Ji Tianqing was left pondering hard. Qianye, on the other hand, raised East Peak and took a step forward. “Get ready.”

Anwen was stunned momentarily. “What did you say?”

Qianye pointed at Ji Tianqing’s sculpture. “Out of consideration for that sculpture, I won’t launch a sneak attack. Get ready to fight!”

Anwen was puzzled. “I talked so long and hard, you still want to fight?”

“You’re too dangerous, I won’t be at ease unless I beat you into a pulp,” Qianye spoke honestly.

“Barbarian!” Anwen was furious.

“You’re right. I read too little to understand your theories, fighting is all I’m good at.” Qianye didn’t look embarra.s.sed at all. He bent his body forward slightly, intent to do battle.

Anwen was so angry that he didn’t know what to say. He put away his rapier and brought out the two-meter sword. “I might not like fighting, but don’t think for one second that I’m afraid of you! You’re indeed powerful, but I’ve seen your fight with the Demoness. You’re still a bit short of being able to beat me to a pulp!”

Qianye said nothing. His foot left the ground as he floated upward and unfurled his luminous wings. The tips of the wings were outlined in black, and one of the feathers had a tinge of darkness that made it stand out especially.

Anwen’s expression changed abruptly when he saw the wingtips. “You broke through again? It has only been how long?”

Qianye smiled indifferently. “It has already been some time.”

The confidence and pride on Anwen’s face vanished, replaced by seriousness. Several beams of demonic energy shot out around him to form a chain, drawing him halfway into the air. He needed to be off the ground in order to wield the full might of that two-meter sword.

Every chain would transform his figure several times. It was only by the seventh chain that Anwen realized his reflection in Qianye’s eyes never faltered—that the stinging sensation at his back never receded.

His expression grew even more serious. The long sword trembled slightly as a wisp of demonic energy surged upward from the top of his head.

Anwen was ready to go into a head-on duel with Qianye, something he wouldn’t have chosen if he had a choice. Qianye had severely injured the Demoness with three Shots of Inception back in the city of Indomitable. No matter how confident Anwen was, he didn’t believe he was more powerful than the Demoness or that he was capable of taking Qianye’s attack.

He had utilized every power at his disposal, yet he couldn’t escape Qianye’s lock-on. The only choice left was to fight head-on.

Anwen wasn’t an easy character, either. With a shake of his sword, he outlined an extremely complicated diagram in the air made of lingering demonic energy. The old diagram hadn’t yet dispersed when new ones were quickly formed over them. This superimposition actually gave Qianye a sense of pressure.

Qianye had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to evade this slash.

Up until this day, Qianye had gone through hundreds of battles and fought countless peers. He had also witnessed many strange abilities and talents, but he had never seen an ability like Anwen’s. Even when facing it personally, Qianye couldn’t quite figure out the principle behind the stance. Why would a bunch of strange diagrams lock onto Qianye?

Anwen’s technique looked comical, but Qianye knew that wasn’t the case. Just like when he carved Ji Tianqing’s sculpture, these diagrams might have the same effect as those formulas and numbers. Qianye couldn’t say they were useless just because he couldn’t understand them.

The current situation ended up with Qianye and Anwen locking down one another, with neither being able to evade the other’s attack. It seemed they would end up in mutual destruction.

Anwen was quite calm at first, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw the mockery in Qianye’s eyes. Only then did he remember that Qianye had withstood the Demoness’ long-range attack. Not only did he live to tell the tale, but he even broke through after that. It was obvious just how strong his body was.

All of a sudden, Anwen lost all confidence in himself. The complicated diagrams he had drawn were a.n.a.lyses in s.p.a.ce and time. The calculations eventually reached a point where he could strike Qianye no matter how the latter changed his movements. However, this art could only help him hit the target and not to improve the power of his attack.

In the blink of an eye, Anwen understood the gravity of his situation. He would be able to strike Qianye but not kill him. Meanwhile, Qianye’s upgraded attack would likely take his life. It was only natural that Qianye wouldn’t refuse such a trade.

Additionally, the opponent clearly had no true awareness of a true expert. Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan had spread out, with the former targeting Bai Zhongzhao and the latter waiting to launch a surprise attack. Anwen could naturally tell that Li Kuanglan specialized in speed and could easily distract him at the critical juncture. It wasn’t a certainty whether he could even strike Qianye at that point.

Anwen shouted without turning back, “Run!”

Bai Kongzha was puzzled. “Run?”

“Now! Immediately!” Anwen rushed her anxiously. At the same time, his sword trembled faster and faster, adding more and more layers to the diagram. Even Li Kuanglan felt as though she was being locked onto.

Qianye revealed a cold smile. Anwen’s sword wasn’t enough to kill him, yet he was still intent on splitting the force with Li Kuanglan. This would only end up with him giving the both of them moderate injuries. Qianye would have a harder time if the demonkin were to focus his power on Li Kuanglan.

Bai Kongzhao was surprised by Anwen’s anxiousness. “Why are we fighting? Why must I run?”

She was still ignorant about the entire situation, and Ji Tianqing wasn’t about to give her a chance to come to. She arrived behind Bai Kongzhao in a single step and broke off her path of retreat.

