Zhu Qinglan snorted, a subtle sound capable of freezing the puddles around Zhi Xuan’s feet. "Framed? Framed to the point of entering the same room? Has 'Senior Zhi’s' cultivation regressed so much that you cannot distinguish between a trap and a bed invitation?"

  Zhi Xuan choked on his own saliva. His face, usually as cold as ice, flushed crimson all the way to his ears. He tried to adjust his stance, but his right foot caught on an old fishing net on the pier, causing him to stumble slightly. A warrior capable of splitting mountains now looked like a village youth caught red-handed stealing divine fruit.

  "Senior, let Xishui help," Ye Xishui said in a tone of deep concern, yet her outstretched hand emitted a green glow that seemed intent on permanently binding Zhi Xuan’s wrists. "Perhaps Senior’s legs are trembling from serving the... desires of the Phoenix Princess for too long. Xishui has meridian-strengthening medicine and soul-calming balms."

  "Meridian-strengthening medicine?!" Zhi Xuan exclaimed under his breath, his voice rising an octave in shock. "Sacred Fairy Ye, your words... your words are becoming increasingly nonsensical! I did not do such things!"

  Zhu Qinglan stepped forward, making the frigid air even more oppressive until Zhi Xuan’s hair seemed to frost over. "If you did nothing, why does the scent of the Feng clan's heavenly peach still cling so heavily to your robes, Senior Zhi? Must I freeze your robes to remove the scent, or would you prefer I burn them along with the wearer?"

  Zhi Xuan took a step back, his hands moving awkwardly in the air as if trying to parry an invisible attack. "Qinglan, Xishui, listen first. I am the victim! That Yaoyue... she had a strange seal. I couldn't move!"

  "Oh, so Senior calls her 'Yaoyue' now?" Ye Xishui interrupted with an even sweeter smile, though the aura surrounding her caused the wild weeds between the pier's crevices to grow uncontrollably with sharp thorns. "How intimate. Xishui has waited two hundred years just to be called Xishui."

  Zhi Xuan felt cold sweat pouring down his back. He glanced to his left; there was an ice sword ready to behead his dignity. He glanced to his right; there were vines ready to snare his freedom. Before him, two of the most beautiful pairs of eyes in the Nine Plains stared at him as if he were the most heinous war criminal in human history.

  "I... I only mentioned her name because she mentioned it herself!" Zhi Xuan defended himself, his voice growing smaller. "Sacred Fairy Zhu, Sacred Fairy Ye, please maintain your dignity."

  "Maintain dignity?" Zhu Qinglan repeated the words in a low growl, causing snowflakes to suddenly fall from the previously clear pier sky. "Senior Zhi speaks of dignity after spending a night under the shelter of a giant shell with a phoenix woman? Truly, the thickness of your skin must have surpassed the barrier of the higher realms."

  Zhi Xuan opened his mouth, but only stammers came out. He felt his Divine Wheel throbbing, not from cultivation, but from mental pressure that nearly cracked his soul. He truly felt it would be better to face a horde of Ancient Demons than to stand between these two women.

  "Perhaps Senior needs a cleansing," Ye Xishui whispered, her slender fingers forming a life-flower seal that emitted a fragrant yet heavy scent. "Xishui will take Senior to the Sacred Pavilion. We have a seven-colored bathing pool that can dissolve any... stains... that have attached themselves."

  "Stains?!" Zhi Xuan nearly screamed, his eyes wide with panic. "I am not stained! I am pure! My spiritual essence remains untainted!"

  Just as the tension reached a boiling point where ice and vines were about to collide, a very familiar and provocative laugh echoed from the stairs of the crystal pier.

  "Well, well... what a sight to behold on such a grand morning."

  A young man in a magnificent white robe embroidered with silver strolled casually toward them. He flicked a jade fan in his hand with fluid grace, radiating an elegant chill. It was Zhu Yanghai, the Holy Son of the Ancient Zhu Clan and Zhu Qinglan’s elder brother.

  Zhu Yanghai had originally intended to fetch his sister, who had suddenly vanished from the Ancient Clan banquet, but his footsteps froze right in front of a coral pillar. His eyes narrowed, then widened as he caught sight of the black-and-white robed man standing stiffly between the two Sacred Fairies.

