The darkness pressed in, heavy and tangible.
Zhang Mingyuan felt the world spin violently.
Su Jinxue, who had been right beside him, was already gone, and his consciousness flickered and died like a candle in the wind.
He had no idea how much time had passed.
The clamor of voices mixed with the sounds of string and wind instruments drifted into Zhang Mingyuan's ears.
He snapped his eyes open.
Before him was a grand water pavilion with beautifully carved beams and painted pillars.
Young cultivators in luxurious robes sat all around, with spiritual fruits and fine wines lining the long tables. It was clearly a high-class gathering of geniuses.
Why does this place look a bit familiar?
Zhang Mingyuan looked down at his hands, then felt the pitifully weak spiritual energy inside his body.
Golden Core Stage?
He was the grand Sacred Lord of Qingyun Heaven, a supreme expert at the peak Mahayana Stage. How had his cultivation regressed to the Golden Core Stage?
No, that wasn't right.
His soul memories of the Mahayana Stage were still intact, and the sword intent of Zhanxue lay dormant deep within his divine sense.
This wasn't a regression in cultivation; it was a reenactment of an illusion.
The second trial of the Heavenly Dao marriage certificate: the Illusionary Heart Abyss.
Zhang Mingyuan quickly realized what was happening.
He looked up, scanning the crowd, and his gaze instantly locked onto a figure seated to the right of the main host.
She wore robes as white as snow, her black hair cascading down like a waterfall.
Her breathtakingly beautiful, cold face was completely expressionless. She wasn't even wearing shoes or socks.
A pair of crystal-clear bare feet rested casually on the edge of the jade couch, each toe looking like freshly peeled lychee flesh...
Those jade feet... It was Su Jinxue.
At this time, there was still a hint of youthful innocence between her brows.
The only thing that hadn't changed was those crimson eyes, which radiated a cold haughtiness that kept everyone at a distance.
Zhang Mingyuan was amused.
Since it was an illusion, Little Xuexue had to be here too.
Rising directly from his seat in the corner, he strode past the crowd and walked straight up to Su Jinxue.
“Little Xuexue, I didn't lose my memories. I assume you're still conscious too, right?”
Zhang Mingyuan leaned down familiarly, approaching her with a grin.
“This Heavenly Dao trial is way too easy. Let's quickly find a way to break out of here...”
Before he could finish, a young man wearing an embroidered Daoist robe slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
“Presumptuous!”
The youth pointed right at Zhang Mingyuan's nose and cursed,
“Who do you think you are? A mere rogue cultivator with no sect or faction, yet you dare to speak to the direct disciple of the Myriad Snow Palace? Get lost already!”
Zhang Mingyuan blinked in surprise.
A rogue cultivator? The Eastern Territory Immortals Gathering?
Memories sealed for nearly five thousand years were instantly awakened.
That's right. When he had first transmigrated to the Xuanling Realm, he really had been a penniless rogue cultivator with no backing.
He had only managed to sneak into this top-tier gathering of the Eastern Territory's younger generation by swindling his way into getting an invitation.
Meanwhile, the Su Jinxue of that time was already the high-and-mighty direct disciple of the Myriad Snow Palace, forced by her master to attend this boring social event.
Zhang Mingyuan didn't bother to pay attention to the barking young master from the noble family, keeping his eyes fixed straight on Su Jinxue.
“Hey, say something.”
Su Jinxue finally turned her head.
Those crimson eyes stared at him coldly, devoid of embarrassment, tsundere haughtiness, or that indescribable warmth they had shared under the starry sky.
There was only a cold indifference, as if she were looking at an insect.
Uh-oh, Zhang Mingyuan thought.
We're doomed.
This crazy woman didn't bring her memories in with her!
She's currently the pure, cold-blooded ice-mountain assassin from five thousand years ago!
Under normal circumstances, Zhang Mingyuan would definitely try to find a way to wake her up or temporarily avoid her wrath.
But seeing Su Jinxue's high-and-mighty attitude, looking down on him as if he were nothing, the mischievous streak in his bones instantly flared up.
For five thousand years, his favorite thing to do had been to tear down this woman's facade of aloofness.
“What are you pretending for, woman?”
