"Regardless, I would never harm you." Ye Yutian said this with a rather serious tone, but Ye Lanshan scoffed at it. After all, from the moment they met, he had tried to hurt her more than a few times.
"Is that so? Then who was it that trapped me in a rundown temple and threatened to force the herb out of me?" Ye Lanshan thought to herself: *Let's see how you talk your way out of this one.*
"If you resent me, you can pay me back. I'll stand right here, unmoving. Stab me wherever you like." Ye Lanshan hadn't expected Ye Yutian to resort to such an extreme method, but since he was offering himself up, she wouldn't hold back.
She swung the dagger in her hand, aiming for his shoulder. In that split second, a flash of light from the blade revealed a pair of eyes, startling Ye Lanshan so much that she naturally didn't follow through.
"What's going on?" Ye Lanshan examined the dagger several times over, but didn't see the eyes she had just glimpsed. Was it an illusion? No, it couldn't be. Ever since those eyes appeared, she had felt someone watching her. There had to be a secret hidden here.
Compared to Ye Lanshan's tension, Ye Yutian wasn't nearly as flustered. In the moment the dagger flashed, he hadn't seen any eyes, so he was now curious why she had suddenly withdrawn the blade, checking it inside and out with an uneasy look.
After a minute, Ye Lanshan fully calmed down. She knew she couldn't reveal the matter of the eyes, so she stopped examining the dagger in front of him and coldly dismissed him: "If you want to act crazy, do it somewhere else."
Seeing her stubborn refusal to engage, Ye Yutian had no choice but to turn and leave.
After he was gone, Ye Lanshan took out the dagger again. She studied it for a long time but couldn't find where the eyes were.
"How intriguing." Ye Lanshan had never seen such a bizarre weapon. This ancient dagger had piqued her interest.
Since there were eyes, it meant something must be sealed inside. But what exactly, she had no idea.
After studying it for a while without figuring anything out, she simply tossed it back into her storage space.
"Devour? How could something like this appear in the world?" As soon as Ye Lanshan threw the dagger into the space, the Wu Jiao recognized it.
Fortunately, when it said this, it didn't connect with Ye Lanshan's mind, so she didn't hear it.
The night stars shone brightly, and streams of strange energy radiated from them.
Ye Lanshan sat meditating within a pattern drawn with spiritual power, as the peculiar energy surged toward her from all directions.
At dawn, as the sun seemed ready to peek over the eastern mountains, Ye Lanshan didn't open her eyes. Instead, she focused on absorbing the purest spiritual energy of heaven and earth during the moment of yin and yang's union.
As the morning light finally rose slowly, Ye Lanshan opened her bright eyes.
"It's been so long since I've seen a sunrise. It's beautiful." She opened her eyes and saw the gently rising dawn.
She stood facing the wind, enjoying the picturesque scenery. This beautiful sunrise soothed the restless worries in her heart.
What was the meaning of life if not to enjoy it? To enjoy freedom, beautiful sights, comfort, and nature's gifts.
Yes, what was the point of chasing fame and profit? It only led to endless struggles, with no retreat even when exhausted.
Realizing this, Ye Lanshan's entire mindset cleared. She shook her head with a wry smile. She had understood this truth in her past life, so why had she fallen into it again in this one?
Suddenly, thunder rolled outside, and clouds rapidly gathered over the Ye residence.
Ye Lanshan looked at the thick layer of clouds in the sky and muttered, "You've got to be kidding me."
"Boom, boom, boom!" Deafening thunderclaps rang out, and purple lightning danced among the clouds. Ye Lanshan felt as if she could see the thunder's mockery in the clouds, and the rumbling was its intimidation.
Ye Lanshan raised an eyebrow helplessly. She had clearly forgotten her earlier disrespect toward the heavenly tribulation.
Before she could react, a crack of lightning shot straight toward her head, as if determined to strike her dead.
But Ye Lanshan wasn't one to be trifled with. She threw a wooden staff at the tribulation lightning and quickly retreated to a safe distance.
The heavenly tribulation lived up to its name—the first bolt reduced the staff to ashes instantly. But Ye Lanshan wasn't afraid. After several encounters with heavenly tribulation, she had learned to handle it skillfully.
However, when she tried the same trick a second time, the lightning veered and struck her directly. Fortunately, she had shielded herself with spiritual power, so she wasn't as disheveled as expected.
Unfortunately, she had underestimated the tribulation's power. By the time the final bolt came at her, she had no strength left to protect herself. So she simply accepted the last fierce strike fully.
At that moment, she could clearly feel the lightning coursing through her bones, tempering them stronger and expelling impurities from her body.
"Lanshan! Ye Lanshan, are you alright?" The anxious voice came before the person even arrived.
"I'm fine, Grandfather. Have the servants prepare a tub of water for me. I need to bathe first. We'll talk about everything else later." Ye Lanshan couldn't stand the smell of impurities on her body.
After changing several buckets of water, she finally cleaned off the impurities. Now she was soaking luxuriously in a bath, the warm steam rising and making her drowsy. But suddenly, a crack sound jolted her awake.
She quickly threw a dagger outward and, in that gap, pulled her clothes on.
"You again, Young Master Mo. Coming to provoke me time and again—aren't you afraid you'll leave your life here one day?"
This breakthrough wasn't just in her mystic power; she had reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, just shy of forming a golden core. Her senses were sharper than ever.
"What a enviable genius, but I like it." Mo Ran dodged her dagger in a bizarre motion and stood opposite her.
Ye Lanshan gripped the dagger, thinking she might as well go all the way and reclaim the Twin Fruit.
But during their fight, she realized that without relying on talismans, she still couldn't defeat him.