  "Zhi Xuan?!" Zhu Yanghai exclaimed, his jade fan nearly dropping to the pier floor. "You... aren't you supposed to be in Huang Tu right now? Why are you here?"

  Zhi Xuan looked at Zhu Yanghai as if seeing a savior god. His pale face instantly filled with hope. "Brother Yanghai! You’ve come at the right time! Please explain to your sister that I—"

  Zhu Yanghai did not immediately approach. He looked sharply at his sister, Zhu Qinglan, whose aura was as frozen as the deepest trench, then glanced at Ye Xishui, whose aura was as dangerous as a forbidden forest. As a man who was also a heavenly genius, he had sharp instincts for recognizing a battlefield he should never enter.

  He saw Zhi Xuan’s pleading face, then noticed the trace of pink Phoenix aura—which was indeed still faintly detectable—lingering around Zhi Xuan’s shoulders.

  "Ugh," Zhu Yanghai cleared his throat loudly, hiding a mischievous grin that began to creep at the corner of his lips. He slowly stepped back, raising both hands in the air with open palms—a gesture of absolute surrender.

  "Brother-in-law... ah, I mean, Zhi Xuan," Zhu Yanghai said in a mock-concerned tone, though his eyes flashed with triumph. "I would love to help you. Truly. As a fellow man, my heart breaks to see you cornered like this."

  "Then help me!" Zhi Xuan growled.

  Zhu Yanghai took a long breath, staring at the sky as if admiring the cloud formations, then looked back at Zhi Xuan with a highly irritating smile. "The problem is... I still want to see the sun rise tomorrow morning. And if I interfere with Qinglan while she is in this state, forget helping; I might end up as a display statue in the clan hall."

  He gave Zhi Xuan a meaningful wink, then raised his hands higher as if washing his hands of Zhi Xuan’s life. "Good luck, Brother Zhi. I hope your Weaver Transformation foundation is strong enough. I will pray for you from the banquet... with a glass of pure wine."

  "Zhu Yanghai! You coward!" Zhi Xuan shouted as he watched the Holy Son of the Zhu Clan turn and flee using a high-speed movement technique, as if a monster were chasing him. However, he left behind an invitation.

  Now, silence once again enveloped the pier. Zhi Xuan slowly turned back toward the front, only to find that Zhu Qinglan and Ye Xishui had stepped even closer to him.

  "So," Zhu Qinglan resumed, her fingers forming a disc that looked ready to flash-freeze him. "Since my brother has left... Senior Zhi, would you like to walk to our ship yourself, or must I freeze your legs and drag you like a caught fish?"

  "Xishui thinks," Ye Xishui chimed in with a voice that was almost a whisper in Zhi Xuan’s right ear, "that Senior would prefer to be wrapped in the roots of life and carried away peacefully, wouldn't he?"

  Zhi Xuan closed his eyes, feeling his pride crumble into pieces. On one side, Zhu Qinglan followed Ye Xishui in calling him "Senior" out of sheer tension; on the other, Ye Xishui acted like falling leaves yet fanned the flames of a burning fire. Amidst the tension, a divine floral scent seemed to want to add to his misery.

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  The thick scent of peach blossoms suddenly surged, followed by petals falling from thin air as if the heavens themselves were mocking Zhi Xuan’s suffering. From behind a large coral pillar, Feng Yaoyue reappeared with steps made to look as graceful as possible, even though she knew she had just thrown oil onto an already blazing fire.

  "Oh, what is this? Yaoyue seems to have gotten lost here," Yaoyue said, placing a finger to her lips, pretending to be ignorant and innocent. "Is this not Senior Zhi Xuan, famous as the Dao Protector of two Sacred Fairies? Yaoyue greets Senior."

  Zhi Xuan felt like jumping into the sea right then and there. He glared at Yaoyue with wide eyes. "Yaoyue! You—"

  "Oh, Yaoyue truly did not mean to disturb such a warm family gathering," Feng Yaoyue interrupted, flicking her phoenix feather robe and causing the heavenly peach scent to explode again between Zhu Qinglan’s cold air and Ye Xishui’s life aura.

  Zhi Xuan stood frozen, his throat tight. Yaoyue’s presence was like dropping a massive boulder into a pool already filled with predatory fish. He could feel Zhu Qinglan’s gaze, which was originally just cold, turn into a stare capable of freezing all of existence, while Ye Xishui’s smile froze into a very thin and dangerous line.

