Chapter 12: Chapter 70: Jiang vs Jiang

Zeng young master felt his face turn green with regret. While he had been arguing with Yi Dongli, Zeng young master noticed the arrival of Princess Pan Lanyue. 

The Zeng Family of the Pan Kingdom, despite being a conferred Marquis, did not have the power to fight the Yi Auction House. He had been chasing Jiang Chunye, but who knew that Yi Dongli would suddenly appear and protect her? That's why Zeng young master decided to bring out Princess Pan Lanyue as the arbiter.

The Yi Auction House was a mysterious faction with no faction able to see their bottom line, but even they would have to give some face to the royal family of the Pan Kingdom. Not to mention that Princess Pan Lanyue was also the direct disciple of Fleeting Mist Sect Master!

Naturally, Zeng young master also noticed the extraordinary man and woman standing next to Lanyue. The man appeared young and seemed to have no cultivation, but Zeng young master could tell that he simply couldn't discern the other party's true cultivation realm. 

The woman had beauty and aura that surpassed even Princess Lanyue. But Zeng young master wasn't out to be blinded by lust. Even without knowing her background, he could tell that she wasn't someone he could casually mess with.

Zeng young master's face stiffened when the thief walked forward, and the Daoyi addressed her as second sister, though. Thoughts of regret flashed through his mind, but it was too late now. He had already asked Lanyue to the judge. Zeng young master could only hope that Lanyue would be fair and expose the thief.

"Indeed third sister. It seems your time at the sect has been well. You've managed to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in ten years." Jiang Chunye said. Whether it was on purpose or not, Jiang Chunye's Spiritual Crucible Foundation Establishment cultivation base rippled as if to remind Daoyi that she was still the stronger of the two.

"Second sister's time away from the Duke's estate also seems well. You've become a lot more uninhibited. I had worried that you would have perished after you failed the sect examination. Knowing you are alive, I'm sure father and madame will be happy." Daoyi said with a smile on her face.

Jiang Chunye's smiling face stiffened for a moment, allowing her hidden disdain to leak out. But the disdain disappeared as soon as it appeared as if it never existed. 

Daoyi, who had been observing this second sister of hers, noticed the disdain. There was some confusion inside her heart. Although there wasn't much interaction between the two of them, Daoyi could still be said to have grown up alongside Chunye. Comparing the Chunye of now to the Chunye of the past, it was like night and day.

A hint of suspicion lingered within her mind. Daoyi didn't notice ten years ago because Chunye still had some reservations about revealing her true personality. But now that she was no longer chained to the Duke's estate, she revealed her original nature as a famed assassin.  

While a hostile aura embroiled the two women, Tianyi tapped his fan against his chin before unfolding it. Lanyue blinked at Tianyi, who had pulled out a fan out of nowhere without her noticing. 

Tianyi glanced at Yi Dongli, his eyes searching and observing the member of the Yi Family. He could discern the Spiritual Crucible Foundation Establishment cultivation base Yi Dongli exuded. But Tianyi saw deeper into that and saw the Core Formation cultivation base that Yi Dongli had hidden. 

While Tianyi was observing Yi Dongli, Yi Dongli was also observing Tianyi. From the first glance, Yi Dongli had already recognized Tianyi's identity as the only son of the famed Sword Empress who reigned invincible among the Huang Realm. 

Yi Dongli gripped his fist hidden within his sleeves. Why did the Xi Tianyi arrive in the northern regions? He recalled the report of how a pillar of light appeared within the Fleeting Mist Sect. Did it have something to do with the Buzhou Immortal Sect? Did the Buzhou Immortal Sect dispatch Tianyi?

Yi Dongli and the rest of the realm did not possess much information concerning Tianyi. For the son of an Immortal Empress, Tianyi was actually relatively low profile. Aside from the few battles he partook during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, nothing more was known to outsiders. That's why the realm was shocked when Tianyi suddenly entered the Nascent Soul Realm without warning. 

Yi Dongli's finger briefly brushed over his spatial ring, intending to bring out the communication slips, but stopped immediately. His gaze once more focused on Tianyi, who was smiling at him. Despite the smile that could even cause men to be bent, Yi Dongli felt as if he was a mouse that had been cornered by a lion. No, the difference was even wider than that of a mouse and a lion, but rather a mouse and a dragon. 

