Chapter 125 Burning — It was actually her.

Changsun Li showed no fear of the sharp edge. Body cultivators had their own defensive methods. The hand gripping the blade tightened instead of retreating, trying to crush her sword outright.

Lian Mu jerked back, but his palm was completely unscathed, not even a scratch.

She had seen body cultivators enter a spiritual body state before, their entire body like a layer of spiritual armor that normal attacks couldn’t penetrate. He had the upper hand in close combat; once he got hold of her, he could crush her unilaterally.

Seeing he wouldn’t let go, Lian Mu lifted her leg and kicked his knee.

“What, is this all you’ve got?” Changsun Li laughed and increased his strength, not dodging her attacks at all, as if he truly didn’t care.

Her sword was caught. If she wanted to move, she’d have to abandon it—but this time, she didn’t want to let go.

Changsun Li freed one hand to deal with her. Lian Mu struck a punch straight at him, spiritual power gathered in her fist, imitating Wen Yun’s moves in return.

Changsun Li froze for an instant. “You—”

Her hand twisted the sword hilt downward, contorting his wrist into a strange angle, locking him there. Then she stepped, planting her left foot on his knee, pinning his leg.

“You’re a body cultivator?” Changsun Li tried to yank his hand back but realized it was firmly locked.

Without thinking, she turned the sword tip toward his throat.

He matched her strength, pushing the blade away. They remained in a deadlock for a while.

“So Wen Yun hangs around with someone like you every day.” Veins bulged on the back of his hand, the sword tip just a fist’s length away. “No wonder he’s more like a street punk now. Your moves are sloppy, clearly self-taught. How did Returning Immortal Sect accept you as second-seat?”

She found him annoyingly chatty and was about to punch his right cheek when suddenly a chorus of demonic beast roars sounded nearby.

Another wave of beasts searching for the oasis had arrived. Judging by the noise, they were even more numerous and, after baking under the sun, had entered a berserk state.

While fighting Bai Li Que, Jiang Yuechen frowned and paused. “Tsk. Annoying.”

She immediately broke off, re-casting a defensive barrier that enclosed the entire oasis.

Bai Li Que dodged Gu Qingyu’s attacks while glancing at the barrier. “Chief Jiang has broken through again, able to mimic Sect Master Shen’s protective barrier now.”

Jiang Yuechen smiled faintly. “Bai Li Que, now’s not the time for small talk.”

He gave a slight smile too, though his habitual blank expression made it stiff. “Honestly, I don’t want to fight you. We’re both from Hidden Heart Faction; it’s not really fitting to kill each other.”

But that odd smile, to Jiang Yuechen, looked like provocation.

“What?”

“You’ve changed a lot at Returning Immortal Sect. You used to—”

Halfway through, Bai Li Que flashed behind her and struck with a row of wind talismans, blasting her away.

“…!”

The once upright Young Lord Bai Li had grown cunning.

“Courting death.” Jiang Yuechen’s smile vanished. Five talismans flew from her sleeve, orbiting her hand. “Haven’t you had enough of being second-best all these years?”

Bai Li Que replied calmly, “That was then. Now I deserve first on the Orchid Ranking—no worse than you.”

Gu Qingyu moved in to flank him with Jiang Yuechen. She waved him off: “Stay back. This is a duel between talisman cultivators—don’t interfere.”

Bai Li Que glanced at the other disciples, then deliberately lured Jiang Yuechen away toward the barrier at the oasis’s edge.

Meanwhile, Ying You and Wen Yun were locked in a stalemate. Neither revealed their true strength, each holding back just enough to keep balance.

Guan Shize was caught between two top fighters, sweating profusely. He had never imagined he’d be in this situation.

He’d always wanted to spar with the best, but this was the worst timing. He had no idea how to beat two powerful opponents—he could only dodge for dear life, evading each blow by a hair’s breadth.

Thankfully, he had mastered Lian Mu’s art of skirting by. Against all odds, he dodged ten of Lu Feishuang’s strikes.

Lu Feishuang, having missed each time, caught a trace of doubt in his mind seeing Guan Shize slip away like a loach.

Shen Wusang too grew suspicious, his attacks speeding up until they blurred.

Outside the oasis barrier, the demonic beasts’ roars grew louder. In their frenzy, they rammed the barrier headfirst.

Hearing the chaotic howls, Lian Mu felt a flicker of irritation. She forced it down, trying to focus on Changsun Li.

He sensed her shift in mood. The moment she frowned, he broke free, retreating two steps.

She drew back her sword, suddenly wanting to slaughter every demonic beast outside. But just as she moved, his fist whistled past her ear.

She tilted her head slightly, voice cold with impatience. “I don’t want to fight you now. Get lost.”

Changsun Li sneered. “You think you can come and go as you please?”

