"Yino really does have some skill to last this long in my sister’s dual-pupil world."
At the Divine Abyss Gate’s seating area, Wen Ruxiu sat tall and straight. A hint of unease surfaced in his eyes as he muttered to himself.
Time ticked by. At least half an hour had passed since Wen Ruzhi opened her dual-pupil world, yet the two motionless figures on the Dao Testing Pavilion still showed no signs of activity.
Lin Yuchen leaned against the window, growing impatient with the wait. "Don’t tell me your sister messed up?"
Hearing this, Wen Ruxiu slammed his hand on the table and shot up. "Impossible! Even an Elder in the Emptiness Refining stage would barely escape with their life after being dragged into that dual-pupil world!"
"Look at how worked up you are. I was just guessing." Lin Yuchen waved his hand, feeling quite bored.
Despite the casual dismissal, Wen Ruxiu sat back down with his mind racing with uncontrollable thoughts. "Could it be..."
He quickly took a deep breath and waved his hand with a bitter smile. "Impossible. When my sister returned yesterday, she mentioned that even though Yino has an impressive physical body, he is still only at the Nascent Soul stage..."
"Even Emptiness Refining experts have to fend for themselves in there. How could a mere Nascent Soul turn the tides?" he muttered to himself, trying to soothe the anxiety Lin Yuchen had stirred up.
The two men in the room harbored their own thoughts, causing the atmosphere to turn stiff and cold.
A few more minutes passed before a muffled boom suddenly echoed from the Dao Testing Pavilion.
"Something is happening!"
Having been highly tense this whole time, Wen Ruxiu widened his eyes immediately. He rushed out of the Divine Abyss Gate’s seating area and leaned over the balcony to look down.
Harboring his own concerns, Lin Yuchen quickly followed from behind.
Upon reaching the balcony, they discovered that the representatives of the other Five Great Immortal Sects on the entire seventh floor had already stepped out impatiently.
From left to right stood the two silver-haired sisters of the Frost Palace, as well as the two magnificent beauty of the Wuji Sect and the Jianlan Sect. The Liuli Sect had sent a female elder to this gathering, and she also seemed quite invested in the outcome at the Dao Testing Pavilion.
The representatives of the Five Great Immortal Sects all stood up at once. This made the usually arrogant and uninhibited Wen Ruxiu feel even more nervous.
Rumble!
A rift tore open in the void above the Dao Testing Pavilion.
Two primordial spirits turned into pillars of light and shot out of the rift one after another. The dark purple phantom in front looked miserable, slamming headfirst into the floor with a muffled thud like a falling cannonball. The dark red phantom that followed fared slightly better, but its landing was far from graceful. It staggered several meters before barely stabilizing its footing.
"Yino’s spirit is out!"
Yuyan reacted the fastest in the stands, crying out in alarm.
Her dangling heart finally settled. Color returned to the white-clad maiden’s face, replacing her pale and anxious look.
Hearing this, Pei Zhihan could not help but curl her lips into a faint smile from beside her.
Yuyan had been tightly gripping her left hand this entire time. Zhihan clutched her other hand against her chest, feeling an indescribable sense of joy and relief. Ever since her cultivation got stuck at the Tribulation Crossing stage without any breakthroughs, she had not been this invested in a martial arts tournament for a very long time. The match had completely riled up her anxiety.
"It looks like Yino’s spirit won in the dual pupil world!" Zhihan said with excitement.
Beside her, Yuyan kept her beautiful eyes locked on the Dao Testing Pavilion. She nodded in agreement after repeatedly confirming the situation.
Down in the spectator stands around the Dao Testing Pavilion, the numerous disciples were not as sharp-eyed as the VIPs upstairs. They reacted half a beat slower before erupting into a chorus of exclamations and discussions.
"Wait!"
"It looks like their battle isn’t over yet!" someone in the stands suddenly shouted.
The crowd’s emotions were stirred once more. Everyone fixed their gazes ahead, only to realize that the two primordial spirits that had just returned from the void rift were still fighting to the bitter end!
