On the spiritual jade screen, the lotus flame seemed to be just an introduction.

The main scene soon appeared:

A slender yet powerful hand grasped fiercely at the void, pulling out a purple-gold flaming blade.

In a flash of light and shadow, the woman holding the blade finally turned, revealing a captivating profile.

She fiercely clashed with a dark red broken sword.

The space around them twisted violently, and the shockwave rippled like a giant wave, crashing into the screen.

With a sharp crack, the screen shattered.

Shattered?!!

How could this be?

Wasn’t that just a projection from a memory stone?

How could it shatter?

As the Gathering Pavilion plunged back into darkness, the crowd erupted in chaos.

After the initial panic subsided, they realized something.

Wait, the broken spiritual jade screen wasn’t the important part.

What was important was—

“Fairy Ruqing has returned!”

The younger sister gripped the young man’s hand tightly and squeezed out those words.

The young man just stood there, stunned, as if he had been transported back to a more innocent time.

Back then, he would clutch a jade slip and argue furiously with anyone who spoke ill of Fairy Ruqing outside the Gathering Pavilion, often getting into fights over it.

That fight had even earned him a scolding from the elders.

He listened to the scolding, standing tall and silent, his eyes filled with stubbornness and defiance.

The memories of that time overlapped with the present—the young man staring up at the red-robed fairy who appeared at the center of the screen, with flames all around. His face flushed, yet he couldn’t utter a single word.

The younger sister’s excited and joyful voice rang in his ears:

“Brother, I knew it—I knew she would come back!”

“She came back, just like all the heroes in the stories—shattering the heavens, with unparalleled brilliance!”

The screen lit up again, and the lights in the Gathering Pavilion were adjusted to create a dim, serene atmosphere that drew everyone’s attention to the center where the spiritual jade screen was displayed.

It seemed that the main event was just about to begin.

The projection from the memory stone revealed an image of a private room, where two people lay on a bed.

As the camera panned, it clearly showed the state of the two individuals on the bed.

Both were severely injured, with bruises and wounds all over their bodies.

There were traces of medicine applied to some areas, and the more serious injuries were wrapped in bandages.

They lay quietly, their faces pale as paper, their breathing shallow and weak.

At this moment, the person recording the scene with the memory stone began to speak.

“Let me introduce the identities and conditions of these two individuals.

The one on the left is Qin Wenxuan, the Ancestor of the Qin family from the Southern Domain’s Silver-Ranked Family. She was interrupted during her Nascent Soul tribulation, suffered backlash from the heavenly lightning, her meridians were all severed, her internal organs gravely injured, her Nascent Soul dissipated before it could fully form, and her soul was severely damaged.”

The narrator calmly listed a series of life-threatening injuries.

For ordinary people, even one of these injuries would require years of recovery with the aid of heavenly medicines.

Yet, this ancestor-level figure was suffering from all of them, which meant she was on the brink of death.

The narrator then began to introduce the other person.

“The person on the right is Qin Dexin, the fifth elder of the Qin family from the Southern Domain’s Silver-Ranked Family. She was struck by numerous massive rocks from above, buried deep underground in her cave, and sustained severe internal injuries. Her chest took a direct hit from a Transcending Stage ancestor, and her right arm was forcibly broken.”

The audience collectively frowned, almost feeling as if the unbearable injuries had happened to them.

Finally, the narrator summarized, “Both of these individuals were injured by the same person from their own family.”

The Gathering Pavilion fell into an eerie silence as everyone held their breath, waiting for the narrator to reveal who from which family had committed such a heinous act.

This was the ancestor of a Silver-Ranked Family, along with a heavyweight elder.

In any family, these figures would be of immense importance.

It was impossible that these injuries were an accident; it had to be a deliberate act of vengeance.

Who could be so bold as to commit such an outrageous deed?

The audience was practically holding their breath, but just as the anticipation reached its peak, the scene on the spiritual jade screen suddenly stopped.

It seemed the narrator had no intention of revealing the answer—they wanted the audience to see for themselves.

The projection from that memory stone ended, and a new one began.

This time, the image that appeared before everyone was none other than Fairy Ruqing, dressed in red!

Her appearance was so stunning that the Gathering Pavilion was filled with gasps of surprise.

It was a face that had been absent for so long, and the audience wanted nothing more than to admire and reminisce.

However, there was no time!

Because as soon as the image started, it was a fierce battle!

It was the kind of fight where you couldn’t afford to miss a single moment; even taking a breath could mean losing track of the action.

The battle was between Fairy Ruqing and an old man in yellow robes.

Although the old man’s cultivation was unknown, the audience could feel the immense pressure emanating from him even through the memory stone.

It was a clash like a storm!

The memory stone could hardly keep up with their movements, capturing only flashes of light and shadow crisscrossing in the air like lightning.

If one of the fighters hadn’t been Fairy Ruqing, the audience might have called this a visual feast.

Such a high-level battle was rare in the entire cultivation world.

But they had no time to appreciate it or analyze it—they were too worried about Fairy Ruqing!

They saw the yellow-robed elder create countless sword shadows, densely surrounding Fairy Ruqing.

Some of the more timid spectators cried out in concern or covered their eyes in fear.

Gasps filled the air, and those who couldn’t bear to watch grew even more terrified, asking anxiously, “Did Fairy Ruqing lose?”

No one had the time to respond; their eyes were glued to the screen.

The person could only lift their trembling eyes to see and immediately widened them in shock.