He kicked at her. She slashed at his leg. Their clash sent a shockwave up her arm, numbing her wrist.

This time, he was fighting for real.

She glanced at her sword—its edge cracked, on the verge of shattering.

She gripped the hilt tight, voice frosty. “You’re dead.”

Her mind held only rage. Even as her wrist bones fractured under the impact, she felt nothing. She forgot her damaged dantian entirely, pouring spiritual power endlessly into her blade.

Changsun Li vanished, then crashed down from above, fist aimed straight at her forehead.

Without hesitation, she blocked it with her sword. The force drove her foot deeper into the sand.

“Still using your sword to block?” He didn’t withdraw—he pressed harder. “Bold. Let’s see how you resist once your sword shatters to dust!”

He wasn’t trying to eliminate her quickly. He was having fun—like a cat toying with a mouse.

Under the Heavenly Spiritual Root body cultivator’s crushing strength, her blade couldn’t hold. The crack spread, a second fissure splitting off.

The blade warped under the pressure, but didn’t wound him at all.

She didn’t back off—she braced her sword firmly. A flame seemed to ignite in her damaged dantian, burning her from within.

Outside the barrier, the beasts slammed themselves to death, and their packmates howled mournfully.

Heat blurred her eyes; something hot dripped from them, slid down her cheek, and sank into the sand.

Through the red haze, she could only make out a faint outline—he was laughing.

“You… really… want to die.”

She gritted her teeth, growling each word.

“Overestimating yourself.” He decided to end it. He grabbed the blade, truly meaning to crush it this time.

But the instant his hand clamped down, searing heat pulsed through the sword.

He froze, testing his grip—only to feel it shatter under his fingers.

Yet the fragments didn’t scatter. Instead, they clung where they were.

He thought she was force-controlling the broken sword—until a tongue of flame licked across his cheek, burning his skin.

He stiffened. “This is—”

The once-shattered blade flared from tip to hilt, transforming into pure flame. Fire raced along his arm, forcing him to leap back.

Staring at the sword suddenly ablaze, he stammered, “How could it be you… that person… impossible!”

His words made Lu Feishuang, still pressing Guan Shize, glance over involuntarily.

In the next instant, Lu Feishuang froze as well, and Shen Wusang turned his head, eyes wide.

Wen Yun sensed something amiss and looked over too, only for Ying You to seize the opening and press a sword to his throat. Noticing Wen Yun suddenly dazed, Ying You frowned and followed his gaze.

With just one glance, the sword in Ying You’s hand wavered slightly. Wen Yun snapped back to his senses and punched him hard in the chest.

Ying You immediately retreated, but his eyes remained fixed on Lian Mu. “You…”

In an instant, everyone’s gaze converged on Lian Mu, yet she was oblivious to it all. In her eyes, there was only Changsun Li.

Changsun Li couldn’t believe it. “How could it be you… How could the Returning Immortal Sect have such luck? You must be using some trick!”

Lian Mu gave him no chance. Raising her blazing blade, she swung it down.

Though separated by several steps, the fiery blade didn’t touch Changsun Li directly, but the surging heat swept up the yellow sand like a hurricane, crashing toward him.

Changsun Li tried to block it with spiritual power, but the force drove him back repeatedly. The scattered flames seemed to gain a will of their own, coiling around him like vines.

The searing pain made him realize, too late, that he had been deceived again.

This person was no mere three-root cultivator — she was clearly a Heavenly Spiritual Root!

The same thought flashed through everyone’s mind.

Lu Feishuang was the first to react. “It’s really her… That spiritual force is the same as the one that slammed into the barrier earlier.”

Shen Wusang could hardly believe it — the very person he had dismissed first was the one they had been searching for all along.

“Who the hell are you?!”

Blood dripped from the corners of Lian Mu’s eyes, falling onto the sand and igniting on contact like the blazing red fluid of a flame beast, blooming into swaying red lotuses.

The lotus flames quickly spread to Changsun Li’s feet, setting his robes ablaze.

Changsun Li tried to stamp them out, only to find that the more he stomped, the fiercer the flames burned, snaking up his clothes and licking at his hair.

Seeing this, Lu Feishuang swung his sword, a slash of lightning-charged energy aiming to cut off the flames at Changsun Li’s feet. Instead, the strike exploded on contact, making the fire roar even higher.

Inside the protective barrier, Ji Mingyue’s eyelids twitched at the sight and she murmured under her breath, “This is bad… her body…”

She quickly rummaged through her spatial pouch but found only a few scattered spirit-replenishing pills.

Meanwhile, the blood completely blurred Lian Mu’s vision. She could no longer see her surroundings, only hear the roar of demonic beasts and the howling wind.

But she knew exactly where Changsun Li was.

Stepping through the burning lotus flowers, Lian Mu advanced straight toward him.