A seemingly ordinary protective talisman burned with a bright flame, quickly turning to ash.

The echo of “Imperial Tutor, save me” still lingered in the spectators’ ears as it burned to ashes and the flame extinguished.

Imperial Tutor? The Imperial Tutor he mentioned must be Luo Yuheng, the leader of the Human Faction, the female Imperial Tutor of the court…

What? Xu Qi An could summon the leader of the Human Faction.

Was this talisman a magical device to summon Luo Yuheng?

Impossible. Luo Yuheng, the leader of the Human Faction, was in the capital, devoted to her cultivation and removed from worldly affairs. How could someone like Xu Qi An possibly summon her…

Everyone stared at the ashes of the talisman, various thoughts flashing through their minds, their inner monologues rich with speculation.

However… nothing changed in the scene, except for the wind growing more boisterous.

After waiting a moment longer, the wind became even more clamorous, but nothing happened.

The ashes of the talisman were swept up by the wind, blown towards the distance.

How embarrassing. I knew it wasn’t reliable. Golden Lotus Daoist was just grasping at straws… Xu Qi An’s mouth twitched, feeling a sense of shame for his lost brilliance.

In his eyes, Luo Yuheng was the lofty Imperial Tutor, a Second Realm powerhouse, with no blood relation to him. She wasn’t his aunt.

How could she possibly do him a favor and come to his aid from thousands of miles away?

Was this Golden Lotus Daoist’s plan in giving him the talisman? Chu Yuanren, while disappointed, felt this was to be expected.

How could a talisman that wasn’t a magical device possibly summon the Imperial Tutor? Even if it could contact her, how could Xu Qi An possibly summon her?

As a nominal disciple of the Human Faction, representing them in the battle against Li Miaochen, even then the Imperial Tutor’s attitude towards him was still cold, at most showing a hint of appreciation.

If it were the Earth Faction, Heaven Faction, or even other forces and sects, someone of his caliber would have long been treated as a key talent to cultivate, even groomed as a future successor.

Luo Yuheng’s indifferent nature was evident.

And Xu Qi An had no significant connection with her, at most having met a few times and not being strangers.

Li Miaochen’s thoughts were similar to Chu Yuanren’s. Luo Yuheng was the leader of the Human Faction, equal in status to the leader of the Heaven Faction.

As the Holy Maiden of the Heaven Faction herself, if she encountered trouble in the jianghu and summoned the Heaven Faction leader for help, would the leader come?

Of course not. Otherwise, her senior brother wouldn’t have been chased thousands of miles by a woman over a love debt, his whereabouts still unknown.

Therefore, Xu Qi An’s attempt to summon the Human Faction leader was too wishful.

The Martial Arts Alliance and jianghu wanderers shook their heads and smiled, realizing that Constable Xu was just bluffing, playing a joke on everyone.

The Earth Faction Daoists laughed out loud, launching a round of mockery, accompanied by body gestures, ridiculing Xu Qi An to their heart’s content.

The spy Tianji gave a cold laugh and sneered, “The Imperial Tutor’s status is so noble, how could an ant like you summon her at will? Xu Qi An, are you trying to make people laugh their teeth off?”

The female spy Tianshu said flatly, “Inexperienced brat.”

No one noticed that the wind had grown even more boisterous, stirring up dust, blowing green leaves, and rippling the cold pool.

Cao Qingyang seemed to sense something and suddenly turned his head, looking towards the southeast.

On the far-off horizon, a golden star lit up.

The starlight approached rapidly, like a meteor streaking across the sky, trailing flames, crashing into everyone’s vision, into countless pupils.

Then, the dazzling golden light crashed into the Yue Clan Villa, landing in front of Xu Qi An.

She alighted gracefully, the golden light enveloping her dispersing like mist on the ground, spreading out in ripples.

Her long sleeves fluttered, her full head of black hair tied up with an ebony hairpin, a red cinnabar mark between her brows. Her beauty seemed to transcend worldly extremes, surpassing any single image.

