Chapter 22: The Wicked Gao Yuanyuan

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The Duke of Tang had schemed and plotted for this very moment. With Li Xingyun’s vital essence as the catalyst, together with that of several other outstanding young talents, they would surely be able to open the gates of Qianling Mausoleum, retrieve the Longquan Treasure, and restore the glory of the first Duke of Tang!

Li Ye threw back his head and laughed. “You will all die today! You are not only the keys to opening the Longquan Treasure—you are also the stepping-stones on my path to the Innate Realm!”

After Gao Wu made contact with the Netherworld Token, he silently murmured, “Summon!”

A woman in red, her face brimming with sinister energy, appeared out of thin air behind Gao Wu. Her brows were arched, her gaze vicious and cold as she swept her eyes over everyone present, as though they were nothing more than a heap of rubbish.

Most striking of all was the single red mark between her brows.

The crimson spot was bright and vivid, like a drop of fresh blood welling directly from the heart. Against her frost-cold face, it seemed utterly incongruous—and all the more arresting for it.

The people on both sides hurriedly parted, staring at the woman in red with terror.

A broad, heavy sword was strapped to her back. Though it remained sheathed, the aura of a peerless divine weapon already surged toward them.

“Who summoned me here?” the woman asked, fixing Gao Wu with a chilly gaze.

Gao Wu was utterly dumbfounded. Zhou Zhiruo? Gao Yuanyuan?

When no one answered, the woman turned her attention to the group opposite her. “You want me to kill them? Mere ants. Are they truly worth this sect leader’s effort?”

“Sect leader?”

“Leader of which sect?”

Liu Yifei was equally bewildered. She glanced at Gao Wu and whispered, “What is going on? Is she really Zhou Zhiruo?”

“I have no idea. You are all professional actors!”

“Quick, see what the Netherworld Token says!”

“Oh, right!”

A thought stirred in Gao Wu’s heart, and the information regarding Zhou Zhiruo displayed itself before his eyes.

Heroine: Zhou Zhiruo
Realm: Innate Realm
Techniques: Emei Nine-Yang Technique, Nine-Yin Manual—Accelerated Version, Nine-Yin White Bone Claw, White Python Whip Technique, Heart-Severing Fist, Emei Swordsmanship

Gao Wu’s own martial arts repertoire had also gained two techniques: the Emei Nine-Yang Technique and the Heart-Severing Fist.

The Nine-Yang Technique? It was an utterly pure and supremely yang cultivation art, with countless benefits. Once mastered, it would greatly strengthen one’s vital yang energy.

Yet after sensing it briefly, Gao Wu discovered that the Emei Nine-Yang Technique was not the complete Nine-Yang Technique, but merely an Innate-level art. The complete Nine-Yang Divine Technique could at least reach the Esoteric Realm.

As for the Heart-Severing Fist, it was a technique Zhou Zhiruo had comprehended from the Nine-Yin Manual. Its cruelty was unmatched; anyone struck by it would suffer a complete rupture of mind and spirit, dying without fail.

Gao Wu had finished reading all the information in the blink of an eye. Before he had time to tell Liu Yifei what was happening, the Celestial Sword had already left Zhou Zhiruo’s back and shot straight toward Li Ye!

Her red robes snapped and billowed in the wind, as though she were a vengeful wraith leaping from the dead of night.

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Her figure remained graceful, yet it radiated a chilling aura of slaughter. With every delicate step, it seemed she might crush frost beneath her feet.

Among the military officers beside Li Ye, only Yang Shuzi, the Heavenly Stand Star, had reached the Innate Realm. Ever steadfastly loyal to the Duke of Tang, he immediately stepped in front of Li Ye.

A sinister wind swept toward him. Daring not to be careless, Yang Shuzi instantly unleashed his strongest technique: the Azure Lotus Sword Song.

The two collided head-on like a comet crashing into the earth, churning the air throughout the entire hall.

Clang!

They flew apart at the instant of contact. Zhou Zhiruo retreated several steps before coming to a stop, her expression still cold and indifferent.

Yang Shuzi, however, was sent flying backward and crashed to the ground. The blue longsword in his hand had been split cleanly in two.

One move.

Yang Shuzi had been defeated.

Li Ye stared in shock at the woman in red. What kind of demoness was she? Her face was filled with sinister energy, and her battle prowess had reached the peak of the Innate Realm, with faint signs that she was about to break through.

