"You're not dead?!"
Gu Chenzi was terrified!
Yan Qing, who was silently staring blankly in the distance, suddenly twitched her eyelids, and the prayer beads on her wrist scattered all over the ground.
"Little painter!?" The Holy Maiden of the Northern Region's face regained its radiance.
Feng Liudao's usually stern face revealed a strange smile.
The Demon of the Qin destroyed a qin, stared intently at her 'resurrected' little friend, and, seemingly noticing something, vanished into the distance with a wisp of wind, her voice drifting back: "You'll have to clean up this mess yourself."
Wei Pingxi raised an eyebrow: "Thanks!"
Yang Ruo knelt down with a thud, drenched in cold sweat.
He knelt for only a few breaths before getting up, ready to fight Gu Chenzi to the death.
Wei Pingxi raised his sleeves, the wind from which shielded him: "Protect His Majesty."
Before he could finish speaking, Gu Chenzi launched his attack.
The fourth young lady narrowed her eyes slightly, her 'Compassionate Magic' and 'Immortality Technique' clashing in a dazzling display.
The Longevity Technique, or the Immortal Age Technique, when perfected, allows a person to be "immortal" in a certain sense, provided there is sufficient blood and energy available.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the most evil martial art in the world.
The ultimate goal of martial arts is good versus evil. Since ancient times, evil has never prevailed over good. Wei Pingxi and Gu Chenzi both froze in place. At this level, techniques become no longer important.
When masters clash, it comes down to a life-or-death struggle, and in the end, it's a battle between two heaven-defying martial arts techniques.
The Immortal Cultivation Technique aims to plunder the inexhaustible life force within Wei Pingxi's body, while the merciful magic seeks to guide the evil spirit back to righteousness.
It's like how the compassionate monk guided his rebellious disciple to goodness back then. If it weren't for his compassionate thought, how could Gu Chenzi be so arrogant and unrestrained today?
Wei Pingxi learned the Dharma of reciting compassion, but in the end, he did not truly practice compassion.
In short, she's not Gu Chenzi's father, so there's no need to condone evil deeds.
Everyone fell silent, anxiously awaiting the end of the battle.
"Your Majesty."
Yang Ruotong paid her respects to the Empress.
Ji Ying frowned slightly: "Why are you here?"
Yan Xiu's legs were still weak. Earlier, when she heard the palace servants report that "the evil spirits have been defeated," she and Yu Zhi helped each other out. Little did she expect that when she looked out from behind the curtain, she would see her daughter's figure fall down, and then see Gu Chenzi raise his palm to strike the two of them.
Her lips were pale, and all her unspoken words condensed into one sentence: "I'm worried."
The waiting time was more unbearable than being fried in oil. The Empress was worried about her daughter and her sweetheart, and Yuzhi was also worried about the Fourth Miss.
Seeing that the two women's faces were deathly pale, Ji Ying summoned more skilled men to protect them.
Wei Pingxi's brows and eyes were covered with a layer of frost.
Gu Chenzi's lips turned purple.
They waited from day to night, and from night to sunrise.
Yao Chenzi carried his medicine box to treat the wounds of the martial arts masters. The emperor and empress neither ate nor drank, and no one else had any appetite.
They were waiting, and Yan Qing was waiting too. She would occasionally stroke her cuffs with a gentle expression, as if caressing the beautiful face of her beloved.
Yu Zhi shifted her gaze from the Fourth Miss and subtly placed it on Madam Wei.
She never dared to underestimate this ruthless woman.
To be honest, Yan Qing caused Xi Xi's two lifetimes of suffering.
Love is fake, greed is real. Mother-daughter affection is fake, covetousness is real.
As the night deepened and the dew grew heavier, Yu Zhi tightened her clothes, unable to ward off the chill that crept into her heart.
She wanted to see what Madam Wei was hiding in her sleeve.
The idea came to her swiftly and fiercely, and she dared not act on her own, so she whispered it to Yan Xiu in her ear.
The Empress made the arrangements discreetly.
The long night passed, darkness receded, and a red sun rose from the east.
Gu Chenzi vomited a mouthful of blood, his vital energy waned, and his youthful face visibly aged.
Wei Pingxi stood up shakily, his throat itching as if he wanted to spit out some blood to calm himself down.
However, when she looked up and saw pairs of concerned and worried eyes, she suppressed the itch, swallowed the rising bloody taste, and gave a gentle, pleasant smile.
With the support of her family and friends, who hoped she would survive, she was able to persevere in this battle.
To live a good life, one must have confidence.
Yu Zhi waited for a long time but the Fourth Miss did not look this way. Her burning heart gradually cooled down, and she lowered her eyes sadly. The soft fragrance of agarwood drifted over.
Despite becoming the newly crowned number one martial arts master, Miss Wei's personality remained as eccentric as ever. She nestled in Yu Zhi's arms, ignoring the many people watching, and rubbed her cheek against the beauty's neck.
"I want to sleep for a while."
After two days and two nights of fighting, Wei Pingxi finally returned to his peaceful haven.
