The silence that followed was so suffocating that a needle hitting the ground could be heard. While the onlookers were unable to see soul force, as that was a high-tier technique, they could clearly feel that all was not as it should have been. By all means, Chu Yuan should have won! He was a Three-Star Bronze-Rank! That was three ranks higher than the twins!
Nie Tai straightened and walked from Chu Yuan arrogantly, leaving her question―"can you see clearly now"―ringing in the ears of the spectators. Chu Yuan's pale face flashed with the emotions of disbelief and complete fear, leading the spectators to know that he lost. Seeing Nie Tai and Nie Li approached the edge of the circle, the onlookers separated without a word, observing them with undisguised curiosity.
"Chu Yuan was defeated..." muttered Tu Ruan, falling to the ground. The twins walked past her, Tu Ruan raised her eyes to meet Nie Tai's only to quickly advert them. When looking at the redhead in that moment, Tu Ruan could only compare the unyielding, icy gaze to the battle-hardened experts that occasionally came to her family for cartography services. Nie Tai's eyes frightened Tu Ruan: it made Tu Ruan feel like the ant that Nie Tai saw her as.
Seeing the twins leave, Chen Linjian slipped away from the group and followed them with Huyan Lanruo close behind. The handsome, confident noble was once again faced with a situation that he had no idea how to handle; the twins, particularly Nie Tai, were hard to read and even harder to predict. This unsettling phenomena was only cemented by the seemingly all-powerful technique that Chen Linjian received: the Forgotten Earthen Deity. He was the first son of the Divine Family, one of the three Major Families of Glory City. How could she, one younger than him, have greater knowledge than the top experts of his family?
Nie Li split off from his sister to sit under a tree just outside of sit of the onlookers; Nie Tai joined him on the ground a couple trees away, sweat decorating her forehead as she sat cross-legged and tried to calm her soul force. Seeing the twins cultivating, Chen Linjian spun on his heel and almost ran into Huyan Lanruo, who was just as curious. Quickly apologizing, he walked back to the group and ordered them to pitch tents nearby to calm everyone's nerves.
"Linjian," said Biu Hao, walking up to the noble, "What is the next course of action?"
"I am unsure," muttered Chen Linjian. The twins did nothing wrong and were defending themselves; however, they were the ones who challenged Chu Yuan. Chu Yuan was the son of a powerful noble family and would seek retribution, probably with help from the Sacred Family. For the twins to cripple the male to such an extent, one could say that they were being too vicious; however, the twins were not even of Bronze-Rank when they challenged him! So, Chu Yuan should be the one to blame for his ordeal; afterall, he was Three-Star Bronze-Rank before the experience. Sighing in annoyance, Chen Linjian said, "I'm going to leave this alone. Chu Yuan is responsible for the repercussions of his actions. If he had not attacked with his soul force, he wouldn't have lost it."
"Ha!" Laughed Biu Hao, elbowing Chen Linjian, "You make it sound like the twins winning was the only outcome!"
"Could you think of any other, knowing Nie Tai?" Retaliated Chen Linjian seriously.
"Hmm," sounded Biu Hao, thinking deeply on the matter, "Probably not! The Little Scholar is truly terrifying. I dare say that she will not be met with anything that she cannot conquer."
Ending on the serious note, Biu Hao ran off to help pitch the tents; watching the group slowly wind down, Chen Linjian heaved a sigh of relief at the calmness, happy that the earlier excitement had died down.
"Young Master Linjian!" growled an angry voice; the noble turned his eyes to see Chu Yuan leaning on one of the people that Shen Yue brought.
"Yes, Chu Yuan?" replied Chen Linjian coldly, his patience evidently running out.
"Please, avenge me! Those two, they―" started Chu Yuan indignantly, ignoring the bristling Chen Linjian.
"They what?" asked the noble, interrupting the stuttering male. Looking around the camp, Chen Linjian said, "Rest now, we will continue on to the ruins later. This conversation, however, stops here."
Leaving Chu Yuan standing there, Chen Linjian joined Biu Hao and Ming around a fire; the rest of the evening was filled with laughter.
❦❦❦
Heaving a sigh of relief, Nie Tai exhaustedly leaned against the tree behind her; she barely crossed the threshold of Two-Star Bronze-Rank. She had fully refined Chu Yuan's soul force; she had to give the noble brat one piece of praise: he had taken plenty of elixirs. It made his soul force heavier, thicker, and stronger which caused Nie Tai's soul force to grow very quickly.
"Here you go, sister," sounded Nie Li, setting a wooden bowl by Nie Tai's side. Feeling her stomach rumble at the thought of food, she quickly thanked him and immediately started eating. Sitting by her, he said, "Stay away from Hanruo Lanruo! She is a troublesome woman and won't leave me alone!"
"Ha!" Laughed Nie Tai, amused by her brother's annoyance, "Is she far too curious?"
"Yes! And she declared that she'll 'make me hers!' Now Ye Ziyun is avoiding me!" Declared Nie Li sorrowfully. Crossing his arms indignantly, he pouted, "And her Snow Sakura Demon is nothing to laugh at. Simply terrifying."
"Hmm," mumbled Nie Tai, still focused on the bowl of soup.
"Tell me of Chen Linjian's soul," requested Nie Li.
"The Divine Verdant Serpent. Now, can you tell me a suitable technique for that?" said Nie Tai, setting down her empty bowl.
"No. The earthen attribute is exceedly rare; I've never heard of a suitable cultivation technique for it," replied Nie Li hopelessly after thinking for a moment.
"The Forgotten Earthen Deity," answered Nie Tai quickly, excited that she could teach her brother something. She quickly passed the information on to him.
Gasping in surprise, Nie Li said, "No wonder I've never heard of this. It is a combination of wind and water techniques. Did you create this?"
Smirking, Nie Tai replied, "It was one of my projects."
Shaking his head, Nie Li became serious and said, "We are close to the ruins. The deal still stands, correct?"
"Of course, the first to the demon will be the one who keeps it," affirmed Nie Tai. Nodding, he left to go to bed; alone with her thoughts, Nie Tai smiled sadly and proceeded to also go to bed.
I apologize for not updating for so long. I have no excuse other than extreme procrastination.
I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!
Have a nice day! :)