The Chin of Contention

‘Hmph, what an act.’

Zhao Miaozhi let out a cold snort, her disdain palpable.

Yet, as earthy-yellow spiritual energy once again enveloped her fists, her actions betrayed her true intentions.

Battle!

The fighting spirit within her was reignited!

However, a clear-headed opponent was undoubtedly the most formidable; she reveled in battle, but even more so in victory.

To challenge an opponent’s psyche, one must strike at their most vulnerable point.

And attacking their close connections was undeniably the most effective method.

Hadn’t rumors about Ji Xue and Lin Mo been rampant lately?

Though Ji Xue was a princess, Zhao Miaozhi harbored no fear.

The heavens were high and the emperor far away; such matters wouldn’t reach her.

Zhao Miaozhi, who had nothing to lose, had never shied away from offending the powerful.

“Oh, ho! Personal Disciple Lin!”

Zhao Miaozhi curved her lips into a fierce smile, laced with contempt.

“It’s all over town, you know, about your Princess. You two are awfully chummy, wouldn’t you say? Certainly doesn’t look like an ordinary friendship. To put it plainly—aren’t you two just… a pair of lovebirds?”

She paused deliberately, her gaze cutting across Lin Mo like a knife.

“Two women, carrying on like that? Aren’t you a bit too thick-skinned, hmm?”

Just then, as if discovering an even sharper point of humiliation, her voice suddenly rose, laced with feigned astonishment.

“And your taste, honestly… tsk, tsk, tsk, it’s utterly shameful!”

Her gaze dramatically swept towards the distant spectator stands, her voice deliberately drawn out and full of mockery.

“That Princess’s chin… goodness gracious! It’s so sharp, it could be used as an awl! Aren’t you afraid that one embrace, with her… peerless beauty, might just puncture your lungs clean through?”

Ji Xue: “…?”

Having been inexplicably called out, her face was a canvas of question marks; she could discern that Zhao Miaozhi was once again attempting to provoke Lin Mo.

But why mention her chin?

She instinctively raised a hand, her slender fingertips curiously brushing the tip of her chin.

Beside her, Liu Ruyan stared straight ahead, giving an almost imperceptible nod.

A flicker of displeasure crossed Ji Xue’s heart, especially after seeing Liu Ruyan’s nod, prompting her to immediately address Liu Ruyan, “What’s wrong with a pointed chin?”

‘Ignorant commoner. This is clearly the most elegant “delicate” beauty currently fashionable in the palace.’

‘This was the teaching of my palace nanny; one must know that the nanny who instructed me was as beautiful as a flower in her youth, and her makeup skills captivated countless admirers.’

‘Do you understand what a “distinct jawline” means? Prominent angles, the more slender and cone-like, the more graceful and charming the bearing.’

‘Hmph, what would such a clumsy, bear-like commoner understand about the refined aesthetics of makeup?’

‘Liu Ruyan, what are you nodding for?’

“But Princess, your chin really is very pointed…”

“Is it naturally…?” Liu Ruyan asked cautiously, ‘Or is it makeup?’

“How rude!” Ji Xue immediately snapped.

“That is only natural! If anyone could be born with a chin like this, they would possess a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms!”

“This is the standard for royalty!”

“That nanny even showed me a painting of herself from her youth! She pointed it out to me! Today, I shall open your commoner eyes!”

“No, Princess, why are you so fixated on this point?” Liu Ruyan’s small head felt like it was about to smoke.

“She just slandered you and Senior Sister Wan’er as demonic heroines! This—”

Before Liu Ruyan could finish, Ji Xue had already retrieved her treasured painting from her storage ring, completely disregarding the ongoing competition on the arena.

“Look! Feast your eyes! This is a masterpiece personally painted by a renowned artist! The graceful woman in this painting is none other than the nanny who meticulously cared for me in the palace! How about it? Isn’t her beauty unparalleled?”

Ji Xue, her eyebrows dancing, vividly and expressively described the woman who had been her mentor in the art of makeup.

‘Was it beautiful?’

In Liu Ruyan’s eyes, the painting was indeed beautiful.

Distant landscapes, nearby objects, garments, accessories, and even the clouds in the sky—all were depicted with breathtaking realism and lifelike precision.

Gazing at the image, one felt transported, as if having personally set foot upon that very land.

The luxurious texture of the clothing and the intricate folds created by the figure’s posture were all rendered with exquisite detail.

Yet, while every other element was masterfully executed, the face depicted… seemed somewhat peculiar.

Its facial lines appeared remarkably harsh and straight, sketched with an almost rigid hand—to be blunt, it was as if the artist, after meticulously detailing everything else, had suddenly lost all energy when it came to the face, rendering it stiff and conventional.

What was truly strange, however, was that despite the crude and hasty rendering of the face, the eyes embedded within it gleamed brightly, sharp as lightning, the nose bridge stood tall like a peak, and the eyebrows were delicately shaped like willow leaves.

The entire painting exuded a strong sense of dissonance: the meticulous and heartfelt depiction of the facial features clashed jarringly with the seemingly rushed and unrefined outline of the face.

It was remarkably odd.

Liu Ruyan didn’t know how to articulate it, but it gave her a feeling of being a prank. “Even if I don’t understand art, this face is simply a—”

“Hmph, little commoner, it’s only natural you wouldn’t understand the beauty of a painting. Liu Ruyan, you still have much to learn!” Ji Xue’s words were brimming with mockery.

Liu Ruyan let out a soft hmph, choosing not to argue further.

