Chapter 111: Lian Yue's Breakthrough

Blue Water and Purple Bamboo could both see the difficulty on Lian Yue’s face. They exchanged a glance, not knowing how to begin. The four of them fell into an awkward silence in the room.

A fresh breeze slipped through the window, lifting the gauze curtains beside it and stirring the room’s restless, drifting moods.

Outside, just beyond a single wall, Qiao Zhi paced back and forth. His gaze never strayed from the half-closed door of Lian Yue’s room, and his heart could not settle for a single moment. Why was Yuwen taking so long and still not coming out? Could it be that Little Yue’s condition had not improved? The more he thought, the more he felt that this might be the case. He could not hold himself back any longer, so he pushed the door open and went in at once.

“Yuwen, what exactly is wrong with Little Yue? Why have you been in there so long?”

That one question was enough to pull Yuwen Lingxiao back from his daze. He had not expected himself to be so careless, to stand there at Lian Yue’s bedside and actually lose focus. He blamed the lapse on his overconcerned elder brother and answered coolly, “There is nothing serious now. She only needs proper rest for a while.”

At that, Qiao Zhi’s eyes shifted to Lian Yue, who was reclining on the bed. Indeed, her complexion had improved considerably. The concern in his eyes faded almost at once, replaced by his usual irreverent manner. Looking at her on the bed, he said, “Little Yue is quite the handful. If you still don’t improve, your elder brother will really take the official road at the next ferry crossing, and I’ll be the one suffering along with him.”

Lian Yue gave him a sidelong glare and replied, “No one forced you to travel with us. You can keep riding your boat. It was obviously you who clung to us like stubborn plaster and insisted on coming along.”

Stubborn plaster... clung on... The others in the room could clearly see Qiao Zhi’s face twitch several times. Though her description was not wrong, saying it so bluntly was still rather hurtful.

Yuwen Lingxiao found himself fully agreeing with Lian Yue’s assessment. At times, Qiao Zhi really did cling rather shamelessly. But having known him for so long, Yuwen Lingxiao understood very well that all that frivolity and world-weary ease were only a facade meant to mislead and numb anyone with hidden motives. The true Sixth Prince was by no means so useless. That shameless persistence of his was reserved only for those he truly cared about.

A warning bell rang in Yuwen Lingxiao’s mind. It seemed he truly needed to do something for his elder brother. He held Qiao Zhi’s character in high regard, but right now Qiao Zhi did seem overly concerned.

Qiao Zhi had no idea that his behavior had already caught Yuwen Lingxiao’s attention. In his usual light, teasing tone, he reminded Lian Yue, “Little Yue, although everything you said is true, a girl should not speak so venomously. You ought to be gentler, especially with Yuwen still here.”

With that, he winked at her, looking entirely as if he understood everything.

Lian Yue was so irritated by his expression that her hands itched. She flipped her wrist, and a silver needle shot straight toward Qiao Zhi. She had only meant to warn him, and had intended to use all her strength because she thought her internal energy was still unavailable. Yet the moment she struck, she realized in alarm that the inner force which had been dormant in her body had suddenly returned to normal. By then it was too late to pull back. Alarmed, she cried out, “Watch out!”

Along with her voice, the silver needle pierced through the jade fan Qiao Zhi had used to block it as though there were no resistance at all. Unhindered, it then shot straight through the wooden door behind him, and a cry rang out from outside.

Lian Yue had been caught off guard by her own strike as well. Staring in disbelief at her right hand, she suddenly remembered that the voice outside had sounded like Yao Yao’s. Had Yao Yao been hurt by her? Her panic deepened. She called out through the door, “Yao Yao, are you all right?”

No one answered.

This made Lian Yue even more frightened. Tears began to gather in her eyes. She struggled to get up and see what had happened, but her whole body was weak. Blue Water reacted first, rushing to open the door and dashing outside.

At the same time, Dream Morning’s voice came from beyond the doorway. “I’m fine. I was just startled.”

Lian Yue’s strength gave out at once, and she sank back onto the bed with a long sigh of relief. Then, full of guilt and regret, she looked at Qiao Zhi, who was examining the fan, and apologized with lingering fear, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Qiao Zhi withdrew his gaze from the jade fan. His peach-blossom eyes lifted slightly as he said, “I know. But what do you plan to do about my fan, Little Yue?” He stepped forward and spread the fan open before her eyes. “This is a fan face woven from heavenly silkworm silk, and your needle had to choose the face of a beauty to go through. Now that she’s been disfigured, how are you going to make it up to me?”

