Chapter 701: All “Picked Up”

“You don’t have a say in this,” Ji Liehuo said with a sinister smile. If Ou Xinlai cooperated obediently, she would suffer less; if not, he had no qualms about using force.

With that, Ji Liehuo pressed himself against Ou Xinlai, clearly intending to take her by force.

“Now’s the moment!” a voice suddenly rang out.

Ou Xinlai quickly placed her hand over Ji Liehuo’s chest and gave him a friendly smile. “Sorry, I’ll be borrowing a spark from your heartfire.” She hadn’t been wrong to come for the ancient disk, but more importantly, she needed to lure Ji Liehuo here. She was well aware of his ill intentions—how could she not be?

“You—!” Ji Liehuo realized he’d been tricked. This little girl had pretended ignorance of his intentions, only to return alone just to deal with him. “What are you trying to do to me?”

Ou Xinlai raised her brows, her eyes bright as water. “I told you: just borrowing a spark.” Her hand pressed to his chest, and with the art of Yin-Yang Transference, she found Ji Liehuo’s masculine heartfire.

As a woman, her body was of yin, and thus she possessed only yin fire. To reach the fifth level of Yin-Yang Transference, blending yin and yang fire was essential. Since Ji Liehuo had delivered himself to her, why wouldn’t she make use of him?

Ji Liehuo felt an emptiness in his chest, as if something vital had been stolen away. Yet, oddly enough, he wasn’t particularly uncomfortable. He merely glared at Ou Xinlai. “Return my heartfire, and just what technique was that?!” He’d never heard of such a thing, and had no idea what she wanted with it.

“You don’t need to know,” Ou Xinlai replied, delighted with the pure yang fire she’d extracted. Who would have thought, at his age, Ji Liehuo was still a virgin; otherwise, she could never have taken his heartfire so easily.

Since she was about to enter the Yin-Yang Lake, her own yin fire was more abundant than most women’s, and she needed to find a man older than herself, still chaste, to harvest yang fire from—or her cultivation would fail, and she’d never reach the fifth level.

Ou Xinlai quickly fused the heart-yang fire she’d taken into herself. As yin and yang merged, she immediately felt a sense of completeness and harmony flow through her body.

“Courting death,” Ji Liehuo muttered, having no idea what Ou Xinlai was up to. He only knew that her actions left him with an inexplicable sense of panic.

He struck at her.

Ou Xinlai pretended to shield her eyes, as if afraid of his attack. But with a feline twist, she dodged behind him.

Her palm pressed to his back. “Yin-Yang Transference!” At once, she sensed that Ji Liehuo’s liver was in poor shape. With the technique, all the disease in his liver transferred to the spot beneath her hand. She struck hard, making Ji Liehuo writhe in agony.

It felt as though she’d thrust her hand into his body, seized his internal organs, and pummeled them mercilessly—the pain was as excruciating as a blow to a man’s most sensitive part.

Ou Xinlai smiled—so this was the power of the fifth level of Yin-Yang Transference.

“Ou Xinlai, place Ji Liehuo where the ancient disk was just excavated,” the voice sounded again.

Ou Xinlai promptly kicked Ji Liehuo, sending his rotund body rolling to the spot where the disk had lain. Suddenly, a strange force erupted from the hole, pulling Ji Liehuo in with a mournful cry and sealing the cavity he’d left behind.

“If the hole is not plugged, the celestial force within will soon be exhausted. This way, the qi here will last until the next opening of the Chiyou Ancient Cave,” the voice explained with solemn duty.

“It’s time to go—if we stay any longer, we won’t make it back in time.” Ou Xinlai, carrying the Violet Lightning Array, returned to where the Suzaku people had ambushed them, grabbed the two captives, and left with the others.

Outside the cave, Hei Muya seemed to want to speak with Ou Xinlai. But the Ou family’s Five Elements Array was already in motion, and the five juniors vanished from sight.

Ou Xinya, who had disappeared since entering the Chiyou Ancient Cave, reappeared—more radiant and confident than ever. It was easy to guess she’d had quite a fortuitous encounter inside.

When the five returned home, Ou Xinlai dumped the two Suzaku captives before Ou Chenfeng. “Father, these two from Suzaku wanted to invite me as a guest. I thought I’d check with you first to see if I should accept.”

The Ou family members who’d come to greet them were all stunned. Who would be in the mood for hospitality in the Chiyou Ancient Cave? It was clear these two intended to abduct her, but ended up the ones bound.