After all, she knew nothing of art and couldn’t contend with Ji Xue.

Yet, she simply found it unattractive; the woman’s face was not pleasing to her eye.

“This… could this painting be the final masterpiece of Master Wu Yuxi?”

A hesitant voice suddenly drifted from a disciple in the back row.

The scroll was spread so conspicuously that the nearby disciples had already taken in the entire image.

“Oh?” Ji Xue’s willow-like eyebrows arched slightly, a smug expression gracing her face.

“To think there’s someone here with discerning taste! Indeed! This is truly a divine work personally painted by the Art Saint, Master Wu Yuxi!”

She turned to Liu Ruyan, her tone tinged with a hint of ostentation.

“Ruyan, look at her! Since you’re a Personal Disciple, there’s naturally much to learn; you can’t just fight and kill, you must also learn to appreciate beauty!”

“But I imagine a commoner like you might not even know Master Wu’s name. Allow this Princess to explain it to you in detail, to elevate your understanding! The beauty of this painting lies in—”

Before she could finish, the disciple added, with a trace of apprehension.

“Your Highness, forgive me… but this painting… is actually… not, not suitable as an exemplary work.”

“…?” Ji Xue’s expression hardened, her fingertips unconsciously tightening around the scroll.

The disciple’s voice trembled slightly, yet she clearly stated her identity.

“This disciple dares to inform Your Highness… the Master Wu Yuxi you just mentioned… is precisely my grandmother…”

“?!” Ji Xue’s pupils abruptly constricted, her fingers clutching the scroll turning slightly white.

“As for this painting… according to my mother, it was created by my grandmother years ago to playfully tease a close confidante—a woman surnamed Wu…” The disciple, whose surname was Wu, asked cautiously, yet with a hint of confirmation, “Your Highness’s nanny… Could she… could she be surnamed Wu?”

“!!!” Ji Xue felt as if a bolt from the blue had exploded in her mind, the scroll in her hand nearly slipping away!

“I believe, Your Highness, you might have misunderstood your nanny’s intentions. Her meaning was likely to teach you makeup skills, not… to draw such a chin…”

A scorching sensation, a mix of extreme embarrassment and disbelief, surged through Ji Xue’s cheeks like molten lava.

Her voice carried a barely perceptible tremor. “So… that means…”

“That means exactly!” Liu Ruyan, as if performing a trick, conjured a plain silk handkerchief from nowhere, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Princess, it’s time to reveal your true face!”

Before her words faded, the silk handkerchief, imbued with spiritual energy, flashed across Ji Xue’s delicate face with lightning speed!

“Impudent! Wait, wait, wait! I… this Princess hasn’t…” Ji Xue gasped, trying in vain to turn her head and dodge.

“My original appearance… is very, very ordinary… Stop, quickly, ooh—!”

“Hmph hmph, next, let everyone witness with their own eyes, our esteemed Princess’s tru—” Liu Ruyan’s triumphant words abruptly halted, as if an invisible hand had clamped around her throat.

The powder-stained silk handkerchief slipped from her stiff fingers, fluttering to the ground.

Ji Xue’s true face was finally revealed without any concealment, exposed to everyone’s gaze.

The next moment, time seemed to freeze.

Everyone surrounding Ji Xue, almost simultaneously, collectively gasped!

That perfectly synchronized, incredibly loud intake of breath, like a sudden thunderclap, instantly tore through the clamor of the martial arts arena!

The rhythm of battles in the Yi-Domain, Zone Five, and even on more distant platforms, was disrupted by this abrupt uproar.

Countless gazes, filled with doubt and scrutiny, converged on Princess Ji Xue like sudden spotlights.

Even Qiu Yue, who had been observing Lin Mo’s battle with Zhao Miaozhi with detached coolness, was prompted to glance over by this unusual collective gasp.

‘A face with a shoehorn-like contour, nothing more; why such a fuss?’

A hint of impatient mockery flickered in Qiu Yue’s heart.

‘Are they perhaps showing off some novel palace item? Hah, how tedious.’

She quickly averted her gaze, refocusing on the beloved figure in the Yi-Domain, Zone Five.

‘As for the intimate relationship between Lin Mo and Ji Xue?’

‘Qiu Yue felt no ripple in her heart.’

‘Whether in beauty, background, or the unfathomable potential for future growth, she possessed an overwhelming advantage. Her current petite physique was merely a temporary price paid for her peerless cultivation method.’

‘Once her divine skill reached perfection and her original appearance was restored, how could Lin Mo not be captivated by her?’

‘Ji Xue?’

‘Qiu Yue scoffed inwardly.’

‘Lin Mo’s closeness with her was, more likely than not, a clumsy act performed for my benefit.’

‘Who would genuinely favor a woman with a shoehorn-shaped face?’

Meanwhile, on Liu Ruyan’s side, someone uttered a remark that prompted everyone to nod in agreement.

“Princess… when you return to the palace, perhaps dismiss your nanny and find a new one?”

“I think beheading her wouldn’t be excessive,” someone else chimed in.

Everyone nodded in agreement, their movements remarkably synchronized.

Being stared at by so many wide-eyed people made Ji Xue blush; after all, this was her first time appearing before everyone without makeup.

“You… you all give this Princess a straight answer! Is my… my bare face… very ordinary? Not good-looking…?”

‘Ordinary?’

‘If you are ordinary, then what are we, a bunch of twisted melons and cracked dates?’

Everyone was astonished, while only Liu Ruyan was filled with regret.

‘It seems… I’ve just wiped clean a formidable rival…’