Chapter 142: 141 Broken Hearts, Lishan – 42K Subscribers Wanted

Yao Qing's competition started quickly; her strength was impressive, and a sword cultivator is a cultivator among True Dao martial practitioners, a martial practitioner among True Dao cultivators.

Therefore, his fighting style naturally differed from other cultivators and was completely unlike those True Dao martial practitioners.

"So beautiful to watch, no wonder sword cultivators are so popular!"

Wang Wu watched the battle between Yao Qing and her opponent for a while, then couldn't help but exclaim.

"Yao Qing sister is also quite pretty; maybe many people like her, huh?"

Zhao Xingyue, after hearing Wang Wu's words, also smiled and said.

"Yes, many people do like her." Wang Wu nodded, looking at his beloved, "her junior brother likes her a lot, as do those from her same sect."

"Um…"

Seeing the rather proud expression on Wang Wu's face, Zhao Xingyue opened her mouth slightly but said nothing.

No, this can't be the reaction.

Staring at her own man for a while, Zhao Xingyue thought silently.

How could it be this reaction?

Shouldn't it be the tangled, corrupted feelings between sworn siblings? How could it be this reaction??

No! Absolutely not!!!

"Wu Lang, after the match is over, could you treat little Qing sister to a meal?"

"Huh?" Wang Wu, whose gaze had just returned to the arena on Zhao Xingyue, was startled by the words, then nodded:

"Well… that could work. But that lady, you'll probably have to wait until tonight."

"Any time works, Wu Lang…" Zhao Xingyue rested her head on Wang Wu's shoulder, "but you also have to spend more time with your sworn sister, okay?"

Wang Wu clearly did not approve of Zhao Xingyue's words and shook his head, saying:

"If I spend every day with little Qing, what if she can't find a man later? She's still a young maiden; she can't go her whole life without a husband, right?"

Those words immediately made Zhao Xingyue feel uneasy. After her expression stiffened for a moment, she forced a smile and said:

"So what? Little Qing sister likes you that much; she'd gladly stay by your side for a lifetime!"

"You…" Wang Wu affectionately nudged Zhao Xingyue, "but don't go making decisions for little Qing casually; she has her own life to live."

Now Zhao Xingyue was truly at a loss.

Wang Wu, that fellow, takes no side when it comes to feelings.

Of course, she hadn't given up.

Yao Qing's match ended while there was still some time before lunch; it lasted only an hour.

The opponent was suppressed the whole time and couldn't retaliate at all.

Although she executed several extremely graceful dodges and attempted counterattacks along the way, each time she was easily countered by Yao Qing.

In the end, after holding out for an hour, the opponent chose to surrender.

"Yao Qing! Victory!!!!"

As the referee announced, thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the audience.

"Well done!!!!"

Wang Wu's voice rang in her mind; it's a feature of the "mobile phone" that her sworn brother Wang Wu gave her.

"Really impressive, Qing sister!! You are truly my pride!!"

Hearing Wang Wu's unreserved praise and the excited cheers made Yao Qing, whose mood had been low because of some matters, smile faintly.

Even just hearing Wang Wu's voice was enough to make her heart race.

And his compliment made her feel incredibly light, as if she would float away at any moment.

She exhaled softly, walked up to the opponent, bowed to him, and then left the arena.

"Congratulations, senior sister."

As she left, another familiar voice sounded beside Yao Qing's ear.

It was Li Tianxuan.

"Junior brother." Yao Qing gave him a slight nod as a greeting, then walked toward the competitor area entrance.

"Senior sister!!!"

He shouted from behind, but Yao Qing only paused briefly without turning around.

Behind her, Li Tianxuan's face was already filled with deep despair.

"Senior sister, why!!?!"

The scene reverted to before Yao Qing's match.

Seeing Yao Qing, who had knocked him away with a single blow, sitting on the ground, Li Tianxuan's eyes filled with blood vessels as he hysterically shouted:

"Why!!?? Senior sister???"

"You clearly said you'd become my wife!!!"

"But why??? " His eyes were bloodshot as his chest rose and fell violently, and he stared at the icy Yao Qing, "Why are you unwilling, unwilling to let me kiss you??"

"But you are mine, my wife!!"

"I'm still not your wife," Yao Qing said as her breath gradually steadied, looking at her junior brother covered in wounds on the ground.

Even though she said that, a hint of tenderness still showed in her eyes.

Just after seeing the ring Wang Wu gave her, the junior brother suddenly lunged, grabbed her tightly, and kissed her lips.

