Chapter 280: Would You Risk It?
The saintess floated forward confidently.
"You are Li Yao, right?" she asked with a smile.
But Li Yao didn’t respond, simply hovering in place with an unreadable expression.
"No need to hide it. I already figured it out," the saintess continued smugly. "I know all the geniuses from the central continent, but I don’t know you. That means you’re from the eastern continent. There’s no way a young person from the eastern continent could be so strong"
Li Yao still didn’t respond, her silence only fueling the saintess’s confidence further.
"What? Don’t feel like speaking? Are you scared?" she asked mockingly, her expression twisting into a sneer.
But suddenly, she heard a soft voice from directly behind her. "That’s Sect Master Li to you."
The saintess spun around quickly in alarm, then immediately tried to step back and create distance from Li Yao. But she found her retreat blocked as Li Yao effortlessly caught her wrist in an iron grip.
"So fast?" she thought in shock. She hadn’t even seen Li Yao move - one moment she had been floating several meters away, and the next she was right behind her.
She smiled nervously, trying to appear nonchalant. "Sect Master Li is really a genius of our generation," she said.
But Li Yao completely ignored her flattering words, moving even closer. "You...you have a strange scent," she spoke.
"I really hate it," Li Yao continued as she shot her free hand directly toward the saintess’s throat.
When the saintess noticed the incoming attack, she instantly panicked. This girl was actually going to kill her directly! She hadn’t expected Li Yao to attack without any hesitation, not caring about potential retaliation from the central continent at all.
Just as Li Yao was about to catch her neck, the saintess suddenly transformed her entire body into brilliant blue flames and quickly stepped back several paces before reconstructing her physical form.
"Let’s calm down! This is all a misunderstanding!" the saintess spoke, raising her hands in a peaceful gesture. She thought to herself that things weren’t going according to plan at all. Li Yao was much stronger than she had expected - she needed to change her approach.
"Phoenix?" Li Yao asked with sudden interest, her eyes narrowing as she studied the flames that remained in the air for a moment before merging back to the saintess.
The saintess smiled with relief when she heard this. "That’s right, I have the phoenix bloodline," she said proudly, puffing out her chest. She thought to herself that maybe Li Yao would be intimidated by her background.
When Li Yao heard this confirmation, her expression hardened. The saintess wondered what was with the sudden change in expression. It looked even worse than before - did she have some personal grudge against the phoenix clan?
Li Yao then started chuckling. It started slowly and quietly before she broke out in complete, unhinged laughter that echoed through the mountains.
"Did she go insane?" the saintess wondered.
"I see, so that’s what it was. I finally understand," Li Yao said as she suddenly stopped laughing, her expression becoming deadly serious.
"See what? Did she really lose her mind?" the saintess wondered nervously.
"I’ve figured out your scheme," Li Yao spoke accusingly, pointing directly at the increasingly confused saintess.
"Sect Master Li, what do you mean?" she asked, smiling nervously. She wondered if Li Yao had somehow realized she was secretly calling for backup.
"You’re after my senior brother, right?" Li Yao asked with absolute certainty, her killing intent beginning to leak out.
"After what now?"
...
"Don’t try to play dumb with me," Li Yao spoke with irritation, her eyes narrowing.
"Ever since I left the sect, I’ve had this persistent feeling that someone is trying to steal from me," she said.
The saintess had a strange expression, wondering what that feeling had to do with her.
"The only valuable thing I have that someone might try to steal is senior brother. You’re after senior brother, aren’t you?" she said.
The saintess looked even more confused. "What strange ahh reasoning is that? Also, why are you referring to your senior brother as a possession?" she thought with bewilderment, but she didn’t dare say it out loud.
"This girl is crazy," she received through voice transmission from one of her men.
"You don’t say?" she thought back.
"You’re quiet now because I caught you red-handed, right?" Li Yao said smugly, interpreting the silence as confirmation.
"Sect Master, we’re just here to hunt demons as part of our mission. We don’t even know who your senior brother is. What makes you think we’re after him?" the saintess asked.
"How do I know? Isn’t it obvious?" Li Yao said, holding her chin thoughtfully.
"You have the phoenix bloodline, and my senior brother also has the phoenix bloodline," she stated.
"You’re in heat and are looking for a male phoenix, right? That means you’re definitely after senior brother. It’s so obvious," Li Yao said.
"Like hell it is! What kind of twisted logic is that? What does that have to do with anything? Also, I’m not an animal - I don’t go into heat! And if I did, I have so many admirers back home, why would I come to this remote backwater place just to get with your senior brother?" she thought furiously, though she managed to keep these thoughts to herself.
Li Yao then retrieved her void sword from her hip. She didn’t bother to unsheath it and just swung. Instantly, a devastating space blade flew from the sword in a perfect semi-circle, traveling at impossible speed and cleanly decapitating all the surrounding opponents before they could even think to move.
The saintess wasn’t instantly killed but was violently pushed back by the spatial distortion, crashing hard into a massive tree trunk. She struggled desperately to get up, her face twisted in absolute horror. That simple, casual swing had destroyed all her precious defensive treasures instantly. If it weren’t for those protective items absorbing the blow, she would’ve died instantly like all the others.
What kind of terrifying weapon was that?
"Hmm, still not dead yet..." Li Yao spoke with mild disappointment as she raised her sword again, preparing for another strike.
"Wait, wait, wait! Timeout! This doesn’t make any sense!" the saintess said frantically, raising her hands in surrender.
"What do you mean?" Li Yao asked, pausing her attack but keeping the weapon ready.
"Everything! Do you seriously believe someone would leave the central continent and travel all the way here just to hook up with your senior brother?" she asked desperately, hoping to appeal to any brain cell still intact in Li Yao’s head.
Li Yao held her chin in thought, considering this point. "Well, when you put it that way..."
Seeing that her argument was having some effect, the saintess continued with renewed hope. "See? This is all a misunderstanding!"
"Maybe," Li Yao said thoughtfully.
"That’s right!" the saintess said, her expression brightening with relief.
"Maybe not," Li Yao added casually, causing the saintess’s face to drop in despair.
"I mean, would you really risk it?" Li Yao spoke as she raised her sword once more, her killing intent flaring. "It’s nothing personal."
"It is, though!" the saintess cried out.
But just as Li Yao was about to deliver the finishing swing, an overwhelming pressure suddenly descended upon her.
[It’s a Void realm expert...]
...
Author’s Corner
Surprise Chapter. Haven’t done one of these in a while. Thought I might get sick tomorrow so I decided to post this first.
"I mean, would you really risk it?" - would you?