Meanwhile, Yan Xuehen was in the neighboring room. The air before her rippled like water before forming a mirror. The images in the mirror reflected what Yun Jianyue was experiencing in her dream.
Even Yan Xuehen was awed. I’d have never been able to pull this off without Jing Teng, Xie Daoyun, and Qi Yaoguang’s help. A person reacts the most genuinely in an illusion like this.
She tightly grabbed her sleeves. She had never felt so nervous before. On one hand, she could claim the upper hand against the demoness if she could acquire evidence of Yun Jianyue’s affair with Zu An. On the other hand, she was worried that there was really something between Yun Jianyue and Zu An.
Her relationship with Zu An defied convention and left her constantly nervous, but it also filled her with bliss. There were even times when she felt a sense of superiority over Yun Jianyue. But that meant nothing if Yun Jianyue was with Zu An too. The thought of sharing a man with the demoness made her feel worse than death.
The scenes revealed in the mirror made her breathing hasten.
The relationship between Yun Jianyue and Zu An clearly transcended friendship, but again, given that they'd only had each other in a foreign land, it was normal for them to be more intimate than usual.
When the scene cut to Zu An getting severely injured by the Annihilation Beast and needing dual cultivation with Yun Jianyue to survive, Yan Xuehen's heart pounded nervously. She wanted to see what Yun Jianyue would do here.
When Yun Jianyue unhesitatingly took off her belt, Yan Xuehen's heart nearly leaped out of her mouth. Could they be...
In the other room, Yun Jianyue suddenly stopped her movements. She sensed something was amiss, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. There seemed to be something wrong, but when she thought back on it, everything appeared to make sense.
She glanced at the unconscious Zu An and fell into deep thought.
...
In the imperial palace, the Empress Dowager and Bi Linglong were overjoyed by Zu An’s visit and welcomed him warmly.
Zu An initially chatted joyously with them, but when he learned that neither of them had invited him over, his expression suddenly collapsed. But Yan Xuehen said...
He closed his eyes and focused his senses. He felt a peculiar formation pulsating from the residence on top of Mount Yuquan. He immediately understood what was going on.
He felt angry but amused. It turned out Yan Xuehen had sent him away so he wouldn’t get in the way of her ploy. Who could have thought the upright Yan Xuehen would play such a trick?
I can’t return right away and expose Yan Xuehen, or else it could wound her reputation and evoke suspicion. After some thought, he decided to send a voice transmission to Yun Jianyue. With his current cultivation, he could easily pull that off without alarming Yan Xuehen.
Yun Jianyue already harbored doubt about this dream, and Zu An’s reminder further convinced her that this was a ploy. Her face warped murderously. “Who dares to make a fool out of me?!”
A devastating blood sea and blood moon manifested around her and frenziedly destroyed everything in the vicinity.
Such illusion formations only worked if the other party had their guard down. Once the target realized it was just an illusion, the formation could no longer trap her. Thus, Yan Xuehen’s mirror shattered.
Yun Jianyue traced the ki pulsation to her room and was infuriated. She charged at Yan Xuehen while roaring, “Ice sculpture! I didn’t expect you to be this despicable!”
Yan Xuehen was bewildered. I was just a step off. Why did she suddenly regain composure?
“Hah, who could have expected the proud master of the Devil Sect to be willing to use her body to save someone? Have the two of you been together all this time?” Yan Xuehen was also livid when she thought about what had happened nearing the end of the illusion.
The sheer feeling of shame further fanned Yun Jianyue’s anger. I nearly fell for this woman’s ploy! “Hah, when did I do that? Someone who got together with her disciple’s man shouldn’t be maligning others!”
“Nonsense!”
“Back at you!”
The two of them exchanged jabs while crossing blows. The residence was protected by formations, but how could those formations withstand the shockwaves produced by these two top-notch experts? It didn’t take long for them to destroy the building.
Qiu Honglei, Pei Mianman, and the others rushed over and were horrified. “Master (Cousin Yun), Sect Master Yan, what are you doing?!”
Even the academy’s teachers also rushed over. Now that outsiders were around, both women tacitly chose not to mention Zu An anymore and instead focused on crossing blows. The entire residence was soon leveled.
Many people from the academy felt a pinch in their hearts. This residence had been personally built by the old libationer, and many considered it to be a sacred place. To think it would be destroyed like that!
But no one dared to complain about it. The two women were too terrifying. Their enmity was well-known, and no one wanted to get on their bad side.
Fortunately, a seven-colored light descended from the sky shortly after. Zu An had returned.
“Libationer!” Those from the academy were relieved. If you'd taken any longer, our academy would have been destroyed by those two dinosaurs!
With Zu An standing between them, both Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue stopped their attacks and looked away with a harrumph. It was as if they couldn’t hold themselves if they saw each other’s faces.
“What happened?” Zu An asked.
“You ask her!” Yun Jianyue huffed.
“Says the guilty one!” Yan Xuehen scoffed coldly.
“What do I have to be guilty about?”
“You know it deep down.”
“You think you’re in the right after scheming against me?”
“I’m merely returning the favor.”
...
Xie Daoyun and Qi Yaoguang were baffled. Ah! Sect Master Yan solicited our help to deal with Sect Master Yun!
They'd beenflattered when Yan Xuehen knocked on their doors. They had always looked up to her, so they naturally did everything they could to help her. Who could have thought she would use them against Sect Master Yun?
Mount Yuquan’s residence ended up getting destroyed because of that. We have a responsibility to pay for that.
Zu An sighed. He restored the residence with a wave of his hand.
The crowd had already witnessed plenty of his methods before, but this sight still made their eyes turn red in enthusiasm. They excitedly asked him how he'd pulled it off.
Zu An settled the crowd down before calling Yan Xuehen and Yun Jianyue over. He intended to mediate between them, but the two women ignored him. They were both already convinced he was in a relationship with the other woman and would side with her, so they returned to their rooms and slammed the door.
Zu An felt his head hurt.
Pei Mianman secretly laughed under her breath. “Ah Zu, I’ll talk to them on your behalf.”
“I’ll be troubling you.” When it came to matters of the heart, Zu An’s strength was of no use.
Pei Mianman first made her way to Yun Jianyue’s room. Since they were cousins, the latter didn’t turn her away.
“There must be something between that ice sculpture and Ah Zu, or else she wouldn’t use such a method to test me.” Yun Jianyue gritted her teeth in anger.
Pei Mianman thought about what Chu Chuyan had told her. She took a deep breath and decided to get to the point. “Big sister, let’s put Sect Master Yan aside for now. Are you in a relationship with Ah Zu?”
Yun Jianyue immediately panicked. “Don’t talk nonsense, Manman. How can there... possibly be anything between me and that fellow? I’m talking about that ice sculpture now.”
Pei Mianman sighed. “Big sister, you can’t cover fire with paper. Can’t you tell me the truth?”
Yun Jianyue’s face flickered with several emotions. Seeing that things had gotten to this point, she decided not to argue her way out of it and instead asked, “How did you find out about it, Manman?”