At that moment, her body reacted before her mind could catch up.

Sharp true Qi burst from her body, instantly

sending the junior brother flying, leaving streaks of scratches on him.

And at the moment she sent the junior brother flying, the first emotion that surfaced in her mind was anger.

"Why, why?"

It wasn't only the junior brother who asked himself; she also asked herself.

"Why is it like this?"

"Obviously, that junior brother…"

But when faced with the junior brother's questioning, for some reason she opened her mouth and said those words.

"I'm still not your wife."

She hadn't finished the sentence when Yao Qing felt a bit of regret, but under another emotion she still said the words out loud.

She had actually become aware of certain things, but she herself was unwilling to think in that direction.

She loved the junior brother, and her love for him hadn't changed at all from before.

Only, that wasn't the kind of love she had previously thought.

And that love—the love that made her heart twitch, stall, ache intensely, yet also spawn endless sweetness, almost drowning her in it.

It didn't belong to the junior brother; it belonged to someone else.

Yao Qing wasn't a fool, because that feeling burned her almost every day.

She was merely an evader, a coward to face the fact.

As for master Li Shangxuan, he could naturally see his disciple's complicated mindset and condition at this moment.

But he didn't care about such nonsense; it was just that the girl finally opened her mind and understood love.

Even in his view, this was already late.

The swords of the Sword Palace aren't Heartless Swords; every sword cultivator practices a Sentient Sword.

One could say this matter is also a trial, so Li Shangxuan won't intervene in this regard for his disciple.

Unless it involves serious matters, everything else must rely on her alone.

"Senior sister!!!"

Watching Yao Qing's figure recede, Li Tianxuan kept shouting, but Yao Qing didn't pause even a step.

"Senior sister...?"

When Yao Qing completely vanished from his sight, Li Tianxuan became despondent at that moment.

He sat on the ground, legs drawn up, burying his face in his knees.

But moments later, he abruptly lifted his head, gazing toward the direction where Yao Qing disappeared, his eyes resolute.

Noon, a restaurant of the Shang Xuan Sect.

"Come, Xiao Qing, eat! This meal's on me!!"

Wang Wu cheerfully picked a chopstickful of dish for his sister and said.

Zhao Xingyue wasn't with him, and neither was Zi Yuan.

Although Wang Wu invited them, the two, not knowing what he was up to, surprisingly declined, saying they had something to attend to.

But it didn't matter, or rather it was perfect. Because being intimate with his lover in front of his sister, a confirmed singleton, was a bit torturing for her.

"What's wrong, Xiao Qing."

But after picking a chopstickful, Wang Wu noticed Yao Qing's mood wasn't great.

Although she tried hard to conceal it, the woman was clearly not someone who could be hidden.

"No, no…"

"You can't fool your brother," Wang Wu said softly.

"Right! Right, right, right! That's it! That's it!!!"

At the same time, in Zhao Xingyue's home, Zi Yuan and Zhao Xingyue sat in her bedroom, faces excited, watching the surveillance feed before them, whispering.

This was a treasure Wang Wu had idly found on a secondhand site: a children's spy surveillance radar toy.

In fact, it's a surveillance drone plus a holographic projection console.

He now enjoys browsing secondhand markets; when something catches his eye, he asks his master to purchase it for him.

Having his master buy and ship it avoids certain tariffs; it's legal and reasonable.

Of course, not every item can enjoy this benefit; customs will inspect it.

Everything has a limit; as long as you stay within that limit, the authorities naturally won't trouble you.

This set of children's toys was bought by Wang Wu for himself, to play spy games.

So many interesting toys, all from his childhood—actually, even as an adult reading sci‑fi novels he hadn't seen such things; didn't he have to try them one by one?

After telling Zi Yuan about Wang Wu and Yao Qing's matter, the woman immediately became interested, then took out Wang Wu's spy toy, because she'd been playing with it these past few days.

So, finding an excuse not to join Wang Wu, the two watched an incredibly dramatic emotional theater at Zhao's house.

"Hey, Sister Xingyue, tell me, will Xiao Qing today pour her heart out to Wu Lang?"

Observing the subtlest expression on Yao Qing's projected face, Zi Yuan asked Zhao Xingyue with an excited look.

"Hard to say…" Zhao Xingyue shook her head, "Really hard to say…"

At this moment, after hearing Wang Wu's words, Yao Qing fell into silence.

After waiting a while, seeing Yao Qing still not speak, Wang Wu didn't press further; instead he rose, sat beside her, and gently took her hand.

