Volume 1, Chapter 168 – The Shura Field Has Escalated

Lingshuang stared at Gu Han for a long while, as if trying to determine whether her words were true.

At last, she gave a slight nod.

“I believe you.”

After a brief pause, she continued:

“That little girl possesses astonishing talent. Her future achievements will be limitless. But when a tree rises above the forest, the wind will surely bring it down.”

“Since Fellow Daoist Gu has accepted her as a disciple, you must take good care of her.”

She spoke earnestly, with even a trace of concern.

Gu Han was momentarily taken aback. She had not expected the ice-cold Empress of the Northern Region to say such a thing.

“Thank you for the warning, Fellow Daoist.”

Gu Han’s tone softened somewhat.

“I will naturally keep her safe.”

Empress Qingxuan watched from the side and smiled faintly.

“Little Sister Lingshuang, you’re finally capable of saying something human today.”

Lingshuang shot her a cold glance.

“Still better than certain people who spend all day spouting frivolous nonsense.”

“Frivolous?”

Empress Qingxuan walked toward Empress Lingshuang, the hem of her purple nightgown brushing the floor.

“Those words truly wound your elder sister’s heart.”

“Your elder sister’s concern for Little Sister Gu is completely sincere.”

Her voice was soft and sultry, carrying its usual languid quality, but there was not the slightest hint of jest in her eyes.

“You, on the other hand, keep claiming you’re here on serious business. Aren’t you simply finding excuses to spend more time with Little Sister Gu?”

With her thoughts exposed, Empress Lingshuang’s expression grew even colder, and the chill surrounding her surged.

“Qingxuan, stop talking nonsense!”

“Nonsense?”

Empress Qingxuan chuckled, her gaze sweeping over Lingshuang’s tightly clenched fists and slightly whitened knuckles.

“Then why are you clenching your fists so tightly, little sister? Are you nervous? Or…”

Rеαԁ oո КatRеaⅾіոɡCαfe

She deliberately drew out the final word.

“Are you afraid your elder sister might say something she shouldn’t?”

Empress Lingshuang’s breath caught, and for a moment, she was rendered speechless.

Gu Han looked at the two women before her. One wore a languid smile yet pressed relentlessly forward, while the other was cold and proud yet found herself thwarted at every turn.

She sighed softly and was just about to interrupt the increasingly out-of-control conversation when—

“Qingxuan, Gu Han is not some plaything for you to tease as you please.”

Empress Lingshuang’s voice suddenly rang out. It was even colder than before, yet beneath it simmered a faint, suppressed anger.

“She deserves to be treated with greater sincerity, not subjected to your frivolous probing and ambiguous games.”

Her words were blunt, even accusatory.

The smile on Empress Qingxuan’s face faded slightly, and a sharp glint flashed through her eyes.

“Greater sincerity?”

She slowly walked up to Empress Lingshuang. Barely three chi separated them as their auras silently collided.

“Lingshuang, is this ‘sincerity’ of yours spending every day with a frozen expression, unable to string together a single complete sentence?”

“Or do you think your blunt, straightforward approach is what sincerity looks like?”

Empress Qingxuan’s voice turned cold, her mockery completely undisguised.

“How Little Sister Gu and I choose to interact is our business. It is not your place to interfere.”

“Besides…”

She tilted her head slightly, her roving gaze settling on Gu Han’s face as her voice regained its languid softness.

“Your elder sister has always been completely sincere toward Little Sister Gu.”

“It’s simply that some feelings require time, the right approach, and even more importantly…”

She paused, then looked back at Lingshuang and enunciated each word:

“An understanding of what she needs.”

Empress Lingshuang’s pupils contracted slightly.

Qingxuan’s words clearly carried a deeper meaning.

Gu Han was aloof by nature. She disliked ostentation and hated being pressured even more.

Although Qingxuan’s slow, simmering teasing often left Gu Han embarrassed, she had never truly crossed Gu Han’s boundaries.

Reαⅾ οn КatRеaⅾіոgCаfе

But Lingshuang herself…

She recalled her blunt remarks about “giving gifts” in the main hall that day, as well as Gu Han’s faint resistance at the time.

For the first time, a trace of uncertainty arose in Empress Lingshuang’s heart.

Had she… truly gone about it the wrong way?

No!

Empress Lingshuang fiercely cast the thought aside.

She had competed with Qingxuan for thirty thousand years. How could she admit defeat over this?

“Sincere?”

Empress Lingshuang sneered as the phantom of the Frostheaven Sword flickered into existence behind her.

“Qingxuan, even you probably can’t tell how much of your ‘sincerity’ is real and how much is false.”

“You have lived for nearly fifty thousand years. You’ve seen countless sights and met innumerable people.”

“To you, Gu Han may simply be a passing novelty, a unique piece of scenery.”

