"Is this a joke?"

Luo Leilei felt terrible.

​​

Through sheer brute force alone, this punk had managed to easily yank off the seal she'd been struggling so hard to breach without success.

She started to seriously doubt her own capabilities.

Suspected, Passive Points, +1.

Hovering in midair, Xu Xiaoshou scarcely had a chance to take a good look at the scabbard before it shook violently, tore itself from his fingers, and flew into the distance.

"It's telepathic?"

The last telepathic object he'd come across was Su Qianqian's Epitaph of City Snow.

Xu Xiaoshou's curiosity was piqued. Judging from the size of that scabbard, it would perfectly sheathe Hiding Pain!

Well, the scabbard might actually be too good for Hiding Pain…

But that was alright. That was the price it had to pay for hitting him 280000 times!

Xu Xiaoshou didn't care if the scabbard wanted to run.

He wasn't going to let it get away so easily!

A Master-Stage Agility wasn't something one could afford to underestimate. In the blink of an eye, Xu Xiaoshou appeared in front of the scabbard.

His sudden appearance seemed to shock the scabbard, because it froze momentarily, then turned tail and flew off in the opposite direction!

"So it does have a mind of its own."

He dove toward the scabbard again and grabbed it. He wasn't going to let something that had caught his eye escape him!

He caught a streak of purple electricity in his periphery, and the next moment, a pale, snowy hand landed on top of his own hand on top of the scabbard.

Luo Leilei?

The scabbard was struggling in their hands. Standing before him was Luo Leilei.

Xu Xiaoshou stared at her incredulously. "You…"

"What?"

Luo Leilei knew that she was going against her word and how bad this made her look, but this wasn't the time nor place to worry about her reputation. All her years spent infiltrating would've been for nothing if she failed to get her hands on the scabbard!

"Let me teach you a lesson today… women are all liars!"

Xu Xiaoshou stared at her with wide eyes, his mouth gaping open. His gaze fell on her hand, which was still tightly clutching his own. His voice was full of shock when he spoke next: "…Are you trying to cop a feel?"

Luo Leilei felt as if she'd just been struck by lightning.

What?

She was going after the scabbard! She wasn't trying to cop a feel!

She looked down and saw her hand on top of Xu Xiaoshou's…

"… …"

"Cursed, Passive Points +1."

A blush spread across her cheeks, and she jerked back her hand as if she'd experienced an electric shock. "I didn't mean to…"

Swoosh.

How agile were Xu Xiaoshou's reflexes? Well, he was as agile as a Master Level cultivator!

As soon as Luo Leilei pulled away her hand, he pulled the scabbard out of her grasp within the blink of an eye.

And with a few steps, he carried the scabbard away and placed a significant distance between himself and Luo Leilei.

"You want to teach me a lesson?" He gave the young woman a once-over before scoffing derisively. "Maybe when you've wised up a little!"

"You!" Luo Leilei could feel her guts churn painfully with anger.

Was he doing it on purpose?

He'd managed to put on such a flawless performance, feigning outrage of his modesty despite the tense situation. How had he managed to do that?

There was something seriously wrong with the man!

"Leave the scabbard and I'll spare your life." Luo Leilei's eyes darkened.

"Are you panicking?" Xu Xiaoshou seemed tickled, and he taunted, "I seem to remember someone saying that the scabbard would be mine if I managed to pull it out."

Luo Leilei's eyelids twitched violently. How could she have known that this fellow would be a freak of nature…

She had only her own youth and naivety to blame for her earlier declaration.

"Did I say that? I forgot!" she puffed her chest out and declared shamelessly.

"Hah! Women!"

With a blur, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly disappeared along with the black scabbard in his hand.

"Come get me!"

Luo Leilei was speechless.

What a scoundrel!

One could almost hear Lu Leilei's teeth grinding she was so livid. The manner in which the young punk had spoken to her was absolutely infuriating!

"You have no idea who you're up against!"

Her fingers curled into tight fists, and her clothes billowed and hissed in the wind.

The sound of loud crackling erupted in the air as purple electricity surrounded Luo Leilei, her eyes each lighting up with a single streak of purple lightning.