Yi Dongli felt as if every action of his couldn't escape from Tianyi's eyes. He felt humiliated, since young despite being dispatched to the northern regions, his talent was equal and even surpassed those who stayed at the main sect. He had not placed the Fleeting Mist Sect, Five Poison Sect, and the Sky Whale Sect in his eyes. But now a person appeared who was even more talented, a despondent feeling erupted from within Yi Dongli, but he quickly pushed it down without any change in his expression. 

"What do you think, young master Yi?" Yi Dongli was brought out of his thoughts but Lanyue's words. Jiang Chunye and Daoyi had already finished their "sisterly" talk without him realizing. 

"Do you trust me enough to search miss Jiang's spatial pouch?" Lanyue asked, her expression neutral. The Pan Royal Family and the Yi Auction House had always maintained a certain distance. Since the Yi Auction House never undermined the Royal Family or violated any laws, the Pan Kingdom never interfered with them. 

"Miss Pan," At this moment, Chunye chose to speak up. Annoyance flashed across Lanyue's face for a brief moment, but Chunye acted as if she never saw it. "This world is ruled by strength. I have no objection to having my spatial pouch searched, but only after defeating me."

Hearing those arrogant words, Pan Lanyue no longer bothered to hide her irritation. It was a naked provocation. "You are right. Only the strong are respected. Can I take this as a challenge to this princess?"

"Please give guidance, miss Pan." A fearless smile appeared on Chunye's face, turning her to a valiant beauty who knew fear. Many of the spectators felt their hearts stir as they saw this. 

Yi Dongli watched all this without speaking. He didn't feel that Chunye disrespected him, but instead saw it as part of Chunye's charm. Not hiding behind him, but want to solve it with her own strength. 

Chunye was in the Spiritual Crucible stage while Lanyue resided in the Spiritual Altar stage. Their cultivation was not equal, but Lanyue didn't feel that she would be any weaker than Chunye who was a loose cultivator. At the same time, Chunye was looking down on Lanyue with her higher cultivation.

"Sister Pan, could you allow me to fight second sister?" At this moment, Daoyi spoke up. 

Lanyue showed a surprise expression on her face as she looked at Daoyi. Zeng young master revealed a slightly anxious expression. Although he had seen the hostile interaction between the sisters, he still couldn't help but harbor suspicions. 

Lanyue nodded her head after seeing the determined look in Daoyi's eyes. "Young master Yi wouldn't have any objections, right?" Lanyue asked.

 Yi Dongli instead looked at Chunye. "Chunye," The way he spoke, her name was beyond gentle. "Do you want to?"

Chunye's smiled widened. "If third sister wants to help me so much, how could I ignore it?"

Tianyi felt his lips twitched. But he was also confused, so he sent a voice transmission. "Daoyi, why did you suddenly want to duel your sister?" 

"I didn't notice it before back then. I had thought nearly drowning had provoked second sister's change in personality, but seeing her now... her personality changed far too much. I'm afraid that a cultivator might have possessed her after falling into the pond all those years ago. I want to make sure."

Tianyi nodded. "Do you have a method?" 

"Of course, the techniques imparted on Daoist Lu has an attack specifically targeting those who possessed the bodies of others," Daoyi said.

Tianyi nodded. 

The spectators cleared a space for the duel. Tianyi released his spiritual sense and watched everything. Although he didn't think that Yi Dongli wouldn't do anything with him around, it never hurt to be careful.

As for whether Tianyi interfered... 

Hehe, it's only cheating if you get caught. That's right, Tianyi was imposing double standards.

Within the circle of onlookers, Daoyi and Chunye faced off against the other. The two had similar features as daughters of the same man, but the two's completely different auras dispelled any of that similarity. 

"I'll allow you to go first," Chunye said. As the one with the higher cultivation base, she generously allowed Daoyi to make the first move.

"Then I won't be polite," Daoyi said. She jumped back until she was at the edge and brought out her guqin from her spatial pouch.

Although Chunye seemed to underestimate Daoyi, she had not once allowed lowered her guard despite appearances since the battle began. Once Daoyi plucked the first string, a clear melodic note rang throughout. The air seemed to ripple, and Chunye leaped to the side, much to the spectators' confusion.

Their confusion was soon cleared as a long gash appeared on the ground. 

Daoyi's attack was to form a sound blade using her qi and her guqin to attack. As the qi was clear in color, only people with the finest senses could detect the sound blade even though they could not physically see it.

