The air crackled with tension as the battle teetered on the edge of all-out war, until a new presence sighed, soft sound yet impossible to ignore.The air crackled with tension as the battle teetered on the edge of all-out war, until a new presence sighed, soft sound yet impossible to ignore.
Shirley Quinn stepped forward, her delicate features framed by silken black hair, her lips curved in a gentle smile that didn’t quite reach her frost-laced eyes. She moved with effortless grace, her every motion exuding an aura of untouchable elegance—yet those who knew her recognized the danger lurking beneath.
"Enough," she chimed, her voice honeyed but firm. "We are all disciples of the Holy Abyss Pit Sect, are we not? Must we resort to such brutish squabbling?"
Her gaze flickered over the scene—Emma’s disheveled fury, Rodney’s murderous glare, Lordi’s poorly concealed smirk—and she mentally dismissed them all.
Truth? Lies? She didn’t care.
But this Lordi Payne and his scattered Thorn Squad? They could be useful.
So when Rodney’s Bone Serpent Chain lashed toward Ruru, Shirley’s delicate hand shot out—effortlessly catching the whip’s tip between her fingers, her grip unyielding despite the force behind it.
"Junior Brother Payne has already offered compensation—a vial of legendary level Bone Tempering Pills, no less," she said, tilting her head as if scolding children. "Is this petty feud truly worth more than the Treasury House of the Hanz Estate?"
Rodney’s face darkened further, veins bulging at his temples. "Shirley Quinn," he snarled, "are you truly willing to die for this filth motherfucker and that lying wench?"
Shirley’s smile didn’t waver—but her grip on the chain tightened imperceptibly.
Then, in a move so sudden it left the onlookers breathless—
She released the chain...
Her palm shot forward, a surge of pale-blue spirit energy erupting toward Emma Dawson in a lethal arc.
"Huh! Fuck!!!" Rodney’s roar was half-panic, half-rage as he hurled himself in front of Emma, summoning a wailing Vengeful Ghost to intercept the blow.
The spectral shield shattered under the impact, the ghost’s form dissolving into mist with a dying shriek.
Rodney staggered back, his face ashen—he hadn’t expected her to attack Emma directly.
Jorge Blue, who had been silently observing, finally stepped in, his voice low and cautious. "Senior Sister Quinn, this matter is... complicated. I humbly urge you not to take sides so hastily."
Shirley’s gaze turned glacial. "First," she said, her voice dripping with disdain, "you will remember to address me as Senior Sister from now on."
Her eyes swept over the crowd, her patience visibly thinning. "I’ve just returned from the Ancient Stone Well and the Water Lily Lake—there’s nothing there. And judging by your presence here, I assume you’ve found nothing in the Hanz Stronghold’s main hall either."
She flicked her hand dismissively. "So unless the Treasury House is hidden in this very arena, I suggest you step aside and let me investigate. Once I’m done, you can butcher each other for all I care."
Rodney’s fists trembled, his fury barely contained—but he didn’t dare move. Not with Shirley’s palm still faintly glowing with residual venom energy, her threat implicit.
"But hinder me..." Shirley’s lips curled into a soft, scornful scoff, her luminous eyes rolling skyward in a flash of disdain. "Tsk..."
A heavy silence hung for a moment, thick with tension.
Then, with a final mocking glance at Rodney and Emma, Shirley turned away—her focus already shifting to the real prize.
"Now, if you’ll excuse me... I have a Cosmic Path Foundation Establishment breakthrough to conquer."
Hearing Shirley’s words, Jorge’s quickly said gravely. "Senior Sister Quinn, if your findings are correct... then the Hanz Clan’s Treasury House must be in the Ancestral Shrine."
"We Thirst Bull Squad found nothing in the Hanz Stronghold’s main hall. And when we retreated," He gestured toward the rear mountain, his expression tight. "All of us saw Donovan Valdez and his Dominator Squad breaking through and destroying the traps in the Clan Chief’s Royal Study Library with force—now they’re heading straight for the Twin Peaks’ Ancestral Shrine."
A pause. Then, with calm: "If you doubt me, feel free to search this place yourself."
"Ancestral Shrine?" Shirley rosy lips curled ever so slightly as she chukled inwardly. If even Garrick Blackthorn—a peak Ninth layer expert—got attacked and fell there, how could some eighth-layer trash like Hughie Wing have escaped with treasures infomration?
