chsdbacks Chapter 134 Step? An insurmountable barrier!
Chapter 134 Step? An insurmountable barrier!
Chapter 134 A Hundred Steps? An Insurmountable Barrier!
Nalan Yanran bit her lower lip until it bled, but the sweet, metallic taste spreading across her tongue cleared her muddled consciousness somewhat.
"Nine times? Twenty-seven times? Nineteen thousand six hundred and eighty-three times? Do you think I believe that?!"
A low, husky laugh rolled from her delicate red lips; the voice, which was usually pleasant to the ear, now sounded jarring and made one's heart tighten.
"Xiao Yan, do you think you can make me stop by spouting some scary numbers?"
"I am Nalan Yanran, the young sect leader of the Yunlan Sect, and Yun Yun's disciple!"
Nalan Yanran suddenly looked up, her eyes shining brightly like flames beneath the messy hair on her forehead.
"I will never give up unless my bones break!"
Nalan Yanran didn't believe it.
I can't believe there's such a huge gap in the world, and I can't believe that after years of hard work, I can't even cross a mere hundred steps.
She couldn't believe that the boy who was considered a "good-for-nothing" by everyone three years ago could now subdue Nalan Yanran and make her a slave without lifting a finger or even using any fighting spirit.
To admit defeat? She'd rather die!
"I'll show you!"
The remaining fighting spirit swirled wildly within her body, causing a tearing pain in her meridians, as if countless fine needles were pricking her. But she ignored it all, digging her fingertips into the cracks of the floor tiles, her knuckles twisting white from the force, as she pulled herself up from the ground.
Step 11.
The moment her delicate feet touched the ground, a pressure three times heavier than before crashed down on her beautiful body like a raging tide!
The weight of three times the pressure pressed down on every inch of Nalan Yanran's body!
Her pretty face flushed crimson, a muffled groan escaped her teeth, and a bead of bright red blood suddenly spilled from the corner of her mouth, splattering onto her dusty robe.
Like red plum blossoms bursting open in the snow.
Her once graceful waistline was stretched into a trembling arc under the weight, and her moon-white dress was already soaked with sweat, clinging tightly to her undulating, full breasts, highlighting the breathtaking curves to the fullest extent. Yet, at this moment, all that remained was a broken stubbornness, devoid of any remaining charm.
Step 12: Her snow-white skin, as white as mutton fat jade, gradually began to show traces of blood.
The thirteenth step: his legs felt as heavy as lead, and with every inch he moved, a groaning "creak" came from between his bones.
Step fourteen.
Step 19.
Step 20!
It took half an hour to walk just ten steps.
But when she finally moved to the twentieth shallow mark, she was still a full eighty steps away from Xiao Yan.
At this moment, Nalan Yanran had lost all her arrogance. Her battle armor was shattered like fragments in the wind, embedded in her bleeding skin. Her moon-white robe was covered in dust and wrinkled from sweat. Her delicate body hunched slightly under the pressure, but she still held firm to her unyielding spine.
Her hair clung messily to her flushed and damp face, obscuring most of her beauty, leaving only a pair of defiant eyes visible.
"Triple every ten steps? I don't believe it, I don't believe you have such power," she murmured to the figure eighty steps away, her voice carrying a morbid vitality.
She didn't believe she would lose.
Nalan Yanran's pride wouldn't allow her to lose!
Just one more step, and one more step, and we'll be one inch closer to "Xiao Yan admitting defeat".
Taking a deep breath, a burning pain shot through her lungs. She gathered the last wisp of fighting spirit within her body and attempted to take the twenty-first step.
Just as her long, shapely legs, covered in blood, were about to touch the ground, a terrifying pressure that seemed capable of crushing the heavens and earth suddenly descended!
That was nine times the pressure of before, a force of 100,000 jin crushing every inch of skin, as if it would crush the bones!
Without warning or buffer, it was like stars suddenly crashing down from the heavens, crushing her already collapsing body.
"Pfft—"
A mouthful of blood suddenly spurted from Nalan Yanran's mouth, splashing onto the floor tiles in front of her, spreading out in a dazzling red.
Her body swayed violently, her waist could no longer support the heavy pressure, and the graceful curves under her moon robe trembled violently under the sudden blow, as if they were about to fall apart completely in the next second.
The fighting spirit within her body was like an explosive that had been detonated, instantly backfiring on her. The intense pain from her meridians made her vision go black.
All the stubbornness and resentment shattered completely under this devastating pressure.
"Thump!"
A dull thud echoed through the deathly silent council hall. Nalan Yanran could no longer hold on; her shapely, slender legs buckled, and she collapsed heavily to her knees.
This time, she couldn't even support her upper body and fell forward, her palms leaving several bloody marks on the cold floor tiles before she finally collapsed to the ground like a wolf.