The other Celestial Gang officers were also turning the matter over in their minds. Wen Tao, the Saint of Thieves, leaned close to Li Ye and whispered, “Your Grace, this is no longer feasible. We should withdraw first.”

Li Ye was unwilling to accept it and still wanted to try again. “She exchanged one move with Yang Shuzi. She must be at the end of her strength. We attack together!”

Wen Tao lowered his eyes, already considering how he would flee in a moment.

At present, only Shangguan Yunque could still offer any meaningful counsel. He approached Li Ye and said, “Your Grace, we cannot. There is another Innate expert on the other side. Even if we manage to kill one of them at the cost of our lives, the other could still slaughter every one of us with ease.”

Li Ye remained silent for a long while before finally speaking in fury. “Damn it! Why have so many Innate experts suddenly appeared in Bianzhou? Is the All-Knowing Tower full of useless fools? Those two women are not even listed on the Beauty Ranking or the Earth Ranking?”

Li Ye’s plan had failed, and his mood was abysmal. He had even begun blaming the All-Knowing Tower.

On Gao Wu’s side, Qingguo clutched her chest. “Wow, that heroine is so cool! If she were a man, I would marry her without hesitation!”

Qingcheng stood beside her, supporting her as she spoke. “Sister, if you cannot become husband and wife, you can become sisters. Let Zhang Zifan take this heroine as his wife. We can be his concubines, and let this heroine be our elder sister!”

Zhang Zifan: “…”

Whenever he recalled the woman’s gloomy, sinister face, his hair stood on end. And the fact that she had defeated Yang Shuzi—an Innate expert as well—with a single move made Zhang Zifan even less willing to entertain any improper thoughts.

Li Xingyun wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Gao Wu. “Young Master Gao, is this the reinforcements you brought?”

Gao Wu nodded and answered helplessly, “Something like that.”

She seemed much harder to deal with than Liu Yifei.

“Have you decided?” Zhou Zhiruo stood in the center of the hall, her aura overwhelming. “Will you come one by one to die, or all at once?”

There was not the slightest sign that she had been injured by her exchange with Yang Shuzi.

Seeing that the situation truly could not be salvaged, Li Ye cast a resentful glance at Zhou Zhiruo, etching the woman who had ruined his plans into his memory. “We are leaving!”

The Celestial Gang officers escorted Li Ye toward the exit, but Zhou Zhiruo had no intention of letting them go.

“Trying to leave?”

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She swung her sword again and charged forward, bringing it down toward Li Ye. The others had no time to come to his aid. Li Ye could only raise the Longquan Sword to block the strike, but once again, the Celestial Sword cleaved it cleanly in two.

“What?”

This time, the shock that seized everyone was even greater.

“The Longquan Sword was severed too?” Li Xingyun stood frozen in disbelief. He had grown up listening to the legends of the Longquan Sword, and he cultivated the Longquan Sword Art himself. He had been waiting for his eighteenth birthday, when he would inherit the Longquan Sword.

Yet now he had witnessed with his own eyes the Longquan Sword being split apart by a single strike from another treasured blade.

“The Longquan Sword ranks sixth on the Weapon Register. Does this mean it will be removed from the register now?” Zhang Zifan also stared blankly at the broken sword in Li Ye’s hand.

The instant the Longquan Sword was severed, Li Ye seemed to have had his soul torn from him. He stood there in a daze, as though his faith itself had collapsed.

Zhou Zhiruo raised her sword once more and brought it down toward Li Ye, aiming directly for his head.

“Look out!”

“Your Grace!”

The Celestial Gang officers were horrified. Only Wen Tao moved faster, darting toward the entrance.

At that very moment, a sharp wind tore through the air from the doorway. Three copper coins shot forward like piercing arrows, shrieking as they struck the Celestial Sword.

Though there were three coins, they produced only one crisp clang.

Just as the Celestial Sword was about to slice across Li Ye’s throat, the impact knocked it aside, allowing Li Ye to escape with his life.

“Please spare her life beneath your blade, young lady!”

A figure entered through the doorway, completely shrouded in gray robes. A mask concealed his face, making his appearance impossible to discern.

“The Bad Marshal!”

Several cries of alarm rang out at once.

“Master!”

Li Xingyun’s voice was choked with tears, like that of a child who had suffered a terrible injustice.

Yet another cold and gloomy voice rang clearly through the hall and reached every ear.

“And what are you supposed to be?”

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