The once-grand courtyard began dissolving at a visible speed the moment the wall broke. Le Gui belatedly glanced up, finally noticing the dense demonic energy gathering overhead.

“We’re doomed…” The voice from the Seer Mirror sighed. Such a massive surge of demonic energy appearing above Miaomang Mountain—only an idiot wouldn’t realize something was wrong. There was no way to cover this up.

Le Gui hesitated before realizing the little ghost girl had already retreated back into the mirror. She was speechless. “Why did you go back in?! Don’t tell me you’re planning to leave me here alone!”

“It’s not that I want to retreat. I overused my spiritual energy and can’t maintain my human form anymore,” the little ghost girl, now appearing as a rabbit mallow flower inside the mirror, said calmly.

Le Gui frowned. “What did you mean by ‘we’re doomed’ just now?”

“What else? The barrier is broken, and now the spiritual energy I share with His Lordship has been detected,” the rabbit mallow flower said gravely. “Those people aren’t going to let this opportunity slip away.”

Le Gui’s mind went blank, but before she could ask more questions, dozens of cultivators suddenly appeared around her, completely surrounding her.

“So this is why a mere mortal advanced to the Nascent Soul stage in just a few days! Turns out she’s colluding with the Demon Realm!” The leader was an outer disciple from one of the Ten Great Sects. As for the inner disciples… they were probably still recovering from their injuries.

Seeing Le Gui sitting in the midst of the demonic energy, the crowd quickly realized that the so-called talent was a lie. Relief filled their hearts, though none dared to strike immediately.

“What now?” Le Gui scanned the faces around her and lowered her voice. “Since we’ve been exposed, I don’t have to fake an attack, right? Should I just let you handle them?”

For once, the mirror fell silent.

A bad feeling crept over Le Gui. “…Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“I already told you, didn’t I?” The mirror’s voice now sounded guilty. “I overused my spiritual energy. I don’t have the strength to fight them right now.”

Le Gui: “…”

After a long silence, she took a deep breath. “Then what should I do?”

“Uh… pray for good luck?”

Le Gui: “…”

She remained silent for so long that the leader grew suspicious. “Hey, demon witch, what are you muttering to yourself about?!”

Le Gui lifted her gaze with confidence. “I’m just muttering about what an idiot you are.”

The man: “…”

“Are you even thinking before you speak?” Le Gui dusted off her clothes as she stood up. “You see me here before you and immediately accuse me of colluding with the Demon Realm? Just because I arrived a little earlier than you, I deserve to be slandered?”

“What do you mean? You just arrived?” Someone hesitated.

Le Gui gave him a cool glance. “Is that not possible?”

“We came as fast as we could. There’s no way you got here before us—you must be lying!” another person immediately retorted.

Le Gui smirked knowingly. “I’m so much stronger than you. Isn’t it natural that I got here first?”

The crowd: “…”

“Use your brains, my friends!” Le Gui took a step closer, her tone exasperated. “If I were from the Demon Realm, would the immortal emperor and sect leaders have allowed me to roam free until now? If I were truly one of them, do you think I’d waste time in a tiny courtyard at Hehuan Sect instead of clinging to the Demon Lord himself?”

The group instinctively took a step back as she approached, but seeing her calm demeanor, they gradually lowered their guard.

“You went from being a mortal to a Nascent Soul cultivator in just a few days. What kind of effort could that possibly take?” someone asked in disbelief.

Le Gui sighed. “That’s just what you see. But do you know the reality? I trained day and night without rest, barely daring to eat more than a few bites at a time. Through freezing winters and scorching summers, do you have any idea what I endured? Everything I have today is the result of my perseverance and preparation.”

“…How does one build up a foundation from being a mere mortal to reaching the Nascent Soul stage?” The leading disciple finally couldn’t help but ask.

This was the question on everyone’s mind.

Le Gui remained calm as she continued walking. Without realizing it, the disciples who had surrounded her were now following behind, as if she had become their leader.

“It’s mainly thanks to my sect’s cultivation technique. The key to it is that no matter how hard one trains in the beginning, they remain a mere mortal. But after enduring for thousands of years, progress skyrockets. You see me as a young woman, but in reality, I’m over three thousand years old. I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in all these millennia. Don’t you think I deserve the achievements I have today?”

As she spoke, Le Gui stepped out of the rapidly deteriorating courtyard. The disciples, captivated by her story, unconsciously followed—until someone suddenly shouted, “She’s trying to escape!”

Before they could react, the courtyard gates slammed shut in their faces with a loud bang.

“…”

The arena was already echoing with earth-shaking sounds of battle. While running, Le Gui cursed, “Damn mirror, you’ve really screwed me and His Lordship over!”

“…How was I supposed to know the barrier would break open like that?” the mirror replied guiltily.

Le Gui was furious. “Then why couldn’t you have waited a little longer for your revenge?”

“I have searched for them for over five thousand years! Five thousand years! If I missed this chance, who knows how much longer I’d have to wait?” The mirror defended itself, then coughed lightly and added, “I’ve used up the last bit of my spiritual energy to reinforce the barrier. You should be safe for now.”

The moment those words fell, the courtyard split in half right down the middle.

Le Gui: “…”

Seer Mirror: “…”

“Die, demon witch!”

