Listening to this, Pei Zichen felt a slight sting in his heart.

It was he who had asked Qian Sisi to bring Jiang Zhaoxue along, so now when Jiang Zhaoxue asked what he came for, it was only natural.

The courage that had driven him to rush here dissipated in an instant. Fearing that speaking up would invite Jiang Zhaoxue’s rejection, he could only restrain his emotions and say in a low voice, “We’re about to depart. Sisi asked me to come over and ask you.”

“Oh.” Jiang Zhaoxue understood and nodded. “Alright.”

With that, she turned back to bid farewell to Pei Xueyi. “That was just a joke earlier, Fellow Daoist Pei, please don’t take it to heart. Since a friend is calling me over now, I’ll head there first. Let’s chat again another day.”

“Another day, if there’s an opportunity, I shall certainly present my sword for Fellow Daoist Jiang’s viewing.”

Pei Xueyi replied with a smile. Pei Zichen raised his eyes coldly.

Jiang Zhaoxue cupped her hands in salute, took a step to leave, and called out to Pei Zichen, “Let’s go.”

Pei Zichen steadied his sword and turned around. As he left, his gaze swept lightly over Pei Xueyi’s sword, contemplating something as he followed Jiang Zhaoxue.

Jiang Zhaoxue paid him no mind and walked directly to Qian Sisi, patting her shoulder. “Sisi.”

“Miss… Miss Jiang?”

Qian Sisi was somewhat surprised and instinctively glanced at Pei Zichen. Seeing that Pei Zichen stood in place without speaking, she knew things weren’t going well.

Just as she was about to persuade Jiang Zhaoxue to go find Pei Zichen, she heard Jiang Zhaoxue ask earnestly, “Are you familiar with Pei Xueyi?”

Upon hearing this, Qian Sisi’s alarms went off. She instinctively glanced at Pei Zichen, knowing that the urgent matter at hand wasn’t to assist Pei Zichen but to eliminate Pei Xueyi as a rival.

She immediately brightened up. “Familiar? Oh, I’m very familiar! Come, come, come.”

Under Pei Zichen’s warning gaze, Qian Sisi pulled Jiang Zhaoxue over and invited her, “I’ll tell you all about him in detail on the road. I know everything about him.”

Jiang Zhaoxue was somewhat surprised to hear this. Qian Sisi grew up at Wenjian Manor, yet she was very familiar with Pei Xueyi from the Sword Pavilion?

Then she heard Qian Sisi fabricate stories all along the way.

At first, she somewhat believed Qian Sisi, but as her words became more and more outrageous—starting to talk about things like Pei Xueyi eating feces as a child—she finally couldn’t stand it anymore and turned her head to observe Pei Xueyi herself.

Every person in this illusion had their own past and future, as if they truly existed like real people. If it weren’t for the fact that everyone’s fate was tinged with the ash-gray color unique to the dead, she would almost believe this place was real.

But it was precisely because everyone carried the death-gray hue of fate that Pei Xueyi, whose fate was completely invisible, made her especially curious.

Being unable to see someone’s fate only had two possibilities. The first was that Pei Xueyi’s mastery of the power of Heavenly Fate was higher than or close to hers. But this wasn’t very likely—how could a sword cultivator be better at using the power of Heavenly Fate than a fate diviner?

The other possibility… was that within Pei Xueyi’s body wasn’t Pei Xueyi himself, but some other expert.

If this were the case, Pei Xueyi’s sword spirit couldn’t possibly recognize him. She need only take a look at Pei Xueyi’s sword spirit to know the result.

She had to find a way to see Pei Xueyi’s sword spirit.

Jiang Zhaoxue pondered this. When night fell, Pei Zichen and Pei Xueyi together met with the third sect they had agreed to travel with—Thunder Sect.

Thunder Sect was naturally hospitable. Having departed from a nearby town, they had specially brought along plenty of wine and provisions. Everyone found an open wilderness beside a forest to set up camp, then gathered around campfires at Thunder Sect’s young master Lei Fang’s invitation.

Wenjian Manor and Thunder Sect had always been on good terms, so Pei Zichen traveled with Lei Fang, while the people from Sword Pavilion stayed to one side.

