191: Chapter 191 We should have made you the sect leader long ago, but you just wouldn't accept it.

Xiao Nianyin's pupils constricted sharply as the Little Girl pointed a finger at her.

She could clearly see the trajectory of that fingertip—it was slow, incredibly slow, like a child's casual gesture while playing.

Yet her body, her reactions as a Saint Realm Cultivator that should have been capable of covering a thousand miles in an instant, were completely frozen before that simple finger.

It wasn't because she was suppressed by pressure or bound by Laws, but rather... the small patch of "space" she occupied seemed to have been peeled away from the rest of the world, becoming an independent Realm.

The flow of time became extremely strange; everything in the outside world turned into a blurred haze of light and shadow, leaving only that jade-white finger to enlarge and approach with absolute clarity in her vision.

It was unavoidable!

It was unstoppable!

A bone-chilling cold rose from Xiao Nianyin's spine, instantly spreading throughout her entire body.

She had cultivated for nearly two hundred years, climbing from a mere Mortal to the Saint Realm, only a step away from the threshold of a True Immortal. She had experienced countless life-and-death battles and even faced old monsters at higher Realms, yet she had never felt such a... suffocating sense of powerlessness as she did now.

On that fingertip, there were no world-destroying fluctuations of Spiritual Qi, no profound or obscure Law runes—only a single point of "Intent" that was pure to the extreme.

Yet it was this single point of "Intent" that caused the domineering and violent Saint Realm Spiritual Qi of the Mystic Maidens Sun-Stealing Art within her body to melt and stagnate inch by inch, like snow under a blazing sun.

Three inches... two inches... one inch...

The breath of death had never been so close.

Just as Xiao Nianyin thought her skull was about to be pierced and her Divine Soul was about to crumble—

That finger stopped... right before her brow.

The fingertip lightly tapped her forehead.

"Pa."

A soft sound, like an elder lightly tapping a mischievous child's forehead.

An indescribable, surging force suddenly erupted!

"Boom—!"

Xiao Nianyin felt as if she had been struck head-on by a ten-thousand-fathom divine mountain. Her protective spiritual light vanished completely without even a ripple, and she was sent flying backward like a broken kite, slamming hard into the base of the ruined Law Execution Platform dozens of yards away.

"Pfft—!"

A mouthful of crimson blood mixed with fragments of internal organs sprayed out. Xiao Nianyin felt as if every bone in her body was shattering and her Meridians were stinging; she found it difficult even to lift a finger.

What horrified her even more was that the vast Saint Realm Spiritual Qi she had plundered through the Mystic Maidens Sun-Stealing Art over many years of hard cultivation was actually shaken to the point of nearly dissipating by that single finger, surging wildly through her Meridians and backfiring upon her.

Enduring the intense pain, she propped herself up with one hand and jerked her head up. Her ice-blue eyes burned with a mixture of shock and fury as she stared fixedly at the snow-haired Little Girl floating in mid-air with bare feet and silver bells.

This... what kind of cultivation is this?!

Saint Realm Peak? No!

She had secretly observed those at the Saint Realm Peak before, and there was no way they could have forced her back and severely injured her with such a casual finger!

Could it be... the legendary Half-step Immortal?!

But how is that possible?!

The Laws of Heaven and Earth in this Realm are flawed, and Spiritual Qi is increasingly depleted. It has long been impossible for such a being to be born!

Let alone such a wet-behind-the-ears young brat!

"Who... who on earth are you?!"

Xiao Nianyin's voice was hoarse, filled with unbelievable dread.

The Little Girl didn't even spare her another glance, as if she had just casually swatted away a buzzing fly.

She turned gracefully and, on tiptoe, bounced like a cheerful fawn toward the still-dazed Xu Ruyu.

"Na na na!"

The Little Girl tilted her clean little face up, her large amber eyes filled with a smug "See, I told you so" expression. She extended a scallion-white finger, nearly poking Xu Ruyu's nose. "I told you to be the Sect Master of this Hehuan Sect before, but you just wouldn't do it!

Now look what happened! You got bullied by this Xiao Yinzi girl! She was even going to spank your butt!"