Donning a pair of spiked scale gloves, she said with a smile, “I’ve heard about you. I’ve been waiting to witness your peerless combat instincts. Now that there’s a chance, I must see whether Bai Aotu is bluffing or not.”

Bai Kongzhao reached toward her back, but there was nothing there. She had used that cleaver of hers while trying to stop the six-armed general. Ji Tianqing took a step forward in response to the girl’s movement, completely locking her down.

Bai Kongzhao possessed unfathomable combat instincts. Her attacks were always unimaginable and accurate, capable of grasping the briefest of opportunities. Ji Tianqing, on the other hand, was unpredictably diverse in her repertoire of powerful secret arts and skills, definitely a good candidate to suppress Bai Kongzhao.

On the surface, it would seem Anwen was destined to lose, but his fighting spirit didn’t falter. He tapped in the air with his left hand, whereupon a ring of faint demonic energy appeared around Bai Kongzhao’s feet. The girl’s body became extremely light, and her speed increased sharply. Now, Ji Tianqing could no longer laugh because she wouldn’t be able to stop Bai Kongzhao if she was intent on running away.

“Run!” Anwen shouted. He was already at his limit after restraining three people at once.

Although no one had really attacked at this point, the situation had been changing constantly. Both sides had been in a secret confrontation that could only be described as brilliant.

Bai Kongzhao, however, didn’t take the opportunity Anwen had created for her. She only said, “I’m not running, I surrender.”

“Surrender?” Ji Tianqing, who was ready to burst into battle, felt as though she had tripped and fell. She had considered Anwen and Bai Kongzhao as equal experts. How could people at their level utter the word surrender?

Qianye’s gaze fell upon Bai Kongzhao’s face. At this moment, the reflection in his eyes was no longer Anwen but the little girl.

Anwen became even tenser after noticing that he was no longer being locked onto. However, Li Kuanglan was retraining him from the side, so he couldn’t make a move to draw Qianye’s attention back to him. If he were to break this deadlock and attack, Qianye might take Bai Kongzhao’s life with a single Shot of Inception.

The demonkin stared at that black feather on Qianye’s wings and sighed after a good while.

Qianye finally spoke, “Why are you surrendering?”

Bai Kongzhao produced half the white-fruit she had been keeping. “This is for you.”

The white fruit seemed easy to get for Qianye’s group, but it had become a scarce resource now that they were far from the central region. Obtaining more was now impossible after the appearance of the six-armed general, so half a white-fruit was now a fairly valuable treasure.

Ji Tianqing snorted. “You want to buy your life with just that? Take out better things or there’s no discussion.”

Qianye waved his hand. “Fine, I accept. You guys can go.”

Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan were surprised at why Qianye would let such powerful enemies go. But since Qianye had already spoken, they refrained from arguing with him and merely stepped back to open the way.

Bai Kongzhao placed the bounty in his hand, and then slowly stepped backward. Anwen glanced at Qianye, saying, “I hope we can fight to our heart’s content when we have the opportunity.”

Qianye replied calmly, “Anytime.”

Ji Tianqing asked all of a sudden, “Why are you guys here?”

Anwen replied without any hesitation, “I have a Storm Pearl, so I wanted to help her condense an origin crystal.”

“Oh, that’s why. I have two origin crystals here, see if you want it. You can trade it for the Storm Pearl and other things.” Ji Tianqing produced the two origin crystals she and Li Kuanglan had condensed.

Anwen didn’t refuse. He took out a pair of black-rimmed gla.s.ses and arrived beside Ji Tianqing to observe the crystals.

They had daggers drawn the last moment, yet now they were ready to do business. The situation had changed so unexpectedly. Qianye took a step forward and stood behind Ji Tianqing, lest Anwen attacks all of a sudden.

Anwen noticed Qianye’s thoughts. He looked up with a cold smile, saying, “She’s a proud lady who won’t go back against her words. And so am I. We’re looking to trade right now, so we won’t be fighting midway. You’ve known her for so long, don’t you even realize this much?”

Qianye was astounded and didn’t really know what to say. He really didn’t understand Ji Tianqing all that much. In truth, Qianye hadn’t given her much attention despite their long friends.h.i.+p.

Ji Tianqing chuckled. “Pick fast or the price will go up.”

Anwen looked at the crystals for a while and then shook his head. “Don’t you have better ones?”

“No,” Ji Tianqing replied decisively. She wasn’t about to take out the crystal Qianye had produced.

Anwen said regretfully, “Their grades are too low for her.”

“Too low?” Ji Tianqing wasn’t happy.

Anwen didn’t hold back. “Her future prospects will become limited if she were to absorb these two crystals.”

These two middle-grade origin crystals were for people with no hopes of becoming a divine champion. Bai Kongzhao was quite famous back in the Bai clan, but everyone knew of her talents as well. She had no hope of reaching the divine champion realm, so none of the major powers paid her much attention. Bai Aotu eventually caved in to the clan’s pressure as well.

Anwen was implying that she had the potential to break through to the divine champion realm, but Ji Tianqing couldn’t be bothered to explain or argue.