Seeing everyone find their seats, Jiang Zhaoxue thought for a moment and sat at the outermost position among the Wenjian Manor disciples, figuring it would be convenient later to toast Pei Xueyi. Unexpectedly, just after she sat down, she heard footsteps behind her, followed by Pei Xueyi’s polite voice, “Fellow Daoist Jiang, is this seat taken?”

Jiang Zhaoxue was startled and somewhat surprised, but thinking that she originally wanted to test Pei Xueyi, and now he was coming over of his own accord, she quickly smiled and invited him, “It’s free. Please, Fellow Daoist Pei.”

Pei Xueyi nodded politely and sat down beside Jiang Zhaoxue.

When the Wenjian Manor disciples turned back and discovered Pei Xueyi had already sat down, everyone instantly held their breath, not daring to say a word.

After hesitating for a long time, no one dared to notify Pei Zichen, who was talking with Lei Fang. They could only all quickly stand up and go find other disciples to chat with, pretending not to know about this matter.

Seeing the Wenjian Manor disciples either flee or play dead, Jiang Zhaoxue was too lazy to bother with them. She turned directly to Pei Xueyi and asked with a smile, “What made Fellow Daoist Pei think of seeking me out?”

“There aren’t really any acquaintances here, and I can see my own disciples every day. The only old friend left whose company I should cherish and speak more with is Fellow Daoist Jiang. If I don’t speak more now, it’ll be difficult to do so in the future.”

Pei Xueyi spoke openly and generously, making Jiang Zhaoxue laugh. “You and I can be considered old friends now?”

“To be honest,” Pei Xueyi showed a bit of embarrassment on his face, yet still forced himself to raise his eyes and look at Jiang Zhaoxue earnestly, “Actually… in the past, I’ve dreamed of Fellow Daoist Jiang.”

“Oh?” Jiang Zhaoxue’s interest was piqued. “What did you dream?”

“I… I didn’t mean to offend Fellow Daoist Jiang,” Pei Xueyi frowned slightly. “I truly did dream of you.”

“I’m not being sarcastic either.” Jiang Zhaoxue’s smile became more serious as she pressed, “What did you dream about?”

Hearing this, Pei Xueyi didn’t speak but only stared at her.

Jiang Zhaoxue found this a bit strange. Just as she was about to continue asking, she heard Lei Fang shout from afar, “Brother Pei, everyone’s ready. What are you still chattering about over there?”

With this shout, everyone turned to look and only then discovered that Pei Xueyi and Jiang Zhaoxue were sitting in a corner chatting.

Under everyone’s gaze, including one particularly intense stare, Jiang Zhaoxue instinctively looked back and saw Pei Zichen sitting beside Lei Fang, quietly staring at her.

Jiang Zhaoxue noticed his gaze, raised an eyebrow, but didn’t acknowledge it, simply sweeping her eyes away from his face.

Seeing her gaze sweep away without a moment’s pause, Pei Zichen’s heart constricted slightly. He couldn’t help but grip his wine cup tighter, forcing himself not to look more.

Jiang Zhaoxue casually looked around and only then realized that everyone on the grass was sitting in a circle around two people.

The circle was very large. One of the two people in the center was Sun Xin, and the other seemed to be a Thunder Sect disciple. Both were holding swords, clearly about to spar.

Pei Xueyi found this a bit odd and looked up at Lei Fang. “Brother Lei, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Tonight’s spirits are high, so everyone’s competing with swords,” Lei Fang explained. “Come sit over here. You two stop cultivating feelings over there and watch the martial contest!”

As soon as these words came out, the Wenjian Manor people collectively started coughing. The Sword Pavilion was also somewhat embarrassed, but they all turned their heads away without speaking.

Only Thunder Sect looked completely bewildered. Lei Fang turned to look at Pei Zichen beside him. “Do all your Wenjian Manor people have colds? If not, we’ll switch to Sword Pavilion people.”

“It’s nothing.”

Pei Zichen lowered his eyes, took a sip of wine, and said calmly, “Let the disciples compete.”

Everyone was already prepared for the sword competition. Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t very well continue sitting with Pei Xueyi, so the two walked to the circle and sat down together.

Jiang Zhaoxue pondered Pei Xueyi’s words, completely uninterested in the martial contest.

