Dong Yeyun hadn’t expected to see so many people upon emerging from the black well. He should have felt relieved, but instead frowned when he saw Ming Li.

She was his sister, yet different somehow. Dong Yeyun keenly sensed that something must have happened to Ming Li, though he couldn’t say what, making him uneasy.

While Dong Yeyun was unexpected, Lu Yi and the others were looking more at the blind old man.

A blind man without eyes, yet emanating a pilgrim’s stellar power pressure. His face was withered—by all appearances, a man near death.

Yet contradictorily, he possessed a tenacious life force.

The blind old man moved his neck, looking toward Shu Sheng’s position. It was unclear who made the first move, but the star walls connecting heaven and earth began to make cracking sounds, shattering one after another and dispersing into the world.

The powerful impact that burst forth in that instant blew away the imperial guards in the encirclement. The archers who had just climbed up from beneath the wall were again flattened by this impact.

Qing Ying stood behind Xiang An’ge. Chen Zhou stood with Ming Li. Ming Li and the blind old man had moved simultaneously, while Xiang An’ge blocked the impact.

Qian Li and Princess Chang Xi both released stellar power to raise protective barriers. Although Fang Hui was protected behind the two, he still felt the pressure of this impact.

Behind Shu Sheng, Chang Hanhe, still pinned to the palace wall, looked at the scene before him in disbelief.

Why?

Why could Dong Yun come out?

There was a huge disparity in status between them—one a son of the emperor, the other an ordinary traveler.

Yet Dong Yun was protected by the continent’s supreme powers, while he was pathetically pinned to the palace wall, subject to judgment.

This wasn’t right!

It shouldn’t be like this!

Chang Hanhe couldn’t accept this stark contrast. Gritting his teeth, he said to Shu Sheng: “Kill them, leave none alive! This is Father Emperor’s order!”

Let them all die here!

Flying flowers, shattered leaves, and star lines simultaneously shot toward Chang Hanhe. This time, Shu Sheng didn’t block them, resulting in several holes being pierced through Chang Hanhe’s body. The shattered leaves even cut off one of his ears, leaving it hanging.

Ming Li and Chen Zhou turned to look at Chang Hanhe. Qing Ying, having just arrived, was unaware of the events in the imperial capital, but these two understood upon seeing Dong Yeyun what Chang Hanhe, who had been responsible for interrogating Dong Yeyun these years, had done.

In excruciating pain, Chang Hanhe shouted: “Shu Sheng! Lu Yi!”

Why aren’t you taking action?!

Not only did Shu Sheng not help, he even stepped aside, distancing himself from Chang Hanhe, as if silently saying: Do as you please.

Chang Hanhe struggled desperately to break free from the confinement array, his face red and neck swollen, clothes torn. Looking far more pathetic than Chu Xiao had been under the rain of arrows, he screamed: “Why aren’t you taking action? This is an order!”

Shu Sheng’s tone revealed neither joy nor anger, as gentle as usual: “This is your father emperor’s order.”

“…What?” Chang Hanhe froze completely.

His face turned pale, his condition looking more like a dying person than the blind old man.

Shu Sheng stood beside Lu Yi. Neither Lu Yi nor the imperial guards made any move. Everyone fell into silence, deaf to Chang Hanhe’s shouting.

Ming Li looked at Dong Yeyun and said with seeming calmness: “You were reduced to this state by such trash?”

Dong Yeyun looked at her with resignation in his eyes, blinking once.

Chen Zhou frowned and asked him: “So embarrassed you can’t even speak?”

Dong Yeyun shook his head slightly.

Zhou Caicai, lying on his back, explained in a muffled voice: “He can no longer speak.”

The circulating qi of heaven and earth around them froze at that moment.

Look at his current appearance.

His handsome features had been disfigured, covered with small red, swollen pustules and bloody scars where they had burst. His clothes were in tatters, his skin covered with dirty black mud, barely distinguishable from a slave in the pit. Although he hadn’t been very talkative before, he had at least spoken.

But now he couldn’t say anything.

Ming Li didn’t say a word, but as she turned, her brows slightly furrowed. Star lines sharp as blades cut Chang Hanhe’s jaw, severing his tongue before he could scream. It fell onto the snow.

The pressure from the confinement array pressed down like thousands of mountains, crushing his bones with a chilling crack. Chang Hanhe’s entire body twisted and deformed, his eyeballs bulging, blood vessels stark. His struggling screams caught in his throat, hoarse.

The pilgrim’s fire within Ming Li burned fiercely. The more eight meridians she activated, the higher the level of spiritual techniques she used, the greater the reaction from the pilgrim’s fire.

But she didn’t stop. Her peripheral vision swept toward Shu Sheng, who stood to the side.

