The princess blushed, imagining how her life with Xue Yueliang would be if what Mo Luli said was true.

She had never thought of finding a partner before, but if Xue Yueliang were to be her partner. Someone who loved and supported her, not limiting her to or forcing her to fit in a box...

"That wouldn't be too bad." She muttered.

Then caught her feelings, calming herself as she thought, Don't get ahead of yourself. She didn't even confirm it yet.

However, thinking deeper, hadn't Xue Yueliang confessed to her twice? She was just too dense to notice it before.

She looked at the horizon, seeing the Misty Mountain range, it was only two days until she reached her destination, and her excitement increased, pushing the original reason she left to the back of her mind.

Mo Luli noticed the changes in her princess's mood; although she appeared ever-serene, it was not hard for her, who had been by the princess's side since she was young, to detect these changes. Her excitement from earlier had died down, and she wondered if these feelings would benefit the princess.

Though she wanted her to be happy, she needed her to be a ruler, and if Yao Niang's suspicions about Xue Yueliang were true, then this did not bode well for her.

I hope she was wrong about that. Mo Luli thought, at the same time thinking of countermeasures, if what Her Highness said was true. I don't think Her Highness is one to throw everything away for love.

Besides, Xue Yueliang had seen an image of the princess killing her, so she may not harbour feelings for her.

At the same time, the princess's thoughts were occupied elsewhere; I should contact Lei Fu; it would be sad if she went before I could meet her.

Though it was risky, she did not know how else to go about it; there were worse things than Mao Ya getting some hints, and she did not plan on letting him prance around for long. Recalling the injury he left on Xue Yueliang, her gaze couldn't help but chill before calming down.

"Mo Luli, send a message to Lei Fu, asking him that if he sees Xue Yueliang about to leave, he should tell her that I'm on my way to the mountain and I would like to see her."

"Why not tell her straight away?" Mo Luli asked, pulled out from her thoughts.

Yao Niang averted her gaze, answering, "I would like to surprise her."

Understanding, Mo Luli pulled out a talisman, sending out a spiritual message to the Misty Mountain Range.

Xue Yueliang exited, reappearing in the arena where she had fought for three days. Looking around, she saw it was empty, only the eccentric Yin Flames burning on the torches as they crackled ominously.

Taking a quick look around, confirming there was no one here, she walked toward the torches; she looked up at them and began scaling the wall. Thankfully it had the rough terrain of the mountain and was not a smooth surface allowing her to grip on. Reaching the torch, she attempted to lift it, but it did not budge.

Xue Yueliang increased the amount of strength she used, taking full advantage of her cultivation strength, but regardless of the effort she put through, she was only met with the sound of her straining her muscles.

She stopped looking at the torch, knowing there was nothing she could do; she changed her gaze toward the blazing flame, noticing how it seemed to appear and disappear as if alternating realities.

"Huh?"

Her curiosity was stirred; picking up a piece of wood, she tried setting it on fire, but rather than sensing heat travel through the stick, she felt it turn lighter as the top was turned into ash, trickling onto the ground.

She blinked, not understanding why this happened, and locked eyes with Hei Yu. She felt this flame was compatible with him but did not know how to take it away.

She put up a thoughtful expression and wondered what would happen if she tried to use the Berserk Dragon Flame.

Though they were both flames, one was Yin, and the other was Yang; they would not mix, but if she was lucky, they might even coexist, solving her problem. Carefully leading the Berserk Dragon Flame out of her body, she wrapped it around the Yin Flame before trying to lift it off, but as soon as the flames touched, an explosion sounded, pushing her away.

"Cough, cough." She coughed out a cloud of black smoke, looking dispirited, as she thought hatefully, Of course, my luck does not cover that.

Watching her be pushed away, Hei Yu looked at her curiously before walking back to the torch they had just been by; surprisingly, it had not been extinguished, and he lifted his paw, trying to touch it.

"No, Hei Yu!" Xue Yueliang panicked, recalling what happened to the stick she had used, her heart raced; she could not bring Hei Yu back if he turned into a pile of ash. He turned a blind eye to her protest, and his paw passed through the Yin Flame, not receiving any damage, and he appeared more confused by her caution.

Seeing this, Xue Yueliang was stunned before laughing. It seemed she had worried too much, the flame did not pose any threat to Hei Yu, and as an intelligent creature, there was no way he would throw himself into danger for no reason.

"Hahaha!" She laughed gleefully, willing to accept this sudden blessing, "Hei Yu do you think you can absorb it?" Xue Yueliang asked, hoping he could.

Hei Yu's mouth widened, hissing, and soon the flame appeared to be turning into wisps of energy, and it was absorbed into his body through his mouth.

The frigid energy gave his fur a crystalline appearance, like icicles poking out of his skin, and he tried to absorb it into his body, but the cold spread further, and before he could swallow this one flame, he could feel his body freezing solid.

"You can stop," Xue Yueliang said hurriedly, not wanting him to harm himself, but Hei Yu did not, trying to continue despite him reaching his limit.

Looking at him disobeying her again, she got upset, picking him up from the flames and into her arms, "I said that was enough!"

Although she had not touched the flames directly, she could feel her skin stinging, and deep ice burns covered her hands, but she looked at Hei Yu, noticing how his eyelids turned heavy, looking like he was about to lose consciousness.

