Where does that wicked woman get her conscience?

The scream made Guan Xun's ears ache. She clicked her tongue, turned her head to look at Bai Ze, who was glaring at her angrily and righteously questioning her, and said calmly, "Didn't you personally deliver it to me to steal?"

"You dare to say something like that?!" Bai Ze shouted angrily. This is outrageous! He then proceeded to beat up a passerby, and afterwards claimed that the person had offered themselves up to be beaten. What's the difference?!

Guan Xun didn't have time to waste on this nonsense. What's the use of saying so much now that she'd already taken the hair? She hesitated for a moment, then plucked out a small portion of the hair and put it in her hand, while putting the rest back into her storage ring.

Then, a surge of fiery spiritual energy erupted from her palm, burning away all the snow-white fur, leaving only a few specks of ash. With a probing look in her eyes, she tossed the ash onto the spatial barrier.

Bai Ze was still rambling on and on, and Guan Xun felt a headache coming on. If she could, she would definitely shut him up.

"Master, what are you doing?" Chi Rong asked in his mind when he saw his master's strange behavior.

"Wait."

"Wait?" it repeated the word, though it didn't know its meaning, but it also imitated its master, staring intently at the barrier.

In a short while, Guan Xun watched as the sunlight reflected off the barrier slowly diminished until it disappeared.

She immediately leaped onto Chi Rong's head and shouted, "Run!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Chi Rong had already leaped away before the person above him could even land and utter a sound.

"How is this possible! The spatial blockade has been broken?!" Although Bai Ze was extremely shocked, it reacted very quickly when it came to serious matters.

They activated the spatial blockade once more, but it was too late. They were just a hair's breadth away from trapping Chi Rong.

Its heart trembled, and it transformed into human form, realizing that it had messed things up. Just as it was about to get up and chase after it, a strong gust of wind suddenly rushed past it!

Although he didn't see anything, he knew that the adult had made a move. He looked towards the cliff and, sure enough, there was no longer a figure in white there, only the shattered clouds drifting slowly.

 …

"It actually managed to break through the spatial barrier!" Chi Rong said excitedly, his speed undiminished.

Guan Xun scoffed. She was just trying anything, even if it was a dead end. Since it all came from Bai Ze, she figured it might work. The vibrant creature was confronting her within the barrier, so she could only try burning away the life force in the fur with flames to see if she could trigger some energy within the barrier. The outcome of this unknown action was uncertain, with a 50/50 chance of success. Unexpectedly, she succeeded.

Suddenly, her smile froze, and she abruptly turned to look behind her.

"Owner!!"

Before she could speak, Chi Rong's horrified cry suddenly rang out, and then the speed of her flight came to an abrupt halt. Guan Xun's figure swayed, and she almost fell forward.

After staggering a few steps, she regained her balance. The familiar surroundings compelled her to turn her stiff neck straight forward.

The Imperial Tutor, who had been sitting cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, had somehow appeared in front of them!

His cold eyes stared straight ahead, seemingly looking at her, yet also as if he wasn't looking at her at all.

Guan Xun gasped, lowering his eyes slightly, and saw a slender finger pressed against Chi Rong's forehead. The fingertip rippled with tiny waves, actually suppressing the flames on Chi Rong's body, causing them to surge towards the gaps on both sides.

With just a flick of his finger, he abruptly stopped the flashing crimson flames.

What a sin...

Guan Xun grinned and gave the Imperial Tutor what he thought was a fairly friendly smile: "Excuse me?"

The Imperial Tutor's indifferent face showed no change whatsoever, not even blinking. With a flick of his finger, he removed Chi Rong's forehead.

Guan Xun's eyelids tightened, and his pupils dilated slightly as the fingertip moved away.

Has he changed his mind? Will he really give way to her?

Or is it... because of the smile?

Then, she subconsciously raised her hand and touched her chin with her knuckles.

At that very moment, the Imperial Tutor's aura suddenly surged, his five fingers outstretched, and a powerful wave of spiritual energy erupted forth! Like a ferocious beast breaking free of its cage, it was unstoppable, directly blasting everything around it away!

The sudden impact sent Chi Rong's massive body crashing back the way it came. Guan Xun managed to grab its sharp corners in an instant, but even so, her wrists still ached and felt weak.

The impact prevented her from fully opening her eyes. Through those squinting slits, she could see that Chi Rong's body had lost its original color and become somewhat transparent, as if it might disappear at any moment.