  Zhu Qinglan adjusted her stance, straightening her sky-blue robe with slow, majestic movements. "The Holy Maiden of the Feng Clan truly has a talent for being 'lost.' First lost in Senior Zhi’s room at the Shell Pavilion, and now lost exactly when we are providing meridian guidance to our own Dao Protector."

  "Meridian guidance?" Yaoyue giggled, her laughter sounding like provocative golden bells. She walked closer, stopping right in front of Zhi Xuan, and boldly reached out to straighten the slightly crooked collar of his robe. "Yaoyue feels that the guidance I provided last night was enough to make Senior Zhi feel... very warm. Isn't that right, Senior?"

  Zhi Xuan immediately brushed Yaoyue’s hand away with a stiff motion, staring at the pier ceiling as if hoping for a divine lightning bolt to strike him. "Holy Maiden Feng, please keep your distance. We... we do not have such a close relationship!"

  Ye Xishui stepped forward, her presence bringing the stillness of an ancient forest that nevertheless felt oppressive. "Holy Maiden Feng, the Heavenly Leaf Sacred Pavilion has always taught that a good guest is one who knows when to stop breathing air that does not belong to them. The scent of peaches is indeed sweet, but if it is too thick, it only becomes poison for those accustomed to the purity of morning dew."

  "Morning dew is indeed pure, Sacred Fairy Ye," Yaoyue replied, spinning her body gracefully, her peach-blossom eyes flashing with guile. "But dew evaporates when the sun rises. Whereas the Phoenix fire... it remains burning even in the deepest darkness. Senior Zhi seems to have enjoyed that warmth so much that he forgot the way home to the ice residence or the green forest."

  Zhu Qinglan snorted softly, the light from her pearl veil becoming even more dazzling. "Uncontrolled fire only becomes ash, Holy Maiden Feng. In the Zhu Clan, we value eternity in frost more than a momentary surge that lacks dignity. Senior Zhi, do you feel this 'fire' is worthy enough to make you risk the karmic promise we have bound?"

  Zhi Xuan swallowed hard; he felt his soul being pulled in three different directions. "Qinglan, Xishui, Yaoyue... enough. This is a mortal pier! The Nine Ancient Clans are watching from above. Do you want to become the talk of the entire Nine Plains for fighting over a wandering practitioner?"

  The three Sacred Fairies went silent simultaneously. They exchanged glances—a wordless communication understood only by women at the peak of cultivation. Slowly, their oppressive auras faded, returning into their respective bodies. Their dignity as Holy Maidens and Sacred Fairies enveloped them once more like invisible robes.

  "Senior is right," Ye Xishui said, her voice returning to its soft and sorrowful tone, as if nothing had happened. "Maintaining harmony is paramount. Xishui is certain Senior Zhi is merely experiencing a minor trial of fate. Xishui will wait for Senior in the ranks of the Sacred Pavilion, a place far more appropriate for a Dao Protector than this fishy pier."

  "The Zhu Clan will also not let its Dao Protector appear loitering like a beggar," Zhu Qinglan added, turning her body with absolute grace. "Senior Zhi, our ship will soon depart for the center of the ocean. I expect you to be there before the anchor is raised. If not... I will consider your karma frozen forever."

  Yaoyue gave one last mischievous wink before leaping lightly onto a floating petal. "See you at the bottom of the trench, Senior. Yaoyue will prepare the warmest peach tea for you, so you won't be chilled by the snow or lost in the woods."

  One by one, the three majestic women vanished from the pier, leaving Zhi Xuan standing still with his foot still caught in the old fishing net. The sudden silence felt more terrifying than the previous storm of auras. Zhi Xuan let out a long sigh that sounded like the groan of a tortured soul.

  "These women..." Zhi Xuan murmured piteously, staring at the vast Cang Hai sky. "Since ancient times until now, beautiful women have always been dangerous; it never changes."

  Zhi Xuan smiled coldly. He flicked his robes, stabilizing the energy he had suppressed until it settled within him. He faded into a shadow and crept through East Ocean City, reappearing on a cliffside facing the ocean. There, he found eight men sitting across from each other, separated by elegant banquet tables.