"That's not good," she whispered, using the flame energy within her to slowly warm him up; she had not summoned the flames directly as she did not want to hurt him. Slowly, she warmed his freezing body, and he twitched and purred at her, seeming to apologise.

"I keep telling you to listen to me." She said, "You can't die and leave me alone."

Feeling his body warm up, Hei Yu jumped back into the flames, trying to absorb more, then headed back to Xue Yueliang warming up before trying again. Xue Yueliang was happy to go along with this as long as Hei Yu's life was not in danger; they could continue doing this for as long as he wanted.

She thought deeply, thinking about why these flames would not harm him. Although she was not well-versed in the arts of cultivation, Xue Yueliang reckoned it was because life source was the fuel for Yin flames, and this lack of life allowed him to be unharmed.

After taking two more trips, Hei Yu appeared too weak to move, not moving again even after Xue Yueliang had thawed him. She petted his fur, noticing how dispirited and weak he appeared; looking at the duo's appearance, no one would guess they were the final victors.

From their state, it looked like they lost, "We can't have that." She laughed, knowing a fun scene would await her when she finally exited. In less than a few breaths, they returned to their pristine appearances, the only difference being that Hei Yu was much more tired than before, napping sweetly in her arms.

I feel like this is somehow my fault. Xue Yueliang thought, wondering what caused Hei Yu's sudden risk-seeking behaviour. Hei Yu suddenly began hacking, and a few bones followed along with ash, and some clothing was spat out. Xue Yueliang was stunned; before recalling something she had forgotten, there were four people.

Suppressing her laughter; she walked out of the arena, wondering what her dear sister had planned for her. The walk out of the mountain was simple, the path seemed to have changed, and there was only a singular hall, which she followed, finally seeing some familiar faces. She was now where she had first entered from; surprisingly, there were still people here, some part of the familiar one-hundred and others she had not seen before.

Probably the people who got eliminated.

All in all, there were less than fifty people here, other than the people from the Silver Armour Sect - who were waiting for Li Hua - there was Xiong Qingge and her fellow disciples, presumably waiting for her, randoms, Zhong Xi and her captors, and the Qin Clan juniors.

The cultivators lightly waked the cultivating Qin Wen beside her, and she opened her eyes, meeting her gaze with Xue Yueliang's indifferent one. Waving her hand, the Qin Clan disciples surrounded Xue Yueliang, trapping her in the middle, and Qin Wen spoke, "You have to return to the Qin Clan with us."

Looking around, she spoke to the surrounding cultivators, "I hope that fellow cultivators do not interrupt; this is a private Qin Clan matter!"

A young man stepped forward, politely bowing, "May I ask how is Xue Yueliang related to you?" Li Yuan asked, wanting to know why Qin Wen had moved against her.

Although he did not know much about Xue Yueliang, he knew she was a friend of Li Hua's and would not watch by idly if she was wronged.

He's kind of cute, Xue Yueliang thought, liking his resemblance to Li Hua.

"She has betrayed the Qin Clan!" Qin Wen said gravely, not directly answering his question.

Hearing this, Li Yuan was surprised, but seeing the indifference in Xue Yueliang's eyes, he knew her words had some truth and stepped back, indicating his, and by extension, the Silver Armour's Sect's stance.

"Do you need help, Xue Yueliang?" Xiang Qingge's sweet voice sounded, ignoring Qin Wen's earlier words.

If Xue Yueliang accepted her help, it would be the same as accepting her earlier offer; joining the White Lilac Sect. "Thank you, but I can handle this on my own." Xue Yueliang politely rejected, and Xiang Qingge nodded understandingly, leading her people away, "I hope you the best in your cultivation path."

The others were either hostile or indifferent toward her, accepting Qin Wen's words as they cleared some space for them.

Seeing no one had stepped out to help Xue Yueliang, Qin Wen smiled, "It seems you don't have anyone on your side, Xue Yueliang, and you're surrounded. You should give in."

Looking at her calm manner and how her fellow clan members respected her commands, Xue Yueliang laughed, "It seems Qin Yundi's death has been great for you! Shouldn't you thank me for helping you out?" "You killed my brother?" Qin Wen was puzzled, not having expected this from her.

Xue Yueliang was just as confused by her response, "Do you not know who I am?" Seeing Qin Wen appear lost, Xue Yueliang reasoned her father did not tell her anything. "Oh."

Xue Yueliang suddenly felt awkward, not knowing what to do, before finally saying, "Well, if it's not about that, I'll be on my way; I have things to do, places to be and people to kill."

"I was instructed to bring you back using any means necessary!" Qin Wen finally said, "If you don't cooperate with us, I don't mind using force. Even if it means all I bring back is your corpse!"

"You don't need to exclaim every two sentences," Xue Yueliang rebutted, cleaning out her ears, "Hey, how many of your followers do you think I can kill before you manage to capture me? I'm sure you are supposed to bring me back alive."

Qin Wen smiled coldly at her words, "Well, fists and swords don't have eyes; it wouldn't be surprising if we accidentally killed you."

"The person wielding them does, though." Xue Yueliang refuted, rolling her eyes at the cliched statement.

Her gaze darted around the hall, wondering the best method she could use to escape; although she acted confident, she did not know if she could win against dozens of people; even fighting Qin Wen alone would be challenging.

Maybe I should have accepted Xiang Qingge's help, she thought sarcastically before asking, "Do you think we can take this outside?"