The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

Outside the Valley of Divine Medicine, Shen Yan quietly left amidst the departing crowd.

Behind me stood the majestic mountain gate, its interior brightly lit.

A world she could never enter and would never belong to her.

She walked on the stone steps leading down the mountain, the mountain breeze brushing her face and ruffling the stray hairs at her temples.

The wind was cold, as cold as a knife, scraping against my face.

She breathed a slight sigh of relief.

So what if there are many obstacles?

She murmured to herself, a dark and stubborn light flashing in her eyes.

The light, like phosphorescence in the dark night, burned faintly, unyielding and unwilling to fade.

"In the end, I am the true chosen one, the darling of Heaven. This game is not over yet. Who will have the last laugh is still uncertain."

She raised her hand and stroked the jade pendant hidden under her clothes, feeling the warm and smooth sensation emanating from it.

That was her trump card, her reliance.

The Book of Fate says that she is the woman of destiny in this world.

No one can take it away.

Just then, a sword light suddenly slashed towards her.

Sharp as frost, with a chilling murderous aura.

The sword light tore through the sky, accompanied by a piercing sound of wind being cut, heading straight for her face.

The air was cleaved by the sword energy, emitting a sharp hiss. The pine and cypress trees on both sides were swept by the sword wind, their branches and leaves falling and shattering into dust.

The speed was so fast that Shen Yan didn't even have time to see the figure of the person who drew the sword; she could only see the bright, cold light rapidly magnifying in her pupils.

Like a guillotine falling from the sky.

The mountain wind suddenly stopped, and the birds took flight in fright.

It seemed as if only that single sword light remained in the world.

Shen Yan's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Bang—"

The light emitted by the Reincarnation Jade Pendant suddenly shone brightly at the critical moment.

The light was warm and deep, like an ancient, invisible shield, firmly protecting her.

The sword light collided with the light, exploding into a dazzling ripple, and the shockwave surged in all directions, swirling the fallen leaves on the stone steps into a flurry of motion.

Shen Yan was so shocked that she staggered back several steps, her heels hitting the stone steps, and she almost fell.

"Tsk, the turtle shell is quite thick."

A woman's voice fell from above, light and languid, like a little tune hummed casually on a spring afternoon.

Yunmian stood in mid-air, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall, dancing wildly in the wind.

Her pink crystal-like eyes narrowed slightly, revealing an arrogant disdain for the world, while a nonchalant smile played on her lips, as if she were watching a boring short play.

She wore a silver and black pearl tassel cloak, the edges of which were adorned with tiny pearls, each one shimmering with a cold light in the sunlight.

Sequined tulle draped over her hair like a starry mist, and cherry blossoms adorned her hair, their petals delicate as if just picked from the branches, still glistening with morning dew.

She stood there, like an unfinished poem.

A pot of wine among the flowers, a half-game of chess in the clouds.

Watching a human drama unfold.

"So you're the imposter trying to steal Xiao Zhizhi's luck?"

Yunmian tilted her head and looked Shen Yan up and down, her eyes like she was looking at a poorly made imitation.

"What the hell? You think you're worthy of being compared to our Zhizhi? It seems the laws of this world are pretty blind."

As soon as she finished speaking, the sky suddenly changed color.

Just moments ago the sky was clear and blue, but in the blink of an eye, dark clouds surged, and a silvery-white bolt of lightning descended from the sky, as thick as a tree trunk that could be embraced, carrying a world-destroying force, striking straight at Yunmian.

Wherever the lightning passed, the air was scorched and distorted, emitting a sizzling sound.

"Oh dear, can't I even speak the truth?"

Yunmian raised her hand and slowly opened an umbrella.

The umbrella is painted with cherry blossoms and flowing clouds, and when it is opened, it looks like a blooming flower.

The lightning struck the umbrella, causing a burst of silver light and sparks to fly, but the umbrella remained completely still, without even a scorch mark.

The lightning bolts slid down the umbrella ribs and fell to the ground like raindrops.

"Is that all the strength you have? You're really useless."

She laughed lightly, the umbrella twirling between her fingers, a few drops of residual lightning were flung off, splashing onto the ground with a crackling sound.

"I'm not satisfied at all. Want another one? Or is that all you're capable of today?"

Above the clouds, the churning thunderclouds seemed to freeze for a moment—they were clearly enraged.

The dark clouds seemed to slow their churning, as if they were gritting their teeth and plotting something.

"You, what kind of monster are you?"

Shen Yan was so frightened that her scalp tingled and her voice trembled.

She gripped the Reincarnation Jade Pendant tightly, her knuckles turning white. The light on the pendant flickered, as if resonating with her fear.

This woman isn't even afraid of divine punishment?

That's divine punishment!

It is the wrath of Heaven, a thunderous decree that makes all things in the world bow down.

She held up an umbrella and used it to shield herself from the rain—as if that wasn't enough force?

