Wen Qingxuan

Once they had agreed on their plan, Tan Feng and Tan Yin strode out of the Peach Grove with a swagger that acknowledged neither kin nor clan. Their arrogance made everyone present turn to stare.

What the hell were these two supposed to be?

"Tch, a bunch of useless trash. What are you standing there glaring at? Keep staring, and I'll have Brother Yun beat you to death. You wouldn't even last one move!" Tan Feng tipped his nose skyward, though his heart was actually hammering.

"What? Where did you two bastards crawl out from? Do you have a death wish?" Several people flushed instantly at the provocation. At their age, nothing infuriated them more than being looked down on.

"Hmph, worthless trash. You don't even dare take on one lousy woman. All that cowering, and not one of you dozen or so has any balls!" Tan Yin sneered. He genuinely despised these people. Yesterday, there had only been three of them, yet they had still dared charge at the girl and test their luck. Today, these people had far greater numbers, yet all they dared do was stand around wasting time.

"You're asking to die!" Someone flew into a rage and darted toward Tan Feng and Tan Yin.

Watching him charge over barehanded, Tan Yin sneered inwardly again. He drew the sword he had concealed at his waist beforehand and slashed viciously at him.

"No...!" The charging boy's expression changed drastically. He forced his arm up, hoping to save his life.

But a savage gleam flashed through Tan Yin's eyes. He put even more strength into the blow and chopped hard into the boy's arm, severing it in two.

"Aah!"

The boy clutched his arm and collapsed, howling in agony. His life was ruined. Even making it out of the Spirit Road would now be extraordinarily difficult.

Tan Feng stepped forward, a sword appearing in his hand as well. Without hesitation, he drove it between the boy's brows. "To spare you any more suffering, I'll just have to let you close your eyes a little sooner!"

"How do they have weapons too?" The others instantly backed away from the pair, disbelief in their eyes.

The Spirit Road had only just opened, and weapons were exceedingly scarce. With everyone effectively an ordinary person, anyone holding a saber or sword could practically chase the others down and hack at them.

Watching the wariness in their eyes, Tan Feng recalled what Yun Mo had told them last night: "In the Spirit Road, people like you can only survive by being more ruthless than everyone else!"

He shook his head. They no longer thought much of this bunch of trash. "You lousy woman, we're back for revenge! Hand over the tree and return our tokens, and do it quietly. Otherwise, once Brother Yun gets here, he'll beat you to death!"

Tan Yin chimed in, "That's right! If you don't know what's good for you, just see if Brother Yun doesn't beat you to death!"

"Wasn't your boss called Yu Fang? How did he change his name in just one day?" The girl tightened her grip on her spear, her red lips parting softly. She was still rather eager for a fight.

Tan Feng looked a little embarrassed. He could hardly tell her their current boss had stomped their previous boss to death, could he?

"Enough nonsense. You may be strong, but you're not strong enough to monopolize the fruit tree!" Tan Yin pointed his sword at her.

"Heh, I only claimed this place to hone my skills, but this Spirit Road has been rather disappointing. That Brother Yun gave you those swords, didn't he? Since he refuses to come out, I'll kill you first and force him to show himself!"

The girl spun her spear. Its golden tip danced through the air, tracing a sharp arc. Then she pushed off with her toes, sending peach blossoms swirling into the air as her slender figure shot toward the two like an arrow.

Tan Feng and Tan Yin swallowed at the sight, chills running through their bodies. They did not believe having a sword each would let them turn the tables.

But there was no way they would simply sit and await death.

Tan Feng raised his sword upright and darted toward the girl's left, thrusting at her, while Tan Yin moved in perfect coordination to her right and slashed.

The girl laughed softly, paying no heed to their pincer attack. With a turn of her wrist, she first used her spear's superior reach to jab at Tan Feng's face, forcing him to dodge. Then she turned sideways, swinging the spear across at Tan Yin.

Clang! Clang!

As spear and swords crossed, the ringing clash of metal sounded again and again.

Tan Feng's and Tan Yin's faces gradually turned ashen. They discovered that the girl before them seemed utterly tireless. Every flick of her spear tip carried strength they could not possibly match, as though she remained at her peak the entire time. Their swords grew harder and harder to wield.

In the blink of an eye, the three had exchanged more than a dozen moves. Apart from their initial joint attack, Tan Feng and Tan Yin had never regained the initiative. She suppressed them completely, leaving them able only to defend, and danger already beset them on every side.

Clang!

"Damn it!" The web of Tan Feng's hand split from the impact, and a sweet, bloody taste surged into his throat. He had known they were no match for this girl, but how could the gulf be so vast?

The dozen or so people around them watched the fight, smiles spreading across their faces.

"Fight! Keep fighting! Once you've exhausted yourselves, it'll be my turn to reap the harvest."

"Heh, did you really think I was afraid of you? I'm just waiting to reap the fisherman's reward."

"Once you're dead, I'll take your tokens all the way through the Spirit Road!"

Yun Mo had changed into a long pink robe and, using the scenery as camouflage, had settled in the fruit tree long ago.

He picked a fruit and popped it into his mouth, savoring its crisp sweetness. At the same time, he felt his flesh gradually becoming firmer, while that mysterious power capable of healing injuries flowed slowly through his body.

