"Ye Chen, our last fight isn't finished. Come again!" Qin Luo shouted, sword intent boiling around him, sharp and suffocating.
Fang Xing focused fully on Qin Luo. He hadn't expected that this Ninth Prince, raised outside the palace, would possess such a terrifying sword aura.
"It seems the Imperial Capital is going to get lively," Fang Xing muttered.
"Hm?" The woman's displeased voice rang in everyone's mind, making even the Tai Xu Old Ancestor's body sway.
He sent a voice transmission. "Changhe, what is that woman's origin?"
Liu Changhe was equally at a loss. How could he know?
He had thought Ye Chen was just an ordinary genius, but had never imagined there was such a powerful soul guiding him from the shadows.
"I don't know."
The woman's gaze fell on Qin Luo. "Junior, do you know the consequences of refusing me?"
Qin Luo sneered. "What, you've already been beaten down to a mere soul, and you still think you have the right to posture?"
The moment those words left his mouth, a violent fury exploded from the woman's incorporeal body, shooting straight into the clouds.
This was the deepest thorn in her heart—and Qin Luo had jabbed it mercilessly.
"Today I'll teach you a lesson and show you just how high the heavens really are!"
Boom!
She stepped forward, and blazing flames surged toward Qin Luo. Fang Xing immediately moved, blocking in front of him. He stared at the woman and said in a low voice, "No matter who you are, you will not lay a hand on a prince of my Great Qin Dynasty while I stand here."
The woman gave a cold laugh, dripping with scorn. "Great Qin Dynasty—how impressive. Heh…"
Qin Luo could hear the contempt in her tone. No matter what she had been in the past, now she was nothing but a tiger stranded on flat ground.
"Sifang Marquis, if we add the Tai Xu Bell into the mix, can you suppress her?" Qin Luo asked.
Fang Xing glanced at the Tai Xu Bell Qin Luo was controlling and gave the slightest nod.
"Good."
Qin Luo tossed the Tai Xu Bell to Fang Xing, then lifted his sword and rushed straight at Ye Chen.
"Ye Chen, today I'll rip that hypocritical mask right off your face!"
As he advanced, the sword forms in his hand shifted. A greenish glow flared to life—this was the wood aspect of the Four Symbols Swordplay.
Wood Entwining Thousand Mountains!
This was one of the more troublesome forms. Qin Luo's sword sliced out, and countless strands of sword qi shot forth, thin as silk, howling toward Ye Chen.
Ye Chen's expression changed dramatically. With an Innate Sword Bone, he could keenly sense the terror in this move.
"Perfection. It's Perfection again…" Ye Chen was horrified. He wanted to cry out for his master to act.
But his master only threw him one line: "You handle that Qin Luo first. I'll talk after I push back this Sifang Marquis from Great Qin."
Xi Huang had originally thought she could suppress Fang Xing, but once he fully unleashed his aura, she lost that confidence.
And now Qin Luo had actually handed the Tai Xu Bell to Fang Xing. Her heart sank.
She knew better than anyone what the Tai Xu Bell could do—it damaged the soul far more than the flesh.
With his master unreliable for the moment, Ye Chen could only rely on himself.
"I, Ye Chen, possess heaven-defying talent. How could I be afraid of a mere Qin Luo?"
Roaming Dragon Steps!
His figure blurred. Ye Chen used the graceful, agile Roaming Dragon Steps, attempting to slip free of Qin Luo's vine-like sword forms.
But he hadn't expected Qin Luo's swordplay to be so tight and strange. Every move seemed to anticipate his footwork; even with his dragon-like movement, it was hard to escape the invisible net.
Qin Luo sneered. "With the realm gap between us, plus my Four Symbols Swordplay at Perfection, you think you can still run?"
He'd read enough novels to know the pattern: the protagonist gets beaten like a dog at first, then turns the tables later.
And Ye Chen's trump card was nothing more than that soul body.
In cultivation, Ye Chen was inferior to him. In comprehension and mastery of sword arts, Ye Chen was also inferior.
In short, Qin Luo now had enough strength to crush Ye Chen utterly.
As the threadlike sword qi closed in, Ye Chen's face went dark, but he didn't despair—he still had one more trick.
Mirror Flower, Water Moon!
Boom!
Ye Chen's body was shredded by the sword qi like a reflection on water. The real Ye Chen appeared in another direction, his figure darting away at high speed, trying to blend into the crowd.
"Nice trick," Qin Luo said approvingly.
But you want to run? Not that easy.
He shot forward, landing right in front of Ye Chen, and once again unleashed Wood Entwining Thousand Mountains. He simply refused to let Ye Chen go.
"Get lost!" Ye Chen roared, drawing on everything he had to unleash an extremely powerful sword move.
Boom!
Flames roared forth like a tide, slamming into Qin Luo's sword qi and forcing it back.
Seeing that move, Lin Ruoxuan blurted out, "That's Fire Dance Nine Heavens!"
"Fire Dance Nine Heavens at Major Achievement!"
Backed into a corner, Ye Chen no longer cared if his secret was exposed; anything was better than dying here.
Besides, he'd already thought up a way to placate the Holy Lord afterward.
But in the very next instant—
A bell rang out. Fang Xing, who was clashing with Xi Huang, struck the Tai Xu Bell. The vibration rocked Xi Huang's soul; the soul that had just stabilized now churned violently again.
Her first instinct was decisive—she immediately summoned the Tai Xu Bell.
Inside Ye Chen's ring, the damaged Tai Xu Bell responded to the call, tore through space, and flew out, landing in Xi Huang's hand just in time to block Fang Xing's next strike.
"The Tai Xu Bell—that's *our* Tai Xu Bell!"
The Tai Xu disciples were stunned.
How could the reversal be this dramatic? Wasn't there "solid evidence" just now?
How was reality this absurd?
Ye Chen's heart plummeted. He knew this was no longer something that could be explained away.
Bang!
A deafening crash sounded. The damaged bell was naturally no match for the intact Tai Xu Bell. When the two collided, a terrifying shockwave rippled out.
[Ye Chen's mentality has collapsed. His master actually tricked him. Luck -5000. Host gains 5000 Villain Points.]
Strike while the iron is hot.
Rainfall Without Gaps!
The sky seemed to crack apart as dense sword rain poured down like the Milky Way, incomparably sharp and chilling, sealing the space around Ye Chen.
"You're done."
Instant suppression.
Qin Luo looked at the trapped Ye Chen, his eyes burning with a strange eagerness.
He recalled a very familiar trope from countless web novels.
Digging out the bone.
Today, he would do it himself.
Qin Luo didn't hesitate. He drove the blade in his hand straight into Ye Chen's body, brutally prying out the Sword Bone hidden deep within. Ye Chen's entire body convulsed, his face ashen, veins bulging on his forehead from the agony.
A shrill, desperate scream tore from Ye Chen's throat like a wild beast's howl in the dead of night, filled with bottomless pain and despair.
"Master, save me!" Ye Chen roared, but it changed nothing. A bone radiating intense sword qi was ripped from his body by Qin Luo.
[Ye Chen's Innate Sword Bone has been dug out. Luck -200,000. Host gains 200,000 Villain Points.]