Ming Li raised her hand toward him, pointing. Shu Sheng seemed to look back at her. As her circulating qi meridian pointed out a circulating qi incantation, he said softly: “Nullify.”

Her circulating qi incantation was withdrawn again.

Shu Sheng said: “I know you haven’t broken through yet. Under eight meridians at full boundary, I can suppress your circulating qi meridian without using miraculous abilities.”

Even if she used Life and Death.

“What else do you know?”

Ming Li abandoned her circulating qi meridian and walked toward Shu Sheng.

The distance between them was neither far nor near, but as Ming Li walked toward Shu Sheng, the onlookers felt their hearts sink, unconsciously becoming tense.

“I know that you are not truly at eight meridians full boundary right now,” Shu Sheng remained standing. “Do you know the difference between real and fake?”

As soon as his words fell, the person before him suddenly disappeared.

Qian Li, watching the battle, couldn’t help thinking how fast that was. The speed of this flash movement was definitely at the power level of eight meridians at full boundary.

Dong Yeyun, however, frowned upon hearing this. What did he mean by not truly at eight meridians full boundary?

When Shu Sheng detected Ming Li’s stellar power, she was already before him. Ming Li abandoned circulating qi meridian attacks but chose the body technique meridian, which best released anger. As her fist flew out, Shu Sheng only evaded without attacking. That punch, however, struck an empty hole in the thick palace wall without direct contact.

The hole was right above Chang Hanhe’s head. The falling stone particles hit his face, cutting bloody marks, frightening him so much his pupils dilated, fear deeply buried in his heart.

People could barely capture the figures of Shu Sheng and Ming Li, seeing only two afterimages chasing each other, sometimes stirring up tremors on the ground, sometimes hovering in the air, sweeping away falling snow.

Ming Li’s body technique meridian Mountain Falling Fist repeatedly pierced through the palace wall, while Shu Sheng continued to only evade without attacking.

“A genuine eight meridians full boundary pilgrim, what are you afraid of?”

Ming Li flashed close to the hovering Shu Sheng and threw a punch. Shu Sheng’s stellar power protection counterattack was ineffective against Ming Li, as were all stellar power attacks, causing a momentary slowness in Shu Sheng’s movements.

He raised his hand to catch this punch, forced to engage with Ming Li.

“I came to watch you break through, but I don’t want to be the one who helps you break through.”

Shu Sheng turned his head. During their exchange, regardless of whether Ming Li was at eight meridians full boundary or one meridian full boundary, his stellar power protection’s inherent attacks were ineffective against her. Once Ming Li closed the distance and entangled him, his stellar power protection was as thin as paper to her.

Generally, stellar power protection only served a defensive purpose, without attack capabilities.

But Shu Sheng’s stellar power protection was different, with attack and defense coexisting. It defended while attacking and attacked while defending.

Originally a fortunate gift from heaven, it became somewhat cumbersome against the current Ming Li, because all stellar power attacks were ineffective against her, indirectly causing stellar power defense to also be ineffective against her.

“If I break through, do you think you’d still be alive to talk to me?” Ming Li’s punch sent Shu Sheng crashing to the ground. “At that time, I’d first cut off your tongue.”

Whether because of Dong Yeyun or his circulating qi meridian.

Shu Sheng landed gracefully and, facing Ming Li who was flashing toward him again, pointed out a confinement array, forcing her back.

He smiled: “Why don’t you break through first and then reconsider the possibility of this matter?”

Shu Sheng raised several sky wall protections in front of him, gesturing for Ming Li to look behind.

While Ming Li and Shu Sheng were entangled in battle, Chen Zhou’s flying flowers and shattered leaves flew toward the blind old man. He stepped forward to bring Dong Yeyun over but was beaten back by several dragon-snake-like iron chains summoned by the blind old man’s etherealized objects.

Nine snake chains, some coiled on the ground, others flaunting in the sky, made clinking sounds as they crossed and chased Chen Zhou, who was trying to approach.

Qing Ying had originally intended to go around to bring Dong Yeyun over but was grabbed back by Xiang An’ge before one of the snake chains could target her. She turned, intending to curse, but closed her mouth upon seeing Xiang An’ge.

Xiang An’ge’s gaze silently conveyed: Do you want to die?

Qing Ying pointed at Dong Yeyun ahead, also silently indicating: I need to save him.

Xiang An’ge didn’t let her go, knowing Qing Ying couldn’t get past the snake chains and might even be struck by them. Her resonant techniques were precisely countered by etherealized objects.

If she were shattered by the snake chains, the guilt for Qing Ying’s death would fall on him, and Ming Li would probably immediately add him to her kill list.

Xiang An’ge’s gaze passed over the snake chains to the blind old man.

