The woman’s clear, melodious voice spread across the empty lake surface. Every word was smooth and resonant, leaving a lingering charm in the air. Even though she was cursing, the sound was oddly pleasing to the ear.
At least, that was Yu Ci’s personal feeling; who knew what the yellow-robed daoist hovering above the lake might be thinking at this moment?
As for Bao Guang… the young daoist stood there, dumbfounded.
Yu Ci could understand. From their vantage point, they could see the woman in the lake with an impeccable view of her curvaceous back and hips. Her soaked clothes clung to her b0dy, made from a fine fabric that, under the strong light, revealed a faint hint of skin beneath. The woman’s full and v0luptuous figure, with curves so exaggerated they bordered on unreal, left the young daoist frozen in place. It wasn’t surprising—such a sight was far beyond the resistance of someone so inexperienced.
Then again, the more experienced one was, the more they would appreciate the breathtaking impact of such a moment…
Fortunately, Yu Ci knew how to prioritize. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to shift his attention. Right now, he was more curious about the reaction of the yellow-robed daoist.
For a long moment, the valley was silent.
Yu Ci initially thought the man had been rendered speechless by the woman’s scolding. But soon, he realized he had underestimated both the thickness of the man’s skin and his cunning.
The yellow-robed daoist, hovering mid-air, was clearly of a high cultivation level. Yu Ci had noticed earlier that when the man glanced at the Divine Map in the lake’s center, its three-mile-wide misty haze of Core Refinement energy distorted the surrounding scene. Such a phenomenon was something Yu Ci had only witnessed with a few elite practitioners like Jin Huan and Yu Zhou.
Yet, under Murong Qingyan’s mocking words, the daoist said nothing but gazed intently downward. His eyes were fixated on the scene below, and he began clicking his tongue in apparent admiration.
At first, the sound was barely audible, but it soon grew exaggeratedly loud.
After a prolonged series of clicks, the man burst into laughter: “A feast for the eyes! A feast for the eyes! Niece Qingyan, you are nothing like your mother. Back in her day, she would be so shy, twisting and turning. How could she ever match your boldness?”
Yu Ci frowned at the words. He wasn’t a moralist and understood both parties were trying to unsettle each other’s minds. Yet, judging by his comments, this daoist was truly despicable.
This time, the silence fell on the woman in the lake—Murong Qingyan. However, the yellow-robed daoist was relentless. Rubbing his hands together, he chuckled, “Niece, your figure surpasses your mother’s by threefold. Such a treasure, how could it be wasted on mere biting? When the time comes, you’ll understand that your uncle’s eggs—ah!”
His obscene words were cut off abruptly. Even the usually clueless Bao Guang couldn’t bear to listen anymore, his face flushing crimson. This finally pushed Murong Qingyan past her limits. With a sharp rebuke, a booming sound erupted. A column of water shot skyward from the lake like a coiling dragon, lunging toward the daoist.
The “water dragon” was not a mere metaphor—it was a genuine transformation. Amid the mist and waves, the water column twisted and contorted, morphing into a dragon with pronounced horns and sharp claws, baring its fangs as it charged at the airborne target.
Yet, the yellow-robed daoist didn’t dodge or evade. Laughing heartily, he remarked, “Niece Qingyan is angry now. This ‘Profound Water Manifestation’ technique has too much aggression. In our Myriad Cosmos Sect, all divine arts and techniques emphasize the principle of ‘transformation.’ Why meet force with force?”
As he spoke, the daoist extended a finger. The water dragon quivered violently. Its flowing water reversed direction, its shape turning blurry. By the time it regained clarity, its head and tail had completely flipped, rushing back toward its creator even faster than before.
Murong Qingyan, who had already emerged from the water when the dragon formed, shifted sideways to evade. However, the transformed dragon seemed to possess a will of its own. With a sudden flick of its tail, it unleashed a towering wave, threatening to engulf her entirely.
Murong Qingyan seemed to turn into a wisp of smoke, slipping away just before the wave struck. Yet, within the surging wave, countless droplets of water transformed into birds. These water-formed birds, vivid and lifelike, flitted across the lake’s surface, weaving a net of mist and water vapor to enclose her.
This spectacular scene left no time for Yu Ci and Bao Guang to admire it. They were too close to the battlefield. The aftershocks of the clash made breathing difficult, and the splashing water stung their skin. While Yu Ci managed better, Bao Guang, with his weaker cultivation, clearly struggled to endure.
Without hesitation, Yu Ci grabbed Bao Guang and dove underwater, swimming toward the shore.
The two battling Core Refinement cultivators must have noticed them, yet neither spared a glance for the two juniors of low cultivation.
The stunning spectacle of the birds didn’t last long. A sharp whistling sound arose as the water birds exploded one by one, spraying droplets everywhere. Under the dazzling white light, the droplets sparkled like shattered jade, sharp as knives, chasing after Murong Qingyan. They collided fiercely with her protective True Qi, producing a series of sharp hissing sounds.
The water dragon, which had stirred up massive waves earlier, had somehow circled beneath her, surging up from the waves with impeccable timing to swallow the unsuspecting woman whole!
The contrast in lighting made the scene visible even underwater.
Bao Guang, forgetting their predicament, cried out in shock, only to choke on water.
Yu Ci had no choice but to surface, helping him catch his breath.