The dark purple phantom of the young woman climbed up from the floor. Shooting a vicious glare at the dark red phantom, she turned into a streak of light and returned to the mark between her physical body’s eyebrows.
With her primordial spirit back in place, Wen Ruzhi’s physical body regained consciousness.
She widened her bloodshot ancient dual pupils. All the abyssal aura around her vanished completely, and she looked as if she had lost all her strength while falling straight from the sky.
On the other end of the Dao Testing Pavilion, Yino’s main body had also long since welcomed his primordial spirit back. He opened a pair of black eyes suppressing endless resentment.
Much like Wen Ruzhi, his first action upon opening his eyes was to cough up blood.
However, compared to Wen Ruzhi who was too weak to even maintain her levitation, Yino still retained a final trace of strength.
Moreover, in this real world, Yino’s physical body was inherently stronger than Wen Ruzhi’s.
Yino curled his lips into a cold sneer. "You lost!"
In his line of sight, the young woman in the black dress spasmed in terror at Yino’s reprimand.
Wen Ruzhi wrapped her arms around herself, clamping her legs together as a tremor ran through her. Even so, after a brief moment of shock, a final spark of fighting spirit reignited in her eyes.
However, although Wen Ruzhi managed to overcome this, her initial reaction of fear was fully witnessed by the disciples of various sects gathered in the spectator stands.
"Hey, hey, hey, no way!"
"That cold-blooded demoness actually lost!"
"I just saw it! Yino only sneered, and that dual pupil girl trembled so much she almost wet herself from fear!"
"Maybe Yino really taught her a harsh lesson in the dual pupil world!"
Listening to the crowd’s enthusiastic jeers and discussions, Ruzhi felt as if she had returned to that boundless despair. She recalled the dark memories of being played like a fiddle, causing her purple dual pupils to quake violently.
"I HAVE NOT LOST!"
Unable to hold back any longer amidst the crowd’s gossip, Wen Ruzhi let out a hoarse roar.
It was as if her final psychological defense had been crushed. Large teardrops welled up in her eyes as she stared fixedly at Yino standing on the opposite side.
"Miss Ruzhi, are you acting spoiled with me?" Yino asked.
Although Yino had gone through a massive battle in the dual pupil world and his aura had weakened significantly, that only affected his physical body. It did not stop his incredibly toxic mouth from accurately piercing right into Ruzhi’s emotional weak spot.
Almost instantly, the young woman in the black dress began to cry even harder.
Raising her hand to wipe her face, she rubbed her eyes, sobbing and choking countless times. She tried to hide these disappointing tears, but her damned body was so terrified that it trembled uncontrollably and simply would not stop.
"Could it be that Miss Ruzhi wants me to take pity on your miserable crying state and go easy on you today, letting you win this match?"
"If that is the case, as long as Miss Ruzhi asks, it is not like I cannot consider it."
Yino continued to spout venomous words.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
With her psychological defenses completely shattered, Wen Ruzhi covered her face and broke down in tears over and over again. She knelt on the spot and forcefully covered her face, crying for several minutes.
It was not until her tears had almost run dry that she finally panted heavily and raised her head to look straight at Yino.
"I don’t need your charity... I don’t need you to pity me..."
"Forget it, I will just surrender right now," Yino waved his hand and said deliberately.
Hearing this, the already broken Ruzhi instantly flared up again. "If you dare surrender.... I will kill you!"
Yino and Ruzhi both froze for a moment.
Soon, Ruzhi seemed to realize that she was no match for Yino at all right now. With a face full of humiliation, she pointed at him and spoke viciously. "If you dare surrender, even if I cannot kill you now, I will definitely fight you to the bitter end in the future!"
Catching the loophole in her words, Yino narrowed his cold eyes and laughed with even darker intentions. "So, you are admitting that you can’t beat me?"
Instantly, Wen Ruzhi’s body trembled. "I did not! I did not say that!"
"I just can’t kill you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t beat you!"