Pure, cute, charming, aloof, elegant… she appeared differently in the eyes of different men.

All the men present found their ideal type in her.

She… she came?!

Xu Qi An stared at his aunt’s graceful figure in disbelief, a classic line echoing in his mind:

Auntie, I don’t want to work hard anymore!

Not far away, Chu Yuanren looked somewhat blankly at the devastatingly beautiful woman in the scene. The first thing that welled up in his heart wasn’t shock, but a blank void.

He was trapped in the confusion of “what just happened,” unable to extricate himself for a long time, causing his usually sharp analytical mind to freeze.

Li Miaochen was stunned.

She stared at Xu Qi An, her heart sour with a surge of intense envy. She also wanted to throw a talisman and, with one command, have the sect leader come to her rescue.

…In comparison, her status as the Heaven Faction’s Holy Maiden suddenly seemed particularly lacking in prestige.

“Im-Imperial Tutor…”

Tianji couldn’t help but take a few steps back, his eyes widening as he inwardly screamed: How could you come? Why would you respond to the summons of an ant…

He wanted to question, to rebuke, to invoke the Emperor’s name.

He was furious, shocked, bewildered, his face ashen… but in the end, he chose silence.

Facing a Second Realm powerhouse, even with the Emperor’s backing, it was meaningless. If Luo Yuheng were to kill him on the spot, no one would stand up for him.

His death would be worthless.

Thinking of this, Tianji turned his head to look at Tianshu, finding her also clenching her fists, her delicate body trembling slightly, struggling to control her anger and shock.

“Is this the Human Faction leader, the female Imperial Tutor?” someone murmured.

Luo Yuheng’s beauty was not something ordinary jianghu folk could behold. Very few present had ever seen her.

“Yes… she was summoned by Constable Xu…”

As these words were spoken, the scene quieted down a bit. People tacitly shifted their gazes to the young man with a high ponytail standing behind the female Imperial Tutor.

His face was calm, his posture straight, seemingly full of confidence in the Imperial Tutor’s response to his summons, so calm that no emotional fluctuation could be detected.

This… what was the relationship between Xu Qi An and the Human Faction leader?

Given Imperial Tutor Luo Yuheng’s status, the honor of being the Imperial Tutor, to be summoned by Constable Xu was simply… simply unimaginable…

There must be some secret relationship, right? Even though Constable Xu’s reputation was at its peak, there should be a limit. It’s impossible for a Second Realm powerhouse to treat him like this…

Second Realm experts are figures standing at the pinnacle of the Nine Provinces. To say there’s nothing fishy between them, I’d never believe it…

At this moment, the inner thoughts of the “audience” could be described as explosive.

The demon cultivators of the Earth Faction stared dazedly at Luo Yuheng, who was like a celestial maiden. The malice in their eyes diminished slightly, replaced by lust. They looked as if they wanted to pounce on her and possess her.

The Earth Faction’s demon cultivators indulged in desires and fallen human nature. The ugliest parts of human nature were magnified a hundred or thousand times in them.

Luo Yuheng’s Human Faction path also had similar flaws, so the Earth Faction demon cultivators were immersed in their desires, unable to extricate themselves. If not for a shred of sobriety, knowing that she was the big sister of the Human Faction, they would have long since chosen to indulge their desires, grinning as they pounced on her.

But there was one who wouldn’t care about such considerations. The vortex between Golden Lotus Daoist’s brows reappeared, and black smoke like dense fog struggled to emerge, forming a figure with only an upper body and a blurred face.

Black Lotus’s avatar gazed greedily at Luo Yuheng, grinning hideously, “Luo Yuheng, good niece, your uncle has long wanted to dual cultivate with you. The karmic fire on your body must be exquisitely delicious, greatly enhancing my demonic nature.”

Golden Lotus Daoist’s scalp tingled, his face changed dramatically, and he hurriedly tried to remedy the situation, shouting angrily:

“Demon cultivator, cease your nonsense! This poor Daoist will cleanse the sect today and annihilate you!”

