Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 39: A Step Away

Shang Miaoyan watched the White-clothed Sword Immortal fly away on his sword, her spirits soaring.

Today, she had gotten what she wanted.

She felt her Dao Heart rejoice, her thoughts flowing unimpeded.

But... there was still one little peeping mouse that needed to be dealt with.

The crimson lotus pattern flickered in Shang Miaoyan's eyes once more, a stark contrast to the excitement and craving she'd shown when facing Pei Yuhang.

This time, the blooming of the crimson lotus signified brutality and cruelty.

...…

Yan Yaoyao covered her mouth as she watched Pei Yuhang fly away on his sword.

Before she knew it, she was drenched in sweat, her dress clinging tightly to her skin.

'I never would have imagined Pei Sword Immortal was that kind of man.'

Yan Yaoyao clutched the Memory Stone in her hand and steadied her rapid breathing.

She looked at the Memory Stone, licked her lips, and felt her mouth grow even drier.

'Since Pei Sword Immortal is such a wanton Sword Immortal, does that mean I can also...'

'No, there's no need to doubt it.'

'Of course I can! After all, I have leverage on him now.'

'If I expose this, the master of the Cold Palace Sword Mansion, the Cold Sun Sword Immortal Pei Yuhang, will be utterly disgraced!'

'No matter how stubborn he is, no matter how much he looks down on a Yin Yang Dao Female Cultivator like me, he'll have to obediently bow his head.'

'And serve me!'

'That's right. From now on, this proud White-clothed Sword Immortal will be nothing more than a slave to my whims!'

'He's mine!'

Yan Yaoyao subconsciously recalled the first time she had ever met Pei Yuhang, on a battlefield during the great war between the Righteous and Demon Daos.

At the time, Cultivators from her Yin Yang Sacred Land and the Nine Nether Palace had laid an ambush in Soul-breaking Canyon for the Cultivators of the Righteous Sect, Eight Immortals Island.

Just as they were about to corner their enemies.

VMMMM—

On the battlefield, every sword in every Cultivator's hand began to sing. Some even started to resist their owners, choosing to shatter rather than be held.

Everyone understood: a Great Cultivator of the Sword Dao at the Divinity Transformation Stage was about to descend.

A Divinity Transformation Stage Great Power from the Nine Nether Palace shot into the clouds to engage the mysterious Sword Cultivator.

Yan Yaoyao remembered blinking, and in that instant, the vast, cloud-covered expanse of the sky suddenly split open.

Dazzling golden sunlight poured down like a waterfall from the gash the sword had torn through the clouds.

This miraculous sight plunged the battlefield into silence.

The White-clothed Sword Immortal, having slain a fellow Divinity Transformation expert with a single strike, slowly drifted down from the sky. Amid the vastness of heaven and earth, his small, white-robed figure looked like a fragile snowflake.

But everyone knew that the moment this "snowflake" landed on the battlefield, the forces of the Demon Dao had lost.

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

"Array Master, open the Teleportation Array, quickly!"

The Demon Dao army, which had just held unstoppable momentum, was thrown into chaos, scrambling like ants on a hot pan. Wails, screams, and fear spread through the ranks as all fighting spirit vanished.

That single sword strike had not only slain a Great Power of the Divinity Transformation Stage, but it had also severed the army's Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Strangely, however, Yan Yaoyao didn't fall into extreme terror. She watched, transfixed, as the White-clothed Sword Immortal descended from the sky.

Bathed in the brilliant golden sunlight, he seemed so divine.

Yan Yaoyao's memory of what followed was hazy. She only remembered Pei Yuhang raising a hand and unleashing a sword strike.

With that one strike, everything between heaven and earth transformed into Sword Qi. The wind was Sword Qi, the rain was Sword Qi, the light was Sword Qi—it was omnipresent, all-pervasive.

The Demon Dao army was being slaughtered by the world-spanning Sword Qi, falling back in disarray. She herself was grievously wounded and barely managed to escape via a Teleportation Array. The last thing she saw before she left was the magnificent figure of the White-clothed Sword Immortal, routing an entire army with a mere wave of his hand.

For the next ten years, every night, the latent injury from the Sword Intent that remained in her body would flare up, causing Yan Yaoyao an agony so intense it bordered on ecstasy.

But surprisingly, Yan Yaoyao felt no resistance to the pain from the Sword Intent. She even... began to enjoy it.

Whenever the pain from the sword wound flared up, she would recall Pei Yuhang's face. She started making her male consorts dress like the Cold Sun Sword Immortal, and whenever the latent injury acted up, she would summon one to her chambers to... assist her cultivation.