Zhang Mingyuan straightened up, crossing his arms and raising his chin higher than the sky.
“I'm talking to you. Are you deaf?”
As soon as these words left his mouth, the water pavilion fell dead silent.
Everyone stared at Zhang Mingyuan as if he were already a corpse.
“You dare court death, you madman!”
“How dare you insult Fairy Su!”
Over a dozen geniuses who admired Su Jinxue instantly drew their swords, various colored sword lights illuminating the pavilion.
Zhang Mingyuan didn't even spare them a glance.
He picked his ear and blew on his fingertip with disdain.
“Sorry, but you people aren't worthy of being my opponents.”
He looked around, his lips curling into an incredibly punchable smirk.
“Actually, let me put it another way.”
“I'm saying that everyone here is trash!”
The roof of the water pavilion was nearly blown off by the furious roars of the crowd.
Dozens of flying swords and magic treasures rained down on Zhang Mingyuan like a torrential storm.
Zhang Mingyuan didn't panic in the slightest.
Although his cultivation was only at the Golden Core Stage right now, his mind was packed with the combat experience of a peak Mahayana Stage cultivator.
With a swift shift of his feet, his figure drifted like a ghost through the dense flurry of attacks.
He twisted to the left, dodging a fiery sword qi.
He bent his waist to the right, letting a profound ice bead pass by.
He even had the leisure to snatch a spiritual fruit from a table, taking a bite and mocking them as he chewed:
“Is this it? Is this all you've got? Did you guys skip breakfast? Too slow! Aim to the left, you idiot!”
The group of geniuses was so enraged they were seeing stars, yet they couldn't even graze the corner of his robes.
“All of you, back down.”
A voice as cold as ice cut through all the noise.
The temperature in the pavilion plummeted instantly, and a thin layer of ice coated the floor.
Su Jinxue stood up, her bare feet stepping onto the icy surface.
A sharp, gleaming sword had appeared in her hand at some point, its tip pointing straight at Zhang Mingyuan.
“I will slay this madman myself.”
Zhang Mingyuan swallowed the fruit in his mouth and tossed the core aside.
“Sure thing. Su Jinxue, right?”
His laughter grew even more arrogant, his eyes filled with provocation.
“You're at least qualified to fight me. Let me put it another way.”
“I just want to beat you to death, or be beaten to death by you.”
Before the words could fully settle, Su Jinxue transformed into a streak of white light, charging right before him.
Clang!
Zhang Mingyuan pulled a battered iron sword from his storage bag, precisely parrying Su Jinxue's strike.
Instantly, the two clashed in a fierce battle.
Sword qi surged in all directions. The pillars of the water pavilion were sliced apart, and roof tiles flew everywhere.
The more Su Jinxue fought, the more alarmed she became.
This rogue cultivator before her was clearly only at the early stage of the Golden Core Stage, and his spiritual energy was highly disorganized.
Yet the angle of his every strike was incredibly tricky, as if he could predict all of her moves in advance.
She had no way of knowing that Zhang Mingyuan had fought her countless times over the last five thousand years, and was more familiar with her sword techniques than he was with his own underwear.
Zhang Mingyuan held back as he fought.
He didn't dare use too much of his actual skill, fearing he might actually hurt her and that she would settle the score with him once she regained her memories.
But he just couldn't keep his mouth shut.
“Oh my, the stance for this 'Wind and Snow Filling the Sky' is too weak.”
“Why are you glaring so hard? Trying to eat me alive?”
“Tsk, tsk. This is the level of the Myriad Snow Palace's direct disciple? Go back and practice some more!”
Su Jinxue trembled with rage, the killing intent in her crimson eyes almost condensing into substance.
The two fought for a full half-hour, locked in a tight stalemate.
The entire water pavilion had been reduced to a pile of rubble.
It wasn't until the Eastern Territory powerhouse hosting the Immortals Gathering could no longer bear to watch and stepped in to forcibly separate them that the farce finally came to an end.
Zhang Mingyuan dusted himself off and strutted away.
Meanwhile, Su Jinxue stood amidst the ruins, glaring death at his retreating figure, nearly grinding her teeth to dust.
She swore she would tear this madman into ten thousand pieces.
Rate on N.U.
