Wanxi Rebirth - Chapter 27

Qin Suoliu immediately understood: this magical artifact must have been deliberately given to Yue Tingxi by the people of Qingyu Mountain.

Sparring and chess are strikingly similar. If the observers have some experience, they can roughly gauge the character and habits of both participants through the flow of the match.

For instance, some cultivators prefer direct confrontation and won’t use sneaky moves, while others are cunning, capable of ambushes and deceit, avoiding head-on clashes.

This small observation also allowed Qin Suoliu to breathe a sigh of relief. With these two upright demon clans watching, she would be cautious in her moves. Perhaps, through sparring with Yue Tingxi, she could completely rid herself of the bad habits she had developed in the demon world in her previous life.

Her eyes brightened as she opened them—the surroundings looked extremely familiar, somewhere she had seen that morning at her own home.

“Both sides’ cultivation levels?”

Sure enough, once inside the artifact, she heard the voice of a Qingyu Mountain person.

When Qin Suoliu heard the word “level,” she recalled that in her previous life, when she escaped the demon world, her cultivation had already been boosted to the mid-Yuanying stage by a fox demon. If her body hadn’t still been “young,” she might have reached the late Yuanying stage.

It was this one-stage difference that caused her to lose the final battle to Lin Chaoyao, who inherited all the previous sect leader’s cultivation, artifacts, and elixirs, and had reached the late Yuanying stage.

“…Mid-Yuanying stage,” she sighed silently and reported her current level.

When her father passed away, he divided his cultivation between her mother and her, which allowed her to reach such a level at a young age.

“Late Yuanying, Great Completion,” she heard Yue Tingxi’s voice respond.

“Shall we suppress it?”

“No…”

“To early Yuanying stage.”

They spoke together, but their answers were completely different.

“I hurt you last night, let’s just warm up first and see your condition,” Yue Tingxi quickly used the excuse she had prepared.

Since it was Yue Tingxi’s suggestion, Qin Suoliu readily agreed: “Fine, I’ll suppress to early Yuanying too.”

“How about the weather?”

“You choose,” Yue Tingxi replied.

“Then let’s start with a heavy rain,” Qin Suoliu said.

She remembered that in a month, they would enter the Xuan Shui Secret Realm. To explore its ruins, they had to pass through a freshwater layer first. Better to adapt early to the environment she disliked the most.

“Not start with sunny weather?” Yue Tingxi was surprised.

Qin Suoliu quickly changed: “If you prefer sunny weather…”

Before she finished, droplets of dampness touched her face, and within a few breaths, a heavy downpour fell.

Thinking of how this rain came from the Qingyu Mountain person, who disliked her, and the “ancestor” who had watched Yue Tingxi grow up, Qin Suoliu inexplicably felt a bit happy and smiled with relief.

“Since we’re here, let’s make the best of it,” she said deliberately to the observing Qingyu Mountain person. “Rain is good, more resistance.”

She took out her twin curved knives and, after a few movements, stood opposite Yue Tingxi. “Sister Tingxi, please.”

Yue Tingxi’s training was scattered—she learned a little of whatever interested her, and Qingyu Mountain had taught her as well. She didn’t have a specialty weapon.

She thought for a moment and, with a thought, a pitch-black greatsword taller than a person appeared in her hands, planted on the ground.

In human terms, it was “heavy sword without edge”: wide, open movements, overwhelming force, fitting her path of cultivation—non-competitive, in harmony with nature.

Since Qin Suoliu let her go first, she accepted graciously.

Yue Tingxi infused half her arm’s worth of spiritual power into the sword, gathered her strength in her legs, and leaped into the air like a released arrow, striking toward Qin Suoliu!

In her sight, Qin Suoliu’s figure flashed simultaneously with her twin knives. Facing the heavy sword like a mountain, Qin Suoliu chose to evade.

Seeing this strike would miss, Yue Tingxi calmly released her snake tail, planted it on the ground, changed direction midair, and swung the sword again with the water spiritual power.

But the force was reduced this time; Qin Suoliu raised her twin knives and blocked the strike.

The two had never fought before in this life. Initially, they exchanged blows like this, using no specific sword or knife techniques, relying only on spiritual power, speed, and reflexes.

Yet neither found it boring.

The torrential rain drummed on their necks, robes, and weapons. Water ran along their hair into their collars. The clanging of weapons blended with the rain—relentless.