At some point, the situation had reversed.

Fairy Ruqing cast a spell, and a purple-gold phantom lotus slowly bloomed behind her, splitting into countless petals.

Not one more, not one less—the petals perfectly covered the old man’s sword shadows.

Then, with a bang, they exploded!

The audience suddenly realized they were witnessing an ancient forest.

Towering ancient trees were uprooted and fell in a wave, creating a vast clearing.

What an awe-inspiring display of power!

The old monster (yes, that’s what the audience had started calling him) finally showed a serious expression, as if he just realized that Qin Ruqing was not easy to deal with (you’re just realizing this now?! – said by the audience).

He began to fight with all his strength and summoned a sinister broken sword.

This sword…

“Ah, I remember now! This old man is Fang Wuming from the Fang family!” someone exclaimed.

“His name is ‘Wuming’ (Nameless), so he probably isn’t anyone important, right?”

“What are you talking about? Fang Wuming is the ancestor of the Fang family! Back in the day, he made his name with that ancient broken sword and became a real powerhouse in the four regions, a true Transcending Stage powerhouse!”

Trancending Stage powerhouse—there were no four words more shocking than these.

The Huicui Hall fell silent once again.

The stunned audience stared at the spiritual jade screen.

The battle continued, but now they felt completely different.

So, from the beginning, Fairy Ruqing had been fighting against a Transcending Stage ancestor?

And she wasn’t losing; she was even gaining the upper hand?

“Brother, this is Fairy Ruqing!” the sister murmured, leaning over the third-floor railing, almost sticking her head out.

The young man said nothing, but he fully understood his sister’s incomplete sentence.

This is Fairy Ruqing—just like during the All Clans Tournament when she shocked everyone with her unbelievable entrance.

Now, upon her return, she once again shattered people’s narrow perceptions, battling a famous Transcending Stage ancestor despite her youth.

What kind of terrifying growth rate is this?

What kind of extraordinary, terrifying genius is this?!

The young man clenched his fists in excitement.

On the screen, the red-robed female immortal seemed to enter a mystical state during the battle.

Even though the Transcending Stage ancestor was exhausting his strength, she only grew more vigorous.

Things beyond reason happened naturally for her.

The turning point of the battle arrived—but no one could pinpoint the exact moment.

The audience couldn’t keep up with the subtle changes at this level of combat.

All they knew was that Fairy Ruqing’s aura changed dramatically at some point.

Her eyes were cold and indifferent, like a magnificent deity.

She raised her sword of judgment high above her head.

She swung down!

The cunning Song family even slowed the footage and adjusted the angle at that moment.

The fiery blade seemed to slash through the hearts of the viewers, leaving an unforgettable impression.

Huicui Hall erupted in chaos.

The sister realized she had been holding her breath.

She swallowed nervously and cautiously asked, “Brother, did Fairy Ruqing defeat the Transcending Stage ancestor?”

She waited for a long time without getting a response, so she tugged at her brother’s sleeve.

The young man, jolted out of his trance, let out a low “Mm.”

“Yes.”

“She… defeated the Transcending Stage ancestor.”

How would the four regions, and the entire cultivation world, react to her?

The young man’s emotions surged, unable to calm down for a long time.

Centered around Huicui Hall and spreading from the Eastern Region, a tidal wave of shock swept through all four regions.

On the same day, the video jade slip of the battle, titled “Fangs,” sold out immediately.

The Song family also released an accompanying booklet with commentary and another jade slip.

This jade slip, from a few years ago, captured an interview with Fairy Ruqing conducted by the Song family after a dispute between her and the Fang family.

In it, Fairy Ruqing revealed an old grudge between the Qin and Fang families, stating that the Qin family had been backstabbed by the Fang family and suffered great injustice during the Yingzhou War.

This jade slip had also caused a huge uproar in the Eastern Region back then.

Although many people supported Fairy Ruqing, public opinion was still just that—opinion.

Fairy Ruqing accused the Fang family of betrayal and manipulation during the Yingzhou War, but there was no solid evidence to back her claims.

With the storm of public opinion subsiding, the situation between the Qin and Fang families remained unresolved—a question with no clear answers, destined to fade from people’s minds unless there was a real follow-up.

And now, it seemed that follow-up had finally arrived.

The Fang family, in what appeared to be a fit of madness, dared to directly attack the Qin family’s ancestor and elder, inflicting near-fatal injuries.

This was nothing short of shocking!

Throughout history, even when grudges existed between prominent families, they never escalated to such an ugly confrontation in the open.

Fortunately, Fairy Ruqing appeared just in time, descending like a deity to save the Qin family’s ancestor, preventing an irreversible tragedy.

But it wasn’t merely a rescue—it was a comeback, a reversal of fortune that could be recorded in the annals of history as an unprecedented victory!

In the streets and teahouses of the Eastern Domain, voices of excitement echoed:

“This is a battle for the history books! No one, not even in all the recorded cases of battles across the cultivation world, has ever defeated a Divine Transformation ancestor at the age of twenty-something. A Divine Transformation ancestor, no less!”

“This battle is unparalleled!”

“Fairy Ruqing’s achievements and potential have already surpassed Feng Mingyue, making her the new leader of the cultivation world’s younger generation!”

Storytellers in teahouses and inns repeated these words over and over, each time drawing cheers from the crowd.

Some street storytellers were even more exaggerated, practically elevating Qin Ruqing to a heavenly status—because the people loved to hear it!