Chapter 153: Fairy Lunyao (Part Two)

As soon as Ji Mo uttered those words, the girl in green froze involuntarily. Lan Mo, who had been standing to the side with her arms crossed, also couldn't help but look over at Ji Mo. Such overbearing dominance! She truly lived up to being her martial aunt!

"You—I want to challenge you today, and life or death will be up to fate!" Regaining her wits, the girl in green flew into a furious rage. She pointed a finger straight at Ji Mo and cried out harshly. At that moment, anger made her forget everything else; she only wanted to fight Ji Mo recklessly to wash away this humiliation!

"Very well, make a soul oath first, lest I beat you to death and your sect comes endlessly looking for trouble." Ji Mo added indifferently, twisting the knife.

"Heh, fine, fine! As long as you have the ability to beat me to death, I will never let my sect seek justice for this. I, Fairy Lunyao, am willing to swear a soul oath here..." Fairy Lunyao laughed out of extreme anger. She refused to believe that she, a high-stage Core Formation cultivator, would lose to Ji Mo, an early-stage Core Formation cultivator. Even if she truly couldn't defeat her, she refused to lose this breath.

"Hold on, how could this mortal realm withstand our battle? Let's change location first." Ji Mo waved a large hand, interrupting Fairy Lunyao. The moment her voice fell, she flicked her sleeve, and in the next instant, the terrain shifted. The scene appearing before everyone's eyes was an endless expanse of wilderness. Aside from Ji Mo, Su Ye, the Qiu siblings, Lan Mo, and Fairy Lunyao's two fellow disciples, there was no one else in sight.

"Scenery shifting and spatial teleportation? You—you are merely an early-stage Core Formation cultivator? How, how is this possible?" Fairy Lunyao stared at Ji Mo with disbelief filling her eyes, her slender pointing finger trembling slightly.

"Are we fighting or not?" Too lazy to exchange superfluous words, Ji Mo frowned at her and asked.

"Why wouldn't we fight? Just based on your trick of scenery shifting and spatial teleportation, you could obliterate her with a wave of your hand. Martial Aunt, tsk tsk, it seems I really hit the jackpot by taking this master." Lan Mo walked to Ji Mo's side with glowing eyes, clicking her tongue in wonder. As she sized up Ji Mo, she frequently glanced at Su Ye not far away, thinking to herself: If the martial aunt present is already this formidable, her master shouldn't be far behind, right?

"Fight! Why wouldn't we? Even if I die at your hands instantly, it is still better than being a coward who flees without a fight!" Provoked by Lan Mo in this manner, Fairy Lunyao bit her lower lip, a look of resolute defiance flashing across her eyes.

"Fairy!" The two young men who had accompanied her exclaimed in shock upon hearing this, calling out to her hastily.

"Say no more. As a direct disciple of the Luanyao Sect, if I encounter an opponent of the same realm and lack even the courage to accept the challenge, I might as well be dead. I wonder what the young lady's name is?" Fairy Lunyao waved a delicate hand, cutting off the unvoiced words of her two junior sectmates, and turned her gaze toward Ji Mo.

Ji Mo! Ji Mo looked at her, a faint trace of surprise flashing through her eyes.

"Heaven and earth as my witness, I, Lunyao, hereby swear upon my divine soul to battle Ji Mo today. Life or death shall be borne by myself, entrusted to heaven's mandate, and no one else shall interfere! No one shall use this as a pretext for vengeance or retaliation!" Fairy Lunyao pointed toward the heavens, binding herself with a soul oath. No sooner had her voice faded than a roll of thunder rumbled without cause across the cloudless blue sky, as if responding to her vow.

"Make your move!" After taking the soul oath, Lunyao raised her slender hand, revealing a silver shuttle about half a foot long, which she pointed directly at Ji Mo.

"Please, Fairy Lunyao!" Ji Mo extended a single palm.

"Very well! Since you are so arrogant, I won't hold back!" Watching Ji Mo stand empty-handed while signaling her to attack first, Lunyao let out two cold laughs of fury. With a wave of her slender hand, the silver shuttle traced a fierce arc of light through the air, slashing viciously toward Ji Mo.