With the barrier shattered, the cultivators soared through the air, attacking her from every direction. Spells and deadly techniques rained down like a storm, but each one was blocked by her defensive artifacts.

Le Gui screamed internally while frantically fleeing. The mirror, sensing that she was heading toward the arena, hesitated before suggesting, “His Lordship’s situation is probably worse than yours. Why don’t you try running down the mountain instead?”

“Shut up, you damn mirror!” At this moment, Le Gui felt nothing but resentment toward it.

The rabbit mallow in the mirror swayed its leaves ingratiatingly twice. Seeing that Le Gui wasn’t looking, it simply played dead.

By now, the top disciples of the major sects had already suffered heavy blows to their Dao hearts. Many were struggling just to hold themselves together. As for the sect masters and elders… judging by the chaos in the arena, they were clearly occupied with their own battles. The ones chasing after Le Gui were either idle rogue cultivators or mediocre disciples from the various sects.

Even so, mediocre cultivators were still far stronger than a mere mortal like Le Gui, who only looked like a cultivator on the surface.

Her defensive artifacts had already been pushed to their limit during the tournament. Now, under the relentless attacks, one of them finally shattered with an audible crack.

Startled, Le Gui turned her head and saw a streak of spiritual energy shooting toward her like a sword.

With a sharp gasp, she instinctively pulled out the Seer Mirror and swung it like a weapon.

The attack was deflected and struck a nearby rogue cultivator instead.

Inside the mirror, a furious voice screamed, “AAAH! My mirror surface cracked! Did you just use me as a weapon?!”

“You caused this mess. Shouldn’t you be the one to fix it?” Le Gui tightened her grip on the mirror’s handle, now fully aware of its usefulness.

The group of pursuers hesitated. They were already an unorganized bunch, and seeing one of their own injured made them even more reluctant to attack. No one dared to recklessly unleash more spiritual techniques.

Still fuming over being used as a weapon, the mirror snapped, “If I hadn’t protected you in the arena, you wouldn’t have even survived long enough to see me cause this ‘mess’!”

“If I had known that surviving meant dealing with this, I would’ve rather died back then!” Le Gui shot back.

“You ungrateful beast! If not for protecting you, I wouldn’t have wasted so much of my spiritual energy before taking revenge! I didn’t kill them outright the moment the barrier cracked because of you!”

“You liar! You even told me your name was Ah Hua, but your parents never even named you!”

“I never said they did! His Lordship gave me that name!”

Le Gui: “…”

[Thank the heavens I didn’t insult her name in front of Di Jiang that night.]

As she was silently rejoicing, she heard her pursuers murmuring, “What is she mumbling about?”

“No idea. She’s acting strange. Stay alert.”

“Alert for what? If she were really powerful, she wouldn’t be running. That mirror of hers can’t block much. If we all attack together, we can definitely take her down!”

The last speaker wasted no time, immediately unleashing an attack. The others followed suit, sending a barrage of spiritual energy her way. Le Gui barely had time to react before her vision was flooded with dazzling flashes of light.

[This time, I’m really done for…]

“Mirror,” she whispered.

The mirror replied softly, “Hmm…?”

“I think I’m going to die here.”

The mirror was silent for a moment. Then it said, “I won’t make it out either.”

Though the Seer Mirror itself was an ancient divine artifact, the soul inside it was not. If the mirror fell into enemy hands, they would surely wipe out her existence completely.

“…I’m sorry. And… thank you.”

Hearing this, the mirror didn’t know what to say. As it sifted through old memories, the only moments that stood out were Di Jiang placing her fragmented soul into the mirror and Le Gui gently placing flowers in her hair.

Le Gui bit her lip, her eyes turning red.

Since coming into this world, she had faced countless life-or-death situations, but this was the closest she had ever come to truly dying. At this moment, time seemed to slow down. Even her breathing felt heavy, and she forgot to close her eyes.

The sword tip of the person charging at the front was already inches away from her face. A sharp sting on her right cheek told her that the sword energy had grazed her skin, leaving behind a fresh wound. It was only then that she snapped back to her senses. She shut her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the inevitable end.

[Mom, Dad, looks like I’m destined to die in this strange world…]

Tears welled up in Le Gui’s eyes. Just as she thought her life was over, a cold hand suddenly grasped her shoulder. Stunned, she found herself crashing into a firm embrace.

Instinctively, she looked up—only to meet Di Jiang’s eyes, glinting with amusement.

“Are you having fun?” he asked.

“… Your Lordship, I can explain! It’s all the Seer Mirror’s fault. I’m completely innocent!” Le Gui was still dazed, but her mouth had already begun shifting the blame.

The Seer Mirror, who had just been moved to tears moments ago and was ready to call her a friend in the next life: “…”

Le Gui licked her dry lips and noticed the streak of blood on Di Jiang’s neck. With a guilty smile, she reached up to wipe it away and said, “Your Lordship, you wouldn’t hold a grudge against us, would you?”

At least she had some sense of loyalty. She made sure to include “us” when pleading for mercy.

Di Jiang’s fingers brushed over the wound on her face. A sharp pain followed, making Le Gui wince. But she didn’t dare make a sound, let alone resist.

After a long moment, Di Jiang chuckled lightly. “We’ll settle this once it’s over.”

Le Gui: “…” So terrifying.