But outwardly, she merely nodded, her voice smooth as silk. "Jorge Blue, your reasoning is sound. But I’ll verify this place first—just to be thorough."
Her delicate fingers brushed the tiny black serpent coiled around her earlobe, its emerald eyes glinting with intelligence.
"Hissy," Shirley murmured, "go."
The serpent unlatched its fangs from her earlobe and leaped—a flicker of darkness before it burrowed into the earth, vanishing without a trace.
Shirley’s playful demeanor vanished. Her big eyes narrowed, her spiritual sense merging with Hissy’s as the serpent slithered through hidden passages, sensing vibrations, tasting the air for traces of any treasures.
A moment later, the ground rippled. Hissy reappeared in a blur, darting up Shirley’s body—coiling around her waist, slithering over the swell of her full breasts, before finally returning to her ear, its tiny fangs piercing her lobe once more.
Shirley exhaled, her voice crisp. "No treasure to be found? A pity... though I do wonder if you’ve searched thoroughly enough... I’ll take my leave. Do try to miss me, darling."
As this mighty senior sister departed, Lordi wasted no time—he scrambled after the beauty’s graceful footsteps without hesitation."
Cade, ever the pragmatist, yanked the seething Ruru Rosa by her arm.
Ruru spat a curse but let herself be dragged, her glare solid disdain.
The air still thrummed with the aftermath of the confrontation, but for Emma Dawson, the world had narrowed to a single, searing truth:
She had been made a fool.
Not by Lordi’s groping hands—no, that was merely physical, a fleeting violation.
But Ruru Rosa’s words?
They had flayed her alive.
Her fists trembled, knuckles cracking under the pressure of her grip. Her vision blurred with unshed tears—not of sorrow, but of rage so potent it threatened to boil her blood.
"Ruru Rosa..." The name slithered between her teeth like a curse.
She barely registered Lordi anymore. That filthy worm was insignificant. But Ruru? That venom-tongued bitch who’d twisted her shame into a spectacle, who’d dared to insinuate she was some scheming harlot—
If not for Rodney’s presence, Emma would have lunged then and there, nails raking furrows into Ruru’s smug face, gouging out her lying tongue before the wench could utter another syllable.
But she restrained herself.
Because humiliation, she realized, could be a weapon too.
Emma inhaled sharply, the sting of Ruru’s mockery still fresh.
"Paled beside Kim Simona..."
The comparison was a knife in her ribs. Kim Simona, the Eastern Jewel, the genius alchemist—untouchable, radiant, everything Emma was not.
"After this task," she vowed silently, "I will break through to the Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement."
"Then, I will enter the Grand Martial Tournament of the Outer Sect."
And there, under the gaze of thousands, she would drag Ruru Rosa onto the Dao Valor Arena and—
Crush her skull beneath her heels.
Tear the skin from her face.
Rip out that lying tongue and force her to choke on it.
Let the sect see what happens to those who humiliate Emma Dawson.
Rodney stood before her, his broad back a shield against the world. His loyalty and care was unwavering as usual—but that was not enough.
Emma stepped forward, her voice quiet but ironclad.
"Senior Brother Luther... I want that vial of Legendary level Bone Tempering Pills."
The Thirst Bull Squad stilled. Even Rodney turned, his brow furrowed.
But Emma was already moving, kneeling amidst the scattered pills, gathering them one by one with deliberate slowness.
Each pill she picked up was a reminder:
Of her own helplessness.
Of the pathetic, lovesick girl she’d been—clinging to Rodney’s shadow, dreaming of romance while stronger women clawed their way to power.
Jorge silently handed her the last pill.
She clutched the vial, her grip bone-white.
This was compensation for her shame—and the spark that would ignite her Dao Heart.
Emma’s tears did not fall.
Instead, they burned away, leaving behind something harder.
"If I were like Fairy Lith, her highness" she thought bitterly, "would Ruru have dared?"
Because strength silenced mockery. Power erased doubt.
And from this moment forward—
Emma Dawson would take both.
Emma clutched the final elixir pill tightly in her palm, her gaze shifting onto the vial with steely resolve.
This vial—meant to shame and belittle her—was no longer just an insult. It was a thunderous wake-up call, forcing her to confront her true self.
From this moment, she shed the skin of the lovesick girl lost in dreams of pure love. She’s no longer a pretty flower to be protected.
Now, she was a determined seeker, forging her path on the merciless road to the Great Dao in the boundless cultivation world!