Chapter 101: Reversal
“I have no quarrel with you, why are we drawing weapons against each other?” The Saintess did not attack, but stood still, looking quite pitiable, making it impossible to connect her with the ruthless Demoness of Taiping Dao from before.
The Heavenly Maiden remained unmoved, her voice cool and clear, “I am ordered by my Master to kill the Demoness of Taiping Dao. A master’s command is as solid as a mountain, I am sorry.”
“Don’t you have a brain of your own?” The Saintess shook her head and sighed, “If your Master ordered you to die, would you also say your Master’s command is hard to disobey?”
“That is natural,” the Heavenly Maiden said indifferently, “Stop delaying. It’s useless.” As she spoke, her figure flickered, attempting to secure a position near the cliff face, clearly aware of the Lu Ban Wings.
The Saintess, however, smiled charmingly. Though she wore a scarf, her smile still brought a sense of spring returning to the earth. Yet, the words she spoke sent a chill through one’s body: “Who says it’s useless? Can you still muster True Qi?”
“You…” Without the Saintess needing to say it, the Heavenly Maiden had already sensed her own abnormality. Just as she tried to seize the Saintess’s escape route, she was horrified to discover that she couldn’t summon any True Qi at all; her body felt as if it had lost all strength. She quickly used her sword to support herself, thus preventing herself from falling.
“What method did you use?” A hint of panic flashed in the Heavenly Maiden’s eyes as she asked, her face ashen.
“I once told someone that in the martial world, experience is more important than martial arts,” the Saintess opened her palm. On her fair palm lay a green pipe, about an inch long. She carefully put away the pipe at her leisure and smiled at the Heavenly Maiden, “I’ll give you this saying too.”
“Shadowless Incense…” The Heavenly Maiden recognized the pipe as a magical, soporific incense made by the witch doctors of southwestern Miao territory, which was colorless and odorless, capable of sealing the enemy’s True Qi without them realizing it.
The Heavenly Maiden then understood why the Saintess had stood in that position; it was in the upwind direction, and the mountain breeze would carry the soporific smoke towards her. And the reason the Saintess remained motionless was undoubtedly out of concern that she might inadvertently inhale the incense.
As expected, the Saintess put away the pipe and waited for the mountain breeze to blow the soporific smoke completely away before gracefully stepping towards the immobilized Heavenly Maiden.
“Initially, looking at you, I felt we had some connection,” the Saintess raised her slender, white palm and looked at the Heavenly Maiden with immense regret, “But you insisted on killing me, so we’ll have to meet in the next life.”
Having said that, she struck towards the Heavenly Maiden’s forehead with her palm!
Just as she was about to kill the Heavenly Maiden with her palm, the Saintess suddenly saw a sharp glint flash in the other’s eyes. Her heart suddenly tightened, and without a second thought, she immediately retracted her palm and retreated!
In a flash, the Heavenly Maiden, who had been teetering, suddenly regained her mobility. The sheathed Precious Sword propped on the ground drew a graceful arc, heading straight for the Saintess’s face!
Fortunately, the Saintess dodged in time, otherwise, her head would have been split open by this sword strike!
The Saintess retreated several steps consecutively before steadying herself. Her veil, cut in two from the middle, fell like black butterflies, and was swept away by the mountain wind, flying towards the dark sky.
Seeing that her painstakingly planned sword strike had only severed the Saintess’s veil, the Heavenly Maiden sighed regretfully.
The Saintess opposite her revealed a stunningly beautiful face, with features as delicate as an elf’s. At this moment, her face bore a thin expression of shock and anger, but it did not detract from her beauty in the slightest; rather, it added an immeasurable vitality.
The appearances of the two women were like orchids and chrysanthemums, each with their own merits, making it difficult to distinguish between them. Yet, both seemed ethereal, as if they were not of this mortal world.
“You can still make a move?” The Saintess looked at the Heavenly Maiden in disbelief. Sun Yuanlang had once told her that unless one was a Grandmaster immune to all poisons, no one could withstand the effects of Shadowless Incense. This Heavenly Maiden was clearly not a Grandmaster, so why could she still use True Qi after being poisoned? Could it be that she wasn’t poisoned at all?!
“Killing you is not a problem,” the Heavenly Maiden held her sword horizontally in front of her chest, her calm tone conveying unquestionable Confidence.
The Saintess stared at the Heavenly Maiden suspiciously, seemingly contemplating whether to take the risk. Soon, she made up her mind, smiled slightly, and said, “In that case, why don’t you chase me?”
