Chapter 126

“Chang Lin,” Wang Huan called out, her beautiful face filled with unwavering determination.

“Huanhuan, my little treasure, have you finally come around? Ready to leave with me?” Chang Lin’s tone was teasing and smug, like a street thug rather than a cultivator.

“I’ll go with you—if you can defeat me,” Wang Huan replied calmly.

The moment those words left her mouth, the Luoxian Sect disciples erupted in protest.

“Senior sister Huanhuan, you mustn’t! Chang Lin is a wicked man, almost no different from a demonic cultivator. If you go with him, he’ll defile you. You can’t!”

“Please think this through! As long as we live, there's still hope. Don’t do something foolish!”

“Exactly, senior sister. If it comes to it, we’ll fight to the death. What’s a scar the size of a bowl? We’ve never been afraid of dying!”

“That’s right—we fight!”

The crowd was filled with fury, their killing intent boiling over.

Chang Lin, however, burst into unrestrained laughter, basking in the rage of Luoxian Sect’s disciples. “What a bunch of useless pigs,” he sneered. “If it weren’t for your so-called Twin Swords of Luoxian guarding your sect, you’d have been wiped out long ago. That mountain of yours should’ve been ours.”

“Exactly,” one of the Changshou Sect disciples chimed in. “Everyone in the cultivation world has a nickname for Luoxian Sect—‘Turtle Sect.’”

“Wonder why they call them that?” Chang Lin continued mockingly.

“Because the moment they get hurt, they retreat into their shell and don’t dare come out—just like now!”

Laughter rang out from the Changshou disciples, arrogant and insulting, as if the Luoxian Sect were beneath them. Vulgar taunts and crude mockery filled the air.

So what if Luoxian had three monstrous prodigies? In the cultivation world, there were hundreds of thousands of dead prodigies. A single strong cultivator could always be killed with enough scheming, but a powerful sect? Even a dog from one of those had to be treated with respect.

Luoxian disciples had been insulted like this many times before. Their clenched jaws and furious glares showed how badly they wanted to retaliate, even at the cost of their lives.

“Boring,” Chang Lin muttered, picking at his ear with his pinky. Then he looked at Wang Huan again.

“You’ve agreed, haven’t you? Then come with me. Let’s consummate our bond tonight—I'll show you what I’ve got.”

His filthy words triggered a wave of howls and jeers from the Changshou Sect, but Wang Huan remained eerily calm—like a candle burning silently in the wind.

Her expression was devoid of anger or emotion. The silence surrounding her forced the Changshou disciples to shut up, as if her quiet presence alone exerted unbearable pressure.

“I’ll go with you,” she said quietly, “but I dislike men weaker than me. Fight me one-on-one. If you win, I’ll go with you. But if I win, you and your people must stay away from the forest for the next seven days.”

Chang Lin licked his lips, eyes gleaming.

“Huanhuan, you don’t actually think I can’t beat you, do you?”

“Then why hesitate? If you can win, just accept already,” someone from Luoxian Sect shouted.

They had witnessed senior sister Wang Huan defeat Chang Lin once. If they fought again, she stood a good chance.

On the Changshou side, however, someone muttered, “Second senior brother, what’s the point of dueling her? Just wait until the White Forest formation breaks. Then we’ll snatch her, clean her up, and toss her into your bed.”

“Yeah, yeah... No need to risk a duel. What if you lose?”

“Exactly. You couldn’t beat her before. How would it be different now?”

“Shut up!” Chang Lin snapped, eyes flashing with rage as he turned toward his own disciples. “You think I can’t beat her, is that it?”

He looked close to losing control.

“Just accept already if you can win,” someone else muttered under their breath again—prompting another burst of fury.

Scanning the crowd but unable to find the source, Chang Lin turned back toward Wang Huan. In her eyes, he saw naked disdain. That single look from a woman wounded his pride more deeply than any wound could.

“Fine! I’ll fight you. And today, I will make you mine.”

Waving his hand, he ordered the Changshou disciples to clear the area.

Seeing this, Wang Huan stepped beyond the protective formation.

No more words were needed. The two clashed immediately.

Their magical artifacts soared into the air, colliding with force that shook the surroundings. Wang Huan’s red ribbon was both supple and forceful—capable of offense and defense. She wielded it with precision, clearly having mastered the Red Maiden’s techniques.

Within moments, she had the upper hand again, leaving Chang Lin overwhelmed.

“Get lost!” he roared in frustration.

With a wave, he summoned two more black swords that transformed into twin black pythons and attacked Wang Huan from both sides.

She met them head-on, her red ribbon ablaze, engaging the pythons in a fierce battle. The clash was fierce, the crowd on edge, barely daring to breathe. One slip from either could mean death.

After dozens of exchanges, Wang Huan seized an opening and bound both black pythons with her ribbon, which now radiated searing spiritual flames, attempting to incinerate them.

“Explode!” Chang Lin shouted suddenly, triggering a hidden spell.

The two pythons exploded into clouds of black mist, engulfing Wang Huan completely.

“Now you’re in my domain. Let’s see how you escape,” he sneered, summoning three more black swords, which vanished into the mist.

Inside the black fog, his swords’ power increased manifold. The sound of blades clashing echoed within—the black swords attacking Wang Huan’s red ribbon.

The Luoxian disciples grew anxious. None had expected Chang Lin to be hiding so much strength. It made sense now why he was the second senior brother of Changshou Sect—he was as cunning as he was strong.

After a long silence, the noise within the fog began to fade.

Suddenly, a deafening boom shattered the air as Wang Huan tore through the black mist and charged directly at Chang Lin.

His face turned pale. She had broken through his strongest technique.

Watching her charge at him with deadly intent, he froze, completely forgetting to dodge.

“Die!” she shouted.

She might have been small, but her strikes were ruthless. The red ribbon transformed into a massive forty-meter-long sword that came crashing down from the sky.

At the last second, Chang Lin suddenly grinned.

“You’ve fallen for it!”

“Not good!” Wang Huan reacted instantly. Her ribbon reformed around her, creating a defensive cocoon.

Almost simultaneously, three black streaks of light shot out from the forest, slamming hard into her ribbon shield.

The force was overwhelming. Wang Huan couldn’t hold her ground and was blasted backward, crashing to the earth.

“I’m coming for you, my little treasure,” Chang Lin sneered, rushing in with his black spiritual sword.

Wang Huan tried to defend herself, but the impact from the earlier attack left her unable to react in time.

Squelch—

The black sword pierced her shoulder, slicing clean through before being yanked back out.

Blood spurted like a fountain.

Wang Huan had been severely wounded.