As Daoyi continued to play, Chunye began to move seemingly without rhyme or reason. But the spectators knew that she was dodging, as numerous gouges appeared on the ground. Although this attack method seemed simple and crude, for Foundation Establishment cultivators, dodging attacks based on qi sensing without spiritual sense was a hurdle. 

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Chunye frowned as the battle continued. She had not thought that Daoyi would have such an attack. Chunye sucked in her breath, and she seemed to merge into the air, and even her presence disappeared. 

Tianyi, who was watching from the side, raised an eyebrow. It was rare for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to have such a concealment technique. But it couldn't fool his senses. Unless Chunye improved the technique, in front of the spiritual sense, the concealment technique was useless.

There were numerous other drawbacks. Tianyi could see that Chunye completely stopped breathing, her movements slowed, and her blood flow slowed, her internal temperature cooled, and even her heartbeat slowed. But those could also be advantages if a Core Formation Master wasn't careful and didn't use his spiritual sense. Chunye could likely decrease the distance without the Core Formation Master's knowledge. It was a decent concealment technique. At least it would make Chunye nearly invincible against any one Foundation Establishment Disciple. 

Daoyi's hand stopped playing the guqin. The music she had playing, however, seemed to linger around her. Suddenly she plucked a string, and a new gouge appeared on the ground. Yet Chunye was nowhere to be seen.

Moments passed like this, occasionally Daoyi would unleash another sound blade, but she never seemed to strike true. For the onlookers, a tense silence descended as they watched with rapt attention, waiting for Chunye to strike.

Tianyi glanced at Yi Dongli, and the two gazed clashed. Tianyi smiled slightly, not expecting the Yi Family young master to be observing him instead of the battle. Did he really have that much confidence in Chunye? Daoyi was a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, while Chunye was a loose cultivator. 

Yi Dongli really did have that much confidence in Chunye. From his experience with Chunye, although her techniques were not supreme, Chunye's wit and usage of what was available to her more than made up for her deficiencies. As long as she learned and mastered better techniques, it would be akin to attaching wings to a tiger.

The silent standoff continued as a gust of wind blew, and a few strands of Daoyi's hair fluttered in the wind. The petals of the fluttering tree floated about, and a few even landed atop of Daoyi's head. 

Suddenly Daoyi began to play the guqin without reservation, and an eerie tone reverberated throughout the streets. The music was disconcerting as if two songs were playing at once. One song's pitch was incredibly high and barely within the hearing range of a person, while the other was near silent and caused people to palpitate from the low thrums. 

The spectators only felt goosebumps from hearing the eerie song, but Chunye felt differently. Nausea overtook her as the world spun around her. Her gaze became unfocused as she lay on the ground, but she could still make out the silhouette of Daoyi in front of her.

In her experience as an assassin, when humans felt wary, their first thought would be that the attack would come from behind. In truth, the most vulnerable spot would be from above, but any sudden movement would cancel her technique. So she chose the next path to strike: from the front.

Chunye tried to control her nausea, but even with her experience and training in dealing with the feeling, she couldn't control it at all. The reason was simple; Daoyi's attack was considered a soul attack. It produced a feeling of nausea as an aftereffect, but the soul portion was incredibly hard to master, and it drained a lot of spiritual qi. If Chunye could easily suppress it, then soul attacks would not be so feared.

Of course, this type of soul attack was considered incredibly weak and would only work on those on the same level or weaker. 

While Daoyi was unleashing the tune, it suddenly stopped, and another song played. Chunye, who felt nauseous, felt danger, so she immediately started to move. But Daoyi had already unleashed her technique.

Chunye felt something inside of being suppressed as if she was a blob of water being constricted all around. But other than that, nothing happened. Taking this chance, Chunye pointed her arm at Daoyi and, with her other armed pressed the trigger in her sleeve to unleash her concealed weapon.

Daoyi frowned. She did not expect her secret move to not have any effect on Chunye. If someone really possessed her, then there should be some other reaction and just an uncomfortable feeling. But she didn't have any time to think as an explosion rang and something shot out of Chunye's sleeves. 

A stone golem emerged in front of Daoyi and blocked the concealed weapon. Or at least it should have. The concealed projectile pulverized the golem's torso and continued onto its path. 

Chunye smirked confidently. That move of hers could even take down a Core Formation Master. If her dear sister was struck by it, victory was inevitable. But her elation turned into confusion as she felt herself lose control of her body, even her qi no longer obeyed her. 