The vortex between his brows suddenly erupted with a powerful suction, drawing the black smoke back in.

Luo Yuheng nodded with satisfaction and lowered the horsetail whisk in her hand.

She was restrained by Black Lotus. Black Lotus had already indulged himself, falling into the demonic path, while she was entangled with karmic fire, carefully maintaining her original nature.

At such a time, if she were contaminated by Black Lotus’s demonic nature, it could potentially cause the karmic fire within her to erupt, leading her to fall into the demonic path as well.

Of course, all of this was premised on her physical body being present.

Cao Qingyang’s expression turned serious as he said gravely, “Even among Third Realm experts, this avatar of the Imperial Tutor is not considered weak.”

Luo Yuheng said indifferently, “If you know that, then hurry up and leave.”

Cao Qingyang wasn’t angered. Instead, he laughed nonchalantly, “For a martial artist, even thousands of troops can be blocked with one arm.”

Simply put: Martial artists are stubborn, and fearless in the face of death.

“This mindset is indeed admirable. Not all martial artists can be fearless of life and death,” Luo Yuheng nodded, and then with a sweep of her horsetail whisk, she sent Cao Qingyang flying.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sword energy exploded on the purple-robed guild master’s body, forcing him to retreat continuously, cutting his purple robe into tattered strips.

The exploding sword energy brought catastrophic disaster to the surrounding crowd. More than a dozen people died on the spot, though they were all unaffiliated individuals.

Groups like the Tiandihuì, Earth Faction, spies, and martial artists of the Martial Arts Alliance all had Fourth Realm experts protecting them, barely able to withstand the aftershocks.

“Retreat, quickly retreat…” Xiao Yuerou cried out.

“Retreat from the Yue Clan Villa, the further the better,” the Fourth Realm experts shouted.

Hundreds of people scattered, fleeing towards the outside of the villa.

After the various factions had left, with only Golden Lotus Daoists still sitting cross-legged, no longer hindered by others, Cao Qingyang no longer held back. He raised his arm high, his palm like a blade.

His qi surged, condensing into a forty-meter-long great sword, its blade light distorting the air.

This wasn’t a simple qi weapon, but a qi weapon infused with Third Realm sword intent.

“The sword intent isn’t well-rounded enough. It seems the essence blood of a Third Realm martial artist is forcing growth prematurely,” Luo Yuheng said coldly.

Cao Qingyang spoke with a mixture of derision and disdain, “Please, Imperial Tutor, enlighten me.”

The forty-meter great sword slashed down suddenly.

In an instant, Luo Yuheng’s eyes were filled with only the sword light – dazzling, stunning sword light. The surrounding air seemed to form a barrier, blocking her escape routes, and making it impossible for her to dodge.

Luo Yuheng lowered her gaze slightly, her eyelashes curled and thick. Her right hand gripped the horsetail whisk, her left hand’s fingers forming a sword. She gently stroked the whisk.

Thousands of fine strands condensed into one, straight and rigid. At this moment, the horsetail whisk had transformed into a handy sword.

She lightly thrust out a sword strike.

Boom!

The blade light and sword energy annihilated each other. The shockwave, mixed with sharp qi, destroyed everything in the surroundings with overwhelming force.

Only in front of Golden Lotus Daoist did a light screen appear, blocking the shockwave. The scattered blade light and sword energy collided with the light screen, producing sparks and ripples of light like water waves.

Boom!

Under the impact of the shockwave, the walls of the Cold Pool cracked, sending up a towering water column. A section of golden lotus root was blasted out, along with a slightly curved stem. At the end of the stem was not a mushroom, but a dark golden lotus seed pod.

By now, the nine differently colored petals had withered, and inside the dark golden seed pod were fourteen lotus seeds arranged in order.