“Once that novelty wears off, you’ll turn and leave in search of the next person who catches your interest.”

Her words were cutting, aimed directly at Qingxuan’s languid, capricious nature.

Upon hearing this, Empress Qingxuan did not grow angry. Instead, she laughed softly.

But the laughter never reached her eyes.

“Lingshuang, oh, Lingshuang. You are always like this, defining others through nothing more than your own conjecture.”

She raised a hand, her fingertips lightly brushing the Profound Heart Bracelet around her wrist. Yet her gaze remained on Gu Han’s face, and her voice was gentle but clear.

“I have indeed lived a very long time and seen a great many sights.”

“But precisely because I have seen so much, I understand all the better what it means for someone to be truly ‘special.’”

She paused and looked at Lingshuang, a trace of pity flashing through her eyes.

“You, on the other hand, Lingshuang.”

“You have a cold temperament and a cold heart. You understand even less about what feelings truly are.”

“This fixation you have on Little Sister Gu, is it truly because you like her, or…”

She tilted her head slightly, adopting a thoughtful expression.

“Is it simply because she is the first person who has ever made you feel something ‘different’?”

Rеаⅾ οո KαtRеаԁinɡСafе

“Or perhaps…”

Empress Qingxuan lowered her voice, imbuing it with a meaning that only the two of them could understand.

“Is it merely because she is someone your elder sister has taken an interest in, and you want to vie with me for her?”

Those final words were like a sharp sword, piercing the most sensitive place in Empress Lingshuang’s heart!

“You…!”

Empress Lingshuang flew into a rage, and a blast of frigid air erupted around her!

The two of them were about to start fighting again!

“Enough!”

Gu Han’s cool voice rang out abruptly. At the same time, she stepped forward and placed herself between them!

“This is Yaochi Immortal Palace, not a battlefield for the two of you to settle your private grudges!”

Gu Han’s voice carried unquestionable authority as her gaze swept over them.

“If you wish to fight, then leave Yaochi Immortal Palace and battle to your hearts’ content beyond the heavens!”

Her words were exceptionally severe.

Empress Qingxuan and Empress Lingshuang both froze.

They could sense that Gu Han was genuinely angry now.

Empress Qingxuan quickly resumed her languid demeanor, though the smile at the corners of her lips had faded considerably.

“You’re right, little sister. Your elder sister lost her composure.”

Empress Lingshuang gave a cold snort and slowly reined in the chill around her. She turned her head aside, refusing to look at Qingxuan again.

The atmosphere in the hall remained tense, but there was no longer any sign that they would come to blows.

Gu Han looked at the two Empresses before her, both tens of thousands of years old, yet now arguing and sulking like children.

The anger in her heart suddenly dissolved into profound helplessness.

She rubbed the space between her brows, her voice softening somewhat.

“It is late. Please return to your quarters.”

Empress Qingxuan’s eyes flickered. She gave Gu Han a long look, then glanced at Lingshuang before suddenly chuckling.

“Very well. Your elder sister will do as you say.”

She turned, the hem of her purple nightgown tracing an elegant arc as she walked toward the doors.

Rеαd оո КαtRеαdіոɡСαfe

Just before leaving, she paused and glanced back at Gu Han. In a voice low enough for only the two of them to hear, she spoke quickly:

“What your elder sister said just now was sincere.”

With that, she departed before Gu Han could react.

Only Gu Han and Empress Lingshuang remained in the hall.

Empress Lingshuang stood where she was, silent for a long while, before slowly turning to look at Gu Han.

The anger had faded from her eyes, replaced by a complicated, almost bewildered expression.

“Fellow Daoist Gu…”

When she spoke, her voice was much quieter than usual, even carrying a trace of barely perceptible hoarseness.

“What Qingxuan said just now…”

She paused, seemingly unsure how to continue. She merely looked at Gu Han, a trace of conflict flashing through her eyes.

Gu Han quietly met her gaze without speaking.

Empress Lingshuang took a deep breath, as if finally reaching a decision, and slowly said:

“I am cold by nature, poor with words, and understand even less about such twists and turns.”

“But toward you…”

Her words abruptly caught in her throat.

A rare trace of panic appeared in those eyes that were always cold and commanding.

She looked away, turning toward the moonlight beyond the hall. Her voice dropped until it was barely audible.

“It is not because of Qingxuan, nor is it a passing whim.”

After saying this, she seemed to have exhausted all her courage. Without lingering any longer, she turned and left the main hall.

Her steps remained as composed as ever, but the faint redness at the tips of her ears betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

Gu Han stood alone in the empty main hall, gazing in the direction the two women had departed. For a long time, she did not move.

Qingxuan’s parting declaration that she was “sincere,” and Lingshuang’s clumsy yet direct words…

Tonight had given her far too much to process.