“Puchi!”

The sharp blade qi gave Xie Buchen almost no time to react, directly cutting into his neck. Blood immediately spurted out, staining half his body red.

Too sharp!

Sharp enough to make one’s hair stand on end!

Even Jian Chou herself hadn’t expected this two-foot blade that Master Buyu had used to cut bones and slice meat would have such terrifying power.

Though Xie Buchen had also seen this blade in Yi Zhizhu, when he saw Jian Chou carrying it earlier, he only thought she had gained some fortune. He was completely unprepared—the child-mother swords were no ordinary items, yet before this blade they were like a pile of scrap metal!

The severe pain from his neck instantly spread throughout his body.

What he faced was the completely unexpected threat of death!

Their gazes met, dark currents surging between them.

That instant was a moment of life and death for Xie Buchen.

Without any hesitation, at the moment the Deer-Cutting Blade had already cut into his neck, he forcefully and brutally twisted his neck.

“Puff…”

The wound that had originally only penetrated two fen was almost instantly torn open by Xie Buchen’s movement, and gushing blood immediately stained the entire Deer-Cutting Blade red.

Jian Chou’s brow immediately furrowed: A brave man cuts off his own arm—that was decisive enough!

He was risking severe injury to gain himself a sliver of opportunity.

Originally, Jian Chou’s blade had already cut into flesh. If Xie Buchen didn’t move, the injury wouldn’t be severe, but Jian Chou’s hand wouldn’t stop—he faced only a dead end.

If he moved, temporarily avoiding the blade’s edge, the neck wound would be torn wider by his movement. The original two-fen wound might become seven fen, and Jian Chou’s blade still wouldn’t stop. The only difference was: that thin time gap between life and death!

It was a blood-stained turn!

The sliver of opportunity gained through severe injury wasn’t wasted by Xie Buchen.

In the time it took for just one thought to flash by, Xie Buchen suddenly raised his hand, discarding the child-mother swords. The sheathed Human Emperor Sword was already in his palm—one hand gripping the handle, one hand holding the sheath. His hands shifted slightly with force, and a thread of cold, sharp sword light leaked out!

“Crack.”

That was the sound of the sheath and guard separating, and the sound of a thread of light leaking from the Human Emperor Sword.

“Clang!”

At this critical moment, the Human Emperor Sword had already blocked Jian Chou’s Deer-Cutting Blade from below. The three-inch blade that emerged from the sheath immediately clashed with the Deer-Cutting Blade’s seemingly dull edge.

Sparks flew instantly!

Like heavenly thunder stirring earthly fire, the blade and sword seemed to have encountered mortal enemies, automatically generating countless blade qi and sword qi that exploded madly in all directions!

“Boom boom boom!”

A series of explosive sounds!

Whether Xie Buchen or Jian Chou, neither could hide the surprise in their eyes at this moment.

With their strong minds and supreme cultivation, they were caught off guard by this sudden explosion, almost unable to grip their weapons!

The Deer-Cutting Blade trembled violently, and the blade song that had sounded before became even clearer.

The Human Emperor Sword had been summoned by Xie Buchen in a moment of crisis, extremely hastily, and hadn’t even had time to fully emerge from its sheath—only revealing an inch or two. But after blocking the Deer-Cutting Blade, it seemed a tremendous force transmitted from the Deer-Cutting Blade was forcing the Human Emperor Sword’s sheath to continuously retreat!

It was like…

Someone using the emperor to command the feudal lords!

Perhaps the Deer-Cutting Blade was forcing the Human Emperor Sword to emerge, or perhaps the Human Emperor Sword itself wanted to come out completely to suppress this Deer-Cutting Blade.

Regardless of which it was, the current situation was beyond Xie Buchen’s control alone.

In the wildly exploding sword qi, the Human Emperor Sword emerged inch by inch, slowly unsheathing. Suddenly its aura greatly increased, as if bearing imperial majesty, and thunder actually roared between heaven and earth, instantly striking down onto the sword body.

On the mysterious black sword body, countless electric lights immediately flickered and flashed!

“Clang—”

In this instant, Xie Buchen’s eyes flashed slightly. His right wrist holding the sword handle exerted force, actually twisting forcefully. The sword body that had been vertically blocking the Deer-Cutting Blade turned horizontal, and with arm strength, tremendous force transmitted through the Human Emperor Sword to the Deer-Cutting Blade, forcing it back three fen.

Three fen!

Even just three fen was already enough.

Jian Chou knew that her test strike had completely exceeded expectations. The Human Emperor Sword was no ordinary item after all. Though Xie Buchen was injured, he still had fighting strength. For her to achieve victory with this simple strike was almost wishful thinking.

