“Break!”

The voice rang out clearly, yet carrying an incredible force — piercing straight through the seawater, straight through Meng Wanyue’s purple radiance!

And along with that voice came a streak of light even more powerful than the sound itself, even more dazzling than Meng Wanyue’s purple glow!

It shot forward like a loosed arrow, hurtling violently through the water!

In that split-second, at the most critical instant, it struck with perfect precision, colliding directly against Meng Wanyue’s purple bolt!

For a moment, everything froze!

The purple radiance of the barrier spell and the golden light radiating from Baili Weisheng intertwined, reflecting off one another, lighting up the entire sea in a dazzling, breathtaking splendor!

Within that light, the two streaks of power collided and held, locked less than a foot behind Baili Weisheng. Not far from him stood Ziqing, who had turned to look back, her face still frozen in an expression of shock.

To their right stood Meng Wanyue, hands and feet bound — and at this moment, her expression was a hundred, a thousand times more stunned than Ziqing’s!

How could this be!

How could there possibly be anyone in this world capable of standing up to her barrier arts!?

Not only had she learned the Dream Clan’s most sophisticated barrier techniques directly from the clan’s ancestors, but she had also sealed herself within the Dagger of Flowing Light to cultivate, drawing on its power while also drawing on Jun Beiyue’s strength in the process!

She was the greatest barrier master alive — and the barrier bolt she’d just spat out wasn’t only her final trump card, it had also drawn on the residual power the Dream Clan’s ancestors had left behind in this very stretch of ocean!

How could anyone possibly stop her!

Who — who exactly had stopped her!

“Who’s there! Show yourself!” Meng Wanyue roared furiously, throwing her head back to shout.

Only then did Baili Weisheng and Ziqing finally snap back to their senses.

“You foul-mouthed scholar, have you got a death wish!” Ziqing snapped furiously, yanking Baili Weisheng away hard, pulling him clear of the still-locked streaks of light!

“If I’ve got a death wish, then going to face Jun Beiyue… has the same effect!” Baili Weisheng said with a shrug and a grin, grabbing Ziqing’s hand and swimming toward the great stone pillar!

No need to ask — he recognized that voice quite well, though even so, this girl had genuinely caught him off guard.

Ziqing, however, hadn’t recognized it at all. She looked all around but saw no one, murmuring, “Who exactly is that?”

Baili Weisheng leaned in close to whisper in Ziqing’s ear, while beside them, Meng Wanyue shrieked like a madwoman!

“Who exactly is it?” Jue Mingzi was curious too. From what Ziqing had told him about the Dream Clan’s situation, even if the Dream Clan leader himself had shown up, he might not necessarily be a match for Meng Wanyue.

“Show yourself! What kind of coward hides and sneaks around like this? If you’ve got the guts, come out and fight me properly! Show yourself!”

“Come out! Come out! I’m not afraid of you! Even with my hands and feet bound, I’m still not afraid of you! What kind of ambush is this? Do you even deserve to use barrier arts?”

The moment Meng Wanyue finished speaking, a faint voice finally drifted out from the seawater — not the same crisp, resonant, steady tone as that earlier “Break!” but unexpectedly timid, frightened!

It was obviously a girl’s voice — and, what’s more, a girl with a very small amount of courage.

She said, “But… but right now… it seems like we’re evenly matched.”

At those words, Meng Wanyue nearly spat up blood, while beside her, Ziqing immediately recognized the voice!

Heavens, it was that girl! The girl from the Dream Clan!

A flicker of amusement curved at the corner of Baili Weisheng’s mouth, and he chuckled to himself.

“You wretched girl, if you’ve got the nerve, come out here!” Meng Wanyue shouted, though she had to admit the girl was right — the two streaks of light were indeed currently locked in an even standoff.

But that even standoff was only between these two bolts of power — Meng Wanyue knew she’d already poured out every last ounce of her strength, even drawing on the power the Dream Clan’s ancestors had left behind in this sea!

But how much strength had her opponent actually used? She had no idea!

What if the other side hadn’t even used their full strength — wouldn’t that mean she’d already… lost?

“No!”

Meng Wanyue screamed in terror inside her own mind, then shouted furiously, “You wretched girl, refusing to show yourself, is it! I’ll make sure you can never come out again!”

With that furious cry, her cheeks puffed out as she gathered every last bit of her strength, and suddenly spat out an invisible blade of wind!

It sliced violently through the seawater, shooting straight toward the direction of the locked bolts!

“Watch out!”

Ziqing cried out in alarm — she knew the power of that wind blade all too well! She was about to step in, but almost at the same instant, the purple bolt of light suddenly flared with dazzling brilliance, and in one clean, decisive strike, it slammed Meng Wanyue’s bolt of light back with overwhelming force!

At the same moment, a powerful wave surged through the water, directly swallowing up Meng Wanyue’s wind blade!

The moment the force of the light-bolt and the wind-blade rebounded and were utterly destroyed, Meng Wanyue was left completely dumbstruck!

And it was at that very moment that she suddenly remembered someone — remembered the girl whose hands had once bound her, back when she’d tried to break through the Cosmic Poison Pouch!

Old Meng Five’s daughter, her staunchest supporter’s own child! Meng Duo’er!

She’d always known Meng Duo’er had decent talent!

But she never could have imagined that Meng Duo’er’s talent would turn out to be this astonishing — far, far beyond her own level!

Watching the two forces surge toward her like a crashing wave, Meng Wanyue still couldn’t quite process it!

She didn’t believe it, refused to believe it!