Her Dao Heart also transformed during those ten years, and gradually, Yan Yaoyao glimpsed the path to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Unfortunately, after she reached the Nascent Soul Stage, the latent Sword Intent injury that had tormented her for so long finally healed. At that moment, Yan Yaoyao felt as if she had lost the gaze of the man who had wounded her, and she was dejected for a long time.

Even her collection of slaves, meant to be substitutes for the Sword Immortal, seemed utterly dull.

Fakes were fakes, after all.

Her trip down memory lane came to an end.

Yan Yaoyao clutched the Memory Stone, a genuine smile spreading across her face.

'Perhaps this is my destiny, arranged by the Celestial Dao... My fateful connection with Pei Sword Immortal.'

'Hmm, how should I greet Pei Sword Immortal when the time comes?'

Mumbling to herself, Yan Yaoyao suddenly put on a coquettish, high-pitched voice. "Pei Sword Immortal, long time no see. Would you be interested in a little chat with Yaoyao? Yaoyao has something fun to show you, you know."

'Or maybe I should just be direct?'

'Pei Sword Immortal, I'm so jealous of the Fairy who gets to fool around with you. Why not let Yaoyao join in!'

As she thought this, Yan Yaoyao shook her head slightly. 'No, that's not threatening at all. Pei Sword Immortal would definitely ignore me. I need to take a more domineering approach to get him under my thumb.'

Yan Yaoyao imagined the bamboo stalk before her was Pei Yuhang. She extended a long leg, pinning it with her foot, and then gave a roguish grin.

"Pei Sword Immortal, you wouldn't want your Dao Companion to find out about you fooling around with other Fairies, now would you?"

"Come to my residence tonight. Or else..."

RUSTLE—

A rustling sound came from the bamboo grove behind her. The temperature in the grove inexplicably plummeted by several degrees, and a layer of frost crept over the bamboo stalks nearest to Yan Yaoyao.

Yan Yaoyao's breath hitched. She spun around, her hand hidden in her sleeve, ready to unleash a deadly spell at a moment's notice.

"You're... Fan Ya Fairy's disciple?"

Under the cold moonlight, Yan Yaoyao saw the newcomer clearly.

It was Shui'Er, the girl Fan Ya had suddenly taken as her True Disciple just a few days ago.

Yan Yaoyao's eyes narrowed as she said coolly,

"What did you just see?"

Shui'Er gave Yan Yaoyao a timid bow and said in a meek voice,

"Immortal Yan, Shui'Er just arrived in this bamboo grove and accidentally got lost. I was wandering aimlessly when I happened to run into you, Immortal Yan.

Since I only just saw you, Shui'Er has no idea what you were doing before this..."

Yan Yaoyao looked at the meek Shui'Er and her feeble explanation, a cruel smile touching her lips.

'Stumbled here by accident?'

'Ridiculous. I'm a Nascent Soul Cultivator. How could I possibly not sense a mere Foundation Establishment Disciple approaching?'

'I bet you used some Magical Treasure from Fan Ya to approach me deliberately!'

'In that case...'

Yan Yaoyao's fingers, hidden in her sleeve, twitched. She prepared to take Shui'Er down in the very next moment.

'I absolutely cannot let another soul know about the Cold Sun Sword Immortal!'

'As for how Fan Ya will hunt for the killer afterward... I can't worry about that now.'

Shui'Er's face still held a timid smile, as if she were oblivious to the dangerous killing intent flashing in Yan Yaoyao's eyes.

WHOOSH—

A light breeze stirred, sending a single bamboo leaf drifting slowly past Yan Yaoyao's face.

'Now!'

A cruel smile spread across Yan Yaoyao's face. She was about to raise her hand when, in her peripheral vision, she saw that the leaf drifting past her was dotted with fresh blood.

The world flipped upside down in Yan Yaoyao's eyes. After a wave of dizziness, she saw a slender, upright body appear in her field of view.

Yan Yaoyao wasn't a fool. She knew.

Shui'Er had decapitated her with a single bamboo leaf.

'So she was the strongest one in the Yin Yang Sacred Land's delegation all along. Fan Ya was just a decoy.'

'But... none of that mattered anymore.'

As her world faded to black, Yan Yaoyao felt no fear of death, nor did she wonder about Shui'Er's true identity.

She only felt regret.

'I was so close... so close to having the White-clothed Sword Immortal I'd always dreamed of.'

'What a pity.'