's no different from an ordinary person. Even with excellent Swordsmanship, his attacks won't have any real force." The people beside Jiang Kui deliberately spoke loudly.

At those words, Jiang Kui grew even more brazen. He drew his sword and advanced, pointing its tip straight at Ye Qinghui. "They say you have an Innate Sword Bone, extraordinary talent, and a Supreme Heavenly Spiritual Root. They call you the foremost sword cultivator among the disciples of every sect in the Cultivation World. Was it all an empty reputation? Today, you'll fight whether you want to or not!"

A violent wind came howling with the Sword Qi, and the atmosphere abruptly turned tense.

More people gathered around, Shen Xingyan among them. Ye Qingyao looked to him for help, hoping he would step forward and stop Jiang Kui from stirring up trouble. But he gave her a cold glance, looked away, and stood by as though it had nothing to do with him.

Ye Qingyao's heart grew colder still, while Luo Bingyao smiled smugly.

Ye Qinghui had been a favored son of heaven since childhood, admired by all and aloof by nature. He had held back time and again earlier for fear that his little junior sister might get hurt. Now, seeing Jiang Kui push too far, he put his hand on his sword, ready to draw it and meet the challenge.

So what if I have no Inner Core? I'd rather die than suffer this humiliation.

"Look! The entrance to the Illusory Forest is wide open! Hurry in and seize the treasures!" A man in white robes embroidered with red sword patterns called out to everyone, rescuing them from the confrontation at just the right moment.

Everyone's attention snapped to a golden vortex ahead, and they rushed inside, jostling to be first. Rare treasures were limited, after all. First come, first served; getting ahead mattered.

Jiang Kui put away his sword too. After saying, "We'll fight at the Immortal Sects Grand Tournament," he hurried into the Illusory Forest. The entrance was said to appear only once every thousand years or so, and inside were thousand-year-old spirit plants, thousand-year-old spirit fruits, and even top-grade Dragonblood Stone. Who wouldn't want to grab as many treasures as possible while they could?

Ye Qinghui was about to lead his junior brother and sisters into the golden vortex when his little junior sister's tender baby voice sounded in his ears:

First Senior Brother, Zhenzhen's tummy is hungry. Zhenzhen wants milk.

Right now! I have to have it right now!

She wriggled willfully in the carrying basket, looking as though she would not stop until she got her milk.

"All right, Little Junior Sister." Ye Qinghui stopped at once. He took the bottle he had prepared from his Storage Pouch, warmed the milk with Spirit Fire, tested the temperature on his wrist, then gently fed the baby in his arms.

Ye Zhenzhen puffed out her cheeks and sucked down the milk, mouthful by mouthful.

Mwah~ mwah~ Milk tastes so good.

Ye Qinghui smiled fondly. "Slow down. Take your time, or you'll choke."

Overcome with maternal affection, Ye Qingyao said, "The sounds Little Junior Sister makes when she drinks milk are so adorable."

Ye Qingchuan: ?

Little Junior Sister really knows how to pick her moments for milk. And neither Senior Brother nor Senior Sister is in any hurry. Am I the only normal person in the entire sect? By the time we enter the Illusory Forest, all the spirit plants and treasures will probably be gone.

Only after Ye Zhenzhen leisurely finished her milk and gave a satisfied burp did the four of them finally enter the Illusory Forest.

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