Bian Hong's heart plummeted to the bottom of his stomach as a wave of cold dread swept from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. This woman—her schemes ran deeper than he'd ever imagined. He had been fighting her for five years and had never once suspected she was holding a card like this in reserve, only to reveal it at the very last moment and turn the tables on him.
He silently cursed his own carelessness, but there was no medicine for regret.
His mind raced, and in the next instant Bian Hong turned tail and fled, his voice echoing behind him: "Filthy slut! I'll let you go today, but one day I'll make you submit beneath me!"
Qiu Yimeng drew her sword and gave chase, but she couldn't close the gap between them at all. She had already burned through a massive amount of energy activating a secret technique to boost her speed, and she'd deliberately exposed an opening to lure Bian Hong in—only to take a palm strike that left her injured. With their cultivation levels being so closely matched, if Bian Hong was dead set on fleeing, she truly had no good way to stop him.
In the blink of an eye, the two had soared past the clouds, the landscape on the ground far below and fading fast.
Qiu Yimeng launched one final sword strike, then halted.
The attack was easily dodged by Bian Hong. Before departing, he couldn't resist turning back to hurl one last mocking taunt, which sent fury surging through Qiu Yimeng's heart. Her beautiful eyes fixed on Bian Hong's retreating figure, burning with the intent to sear his image into the deepest recesses of her mind—so that one day she could cut him down.
A figure suddenly appeared a hundred zhang above Bian Hong. At first Qiu Yimeng didn't notice, but a casual glance made her frown and narrow her eyes to get a better look.
The figure stood with its back to a round sun, the golden radiance so blinding that it cast the face into silhouette, making it impossible to see clearly. But that build was achingly familiar.
Qiu Yimeng's heart lurched violently. That silhouette overlapped perfectly with the shadow buried deep in her memory, one that had never faded.
"Who goes there!" Bian Hong had been fleeing at high speed through the sky a hundred zhang up when he suddenly sensed something. He looked up and was startled—someone had appeared directly above him without his noticing. On closer inspection, it was a young man he had never seen before. He swept the area with his divine sense and detected not a single trace of spiritual energy fluctuation.
"Get lost!" Bian Hong was furious. He had already suffered a humiliating defeat at Qiu Yimeng's hands today, nearly capsizing in the gutter and forced into a pathetic retreat. His pride was in tatters, and now some random person dared to block his path?
He raised a hand and struck a palm toward the young man, spiritual energy surging at the center of his palm with devastating, unfathomable power.
The young man raised his own hand as well, pressing it downward with a casual motion, as if facing not a Void King Realm powerhouse but a mere leaf drifting on the wind. A faint, inscrutable smile appeared on his face. "Go back down."
Bian Hong's eyes went wide, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
That palm strike looked utterly ordinary, devoid of any threat—but the moment the palm-print descended, it blotted out the entire sky. Everything went black before his eyes; not a sliver of light remained.
For reasons he couldn't understand, Bian Hong felt himself hurtling downward.
What was happening? His mind reeled. Before he could even process what was going on, a razor-sharp wave of force surged up at him from below. He turned his head and nearly died of fright.
How could Qiu Yimeng possibly let such an opportunity slip? In that instant she wrapped herself in sword light, transforming into a devastating strike that slashed straight toward Bian Hong.
Sword light and figure flashed past each other. Qiu Yimeng's form reappeared, her face faintly flushed, chest heaving with great gasping breaths. That killing blow had clearly drained her enormously.
Bian Hong clutched at his chest, swaying on his feet, on the verge of collapse. He stared at Qiu Yimeng with disbelief and ground out through clenched teeth: "You…"
Blood gushed from between his fingers, instantly soaking his robes as the stench of iron surged into the sky.
Qiu Yimeng raised a hand and gave him a small wave.
The light of life faded rapidly from Bian Hong's eyes. He toppled headfirst toward the ground and vanished in an instant.
The warriors of the Great Desolation Star Domain panicked. Bian Hong—their strongest fighter—had been cut down that easily? It was impossible to believe. They wanted to flee immediately, but the space around them had suddenly turned viscous and heavy, and they found themselves struggling to even take a step.
Tu Feng and the others finally arrived.
Tang Yuxian hurried to Qiu Yimeng's side, her voice tight with concern: "Miss Qiu, are you all right?" The fight had been too far away for them to see exactly what had happened. They had only witnessed the astonishing moment when Qiu Yimeng cut Bian Hong down, and they could only assume she had paid a steep price for it.
Qiu Yimeng shook her head and pointed a slender hand at the warriors of the Great Desolation Star Domain. "Kill them all."
Tu Feng, Tang Yuxian, and the others nodded and streaked forward, clashing with the Great Desolation forces in a furious melee. The result was unexpectedly simple—opponents who had once fought them to a standstill could barely muster half their usual strength today, as though some invisible force was suppressing them. The moment the Lingxiao Sect disciples charged in, it was like a pack of wolves plunging into a flock of sheep. The Great Desolation warriors were beaten back without any ability to fight back.
Screams rose one after another. Bodies drenched in blood tumbled from the sky, one after another.
Five years of enmity, and today they finally had the chance to wipe them all out—this should have been cause for immense celebration. But Qiu Yimeng barely registered it. The sounds of battle at her ears grew increasingly distant, fading to nothing. She lifted her gaze skyward, her heart burning with urgency to find the answer buried deep within.
A figure was walking toward her. Qiu Yimeng's heartbeat grew faster and faster, tinged with a desperate, trembling fear—what if the reality didn't match what she hoped for?
At last he drew close. The familiar face came into view, a familiar smile hanging at the corner of his lips. Decades-old memories grew vivid once more, as though he had stepped right out of them into the present.
Qiu Yimeng's breath caught. She almost didn't dare to acknowledge him.
They were closer than before, and yet somehow she felt he was farther away than ever. He was like that round sun in the sky—impossibly out of reach. She could see him, could feel his warm glow illuminating the space before her, but it cast a shadow behind her that could never be erased.
"Don't recognize me?" Yang Kai gazed at her with a warm smile.
"This disciple greets the Sect Master!" Qiu Yimeng gathered her emotions, lowering her head. Her lashes fluttered rapidly, and her voice came out thick.
She had believed that decades of effort would bring them closer. But upon seeing him again, she realized that wasn't the case at all.
Yang Kai paused, then raised a hand and hooked his middle finger, holding it in front of her forehead. "Look up."
Qiu Yimeng took a deep breath and raised her head.