When Tang Jie spotted Xu Miaoran, Xu Miaoran’s eyes also fell on Tang Jie.

When their eyes met, the world seemed to stop, time freezing on a single moment. Everything ceased to exist except for the two of them.

Xu Miaoran was so dazed when she looked at Tang Jie that she forgot to circulate her spiritual energy and almost fell out of the sky. Thankfully, Zuo Quanming was there to grab her.

“Tang Jie…” she softly called out as she stared at Tang Jie, tears welling up in her eyes.

Tang Jie dumbly looked back at Xu Miaoran.

He had already planned everything out to first see his brothers before going to see his wife, but it seemed like his plan couldn’t keep up with the situation. He hadn’t expected to suddenly run into Xu Miaoran.

Their reunion had come so swiftly and so hastily that all of Tang Jie’s plans were ruined, and he inexplicably started to panic. Th link to the orign of this information rsts n novl(ꜰ)ire.et

He blurted out, “How come you’re here?”

He had imagined how their reunion would go countless times, even what his first words to Xu Miaoran would be.

He would elegantly walk up to her side and offer up a flower. “You’ve gotten thinner.”

Or perhaps he would excitedly run up and hug her. “I’ve returned.”

These scenes and many more had played out in Tang Jie’s mind, but never had he imagined that his actual first words to her would be like this, flustered like he had been caught in an affair.

Perhaps realizing the ambiguity of his words, Tang Jie stammered, “I didn’t mean it like that… I just got back, so I meant that I wanted to come and find you myself… I’m trying to say that I wanted to surprise you…”

Before he could finish, Xu Miaoran rushed over, hugged Tang Jie by the neck, and gave him a deep kiss.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

This was out in the open!

Even in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, this was considered outrageous behavior.

The disciple standing guard at the pavilion immediately turned around, only daring to look out of the corner of his eyes at them.

Liu Hongyan, who was always one for upholding the rules, snorted, “As expected of a fiend woman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion.”

“Daring to act as one wishes, daring to love and hate as one wishes, truly one of the unusual women of the world,” the more fiery Su Xinyue praised.

Wei Tianchong commented, “I wish that rascal Cai Junyang could see this.” He still hadn’t forgotten how Cai Junyang had fooled him that one time.

Bei Canghan and Qi Shaoming nodded in agreement. They were sure that if Cai Junyang saw this, he would realize how serious a crime it was to pretend to be Tang Jie.

Zuo Quanming was, as ever, the most economical, saying nothing at all. But a recording stone had appeared in his hands, and he was quietly recording the entire scene.

A deep kiss.

A long kiss.

A passionate kiss.

That fragrant kiss was like the strongest flame, melting Tang Jie away.

All of those words he had been saving up merged together into a single gaze and a passionate kiss that carried all of his thoughts and emotions.

Just like that, they amorously kissed, not caring what those around them thought or how they stared, tightly hugging each other. Only after a long, long time did they finally let go.

Xu Miaoran still tightly clung to Tang Jie’s neck, her bright eyes staring at Tang Jie, examining his face as if she was looking for something.

“If you’re thinking about checking whether I’m fake or real, it’s a little late for that,” Tang Jie said, rubbing his nose.

Xu Miaoran chortled at these words, and then she threw herself into Tang Jie’s chest, snuggling him like she was a child.

The tyrannical leader of the All-Talent Society who had proved her ability again and again over the last one hundred years was now acting like a child, leaving the bystanders gobsmacked.

Many Horizon Ocean Pavilion disciples were converging on this location.

They had been drawn here by the bell of Seven Slaughter Pavilion, but it was the reunion of Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran that had their attention.

Although they had never seen Tang Jie before, they knew that there was only one man that Xu Miaoran would lie in the embrace of.

Tang Jie!

Tang Jie had returned!

The news finally began to spread.

———————————————————

The sparring platform.

Whoosh!

There was a powerful flash of sword energy, and a late-phase Heart Demon cultivator was blasted off the sparring platform.

“Anyone else?” Cai Junyang boldly declared from the platform, sword in hand.

