418: Chapter 418 Xiao Nianyin's Conflict: She Both Wants Him to Win and Wants Him to Die

Zhao Yan stood beside Leng Ningshuang, hands tucked into his sleeves, a look of utter boredom on his face.

Tilting his head with drooping eyelids, he looked like he was dozing off, aimlessly chewing on a blade of grass he had plucked from somewhere.

"This old fogey sure talks a lot of nonsense,"

he muttered indistinctly, shifting the grass from one corner of his mouth to the other.

"If you're going to fight, then fight. Stop dawdling like a little girl."

He let out a yawn, a tear even squeezing out from the corner of his eye. He wiped it away haphazardly before tucking his hand back into his sleeve.

His nonchalant attitude made it seem as though he wasn't facing a powerhouse of the Half-step Saint Realm, but rather a street performer putting on a monkey show.

He didn't take Mo Feng seriously at all.

Zhao Yan might look like a slacker, but he was sharper than anyone else at heart.

Although he hadn't been with Xu Ruyu as long as Leng Ningshuang, he saw things clearly throughout their journey—Xu Ruyu never fought a battle he wasn't prepared for.

The fact that he dared to step forward meant he was a hundred percent certain of victory.

As for what that certainty was based on, they didn't need to worry; they just needed to stand here and wait for the result.

Ning Caihe remained expressionless, standing on the stone steps at the valley entrance like a statue.

The longsword at his waist remained in its scabbard, his hands hanging naturally at his sides with his fingertips not even touching the hilt.

His breathing was steady and deep, his chest barely moving. Like his sword, he was like a block of cold ice, radiating an aura that kept people at a distance.

His gaze fell upon Xu Ruyu's back, as calm as a pool of stagnant water—no ripples, no waves.

Yet beneath that stagnant water lay a trust more resolute than any wave.

Ning Caihe was the most silent and the most pure among them.

He didn't understand schemes or calculations, nor did he understand Spiritual Artifacts or Formations. He only knew one thing—he would do whatever Xu Ruyu told him to do.

If he said to fight, he would draw his sword; if he said they would win, he believed it.

There was no reason, and no reason was needed.

This was a trust forged through impossible tasks and unwinnable battles during his time by his side, a trust etched into his very bones.

So what if Mo Feng was in the Half-step Saint Realm? If Xu Ruyu said he could fight, then he could.

Mo Feng would die here.

He thought calmly, as if it were as natural as wondering if it would rain tomorrow.

The atmosphere among the three was so calm it was almost eerie, forming a sharp contrast with the people around them who were so tense they could barely breathe.

A few Disciples of the Taihu Clan noticed their composed manner and couldn't help but wonder—why weren't the people from the Hehuan Sect afraid at all?

That Xu Ruyu was clearly a useless trash at the Qi Refinement Stage, so why did his subordinates look so confident?

But they quickly suppressed this doubt.

Qi Refinement Stage against the Half-step Saint Realm—what was there to think about?

Xu Ruyu must be putting on an act, and his subordinates were just putting up a front.

Once Elder Mo Feng split him in half with a single sword strike, they would see how calm they remained.

Only Xiao Nianyin still stood quietly three steps behind Xu Ruyu, her head lowered, not saying a word.

Her position was subtle—neither too close nor too far from Xu Ruyu, exactly at the edge of his presence.

From this distance, she could advance to attack or retreat to defend; it didn't seem distant, yet it wasn't overly intimate either.

Just like her current situation—neither high nor low, neither cold nor hot.

Her hands were folded in front of her, her posture dignified and reserved, looking no different from how she had been as the Sect Master of Hehuan Sect.

Her breathing was steady, her heartbeat normal, and she was even more composed than most people around her.

If anyone were to observe her now, they would surely think she had absolute confidence in Xu Ruyu.

But only she knew that beneath that calm mask, complex emotions were currently surging.

Her Cultivation had been restored.

Xu Ruyu had released the Seal on her body, and the spiritual energy that had been imprisoned for so long was now flowing quietly in her Dantian, docile and abundant.

As long as she wished, she could mobilize this power at any time to do whatever she wanted.

Including—killing Xu Ruyu.

The thought flashed through her mind like a bolt of lightning streaking across the night sky, coming suddenly and leaving just as quickly.

She didn't dwell on it, or rather, she didn't dare to.

Because she knew that even with her Cultivation restored, she was no match for Xu Ruyu.

The trump cards hidden within this man were deeper and more complex than the ley lines of Tianyin Mountain.

Having been the Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect for so many years, she had seen countless Cultivators, but never had there been someone like Xu Ruyu whom she completely failed to see through.

So she could only stand here, quietly and reservedly, waiting for a result.

A result she both anticipated and feared.

If Xu Ruyu lost—this thought circled in her mind like a snake, flicking its crimson tongue, tempting her to imagine the scene.

If Xu Ruyu lost and was killed by Mo Feng, then the Hehuan Sect would be leaderless.

Although Leng Ningshuang, Zhao Yan, and Ning Caihe were not weak in Cultivation, they had no experience managing a Sect, nor did they have Xu Ruyu's bizarre methods and trump cards.

They wouldn't be able to protect the Hehuan Sect.

When that time came, the Hehuan Sect would need someone who could command respect to take over.

And that person could only be her.

Xiao Nianyin.

The former Sect Master of Hehuan Sect.

The woman who had once single-handedly led the Hehuan Sect into its peak period.

Her Cultivation was still there, and her prestige remained—though she had been suppressed by Xu Ruyu for so long, the elders and Disciples still ultimately recognized her in their hearts.

If Xu Ruyu died, she could step forward and rightfully take over the Hehuan Sect.

At that time, she would no longer be a "Bed-warming maid" or a pawn at the mercy of others, but the rightful Master of the Hehuan Sect.