THWACK!

They were standing extremely close, and Gongsun Miao Tong had struck without warning. Caught completely off guard, Su Xuan was hit squarely in the chest by her palm. His feet scraped against the ground as he slid back several feet. Looking down, Su Xuan saw that the clothes over his chest were torn.

"The gap in strength between us is too great." Gongsun Miao Tong lifted her jade-like face, speaking to Su Xuan with indifference. "From now on, refrain from mentioning my name in front of others. You truly don't have the right."

Having said that, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Gongsun Miao Tong began walking with proud steps toward the exit of the Merit Hall. But after taking only a few steps, she suddenly stopped, took something out, and turned to toss it to Su Xuan. "You wrote this letter, didn't you? Your literary style is just as unimpressive."

"Uh..." Su Xuan caught the letter and unfolded it, his eyes widening.

There was a short poem on the letter, which read:

Gongsun Miao Tong, a beauty true,

Single still, with no "I do."

Pray to heavens, for a chance,

To join with her in nuptial dance.

Ying Lan leaned in to take a look. "This poem is really terrible," she said to Su Xuan. "Did you write it?"

Su Xuan curled his lip. "How awkward!"

He couldn't be sure if Feng Zhengyuan had actually written this letter to Gongsun Miao Tong, but it truly lacked any literary grace, looking like something an elementary school student from the world below might write.

"Please don't disgust me again in the future." Gongsun Miao Tong added, "Even if there were no men left in the world, I still wouldn't give you a second look."

With those final words, she turned and walked away amidst the crowd's derisive laughter.

"Now that's just too much!" Su Xuan crumbled the letter into dust, lamenting irritably, "How could you insult your admirer like that?"

When he had confessed his feelings to her, he had been exceedingly polite. For Gongsun Miao Tong to humiliate him this way was truly excessive.

"Ying Lan," Su Xuan said, squinting at Gongsun Miao Tong's retreating figure, "if I beat up this woman, would the consequences be severe?"

"Yes," Ying Lan nodded. "She is the Great Elder's Direct Disciple. The Great Elder wields immense power on Immortal Mountain. If you beat her up, it would be an extremely serious offense. You'd probably be expelled from the sect!"

Expelled from the sect?

The moment Su Xuan heard those words, his eyes lit up! If he were to be expelled, he could successfully cover up what happened with Feng Zhengyuan. This would ensure that the Third Elder and A Lian wouldn't be hunted down. He could also clear his own name and return to the world below with a clear conscience. It was a blessing in disguise!

"Hey!" Su Xuan called out to Gongsun Miao Tong's back. "I was careless just now. Do you dare to have another go with me?"

"Forget it!" Gongsun Miao Tong waved her jade hand dismissively without turning around.

That last move was enough for her to gauge Su Xuan's abilities. He was nothing special, and another round wouldn't change the fact that he was no match for her.

Su Xuan didn't waste any more words. He took a single step and shot rapidly toward Gongsun Miao Tong. At the same time, he announced in a loud voice, "Everyone, listen up! I, Feng Zhengyuan, am not as simple as I appear on the surface. I've been hiding my true strength all along. Today, for the sake of my future happiness, I'm done pretending. I'm going to show you all the real me!"

Before his words even finished echoing, the entire Merit Hall erupted in another round of uproarious laughter. No one believed him. Just as Gongsun Miao Tong had said, Su Xuan might be considered outstanding outside of Immortal Mountain, but within it, where Longevity Realm cultivators were a dime a dozen, he was mediocre at best. His strength didn't even rank in the top twenty among the nineteen peaks of Immortal Mountain. He wasn't even number one on Golden Lotus Peak; there was another senior brother who still outranked him.

"Idiot!"

Just as Su Xuan was less than a meter away, Gongsun Miao Tong suddenly spun around. She clenched her small fist and launched a mountain-shaking punch at him. Her body erupted with the intense power fluctuations of the Late Stage of Longevity, clearly intending to subdue him with a single blow.

Su Xuan didn't dodge. He threw a punch of his own, his body also erupting with the power fluctuations of the Late Stage of Longevity!

BAM!

Their fists collided in an instant! A shockwave rumbled outward, whipping the onlookers' clothes about!

Gongsun Miao Tong narrowed her eyes, a look of astonishment flashing through them. She felt a surging power, incredibly domineering, invade her internal organs, and her breath instantly fell into disarray. It seemed Su Xuan hadn't been exaggerating; he truly had been hiding his strength!

She hurriedly raised her other hand to strike at Su Xuan while simultaneously retreating, trying to dissipate the force from his punch.

But then the unexpected happened. Su Xuan reached out and grabbed her hand, grinning. "What a waste not to use this hand to play tunes!"

The next second, Su Xuan yanked her hand forcefully, pulling her retreating body back toward him. At the same time, he drove his knee into her upper abdomen.

Gongsun Miao Tong's delicate body instantly bent into a pitiful arc, and her chin just so happened to land on Su Xuan's shoulder. He seized the opportunity to wrap an arm around her waist, pressing her into his embrace until her body was flush against his. A warm, jade-like smoothness pressed against him.

"Senior Sister Miao Tong, we're all members of the same sect. You could have saved me some face when you spoke, you know?" Su Xuan whispered with a smile into her ear. "The things you just said really put me in an awkward position!"

The entire hall fell silent. Everyone seemed frozen in place, staring unblinkingly at the embracing pair. Their minds went blank, unsure how to process the scene before them.

"You're not getting any younger, are you?" Su Xuan continued softly. "Do you really not want to find a partner? Am I truly that unqualified?"

Gongsun Miao Tong's brows furrowed tighter and tighter as her face grew increasingly red. This was the first time she had ever been this close to a man, and a man she had always looked down on at that!

Biting her lower lip hard, Gongsun Miao Tong twisted her waist, bending her upper body to the side. Then, in a bizarre maneuver, she kicked her leg up from behind her back, aiming for Su Xuan's face.

Su Xuan retreated a step and shot out his hand.

SMACK!

He caught Gongsun Miao Tong's foot.

Her lip twitched as she hurriedly tried to retract her leg. But to her dismay, as she pulled back, he'd pulled her shoe right off!

"You're so shameless!" Gongsun Miao Tong's will to fight vanished. She drifted backward, her bare foot resting on top of her other shod foot, standing on one leg like a golden rooster.

"What's so shameless about it?" Su Xuan held up her shoe with a cheerful grin. "What's so shameless about taking off my own woman's shoe to wash it for her? It's perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"

"You..." Gongsun Miao Tong's pretty face flushed crimson, leaving her speechless.

His own woman's shoe? And he was going to wash it? She had never agreed to any of this! How could a person be so utterly shameless?

Su Xuan didn't push his luck. He shot Ying Lan a meaningful look and, still holding Gongsun Miao Tong's shoe, walked out of the Merit Hall, leaving the crowd completely stunned.

Indeed, everyone was dumbfounded. They never imagined that Su Xuan had not only hidden his true strength but had also publicly flirted with Gongsun Miao Tong! Now, any hope of them becoming Dao companions was gone. Instead, it seemed they were destined for a life-and-death struggle.

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