"She sacrificed her cultivation to save the common people. I respect her," Li Yang said, avoiding a direct answer.
"Pfft~ I don't believe you~"
Standing nearby, Ye Zhiqiu noticed that Qin Feng and Ning Xi had suddenly stopped talking, though their expressions kept changing. Naturally, he knew they were communicating through Divine Sense.
His face instantly turned green.
She barely acknowledged him, and even ordered him around as though he were nothing but a bodyguard.
Yet she pressed her warm face right against Qin Feng's cold backside. What a cheap bitch!
Who was she putting on that pure-as-ice, lofty act for?
He seethed at the unfairness of it all.
He immediately walked over to Li Yang, took out a Storage Bag, and offered it to him.
"Senior Brother Qin, I know you gave all your cultivation resources to our senior sisters. We're about to enter a Secret Realm with danger lurking on every side. These are some Formation Plates, pills, Magic Treasures, and talismans Senior Sister refined for me. Take them."
Li Yang frowned.
"I told you, stop making a spectacle of yourself in front of me. There's no need to show anything off, either. I don't care, and I'm not interested."
"That's not what I meant!" Ye Zhiqiu feigned agitation. "I really just want you to make it out of the Secret Realm alive."
The corners of his eyes instantly reddened, his autumn-water eyes brimming with tears that hovered on the verge of falling.
He instinctively bit his lower lip, the tip of his nose flushing beyond his control. His Adam's apple bobbed several times before he managed to swallow the sob, letting out only a faint, delicate sniff.
Li Yang's eyelid twitched at the sight.
Back on Blue Star, he could have entered any Idol Trainee show and debuted on the spot with that trick of making his eyes redden in an instant, while a horde of young girls howled, "Baby, don't cry!"
Jiang Qingci and He Lu saw this but had yet to say anything.
Ning Xi, however, could no longer stand watching.
She knitted her delicate brows. "Why are you so delicate?
"Senior Brother Qin just scolded me, and I was fine. He says one harsh thing to you, and you're about to cry?
"You're even more fragile than a woman like me. Don't tell me I'll have to protect you once we're inside the Secret Realm.
"It's true that I need a shield, but if you're this pathetic, you'll only make me a laughingstock in my circle."
"I..." Ye Zhiqiu was momentarily speechless.
Ning Xi hadn't said a single harsh word, yet it hurt worse than being cursed out.
"You're going too far!" Unable to watch any longer, Jiang Qingci stepped forward to back Ye Zhiqiu up.
"Drop that high-and-mighty attitude. Junior Brother Ye isn't your servant. You'd better remember your place."
He Lu added, "Go back to your Ning Lineage if you want to throw your weight around. We're the Sect Master's Direct Disciples. Why should we let you order us about?"
Ning Xi laughed in anger. "Please! He was the one who jumped at the chance to be my shield. He's already accepted the benefits, and now I can't even say anything?"
Ye Zhiqiu hurriedly caught hold of his two senior sisters.
"It was my fault. I shouldn't have been so sensitive. If Senior Brother Qin doesn't want them, then forget it. I just don't want things to become too strained between you all."
Jiang Qingci folded her arms and glanced at Li Yang. "This time, I'll never forgive him."
Those words made Qin Feng stiffen beside Li Yang, struggling desperately to suppress something.
In the end, Ye Zhiqiu withstood the pressure and avoided falling out with Ning Xi.
As he saw it, he had to put on a good performance.
Soon, his opportunity arrived.
A handsome young man approached, his long, fiery-red hair dancing wildly, his bearing bold and unrestrained.
His eyes were amber, and deep within his pupils, Fire Mulberry Trees seemed to sway, burning with undying vitality and hope.
He was absolutely a Peerless Prodigy at the very least. Though only at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, his oppressive aura was even more terrifying than that of a Golden Core expert!
"Fairy Ning Xi, it's been a while." His voice was husky, carrying a masculine charm like a tiger's roar through a secluded valley.
"Mm."
Ning Xi responded coldly, her gaze flicking toward Ye Zhiqiu.
He immediately stepped in front of her.
"Hello."
"And you are?" The fiery-haired young man frowned. He had no recollection of Ye Zhiqiu whatsoever.
"Ye Zhiqiu of the Mystic Heaven Sword Sect." Ye Zhiqiu smiled. "Ning Xi isn't interested in you. Please leave."