Saying this, she slowly retreated a few steps, increasing the distance between herself and the Heavenly Maiden, only to see the other still motionless.
The Saintess then understood. The Heavenly Maiden was likely still poisoned, but she must have a secret technique to temporarily suppress the power of the Shadowless Incense. However, the Heavenly Maiden dared not mobilize all her True Qi to pursue, as any significant movement could cause her to lose control of the poison and fall into a complete coma.
The Saintess wanted to signal for her subordinates who were searching for her to come and help, but she worried that she might first attract the attention of the experts from the Heavenly Master Dao, which would be counterproductive. With this thought, she waved at the Heavenly Maiden with a playful expression, “If you’re not chasing me, I’m leaving. You can enjoy the wind alone.”
With that, she let out a tinkling laugh and displayed her Movement Technique, disappearing into the night in just a few steps.
.
The Heavenly Maiden watched the Saintess with a grave expression. After the other had vanished, her body sagged forward. She gritted her teeth and used the sword placed horizontally in front of her chest to support herself, thus avoiding falling to the ground.
Her condition was actually far worse than the Saintess had anticipated. That sword strike had used up all the True Qi she had left. Now, she was utterly depleted; her meridians were completely empty, with not a trace of True Qi remaining.
If the Saintess hadn’t been too cautious and I hadn’t been suppressed by her sword, I could have killed her with little effort by now.
But the Heavenly Maiden dared not relax at all; the Saintess might return. If her true situation were discovered, it would be her own death. With this thought, the Heavenly Maiden gritted her teeth and stood up, taking labored steps in the opposite direction of the Saintess.
After a short while, the Heavenly Maiden waded through the mud, having walked less than two li. She couldn’t help but inwardly give a bitter smile. Usually, she looked down on ordinary people, but she didn’t realize that without her True Qi, she was not even as good as a common mountain dweller.
Only then did the Heavenly Maiden somewhat understand why her Master had sent her down the mountain alone for training, forbidding anyone from the sect to help. Only through this could her temperament be truly tempered, allowing her to experience the True Meaning of “Tai Shang Wang Qing” (Supreme Detachment) sooner.
She also deeply recognized her own shortcomings. The Saintess of Taiping Dao, clearly inferior to her in martial arts, was full of schemes, causing her constant embarrassment. Now she had fallen into such a dangerous predicament.
‘In the future, I must plan meticulously and think thrice before acting. I can no longer rely on my martial arts to act recklessly…’ the Heavenly Maiden reflected as she walked along the rugged mountain path. The next moment, a deep self-mockery appeared on her exquisitely beautiful face. ‘However, perhaps there will be no future…’
Because the mountain wind carried sounds from afar, she could faintly hear a sharp female voice issuing commands: “Scatter and search immediately! She’s been affected by Miss’s Shadowless Incense, she can’t have fled far!”
“Yes!” A dozen men responded simultaneously, and then she heard a leader assigning tasks: “You go over there! You go over there!”
The man who received the assignment responded and immediately began searching along the route with a torch.
Soon, they made a discovery. “There are women’s footprints here, of varying depths. It must be the Heavenly Maiden who was poisoned!”
“Chase!” The leader immediately led a group of subordinates, following the footprints left by the Heavenly Maiden, and they swiftly pursued!
The Heavenly Maiden couldn’t help but shake her head in annoyance; she had made a mistake again. She quickly left the mountain path and chose to walk on rocks where footprints wouldn’t be left. But where were there continuous rocks for her to walk on? She inevitably had to jump. After only a few jumps, the Heavenly Maiden felt her blood surging, her head heavy, and she felt like she was going to faint.
If it were an ordinary person, under the effect of the Shadowless Incense, they would have fainted ten or eight times already. But the Heavenly Maiden had cultivated since childhood and possessed an extremely tenacious disposition, managing to stubbornly resist the drug’s effects and continue running among the rocks…
“She’s there!” The Heavenly Maiden, in her white dress, was extremely conspicuous in the night. She was finally discovered by the pursuers. Seeing that although she was fleeing, her speed was no different from an ordinary person, and showed no trace of an Earth Rank Grandmaster’s skill. The people from Taiping Dao rejoiced: “That’s right, she’s poisoned! Hurry and capture her!”
“Roar!” The Taiping Dao members howled excitedly and gave chase to the Heavenly Maiden, their distance rapidly closing!