Ji Mo's figure suddenly vanished from where she stood. Fairy Lunyao thought to herself that something was amiss, but she could already feel a fierce gale striking her face. With no time for second thoughts, the silver shuttle in her hand instantly transformed into a silver shield, rising to meet the attack.

With a loud crash, the silver shield in Lunyao's hand emitted a deafening roar. A sweet taste rose in her throat as a thin stream of blood seeped from the corner of her lips, and her feet involuntarily stumbled backward seven or eight paces. Her pretty face had turned as pale as paper, yet Ji Mo stood in her original spot without moving a single inch, looking entirely unbothered. A single exchange had made the difference in skill instantly clear!

Overcome with shame and anger, and ignoring the fact that she was no match for Ji Mo, Lunyao let out a sharp cry and tossed the silver shuttle back into the air. Accompanied by a piercing whistle, it charged fiercely at Ji Mo once more. Without dodging or evading, Ji Mo soared straight up into the air and met the incoming silver shuttle head-on with a punch!

Crash! The silver shuttle was batted away, and Lunyao, whose soul was bound to the shuttle, could not escape the fate of being blown backward.

This time, the impact was far heavier than the first blow. Her body flew backward for several miles before slamming heavily onto the ground. The two yellow-robed youths who had accompanied her were frantic with alarm, yet utterly helpless.

Suffering this second strike, Lunyao vomited two large mouthfuls of blood and collapsed onto the ground. It took more than a dozen breaths of time before she managed to struggle to her feet. Glaring at Ji Mo from afar with a look of desperate resolution, she was just about to lunge forward again when Ji Mo's voice rang out ahead of her: "Let's end the sparring here for today. You may leave!"

Fairy Lunyao's momentum instantly collapsed, and her attack ground to a halt. Opening her eyes wide, she stared at Ji Mo and demanded, "You—aren't you going to kill me?"

"Why should I kill you? We have no grievances or enmities between us. If I were to kill someone simply over a dispute of pride, what benefit would it bring me?" Ji Mo glanced at her, replying with a calm expression.

"But..." Fairy Lunyao wanted to say more, but with a flick of their sleeves, Ji Mo and Su Ye vanished from before her eyes.

"Master, that Fairy Lunyao was so arrogant; why did you let her go so easily?" Along an unnamed ancient path, Ji Mo's party strolled under the lingering glow of the setting sun, stepping upon the fallen leaves beneath their feet. Qiu Li closely followed beside her, large eyes filled with curiosity as she asked.

"Although that woman's actions are somewhat overbearing, she is not without backbone. Knowing full well that she was no match for me, she willingly swore a soul oath to fight me to the death for the sake of her Dao heart and her sect's honor. We have no enmity between us; why make things difficult for someone like that?" Ji Mo looked at Qiu Li and spoke calmly.

Qiu Li rolled her dark, glistening eyes, wanting to say something, but after tilting her head to ponder, she realized her master's words made a lot of sense. She didn't have much experience dealing with people, having mostly faced various fierce beasts in the past. When confronted by a beast's provocation, she had never thought of showing easy mercy. Yet humans were ultimately different from beasts. As she earnestly recalled Fairy Lunyao's words and actions, she suddenly realized that the woman wasn't quite as detestable as she had first seemed.

Reaching this thought, Qiu Li glanced at Ji Mo and continued, "Does Master mean to tell us that when facing living beings, we must look at their essence rather than their surface? If a being possesses a redeeming essence, we should spare their life when we are able—is that it?"

"Precisely. Hehe, Lili is truly a smart child." Ji Mo's expression softened as a brilliant smile bloomed across her lips. She couldn't resist reaching out to gently flick the tip of Qiu Li's nose, a trace of tender indulgence flashing through her eyes. The glow of the setting sun reflected upon their faces, forming a warm picture that warmed the heart.

A few steps behind Ji Mo, Lan Mo watched this scene, feeling her heart and eyes completely filled with warmth. With a master, martial aunt, and junior sister like these, the long and endless path of immortality suddenly seemed exceptionally worth looking forward to... (To be continued...)