The Horizon Ocean Pavilion cultivators looked at each other, none of them daring to go up.

“Wooo!!!” Down below, Peng Yaolong, Ye Tianshang, and Meng Shixue let out cheers.

Peng Yaolong folded his arms and said, “If nobody dares to step forward, then we will be the master of the platform for this month too. Thank you, all of you, for being willing to stand aside.”

Several cultivators scowled, but while they were inwardly unwilling to give up, it truly was very difficult to find a cultivator of the same cultivation realm as Cai Junyang who could compare to him. Perhaps some of the Young Lords were capable of this, but they were mostly focused on cultivation and rarely came to the sparring platform.

As a result, Cai Junyang had dominated Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s sparring platform for the last few years, having seized the title of platform master more than ten times. Although this wasn’t a big deal, it was still rather humiliating and a source of resentment.

At this moment, a voice came from the distance. “Cai Junyang, you’ve showed off enough.”

A woman elegantly floated over.

She wore a veil over her face, and her bare feet trod across the sky, leaving ripples in her wake. She was on the horizon when she spoke, but by the time her words had arrived, she was already on the scene.

The Horizon Ocean Pavilion cultivators cheered at this woman’s arrival, constantly yelling “Senior Sister Han!” and “Big Sister!” This was none other than the most outstanding disciple of this generation of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, the Mourning Wind Maiden, Han Shuangyue.

The moment Han Shuangyue appeared, Cai Junyang was itching to battle. “Han Shuangyue, you’ve finally come out!”

Not only did he not fear the number one genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, he was brimming with the desire to fight. He immediately brought up his large sword, assuming a battle stance.

Han Shuangyue said, “Cai Junyang, you’re currently at Heart Demon Tier, one tier lower than me. I won’t take advantage of this and will suppress my realm to the initial phase of Heart Demon. If you lose, you are no longer allowed to appear at this sparring platform.”

In less than two hundred years, Han Shuangyue had already cultivated to Soul Transformation—a terrifying rate of cultivation.

Cai Junyang was currently at the middle phase of Heart Demon. By lowering herself to the initial phase, she was putting herself half a tier below him in cultivation level.

Cai Junyang raised an eyebrow. “And if I win?”

“You won’t!”

Her toes lightly tapped on the ground, and then she disappeared, reappearing on the sparring platform. Without a word, she thrust a finger at Cai Junyang.

Cai Junyang roared and swung his sword, unleashing a dazzling blast of light at the Mourning Wind Maiden.

To his surprise, the woman simply twirled in the air, and all that sword light dispersed. She thrust out an elegant hand, and a slender energy palm flew at Cai Junyang’s face. Cai Junyang instantly felt an explosion of murderous intent and hastily drew back his left hand, forming countless hand signs. These hand signs transformed into a Coiling Dragon Hand that moved to confront Han Shuangyue’s energy palm.

Bang!

There was an intense explosion, and the two broke apart. Cai Junyang’s body was covered in frost, and Han Shuangyue’s face was a little flushed.

Cai Junyang roared and charged back into the fray. At the same time, Han Shuangyue raised her hand, sending out a red band of silk that sought to wind around Cai Junyang’s neck.

Cai Junyang raised his sword to cut it, but the red silk refused to be cut, coiling around like a snake. Cai Junyang grunted, and his sword instantly turned into thousands of small swords that shot at Han Shuangyue.

But Han Shuangyue simply tapped on the air several times with her bare feet and disappeared, her foot technique comparing favorably to Tang Jie’s Chaoswind Step. When she appeared again, it was behind Cai Junyang, thrusting two fingers at the back of Cai Junyang’s head.

But Cai Junyang had predicted this, a barrier lighting up around his body as he thrust a palm behind him. Han Shuangyue disappeared, again evading his attack.

In a flash, the two of them had exchanged countless blows. One had sharp and penetrating sword arts while the other had unfathomable movement techniques. One had prodigious strength, while the other had bizarre spell arts. All of this came together into a splendid battle in which it was hard to tell who was superior.

