Chapter 386: Yuan Yao Steps Out

She drew her spiritual sense out of the Yaoguang Space, then continued to cultivate her mental power.

Not long after, she noticed that the piece of emerald‑green jade tablet in her storage space had lit up.

She took out the jade tablet, infused it with spiritual power, and then Xie Yan's voice came through.

"Yuan Yao, come out."

Yuan Yao froze, then she jumped in fright, she sprang to her feet, hurried to the door, flung it open, glanced around—it was already late at night, the surroundings were dead silent, and she saw no one.

She closed the door and let out a breath of relief.

She had thought Xie Yan had really come to her door.

Fortunately, it was just her misunderstanding.

At that moment, the emerald‑green jade tablet flashed again, and Xie Yan's voice came through.

"Yuan Yao, I'm waiting for you outside the Carefree Sect gate."

Those words were like a thunderbolt, making Yuan Yao's heart suddenly race as if it wanted to leap out of her throat.

She hurriedly sent a message asking, "Are you sure you're outside the Carefree Sect gate?"

"Hmm."

"You didn't come specially to see me, did you?"

"Just passing by," the youth replied nonchalantly.

Yuan Yao paced back and forth inside the room, her mind somewhat torn.

Xie Yan sent her another message, his tone somewhat mocking: "Yuan Yao, are you… afraid to see me?"

Hearing those words, Yuan Yao took a deep breath and decided to meet him in person.

She sneaked down Heaven Martial Peak, and upon reaching the sect gate, she flashed her token and successfully left the sect.

Moonlight fell, adding a hint of brightness to the ink‑black night.

And as she stepped out of the sect gate, a paper crane drifted down before her; she felt a tug in her heart and reached out to catch it.

On the paper crane were written two characters: "Right."

Yuan Yao turned her head to the right and saw, on a distant boulder, a white‑clad youth sitting with one leg raised, his hand resting on his knee, his hair bound in a high ponytail, his profile exuding coolness; but when he turned his head and his gaze swept over, the face revealed was an alluring, gorgeous countenance.

The youth's lips, naturally red without dye, curled up slightly.

Yuan Yao swiftly leapt toward him, but in the blink of an eye she had already appeared at his side.

"Come with me quickly," Yuan Yao urged, grabbing Xie Yan's arm before he could react and pulling him toward a nearby forest.

Xie Yan blinked, his gaze falling on the hand that gripped his arm, then he slowly lifted his eyes to watch her retreating back.

Yuan Yao finally had him pulled into the forest, then she turned her head to him and asked, "What capacity are you coming to see me in?"

The youth lowered his gaze to her and said, "What do you think?"

Yuan Yao's expression stalled; upon seeing his extraordinarily handsome face, she shuddered slightly, truly unaccustomed to facing him so openly at such close range.

He suddenly asked, "Am I ugly?"

Yuan Yao silently shook her head.

Xie Yan raised an eyebrow, "How do you find this vessel of mine?"

"Do you have another body?" Yuan Yao's focus shifted instantly; she stared at him in shock, "You wouldn't happen to be the painting‑skin demon spoken of in the books, would you?"

Xie Yan choked.

He suddenly thought to tease her, "If I were a painting‑skin demon, would you be afraid?"

"Yes." Yuan Yao answered honestly, then silently stepped back two paces.

Xie Yan felt a tightness in his chest.

Not a word of what she said was to his liking.

"Don't hide." Xie Yan watched her retreat a few steps, feeling especially displeased, and as he stepped forward he said, "If you keep retreating, I will keep advancing."

"If I really am a demon, would you kill me?"

He gazed intently into Yuan Yao's eyes.

Yuan Yao startled, then she lifted her eyes to him and said earnestly, "Xie Yan, as long as you don't do anything that harms heaven and reason, and don't hurt the people around me, I won't kill you."

Xie Yan's brow twitched, and he couldn't help but ask, "Really?"

"Are you really a demon?" Yuan Yao glanced around, then asked cautiously.

Xie Yan shook his head.

"Then are you a demon race?"

Xie Yan snorted, "No."

"Then that's settled!" Yuan Yao crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked, "What business do you have in the Ninth Province?"

Xie Yan pressed his lips together, gave a light cough, and said, "Just some important matters."

Yuan Yao let out an "oh."

She recalled something, stared at his face for a moment, and smiled, "This vessel of yours is indeed handsome."

Xie Yan's gaze lingered on her face, noticing she seemed a bit thinner, and sensing that the aura of power she unconsciously exuded was growing deeper and more restrained.

He said, "Your vessel isn't bad either."

Yuan Yao confidently hummed an "uh," having been praised since childhood.

"Want to exchange a couple of moves?" Xie Yan slightly lowered his body, gave a light smile, meeting her eyes, and said, "To avoid being noticed, we won't use spiritual power."

Yuan Yao's eyes lit up, "Sure."

She had been worried about lacking a sparring partner for real combat.

"Wait a moment, I'll first set up a formation barrier; that way it will muffle the sound of our fight."

Xie Yan watched as she raised her hand and instantly laid down a formation barrier, his eyebrows lifting slightly—it seemed her skill in formations had grown even higher.

"Yuan Yao, have you been staying at the Carefree Sect this whole time?" Xie Yan summoned a long sword in his hand.

Yuan Yao nodded, and she also summoned the Phantom Spirit sword.

She grabbed the hilt with one hand.

Xie Yan saw the colorful long sword in her hand, his eyelid twitched slightly, and he now actually thought the Phantom Spirit sword wasn't so ugly.

The girl also tied her hair into a high ponytail; when her colorful hair ribbon fluttered in the wind, it echoed the Phantom Spirit sword, actually creating a unique sense of beauty that made it hard to look away.

"Don't get distracted!" the girl raised her sword and thrust toward him.

Xie Yan quickly raised his sword and blocked.

Clang—

The two exchanged sword moves, using no spiritual power, relying only on simple sword techniques to spar.

Xie Yan noticed her swordsmanship becoming ever more proficient, and what surprised him even more was that her sword speed was extremely fast and she had already formed a sword momentum, invisibly giving people a strong sense of oppression.

And from Yuan Yao's perspective, Xie Yan had grown stronger again!

Every time he struck, he could precisely block her moves and almost knocked her sword away.

They fought for a while.

As the sky began to lighten, both of their long swords were pressed against each other's necks.

They glanced at each other.

Yuan Yao knew he was going easy on her, and her desire to beat him grew stronger.

Xie Yan seemed to see through her thoughts, he sheathed his sword and let out a soft sigh, "When will you be able to press me down and beat me?"

Yuan Yao took a deep breath, put away the Phantom Spirit sword, and glared at him: "... You wait!"

"Yuan Yao." Xie Yan suddenly called out.

"What's wrong?"

Xie Yan stepped forward and stood before Yuan Yao; just as she was puzzled, he suddenly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and placed a paper bag in her hand.

Yuan Yao's eyes showed doubt as she opened the paper bag to look inside.

It was roasted bird eggs.

She was somewhat surprised as she lifted her head and looked at Xie Yan: "How do you know I like to eat bird eggs?"

Xie Yan avoided her gaze, his expression a little awkward, and said: "That day in Snow City, I saw you buying many roasted bird eggs. So I thought you must like eating them."