"Heavens!"

Xu Xiaoshou extended his spiritual senses as he darted away from the young woman. She looked terrifying. She was no ordinary cultivator. She seemed to possess the Innate Elemental Power of lightning.

His heart jumped at the thought.

That d*mn system. He would've had an equally enviable Innate Elemental Power too if he hadn't swallowed it.

Crackle!

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden crackle of lightning. Enveloped in electricity, Luo Leilei appeared right before him.

"What the h*ll! Did you hack the system?"

With his current speed, Xu Xiaoshou would've left his former opponents in the dust.

How had the young woman caught up with him?

"You're one of the newly appointed Inner Yard Thirty-Three, aren't you?" Xu Xiaoshou blurted out in shock.

"That's right!" Luo Leilei said unabashedly. "If you know what's good for you, you'll hand that scabbard to me. Otherwise, don't blame me for not showing you mercy."

She paused momentarily. She was in the wrong for going against her word, after all, so she added, "I'll make it up to you. If there's anything you lack, I could get it for you as compensation."

She really shouldn't have spoken so soon. If not for feeling so badly for going against her word, she would have simply snatched the scabbard from Xu Xiaoshou.

She was too softhearted.

Xu Xiaoshou attempted to fly away, but Luo Leilei's face darkened, and she went after him and caught up with him again.

"Stop trying. You're too slow. You won't be able to escape me," she said kindly.

Xu Xiaoshou took a deep breath. He hadn't expected the gap between members of the newly appointed Inner Yard Thirty-Three to be so great.

"Hah…

"I'll admit that you're the fastest cultivator amongst the young cultivators that I've met. But if you want the scabbard…"

Xu Xiaoshou's lips curled into a smile as he stowed the scabbard away in his ring. "…You can forget about it!"

Swoosh.

But he didn't get to be smug for very long. A dark light shot out of his chest and rose into the heavens.

"Hahaha!" Luo Leilei burst into laughter before hiding her smile behind her hand. All traces of mirth vanished from her face the next moment when the scabbard reappeared in her hand.

"Xu Xiaoshou, you still have much to learn. Don't you know that spiritual items can't be stored in a space ring?"

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

"What the h*ll!" he thought.

He'd miscalculated!

He finally realized why Su Qianqian was always lugging around that huge sword of hers.

How was he supposed to know that you couldn't put this stuff away in storage?

"Luo Leilei, if you know what's best for you, you'll return what's mine to me. I'm a gentleman. I don't like to hit women," he said seriously.

"Are you panicking now?" Luo Leilei finally had the taste of sweet revenge. She disappeared without a trace.

"Come get me!"

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

What a horrible woman!

She was the first person who'd dared to play him for a fool. She was more hateful than the scabbard that had hit him 280000 times!

"Get you?

"You think too highly of yourself. I, Xu Xiaoshou… never makes the first move!"

He pinched two fingers together, and faint sword energy appeared on his fingertips. The ordinary power of thought gathered and darted across the heavens without any fanfare.

The next moment, akin to a display of the gods' fury, spiritual mist started to roil in the sky and on land. It was as if a dragon had just swept across the heavens, leaving howling winds and roiling clouds in its wake.

Luo Leilei felt her hair stand on ends. She felt as if she'd run right into the arms of death. She whirled around and was greeted by the sight of a sword energy that seemed to have the power to rip the very heavens apart. It was upon her!

Boom!

A glazed look appeared in her eyes momentarily as the sword energy hit the scabbard and sent the scabbard smacking her squarely in the chest.

Crack. Luo Leilei felt her ribs snap, and she spat out a mouthful of blood as she was flung into the distance.

Tears appeared in her palm as the scabbard shook violently and ripped itself out of her hand.

Swoosh.

Aboard his flying sword, Xu Xiaoshou appeared above Luo Leilei and easily caught the scabbard.

He placed the two fingers that had unleashed the terrifying sword energy a moment ago under his lips, then laughed once, softly. A wisp of spiritual mist seemed to emerge from his lips and rise into the sky.

His cool voice filled the heavens:

"One Sword, One Will!"