Qin Suoliu felt as if she had returned twenty years ago.

Back then, she clung to Yue Tingxi while still practicing daily with her knife. She didn’t have her own blood-bound weapon and didn’t want to reveal her Qin family knife. So she offered fruits as a bribe for Yue Tingxi to help sharpen two practice wooden knives.

Later, she even paid Yue Tingxi with spirit stones to act as her sparring partner.

She remembered Yue Tingxi was good with young demons, but humans, especially little girls, were a first.

At their first spar, Yue Tingxi accidentally used too much force, tossing Qin Suoliu and her wooden knife down a slope.

A snake tail saved her at the last moment.

Now, that same snake tail became part of Yue Tingxi’s offensive.

From below her navel down, Yue Tingxi’s body became snake, using a third of her spiritual power, swinging to strike as powerfully as a heavy sword.

Her upper body continued swinging the sword, twisting the snake body to block or redirect Qin Suoliu’s moves.

The straight sword strikes now curved like a snake, slicing through Qin Suoliu’s clothes, almost hitting her real body!

Realizing it was just an illusion, Qin Suoliu hardened her heart, creating a thin water curtain, steamed with fire spiritual power, using it to approach the soft underbelly of the snake.

Yue Tingxi hadn’t forgotten the ruthless “villain” Qin Suoliu of her past life. From the beginning, she anticipated tricks and guarded against them.

When the predicted strike came, she hesitated, frowned, twisted the snake body, and deflected the knife infused with spiritual power.

She replaced the sword with a short knife and threw it at Qin Suoliu’s neck!

Even though she knew striking an exposed weakness was standard, her past experiences and her hatred of being treated this way, especially by Qin Suoliu, made her return the blow in kind.

After throwing the short knife, she didn’t care if it hit, but raised her tail tip.

The knife was deflected by Qin Suoliu.

Then, she felt a chill from behind—before she could react, Qin Suoliu’s phantom body was pierced by the tail, passing through her abdomen.

Yue Tingxi hadn’t expected Qin Suoliu to not dodge. Her movements had been quick moments before.

She withdrew her tail; simulated blood spurted, diluted immediately by rain.

“Phantom Yuanying damaged. Admit defeat?” asked the “Qingyu Mountain person.”

Yue Tingxi’s strike had aimed at the phantom’s vital point.

Having survived a previous death, with a lingering grudge, her mindset had crossed a barrier; she could now strike to kill.

But actually killing someone and seeing the real results would lead to remorse—two different things.

Instinctively, Yue Tingxi had already used her snake tail to support the heavily injured Qin Suoliu phantom, preventing it from falling.

“Hmm… my skills are inferior. I admit defeat,” Qin Suoliu said softly, pressing the phantom’s wound.

With the battle over, the rain eased, and the sky cleared.

Yue Tingxi was about to leave the “Mustard Seed Ice Wheel” (illusionary training space) to check Qin Suoliu’s real condition when she was stopped.

“Earlier, my fault,” Qin Suoliu apologized. “This was just sparring, yet I struck your vital point; I deserved this.”

Yue Tingxi wanted to say “as long as you know,” but had herself attacked harshly out of emotion, causing Qin Suoliu pain again.

“You need not feel guilty. I was oversensitive and instinctively used a killing move,” she explained without apologizing. “Do you feel fatigued? Getting hurt here is draining.”

Having tested this before, Yue Tingxi knew the illusion could simulate real techniques indefinitely, but prolonged fighting or heavy injury would make one collapse after leaving.

Qin Suoliu’s cultivation was higher; she might endure longer.

“I feel okay, just some pain after that strike,” Qin Suoliu said, getting off her phantom. “The illusion started healing it after I admitted defeat.”

To reassure Yue Tingxi, she drew her knives and practiced the Qin family forms. Though the wound healed, blood stains remained, mixed with rainwater on the ground.

Yue Tingxi thought it was a form of punishment, but watched patiently.

“Your moves weren’t much affected—how come?” she asked, referring to Qin Suoliu’s fire spiritual root and the rain.

“I can maintain in extreme conditions for a while. After that, reaction and strength will decrease,” Qin Suoliu explained. She made up an excuse for not dodging the tail: “I started slowing down.”

“I thought you’d dodge,” Yue Tingxi said.

“Should we continue sparring in heavy rain?”

