The waitress, originally intending to inform Zilin Ling of Xueying's awakening, screamed as soon as she uttered a single word.
It turned out that the direction from which she entered was precisely the direction Zilin Ling had kicked.
Seeing that the kick originally aimed at Situ Yunfeng was about to land on the waitress, Zilin Ling was shocked. Although she hastily retracted her power, she lost her balance. Her toe slipped rapidly to the left.
To her left, Situ Yunfeng had just sent the waitress out of the combat zone. He was at a moment when his previous strength had been exhausted and new strength had not yet formed. He had no way to dodge this kick.
If this kick landed squarely, Situ Yunfeng would truly become a eunuch.
Zilin Ling was greatly alarmed. She had only intended to teach Situ Yunfeng a lesson, not to cripple him.
But at this moment, even if she retracted her power, it was too late, not to mention that she still hadn't regained her balance.
Situ Yunfeng, seeing that he was about to be kicked and could not dodge, instinctively circulated his spiritual energy in his desperation. However, due to the instinctive reaction to danger and the fact that he had only recently broken through to the mid-stage of the Huayuan Realm, his control over spiritual energy was not precise. Thus, the spiritual energy of the mid-stage Huayuan Realm surged forth.
By the time he reacted, Zilin Ling, who had no spiritual energy to support her, was directly blown away.
He inwardly cursed "Not good!" and circulated his spiritual energy again, intending to pull the flying Zilin Ling back.
But this surge of spiritual energy only made matters worse for Zilin Ling. She, who had been trying to stabilize herself, was propelled faster by this surge of energy, directly towards the wall of the council hall.
"Sister Zi!"
Ye Liuxing's panicked voice rang out. In his desperation, spiritual energy fluctuations began to appear around him.
"Young Master, no!"
Ji Ran, who had just rushed back from outside, was terrified as he saw Ye Liuxing attempting to break the seal within his body.
This seal had been personally placed by the family head after Ye Liuxing had injured his heart meridians. It could only be broken when Ye Liuxing eventually repaired his heart meridians.
Before that, if the seal were broken, Ye Liuxing would be in mortal danger.
In his haste, Ji Ran grabbed an object at random and threw it at Ye Liuxing without even looking.
His intention was simple: to knock Ye Liuxing unconscious.
On the other side, Zilin Ling, seeing that she was about to crash heavily into the wall, knew that if she hit it squarely, she would be half dead if not dead.
"Little Ling Ling!"
Situ Yunfeng was stunned. By the time he came to his senses, he was too late to catch up.
He closed his eyes in frustration, unable to bear to watch.
As Ye Liuxing was struck by the object thrown by Ji Ran on his neck, he also saw Zilin Ling about to hit the wall.
"Sister Zi!"
He cried out feebly and then fainted.
Meanwhile, Zilin Ling had forcefully retracted her power to avoid hitting the waitress, but was about to kick Situ Yunfeng in a vital spot.
Just as she felt helpless, she suddenly felt a powerful impact on her chest, throwing her internal organs out of place and sending her body flying backward involuntarily.
Zilin Ling cursed inwardly, "Damn it!"
Then, she quickly calculated in her mind and curled her body up tightly.
This would allow her to stabilize her center of gravity, giving her time to regain balance, and also to avoid her head when she was hit, preventing her from becoming a pulp.
This was also due to her extensive experience from past adversities, allowing her to come up with such a theory in a very short time.
But at this critical moment, Zilin Ling was struck again forcefully. Her stabilized center of gravity was once again thrown off balance.
With the speed increasing, Zilin Ling no longer had time to calculate or adjust her balance and could only watch helplessly as she flew towards the opposite wall.
She resignedly closed her eyes and thought, "It's over!"
At this moment of crisis, a black figure descended from the sky, followed by a heavy grunt.
It turned out that Ye Lingyuan had been anxiously watching Zilin Ling. Ever since their fight began, he had a bad feeling.
It was precisely because of this that he was able to act swiftly in the critical moment, grabbing Zilin Ling just as she was about to hit the wall and pulling her into his embrace.
Because Zilin Ling was flying too fast and with too much momentum, he had to spin twice in the air while holding her before slowly landing on the ground.
Zilin Ling clearly felt that she had hit something, but the anticipated pain did not come.
She opened her eyes and saw Ye Lingyuan's exquisitely beautiful face, with a trace of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth, which was particularly striking.
As soon as Ye Lingyuan felt his feet touch the ground, he first looked with concern at Zilin Ling in his arms. For a moment, their eyes met.
Zilin Ling felt her heart pounding, and a tingling sensation spread from her waist, making her cheeks flush and her eyes glaze over.
Ye Lingyuan was also tense all over. The soft touch in his hand sent a jolt through his entire body, and a tingling sensation tickled his heart.
At the same time, the unique scent of the young girl rushed into his throat, making his breathing rapid.
He couldn't help but lower his head, slowly approaching Zilin Ling's alluring red lips.
Thus, in Zilin Ling's eyes, Ye Lingyuan's handsome face gradually enlarged, and her own face grew even hotter.
"What, not coming down yet?"
Just as she was about to instinctively close her eyes, Ye Lingyuan's magnetic voice came through, with a hint of playfulness.
In reality, Ye Lingyuan was not as calm as he appeared. It was just that his self-control was extraordinary, and he forcibly suppressed the burgeoning emotions within him.
Zilin Ling was startled, and the flutter in her heart subsided.
It was then that she noticed the abnormality around her waist. Looking down, she found herself half-leaning in Ye Lingyuan's arms.
"Ah..."
Zilin Ling shrieked and jumped up abruptly. However, due to the excessive movement, a small pink fist accidentally struck Ye Lingyuan's hard chest.
Of course, in her panic, she failed to notice that she had struck the very place where Ye Lingyuan was injured last night.
Ye Lingyuan's brow furrowed slightly, and he let out a muffled groan.
Although Zilin Ling had stitched his wound last night, he had soaked in the hot spring with his injury overnight due to the Moon Colored Glaze's onset. This had not only prevented the wound from healing but had also caused it to become inflamed and cracked.
Earlier, in his urgency to save Zilin Ling, he had strained the wound again. Then, to prevent Zilin Ling from getting hurt, he had once again acted as a human shield, causing the wound to split open completely.
Now, being hit by Zilin Ling's flailing fists, it was no wonder it hurt.
Fortunately, over the years, although the Moon Colored Glaze caused him unbearable pain every month, it had also tempered his strong will.
Zilin Ling did not notice Ye Lingyuan's abnormality. She remembered how she had been overly sentimental just now and stamped her foot angrily, cursing, "Ye Lingyuan, you bastard!"