Xie Ningyuan was a complication Lu Sangjiu truly hadn't anticipated.
If it had been anyone else, she could have taken advantage of their suppressed cultivation within the Secret Realm to find an opportunity and take them out.
But this was Xie Ningyuan... Lu Sangjiu was no saint, but even she couldn't bring herself to repay kindness with hatred.
So, she couldn't kill him, and she couldn't defend against him... 'What have I done to deserve this!'
After Xie Ningyuan left, Gu Jue didn't chase after him.
Sheathing his sword as he returned, he said only, "He really was hiding his cultivation before. Be careful if you run into him again."
In his anger, he had attacked with his full strength, yet the other man had parried his blows with ease.
He couldn't say who would win in a real fight between them, but he was certain of one thing: the man's strength was not to be underestimated, and his actual cultivation was probably far superior to his own.
