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As Lan An casually delegated the battle, the woman tilted her head, lips parting. "That guy's Perfection-Stage Spirit Transformation. Can you handle him?" Her tone teased, noting Lan An's Nascent Soul aura against Gu Fei Tian's towering cultivation.
A Nascent Soul challenging a Perfection-Stage Spirit Transformation was a pipe dream, hard to believe.
Lan An shrugged. "If not, you take both. I'll cheer from the sidelines!"
"Shameless," she muttered inwardly, exasperated by his thick skin. "You trust me that much?" she probed.
"Not at all. If you lose, I'm bolting," he laughed.
"Damn you!" She couldn't resist, kicking his rear, though her eyes sparkled with amusement. It had been ages since anyone dared act so freely around her.
Lan An's jest masked his confidence. With Qin Meng Ying's sealed strike, he feared neither foe. Yet, he pondered the woman's motives—friend or foe? For now, as allies, he wouldn't abandon her.
Leaping off the White Crane, he found its speed restrictive. The duo's casual banter, ignoring their foes, enraged Gu Fei Tian and Gu Wen Tian, their faces flushed.
"Did you kill our Grand Elder?" Gu Fei Tian growled.
"Yep," Lan An admitted.
"And Gu You, Gu Zheng, Gu Fei Hua?" Gu Fei Tian's face reddened, veins bulging.
"Of course, old dog. Stop yapping," Lan An snapped.
"Good, good! An ignorant junior slaughters our innocents and boasts!" Gu Wen Tian laughed in fury, spitting each word.
"Innocents? I spit on that. Don't you know what Qing Yun Sect is?" Lan An sneered.
"Whatever the reason, you die today!" Gu Fei Tian roared. Clang! His azure sword, Qing Yun Sword—a Supreme Earth-Grade artifact, the sect's pride—slashed, summoning tempests with staggering momentum.
"Grandfather, I don't need Qing Yun Sword for this brat. Use it against the crane woman!" Gu Fei Tian handed the sword to Gu Wen Tian, drawing a Mid-Tier Earth-Grade blade.
"No issue," Gu Wen Tian accepted, wary of the woman.
"Die, brat!" Gu Fei Tian charged, Wind Rider Leap closing the gap. "Full Gale Slash!*" His sword swept, wind spiritual energy forming razor-sharp vortexes engulfing Lan An.
The woman watched calmly, curious about Lan An's rumored prowess.
Before countless Qing Yun Sect disciples, Heavenly Wood Cauldron roared, summoning Devouring Heaven Wood. The Wood Turtle materialized, its colossal shell blocking Gu Fei Tian's onslaught.
"This wood energy…" The woman murmured, sensing its uniqueness but unable to pinpoint it swiftly.
"How?!" Gu Fei Tian gaped as his attack left only a gash on the shell.
Whoosh! An arrow's screech chilled him. Lan An, wielding Big Dipper Bow, its Seven Stars illusion glowing with three stars alight, fired a Devouring Heaven Wood arrow at his head.
"Heaven-Grade artifact?!" Gasps echoed from Gu Fei Tian, Gu Wen Tian, and disciples. Only select Heaven-Grade weapons triggered celestial phenomena, like Purple Wood Sword's butterflies or Big Dipper Bow's stars.
Greed and envy flickered in many eyes, but Lan An ignored them. A Low-Tier Heaven-Grade like Big Dipper Bow was common among Eighth-Grade clans, not worth a manhunt. If Seventh-Grade sects coveted it, he'd use them as stepping stones. Wearing Proud Smile Mask, he hid his face, withholding Purple Heart Void-Burning Flame to guard against the woman's unknown intentions.
Gu Fei Tian dodged the arrow with Perfection-Stage speed, but the Heaven-Grade weapon unnerved him. Only the woman remained unfazed, as if a Heaven-Grade artifact was trivial.
Frustrated, Gu Fei Tian focused on evading Lan An's relentless arrows. Lan An, dissatisfied, cursed his limited strength. With five stars activated, he could've pierced Gu Fei Tian's skull instantly.
The battle turned bizarre: Lan An sniped from behind the turtle, Gu Fei Tian dodged frantically. A Perfection-Stage Spirit Transformation stalemated by a Nascent Soul shocked onlookers, with Lan An holding the upper hand.