So when one strike couldn’t accomplish everything, Jian Chou showed no surprise at all.

The instant Xie Buchen counterattacked for those three fen of space, she had already unhesitatingly retreated, the Deer-Cutting Blade borrowing Xie Buchen’s counterattack momentum to fall directly into her palm!

Xie Buchen, covered in blood, wore the black robe from when he had disguised himself as Wei Xin.

Blood flowing from his neck ran down his throat, directly into his collar, soaking half his body. Though it wasn’t very visible due to his black robe, at the hem, drops of blood were falling to the ground.

Just in the time Jian Chou retreated, there was already a small pool of blood at Xie Buchen’s feet.

He held the Human Emperor Sword, looking at Jian Chou who had retreated, the indifference in his eyes already replaced by coldness.

Killing intent permeated the air.

Xie Buchen was about to pursue with his sword held in reverse grip, but the moment he moved, Jian Chou in the distance suddenly gave him a brilliant smile!

“Kunwu thief, die!”

An explosive shout rang out just as Xie Buchen was still thinking about the meaning of that brilliant smile, suddenly coming from the side!

Shanyin Sect Protector Yang Lie, by pure coincidence, at the moment Jian Chou withdrew, was striking through the air with his terrifyingly heavy hammer!

Behind Yang Lie, Feng Qi, who couldn’t discern the Human Emperor Sword’s depth, also appeared to share the same hatred, raising his sword to chop at Xie Buchen!

Now there was no need to think about the meaning of Jian Chou’s smile.

The situation was crystal clear—

At this moment, his opponent was definitely not just Jian Chou alone!

He had miscalculated.

Perhaps she had changed too much, or perhaps he had never truly understood her.

The black and white chess pieces on the stone wall—both pieces of information were true.

Shanyin Sect had a spy among Jian Chou’s group. Xie Buchen had suspected candidates in mind, so deliberately telling Jian Chou would definitely arouse suspicion and doubt in her heart, making her unable to act freely along the way.

Second, Xie Buchen said he had disguised himself as a Shanyin Sect cultivator.

Regardless of whether Jian Chou’s group could catch up to the Shanyin Sect people from behind, even if they did catch up, due to concerns about an internal traitor, they might not dare to freely attack the Shanyin Sect members.

Moreover, there were four Shanyin Sect cultivators. How could Jian Chou identify them all at a glance?

If she rashly attacked the Shanyin Sect cultivators, with Xie Buchen mixed among them, who would know?

For Xie Buchen, this was a trap set for Jian Chou.

If she wanted to use this opportunity to eliminate him without bearing infamy, the best approach was to hide from everyone that he had infiltrated Shanyin Sect, and kill him as a demonic cultivator without others knowing. So Xie Buchen judged that Jian Chou would absolutely not tell her companions this news.

But now it seemed…

He didn’t know how she had handled these two pieces of information, but he knew: her actions were completely different from ordinary people!

Alone, she had entered Yi Zhizhu herself, willing to temporarily separate from most of her companions, placing herself in the most dangerous position, and had thought of this move of “using his own methods against him”!

More importantly, the perfect chess game he had originally calculated was disrupted by Jian Chou’s unexpected move, actually becoming a trap for himself, making wedding clothes for Jian Chou!

Originally, these Shanyin Sect people could have been used by him, becoming assistance in eliminating Jian Chou, but now they had become two dull blades at his throat!

“Boom!”

Yang Lie’s heavy hammer had already reached him.

Xie Buchen couldn’t quite describe what he felt in that instant.

Complex?

Shock?

Bitter laughter?

Or…

Admiration…

Since he couldn’t understand, there was no need to understand.

After all, it was a fight to the death—why pursue the reasons!

When the Human Emperor Sword emerged from its sheath, it always needed human blood for sacrifice.

Blood still gushed like a spring from his neck, but Xie Buchen acted as if unaware, directly pointing his sword straight ahead, actually meeting that heavy hammer with a thrust!

“Crack!”

That sound wasn’t the clash of metal, but something breaking.

The Human Emperor Sword’s tip had easily penetrated the heavy hammer in that instant.

Xie Buchen’s wrist shook, and a sword qi flowed from inside to outside, following the Human Emperor Sword directly into the heavy hammer.

Yang Lie immediately groaned, his eyes showing horror.

From the center of his heavy hammer came an uncontrollable sharp sensation, as if thousands of sword qi were spreading from inside the hammer in all directions!

A crack spread from where Xie Buchen’s long sword had pierced, extending toward the surroundings.

Xie Buchen’s expression didn’t change, but Yang Lie was instantly heartbroken!