Yi Dongli frowned, and his foot lightened as he prepared to move. But suddenly, an immense pressure crushed down upon him. Yi Dongli looked up to see Tianyi still smiling at him, but those eyes were incredibly cold.

A shiver ran up Yi Dongli's spine, but he reigned his emotions so as not to embarrass himself. He smiled back, and he no longer moved to intersect with the duel.

Chunye watched with shock as she saw the golem crumble to reveal Daoyi intact. The only injury on her was the slight bleeding leaking from the side of her head. Her hairpins long scattered, and her hair was fully unbound.

"Second sister, do you admit defeat?" Daoyi smiled. But only she knew how close to death she was. If the projectile had been more accurate or if she had been slow to move, then a hole would have appeared in her head. A silent shiver ran up her spine.

Chunye glared and tried to struggle. As she did so, the strings tightened her body, and the places where the strings directly touched her skin began to bleed as it embedded itself deeper. She took a deep breath, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Third sister, I didn't expect you to have such abilities. I guess the sect must have poured a lot of resources into you." Chunye had a perfectly smiling face that no one could nitpick, but her words were unkind.

Daoyi smiled. "I'm very grateful to the sect. Thanks to the sect, I can just lie around and wait for resources to be delivered to me. Luckily I don't have to be like second sister. Otherwise, I don't think I could stand it." Her words were complimenting, but the fire it ignited in Chunye's heart was unbearable.

In the end, Daoyi won. But she did not search Chunye's spatial pouch and instead had Pan Lanyue do so. The stolen item was a spiritual beast's egg. The Zeng Family had initially wanted to hatch it themselves once they acquired enough resources, but it had been stolen before it could happen. 

The end result was that there was no such egg in Chunye's spatial pouch.

"I don't know where you hid it, but the Zeng Family won't let it end like this!" Leaving those lost words, the Zeng young master left with a flick of his sleeves.

"Third sister, it's been fun. Next time I'll be sure to repay you." Chunye also left with Yi Dongli after the duel.

Tianyi's eyes coldly landed on the Chunye's back, fully committing the person to his memories. "Junior sister, your sister has most likely been possessed or at least had her soul switched."

Daoyi looked at Tianyi but didn't say anything. She had already ingested a pill to heal her wounds, and her hair was once more combed. 

"Do you think that girl really stole the spiritual beast egg from the Zeng Family?" Lanyue asked. She had personally thought that Chunye did base on the Zeng young master's reaction, but she didn't discover anything to her surprise.

"Of course," Tianyi said. And with a flip of his hand, an egg larger than his hand appeared on his palm. The egg was white, and the texture was like woven silk.

"Brother Xi, how did you get it!?" Lanyue asked in shock. "You didn't take it when I was inspecting the spatial pouch, did you?"

Tianyi smirked. "Of course not. I found it strange that Yi Dongli had a spatial ring, yet he kept a spatial pouch on him. I just snuck a peak inside the spatial pouch and judging from the items inside. They should have been Chunye's. There was nothing special except this egg. I guess that she must have handed it to Yi Dongli earlier in case something happened." 

"Why didn't you speak up then? Zeng Scion still thinks Chunye has it." Lanyue asked.

Tianyi glanced at her. "His actions almost got my junior sister killed. Helping him retrieve it? Hmpf," Tianyi held Daoyi's hand and placed the egg into her hand. "He's already lucky I'm not settling the score with him."

Lanyue closed her mouth. Indeed, if Daoyi wasn't quick enough, there was a high chance should have died or been seriously injured.

"That Yi Dongli isn't simple either. He carries a spatial ring, and his true cultivation base is at the Core Formation Realm. Not even Sect Master Yun has one. You know what this means, right?" Tianyi asked.

Lanyue frowned at the implications of the fact. Yi Dongli could have been merely lucky, but then the spatial should have been offered to the Yi Family elders. The more obvious conclusion was that the Yi Family was far more powerful than they seem. Lanyue recalled the rumor that a force from the Central Heaven Region backed the Yi Auction House. 

As they walked away, Tianyi stared at the projectile he retrieved without anyone noticing earlier. The material used was at the Core Formation Realm, so its power did not need to be said. But what truly caught Tianyi's eyes was the shape. 

The projectile was shaped like a bullet.

"Sister Pan, I have a favor." Tianyi smiled, but his eyes were cold.

A rumor soon circulated that the Zeng Family had the egg of an immortal beast, but it had been stolen. The thief was Jiang Chunye.