Murong Qingyan had barely surfaced when a deafening roar resounded. Her energy surged violently, tearing apart the giant water serpent's maw and sending it back into its watery form. For a moment, the lake's surface echoed with sharp hissing sounds as water streaks shot through the air, creating piercing whistling noises.
Amidst this cacophony, the yellow-robed daoist silently swooped down, his hand reaching for Murong Qingyan's slender neck. However, the female cultivator reacted swiftly, dodging to the side and countering with a slicing motion. Their figures crossed paths before pulling apart once more.
In an instant, a trail of blood seeped from Murong Qingyan's fair neck, soaking into her damp collar and staining it a faint crimson. The daoist hovered several feet away, suspended in midair. He brought his bl0od-streaked fingers to his lips, gave them a light lick, and clicked his tongue in admiration.
"Such tender skin, niece. Truly a sight to behold. So, how did you find my demonstration of ‘Profound Water Manifestation'? You’ve grown more adept at dealing with all sorts of people, your reputation soaring higher with each passing year. Yet, should you not still focus on our sect's teachings? Surely you wouldn’t want to lose face to an outsider like me!"
Indeed, the daoist's "Profound Water Manifestation" was endlessly versatile and operated with uncanny precision, clearly a notch above Murong Qingyan’s abilities. But under such circumstances, how could she not feel hum!liated?
Thus, without a word, the female cultivator lunged forward.
The daoist laughed loudly and met her head-on, and the two were immediately locked in combat.
Waves surged and crashed violently on the lake, with towering sprays reaching the heavens.
Yu Ci spat out the lake water he had accidentally swallowed and finally realized that Murong Qingyan was at Core Refinement level. Otherwise, how could she have fought the daoist in such close quarters?
Yu Ci had previously witnessed Tu Du battle against Core Refinement demons and even a higher-level fight between ghost beasts and two-headed demons. He had also watched the entirety of those clashes through the Divine Map. However, those experiences were either dominated by spellwork or too crude to compare to this fierce and thrilling combat happening right before his eyes.
Both cultivators hailed from the same sect and were extraordinarily fast and skilled. They darted back and forth over the lake, sometimes diving into the water only to resurface moments later. Their movements were so swift that Yu Ci could only catch afterimages, while the points of impact from their True Qi and innate Qi were scattered across every corner of the lake.
One particularly close clash exploded right above Yu Ci and Bao Guang's heads. If not for Yu Ci's quick reflexes in dragging Bao Guang underwater, the consequences would have been disastrous.
However, this bout of combat clearly stemmed from the female cultivator's emotional impulsiveness. Soon enough, after a particularly sharp clash of True Qi, Murong Qingyan’s figure blurred into a shadow as she rapidly retreated. The daoist did not pursue her, but in his hand, he held a torn piece of her garment, which he brought to his nose for a deep sniff. His face lit up with an almost intoxicated expression.
"Ah, this must be ‘Bewildering Stem Fragrance.' Isn’t this produced only in Flying Soul City, a mere three to five taels a year? It seems your dear parents truly dote on you. Alas, niece, spending so much time around the Northern Three Lakes has made you forget that there are places even Flying Soul City cannot reach. Here, under the vast sky and above the open earth, is the perfect setting for delightful indulgences. Who could possibly come and spoil the fun?"
The daoist laughed heartily as he spoke, but his laughter abruptly cut off, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
On the lake surface, Murong Qingyan smiled faintly. She then reached up, tore off the remainder of her damaged outer garment, and flung it onto the water.
The daoist’s radiance from the light technique still illuminated the scene. Its glow cast a long shadow from the female cultivator’s feet, stretching over the lake and passing directly by two other figures—Yu Ci and Bao Guang, who were half-submerged in water.
Both of them stared in stunned silence.
Murong Qingyan now stood with only a green silk bandeau covering her upper body. The vibrant hue accentuated the snowy whiteness of her exposed shoulders and back, her smooth skin so flawless that water droplets rolled off like pearls.
Despite this state, there was nothing seductive about her demeanor. Her actions carried no coyness, nor did they convey wantonness. It was a simple gesture, as though this Southern Frost Lake was merely the private hot spring of her own home, and the three men present were as insignificant as statues, wholly ignored by her.
Yu Ci suddenly noticed Bao Guang’s erratic breathing and turned to look. The young daoist’s face was flushed crimson, holding his breath so tightly that he seemed to have forgotten how to exhale. His eyes, while clearly fixated on the scene, struggled to look away. Ultimately, he squinted his eyes and tilted his head to the side, looking comically awkward.
Yu Ci, on the other hand, felt none of the inner turmoil Bao Guang did. His gaze locked on Murong Qingyan’s smooth, captivating back, the alluring pull of her presence washing over him. Yet amidst this trance, a thought flickered in his mind:
‘This woman—what is she planning?'
From beginning to end, Murong Qingyan had uttered only a single sentence. Her face remained obscured, and throughout, she appeared to be at a disadvantage. Yet in this moment, Yu Ci couldn’t help but feel that her actions bore a certain resemblance to the daoist's "Profound Water Manifestation."
Seemingly chaotic and ever-changing, yet inwardly harmonious and focused, her every movement carried a certain allure that gripped one’s mind, pulling it along with her every gesture and shift. It was a kind of fascination that left one utterly unable to break free.
Yu Ci turned his gaze toward the yellow-robed daoist, wondering what the man, still holding the upper hand, might be thinking.
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