What else could stop her?

Can the Reincarnation Jade Pendant stop her?

Shen Yan had absolutely no idea what to expect.

"Of course we're here to take you away."

Yunmian said slowly, holding up her umbrella.

Her tone was light and airy, but there was not a trace of a smile in her pink, crystal-like eyes.

"Take me in? On what grounds? I'm warning you, I am the darling of Heaven, you can't touch me."

Shen Yan's expression was solemn, and she tried her best to make her voice sound calm, but the trembling at the end of her voice still betrayed her inner panic.

"The Way of Heaven?"

Upon hearing this, Yunmian laughed, her laughter causing her to tremble and the tassels on the umbrella to rustle.

"What is the Way of Heaven? It's that little brother who chases me around with lightning every day—unfortunately, he can't kill me with it."

She stopped smiling, a hint of coldness flashing in her eyes.

"Heaven wants to protect you, but I, Yunmian, disagree."

"Don't you even know the rules? This is Jiuzhou, not a place where you can act recklessly!"

Startled, Shen Yan instinctively took a step back, her heel hitting the stone steps again.

Yunmian raised an eyebrow, as if she were listening to a huge joke.

"Don't talk to me about rules. Rules are for those who obey..."

She closed the umbrella, pointing the tip at Shen Yan, and a flamboyant and unrestrained smile curved her lips.

"But I never listen."

She is the laziest cloud in the heavens, and the wildest wind in the land.

Going against the will of Heaven is a trivial matter; protecting one's own is instinctive.

When divine punishment strikes, she takes it as a bath; when the karmic retribution comes knocking, she flirts with it.

Go out and you'll get struck by lightning, but after that, you'll continue your reckless ways.

No one could stop her, not even the heavens.

"Choose one."

Yunmian toyed with the cherry blossom-adorned umbrella in her hand, her tone as casual as if she were ordering food in a teahouse.

"What kind of death do you want?"

She had been squatting in the Valley of Divine Medicine for so long, like an old cat guarding the entrance to a cave.

I patiently fought off my sleepiness, waiting for this very moment.

They pulled the venomous snake, hidden in the shadows, out of the bushes.

This so-called "true chosen one" is the medium chosen by Heaven to seize Tangxi Xue's fortune.

"If you can't choose one, then I'll take pity on you and pick one for you."

"Dismemberment by five horses? That's a bit crude."

"Crushing bones to ashes? That's too unoriginal."

"Or... how about being torn to pieces?"

"I can cut very slowly, so you can count the number of each cut, and then you can cry to Yama, the King of Hell, when you get to the underworld."

She said this in a light tone.

Only those eyes held no trace of a smile, as cold as a deep pool frozen for millennia.

He's more like a villain than a villain!

In that instant, Shen Yan became even more certain that whether it was Emperor Shengchen, Tang Xixue, or the extremely beautiful silver-haired woman before her, they were all major villains!

Shen Yan's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Even her lips had lost their color, like a flower that had been wilted by frost.

She instinctively took a step back, her heel hitting the stone steps, causing her to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

"We have no grudge against each other, and we are both women, so why are you making things difficult for me?"

She immediately lowered her eyes, her voice as soft as a spider silk dampened by rain.

She was on the verge of tears, and I felt sorry for her.

She had used this look countless times, and it always worked.

She thought that the silver-haired woman in front of her would at least feel some pity.

"Oh?"

Yunmian raised an eyebrow, the tip of her umbrella lightly touching the stone steps.

"That makes sense."

Shen Yan was overjoyed.

"As a fellow woman, why are you making things difficult for us weavers?"

Yun Mian's voice suddenly turned cold, like ice ridges in the dead of winter, each word hitting Shen Yan's face.

"You want to stand higher, that's not wrong. Who doesn't want to stand higher?"

"But you want to use Zhizhi as a stepping stone."

"This is a complete and utter mistake! A terrible mistake, a truly despicable mistake."

"I don't……"

Shen Yan hurriedly shook her head, her eyes reddening and tears welling up, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

"No?"

Yunmian scoffed.

"Your little tricks might fool others, but you think you can play the innocent victim in front of me, you little green tea bitch?"

"I've seen all sorts of dramas in the world. Your acting skills are worse than a monkey performing on the street."

She leaned slightly forward, her silver hair slipping down her shoulders like a gentle cascade of moonlight.

"Stealing fortune, coveting destiny, and attempting to seize another's life."

"You have the nerve to say you have no grudge against me? I wonder which page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas you're on?"

"I wish you a long and short life, like the ephemeral beauty of a night-blooming cereus!"

Yunmian's words of rebuke are sharper than her sword.

Shen Yan's lips trembled, and tears finally rolled down her cheeks, leaving two wet streaks on her pale face.

But her fingers, hidden in her sleeve, secretly gripped the Jade Pendant of Reincarnation, her eyes swirling with unspoken emotions.