Ou Jinren and the others exchanged glances—so Ou Xinlai had already encountered danger even before meeting them in the cave?

“There was also a veiled woman with them,” Ou Xinlai added. “She left in a hurry, abandoning her companions.”

The crowd was speechless at her words. That woman had fled, abandoning her partners—that much was obvious. And the way Ou Xinlai called her a “fellow woman” made it sound as if she were an actual friend, not an enemy.

As she spoke, Ou Xinlai glanced at Ou Xinya. Oddly, Ou Xinya remained calm, showing no reaction even as the two men were thrown out before her, as if she didn’t know them at all.

Yet being this calm was suspicious—she should have at least been curious about strangers.

“Since they wished to invite Lai’er as a guest, it’s only proper for our Ou family to return the courtesy. Let’s have them stay with us for a while,” Ou Chenfeng said, nodding as attendants escorted the “guests” away—to the clan’s prison.

Everyone was speechless. To invite someone to a meal of prison rations—only father and daughter could make it sound so pleasant.

“Yar, what have you gained?” Ou Chendong asked Ou Xinya excitedly, judging by her glowing face that she’d fared well in the cave.

“I did not disappoint. I’ve mastered a new skill.” With that, Ou Xinya demonstrated before them. Already a water-elemental adept, she’d inherited an ice-elemental art inside the cave, integrating it into her meridians.

As she unleashed her water power, droplets instantly transformed into ice crystals, sparkling brilliantly in the sunlight—beautiful, but deadly, for solid ice was far more lethal than water alone.

“When you reach minor mastery of Yin-Yang Transference, turning water to ice or ice to water will be mere tricks. When you achieve major mastery, you’ll command the lives of all beings. With a single move, you could freeze this woman into a pillar of ice!” The voice commented, unable to resist.

“So if I were to fight Ou Xinya directly, who would have the upper hand?” Ou Xinlai asked, this being her chief concern.

“For now, she holds the advantage.” If not for her ice artifact, water attacks would mean little to Ou Xinlai—fifth-level Yin-Yang Transference was enough to cope with Ou Xinya. “She’s at least level seven in water powers now.”

“What? She advanced so quickly?” Had she eaten living ginseng in the cave? Ou Xinlai recalled the golden spirit orb she’d snatched from Li Chengfeng, quite a treasure. But how had Ou Xinya leaped from level three to at least level seven?

“No, her powers are deep—this isn’t a recent breakthrough, but the result of long accumulation, waiting for a final surge.” She’s at least level seven, maybe higher; that’s a world apart from just reaching level seven.

“How is that possible?” Ou Xinlai was shocked—this world truly was fantastical. When she’d been a novice, she’d relied on her medical skills to deal with Ou Xinya.

Just a trip to the Chiyou Cave, and Ou Xinya’s strength soared. If she was at least level seven, she could reach eight, nine, or even ten. That would put her ahead of Ou Chendong, and perhaps on par with her own problematic father.

With such power, Ou Xinya could easily dominate all the Ou juniors. Yet, it seemed no one in the family realized how formidable she was.

Seeing Ou Xinlai’s astonishment, the voice observed, “I suspect she has some other artifact masking her strength. My fire eyes can only discern that her level is above seven—the exact number is still unclear.”

“So that’s it—she’s been hiding her true strength all along?”

“Ou Xinlai, you must have collected a few things in the Chiyou Cave as well. Show everyone. Don’t feel pressured—this was your first time, and it’s normal not to find anything valuable. Not everyone is as lucky as my Yar,” Ou Chendong said, feeling at ease for once. He couldn’t outdo Ou Chenfeng in anything, but at least his daughter had proven herself. Ou Xinlai, with no powers at all, couldn’t compare.

How could anyone expect her to bring back treasures when just returning alive was a blessing?

“Well, that cave was a mess. I got lost, and just picked up a few beads along the way,” Ou Xinlai nodded. Truth be told, she hadn’t found anything of value in the cave. She’d only picked up a few things here and there, and the only real treasure—the fire dragon fruit—had been snatched by the old man in green.

“Oh, picked up some beads? At least you brought something back. Let’s see what kind,” Ou Chendong said, beaming.

The elders were speechless—he was clearly setting Ou Xinlai up to embarrass herself, making it difficult for Ou Chenfeng.

