Chapter 0730 Crystal Mountain

Chapter 0730: Crystal Mountain

Although Xiao Xuanqin had died once before and was a powerful and noble fairy in her past life, she couldn't help but feel tense and faintly afraid in the face of impending death.

She didn’t know if she could reincarnate again—if not, this would be her final death.

Qin Yun, the small puppet, stood behind her, seemingly sensing her tension.

"Aunt Xiao’s really planning to go all out!" Qin Yun sighed inwardly.

"She must be atoning for her past mistake!" Ling Yuner said. "Xiao Yun, get ready!"

Qin Yun channeled his Shadow Power, concealed himself in the darkness, and then slipped beneath the earth.

The anxious Xiao Xuanqin suddenly remembered Xiao Yuemei’s little puppet and quickly turned to look—only to find it gone.

She also recalled Xiao Yuemei mentioning that the puppet was a master at slipping away.

Its vanishing without a trace now confirmed Xiao Yuemei’s words.

Xiao Xuanqin let out a long sigh. "Is this it?"

She couldn’t flee either, or else the Martial Kings would chase after Zi Qingcheng and the others. She had no choice but to stay and stand her ground.

"They roam the martial world, yet they couldn’t be bothered to learn techniques to conceal their aura!" Ling Yuner scoffed. "If they had masked their auras while fleeing, none of this would’ve happened!"

"They’re too principled—probably disdain such tricks!"

The auras of the Martial Kings gradually drew closer.

As Xiao Xuanqin sensed their approach, sweat beaded on her graceful oval face, her grip tightening around the king-grade spirit sword in her hand as she stared ahead.

"They’re coming!" Ling Yuner shouted.

Just as the Martial Kings were about to arrive, Qin Yun suddenly invoked the Sky Lion Summoning Art, summoning three Netherworld Celestial Lions!

After summoning the powerful lions, he ordered them to release the Heavenly Lion Roaring Sky Sound, their roars echoing from three different directions.

The sheer force in those roars made it clear these were formidable beasts.

Hearing them, the Martial Kings halted their pursuit of Xiao Xuanqin and immediately split up, charging toward where the roars came from.

Xiao Xuanqin found the lions’ roars strangely familiar. At that moment, she felt a hand seize her ankle—before she could react, she was dragged deep underground.

When she snapped back to awareness, she realized someone was holding her!

"Aunt Xiao, it’s me!" Qin Yun whispered mentally. "Relax, I’m using Shadow Power!"

Shocked and furious, Xiao Xuanqin had no choice but to cooperate.

She took a few deep breaths, loosened her body, and allowed Qin Yun to shroud her presence with Shadow Power.

"That puppet was you?" Xiao Xuanqin transmitted back.

"Yes. Don’t be mad at Yuemei—I put her up to it," Qin Yun replied.

Xiao Xuanqin broke free from his embrace but still held his hand.

The moment their hands touched, memories of their time in the Heavenly Roar Emperor’s Tomb flooded back—back then, it was also because of this contact that those unexpected feelings had stirred within her.

At this moment, that inexplicable emotion she harbored for Qin Yun surged violently within her, wrestling with her hatred for him.

Xiao Xuanqin seemed to have forgotten about the Martial Kings, as her mind was now tangled in extreme conflict.

She was acutely aware that if Qin Yun hadn’t intervened earlier, she would have been doomed!

Once again, Qin Yun had saved her. Given this debt of gratitude, she really shouldn’t hate him anymore.

"Qin Yun, did Yuemei tell you many things? Like about your past life?" Xiao Xuanqin hesitated for a moment before whispering mentally.

"Yes! I know I had a past life, and I also know you despise that version of me deeply," Qin Yun replied in the darkness, unable to see her but feeling the softness of her delicate hand—though it was slightly cold.

"Aunt Xiao, my past life is my past life! Who I am now is nothing like that person!" Qin Yun continued. "Even if I haven’t regained those memories, it might happen someday. Before that happens, I want to make up for the wrongs my past self committed!"

Xiao Xuanqin thought carefully and heaved a sigh. "You saved my life. The grudges from our past lives are settled now. You also helped me refine my soul before, allowing me to overcome that hurdle. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have broken through or awakened my past-life memories."

Qin Yun had to hand it to Xiao Yuemei’s foresight—she had deliberately had him wait to intervene at the critical moment, knowing it was the only way to move Xiao Xuanqin.

"That’s good. At least I’m spared the public humiliation," Qin Yun joked.

"Hmph!" Xiao Xuanqin dug her nails into his hand. "Did that little brat Yuemei make you delay your intervention?"

"Yes, she said this way you’d actually thank me… I wanted to act sooner, but she stopped me," Qin Yun admitted.

"That little schemer! She swore she wouldn’t lie to me again, yet here we are!" Xiao Xuanqin muttered angrily.

Qin Yun stopped worrying about Zi Qingcheng and the others—Xiao Yuemei surely had a way to help them hide as well.

"Aunt Xiao, don’t be angry with her," Qin Yun quickly said.