Though he was a Shanyin Sect protector with substantial resources, he only had this one Seven Star Hammer—how could he dare be careless anymore?

After just one exchange, Yang Lie had unhesitatingly retreated, his gaze toward Xie Buchen already filled with gloom.

However, his retreat didn’t give Xie Buchen time to breathe.

The moment he retreated, Feng Qi’s attack had already arrived.

This Feng Qi was usually a fence-sitter in Shanyin Sect. When Jian Chou disguised herself as Zhou Yin, she could sense this from their conversations, but she hadn’t expected that even fence-sitters could be quite useful when they fell.

Like now.

Yang Lie retreated, he immediately followed up, leaving no gap at all.

Her gaze wandering over Xie Buchen’s untreated, savage neck wound, Jian Chou couldn’t help but praise herself inwardly: A perfect reversal!

Xie Buchen probably never dreamed she would venture deep alone for such a sudden “surprise attack.”

Now under the attack of three people, even if Xie Buchen had tremendous abilities, he couldn’t spare the effort to treat his wound. If he relied solely on his body’s natural healing ability, this blood would flow for quite a while.

Thoughts flashed extremely quickly through her mind, while her hands moved just as fast.

Seeing Feng Qi had already been struck down by Xie Buchen’s sword, injuring his thigh, Jian Chou unhesitatingly gripped the Deer-Cutting Blade, put on an extremely rigid expression, and coldly shouted: “I thought Kunwu was a place where refined scholars gathered, but didn’t expect it harbors rats like you! Do you think Shanyin Sect has no one?!”

As her words fell, she charged out amid Feng Qi’s inexplicably moved expression.

Hearing this almost “righteously indignant” shout, Xie Buchen was nearly driven to bitter laughter.

He thought he had performed brilliantly, disguising as Wei Xin so perfectly that no one could tell, not expecting that compared to Jian Chou, he was just an amateur compared to a master.

After all, he couldn’t say something as heart-piercing as “Yashan harbors nothing but rats”!

This appearance of sharing common hatred with the two Shanyin Sect members—if he hadn’t discovered her true nature during their earlier fight, he would have thought she was a real demonic cultivator.

Seeing Jian Chou approaching with her blade again, Xie Buchen unhesitatingly stomped down hard, leaving a deep footprint on the ground.

Using this force, he rose up and rapidly retreated backward!

Jian Chou naturally pursued relentlessly, chasing him toward the rear.

Thus, on this plaza, a bright red bloody trail immediately spread out.

Everywhere Xie Buchen retreated was stained with fresh blood falling from his neck and collar, a crimson expanse.

Due to the intense fighting, spiritual power surged layer by layer in his body, causing his blood to move accordingly. Unable to stop, and injured in such a vital place as the neck, without time to rest, it was difficult to heal naturally in a short time. The blood flow became even more torrential.

From being injured to fighting three people consecutively, though only a short time had passed, Xie Buchen already felt somewhat dizzy. Excessive blood loss had made his face pale.

During his retreat, he tried to use spiritual power to heal the wound, but discovered that the wound caused by Jian Chou’s two-foot blade possessed the same sharp effect as the Human Emperor Sword—once it injured flesh and blood, it was difficult to heal.

With great enemies before him, one careless move meant life or death.

Xie Buchen held his sword in his left hand, but during his rapid retreat, he raised his right hand. Instantly, deep blue flames rose in his palm!

In that moment, his gaze became extremely cold and extremely calm.

The moment she saw flames rising in his palm, Jian Chou froze slightly.

The next moment, she saw Xie Buchen, with an almost tolerant calm on his face, heavily press his right hand over the bloody wound on his neck.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle…

The subtle sound of a branding iron falling on flesh and blood penetrated the howling wind and reached Jian Chou’s ears.

Her pupils contracted sharply, almost instantly recalling the past—

After their downfall, they drifted on the river day and night.

After Xie Buchen’s fever broke, he traveled with her. Later they encountered river bandits robbing merchant ships. He was wounded by wild arrows while protecting her. She helped him escape far away, and when they finally reached a broken temple, she turned around to discover his left ribs were bloody—a feathered arrow was lodged there.

There was no doctor, no medicine to stop bleeding, and the arrow was still in his body.

All they had then was a personal dagger and a fire.

The arrow couldn’t stay in his body too long and had to be removed, but once removed there would be torrential bleeding. She didn’t know what to do, but Xie Buchen threw her the dagger, telling her to heat it red in the fire, and immediately after removing the arrow, use the red-hot dagger to cauterize the wound.