The woman's eyes twinkled with approval, shifting focus to Gu Wen Tian. "Who are you?" he demanded, ignorant of the outside world after centuries in seclusion.
"You're unworthy," she replied haughtily, a stark contrast to her playfulness with Lan An.
"You!" Gu Wen Tian choked, enraged. Few dared dismiss a Void Refinement expert's status. Who did she think she was?
"You shirk sect duties, letting your sect master run amok, disciples acting self-righteous, committing heinous deeds. Had you stayed in seclusion, I might've respected you," she accused, as if Qing Yun Sect's sins were laid bare before her.
"Hmph, Qing Yun Sect isn't for a lass like you to judge. Fight!" Gu Wen Tian snorted, dismissing the strong-eat-weak cultivation world's morality.
"Snow Sorrow," she intoned. Her zither sang a melancholic tune, infecting the heavens with sorrow. Snowflakes drifted, swiftly nearing Gu Wen Tian.
"Hmph, old tricks. Cloud-Splitting Slash!" He slashed with Qing Yun Sword, dispersing most snowflakes, cracking space slightly. Void Refinement attacks altered reality itself.
Unsurprised, she played on, the air chilling, snow falling for miles. The zither's desolate notes deepened the sadness. "How lonely must one be to weave such intent into battle?" Lan An murmured, drawn into her mood.
"Ice Dusk Rain," she sighed mournfully. The heavens resonated, the sun seeming to set. Her zither wailed, snowflakes merging into a torrential ice rain, beautiful yet tragic, brimming with killing intent.
"Celestial phenomenon? Heaven-Grade art?!" Gu Wen Tian roared, paling. The ice rain fell like countless arrows.
"Argh, I'm hit!" "Protect yourself!" "My defenses are pierced!" Qing Yun Sect disciples suffered, some dying, others wounded, chaos erupting.
Lan An, under the Wood Turtle, was safe. Gu Fei Tian, dodging both rain and arrows, grunted as ice shards pierced his flesh, twisting his face in pain. Gu Wen Tian struggled, his Wind Armor failing. Qing Yun Sword summoned tempests, clashing with the ice rain under the illusory dusk.
"Form the array!" Gu Fei Tian bellowed, seeing disciples fall. A core disciple rallied hundreds of inner disciples into the Wind Lotus Sword Array. Swords danced, wind energy forming translucent lotuses above, partially blocking the ice rain. Surviving shards caused minor harm.
The woman, lost in her zither's icy lament, ignored the chaos. The White Crane's wings beat gently, its soulful eyes mirroring her sorrow. Thousands of disciples formed arrays, countless Wind Lotuses blooming, drawing mountain winds into a grand formation—a testament to the sect's ancient legacy.
"Impressive for a time-honored sect," Lan An nodded. Gu Fei Tian and Gu Wen Tian hid under a Wind Lotus, shielded.
Roar! The Wood Turtle endured countless ice shards, Heavenly Wood Cauldron straining to sustain it. "Something's wrong. Doesn't she distinguish friend from foe?" Lan An frowned. A Void Refinement expert's Heaven-Grade art overwhelmed the sect, but even she and her crane bore wounds from stray ice.
Her fingers danced on the zither, hair billowing, oblivious to the carnage. As the melody intensified, the ice rain grew fiercer, shattering weaker Wind Lotuses. Lower-realm disciples fled, many pierced like porcupines, dead. Blood mingled with ice, a stark contrast under the fading dusk.
Tears glistened in her ocean-blue eyes, unnoticed. "Young Master, she's trapped in her own art's intent. Help her escape, or her heart realm will suffer gravely!" Jin Ni urged.
"Why use such an art?" Lan An's face darkened. Her buried emotions, unleashed through the zither, were terrifying. "This can't go on."
Gritting his teeth, he dismissed the Wood Turtle, using Speed Shift thrice and Phantom Charm Wander Step to reach the crane. Ice Dusk Rain tore his newly tempered Mid-Stage Three-Turn body, drawing blood.
"What's he doing?" Onlookers puzzled. Most would've relished her slaughtering their enemy, hiding safely. But Lan An wasn't them.
Though her identity, motives, and even name eluded him, and despite her eccentric approach, they were allies. That alone drove him. Braving the pain, he climbed the crane, wrapping his arms around her waist, whispering, "Stupid woman, snap out of it!"