"Truly a brilliant scheme, dear brother. Your timing was so precise even I couldn't react in time... Though I, Luo Hao, would never willingly admit defeat, I am not one who cannot accept loss. This time, you've won."
As Roy was contemplating his newly acquired authority, a voice as clear as a nightingale's song reached him. Raising his head, he saw Luo Hao approaching, her robes fluttering as if she were an immortal fairy gliding above the ground.
At this moment, Luo Hao appeared slightly disheveled. Her exquisite fairy garments were torn in places, and her silken hair cascaded messily over her fragrant shoulders. Fortunately, her layered robes—reinforced with curses—were thick enough to avoid complete disintegration, sparing her snow-white skin from exposure. While Roy might have gotten away with a glance or two, anyone else catching even a glimpse of the sect leader's bare skin would undoubtedly face her lethal wrath.
Roy's jet-black hair and jade-like complexion were now tinged with traces of smoke and earth, pulling her down from celestial grace into mortal realms—yet this only added a touch of human charm.
Though her words still carried an air of boldness, to Roy, they sounded more like a child's stubborn refusal to admit defeat.
Roy smiled without arguing and turned his gaze to the delicate hand resting at her side. That hand, seemingly boneless, was twisted unnaturally—a result of clashing with the Great Sage Equal to Heaven when she activated her authority. After all, her mortal frame could never match Sun Wukong's indestructible golden body, leaving her bones and muscles shattered.
"Does your hand hurt, sister?"
Though he knew such a minor injury would never trouble Luo Hao, Roy still asked out of concern.
Luo Hao glanced at her hand and laughed heartily. "…A trifle! A mere scratch—it'll heal with a little rest. But it seems my worthy brother has gained quite a useful authority."
She looked at Roy. Earlier, when he had clashed with the Great Sage, his wrist and arm bones had also fractured in several places. Yet now, they appeared perfectly intact. It didn't take much thought to realize he must have acquired an authority related to the body, allowing his injuries to heal on their own.
"Since I've taken what should have been your fortune, shouldn't I apologize?"
As someone whose soul was thoroughly rooted in China, Roy was quite fluent in classical speech.
"Virtue belongs to the deserving! We made a wager, and you were the victor—this is rightfully yours. Why should you apologize to me?"
Though she spoke these words, Luo Hao's expression was one of genuine delight. Roy's words had spared her pride, lifting the shame of defeat from this sect leader who should have been humiliated.
"Still, our wager lacked stakes. If others heard of this, they'd think Luo Hao too petty… Tell me, worthy brother, is there anything you desire? Whatever I possess, I shall give it as your prize."
Her tone brooked no refusal, as though only this could soothe the pride of one whose ambition rivaled the heavens.
Roy knew Luo Hao's temperament well. Excessive humility would only insult her, provoking greater fury. Yet if he grew too greedy, she'd deem him unworthy. Truly, Luo Hao was capricious beyond reason—every word spoken to her had to be carefully weighed, neither submissive nor overbearing.
At this moment, Roy couldn't help but pity Lu Yinghua. How had that boy survived under Luo Hao's whims for so long?
After a brief pause, Roy replied, "…Both you and I are monarchs of this world. What we desire, we take freely—no need to trouble you, sister. Yet there is one thing beyond my reach. I've heard your celestial abode on Mount Lu never admits outsiders. If you were to invite me there for a few cups of wine as the prize for our wager, I'd consider that more than enough."
Roy smiled warmly, his tone calm yet carrying the domineering air of a king. Though the world was vast, there were no longer any natural barriers for the present Roy. Anything material could be obtained with just a word from him, so he naturally wouldn't truly ask Luo Hao for anything. Moreover, his words had already given Luo Hao ample face.
Upon hearing Roy's words, Luo Hao's eyes brightened. Her beautiful, flower-like face beamed with delight as she said cheerfully, "...Brother and I truly hit it off at first sight. What a delightful person you are."
A Campione like Roy, whose words carried an unyielding dominance yet showed her ample respect, was truly one of a kind in this world—his demeanor closely aligned with the heavenly principles Luo Hao revered. As she gazed at Roy, she found him dignified and handsome, akin to a scholarly yet unrestrained gentleman, and the more she looked, the more she grew fond of him.
Only a Campione like Roy, who still retained some traditional heavenly principles in his bones, could understand what Luo Hao truly desired. He was even regarded by her as a kindred spirit.
"Excellent! My worthy brother may visit my humble abode anytime. So long as you do not find it too crude, this elder sister will surely prepare it with utmost hospitality!" declared Luo Hao with unbridled enthusiasm.
Lu Yinghua, who had returned to the vicinity after the battle, was dumbfounded upon hearing his master's words. Even he, her closest direct disciple, had never truly entered the small cottage where his master resided over all these years, let alone heard such humble words as "prepare it with utmost hospitality" from her lips.
He knew this was a sign that his master had truly encountered someone she deemed worthy—an honor even he, her disciple, had never received.
For a moment, Lu Yinghua didn't know whether to feel envy or jealousy.
"Ying'er, come with me!" After extending her invitation to Roy, Luo Hao called out to the still-dazed Lu Yinghua.
Snapped out of his stupor, Lu Yinghua asked foolishly, "...Master, are we leaving just like that?"
"Should we stay and wait for others to mock us? I, Luo Hao, may lose to my worthy brother, but if others witness it, wouldn't they laugh at me for lacking shame?"
With a sweeping glare, the sect leader silenced the Taoist nuns she had brought along, as well as the shrine maidens and sorcerers from the Japanese side. They all lowered their heads, pretending to be deaf and blind, terrified that the sect leader might slaughter them all in a fit of humiliation.
Perhaps feeling that acting so petty in front of Roy would make her seem narrow-minded, Luo Hao snorted coldly and spared those who had witnessed her disheveled state.
Both the Five Holy Mountains Sect and the Japanese contingent heaved sighs of relief. By then, Lu Yinghua had regained his senses and promptly knelt, performing a deep bow to Roy. "...Ying'er pays respects to Uncle-Master! Ying'er must now depart with Master. May Uncle-Master live eternally!"
This young master of the Hong Kong Lu family truly knew how to climb the social ladder, instantly acknowledging two of the world's strongest Campiones as his master and uncle-master.
Roy couldn't help but chuckle. No wonder Lu Yinghua had become Luo Hao's disciple—the boy was exceptionally sharp-witted.
"Stop embarrassing yourself here!" Luo Hao shot Lu Yinghua a glare and began chanting a Taoist incantation. "...In the northern darkness, there is a fish named Kun!"
With her mystic arts, the sect leader transformed into a colossal Kun that traversed the northern seas at dawn and the southern skies by dusk. Seizing Lu Yinghua, she soared into the sky and vanished in the blink of an eye.
As for the other members of the Five Holy Mountains Sect, the leader couldn't care less about how they would return to China.
***
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