…

She still remembered her trembling hand holding the dagger, remembered the seductive firelight licking the dagger bit by bit, remembered Third Young Master Xie’s restraint as he broke out in cold sweat from pain under the red firelight…

Now seeing Xie Buchen place flames over his neck to stop bleeding was exactly the same ruthlessness as back then!

The flames in his palm immediately cauterized the wound, and the terribly high temperature instantly turned that patch of bloody flesh on Xie Buchen’s neck completely black.

But his eyes showed no fluctuation at all.

Such terrible pain, yet he didn’t even furrow his brow!

The blood stopped flowing.

Yang Lie and Feng Qi, who witnessed Xie Buchen’s brutal method from behind, both contracted their pupils simultaneously, horrified!

Jian Chou laughed coldly.

Emergency battlefield cauterization out of desperation—how long could that last?

Xie Buchen was still that Xie Buchen, yet not that Xie Buchen anymore.

In the past, he would writhe in pain from the dagger’s burn, breaking out in cold sweat with a pale face, but now, under such tremendous pain, he was like someone without a heart who felt no pain, showing no change in expression.

Too calm, calm as an abyss.

He continued retreating.

All the way to the plaza’s edge.

This entire plaza and the maze courtyard behind the high wall were almost all built in the middle of a great marsh. During Xie Buchen’s retreat, Jian Chou almost instantly saw that great marsh outside.

Lightning flashed through her mind.

Her expression instantly darkened. Jian Chou unhesitatingly slapped with her left hand, and the Xishan Demon Sword instantly became a flowing light, directly drilling into the ground.

Almost as its blade completely entered the ground, a sword tip emerged from the ground behind Xie Buchen!

“Bang!”

The entire Xishan Demon Sword struck straight at Xie Buchen from behind!

Front and back, blade and sword!

Xie Buchen’s momentum immediately stopped.

Knowing Jian Chou had seen through his plan, he showed no panic. At this critical moment, he drew back with his hand—without even turning around, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, the Human Emperor Sword had already struck the Xishan Demon Sword!

A crisp “ding” sound.

“Zhou Yin’s” weapon actually shattered into two pieces under this simple strike!

Jian Chou’s heart turned cold.

Xie Buchen’s mother sword had shattered under the Deer-Cutting Blade’s strike, proving the blade’s sharpness. But Xie Buchen’s sword had shattered the Xishan Demon Sword. The child-mother swords were a pair—only together did they match the Xishan Demon Sword’s grade. This meant that comparing just the mother sword to the Xishan Demon Sword, the Xishan Demon Sword was superior.

What a Human Emperor Sword!

However, her purpose was achieved—Xie Buchen had already paused slightly due to this sword strike.

This was the moment she needed!

A mere Xishan Demon Sword—Jian Chou didn’t even care about it. She nimbly flipped her hand, and a dao seal faintly flashed across the Deer-Cutting Blade’s surface!

“Boom!”

Almost the instant the dao seal flashed, three blade shadows broke free from the Deer-Cutting Blade!

Splitting Sky Slash!

When Jian Chou first obtained the Deer-Cutting Blade, she naturally had no handy dao seals to use with blade techniques.

But her previous weapon was the Ghost Axe, a giant axe that naturally followed a bold, sweeping path. Though the Deer-Cutting Blade was more refined, it still couldn’t escape being a “blade.” Using the axe’s bold approach with a blade wasn’t inconsistent at all.

The only difference might be in power.

But…

The Deer-Cutting Blade gave her another surprise!

The three blade shadows were each curved like the moon.

Layer upon layer, the first was fast, the second faster, the third even faster!

The three blade shadows actually perfectly merged together the instant they emerged, becoming one indistinguishable Deer-Cutting Blade!

For a moment, if not for the real Deer-Cutting Blade still in her hand, Jian Chou would have thought she had thrown it.

Xie Buchen had obviously recognized where this move came from. Seeing the three blade shadows instantly merge into one, he frowned slightly.

He released his grip, actually throwing the Human Emperor Sword out in that instant!

“Clang!”

His slender, jade-like fingers were stained with blood but still carried the elegance and composure of noble blood. He flicked at the Human Emperor Sword’s three-inch point, immediately filling heaven and earth with passionate sword song.

A deep black dao seal gradually appeared at the Human Emperor Sword’s three-inch point.

With this seal’s appearance, the entire Human Emperor Sword’s pressure increased another level. A patch of mysterious yellow light burst from the sword body like a light arc, shooting toward the Deer-Cutting Blade phantom!

“Boom…”

When the Human Emperor Sword’s light arc met the Deer-Cutting Blade phantom, they immediately canceled each other out.