"Not bad. Those two lackeys actually haven't run away. Looks like they're worth a fruit each after all. They're just a little weak. That girl, though, is impressive. Those two are probably in for a savage beating."

The girl seemed to have decided she had seen the full extent of their abilities. Her spear changed again, its previously restrained, probing movements suddenly becoming overwhelmingly domineering. Even her strength, already far beyond an ordinary person's, rose another level.

Tan Feng and Tan Yin's already precarious situation instantly teetered on the brink of defeat and death.

Finally, the girl seized an opening in Tan Feng's defense. She struck his wrist with her spear, flicking his sword away, then drove the tip into his shoulder, bringing forth a spray of blood.

Tan Yin panicked and hurried forward to save his brother. But before he could swing his sword more than twice, she pierced his arm and knocked him flying.

Just as the girl was about to advance again, her gaze sharpened. A steel needle was whistling toward her from behind.

She frowned slightly and turned sideways, avoiding the needle behind her. But precisely because of that

, Tan Feng and Tan Yin had already darted away to a safe distance.

The girl turned her eyes, brilliant as stars, toward the Nine-Leaf Fruit Tree. Someone had settled up there without her noticing.

"Who are you?"

"There's someone up there!"

"Bastard, put those fruits down!"

Seeing the girl's movements, the others turned toward the fruit tree as well. They immediately spotted Yun Mo and cursed furiously. Someone stamped a foot and prepared to charge toward the tree.

Someone had actually picked every Nine-Leaf Fruit right under their noses. If he had not intervened to save those two, they probably still would not have noticed.

Yun Mo tossed the fruit in his hand, then flicked his sleeve, sending two Nine-Leaf Fruits toward Tan Feng and Tan Yin. At the same time, dozens of steel needles appeared in his hand, and he hurled them toward the faces of everyone present.

Watching them scramble to dodge the needles, Yun Mo smiled. "No need to get angry. I'll keep the fruits, but you can have the tree!"

Then he darted away, vanishing into the depths of the valley.

Furious, the others turned toward Tan Feng and Tan Yin, only to discover that the two had already disappeared after catching the fruits.

Their pent-up fury lodged in their chests, leaving them unbearably stifled.

Some, unable to accept this outcome, even tried to collect the fruit tree and exchange it through their tokens for a polearm. But they encountered others with the same idea and immediately came to blows. In the end, the dozen or so people who had originally coexisted peacefully descended into an all-out melee, driven by their raging anger.

Yun Mo knew nothing of the conflict around the fruit tree. All he knew was that the girl behind him was pursuing him relentlessly.

When he had darted toward the depths of the valley, the girl in golden armor and a red skirt had followed. It was not as though he had refrained from throwing steel needles to stop her, but she had dodged every one. In fact, throwing the needles had even allowed her to close the distance slightly.

With one fleeing and the other pursuing, they soon reached the deepest part of the valley.

Looking at the rushing torrent not far away, Yun Mo's eye twitched. There really was nowhere left to run.

"Hand over the fruits!"

The girl stood a short distance from Yun Mo, anger now showing on her lovely face. No one had ever taken something that belonged to her right under her nose.

Following the lesson he had learned earlier, Yun Mo asked her name before fighting. "I'm Yun Mo. What's your name? Tell me, and I'll give you one of these fruits."

In truth, Yun Mo had already had his suspicions from his first glimpse of her. He remembered someone who also liked wearing golden armor and wielded a golden spear. That woman seemed to have entered the Spirit Road too, and had even emerged victorious in the end.

"Wen Qingxuan. You must be the Brother Yun those two were talking about? A man wearing a long pink robe, neither man nor woman! You're not much of a fighter, but you're certainly good at petty theft!"

Wen Qingxuan's delicate brows rose. She twirled her spear and pointed it at Yun Mo. "Make your move! Let me see what you're capable of, you sticky-fingered scoundrel!"

Yun Mo rubbed his brow. His suspicions had indeed been correct. Mu Chen on the first day, Wen Qingxuan on the second-did it really have to be like this?

There were several people in the Spirit Road he did not want to have dealings with. Unfortunately, Wen Qingxuan counted as one of them.

Although she had never crossed paths with Mu Chen in the Spirit Road, Yun Mo generally maintained a respectful distance from anyone who would later influence the plot to some degree.

"I'll give you a fruit, and we'll call it quits. Otherwise, a fight to the death won't do either of us any good!"

A flexible sword appeared in Yun Mo's hand, and a fierce glint rose in his eyes. Ideally, he could frighten her off. If not, he would have to give it a try. Honestly, he also wanted to see what he was currently made of.

A slightly strange smile appeared on Wen Qingxuan's face. "I entered the Spirit Road precisely to fight people to the death. Whether you hand over those Nine-Leaf Fruits or not, you're not getting away!"

With that, her golden spear spun, stirring boundless martial force and whipping a skyful of petals into the air at the far end of the Peach Grove.

Once physical strength reached a certain level, this martial force formed naturally from the body's power alone. Even without spiritual energy bolstering it, it possessed might that ordinary people could not possibly match.

Then she pushed off with her toes, her already graceful figure shooting toward Yun Mo.