Propping up her weak body, she stood up from the ground and burned her final breath to ignite the demonic flames around her.
"I haven’t lost! If you have the guts, fight me again!"
Dragging her exhausted body, the young woman walked toward Yino step by step.
Yino stood his ground, quietly watching her while secretly regulating the spiritual energy within his body.
When Ruzhi reached a distance of seven paces in front of him, Yino suddenly sensed an extremely terrifying murderous intent.
Swoosh!
An eerie dark purple laser shot out of the girl’s eyes, aiming straight for the spot between Yino’s eyebrows almost instantly.
At the same time, Yino’s Innate sword dao holy physique triggered an emergency response. He tilted his head to evade it in a split second.
Boom!
The laser crashed into the spectator stands. Its boundless power even blasted a black hole straight through the Immortal Alliance Pavilion.
"Why... why!"
Her sneak attack failed again. Throwing caution to the wind, Ruzhi activated the ancient patterns blooming on her legs beneath her black dress to unleash divine power. In an instant, she closed the distance again and whipped out a high kick aimed right at Yino.
Whoosh!
Yino merely stepped lightly to the side. The girl’s leg swept through empty air, leaving behind only a sharp whistling sound by his ear.
This time, Yino finally saw the right moment and drew his sword from his sleeve.
The Frost Chant sword swept across. Without any mercy, the blade smacked right into Ruzhi’s flank.
During the time Ruzhi had been wailing earlier, Yino had secretly regulated some of his spiritual energy. Even though he was currently suffering a backlash from unleashing his ancient phoenix bloodline, his cultivation had temporarily recovered to its previous level.
On the other hand, Ruzhi had already overdrawn her potential back in the dual pupil world. Returning to the real world and breaking down in tears meant she had absolutely no time to regulate her breathing. Her chaotic movement techniques were even worse than Chen Jianxin’s during his early Foundation Establishment stage in Yino’s eyes!
"Ah!"
In an instant, Ruzhi let out a miserable shriek as Yino’s sword sweep sent her flying.
She was wearing Divine Abyss armor beneath her dress. Since Yino only possessed the strength of the Core Formation stage right now, this sword strike could only tear her clothes and fail to cut through her body. However, the sheer force behind his swing was enough to cause Ruzhi so much pain that she could not even stand up straight.
"Again!"
Propping up her body, she climbed up from the ground for the umpteenth time.
She staggered over to Yino. Having lost the strength to lift her legs, she could only coat her hands in demonic energy and throw punches.
Yino casually caught the girl’s soft punch. His indifferent eyes showed no mercy as he backhanded the pommel of the Frost Chant sword right into Ruzhi’s stomach with a muffled thud.
"Ugh!"
Struck in the abdomen by a hard object, Ruzhi turned deathly pale from the pain, unable to even let out a groan.
She knelt before Yino, her stomach churning violently. She curled her body up, continuously twitching and writhing.
Yino pulled his hands back into his sleeves and ignored her. He stood before Ruzhi with his hands behind his back, waiting for her to get up again.
Time ticked by.
About five minutes later, Ruzhi struggled to her feet once more.
Her legs gave out halfway, nearly causing her to fall. Instinctively, she hugged Yino’s thighs, using his body as a support. With almost her entire face pressed against his chest, she tried to stand up bit by bit.
This time, Yino did not hit her again.
Clutching Yino’s shirt with both hands, Ruzhi finally straightened her back on trembling legs.
She lifted her head from Yino’s chest. However, the gaze of her purple dual pupils was clearer than ever as she stared into Yino’s cold eyes.
"I... I..."
Due to the earlier mockery, Ruzhi’s previously arrogant face was completely red and swollen from crying, making her look like a messy little kitten.
She pursed her bloodless lips. Even her nosebleed flowed uncontrollably into her mouth, mixing with the bloodstains hanging from the corners of her lips.
Yino remained unmoved, standing before Ruzhi like a statue with his hands behind his back.
"I... I lost..."
Ruzhi’s face was covered in snot and tears as she said this.