The marsh water surface near Jian Chou and Xie Buchen was immediately affected by this seemingly calm collision and cancellation, exploding with thunderous “bang bang bang” sounds. Countless towering waves rose up, immediately washing over half the plaza.

This was an excellent opportunity.

Xie Buchen reached out to retrieve the Human Emperor Sword. With a stroke, faint traces of water flow appeared around the sword body.

The Human Emperor Sword using River Flow sword intent!

Jian Chou’s scalp exploded: Mastering three sword intents in three years of cultivation, forging the Human Emperor Sword was one thing, but he had actually integrated sword intents! If not, using the completely incompatible Human Emperor Sword to employ River Flow sword intent would immediately cause backlash! But Xie Buchen showed no signs of it!

This was the unprecedented genius that Kunwu’s Old Monster Hengxu had taken notice of, the one guided by heaven’s way to seek and resolve Kunwu’s century-long calamity, the Xie Buchen destined to replace Real Person Hengxu!

The bloody excitement in Jian Chou’s eyes grew heavier.

She wasn’t the type to feel inferior first when others had talent—what she thought of was—

Only conquest!

For someone with relatively ordinary talent, what could be more exhilarating than brutally killing geniuses far superior to oneself?

Killing Xie Buchen was exactly this kind of exhilaration!

Bright eyes burned like flames.

Jian Chou lightly hooked her hand, and the Deer-Cutting Blade nimbly spun once around her finger.

Splitting Sky Slash could be used with amazing results—she wondered…

What surprise would Red Sun Slash bring her?

A dao seal quietly flashed across the Deer-Cutting Blade’s surface…

Yang Lie and Feng Qi, who had set out later, finally arrived again.

Without any discussion, the two attacked together, directly striking at Xie Buchen.

One hammer and one sword actually forced Xie Buchen’s gathering River Flow sword intent to tremble.

After all, it was an injured body. Old wounds hadn’t fully healed, then new wounds were added. Combined with Jian Chou’s “bloodletting,” Xie Buchen’s fighting strength was actually severely weakened.

Since being caught off guard by Qu Zhengfeng’s palm strike when first entering Qingfeng Nunnery’s Hidden Realm, he had never fought at peak condition again.

Was this tribulation, or calamity?

Facing this hammer and sword, Xie Buchen’s heart rippled with strange waves.

The second dao seal finally flashed on the sword body at this moment.

This was a circular dao seal.

“Drawing ground as prison…”

A voice light as a sigh.

He held the Human Emperor Sword, his eyes completely calm, even carrying high, pitying compassion. As the hammer and sword arrived, he turned his wrist, creating a simple sword flower.

The black sword body left a trail in mid-air, like spreading a circular flower.

Deep black lines with golden borders instantly formed a “circle,” a prison.

The heavy hammer immediately stopped, the long sword also halted.

As if countless heavy shackles had suddenly fallen upon them, whether hammer or sword, both were firmly confined within the circle, unable to escape!

But the moment this deep black “prison” appeared, Xie Buchen’s face paled another shade.

It seemed that for him, using this dao seal was also an enormous burden.

The neck wound cauterized earlier with intense flames had already shown several deep red blood marks due to these exchanges. The blood that had just stopped began flowing again.

With three people on Jian Chou’s side, under the three-person siege, he gained no advantage at all.

Xie Buchen knew this “drawing ground as prison” couldn’t contain these two for long. Using early Core Formation cultivation to constrain a late Core Formation cultivator was ultimately somewhat forced.

However…

As long as it could delay for a moment, that was enough.

With his back to the great marsh, this was his natural timing and geographical advantage!

Splash…

River Flow sword intent re-gathered on the sword body.

Xie Buchen looked toward Jian Chou.

A faint red light had already appeared at the tip of the Deer-Cutting Blade in Jian Chou’s hand.

Different from the dark red color when driving the Ghost Axe, the red appearing at the Deer-Cutting Blade’s tip was particularly pure, without any mixed colors. In the blink of an eye, it had spread across the entire Deer-Cutting Blade in pure red!

But…

It wasn’t over yet!

When that pure red reached its limit of brightness, a line of white light actually appeared at the blade tip!

Blazing white light!

Like temperature burning to its limit, blurring all mixed colors, leaving only that pure line of white!

The moment it appeared, with Jian Chou as the center, a vast aura spread in all directions, faintly giving people a burning heat.

“Boom!”

The aura brought by that line of white light caused a tremendous commotion when it reached the great marsh.

The entire marsh seemed instantly scorched by ten suns, immediately boiling with countless bubbles rising from the bottom, gradually growing larger as they surfaced, then exploding.

It was boiling.

The entire great marsh was about to boil!