"Hmm..." The fiery-haired young man considered this, looking past Ye Zhiqiu at Ning Xi. "Such low standards. You grabbed some random stray cat or dog to fob me off."
"Mm." Ning Xi nodded, effectively admitting it.
That made Ye Zhiqiu even angrier.
But a smile soon curved his lips. "When you take someone's money, you ward off their troubles. Nothing wrong with that."
"All right, all right. I don't want to waste time with you either," the fiery-haired young man said. "We're all grown up now, so let's skip the empty games. Take one punch from me unharmed, and I'll leave immediately. Otherwise, you aren't qualified to be her shield. Don't interfere with my pursuit of Fairy Ning Xi."
Ye Zhiqiu agreed without hesitation.
He needed precisely such an opportunity to showcase his strength and show off in spectacular fashion.
Don't you all think I'm inferior to Qin Feng?
Then let me show you how a Transmigrator with a system crushes the natives from a higher dimension!
What he failed to notice was that the moment he accepted the fiery-haired young man's wager, Ning Xi's expression behind him had already darkened.
In the Kun Province Domain, female cultivators held a status absolutely equal to that of male cultivators.
The fiery-haired young man's arrogance was one thing.
But Ye Zhiqiu's agreement to this wager was itself a humiliating act of objectification. He hadn't even asked Ning Xi, stripping her of her agency.
She only needed a shield to keep people from bothering her, not to become the prize in Ye Zhiqiu's contest with other men.
Still, she didn't say so outright, merely watching with cold eyes.
Ye Zhiqiu had no idea what was wrong.
The system suddenly notified him that his conquest progress with Ning Xi had dropped by 30%.
"I took your resources, so I won't let anyone bother you." Ye Zhiqiu looked back with feigned nonchalance.
He pretended to have no interest in Ning Xi, playing hard to get.
There was no further talk.
Straightforward by nature, the fiery-haired young man suppressed his cultivation to the first level of Foundation Establishment, matching Ye Zhiqiu, and threw a punch.
Crimson patterns emerged along his arm, and the void warped beneath the scorching heat.
A phantom Fire Mulberry Tree appeared behind him, spreading open a domain of fire and painting the sky orange-red.
The Mystic Heaven Sword Sect cultivators on the giant sword were all startled.
Even the Golden Core disciples' gazes turned grave.
"Solar True Fire!"
"That guy is Sang Yan, the current Crown Champion!"
"The supreme Crown Champion of the Nine Provinces Contest! Has Ye Zhiqiu lost his mind?"
Yet, faced with such pressure, Ye Zhiqiu still wore a faint smile.
Yes! That's it! Everyone doubts me, everyone looks down on me, but I'm the strongest of all! I'll slap every one of your faces swollen!
Seven apertures throughout his body lit up simultaneously, linking into a line and revolving like a miniature star chart.
With a hum, a transparent ripple spread outward from him in every direction.
The Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body could resonate with all things in heaven and earth, sensing the weak point in Sang Yan's attack.
"Found it!"
His eyes shone as he thrust out a finger, keeping his other hand ostentatiously behind his back.
That finger struck at the phantom Fire Mulberry Tree behind Sang Yan, seeking to sever his source of power.
But the instant his fingertip touched the phantom tree, Sang Yan detonated it himself. The fiery leaves filling the sky burned furiously to their limit, most of their power pouring into his fist.
"Brainless." Li Yang shook his head nearby.
Ye Zhiqiu clearly had far too little experience in mortal combat.
The moment he saw a weakness, he couldn't wait to strike.
Did he think his opponent couldn't adapt?
Had it been Li Yang, he would have waited until the most critical moment to act, not only breaking the move but also finding a way to kill.
Ye Zhiqiu's face abruptly went white.
The breath of death surged toward him, yet he seemed frozen in place.
Only the system-given, automatically triggered lifesaving trump card around his neck flared with light, shutting out the danger.
Sang Yan pulled back in time, never fully landing the punch.
His gaze was calm and impassive. "Your ability is strong, but you're trash."
Experts testing one another stopped short of injury.
He wouldn't actually injure someone in Kunyuan Immortal City, nor was he foolish enough to hurt someone working for Ning Xi.
"Now you can scram. A shield like you shatters at the slightest touch."
Before you continue