Tower. Dungeon.

  Bubai looked up at the ceiling of the dark prison cell and bitterly sighed.

  “All I wanted was a hot bath after a long day of work. Instead, here I am… down here in this dark place, again.”

  Why did he end up here?

  Well… that’s because some household affairs weren’t so easy to sort out.

  When power gets shuffled, how can it ever be so simple?

  Whatever opinions he got will either offend one side or favor the other.

  Sure, he could’ve thumped his chest and used his authority as a man to suppress the scene, but…

  Can his talk-no-jutsu really suppress those two ladies?

  Uh... that was the words of two foundation-realm women against his own...

  Ahem. It’s not that he’s scared, but even a lion king knew better than to jump into the fray when tigresses were battling tooth and nail!

  A gentleman doesn’t stand under a dangerous wall.

  It’s best to stay out of it and let the ladies sort it out on their own.

  Bubai shrugged. “Meh, as long as the sky doesn’t fall, there’s no need to worry. Just hope... there won’t be too many cat scratches on the walls...”

  Upstairs. Bathhouse.

  Next to the pool of rippling water, two beauties faced off at opposite ends.

  One hot, one cold. One in black, one in white.

  Xiao Hong stared at the stone-cold face of the violet-haired sword maiden and clicked her tongue.

  “Tsk. What’s up with that all high-and-mighty face? If he hadn’t confiscate my bug-calling flute, you wouldn’t even have the right to compete with me!”

  The iceberg sword goddess didn’t so much as blink. Only her chipped sword slowly raised up, pointing at the other. “No water.”

  “Tsk!” Xiao Hong’s face scrunched up and her temper flared. “Looking down on me?!”

  A barbed whip was pulled out form her storage pouch and she lashed out at the ground. Crack!

  The cries of the innocent, scarred tiles were drowned out by the screams of the whip’s owner.

  “Fine. Then don’t blame me for teaching you a lesson about knowing your place! Take my move!”

  Clak. Clak. Xiao Hong spun on her heels and her whip lashed out like a scythe, birthing a scythe-like shadow that extended its reaches like a frog’s tongue and whipped sideways like a rope!

  “Shadow Whip Style: Sweeping Lotus!”

  The shadowy arc sliced across like a butcher’s cleaver aiming to split the willowy Xiao Lan in two!

  But a light tap of her foot flipped her up and over the cleave!

  Mid-flip, the sword in her hand hummed and the goddess shot downwards like a swallow diving from the heavens!

  Seeing the piercing tip speeding towards her, Xiao Hong furrowed her brows in envy and cursed to herself. “Tsk, spirit sword. Really willing, ah.”

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  But the thorny rose didn’t shy back.

  A snap of her wrist and her barbed whip lashed out at the quickly incoming human missile!

  Claaang! The tips of the whip and sword kissed, robbing Xiao Lan of her momentum and forcing her to land!

  The moment her foot touched the ground, the sword became an extension of herself and flowed forward to clash against the relentless whip. Cling! Clang!

  Flash to the left, flash to the right!

  Ding! Deng! The chasing viper met sword like metal against metal, scattering sparks like fireflies!

  But no matter how fast that whip was, there was a subtle gap between each lash, letting the advancing Xiao Lan get closer and closer...

  In less than a few breaths, the sword dancer was about to breach the melee bubble!

  But instead of panic, Xiao Hong only sneered and unleashed the technique she had been channeling!

  “Shadow Whip Style: Blossoming Flower!”

  In the blink of an eye, her barbed whip came alive and became a blur, lashing out countless shadowy afterimages that spread all over as if the wind itself had turned hostile!

  All angles in front were covered, closing off all possible forward path for the sword dancer and the nightmarish storm was about to shred her in the next breath!

  Facing the whip shadows that came as fast as wind, Xiao Lan’s cold face didn’t even flinch.

  A light tap of her foot was all it took to flip backwards into the air like a leaf caught in an updraft...

  The first wave of whip shadows whistled past underneath, but the second wave came right at her as if predicting her move!

  Xiao Lan’s eyes sharpened.

  Mid-flip, her sword hummed to life, abruptly changing her direction and towing her down right through the narrow gap between two lashes!

  Ding! The sword tip struck the floor, bending the blade like a bamboo...

  In an instant, the bent sword snapped straight and catapulted her back upwards, just in time to evade the barbed whip trying to catch her fall!

  Soaring through the air like a spinning gyroscope, Xiao Lan let go of her sword, shooting it straight out like an arrow at the thorny rose who wanted to lash her whip again!

  “Tch!” Seeing the sword light zooming toward her, Xiao Hong could only change her offense into defense, lashing at the sword! Clang!

  A shower of sparks and the sword got deflected, but...

  Like a sentient predator, the sword swerved around mid-air and shot right back at her!

  Ding! Dang! Deng!

  While retreating step by step, Xiao Hong twirled like a spinning top, using her whip like a coiling serpent to intercept the sword light buzzing back and forth like a vengeful bee weaving a net around a flower!

  Just when Xiao Hong was forced back into a corner, she borrowed every ounce of momentum from her spin and her whip lashed out at full power! “Hah!”

  Claaaang! The Qi exploding from her whip swatted the flying sword away!

  The sword spun away like a boomerang and back around to Xiao Lan’s waiting hand.

  Raising the sword to eye-level, her fingers slid from the hilt of the blade to the tip. “One sword style…”

  In a blink that happened so fast that it was almost like a single moment, the sword slashed out two almost-invisible, wind-like arcs of sword energy!

  “Twin Dragon Shock!”

  Sensing the slashes, crisscrossed like a massive X, quickly growing larger and larger in her vision, Xiao Hong’s hair stood on end.

  Instinctively, her legs gave in and opened like a butterfly, letting a burst of Qi propel herself forward!

  She bent back at an almost impossible angle, nearly laying flat against the ground and that was just barely enough to let her slide between the gap at the base of the X...

  The mark of death grazed right past her eyes… then sliced apart the horse-bucket stalls behind like butter!

  Before those broken stall walls could topple over and free whatever was left inside…

  Xiao Hong’s whip was ready to lash out again and her body snapped back up like a released bow—

  Only to freeze mid-motion, narrowly stopping herself from getting poked by the cold metal tip waiting a breath away from her throat.

  “You lose.”

  That frigid declaration forced her eyes to trail up the sword to its owner and met her detached, merciless gaze as if looking at a mere ant.

  That look made the blood in her veins freeze and she didn’t even dare to breath, afraid it would be her last.

  Just when Xiao Hong felt like she will really die in the next breath, the icy-sharp blade pointing at her throat withdrew.

  “Room downstairs, yours.”

  The icy sword goddess then left without sparing the gasping loser a second glance.

  Looking at that upright sword guarding the victor’s back, Xiao Hong tightened her grip on the handle of her whip.

  Her knuckles went white from how hard she held onto her pride, but in the end, she loosened her grip and looked away. “Tsk.”

  Getting up, she flicked her whip once more before putting it away.

  Straightening herself out, she looked around at all the damaged tiles and the faint X carved into the wall behind her.

  The mark of death reminded her of the horror she just experienced, but… she wasn’t one to accept defeat so easily.

  Blowing away the red flag hanging over her slyly flashing eyes, a smirk bloomed on the thorny rose’s face.

  “Tsk. Tsk. I can’t deal with you, but can I still not handle a stinky man?”