Even…

The River Flow sword intent that Xie Buchen had drawn up was affected, rolling around the Human Emperor Sword like a long dragon.

Between Jian Chou’s breaths, everything was scalding hot.

Completely beyond her imagination…

The Ghost Axe’s origins were mysterious, already rarely seen, but with the Splitting Sky Slash and Red Sun Slash dao seals, it was actually surpassed by this Deer-Cutting Blade! The Splitting Sky and Red Sun slashes were the Ghost Axe’s innate dao seals—theoretically, no weapon should surpass the Ghost Axe when using these seals.

But now, the facts were before Jian Chou’s eyes.

The Ghost Axe was missing a Two Instruments Pearl, so any dao seal used would be weakened due to the axe’s incompleteness, but even so, the Ghost Axe’s grade wasn’t low.

That the Deer-Cutting Blade could be stronger than the current Ghost Axe, even so obviously stronger, proved only one thing: the Deer-Cutting Blade’s grade was too high! The power displayed when using dao seals was too great!

Indeed, a blade that Master Buyu could use to cut meat was no ordinary item.

As Jian Chou marveled inwardly, she had already raised the Deer-Cutting Blade high, like—

A red sun!

But this time, that red sun had a dazzling white spot on one edge, sharp as if it would pierce through the entire red sun!

Beautiful, beauty to the extreme, even heart-stopping.

In that instant, Jian Chou couldn’t help but think of a phrase: white rainbow piercing the sun.

Perhaps even that rare celestial phenomenon wouldn’t surpass this!

What she held—how was it inferior in grandeur?

A white light piercing the sun appeared faintly, projecting almost fanatical killing intent as it thundered toward Xie Buchen!

Xie Buchen watched that line of white light in the red sun, his gaze flickering slightly, unable to stop the blood flowing in his body. Streams of blood emerged again from beside his neck, warmly flowing into his collar.

The entire great marsh boiled!

He gripped his palm, five fingers already pressed tight against the Human Emperor Sword.

On the mysterious black sword body, the mountains and rivers map manifested phantom images, each river, lake, and sea becoming extremely clear, transforming into seal after seal that, as Jian Chou raised her blade to strike, shot into the boiling great marsh!

Rumble!

A giant dragon leaped out the instant those river and lake seals disappeared into the great marsh.

This dragon was formed entirely of boiling marsh water, each scale gleaming silver with water light. The dragon raised its head and flew toward the Human Emperor Sword in Xie Buchen’s hand.

The moment it leaped up, those massive claws covered in scales fully extended—all five-clawed!

Emperors wear five claws.

This was a dragon condensed by the Human Emperor Sword, naturally carrying vast imperial aura.

“Roar!”

The dragon gave a long cry, actually coiling around the Human Emperor Sword, instantly condensing into a ten-zhang-long giant sword!

Once he had drawn river flow as a sword; today with the great marsh boiling, it too could become a sword!

Under heaven, there is no land that is not the king’s; to the shores of the land, there are no subjects that are not the king’s.

All things in this world obey his command!

It wasn’t just that he had integrated River Flow sword intent, but more importantly, the Human Emperor Sword was too domineering.

The River Flow sword intent learned from his second senior brother required comprehension at the river’s heart, naturally carrying a sense of isolation, difficult to control. River flow itself could become a sword—why associate with ordinary swords? So Yue He’s own sword was also extremely domineering, matching River Flow sword intent’s nature, able to suppress it.

In Xie Buchen’s hands, the Human Emperor Sword commanded all under heaven—how could mere river flow escape this world of all things?

As Jian Chou’s “Red Sun Slash” performed with the Deer-Cutting Blade struck down at him, Xie Buchen also raised this ten-zhang giant sword, actually lifting an entire river flow and slashing upward at Jian Chou!

Sword intent flowed freely, great rivers running endlessly, waves surging without cease.

The angry dragon roared, adding three parts more fierce killing intent!

Blade qi shook mountains and seas like the vast sky, with clear winds rolling above blue clouds.

The red sun steamed and rose, adding a touch of white mountain snow!

Overwhelming crimson spread like a curtain under Jian Chou’s slash, blooming above the vast marsh with extreme brilliance. The blazing temperature again made the entire marsh boil.

Mountains and rivers cooked in one pot, clouds and mist steaming!

The Human Emperor Sword led the ten-zhang River Flow sword intent from bottom to top, like tearing gorgeous silk, piercing through the center of this crimson curtain!

This sword was like a white rainbow, extending the white rainbow at the tip of Jian Chou’s Red Sun Slash, completely piercing through the red sun.

True…

White rainbow piercing the sun.

The scene at this moment was so magnificently beautiful it took one’s breath away.

