167: Chapter 167 Leng Ning Shuang's Dao Heart is Unstable, Everyone, Should We Continue Fighting?

Leng Ningshuang's breathing became erratic.

Ice Heart Reflecting the World emphasized an absolutely calm and objective mindset to reflect the true nature of all things.

She had always believed she had achieved it.

She thought the Sect Master ordered her to kill Xu Ruyu because he held the Sect Master's secrets, was blackmailing her, and endangering the Sect.

She thought this was a righteous eradication.

But now...

Xu Ruyu's words were like a hammer, ruthlessly smashing against the ice mirror she thought was flawless.

Cracks appeared on the surface of the mirror.

"No... Impossible..." Leng Ningshuang murmured, her hand holding the sword trembling even more violently. "The Sect Master... she wouldn't..."

"She wouldn't what?" Xu Ruyu said softly. "Wouldn't lie to you? Wouldn't use you? Wouldn't sacrifice an insignificant pawn for her own reputation and status?"

He paused, his voice dropping even lower: "Senior Sister Leng, think about it carefully—if I really held the Sect Master hostage, if I were truly a spy, if I were truly detrimental to the Hehuan Sect..."

"Why didn't the Sect Master take action herself and slap me to death? With her Saint Realm cultivation, killing me would be like crushing an ant. Why go through all this trouble to set up some Three-Month Agreement and even have you... be the executioner?"

Leng Ningshuang's whole body shook.

It was true.

If Xu Ruyu were truly a threat, why didn't the Sect Master do it herself?

Does a Saint need a reason to kill someone at the Qi Refining stage? Do they need to have reservations?

Unless...

Unless the Sect Master couldn't do it herself.

Unless this matter couldn't see the light of day.

Unless what Xu Ruyu said... was true.

"I..."

Leng Ningshuang opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

In her ice-blue eyes, the cracks on that mirror grew more numerous and deeper.

She remembered three months ago, the always incredibly powerful Sect Master had repeatedly shown tolerance toward several disciples from noble families during the Outer Sect Disciple assessment competition.

In the past, with the Sect Master's forceful personality, minor characters like Lei Xuan who dared to question her to her face would have been wiped out with a wave of her hand.

But at that time, she unexpectedly didn't get angry; she only had the Managing Elder expel Lei Xuan and the others.

Could it be that at that time, the Sect Master had already lost her cultivation?

These conjectures reminded her of the irritability the Sect Master occasionally showed in the secret room; with her cultivation as a Saint Realm Expert, she shouldn't have had such a reaction when facing a minor character like Xu Ruyu.

No wonder, no wonder when the Sect Master was guiding her, there would occasionally be a flash of... guilt deep in her eyes?

No.

It wasn't guilt.

It was calculation.

It was the calculation of using her as a tool.

"Hrr..."

A suppressed hiss came from Leng Ningshuang's throat, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

Dao Heart backlash.

When the Mystic Ice Heavenly Maiden Art is cultivated to the seventh level, one's state of mind is deeply bound to the Cultivation Technique.

If the Ice Heart shatters, the Cultivation Technique will inevitably be damaged.

And at this moment, her Ice Heart was shattering.

Leng Ningshuang raised her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, her ice-blue eyes staring fixedly at Xu Ruyu, her voice hoarse: "You have no proof. You... what evidence do you have?"

Xu Ruyu was silent for a moment, then slowly raised his hand and pressed it against his chest.

The next moment, the lapel of his moon-white robe opened automatically, revealing his chest.

There were no scars on his chest.

But at the position of his heart, there was an ice-blue mark.

That mark was shaped like a snowflake, only about the size of a fingernail; if one didn't look closely, it was almost undetectable.

But the moment Leng Ningshuang saw this mark, her pupils shrank!

"This is... the Sect Master's aura!"

She would never mistake it.

It was the unique aura of ice and fire intertwined, with a hidden intensity within its holiness, that Xiao Nianyin possessed after cultivating the Mystic Maidens Sun-Stealing Art.

This aura was already deeply imprinted on Xu Ruyu's heart, almost merging with his Bloodline.