How could this be — her most prized talent, her most prized barrier arts, her greatest bargaining chip, her ultimate trump card!

Everything she’d spent over thirty years of her life accumulating — and it wasn’t even a match for what some young girl had learned in just a month or two!

“No… it’s not fair!”

Meng Wanyue howled like a madwoman, glaring furiously at Jue Mingzi and Ziqing. “Release me! Release me! You’re despicable! Release me!”

She refused to accept it, refused to her dying breath — if her hands and feet were free, she was certain she wouldn’t lose!

Certain!

Ziqing and Jue Mingzi were no fools, of course. Ziqing genuinely wished she could add one more blast of wind-blade to finish the job.

At last, the great wave crashed down, and the purple radiance swallowed Meng Wanyue whole!

A moment later, the waves receded, the white foam faded, and there stood Meng Wanyue, motionless, wrapped from head to toe in a faint purple glow!

Her elegant, refined face showed nothing but shock — utter, total shock.

To put it precisely, she’d been shocked completely senseless!

An instant seal!

This was an instant seal — she never imagined such a fiendishly difficult technique, one she herself had only successfully pulled off two or three times in her entire life, could have been mastered by Meng Duo’er!

And what’s more, the girl had cast the instant seal even while actively resisting her own attack!

This girl’s ability far, far exceeded her own!

Meng Wanyue stood frozen for a long, long while before finally snapping back to herself, suddenly roaring, “Meng Duo’er, get out here! Right now!”

Meng Duo’er was very obedient!

Genuinely, thoroughly obedient!

Seeing Meng Wanyue fully restrained now, she finally, timidly swam over from the dim water not far away.

Only, there wasn’t a shred of the poise of a savior goddess about her, nor any hint of the smug pride of someone who’d just won a decisive battle. Instead…

Ziqing and Baili Weisheng both stared, eyes wide, utterly stunned!

They never in a million years expected Meng Duo’er to look like this!

There she was — cheeks puffed out, face full of worry and urgency, flailing her arms and legs in a chaotic dog-paddle, thrashing with all her might to swim over!

Under everyone’s astonished gaze, she completely ignored them all, ignored Meng Wanyue most thoroughly of all, and instead put her head down, arms and legs churning desperately, making a beeline straight for the Jinjiao Palace barrier!

“She… she… what is this?” The corner of Ziqing’s mouth twitched. She didn’t know Meng Duo’er well, but this entrance was utterly at odds with that steady, razor-sharp “Break!” from moments ago!

“Can she not do the tortoise-breath technique?” Baili Weisheng muttered, puzzled.

“Doesn’t seem like it — looks like she’s just holding her breath,” Ziqing said, watching Meng Duo’er’s cheeks puffed out like a goldfish’s, murmuring to herself.

“Can she not swim?” Baili Weisheng asked again.

“Doesn’t seem like it… either.” Watching Meng Duo’er alternate between flailing all four limbs in the same direction and something vaguely resembling a breaststroke, it was genuinely impossible to say whether she could swim at all.

Just then, Meng Duo’er suddenly let out a loud cry in that voice pitched only for their ears, “Help! Someone come save me, quick! Quick! I can’t hold my breath much longer!”

Uh… yep, that confirmed it.

Baili Weisheng immediately reached out, a beam of golden light shooting from his sleeve straight at Meng Duo’er, quickly enveloping her.

At that, Meng Duo’er let out a huge gasp of air, and in that instant, it was as though she’d been snatched back from the very brink of death — pure relief!

But before she’d even finished catching her breath, Baili Weisheng suddenly yanked her forward!

Whether it was because Baili Weisheng pulled too hard, or because the force was hard to judge through the barrier —

That fierce tug sent Meng Duo’er hurtling straight toward Baili Weisheng.

“Ah—!”

Meng Duo’er shrieked, and in that same instant, some scene from a room back in the East Qin capital suddenly flashed through Baili Weisheng’s mind. He instinctively dodged aside at the last second, and Meng Duo’er went slamming straight into the great stone pillar instead. “Bam!”

Madam Jinjiao jumped in fright, watching as the girl’s entire face pressed flat against the pillar, two thin streams of blood trickling slowly from her nose. And yet, disheveled as she was, she still somehow managed to look charmingly delicate.

Madam Jinjiao immediately scolded him. “Son, no man behaves like that — so lacking in grace and manners! This is our savior!”

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Baili Weisheng finally turned to help her up, and Ziqing hurried over to assist as well.

Seeing Meng Duo’er’s bloodied mouth and nose the moment she turned around, Ziqing shot Baili Weisheng a fierce glare — she knew perfectly well he’d done it on purpose.

But why on earth would he do that to this girl on purpose?

Could he still be holding a grudge over Old Meng Five?

“Hurry, wipe it off — does it hurt?” Ziqing carefully helped clean Meng Duo’er’s face. Meng Duo’er just laughed, wiping at it haphazardly herself. “It’s fine, doesn’t hurt! Are you all okay? Good thing I swam down in time!”

Baili Weisheng’s gaze swept over Meng Duo’er’s injury, and he rubbed his nose, saying nothing.

“You… how did you…” Ziqing was still quite stunned.

“After you all left, Grandfather said my talent was good, just never properly developed, so he went into seclusion to teach me barrier arts, passing on everything he’d learned in his entire life. It only took me a month to reach the second floor of the Momentary Tower…”

Before Meng Duo’er could finish, Meng Wanyue, still trapped in the purple barrier, screeched like a madwoman, cutting her off. “You wretched girl, what did you just say? The old man actually—”