When those Horizon Ocean Pavilion cultivators saw how intense the battle was, they realized just how strong Cai Junyang really was.

“To be able to battle Big Sister to this level, he must be the number one genius of the Basking Moon Sect in the last two hundred years.”

This was praising the opponent to maintain the dignity of their Big Sister.

“It’s because he had Xu Miaoran’s resources.”

Others tried to attribute some of Cai Junyang’s strength to their own faction.

“Hmph, Xu Miaoran is really something else, giving resources to people from another sect rather than her own brothers and sisters.”

Some tried to vent the anger from their inability onto others.

Meanwhile, the battle intensified.

Cai Junyang swung his sword and laughed, “Be careful of this one!”

The sword flashed red as he swung it at the band of red silk in Han Shuangyue’s hand.

“The Dao of Slaughter?” Han Shuangyue snorted. Her body swayed, erupting with an enchanting light in which countless human figures could be seen standing among glistening trees, and heavenly chanting resounded through the air.

Cai Junyang’s sword dimmed before Han Shuangyue, the power of Slaughter failing to breach this splendorous world, a vast power pushing him back.

“Big Sister used the Heavenly Book of Detachment.”

“Hmph, Cai Junyang shouldn’t even think about beating the Heavenly Book of Detachment!”

The crowd began to chatter.

The Heavenly Book of Detachment was one of the supreme arts of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, emphasizing detachment, the severing of emotions.

The Dao of Emotion was a minor Dao, but it had its own attributes and style that were on par with a Great Dao, and because it was a minor Dao, it was easier to see its effects. The Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion both walked the Dao of Emotion. It was just that one focused on many emotions while the other focused on no emotions at all.

Han Shuangyue cultivated the Heavenly Book of Detachment, severing her desires and vowing to never marry. In exchange, she had become terrifyingly strong. Although it was only a minor Dao, she had comprehended this Dao to a profound level, allowing her to display a higher level of power.

The enchanting light produced countless fantastical sights that shook the wills of the spectators and dazzled their eyes, even suppressing Cai Junyang. As everyone was fascinated and was cheering Han Shuangyue, believing that she was about to win, Cai Junyang erupted with light.

Cai Junyang had somehow used some special method to defend against, weaken, and even absorb the terrifying power of the Heavenly Book of Detachment.

This was Cai Junyang’s Hundred Tribulations Passage Art. A hundred years of usage and experience had allowed him to develop it to a great degree. As the art was incomplete, Cai Junyang had used his own ways to fill in the missing parts, inserting much of his own understanding. This made the Hundred Tribulations Passage Art more suited for him and more complete.

Now, not only could the Hundred Tribulations Passage Art protect his life and stimulate his potential, it could also absorb and analyze his opponent’s power and use it to strengthen his defense.

With this art, Cai Junyang was able to grimly hold on. He trusted that his perseverance and tenacity would make him the ultimate winner.

The battle turned into a stalemate. One was a peerless genius of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and the other was an incomparable treasure of the Basking Moon Sect who had reached the summit of Water Moon Peak. It was hard to say who would win.

At this moment, a voice made an untimely comment. “Quite the racket you have going on here.”

This familiar voice made Cai Junyang’s ears perk up. “Tang Jie?”

His mind lost focus for a moment, and Han Shuangyue seized the moment, the power of the Heavenly Book of Detachment sweeping in and sending Cai Junyang flying.

The enchanting light continued to charge at Cai Junyang, refusing to stop. If it struck true, it was bound to leave him severely injured.

Tang Jie appeared above the sparring platform, and with a light wave of his sleeve, the enchanting light disappeared.

Grabbing Cai Junyang by the shoulder, he landed on the platform and casually said, “This is just a sparring match. Since the outcome has already been decided, Mourning Wind Maiden, why keep pushing?”

Han Shuangyue ignored this question, coldly staring at Tang Jie. “You are Tang Jie? Fight me!”

“You want to fight me?” Tang Jie smiled. “Are you at Violet Palace?”

Han Shuangyue was startled, instinctively shaking her head.

“Then there’s no point.”