"Chi Rong! Come back!"

She was shocked and immediately shouted at it. She had only just recovered a little bit, and it would be terrible if it were knocked back to its original form. She didn't want to talk nonsense to something that had no intelligence.

Chi Rong seemed to sense the state of his body as well. A ball of flame split off from his body, forming a protective shield that enveloped Guan Xun. Then, it flashed and transformed into a beam of light, entering Guan Xun's body.

That protective shield could only withstand some unidentified objects that were destroyed by the impact and sent flying along with her; it was completely unable to withstand the spiritual energy waves.

Guan Xun felt the wind tighten the skin on his face, his simple hair bun was blown loose, the hair ornaments and hairpins that were inserted in his hair were nowhere to be seen, and even his clothes were in complete disarray.

Even Chi Rong couldn't withstand the surge of spiritual energy, let alone her. Even when she mobilized her spiritual energy to protect herself, it was still to no avail.

Guan Xun tilted her head to the side, her hair blowing against her face. She felt a slight loosening at her waist, and her gloomy face twitched involuntarily. She bit her lower lip tightly, but in the end, she gave up the protection of her spiritual power. Then, she used her free hands to grab the loose belt and tied a tight knot with some difficulty.

Immediately, her body slammed heavily onto the hilltop, and the unidentified debris followed suit, wave after wave. Fortunately, the protective shield prevented it from hitting her directly.

The enormous impact caused the protective shield to bounce back and forth on the mountainside, like a balloon dancing in a breeze, and it even bounced directly toward the edge of the steep cliff!

Guan Xun's pupils contracted sharply. She channeled her spiritual energy into her arms and pressed her palms directly into the ground to stabilize her position.

The spiritual energy waves showed no sign of stopping, continuously hurling countless debris at her, as if determined to fight her to the death.

The stalemate lasted for an unknown amount of time, until Guan Xun's face showed signs of fatigue. When she looked up, she was surprised to find that the protective shield had become much more transparent than before.

A giant rock, several times larger than Guan Xun, suddenly appeared and crashed down on her with a bang. Although the protective shield did not break or disappear, Guan Xun could no longer withstand it, and the impact caused her wrist to tremble violently.

Her fingertip shifted, a small mistake that created a huge opportunity for the spiritual energy wave. The protective barrier, already teetering on the edge of the cliff, bounced one last time, carrying Guan Xun as they plunged into the bottomless abyss...

Even with her strong willpower, Guan Xun couldn't suppress the surge of anger within her. Her teeth clenched so tightly they cracked, and she roared towards the sky, "It's just a petal! Is it really that big of a deal?!"

It is said that the way to vent anger is to stop it from being bottled up inside, but even if Guan Xun shouted out his anger, he still felt resentful.

She wanted nothing more than to rush forward and tear that man to shreds! Tear him into pieces, then unleash a gust of wind to sweep him off the cliff, so he could experience the feeling of being blown away by the wind!

As soon as the roar subsided, and just as she was gritting her teeth, a large hand pierced through the protective shield. The tough shield instantly dissipated into countless red particles like dust. To her astonishment, the hand brushed past her earlobe. The moment the fingertip touched her skin, a chill spread, and she couldn't help but shiver.

The hand passed through her hair, landed on the back of her head, and then suddenly tightened, gripping her hair roots tightly!

Guan Xun snapped back to her senses in an instant, immediately covering the large hand that was grabbing her hair with her left hand. The pain made her gasp, and with her other hand, her spiritual energy instantly transformed into a blade, which she swung upwards!

The person didn't dodge, as if they weren't afraid of the attack at all.

And that was indeed the case. Even though the person was right in front of her, and she attacked with all her might, the blade seemed to be an insurmountable distance away from that person, unable to touch him even slightly.

Even so, Guan Xun did not let go of her hand. She held the dagger to her chin, the sharp tip pointing towards her. In her line of sight, the tip of the dagger was already pressed against her snow-white neck, at the Adam's apple.

Silver strands of hair fell across her face, swaying in the gentle breeze, making her feel as if something was crawling on her face, causing a slight itch.

A strong sense of malevolence emanated from her brows, and her eyes were icy cold, like a bottomless ice cellar. When they met those equally icy blue eyes, as cold as the dead of winter, hidden beneath the thin veil, there was not a trace of fear.

"Just a single petal?"

His tone was distant and indifferent.

Guan Xun, however, sensed a chilling intent in his voice.