Cao Qingyang’s gaze suddenly became intense. He flashed to the space above the Cold Pool, reaching out to grab the flying lotus root and seeds.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Before the rising water column could fall, all the water droplets transformed into small swords, forming a rain of swords that poured onto Cao Qingyang.

They pushed him back bit by bit, gradually distancing him from the lotus root.

Luo Yuheng seized the opportunity, her sleeve sweeping out to collect the lotus root and seeds, hiding them away somewhere unknown.

Cao Qingyang let out an angry roar, his tattered purple robe suddenly swelling. The terrifying qi fluctuations made the crowd, who had fled hundreds of meters away, tremble with fear.

Luo Yuheng’s delicate long eyebrows raised slightly as she rose into the air, soaring straight into the clouds.

She intended to leave with the lotus root, not wanting to entangle with the tough-skinned martial artist.

Cao Qingyang looked up, seemingly not planning to pursue. He raised his palm blade, slashing horizontally and vertically, instantly delivering hundreds of strikes.

These blade lights disappeared after being unleashed, reappearing to surround Luo Yuheng within dozens of zhang.

Cao Qingyang suddenly clenched his fist.

The all-destroying blade intent rapidly contracted, slicing Luo Yuheng’s body into flying ashes.

In midair, a section of lotus root and a lotus pod fell.

Just as Cao Qingyang was about to step forward to catch them, his martial artist’s intuition made him aware of the danger, and his hair standing on end. However, he didn’t dodge, instead deliberately leaning sideways like a collapsing pillar.

From the void, a sword finger thrust out, colliding with the leaning pillar. With a bang, the fair small hand exploded into pure light particles.

Cao Qingyang suddenly froze, no longer moving.

Luo Yuheng’s figure appeared, and her aura slightly weakened. She raised her severed arm, and the light particles gathered, forming a lotus-root-like arm.

Then, she opened her palm, and fragments of a soul gathered in her hand, forming an insubstantial shadow with a face vaguely resembling Cao Qingyang’s.

…

In the crowd of Tiandihuì members hiding in the distance, guarding against attacks from various factions, Xu Qi An saw a flash of light before his eyes. Luo Yuheng’s graceful figure materialized in the golden light.

“Imperial Tutor!”

Xu Qi An’s face lit up with joy, understanding that the battle had ended, and victory belonged to their side.

Luo Yuheng nodded, golden light flashing from her abdomen, producing several items: a lotus pod, a section of lotus root as long as an adult’s arm, and a small section of lotus root about the size of a palm.

This section of lotus root had been cut off.

“This person’s soul is in my hand. How do you want to deal with it?” Luo Yuheng opened her palm, revealing a tiny figure floating above it. The face was slightly blurred, but it was recognizable as Cao Qingyang.

“Imperial Tutor, you’re amazing. To resolve a Third Realm expert so decisively, reaching the First Realm is just a matter of time. Looking across the Nine Provinces, there’s no other immortal like you,” Xu Qi An lavished praise without restraint, unleashing a cascade of colorful flattery.

“He only had Third Realm power, but his spirit was still in the Fourth Realm. A single heart sword was enough to scatter his soul,” Luo Yuheng said flatly as if defeating such an opponent wasn’t worth boasting about.

After a pause, she asked, “How should we deal with him?”

Huh, does the Imperial Tutor value my opinion so much? This is somewhat unexpected… Xu Qi’an thought for a moment, then said, “Why don’t you give him to me first? This person has shown me kindness.”

Cao Qingyang’s five slaps had pushed him into the Fifth Realm of force transformation. This debt of gratitude needed to be repaid.

Luo Yuheng nodded, not caring about Cao Qingyang’s fate, and said, “This avatar has exhausted its energy. I’ll return first. Take care of yourselves.”

With that, she dispersed into pure golden light.

“Ask Golden Lotus for this small section of lotus root…”

Before the golden light dispersed, Xu Qi An received another mental message from Luo Yuheng.

Ask for the lotus root. Is this a task from the Imperial Tutor? Xu Qi An was momentarily stunned.