"It's fine if you don't want to speak, but you must get out of this quickly."

"Don't overthink, and don't let it weigh on your heart."

"But… but if…" Wang Wu's action made every hair on Yao Qing stand up; her body was extremely tense, like a stone.

She turned her head stiffly, voice trembling and stammering; in her equally trembling eyes, Wang Wu's figure now filled them.

"But if… even if I can't forget… what then?"

Her trembling voice even carried a hint of sobbing:

"Even if it's… it's in a dream…"

"I'm also thinking…"

"Do you love him?" Wang Wu asked.

Yao Qing's body trembled violently; she stared blankly at Wang Wu, her eyes hazy with mist, steam swirling.

Looking at Jin Lan's form, Wang Wu said nothing further.

He spread his arms and pulled Yao Qing tightly into his embrace.

At that moment, Yao Qing's heart was completely torn apart, and intense emotions surged to every part of her body.

"If it's love, then love it."

"If it's hatred, then hate it."

He could clearly feel that with each passing second, Yao Qing's arms grew stronger than the previous.

At the same time, beneath her chest, the heart that had momentarily stalled when she was embraced finally exploded after a dozen seconds.

It began to throb violently, as if trying to burst out of the body and pierce his chest.

At that moment, Yao Qing's heart was finally torn completely.

Wang Wu stepped out, then back in, gently stroking the shattered atrium spouting blood, and sutured it anew.

The heart began beating again, and at that moment, Yao Qing finally realized: that man, that silhouette, she would never be able to forget.

A damp chill rose from her neck; Wang Wu gently patted his sworn sister Jin Lan's back, comforting her:

"Do you feel better?"

"Haha!! That's it!! That's it!"

Meanwhile, in Zhao Xingyue's room, Zi Yuan and Zhao Xingyue's faces were flushed bright red; they reddened further and shouted at the projection of Wang Wu and Yao Qing:

"Hurry!!! Yao Qing!!! Speak!!"

"Wu Lang! Kiss? Kiss her!!!!?"

"Wu…?"

"Huh???"

But the next second, looking at the separated pair, their feet already stepped on Zi Yuan's face on the table, and his expression froze instantly.

"Brother Wang."

Having left Wang Wu's embrace, Yao Qing's gaze was now exceptionally clear.

Within it rippled a glimmer, containing unabashed affection.

"Thank you."

"Haha! As long as you're fine!" Wang Wu, seeing his sworn sister fully recovered, also broke into a cheerful smile.

Then, he again lifted a chopstick of vegetables into Yao Qing's bowl, "Alright, alright! Come eat the vegetables!"

"Thank you, brother."

Yao Qing took a bite of the dish on Wang Wu's chopsticks and smiled lightly.

"Um…"

Wang Wu said nothing, but the two girls in the room began slapping the table vigorously.

"Haha!! Right! Right!!!"

"That's it, that's it!"

After the grand performance, this exhilaration almost rivaled the cultivation with Wu Lang!!

"Hey, by the way, Sister Xingyue." At this moment, a satisfied Zi Yuan looked at Zhao Xingyue and asked.

"What's up? Little sister?" Zhao Xingyue replied with a smile.

Zi Yuan was only nineteen this year, making her the youngest among the girls.

As for the period when she was dead, that doesn't count, so indeed she is the youngest.

"About that, have you been wearing shoes and socks for a while? I'd like to borrow some."

At this point, Zi Yuan felt a bit embarrassed:

"Sister, you know I'm a late‑stage true‑realm demonic cultivator, already an Unblemished Body, so…"

"I'm afraid I can't…" Zhao Xingyue also shook her head lightly, "After all, I'm also nearing the Unblemished Body, with little time left, so…"

Nevertheless, Zi Yuan eventually managed to borrow items, some from Zhao Xingyue's maid, others from Wang Lan.

Time flew, and soon it was May; spring had passed, and summer was in full bloom.

The Emperor's war with the Jiang family continued, now entering a feverish stage.

Thus, Emperor Zhou began massing cultivators nationwide to bolster the army, and the Qingping Sect of Southern Province happened to be among them.

A great number of cultivators were conscripted to the battlefield, naturally including Wang Lan and Yao Qing.

Wang Wu was also present, mainly to protect the two and prevent emergencies.

This place is the Zhou army camp at the foot of Lishan.

Wang Wu's historical record was not impressive, so he didn't know that the Emperor Zhou back home was killed here.

(End of chapter)