clergé

Chapitre 61

The young master paused in his actions.

"How is that little girl doing now?"

After a long while, his voice finally rang out in a lukewarm tone.

"Because the young man took care of her along the way, she was not harmed. Now she is confronting Palace Master Mei and demanding that we release her," the guard replied truthfully.

The young master's brows furrowed slightly.

“Since she has the gold and jade pouch, do you think we should bring her up to see her first? So that Protector Jin won’t cause any trouble later…” The guard noticed the young master’s unusual expression and had a pretty good idea of what was going on—the girl who had passed the test was indeed acquainted with the young master, so he might as well go along with his master’s wishes.

The young master hummed in agreement but did not speak.

The guard, thinking he had guessed his master's thoughts, quickly got up and took his leave.

"Wait a minute."

Before he could take two steps forward, the young master suddenly spoke from behind.

"Don't interfere. Let her fight with Palace Master Mei. I want to see what other skills she has."

The young master's voice seemed to drift from a great distance, perhaps carrying some ambiguous emotions before it left, but all of that emotion was worn away in the vast distance, leaving only endless coldness and indifference.

The guard, having received this unexpected answer, sighed inwardly for the little girl's fate, bowed, and left.

Mei Yaxiang looked at the beautiful young woman in red in front of the hall with some surprise.

I thought that anyone who could reach the sixth level of the palace must be an extraordinary hermit, but I never expected them to be just two greenhorns. What I didn't expect was that one of them was so weak.

She saw right through the girl; she had no internal strength, only fancy but ineffective martial arts skills. The black-clad youth had fallen into the Chaos Prison while saving her, and now the girl stood alone in front of the hall, carrying a gold and jade pouch, her expression calm and composed.

Mei Yaxiang suddenly felt uneasy.

—If he could make that highly skilled young man in black risk his life and obtain the Golden Protector's unique secret manual, could he be an extraordinary benefactor?

Unsure of the situation, she secretly ordered a guard to climb to the top of the twelfth floor to report.

As for Pang Wan, seeing the Southern Barbarians captured because of her mistake, she couldn't help but feel nervous and afraid.

On the contrary, she even had a premonition that utter disaster was about to strike, but her personality was always one of dealing with things as they came—since things were already this bad, there was no point in being afraid, so she did not panic.

"Please return the person to the palace master." Standing tall in front of the palace, she showed no sign of fear.

As soon as the words were spoken, a "snap" was heard, and the golden whip in his hand was slammed to the ground, raising a cloud of fallen leaves and dust—this was to bolster his courage, and also to show his defiance.

"What brings you two to trespass into my lonely palace?" Mei Yaxiang couldn't help but frown; that golden whip was indeed a rare find.

“My fellow disciple and I have no ill intentions. We just want to see the Palace Master and demand an explanation from him,” Pang Wan said calmly.

Mei Yaxiang scoffed upon hearing this: "Explanation? Our Palace Master always acts according to his own will, why should he need to explain himself to others? If you have any complaints, just come and ask for guidance!" Her tone was extremely arrogant.

Pang Wan rubbed her forehead, wondering why Mei Yaxiang's attitude gave her a strange sense of déjà vu.

"We have traveled thousands of miles to come here, just to see the Palace Master. Why are you deliberately making things difficult for us?" She sighed and tightened her grip on the golden whip in her hand.

Mei Yaxiang was about to reply when she saw a gray-clad guard flash by in the distance, shaking his head at her.

A huge weight was lifted from my heart; it turned out this little girl was just an insignificant nobody.

Mei Yaxiang then smiled and drew her cold sword from her waist, using the move "White Rainbow Piercing the Sun" to strike the girl's vitals.

Pang Wan was startled when she saw that Pang Wan attacked without saying a word. She swung her golden whip back and knocked the sword away.

Unfortunately, although he maintained his stance, he had no internal strength left. Although he barely managed to avoid the sword blade, the sword energy tore a large hole in his chest, revealing his snow-white inner shirt.

"If you are willing to kneel down and beg for mercy, and shout 'Long live the Palace Master' three times, I will not make things difficult for you." Seeing that she had almost no power to resist, Mei Yaxiang couldn't help but feel a little disappointed—sigh, it's lonely to be a master. I should have kept that black-clad youth around for a while longer.

Pang Wan's lips curled slightly: "Are you so confident that you can definitely beat me?"

Mei Yaxiang laughed loudly: "I can take your life in no more than five moves!"

Pang Wan scoffed at her answer, saying dismissively, "What if you can't kill me within five moves?"

“I will let you go back!” Mei Yaxiang said angrily.

A glint of light flashed in Pang Wan's eyes. She suppressed her thoughts, her expression remaining cold: "Such arrogance. I think with your appearance, you might not be able to get close to me within ten moves."

Mei Yaxiang laughed inwardly. How could she not understand that this girl was using a provocation? However, she had complete confidence in her own strength, so she was not afraid of the other girl's little tricks at all.

"If I can't kill you within ten moves, I'll personally escort you and your senior brother away, how about that?" Her smile was sinister.

Having received the promise he wanted, Pang Wan raised his hand, and the golden whip drew a dazzling curve in the air.

"Please enlighten me." She took a step back and bowed slightly.

When the term "gifted" is applied to Pang Wan, it can also be interpreted as "enduring hardship."

Although Mei Yaxiang's every move was meant to kill, she did not expect that this girl with no internal energy would be so resilient. On the one hand, she was incredibly fast and managed to dodge several deadly attacks without any danger. On the other hand, even when she was wounded by the sword energy and her skin was torn open, she did not panic at all. She just focused on her own movements and was ready to meet the next move at any time.

Four moves had passed in the blink of an eye, and large, dark purple blood bloomed on the girl's clothes. Her entire body was trembling, and she needed to exert all her strength to barely stand.

She truly had backbone, and Mei Yaxiang couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for her.

"Excuse me." Despite her admiration, she still raised her sword and thrust it at her without hesitation—once the fifth move, "Crane Soaring over Purple Canopy," was unleashed, the girl would surely die, and she would never let her leave the mountain.

The raised wrist suddenly froze in mid-air.

"You!" Mei Yaxiang looked at the girl in disbelief, then looked down at her arm—a bright red needle had appeared on her Waiguan acupoint, rapidly merging into her flesh.