The brilliant River Flow giant sword drove straight in like a long dragon, majestic and imposing.

The translucent silver showed a dazzling silver-red under the illumination of skylight and red sun, but while tearing through the red sun, it steamed for the red sun, like the boiling of the entire Yunmeng Great Marsh, instantly steaming into white water vapor.

Thus, above the torn red sun, a long, ribbon-like white cloud suddenly appeared.

The swimming dragon shuttled through clouds, breaking through the red sun, gradually shrinking and disappearing…

A “clang” sounded, but under such magnificent and beautiful scenery, it was hardly noticeable.

Jian Chou’s spiritual power had been drained by more than half, her complexion also paling. The Deer-Cutting Blade in her hand had directly clashed with Xie Buchen’s Human Emperor Sword.

When the two crossed weapons, it was like a flash of lightning.

In an instant, both trembled violently throughout their bodies and flew backward.

“Bang!”

Jian Chou almost couldn’t stand steady, her toes leaving a deep mark on the ground before stabilizing her form.

Xie Buchen retreated all the way to the marsh’s edge before barely stopping at the last critical step. Drop by drop, blood again pooled at his feet, reflecting the broken red curtain in the sky.

“Ding ling ling…”

The Immovable Bell at his waist gently swayed, flickering with several points of light.

Jian Chou’s gaze suddenly focused, falling on that bell. A thought flashed through her mind, and she was about to act.

But at this moment, Yang Lie and Feng Qi, who had been shocked by the battle scene between Jian Chou and Xie Buchen, finally came to their senses.

Zhou Yin?

Bullshit!

If Zhou Yin had this ability, he would have ascended to heaven long ago. How could he be suppressed by Wei Xin?!

This “Zhou Yin” fighting Xie Buchen was also fake!

After entering the Hidden Realm, only five people remained, and now two of them were spies who had fooled them completely!

Who the hell are you?!

Yang Lie stared deadly at Jian Chou’s figure, feeling his teeth grind and his hand holding the heavy hammer tremble.

“You’re not Zhou Yin either!!!”

Feng Qi beside him was also trembling, but not from anger—from fear!

His jaw was about to drop as he stared at those two confronting figures from afar, hardly believing his eyes. This situation was so bizarre that his brain wasn’t sufficient.

Jian Chou slightly turned her gaze and discovered Yang Lie and Feng Qi beside her, ready to attack at any moment.

Her brow furrowed as she felt a bloody taste in her throat.

Her gaze slowly swept over these three people, knowing the situation had suddenly become complicated…

On the vast plaza, the high wall still stood, the maze diagram’s patterns had changed again, and the surrounding great marsh remained shrouded in clouds.

Xie Buchen stood not far before her, seeming ready to collapse at any moment.

But she had experienced this feeling many times before.

She wouldn’t ignore the Immovable Bell hanging at Xie Buchen’s waist.

At most, she had strength for one more strike.

If one strike couldn’t kill Xie Buchen, Yang Lie and Feng Qi behind her would immediately attack, taking advantage of the chaos. Then it wouldn’t be Xie Buchen who died.

If Xie Buchen didn’t have this Immovable Bell, she might risk trying, but now…

There was no need.

The coldest rationality had given her the most accurate judgment.

Withdrawing and leaving was the best choice.

But there was always a knot in her heart…

Jian Chou’s gaze continued moving, falling on the solitary peak across the long path.

At the leftmost of the eight corridors, a figure had coincidentally appeared at this moment!

Beast hide vest, but no longer carrying a watermelon. After emerging from the corridor, he immediately headed toward the plaza!

“Hahaha…”

Seeing this figure, Jian Chou couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

She directly slashed backward at the two behind her. Yang Lie and Feng Qi, hearing her laughter, were already horrified. Now seeing her swing the blade, they were even more terrified, their hair standing on end as they almost simultaneously shouted: “Duck!”

Then…

Nothing happened.

Jian Chou’s slash produced not even a speck of dust—a feint!

She displayed a wicked smile, her pores opening throughout her body as wind instantly flowed in!

Riding the wind!

Her form immediately swayed, as if merging with the wind. In the instant Yang Lie and Feng Qi retreated, she shot toward the high wall at the plaza’s end!

“Oh no!”

Fooled again!

Yang Lie almost wanted to curse!

This person’s cunning and treachery was beyond imagination, even surpassing demonic cultivators!

“Stop him!!!”

…Unfortunately, he now only had Feng Qi under his command, who was already scared witless and didn’t dare even breathe, much less give chase.

Thus, these two could only watch helplessly as Jian Chou swept past them and landed directly on the high platform.