Yu Zhi blushed, yet found the person sleeping so carefree in her arms to be incredibly adorable.
The sadness she felt before had long since vanished, replaced by a joyful smile that bloomed like a flower in the most beautiful spring.
Yao Chenzi blushed and, after confirming several times that Wei Pingxi was exhausted and had fallen into a deep sleep, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Ji Ying felt embarrassed to look at her daughter in the woman's arms, so she suppressed her urge and turned her face away.
He had this concern, but Yan Xiu did not.
Yan Xiuzai carefully examined her sleeping daughter, then picked up a silk handkerchief to wipe the fine dust from her face.
Gu Chenzi was defeated.
His evil skills were crippled, his long hair turned white, and the arrogant and domineering Old Ancestor of Suspended Yin was no more.
"Second Miss..."
"waste."
After scolding the person, Yan Qing sighed, took a few steps forward, and curtsied, saying, "Your Majesty, I greet you, Your Highness."
"How dare you come to see me?" Yan Xiu rebuked.
It's truly heartbreaking to see two sisters who were once inseparable fall apart.
Yan Qing was not surprised by her anger, but at this moment she would rather say a few words to His Majesty.
The Empress saw through her plan and sneered, "Ah Qing, I have treated you well."
"Then why not give His Majesty to your sister?"
Those around dared not listen to the sisters' conversation, but the gusts of wind inevitably reached their ears. The Holy Maiden of the Northern Region curled her lips and said, "You have quite the nerve."
Yan Qing was still friendly to Yan Xiu, but she completely disregarded others.
The Holy Maiden of the Northern Region continued her sarcastic remarks: "Where we live, someone like you would be burned to death, and your bones wouldn't even be buried in the earth."
"Shut up!"
"You think you can just shut up whenever you want? Do you think you're some kind of 'little artist'?" She looked at the person in Yu Zhi's arms with deep affection.
Yu Zhi couldn't help but hug the Fourth Miss tightly, feeling that this saintess was about to come and snatch her away at any moment.
Yan Qing smiled contemptuously: "If I were you, I would snatch her away, kill this concubine, and live with Xi Xi for the rest of my life."
Bai Xingyi rolled his eyes at her, saying seriously, "There aren't many people as ruthless and shameless as you."
"You don't dare?"
Bai Xingyi flicked her sleeves: "I am the Holy Maiden of the Northern Region, I will not do anything that would lower my status."
"Then you didn't love truly enough, or ruthlessly enough, so you deserve to be unwanted."
Her mouth was too venomous. Bai Xingyi's expression changed slightly. He raised his sleeve and slapped Yan Qing across the face from a distance: "You dare to talk to me like that?"
People in the martial arts world act swiftly and vengefully. After the fight, she felt bored and muttered, "Nobody wants you," before hiding under a tree to meditate.
Yan Qing took the slap to the face without a care, and defiantly said to Bai Xingyi, "I thought you could beat me to death, but this is all you've got? Useless!"
"..."
Not only was Bai Xingyi, who had been resting with his eyes closed, now furious, but Yang Ruo, the second-best in the world, also felt his eyelids twitching—this guy really had a death wish.
"Many people in the world are hypocritical."
“That’s not hypocrisy,” Yu Zhi said boldly.
"Who gives you the right to speak?"
This person dared to criticize even the Holy Maiden of the Northern Region. There is no one in the world she wouldn't dare to call "trash." If there is, it would be the Emperor and Empress and their family of three.
Yu Zhi couldn't guess what tricks she was up to behind the scenes, but Madam Wei gave her a very dangerous feeling, and she didn't hesitate to speculate with the greatest malice and the most insane thoughts.
She deliberately stalled for time, saying earnestly, "That can't be called hypocrisy. What makes us human is that we have a bottom line. Even cats and dogs love their offspring. You raised Xi Xi for eighteen years, and in the end, all you want to do is kill her."
"Your love is fake; it only makes people feel disgusted and in pain. That's not love; that's selfishness."
"What a joke! Who isn't selfish?"
“They are different.”
"What's different?"
"Some people flaunt their wealth in the city, and passersby are delighted to see them and want to take it. However, with morality as their standard, no matter how delighted they are, they can only pretend not to see it."
"But some bandits act recklessly, killing and robbing. Which do you think is good, and which is bad?"
Yan Qing said, "Both are bad. The former is hypocritical, while the latter is more sincerely bad."
"wrong!"
Yu Zhi said in a deep voice, "You are terribly wrong. You are unworthy of being a daughter of the Yan family."
Madam Wei's gaze was truly terrifying, as if she wanted to devour her alive. Yu Zhi suppressed her fear and did not back down: "Passersby may be tempted by money, but they should uphold the moral bottom line of being human. Tell me, who in this world is without evil thoughts? Good and evil are just a thought away."
“Some people do good, some people do evil. According to you, those who have evil thoughts but are suppressed from doing evil are hypocrites. If everyone in the world is hypocritical and everyone does evil, what kind of chaos would the world be in?”