She wrinkled her small nose and shook her head with a sigh, mimicking an adult, but her youthful face only made the expression look particularly comical and cute. "You, oh you. If you had just agreed readily back then, you'd be the Sect Master now!

She's just a measly Former Sect Master. How would she dare be disrespectful to you, the current Sect Master? Let alone lay a hand on you!"

As she spoke, she actually looked around stealthily before grabbing Xu Ruyu's wrist without a word and pulling him toward a relatively intact railing at a corner of the Law Execution Platform.

She looked just like a child hiding away with a friend to share secret candies.

"Hehe, Xiao Yuer," the Little Girl leaned in close to Xu Ruyu and lowered her voice, though her crisp tone was still clearly audible on the silent Law Execution Platform. Her face was filled with irrepressible excitement and admiration. "You're a freaking Genius!"

Xu Ruyu was stunned by her crude yet affectionate way of addressing him. Before he could react, the Little Girl continued her chatter:

"That... that 'Air Cultivation' method you taught me, I've only been practicing it for a few days!" She gestured excitedly, the silver bells on her ankles jingling. "Before, there were always a few old farts who tried to bully me, relying on their long lives and high cultivation to discipline me.

And the result? Hehe, I've beaten about half of them to tears in the last few days!"

She counted on her fingers, listing them off: "That Azure Dragon Old Man to the east who always puts on a serious face, the hot-tempered White Beard Old Man to the west, the pretty Vermilion Bird Sister to the south, and the always-slow Black Tortoise Grandpa to the north..."

Hmph, now when they see me, they can't wait to take a detour!

Your method is so exhilarating!

Drawing power directly from the air—I don't have to care about the moods of those old fossils' Spiritual Qi at all!"

Her eyes grew brighter as she spoke, and her grip on Xu Ruyu's arm tightened. "I'm telling you, if you become the Sect Master of this Hehuan Sect, with your world-shaking talent and my assistance, we can give this damn Sect a proper makeover. We'll take off directly, blast out of the Cultivation World, and head for the sea of stars!"

Xu Ruyu stared blankly at the animated Little Girl, waves of shock surging in his heart.

Back in the Ancient Hall of Love and Heaven, he knew this Little Girl had a mysterious identity and deep roots with the Hehuan Sect, perhaps even being a wisp of a mark or an Incarnation left by the legendary Ancestral Master.

She had shown great interest in his "Air Cultivation" theory and even humbled herself to seek guidance.

But Xu Ruyu never expected that she would not only actually practice it but achieve such terrifying results in such a short time.

Azure Dragon? White Tiger? Vermilion Bird? Black Tortoise? Beings that could be called "Old Man," "Old Man," "Sister," and "Grandpa" by this mysterious Little Girl...

Could they be the Innate Saint Spirits guarding the four directions? Or the protectors of some ancient Legacy?

From her tone, it seemed she used to be "disciplined" or "bullied" by these beings, but now, relying on the power from her initial cultivation of the True Explanation of Taixu Source Energy, she could turn the tables and make them "cry" or "take a detour"?

Was the potential and universality of the True Explanation of Taixu Source Energy even more frightening than he had imagined? Could even ancient beings who had lived for untold ages rapidly improve their strength with it?

For a moment, the sheer volume of information made Xu Ruyu's head spin. Looking at the Little Girl's excited and expectant eyes, he opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond.

Just then—

"Cough... cough cough..."

A series of coughs suppressed with pain and fury rang out.

Xiao Nianyin had struggled to her feet. She wiped away the blood continuously seeping from the corner of her mouth. Her ice-blue long hair was disheveled, and her originally beautiful and cold face was now as pale as paper, but the light in her eyes was like poisoned ice, filled with the madness and obsession of being completely enraged.

The domineering backlash and Heart-Nature influence of the Mystic Maidens Sun-Stealing Art were fully revealed at this moment.

Extreme humiliation, an instinctive greed for powerful strength, and the fury of her dignity as a Sect Master being trampled upon intertwined, allowing her to temporarily suppress her fear of the mysterious Little Girl. In its place was a nearly frenzied Battle Intent.