Chapter 194: If She Refuses

So fucking annoying!!!

These were the only three words in Jiang Die’s heart.

Is this never going to end?

If she still had her Dao, forget Jiang Yu or Jiang Tianxin—she could beat even the Jiang Clan’s elders until they questioned their very existence.

But she didn’t anymore.

Which is why—so fucking annoying!!!

“Why do you all keep coming after me? Lu Ye is improving by leaps and bounds down in the lower realm, cultivating nonstop just to catch up to me. Once he ascends, the Jiang Clan's doomsday will arrive! Instead of working for the sake of the clan, you’re all just dragging me down—again and again. I truly don’t understand what you people are even trying to accomplish!” Jiang Die said with open frustration.

Of course, deep down, she knew why.

She was simply guilty.

The phrase a fierce front masking inner fear couldn’t have suited Jiang Die more.

She could still barely hold her ground for now. But once Lu Ye came to the Third Heaven... she really didn’t know how she was supposed to face him.

If Lu Ye wanted to kill ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) her in one move, he probably could do it with laughable ease.

“Jiang Die, it’s just a spar. Shutting yourself in to train alone can never match the progress gained from encountering many different opponents. You’re this agitated—could it be that you're hiding something shameful?”

Jiang Die was absolutely livid.

“Fine. You want a fight, huh? Bring it on!”

“Even if I haven’t fully recovered from my injuries, even if you’re at the peak of the Heaven’s Mandate Realm—so what?!”

In an instant, Jiang Die’s aura exploded.

The Heaven Silkworm Ninefold Change technique erupted on the spot—a versatile and universal method that even Shangguan Huanling had mastered to perfection. Clearly, this technique was extremely easy to learn.

At first, it had only been Heaven Silkworm Triple Change. But with Lu Ye’s effort—and the “utterly insignificant” help from the system—it had evolved into the Heaven Silkworm Ninefold Change.

In a single instant, Jiang Die’s cultivation jumped from third-layer Heaven’s Mandate Realm to its very peak.

Many onlookers gasped in shock.

What a terrifying burst technique.

The crowd hurriedly backed away, clearing a large space for Jiang Die and Jiang Tianxin.

Jiang Tianxin was under quite a bit of pressure.

Her goal was to become the Jiang Clan’s number one prodigy. If she lost here, that title would obviously be passed on...

Then again, so be it. Let it pass. She’d already started to fall behind the top prodigies of other forces.

“Kill!”

Jiang Die roared with fury.

In the blink of an eye, a long spear formed in the void and landed in Jiang Die’s hand.

She was planning to end the fight in a single blow.

Jiang Tianxin felt the overwhelming pressure. She let out a shout of her own, and shield after shield of void energy rapidly formed before her.

Seventeen layers of Void Shields in total.

The void spear crashed into them. Though each shield was pierced, the spear was slowed and dragged down, as if it had sunk into a swamp. Countless forces pulled at it, draining its momentum.

“Break for me!”

BOOM!

Jiang Tianxin was blown backward.

But in the next breath, she rebounded straight back. That impact alone wasn’t enough to knock her out of the fight.

Strong!

Jiang Tianxin was shaken, but at the same time, a strange thought crept in—Strong, yes... but not overwhelmingly so.

“Void Palm!”

BOOM!

The spear smashed the massive palm apart. Jiang Die’s brow split open, revealing a vertical eye, which instantly fired off a beam of divine light.

Jiang Tianxin conjured a black hole before her—it devoured the light beam whole. The two of them were suddenly locked in a vicious back-and-forth exchange.

Huh?

Huh?

HUH?!

“I told you! I told you—she’s not that strong! Even though she’s got the upper hand, she’s nowhere near strong enough to instantly kill Sister Tianxin! Her rank as number one on the Heavenly God Rankings is absolutely fake!” Jiang Yu shouted, his expression slipping into madness.

“She lied to us!”

“Countless clansmen in the Second Heaven died because of her lies. She’s nothing but a fraud!”

“Did you all see that?!”

Rage surged within Jiang Die.

From the sky above, thunder rumbled—like the heavens themselves were roaring in fury.

Jiang Die formed a seal with both hands.

Among all of the Jiang Clan’s divine abilities, Void God Thunder was ranked in the top three in terms of difficulty. And now it descended from the heavens with a deafening crash.

Yet Jiang Tianxin endured it.

Her defensive methods were exceptionally strong. Her repertoire of shielding arts was nearly endless.

Jiang Die was furious.

“Grand Void Technique!”

The moment this technique was activated, the expressions of the surrounding onlookers changed drastically.

No way. What the hell—she can use the Grand Void Technique too?!

Though this was considered a signature Jiang Clan divine art, even if you counted every living member of the Jiang Clan, fewer than ten people could use it.

The void trembled violently.

An endless torrent of explosive force erupted and slammed into Jiang Tianxin’s body.

BOOM!

This time, Jiang Tianxin couldn’t hold on—she vomited a mouthful of blood, her aura withering.

“I concede.”

Jiang Tianxin spat another mouthful of blood, but her face regained a bit of color. She spoke helplessly.

Jiang Die snorted coldly, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Jiang Tianxin narrowed her eyes at Jiang Die’s retreating back and said a second sentence.

“But you’re not nearly as strong as the rumors say, either.”

Jiang Die didn’t refute it, didn’t pause. She disappeared into the formation array.

And truthfully, anyone with clear eyes could now see it: Jiang Die really wasn’t as strong as people had imagined her to be. That didn’t make sense...

At this moment, Tianji Pavilion had already distributed the battle footage between Lu Ye and Jiang Die—it was clearly a tough fight.

Could it be that... Lu Ye broke her?

In that moment, many people had the same terrifying thought. Their eyelids twitched violently.

If that were true...

In the eyes of great clans, useless people had no value at all.

Of course, right now, it was too soon to call Jiang Die useless. She had just defeated Jiang Tianxin—the Jiang Clan’s number one prodigy.

She was only at the third-layer Heaven’s Mandate Realm. Still worth observing.

But with the power she had just displayed, if she thought she could go back to how things used to be—take whatever she wanted, freeload off the clan’s resources without lifting a finger?

That wasn’t going to fly.

In the Jiang Clan, everyone had duties!

“I see she’s got a decent number of powerful techniques. From now on, have her pass down one technique to the clan every month. Even if no one can learn it, she’ll still have to lecture on it. We’ll transcribe everything and archive it in the clan’s treasury!”

The current Jiang Clan Patriarch was named Jiang Dingtian. Though he hadn’t shown up at the battle himself, he’d observed everything clearly through divine sense.

He now gave the order aloud.

“What if she refuses?”

Jiang Dingtian’s gaze was icy.

“She already brought disaster upon the Second Heaven’s Jiang Clan by provoking the number one on the Eternal Prodigy Rankings. That’s already a grave offense. If she refuses—punish her according to clan law!”

“If she refuses once, make it one skill every twenty days!”

“If she refuses twice, then one skill every ten days!”

“If she refuses three times—then she’ll have to pass down one skill every three days!”

“If she keeps refusing, are you saying our Jiang Clan doesn’t even have the means to discipline our own?!”

“Yes, Clan Head!”

“Sigh... Honestly, I kind of hope she does disobey me, then suddenly soars to the heavens and proves her worth. I hope she really has that kind of ability.”

With the patriarch’s orders given—

Jiang Yuan activated the formation immediately. This time, he still wore a smile, but it clearly had a colder edge—no longer as warm and kind as the first time.