"Fine. As long as we’re all safe now," Xiao Xuanqin replied. Though she couldn’t see his face, just talking to him felt strangely nice.

"Aunt Xiao, do I need to start wearing a mask around you?" Qin Yun teased.

"I don’t know. Let me see your face first," Xiao Xuanqin sighed softly. "Qin Yun, your past life was truly vile. I can’t just let go of that hatred overnight."

"It’s alright. Bingxing felt the same way initially, but she’s fine now," Qin Yun chuckled.

"Bingxing? Bingxing is alive?" Xiao Xuanqin was unaware of Bingxing’s situation.

"She’s alive, inside the Immortal Armory Palace," Qin Yun quickly explained everything about Bingxing.

After hearing it, Xiao Xuanqin was astonished. "Bingxing, Yuemei, Yuelan, and Shiyue… they’ve all forgiven you. Well, it makes sense—you haven’t awakened your past-life memories. You’re not that scoundrel. Plus, you’ve saved them, helped them, and consciously or unconsciously repaid the debts from your past life."

"I’m not as strong as them. I shouldn’t hold this against you, because you’re not that person at all. Qin Yun, I’m sorry."

"Aunt Xiao, it’s fine," Qin Yun said with a smile.

He wisely avoided mentioning how Bingxing had kissed him—that would’ve shattered Xiao Xuanqin’s worldview.

"Then… do you hate me?" Xiao Xuanqin’s icy fingers slowly warmed in his grasp.

"Why would I hate you?" Qin Yun laughed. "Aunt Xiao, do you remember the Heavenly Roar Emperor’s Tomb? Those coffins below—they hold some dark secret. And I even obtained the Beast King’s Odd-Tattoo Soul there, the Mystic Rhinoceros Brush!"

Xiao Xuanqin nodded. "Those coffins could spirit away the entombed dead… Most of them were from the Xiao family, their veins likely ran with dragon blood. They were all sent to an immortal tomb, where they might one day be revived."

"Those Martial Kings up there have been lured away by my Netherworld Celestial Lions. We’re safe now," Qin Yun chimed in. "Let’s go up and regroup with Yuemei and the others."

Xiao Xuanqin snorted lightly. "That nymph would faint from joy to see you! She knew how much I hated you, yet she kept gushing about you to me. Even without your past-life memories, you’re still just as smooth with women, you rogue."

"Auntie Xiao, did I do anything in my past life to hurt you, like..." Qin Yun scratched his head and said.

"Your past life was extremely greedy for wealth and loved to play with women's emotions before abandoning them. Though you only swindled them for money, not their virtue, it was still downright vile!" Xiao Xuanqin spoke of Qin Yun's past life with lingering anger.

"Qin Yun, I don’t want to tell you too much about your past life. If you regain those memories, you’ll surely turn bad. You’re better off as you are now," Xiao Xuanqin said.

"Alright, let’s go up, then!" Qin Yun had now reverted to his original appearance.

He led Xiao Xuanqin back to the surface.

Xiao Xuanqin took out a message conch and contacted Zi Qingcheng and the others.

"Xuanqin! Where are you? Hurry over! We’ve found a safeguard—it might be the fallen star’s core, a crystal mountain! A lot of people are heading here now!" Zi Qingcheng’s voice was filled with urgency.

Xiao Xuanqin and Qin Yun exchanged glances, both worried about them.

"Qingcheng, don’t overdo it. We’re coming now!" Xiao Xuanqin said before putting away the conch and sprinting off with Qin Yun.

To avoid detection by the Martial Kings, Xiao Xuanqin had Qin Yun use shadow power to conceal themselves. Another reason was that she really wanted to hold his hand.

Ling Yuner giggled, "Xiao Yun, this Auntie Xiao is quite the closet romantic! She’s hiding her feelings deep—much more so than Bingxing, hahaha..."

"Stop talking nonsense. How could that be?" Qin Yun said. "I don’t sense anything like that!"

"If she had no feelings for you, her attitude wouldn’t have changed so quickly! She hated you so much before, yet the moment she saw you, she softened immediately!" Ling Yuner teased. "Her relentless pursuit of you in her past life clearly shows she had mixed love and hate for you. She must’ve been one of those you deceived emotionally!"

"Cut it out!" Qin Yun snorted lightly.

Qin Yun also sent the Netherworld Celestial Lions back to the Netherworld. To lure away the Martial Kings, the lions had suffered significant injuries.

At that moment, Xiao Xuanqin took out the message conch again and heard Zi Qingcheng’s voice: "Xuanqin, we’re no longer at the previous location. Use the conch to track us!"

"What happened?" Xiao Xuanqin asked.

"Though we found it first, a group of people arrived and seized the treasure!" Shui Tianzi said angrily. "Get over here quick! Those guys are all Martial Kings—I’m no match for them!"

After using the conch to track them, Xiao Xuanqin turned to Qin Yun and asked, "Qin Yun, do you have a way to handle Martial Kings?"