Xiao Yu was still deep in thought when, unexpectedly, Lin Yizhi suddenly turned to Bai Ying and sincerely apologized, “I’m sorry. I was the one who set you up. Your healing artifact worked perfectly—I pretended you hadn’t treated me on purpose.
I wanted to ruin your reputation. I thought you were a bad person and wanted to teach you a lesson. I’m sorry!”
Looking at the person before her, Bai Ying felt her suspicions confirmed.
She had known Lin Yizhi was influenced by Ruan Xinrou, and she wanted to test if he could free himself from that. To her surprise, he really had.
“So, you’re apologizing now because you no longer hate me?” Bai Ying asked, curious to see how deep Ruan Xinrou’s influence went.
“Of course I don’t hate you anymore!” Lin Yizhi said, a little agitated. “Can you forgive me? I’ll do anything if you’re willing to forgive me!”
Bai Ying thought for a moment and replied, “If you can truly never hate me again, then I’ll forgive you.”
“Absolutely, I won’t ever hate you again!”
Bai Ying actually just wanted to see whether Lin Yizhi would still change after encountering Ruan Xinrou again.
But her words made Xiao Yu’s face turn pale with fury.
Bai Ying had forgiven Lin Yizhi just like that?
Was she insane?
How could she forgive Lin Yizhi so easily? Didn’t she see that he had deceived her?
Meanwhile, the female cultivators were even more excited.
One after another, they exclaimed, “Look! This has to be mutual love! Bai Ying actually said that as long as Lin Yizhi doesn’t hate her, she’ll forgive him!”
“Sure, Lin Yizhi went too far, but Bai Ying likes him!”
“They’re such a good match! Quick, get married already—Sect Master, arrange it!”
Xiao Yu looked extremely grim. He felt these people were insufferable. He wanted them all to shut up.
His brows furrowed tightly. Realizing he was spiraling, he quickly grabbed Ruan Xinrou’s hand and told himself over and over again in his heart:
He loved Ruan Xinrou. Only her. He was not allowed to care about Bai Ying anymore.
But Ruan Xinrou didn’t look too pleased either. After putting in so much effort to win Lin Yizhi’s favor, he had actually said such things to Bai Ying?
Still, at least Xiao Yu was holding her hand now. Ruan Xinrou felt a bit more at ease and leaned into him more affectionately.
A nearby cultivator saw how close they were and couldn’t help saying, “You two look great together too.”
Ruan Xinrou immediately showed a shy smile, and Xiao Yu took the opportunity to pull her closer, trying to show everyone how much he loved her.
But just then, someone turned to Xiao Yu and asked, “Senior Brother Xiao, Sister Bai Ying is so amazing. Why do you think Junior Sister Ruan is better?” New chapters come out on novelping . com first.
Xiao Yu’s face froze instantly. The conviction he had just forced on himself suddenly wavered.
“Because Xinrou is gentle and kind. She has a great temper. She’s the best person I’ve ever met,” he answered stiffly.
As he praised Ruan Xinrou, he internally belittled Bai Ying again.
She was jealous and always bullied Ruan Xinrou in secret. A despicable person through and through.
He told himself not to be fooled by appearances.
But no matter what he told himself, his eyes couldn’t help being drawn to Bai Ying in the Mirror of Heaven and Earth.
She wasn’t doing anything special—just walking.
Yet for some reason, he found he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Once upon a time, he had been closer to Bai Ying than anyone. Watching her walk like this? He could’ve proposed, and she wouldn’t have refused.
…
Meanwhile, Bai Ying finished cleaning the battlefield and collecting what she needed. Then she made her way toward the Twin-Headed Python’s cave.
She had come here for the Profound Crystal Stones.
There had never been any need for her to be used as bait, like Han Xiu had suggested before.
She had the strength to defeat the Twin-Headed Python on her own.
But to her surprise, the python wasn’t in the cave.
“It was probably scared away by the Azure Flood Dragon.”
The python was sluggish, yes, but Bai Ying and the others had battled the flood dragon for a long time. It was impossible that the python hadn’t noticed it.
Lin Yizhi looked a bit disappointed. “I thought we’d get to fight the python too.”
“Isn’t this even better? Saves us the effort.”
As she spoke, Bai Ying began picking up the Profound Crystal Stones in the cave.
She needed five to enhance her artifact, but there were more than sixty here, plus some other types of crystals.
Han Xiu may have been despicable, but at least the intel he provided was accurate.
Bai Ying took the five she needed and split the rest among the others.
“I thought we agreed that all of them would go to you,” Xiahou Ming protested, trying to insist that Bai Ying take them all.
“This is already more than enough. I don’t need the rest,” Bai Ying said firmly. Seeing she was determined, the others didn’t argue further. Smiling happily, they divvied up the rest of the crystals. You are reading on novelping dot com, the official source.
They were ecstatic. This was the first time they’d ever collected so much during a trial.
They really wanted to take these back and show their elders—proof that they could earn their own rewards, not just beg for them.
Even the Azure Flood Dragon, the strongest demonic beast, had been slain by them. The Wetbone Forest trial, which was a nightmare for so many, no longer seemed so daunting to Bai Ying and her group.
After collecting a few more spirit herbs and spirit stones, their trial came to an end.
When Bai Ying walked out of the trial grounds, the exit was already crowded with people.
“She’s finally out! Bai Ying, hello! I’m Wang Mu from Azure Cloud Peak. Can we get to know each other?”
“I’m Ge Qinglan. Bai Ying, you’re amazing! Would you consider forming a cultivation partnership with me?”
People immediately swarmed around her. Voices came from all directions. Everyone was eager to get close to Bai Ying.
But she had no interest at all. She practiced the Emotionless Dao. She would never develop feelings for anyone again—let alone form a cultivation pair.
She began walking toward her residence.
She hadn’t gone far before someone blocked her path.
“Bai Ying, I have something to say to you.”
She never imagined she’d run into Xiao Yu.
What bad luck.
She didn’t even want to look at him. Just seeing his face made her feel sick.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Bai Ying!”
Seeing that she was ignoring him, Xiao Yu grabbed her in a panic and blurted out,
“I just want to warn you—Lin Yizhi is not a good person. Stay away from him. And those people who were saying they want to pursue you? None of them are decent. Don’t let them fool you.”
He looked like some righteous crusader trying to protect her.
Bai Ying almost laughed out loud.
She had never seen anyone this shameless.
“Who I choose to be with—or not be with—what does it have to do with you? Don’t forget, the most disgusting and vicious person I’ve ever met… is you. And one more thing—don’t ever appear in front of me again. For the rest of my life, I never want to see you.”