Ou Xinlai obediently produced the bag of ability beads she’d pilfered from the green-robed old man. “They’re all quite pretty—most are colored, but there are a few clear ones too.” The tiny beads flowed from her fingers like sparkling sand, dazzling everyone’s eyes.

“Those are…” The crowd gasped—these were ability beads!

With her skills, it should have been impossible for her to take such things from adepts. And as for anyone carrying so many beads, they knew of only one such person.

“You encountered the old man in green?!” the law elder exclaimed. Most who met him—especially women—met a grim fate. Even male adepts rarely fared well.

Ou Jinshen eyed Ou Xinlai strangely. He’d thought the old man had mistaken her for someone else, but now it seemed she truly had dealt with him.

“Indeed,” Ou Xinlai said. “At the time, he seemed deranged and greatly weakened. In the end, he was killed by the combined efforts of several people.” In truth, she, Xuanye, and Hei Muya had finished him off. But it was mostly her doing.

More importantly, when Ji Liehuo searched the body, he hadn’t found anything.

“Father, I just picked these up for fun. After playing around in the cave, I got bored. Here, have them.” Ou Xinlai knew the beads were unbelievably valuable, but she had no use for them, so it was better to give them to her father.

Ou Chendong was flabbergasted—she really just handed over a bag of priceless ability beads without a second thought? He was nearly sick with envy. If Ou Xinlai had been his daughter, the beads would have been his.

“Clan leader, these beads…” Ou Chendong quickly turned to Ou Chenfeng. Since they were from the ancient cave, they should belong to the family.

“Lai’er gave them to me,” Ou Chenfeng replied, well aware of Ou Chendong’s greed. It was, after all, the first gift his daughter had given him, and had nothing to do with the clan.

“These red and blue pills can go to the family,” Ou Xinlai said, handing over the assorted medicines she’d swindled from others, this time making clear they were a contribution.

The Five Elements Elders were interested—most of the family’s pills were made by them, so the variety was limited. Out in the world, such medicines were invaluable, and anyone who obtained them would hoard them jealously.

More importantly, the elders spotted some real treasures among them.

The Water Elder nodded. “Many of these must have been taken from those two boys, right?” The red Phoenix bottles were famous in Suzaku, but he’d never had a chance to see one—until now.

“Yes,” Ou Xinlai admitted, “and some from the old man in green.”

Ou Jinren’s jaw clicked—just what had happened between Ou Xinlai and that fiend? All his treasures seemed to have ended up in her hands. Picked up? Was it that easy? In the cave, the old man had nearly killed her!

On hearing that the old man’s things were included, the law elder grew excited. He’d traveled the four kingdoms, leaving a bloody trail—his treasures were the best of the best.

Any one of these pills was a rare find.

With this, the Five Elements Elders and Law Elder were fully satisfied, and said nothing about the ability beads. Those who entered the Chiyou Cave were required to contribute some spoils, but not all—and as the clan head, Ou Chenfeng’s claim to the beads could not be disputed.

Compared to Ou Xinlai’s impressive haul, the others’ gains were hardly worth mentioning.

Ou Xinya had prepared a stalk of Seven-Star Grass, thinking it would outshine the rest, but now her prize was utterly eclipsed by Ou Xinlai’s.

As for Ou Jinren and his two companions, Ou Xinlai spoke up for them. “These three stuck with me, so these medicines count as shares for the four of us.” The three boys had always been moderate by nature, and even their one attempt at adventure had been ruined by Yun Lianqiao.

Having spent so much time with them, she knew they’d gained nothing remarkable.

Thanks to Ou Xinlai, the three escaped embarrassment.

Now, of the five who entered the Chiyou Cave, only Ou Xinya’s contribution was lackluster. Her cheeks flushed red with anger.

Ou Xinya glared at Ou Xinlai—if she’d known, she would have taken the chance to kill her. If not for being on the verge of breaking through to the ninth level, she’d have killed Ou Xinlai as easily as squashing an ant.

“All right, you’ve all worked hard. Go rest,” Ou Chenfeng said, sending the five children off.

Ou Xinlai was overjoyed, cheering as she ran back to her room, where she found Ou Jinjue waiting for her. “You’re quite thoughtful, waiting here for your sister so early?”

“Are you all right?” Ou Jinjue gave her a sidelong glance, then carefully checked her for injuries.

Ou Xinlai felt it was truly rare—in the Ou family, aside from her troublesome father, only this boy genuinely cared for her. “You’re in luck—I have something for you.”

— End of chapter —

Thank you to everyone who sent flowers yesterday.