He had only promised Ming Li to watch over Qing Ying; other people were not his concern. Besides, there was no reason he had to intervene.

The blind old man was watching Ming Li in front. His voice was sinister: “Little mute, you deceived me. What is your relationship with that girl? Who is she to you? Do Dong Yeshou and Chang Yu Su have more than one child, isn’t that right?”

Zhou Caicai now had no energy to reproach Dong Yeyun. She was too weak, her stellar power completely exhausted from multiple uses of Life and Death Exchange and subsequent spiritual techniques. Dong Yeyun could feel her life force draining away.

He raised his head to look at Chen Zhou, who was stepping on the snake chains. As their gazes met, they silently communicated.

All of Dong Yeyun’s stellar meridians had been destroyed in that battle years ago, with only the body technique meridian still barely functioning. The blind old man wouldn’t care whether Zhou Caicai lived or died. Before his goal was achieved, he wouldn’t let him leave, so Dong Yeyun had to find his own way.

Watching for when Chen Zhou slid down the snake chains to a certain height, Dong Yeyun forcibly enhanced his flash movement with his half-dead body technique meridian. As the blind old man looked over, he stepped onto the snake chains coiled on the ground and rushed upward.

But his legs were not functioning well. The snake chain, seemingly with its own consciousness, violently whipped him. Dong Yeyun was thrown down, and Chen Zhou, moving faster than the snake chains attacking from both sides, pursued downward.

It seemed no one had anticipated that these snake chains now cared nothing for Dong Yeyun’s life or death. The coiled chains on the ground all surged toward the falling Dong Yeyun.

At the critical moment, Qing Ying, who had been caught by Xiang An’ge, completed her array. The black curse runes at her fingertips dispersed, and vines rising from the ground wound upward, entangling the snake chains that were attacking Dong Yeyun and Chen Zhou.

At this moment, Ming Li looked back, abandoning Shu Sheng and flashing toward Dong Yeyun.

A pilgrim’s etherealized object attack technique was far more fierce and damaging than that of Youyou tribe warriors.

The snake chains quickly broke free from the array’s constraints and twisted about wildly. Ming Li, arriving with flash movement, stomped the raised snake chains to the ground. With one hand, she grabbed a snake chain attacking Chen Zhou. Her hand couldn’t fully grasp the thickness of the chain, merely propping against it, yet a clear shattering sound rang out, and the snake chain broke into pieces and fell.

Chen Zhou, still using flash movement on the snake chains to reach Dong Yeyun, leaped and kicked away a chain attacking him. A kick with his body technique meridian fully open sent the charging snake chain trembling backward.

As Chen Zhou neared Dong Yeyun’s position, a new divine brilliance illusion realm covered the area, trapping only Chen Zhou. In his mind, countless whispers seemed to echo, each one heard during his years in the pit.

With his heart meridian under attack, the momentary pause as Chen Zhou concentrated to break the divine brilliance illusion allowed the snake chains to snatch Dong Yeyun away.

The blind old man looked at Chen Zhou with some surprise; he hadn’t expected him to break the technique so quickly. It seemed he was good material for cultivating the heart meridian.

Chen Zhou accelerated his flash movement again. Before Dong Yeyun was carried away by the snake chains, he had changed from carrying Zhou Caicai on his back to holding her in his arms. Thus, when Chen Zhou accelerated toward him, he used his last bit of stellar power to send the already unconscious Zhou Caicai over.

The clanging of the snake chains was chaotic and dangerous. Dong Yeyun and Chen Zhou were pulled apart, but Chen Zhou protected Zhou Caicai, being knocked back to the ground by the snake chains.

The snake chains holding Dong Yeyun mercilessly threw him backward. He fell to the ground, rolling a long way until his head hit the black well.

Ming Li frowned at the sight. When the blind old man looked at her, all the snake chains attacked her.

An unusual pilgrim pressure targeted only her, raising several small whirlwinds on the ground that made her clothes and hair flutter wildly. Yet she stood firm at the center of the pressure, completely unaffected by the stellar power.

A flash of dark red light glimmered in Ming Li’s eyes as she saw through the true form of the etherealized objects. She dodged the continuous pursuit of the snake chains, floating in the air and stepping on the true form of a snake chain. With her body technique meridian fully open, she stomped and shattered it with one foot.

The other eight snake chains shattered along with it.

The blind old man looked up at Ming Li, who was stepping in the air above. His facial muscles trembled with excitement. Those hollow eye sockets were eerie, but from his words, one could hear an excited tone: “You… can ignore stellar power.”

Ming Li looked at Dong Yeyun, who was trapped in the blind old man’s eight meridians array. As she landed, the ground trembled. She said coldly: “Dare to touch him again and see what happens.”