“Yes. Better yet, simulate the shallow water layer of Xuan Shui Secret Realm,” Qin Suoliu agreed.

Yue Tingxi closed her eyes and communicated with the artifact, though she doubted it could fully simulate such an environment.

The “Mustard Seed Ice Wheel” responded: “Please restate or change weather request.”

“Shallow water,” Yue Tingxi said.

Not part of preset weather, the artifact requested clarification.

“Location? Shallow water okay?” she asked.

Soon, their ground became flowing water; surroundings transformed into a mountain scene, somewhat like a stream landscape.

“Deep water pond?” she tried next.

Water rose to chest level but no higher—apparently, the artifact only recorded “pond,” not “deep pond.”

“Too shallow compared to Xuan Shui Secret Realm,” Yue Tingxi complained.

“You’ve been there?” Qin Suoliu asked casually.

“Yes, after transforming into human, once with Qingyu Mountain person; later learned more from books,” Yue Tingxi explained.

“Okay. Can I train here regularly?” Qin Suoliu asked.

Yue Tingxi agreed. Short-term adaptation to extreme environments was more useful than seeking breakthroughs for someone of Qin Suoliu’s level.

“So, when you enter, tell me,” she nodded. “This artifact is bound to me; no one else’s spiritual power can enter without my permission.”

Qin Suoliu realized she had been mistaken: this artifact belonged to Yue Tingxi, not Qingyu Mountain.

“I should invest some spirit stones,” Qin Suoliu said.

Surprised, Yue Tingxi listened as Qin Suoliu explained: “Just like renting the place; I don’t like owing favors. Spending spirit stones is peace of mind.”

She actually just wanted to spend money on Sister Tingxi.

Though Yue Tingxi didn’t like receiving money, she considered Qin Suoliu’s intentions and agreed.

They exited the artifact, and Qin Suoliu dropped a bag of spirit stones into the stone slots. The artifact consumed them immediately.

“Did we give too much?” Yue Tingxi asked.

“No worries, the bag is still detectable; if unused, we can retrieve it intact,” Qin Suoliu said reassuringly.

With this small interlude done, Qin Suoliu wanted to re-enter the artifact but received news from medical cultivators: the living puppet girl they first brought back had changed.

Yue Tingxi accompanied her to check. The girl had been given some minor tasks as suggested by Yue Tingxi; her progress could guide other medical cultivators.

“Report, Mistress. Following Sister Tingxi’s advice, we gave the girl a musical score,” said the medical cultivator. “At first, she seemed clueless. I sang a bit to her, but her voice was hoarse—unpleasant.”

“She might have realized it, so stopped singing. Slowly flipping the score, she remained silent,” the cultivator continued.

“Expected,” Qin Suoliu said calmly. “It’s like giving a handicapped Qin family child a sword manual. They enjoy flipping the pages but realize they can never wield it properly.”

The cultivator was alarmed and apologized.

“No harm done. At least we found a breakthrough,” Qin Suoliu said, opening the barrier and motioning Yue Tingxi in.

After all, now, only her concern was the lives of her family. Others’ deaths or struggles were irrelevant—unless Sister Tingxi cared.

Inside, a plain-dressed girl sat by the window, flipping through the score, unaware of them.

Qin Suoliu silently stepped forward and snatched the score.

The girl panicked, tried to grab it, but her hands trembled and closed instinctively, then lowered.

“You want back what you lost, but you lack the ability,” Qin Suoliu said, showing the score. “You had a good voice to earn a living. A cold ruined it all. Without a solution, you return to your old life as a servant…”

“No…!” the girl choked out.

“Do you want to keep singing? If I help, how will you repay me?” Qin Suoliu continued.

Yue Tingxi was stunned but realized Qin Suoliu had a point.

For mortals, especially those bound to the Red Dust House, their goals were simple: survive, gather wealth, redeem themselves, and live freely.

Qin Suoliu’s words weren’t threats; they were a test. If the girl could seize the lifeline and wanted to stay, she need not return to hardship.

“I…” the girl murmured, “I don’t want to sing anymore…”

“Don’t want to sing for others or yourself?” Yue Tingxi prompted.

“Don’t want to go back…” she hesitated.

“Then do what you’re good at, no need to meet many people,” Qin Suoliu said. “There are still old scores to sort; two months’ work, then you can stay.”

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