Inexplicable occurrences in illusions were often omens. This Pei Xueyi had seemed somewhat like Pei Zichen from the start. She couldn’t see his fate, and now he said he remembered her from dreams…

Was he a test given by the illusion, or had someone else entered the illusion, or perhaps…

“Could Pei Zichen have split himself?” A’Nan murmured. “Did Shen Chen inherit his face, while this Pei Xueyi inherited his youthful personality and memories?”

Jiang Zhaoxue said nothing. The two disciples in the circle had already started fighting, creating quite a lively scene.

She secretly glanced at Pei Xueyi’s sword beside her, thought for a moment, then transmitted her voice, smiling as she said, “Fellow Daoist Pei, how do you think the disciples’ swords in the arena compare to yours?”

Voice transmission involved spiritual energy fluctuations, which couldn’t escape the notice of perceptive people nearby.

Almost the instant she transmitted her voice, Pei Zichen looked over.

Immediately after, he sensed the spiritual energy of Pei Xueyi’s response.

“They’re all Foundation Establishment stage disciples. Comparing myself to them would be an unfair victory.”

“Then what about compared to Shen Shicang?” Jiang Zhaoxue asked with a half-smile. “I’ve heard that ice element is naturally suited for sword cultivation, but I’ve never known what fire element sword cultivation looks like.”

“Fellow Daoist Jiang wants to see my sword.”

Pei Xueyi turned to look at her, his eyes carrying a smile. “If that’s the case, I must ask Fellow Daoist Jiang one question: Is your engagement with Brother Shen voluntary?”

“Why do you ask this?”

Jiang Zhaoxue was a bit puzzled. Pei Xueyi gazed at her. “If it’s not voluntary, then this sword can be presented for Fellow Daoist Jiang’s viewing.”

“Then if it is voluntary…” Jiang Zhaoxue understood his meaning and found it even more intriguing. She asked with a half-smile, “You won’t show me?”

Just as she finished speaking, Sun Xin kicked the Thunder Sect disciple to the ground with one foot.

The disciple was sent flying heavily out of the circle, and everyone grew excited.

Sun Xin was lifted up by the Wenjian Manor disciples, and everyone cheered. Lei Fang joked and called out, “Sword Pavilion people, why don’t you hurry up and send someone out to dampen their enthusiasm!”

Everyone joked around. Except for Pei Zichen, no one noticed the two people in the corner.

Pei Xueyi and Jiang Zhaoxue’s gazes met, their stares entangled. She wouldn’t give him an answer, and Pei Xueyi couldn’t figure her out.

After a long silence, Pei Xueyi smiled. “If it’s not voluntary, and Fellow Daoist Jiang really wants to see, then it’s also possible.”

As Pei Xueyi spoke, he held his sword horizontally and offered it. “Please.”

Seeing Pei Xueyi being so generous, Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes instantly lit up. She hastily said, “In that case…”

Before she finished speaking, a fierce wind suddenly came from the surroundings. Pei Xueyi drew his sword to block, just in time to shatter a wine cup.

Jiang Zhaoxue looked back in surprise at where the wine cup came from, only to see that Pei Zichen had already stood up. He brushed his robe and said coldly, “Since Brother Pei has already drawn his sword, please rise and grant me instruction.”

These words stunned everyone. Pei Xueyi was also somewhat surprised, but a moment later, he simply smiled and directly stood up. “Very well.”

Everyone was dumbfounded again.

Jiang Zhaoxue watched as the sword moved away from her, momentarily at a loss. “Wait… I was here first, wasn’t I?”

However, Pei Xueyi had already stepped away.

She looked indignantly at Pei Zichen. Sensing her gaze, Pei Zichen turned his head away, refusing to look at her.

She saw Pei Xueyi walk up as the two cupped their hands in salute.

Then they each gripped their swords, assumed their sword stances, and stood in place.

Only at this moment did the disciples react—the top two from the Shushan Discourse were about to fight!

By rights, given Shen Chen and Pei Xueyi’s status, they shouldn’t casually spar like ordinary disciples. After all, losing would be a matter of a sect’s face, especially at an occasion like this when they were about to lead teams to Emei Ruins.

Everyone could see something was wrong, but they couldn’t suppress their excitement at being able to watch Shen Chen and Pei Xueyi draw swords.

Everyone tried hard to put on serious expressions as they stared at the two in the arena.

Only Ye Tianjiao couldn’t pretend at all. Standing beside Pei Zichen, he shouted loudly, “Fight! Start fighting!”