Her chest pressed against the cold ground, the undulating curves flattened by the pressure, yet the soft contours were still discernible, only now revealing a heart-wrenching vulnerability.
His shoulders and back trembled slightly, like a candle flickering in the wind; he didn't even have the strength to lift his head.
The hall was deathly silent; you could hear a pin drop.
Yun Yun subconsciously covered her lips, her knuckles turning white, her eyes filled with a mixture of pain and horror, almost dripping with tears, but in the end she didn't dare to move again.
A hundred paces away, Xiao Yan quietly watched the curled-up figure on the ground, his eyes as calm as a deep pool of water.
He ultimately failed to take the twenty-first step.
And this is only nine times the pressure.
That endpoint, 19,683 times the distance, was already an insurmountable chasm for her, one that she could not even look up at.
The deathly silence in the council hall was broken by a sonic boom. It was Yun Yun who rushed to Nalan Yanran's side almost instantly. The anxiety she had felt earlier from being restrained by Xiao Yan's gaze had now turned into urgency.
When she crouched down, her fingertips touched a patch of scalding skin, mixed with dust and blood, which made her heart clench.
"Yanran!"
Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly as she carefully avoided the bloodstains on Nalan Yanran's palms and gently helped her up from the ground.
Nalan Yanran's delicate body was as limp as if she had no bones. Her head was tilted on Yun Yun's shoulder, her long hair was messy and covered half of her face, and there was still bloodstains on the corner of her lips.
Her breathing was so faint, like a candle flickering in the wind, each rise and fall so shallow it was unsettling.
When Yun Yun touched her back, she could clearly feel the marks of broken bones under the heavy pressure.
What an arrogant, foolish child.
These are her students, whose pride is etched into their very bones. Even if they are broken, they refuse to curl up into a ball and be trampled on.
"Teacher," Nalan Yanran's voice was barely audible. Her eyelashes trembled, but she didn't even have the strength to open her eyes. Those twenty steps had exhausted all her fighting spirit. Her meridians felt like they had been crushed and then pieced back together, and every movement brought excruciating pain.
A few tears rolled down Nalan Yanran's cheeks, and she inexplicably began to sob.
Gu He squinted at Nalan Yanran in front of him.
He originally thought that Xiao Yan's actions were nothing more than an insult, but he did not expect that Nalan Yanran could actually withstand twenty steps.
He could clearly hear the tremors of fighting spirit in every step and the mournful cries of his meridians in every breath.
But this silly kid could never have imagined that Xiao Yan had already reached the Dou Zong level.
No matter how hard you try, it's just like trying to shake a tree.
He sighed softly, his gaze sweeping over Xiao Yan's tall and straight back, ultimately turning into a sigh of helplessness.
Yunling, the Grand Elder of the Yunlan Sect, turned pale and then flushed, his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, his knuckles so white that he almost crushed the hilt.
He hated Nalan Yanran's disheveled state, and he hated Xiao Yan's disdain even more.
Unlike Nalan Yanran, he was also a Dou Wang at the same age, and he felt the oppressive aura that Xiao Yan had spread for hundreds of steps was familiar to him.
If anyone gets within 50 steps of Xiao Yan, even he would probably be forced to his knees.
If he gets within twenty steps of Xiao Yan, he'll probably turn into mincemeat in an instant!
He was furious, but dared not speak out. He could only stare at Nalan Yanran on the ground, his heart filled with humiliation.
The young sect leader of Yunlan Sect has never fallen to such a state!
The Yunlan Sect disciples around them had already fallen silent.
Earlier, some people whispered that the young sect leader would definitely hold out until the end; others clenched their fists, hoping that she could create a miracle.
But when that aloof and beautiful figure fell to the ground, and her mouthful of blood splattered on the blue bricks, all the sounds were swallowed back.
They looked at the young sect leader, who was usually aloof and as bright as the moon, now lying on the ground, unable to even lift his head, but no one dared to laugh or utter a word of sympathy.
The struggle within those twenty steps was so heavy that even the onlookers felt a tightness in their chests.
It turns out that the so-called world of difference means that even the qualification to get close to someone requires risking one's life.
This is the difference between the weak and the strong!
A hundred paces away, Xiao Yan's gaze fell on the trembling figure in Yun Yun's arms. Looking at the girl crying as if she were in her mother's arms, a very faint ripple passed through his calm eyes.
"So arrogant, so arrogant that it makes me feel ridiculously stupid—"
However, a hint of praise and condemnation was also revealed in Xiao Yan's eyes.
That hint of approval lingered in his eyes for only a moment, as fleeting as an illusion.
Soon, his gaze returned to its usual calm, even showing a hint of indifference.
Stubbornness is a good thing, but the gap in ability can never be bridged by stubbornness alone.