"Hmph!"
Zi Lingling let out a cold snort, her sharp gaze sweeping over Qing'e. Her face was covered in frost as she said, "You call that an apology? Have you ever seen anyone sincerely apologize while glaring with malevolent eyes?"
She emphasized the words "sincerely apologize" heavily, intending to convey to Mo Qingcheng that if she wanted Zi Lingling to let Qing'e off, she needed to show some genuine sincerity.
"Then what do you want?"
A cold glint flashed across Mo Qingcheng's face. Qing'e was her maidservant. If Qing'e continued to kneel like this, it would affect her reputation.
Zi Lingling glanced at Qing'e again and said coldly, "Didn't she say Xueying doesn't deserve her apology? I want her to kowtow and admit her mistake to Xueying!"
Kowtow and admit her mistake?
Qing'e, kneeling on the ground, looked on in disbelief. She glanced disdainfully at Xueying. The thought of kowtowing and admitting her mistake to this lowly maid made her feel it would be better to die!
"Dream on!"
Qing'e cried out in fury.
She had already lost enough face by kneeling, but if she were to kowtow and admit her mistake to that girl, how could she ever face anyone again?
Zi Lingling's eyes turned even colder. She was not negotiating; she was issuing a command.
Qing'e, startled by her icy stare, lowered her head and dared not look up.
Zi Lingling shifted her gaze back to Mo Qingcheng, her meaning clear.
Those who humiliate others will be humiliated in turn. She didn't think her actions were unreasonable.
"Kowtow and admit mistake?"
Mo Qingcheng could no longer maintain her smile. Cold energy radiated from her body, and her spiritual power surged again.
Qing'e was her maidservant. Forcing Qing'e to kowtow and admit her mistake to Xueying was tantamount to forcing Mo Qingcheng herself to kowtow and admit her mistake to Zi Lingling.
"Are you sure?"
A dangerous light flickered in Mo Qingcheng's eyes. Since she had entered the martial world, Zi Lingling was the only person who dared to speak to her in such a manner.
"Of course!"
Zi Lingling detected a dangerous aura from Mo Qingcheng. She watched Mo Qingcheng warily, her body in a state of alert.
Even so, she refused to back down. Every dragon has its sensitive scales; touch them, and it will rage. If you harm her people, you will pay the price.
Mo Qingcheng's face darkened completely. Her spiritual power circulated rapidly, and a trace of killing intent locked onto Zi Lingling. She said, "Very well! You are the first person to successfully enrage me."
Because her spiritual power was circulating to its peak, the hem of her purple skirt fluttered violently, and a pressure belonging to a cultivator of the Spirit Gathering realm washed over them.
The surrounding onlookers involuntarily retreated, quickly forming a large circle. In the cleared space in the middle, Mo Qingcheng and Zi Lingling stood in a tense standoff.
One was filled with rage, the other brimming with fighting spirit, the air between them crackling with tension.
"The Ashen City Fairy is so terrifying like this!"
"I heard the Ashen City Fairy's cultivation has already reached the peak of the Spirit Gathering realm. Is that true?"
"This woman is in danger. Why didn't she just stop and retreat when she had the chance? She had to push it to the point of drawing swords."
"That's not entirely fair. If that maid, Qing'e, had bumped into someone by accident, I doubt that woman would have been so aggressive."
...
Zi Lingling was fully on guard, ready to face battle at any moment.
Although her opponent's spiritual power cultivation was not low, her ancient martial arts were not to be trifled with.
"Girl, be careful. Her cultivation has already reached the peak of the Spirit Gathering realm."
Old Du's reminder echoed in Zi Lingling's mind at a critical moment.
Zi Lingling blinked in surprise. "Didn't they say she was at the advanced stage of the Spirit Gathering realm? How did she become peak Spirit Gathering realm?"
"I can't be wrong. She is indeed at the peak of the Spirit Gathering realm."
Old Du's goatee twitched, and his eagle-like eyes fixed on Mo Qingcheng, ready to rescue Zi Lingling at any moment.
He didn't want Zi Lingling to perish just like that. She was the first person he had encountered who might be able to heal the wounds of his soul. How could he be willing to continue slumbering in the dark, sunless Nine Spirits Ring?
Zi Lingling inwardly lamented. Why did everyone she encountered turn out to be formidable opponents?
If Mo Qingcheng was truly at the peak of the Spirit Gathering realm as Old Du claimed, then even if she exerted her ancient martial arts to their utmost, she would have no chance of winning.
However, while she lamented, if she were to suffer a loss and flee sheepishly, then she would no longer be the Ghost Hand Poison Doctor, Zi Lingling.
Mo Qingcheng's senses were fully engaged. Only then did she realize that apart from her high fighting spirit, Zi Lingling possessed no spiritual power at all.
No wonder there was no fluctuation of spiritual power when she fought Hua Ruhai earlier. It turned out she was completely incapable of cultivating, a complete waste. It was likely that her victory over Hua Ruhai was solely due to her peculiar movement technique.
Thinking of this, Mo Qingcheng became even more enraged. Hmph! A mere waste who couldn't even cultivate dared to challenge her? Did she really think she could be invincible with just that strange movement technique?
Hmph! Today, she would make Zi Lingling understand the vast difference between ordinary people and cultivators.
A powerful surge of spiritual energy shot out from her hand, as if she wished to kill Zi Lingling with a single blow.
"Miss, be careful!"
As Xueying warned Zi Lingling, she charged forward without a second thought. This time, because she was very close to Zi Lingling, she successfully blocked in front of her.
Zi Lingling was about to dodge when she saw a dark figure block her path.
"Ah..."
Before she could react, the dark figure was sent flying, and simultaneously, she heard Xueying's pained cry.
"Xueying..."
Zi Lingling could no longer afford to confront Mo Qingcheng. She exerted her Flowing Dragon Steps and Flowing Dragon Movement Technique to their utmost, managing to catch Xueying just before she hit the ground.
Holding Xueying, she knelt on the ground and saw Xueying spitting up large amounts of blood, mixed with fragments of internal organs. It was evident that Mo Qingcheng had unleashed her full power in that strike.
"Xueying, why are you so foolish?"
Zi Lingling's heart ached to the point of suffocation. Crystal clear tears streamed down her cheeks.
Although she and Xueying had only known each other for a day, she had felt a long-lost warmth from Xueying, something she had never experienced in her previous life within the cold, aristocratic family.
The onlookers could barely bear to watch. Those with weaker stomachs covered their eyes, while the bolder ones pointed and whispered at Mo Qingcheng.
"Is this still the gentle and kind Ashen City Fairy? Where is the demeanor of a fairy?"
"Exactly! It was just a disagreement, but there was no need to take a life, right?"
"I didn't expect the Ashen City Fairy to be so ruthless. She didn't hesitate to attack. What a pity for that young maid."
"This can't be entirely blamed on the Fairy, can it? If that woman in plain clothes hadn't been so aggressive, would the Fairy have attacked in anger?"
...
The crowd's murmurs made Mo Qingcheng's face even more unsightly. She looked in Zi Lingling's direction, her eyes filled with malice.
In the conference hall of the Fengyun Trading Company, Ye Liuxing only saw a dark figure fly out. Alarmed, he dropped his teacup, which shattered on the ground with a crisp sound.
Then, without even waiting to see who was injured, he suddenly stood up and rushed towards the entrance of the hall, shouting urgently, "Wangcai! Quickly! Go get the Great Return Pill!"