As Lin Zhiyue rounded a patch of low shrubs, she spotted a figure crouching by the stream in the distance.
The person was leaning over to wash her hands in the water, her hem speckled with mud. Her back looked remarkably familiar.
Lin Zhiyue slowed her pace and drew closer. Just then, the person stood up and shook the water from her hands—it was Cen Xi'er.
Turning around, she raised an eyebrow slightly upon seeing Lin Zhiyue. She sized her up from head to toe, and only after confirming there were no obvious injuries did she speak. “Are you alright? I heard you were chased around for most of the day.”
Lin Zhiyue sat down on a boulder beside her, untying her marker bag and weighing it in her hand. “I was chased for quite a while. But I shook them all off.”
Cen Xi'er glanced at the plumpness of the bag in her hand but didn't press for details. She simply untied her own marker bag and placed it on her lap. The bag was open, revealing several neatly stacked marker talismans—six in total.
Lin Zhiyue glanced at it and gave her a thumbs-up.
Cen Xi'er looked down at the bag on her lap, the corners of her lips curving upward. “Actually, I didn't plan on robbing them. But they just had to provoke me. Once I won, leaving without taking their markers felt like a waste of effort.”
Lin Zhiyue chuckled but didn't reply, tying her marker bag back to her waist. Cen Xi'er also put her bag away, stood up, and patted the dust off her knees. “Which way do you plan to go?”
Lin Zhiyue gestured with her chin toward the downstream direction of the creek. “The sound of rushing water is louder over there, so there should be a waterfall or a deep pool. Usually, places like that hide more things. What about you?”
Cen Xi'er glanced at the woods in the opposite direction. “I'm going to look around over there. I noticed some uneven fluctuations of spiritual energy in those woods just now; there might be something.”
She walked a few paces, then turned back and added, “If you get surrounded, have Honghong come find me.”
Lin Zhiyue watched her turn and walk away, then continued downstream along the creek.
After walking some distance in their respective directions, their figures were soon mostly obscured by the canopy and dense foliage.
The grass on both sides of the stream swayed in clusters in the wind, like countless tiny hands parting the way ahead for her.
She looked down at her reflection in the creek. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, scattering the shattered reflections on the water's surface into tiny, shimmering points of light. She withdrew her gaze and walked a bit further. Rounding a large, moss-covered boulder, she spotted the corner of a marker talisman floating on the water where the stream curved.
The next morning, the voice above the secret realm rang out once more, as clear as the day before, unhurriedly announcing the current point rankings.
First place was still Lin Zhiyue. The number next to her name had increased significantly from yesterday's seven, firmly securing her spot at the top of the leaderboard.
Second place now held a different name—Song Mu, Qingling Sect, eight markers.
Third place was Cen Xi'er.
Lin Zhiyue was currently tightening her marker bag under an old pine tree. Her movements didn't falter when she heard Song Mu's name, but she silently prayed in her heart: Please let me not run into him.
Song Mu was not easy to deal with.
Tying the marker bag secure, Lin Zhiyue stood up and headed east. Her steps were even lighter than yesterday, leaving barely a trace on the damp soil.
She bypassed several open areas that looked prone to ambushes and marched along the edge of a narrow valley, trying to keep her route as unpredictable as possible.
Yet, what one feared most always seemed to happen. As she passed through a low bamboo forest, her path forward was blocked by a figure.
The man stood in the narrow valley path, his figure tall and slender, dressed in the disciple robes of the Qingling Sect, with a long sword hanging from his waist.
He had clearly just finished a skirmish. There were a few traces of dust on his hem, and two thin slashes marked his sleeves.
But he did not look like someone who had rushed over in a hurry; rather, he seemed to have simply happened upon the same path.
Song Mu raised his head. When he saw her, his gaze remained steady, only pausing slightly.
His gaze swept over the marker bag at her waist before rising to meet her eyes. His voice was calm and polite, as if stating an established fact. “Junior Sister Lin, I happen to be looking for someone to spar with.”
Lin Zhiyue stood her ground, mentally reviewing the activation steps for the Thousand Shadows of Dusk Rose.
She knew she could change outfits, summon clones, and teleport within a single breath, using the cover of the bamboo forest to make her escape.
She even conjured the dark red dress in her mind. If she wanted, she could vanish from the spot at any moment and make a clean getaway just as she had done before.
But the man opposite her had already drawn his sword. A clear ring of metal echoed as his blade left its scabbard, the tip pointing toward the ground.
Looking at the lowered sword tip and Song Mu's composed stance, Lin Zhiyue took a deep breath.
With a thought, she sent the Thousand Shadows of Dusk Rose back into her Wardrobe.
Her grip tightened around the hilt of the Azure Scale Sword once more. As her fingers pressed against the patterns of the guard, she could feel the solid weight of the weapon.
She drew her sword as well. As the blade slid out, a sliver of frost seeped from the edge, condensing into a thin white trail in the afternoon sunlight. “Then let's do this,” she said.
The wind in the bamboo forest died down for a moment, as if even the breeze was waiting to see the outcome of this duel.
Song Mu's sword style was even steadier than Lin Zhiyue had anticipated, gradually compressing her movements into an increasingly confined space.
For the first dozen exchanges, Lin Zhiyue tried to use her footwork and frost traces to disrupt his rhythm, but Song Mu's defense was virtually flawless. Every time she changed direction, he countered her smoothly.
Her breathing quickened slightly, and she realized the truth: this man's strength was indeed a cut above hers. Winning against him in her normal state was almost impossible.
The two exchanged dozens of more blows.
Lin Zhiyue's sword strikes began to show slight delays. Song Mu keenly seized one of these openings, his sword tip sliding along the spine of her blade, exerting a heavy pressure on her hand.
Her wrist faltered for a split second. Had she not retreated in time, that strike would have put her at a severe disadvantage.
Retreating to open up some distance, Lin Zhiyue came to a realization—if she continued fighting like this, she would be backed into a corner within another few dozen exchanges.
Seizing the gap as she backed away, she shifted her thoughts and equipped the Dragon-Riding Dreamscape.
Dark green scale armor enveloped her body in an instant. From the breastplate and bracers to the sash and boots, the entire outfit transformation occurred in less than a breath.
The moment the bracers and arm guards of the Dragon-Riding Dreamscape snapped into place, a heavy, solid sensation washed over her, as if someone had lightly pressed down on her shoulders, causing her stance to sink half an inch.
When Song Mu saw her change outfits, his sword strikes suffered a minuscule delay.
He had never seen a spiritual artifact that allowed instant outfit changes during combat, nor had he expected her to suddenly switch to an entirely unrevealed attire in the middle of a fierce duel.
The hesitation lasted only half a beat, but Lin Zhiyue felt it.
The passive effect of the Dragon-Riding Dreamscape activated immediately upon being equipped. A thin shield of spiritual energy rippled across the surface of the scales, making her senses sharper than before, and the circulation speed of her spiritual energy increased slightly—
Given that their strengths were not far apart, this boost was more than enough to tip the scales in her favor.
Drawing on that extra edge, she reclaimed the initiative.
Rate on N.U.
