By the time Jian Dan arrived on Cotton Candy, having followed the transmission's coordinates, she saw the four others already gathered—though one more person lay on the edge of the cliff. Feng Nianyue was being firmly held back by the other three, prevented from getting closer.
"What happened?" Jian Dan asked calmly.
"Shan Zhēnrén!" The four turned to her in relief, visibly more at ease now.
Jian Dan arched a brow. This was clearly the prelude to a mess that was about to land in her lap. She skipped the pleasantries and called out directly, "Cao Chenfeng, you explain."
Cao Chenfeng stepped forward and gave a formal bow. "Senior Sister Feng left the inn on her own. We were worried, so we followed her here. That man lying over there, heavily injured, is Kong Qiankun."
But even before he finished speaking, Jian Dan had already swept her divine sense over Kong Qiankun's body. As a fellow Golden Core cultivator, her cultivation was not inferior to his—especially since her spiritual sense had always been stronger than her realm.
She noticed that, although he appeared unconscious, his heart had just skipped a beat before settling back into a normal rhythm.
Turning her gaze toward Feng Nianyue, she asked, "What do you want to do?"
Feng Nianyue had kept her head down since Jian Dan arrived. Only now did she finally look up, biting her lip. It took her a long while before she whispered, "I... I don't know."
Jian Dan felt the veins on her temple twitch. She no longer had the patience for drawn-out drama. With a flick of her fingers, a strand of spiritual energy took form and yanked Kong Qiankun toward her, her hand closing firmly around his throat.
"Shan Zhēnrén??" Feng Nianyue cried out in alarm.
Kong Qiankun's eyes snapped open in shock, meeting Jian Dan's gaze. Within her pupils, rings of azure light began to ripple outward. His eyelids grew heavy. Slowly, his consciousness slipped away.
Jian Dan tossed his body over to He Jintang and Kong Yu, then conjured a small sphere of spiritual water to cleanse the hand that had touched him.
"Feng Nianyue. Kong Qiankun is now asleep. If you want to know the truth, go see for yourself."
"But—"
"I've only created the opening scene of the dream. The rest depends on his own choices."
She didn't wait for a reply. Jian Dan took out a square-round formation disk, activated it, and sealed off the Broken Wall Cliff. Then she sat cross-legged on a cushion and began circulating her Primordial Chaos Art.
Cao Chenfeng did the same, nurturing his spiritual sword. The others settled in beside him. Feng Nianyue hesitated, then split off a thread of her divine sense and entered Kong Qiankun's sea of consciousness.
The moment their spiritual energies connected, Jian Dan's eyes flew open. The blue light in them deepened.
"Will she be alright?" Kong Yu asked uncertainly.
The others also turned to Jian Dan.
She answered with feigned mystery, "This is her trial. If she overcomes it, disaster turns to fortune. If not—"
"What happens?"
"She perishes. Both body and Dao."
Right on cue, Feng Nianyue coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed, clutching her head in pain. The others rushed to her side, but the pain seemed to have snapped her mind clear.
Jian Dan calmly retrieved a rare Soul-Nourishing Pill, helped Feng Nianyue swallow it, and guided spiritual energy into her body to disperse the medicine and ease the strain on her soul.
Fifteen minutes later, Feng Nianyue had fully regained her senses. She opened her eyes and looked at Jian Dan. Her apricot-shaped eyes were red with unshed tears.
"He made the same choice again," she whispered bitterly. "For his Dao, for his family, for his childhood sweetheart... he used me, manipulated me."
"So what will you do now?" Jian Dan asked coldly. "You are a cultivator, not some sheltered noble lady from the mortal world. Show me the same fire you had when you fought me over a robe. Sometimes, it's better to bully others than to have no strength to stand on at all."
Feng Nianyue's emotions gradually calmed under the weight of those words.
Meanwhile, Kong Qiankun stirred, his phoenix eyes still hazy. He frowned at the group before him, then turned his gaze toward Feng Nianyue. "Nianyue…"
She ignored him completely and turned to Jian Dan. "Shan Zhēnrén, Kong Zhēnrén is awake. I assume he still has a mission to complete. Let's return to the sect and report."
Now that the key player had spoken, the others silently summoned their flying swords. Jian Dan withdrew the formation disk, stepped onto Cotton Candy, and was the first to leave. Feng Nianyue looked back one last time before soaring off after them.
A flicker of hatred passed through Kong Qiankun's eyes.
He had planned to lure Feng Nianyue here and use her as a scapegoat. If he could draw the Hua Clan's pursuers toward her, he would have a chance to conserve his strength. Then, perhaps, he could manipulate her into begging the Zhēnzūn to cancel his black-marked mission order. But now, everything had fallen apart.
Jian Dan's divine sense had never once left Kong Qiankun. While he was unconscious, she had left a trace of Verdant Flame embedded in the hem of his robe, lying in wait for the right moment to strike.
Not far away, several early-stage Golden Core cultivators from the Hua Clan had been observing the area. When they saw that Jian Dan had taken her people and left the wounded Kong Qiankun behind, they exchanged a few quick glances, then silently closed in as he struggled to climb out of Broken Wall Cliff.
Just as Jian Dan and her group returned to Xiangyun Town and retracted their sword light, they sensed a surge of spiritual force erupting in the distance. The disturbance grew stronger by the second. Villagers began stepping out of their homes, looking toward the commotion.
"That despicable man. How could he!" Feng Nianyue trembled.
She was still too young, too inexperienced. She had mistaken her dependence on Kong Qiankun for affection. She still clung to her illusions, and Jian Dan couldn't help feeling a mix of exasperation and sympathy. But matters of the heart were like drinking water—only the one who drank knew whether it was hot or cold.
So all Jian Dan could do was reveal the truth behind her so-called romance—strip it bare, even show its ugliest parts—and let Feng Nianyue come to her own realization, rather than forcing her to let go through brute means.
===
Feng Nianyue was young, inexperienced, mistaking her dependence on Kong Qiankun for love. Some might call her foolish, but matters of the heart are personal. Jian Dan chose to expose the ugly truth rather than force her to abandon it outright—because true growth comes from seeing clearly, not being pushed blindly.
Also—🎉 100 CHAPTERS! 🎉
Keep the stones coming, dear readers~ 💖