Jian Chou stood with her back to the high wall’s maze diagram, her left hand reaching back to press precisely on that hexagonal groove.

Looking at Xie Buchen standing in the distance, Jian Chou suddenly remembered many things.

She recalled Xie Buchen’s analysis when he had disguised himself as the arrogant Wei Xin, standing beneath this high wall—that the first dao seal to open the gate was the upper left corner; she recalled the information learned from these Shanyin Sect people’s conversations, that Kunwu knew there were scrolls related to Master Buyu’s comprehension of the “Nine Bends River Map” left in Qingfeng Nunnery’s Hidden Realm, which was why they sent Xie Buchen…

Can’t kill you?

What’s so great about that!

As long as you live one day, I’ll make sure you’re shrouded by my shadow, never able to rise again for a lifetime!

Once I could wield the killing disc to seize your Dijiang Bone Jade, today I can use dao seals to steal your “Nine Bends River Map”!

Whatever you need, I will certainly seize!

Whatever you want, I’ll steal it all!

A fierce determination rose in her heart. Looking at “Xiao Jin” who was about to reach the plaza’s center, both strange and familiar, then at Yang Lie and Feng Qi with their drastically changed expressions, violent and angry, Jian Chou felt a moment of pity for Xie Buchen.

Raising her hand, her fingers filled with spiritual power, she lightly traced along the groove’s patterns!

The dao seal she had memorized countless times in her heart extended bit by bit from her fingertips, gradually becoming complete…

Jian Chou’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

“Tsk, it really is the upper left corner’s first dao seal. Fellow Daoist Xie truly deserves to be the foremost among our generation of cultivators, the pinnacle of the Central Domain, with an ancient warm heart, full of wisdom and strategy—you don’t deceive me!”

“Dao… dao seal…”

Yang Lie and the others were already shocked to the extreme, flying rapidly toward Jian Chou, but nearly fell from the sky due to momentary distraction.

Even Xie Buchen in the distance hadn’t expected what was happening now.

Under everyone’s extremely shocked and horrified gaze, the entire hexagonal groove actually emitted a devouring gray light, and the high wall’s great gate appeared like a phantom!

Are you kidding!

She actually held dao seals?!!

The “Zhou Yin” appearance created by pills melted away like ice and snow, revealing Jian Chou’s black hair like a waterfall, skin white as frost and snow, bright eyes like autumn water, and vermillion lips like cinnabar.

In this instant, Yang Lie and Feng Qi were dumbfounded.

But from this vast marsh came a burst of hearty laughter—Jian Chou speaking to Xie Buchen with magnificent heroic spirit:

“Fellow Daoist Xiao Jin has arrived, you two will surely be invincible. Jian Chou will take the first step to clear the path, waiting at the Hidden Realm’s end for Fellow Daoist to bring the ‘River Map Secret Talisman’ and fight side by side again!”

“I will remember this great kindness and virtue of Yashan in my heart.”

“Fellow Daoist Xie, until we meet again in life!”

“Hahaha…”

Loud laughter echoed between heaven and earth.

Jian Chou’s form flashed and she directly entered those two phantom gates, disappearing.

The gray-black gates floating in the void, after accepting her entry, vanished completely within a breath’s time. Before Yang Lie and the others could even pursue, they had completely disappeared, infuriating Yang Lie until his eyes turned red and Feng Qi beat his chest in frustration!

Only Xie Buchen remained standing in place.

The Human Emperor Sword hung inverted against the ground, supporting him with one hand. His body swayed as if about to fall, but then steadied.

His form was elegant and tall, seven feet high, but his neck bore a patch of black scar branded by his own palm of fierce fire. Now the wound left by the Deer-Cutting Blade had torn open, immediately bloody and savage-looking.

He still gazed toward where Jian Chou had disappeared, until he heard the sound of something cutting through air behind him and finally reacted.

She could advance to kill him, retreat to enter the maze courtyard within the high wall…

She had disguised herself and infiltrated the Shanyin Sect group from the beginning with two preparations: she could kill him, trap Shanyin Sect, use borrowed knives to kill, and enter the gate ahead of everyone, not forgetting to trap him one last time.

River Map Secret Talisman?

Xie Buchen slowly turned around and saw “Xiao Jin” now standing at the path’s end—the same dress but completely different demeanor, filled with killing intent and sharp edges!

Three people surrounded him in the middle.

Xie Buchen stood motionless, slowly bringing his powerless five fingers together to grip the Human Emperor Sword tightly.

He stood in the encirclement of these three, a lone army about to fight to the death, an emperor bearing a sword!

In his mind, Jian Chou’s laughter echoed.

“Until we meet again in life…”