This was a mark that would only be left after long-term Dual Cultivation and the blending of auras.

And it was... a voluntary mark.

If Xu Ruyu were truly blackmailing the Sect Master, why would the Sect Master voluntarily blend her aura with his?

"Three months ago, the Sect Master lost all her cultivation, her life force was fading, and her life was hanging by a thread." Xu Ruyu slowly fastened his robe, his voice calm. "She needed my Physique, she needed my... Primal Yang, to harmonize the Yin and Yang backlash of the Mystic Maidens Sun-Stealing Art."

"During those nights, she was the one who took the initiative."

"She begged me to save her."

"She asked me... 'Do you not despise me?'"

With every sentence Xu Ruyu spoke, Leng Ningshuang's face turned a shade paler.

When she heard the words "Do you not despise me?", she felt as if she had been struck by lightning, staggering back three steps, almost unable to stand.

That was the Sect Master?

That high-and-mighty, pure and noble Sect Master who looked down upon all living beings?

She would say such... humble words?

"No... Impossible..." Leng Ningshuang shook her head, but tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes. "You're lying... You must be lying to me..."

"Why would I lie to you?" Xu Ruyu looked at her, his eyes calm and filled with pity. "What good would lying to you do me? To make you show mercy? Senior Sister Leng, do you think that with your personality, you would let me go after knowing the 'truth'?"

He paused, his voice even softer: "I just... don't want you to be used as a tool until the day you die."

The words "used as a tool" were like the final straw that broke the camel's back for Leng Ningshuang.

She spat out a large mouthful of blood with a "wah," falling to her knees, her hands propping her up on the ground, her long hair hanging down in disarray, her shoulders trembling violently.

Her Ice Heart had shattered.

The mirror that reflected the world collapsed with a bang in her heart.

She had always thought she was righteous, loyal, and ridding the Sect of a pest.

But now she discovered that she was the "pest."

It was she who, for the sake of someone who deceived and used her, was going to murder an innocent person.

She was the one aiding a tyrant.

"Haha... Hahaha..."

Leng Ningshuang suddenly laughed, her laughter shrill and desperate.

The six people behind her looked at each other, not knowing whether to advance or retreat.

Outside the barrier, everyone saw the blurred scene inside—Leng Ningshuang kneeling and spitting blood, while Xu Ruyu stood still.

"What happened?!"

"How could Senior Sister Leng Ningshuang..."

"Did Xu Ruyu use some insidious means?"

Amidst the discussion, in the high pavilion, the teacup in Xiao Nianyin's hand shattered with a "crack."

She stared fixedly at the kneeling Leng Ningshuang inside the barrier, killing intent exploding in her eyes.

Fool!

To have her Dao Heart shaken by just a few words!

Useless!

She stood up abruptly, wanting to send a voice transmission to argumentos a own and the others, ordering them to immediately strike and kill Xu Ruyu.

But at that very instant—

Inside the barrier, Xu Ruyu moved.

He didn't attack the kneeling Leng Ningshuang, nor did he pay any mind to the six people behind him.

He simply opened his arms slowly and closed his eyes.

The next moment, his Taixu True Qi at the Twenty-third Level of Qi Refining erupted without reservation!

"Boom—!!!"

An aura as vast as the sea swept out from him as the center, and the ice on the ground exploded inch by inch!

The barrier's light screen shook violently, letting out an overburdened "creak"!

The kneeling Leng Ningshuang was blown away by the airwave, crashing heavily against the inner wall of the barrier before sliding to the ground.

The six people behind him all paled, simultaneously channeling their spiritual power to form a defensive formation.

And Xu Ruyu, when his aura reached its peak, slowly opened his eyes.

In his eyes, silver-white light swirled like a reverse-flowing galaxy.

He looked at the kneeling Leng Ningshuang, then at the six people behind him, and finally looked up at Xiao Nianyin in the high pavilion.

His voice was calm, yet it carried a certain sense of resolution as it spread throughout the entire Hehuan Sect:

"Senior Sister Leng, fellow Senior Brothers."

"Do you still... want to fight?"