Lian Yue had never really paid attention to the painting on his fan before. Looking closer now, she saw that the fan surface depicted four stunning beauties of exceptional grace, and one of the peerless faces indeed had a tiny hole in it when examined carefully.

But that was not the main point. The real issue was that if the fan face was truly made of heavenly silkworm silk, how could it have been pierced so easily?

Lian Yue clearly thought of this as well, and asked skeptically, “You weren’t cheated, were you? This really is heavenly silkworm silk?”

Qiao Zhi’s face darkened. The instant the silver needle flew out, he had sensed danger and tried to block it with his fan. He had never imagined his treasured fan would be damaged because of it.

And now Lian Yue was even doubting the material of the fan face. He had obtained this heavenly silkworm silk by chance while traveling through the Celestial Mountains two years ago. It could not possibly be fake.

If it had not been Lian Yue questioning him, Qiao Zhi would never have swallowed his anger so quietly. Just as he was about to retort, Lian Yue’s attention shifted toward the doorway, her concern there even stronger than it had been toward him.

After Dream Morning entered, he looked around at the people in the room, his expression not very pleasant. “What happened just now?” His gaze flickered uncertainly between Qiao Zhi and Yuwen Lingxiao.

That forceful surge of inner energy had nearly wounded Yao Yao.

Dream Morning had not even spared a thought for the frail Lian Yue at this moment. Instead, he asked with concern, “What happened just now? Were you hurt?”

“I... no. That was me just now,” Lian Yue admitted obediently, meeting his eyes.

A flash of surprise crossed Dream Morning’s eyes. It was Yao Yao, following behind him, who pushed Qiao Zhi aside and ran up to Lian Yue’s bedside. “You’re saying this silver needle was shot out by you?”

The silver needle Yao Yao was holding was indeed Lian Yue’s.

Lian Yue pressed her lips together and nodded. “I don’t know what happened. It had so much power. You weren’t hurt, were you?”

Yao Yao shook her head in frustration, then asked discouragedly, “Did you break through to the third level? Or did you break through because you were sick?”

Lian Yue thought about it and realized that this did seem to be the case. Otherwise, how could that scene just now be explained? She nodded innocently. “It seems so.”

Yao Yao’s face fell, while Dream Morning and Blue Water’s eyes lit up.

The Shattered Jade Sutra was notoriously difficult to cultivate within the Hidden Sect. According to the sect’s records, those who practiced this art either gave up halfway or made painfully slow progress. Someone like Lian Yue, who had reached the fourth stage in just three years, had truly never existed before.

Moreover, the dividing line in the Shattered Jade Sutra was at the fourth stage. Only after reaching that level could the immense inner power accumulated within the body over the earlier stages truly be used.

A few days earlier, after Yao Yao broke through to the third stage, Dream Morning had already noticed that her inner energy had become much more concentrated, but she could only mobilize a tenth of it.

Now, Lian Yue had actually broken through that threshold. He was genuinely happy for her. Stepping forward, he took the gloomy Yao Yao by the hand and comforted her, “You’ll break through sooner or later as well. Why be in such a hurry?”

Yao Yao pouted but did not object. Still, her thoughts were another matter entirely. How could she not be anxious? She was about to become Sister Yue’s second sister-in-law, and yet her martial arts were still nowhere near good enough. Wouldn’t that be far too humiliating?

She handed the silver needle in her hand to Lian Yue. After Lian Yue put it away, she said to Yao Yao, “If I broke through before you, that would only be right and proper. Now that you’ve fallen behind again, shouldn’t you be even more motivated?”

Yao Yao still could not lift her spirits. Then she had a sudden whimsical thought and asked, “Could it be that breaking through to the third stage requires a serious illness first?”

That drew a round of bitter laughter from everyone in the room. Dream Morning let out a resigned sigh, not knowing whether it was truly a blessing or a curse to have such a person on his hands.

Standing by the side, Yuwen Lingxiao’s eyes flashed with a sudden gleam. So that girl’s inner power was so profound because of her cultivation method. If she really became his elder brother’s wife someday, perhaps he could borrow it and study it. The face-changing elixir of the Hidden Sect would also be worth careful examination.

This news should be relayed to his elder brother at once. He wondered whether it had anything to do with him.