Volume 1, Chapter 145 – A Woman’s Competitive Spirit

In the starry void, Sovereign Longteng departed, and the murmurs of the cultivators watching from all sides gradually died away.

The atmosphere between the two Empresses slowly settled into a subtle calm.

Empress Lingshuang regarded Gu Han in silence, complex emotions churning in her ice-blue eyes.

There was frustration over her defeat, shock at Gu Han’s strength and a reluctant acknowledgment of it, as well as… a lingering trace of doubt.

In the end, her gaze drifted back to Gu Han’s left wrist.

That bracelet…

She had fought Qingxuan for tens of thousands of years and knew her temperament, along with some of her artifacts, like the back of her hand.

Qingxuan almost never took off the Linked Hearts Bracelets, yet one was now on Gu Han’s wrist.

Coupled with the strength Gu Han had just displayed, which even Sovereign Longteng had praised so highly, the most obvious conclusion took root in her mind, impossible to suppress.

“Gu Han.”

Empress Lingshuang suddenly spoke, her voice less confrontational than before and more openly inquisitive.

She stared intently into Gu Han’s eyes, as though seeking confirmation of something.

“Have you… fought Qingxuan?”

Gu Han was momentarily taken aback.

She had not expected Empress Lingshuang to ask that so abruptly, much less with such certainty, as though she had already decided it must be true.

Gu Han’s reaction only strengthened Empress Lingshuang’s suspicions.

She immediately pressed on, her tone almost obstinately earnest:

“Then tell me, which of us is stronger?”

The question was blunt, even a little childish in its competitiveness.

Reаԁ оո KαtRеαԁinɡСαfе

Yet coming from Empress Lingshuang, coupled with her earnest expression, it seemed perfectly natural.

It was as though this comparison had been weighing on her for a very long time.

And as a third party who might have “fought” them both, Gu Han was undoubtedly the most qualified judge.

Gu Han looked into Empress Lingshuang’s earnest, unyielding eyes, feeling both helpless and amused.

In certain respects, the Empress of the Northern Region truly was exceptionally… adorable.

She shook her head gently and met Empress Lingshuang’s gaze with frank sincerity.

“Fellow Daoist Lingshuang, I’m afraid I must disappoint you.”

“I have never fought Empress Qingxuan, so I cannot accurately judge which of you is stronger.”

“You’ve never fought?”

Empress Lingshuang’s delicate brows knitted together, the confusion in her eyes deepening.

She glanced at Gu Han’s wrist, her bewilderment plain in her voice:

“As far as I know, Qingxuan almost never removes that bracelet. Unless you had earned her recognition, she would never have given it to you.”

“And for someone like her to acknowledge another person… I can think of no reason besides strength.”

“Especially at our realm.”

At those words, Gu Han glanced at the Linked Hearts Bracelet around her wrist, her fingertips unconsciously brushing its smooth, warm surface.

She naturally understood what Empress Lingshuang was implying.

Once someone reached the Immortal Ascension realm, strength was the foremost consideration when exchanging such intimate tokens.

“This bracelet was indeed a gift from Empress Qingxuan.”

Reаd οո КatReαdіnɡСаfе

Gu Han did not hide the truth, explaining in a calm voice.

Yet when she recalled Qingxuan’s suggestive voice transmission and teasing remarks as she gave her the bracelet, the tips of her ears still warmed almost imperceptibly.

Fortunately, the starry void was dark, and the subtle change was difficult to notice.

“However, she gave it to me after we… shared tea. It was neither a trophy nor a token exchanged after a battle.”

Choosing her words carefully, she summed up their meeting in the bedchamber as “sharing tea.”

“Sharing tea?”

Empress Lingshuang was clearly taken aback by the answer, and her brows drew even tighter.

From what she knew of Qingxuan, that woman was proud, arrogant, and calculating. She was certainly not someone who would give away such a personal possession over a mere cup of tea.

Unless…

Her gaze lingered for a moment on Gu Han’s serenely beautiful face before swiftly sweeping over her distinctive bearing.

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind, one that even she found absurd, yet explained the situation better than anything else.

Could that woman Qingxuan have taken a fancy to the Yaochi Empress?

Empress Lingshuang’s first reaction was that the idea was ridiculous.

Qingxuan had lived for tens of thousands of years. What kind of dazzling genius had she not seen?

But on second thought, it did not seem entirely impossible.

At their level, they had long since transcended mundane propriety and even gender. Their hearts alone dictated their choices.

At the thought, a peculiar light flickered in Empress Lingshuang’s eyes.

Her gaze settled on Gu Han once more, assessing her in a way it never had before.

Rеаⅾ οո КαtReαdіոɡСαfе

Her hair was silver as snow, her features exquisitely beautiful, and her cool, aloof air held an indescribable purity and depth.

Her strength was even more unfathomable. Not even Empress Lingshuang’s use of the Soul-Burning Art had forced her to reveal her full power.

Even that fellow Longteng had said he might not be able to defeat her.

Someone like her was indeed worth befriending, worth holding close to one’s heart.

Empress Lingshuang had fought Qingxuan for so many years without ever determining a victor. Neither had ever managed to gain the upper hand over the other.

But if she could surpass Qingxuan in this regard…

Would that not put her one step ahead of Qingxuan while also infuriating that hypocritical, affected woman?

Empress Lingshuang’s stare made Gu Han somewhat uncomfortable.

There was no longer any scrutiny or battle intent in her eyes. Instead, they now held something… almost like blatant appraisal and calculation.

“Fellow Daoist Lingshuang?”

Gu Han frowned slightly and spoke to draw her attention.

Empress Lingshuang came back to herself, and a smile rarely seen on her exquisite face suddenly blossomed.

It was faint, yet it softened her entire icy bearing and lent her a different, equally breathtaking beauty.

“Gu Han.”

She spoke again, her voice far less cold and unyielding than before, now carrying a certain… indescribable undertone.

“Qingxuan was able to ‘share tea’ and discuss the Dao with you, and the two of you had a delightful conversation. I…”

She paused, a hint of cunning and assertiveness flashing through her ice-blue eyes:

“Would also like to ‘discuss the Dao’ with Fellow Daoist Gu.”

Rеad on KatRеαdіոɡСаfе

“Would Fellow Daoist Gu be willing to grant me that opportunity?”

Those words were… decidedly ambiguous.

They sounded like the mutual admiration between powerful experts who wished to converse and spar in greater depth.

Yet they also seemed to carry another implication, along with a domineering insistence that brooked no refusal.

And there was a trace of… provocation aimed at Qingxuan that only Gu Han could faintly sense.

Warning bells began to ring in Gu Han’s mind.

Only moments ago, Empress Lingshuang had looked ready to fight her to the death. Now she suddenly wanted to “discuss the Dao”?

And that look, that tone…

Gu Han suddenly recalled what Qingxuan had said in the Linked Hearts Slip:

“That woman is arrogant, foul-tempered, and always looking for someone to fight…”

From the looks of things, fighting was hardly the extent of it.

Her temperament truly was impossible to fathom.

“If Fellow Daoist Lingshuang wishes to discuss the Dao, you are naturally welcome.”

“But I have other important matters to attend to at present. We can discuss the Dao another day.”

Without betraying her thoughts, she steered the conversation back on track while sending a tactful signal that said, You may leave now.

Upon hearing this, Empress Lingshuang did not take the offered way out. Instead, the interest in her eyes only intensified.