  Zhi Xuan bowed vaguely, cupping his hands while maintaining his alertness. "It is an honor to receive an invitation from the Holy Sons."

  The sea breeze blowing at the top of the cliff carried a very different air; it was no longer fishy with salt but fragrant with sandalwood and pure spiritual energy. Before Zhi Xuan, eight young figures sat enthroned on their respective silk cushions. They were the pinnacle of the Nine Plains bloodlines, the Holy Sons who would one day shake the heavens.

  Eight pairs of eyes, like falling stars, stared sharply at the black-and-white robed figure who had just emerged from the cliff shadows. The atmosphere at the peak instantly became heavy, as if the weight of the entire Cang Hai Ocean had shifted onto Zhi Xuan’s shoulders. His presence there, amidst the gathering of the Great Emperors' heirs, was an anomaly that added to the tension between the Holy Sons.

  Zhu Yanghai, who sat casually swirling a jade cup of dragon wine, chuckled. "Brother Zhi, you arrived faster than I expected. I thought you were still trapped in the nets of ice and life-thorns down below."

  "Zhi Xuan," Hua Tianming of the Ancient Hua Clan nodded slowly, greeting his old comrade from the Xing Luo Plains. "It has been a long time. Your cultivation base... early-stage Weaver Transformation? Your progress truly makes one feel ashamed."

  Hearing the familiar greetings from two prominent Holy Sons, the other six men reacted differently. A young man in a magnificent and ancient ocean-blue robe decorated with frozen snow embroidery stood out. He was Han Shanshan, the Holy Son of the Ancient Han Clan.

  His sharp eyes, dark as the depths of a trench, stared at Zhi Xuan with a mix of recognition and pure disdain. He recognized Zhi Xuan, the man said to carry the dual nature of Devil and Heaven, who had shaken the Three Plains Competition hundreds of years ago and even gained recognition from Holy Woman Yao Gu and the Heavenly Leaf Sacred Pavilion. Because of him, Han Shanshan had suffered humiliation from Zhu Yanghai and Hua Tianming back then.

  "Zhi Xuan, you have reached this stage," Han Shanshan’s voice sounded raspy, like the growl of a predator seeing its prey grow in defiance. "From a Five-Element brat to reaching the Weaver Transformation stage in three hundred years. Zhi Xuan, you surprise me."

  Zhi Xuan stood tall, his hands hidden beneath the wide sleeves of his black-and-white robe. Even surrounded by the auras of the Great Emperors' heirs, which were capable of suppressing the horizon, he did not bow his head. His sapphire eyes remained calm, reflecting the images of the eight men who each represented the peak of different natural laws.

  "I am merely a wanderer searching for a path," Zhi Xuan answered in a flat tone, his voice clearly cutting through the whistling wind of the cliff. "Three hundred years of achievement is but a blink of an eye before the eternity of the Dao you all pursue."

  Han Shanshan snorted, his muscular fingers gripping the edge of the sandalwood table until it developed fine cracks. "The Dao? Do not speak of the Dao before me. If not for the protection of the Zhu and Hua Clans, you would have long been ash beneath the feet of the Han Clan, Gu Fengyan."

  Instantly, the Holy Sons turned serious at the mention of the name Han Shanshan had spat out. The name Gu Fengyan, though hundreds of years had passed, was still frequently whispered by those who lived through that time. It spoke of a Devil who slaughtered the remote southern regions of Yao Gu, where thousands of gallons of blood were spilled because of the calamity of the destruction mark on the Devil's forehead. The name itself, "Ancient Madness," carried a heavy weight.

  Feng Haoyue, the Holy Son of the Ancient Feng Clan, who had been silently sipping his spiritual tea, slowly put down his jade cup. His golden eyes, reflecting the eternal fire of the Phoenix, stared at Zhi Xuan with cold interest. "Gu Fengyan? So, this man is the 'Slaughtering Devil' who, according to rumors, leveled half of the southern Yao Gu region? I did not expect the butcher of the south to have such a... scholarly face."

  "Holy Son Feng," Zhi Xuan replied with a calm greeting, offering a thin smile that didn't reach his eyes. "A name is merely a way for this Zhi to wander. If the name I use leaves a trace in a certain region, then it is an unavoidable destiny."