Taixuan Wuji had clearly already activated the grand formation, and had never let anyone in, yet they had surrounded Taixuan Wuji without a sound, like spirits and ghosts! This scene truly made one’s hair stand on end!
They thought Chao Jinsui was alone—kill her and be done with it. They flew into a rage from humiliation, bullying the few with the many, completely ignoring any reason at all. They only felt that Chao Jinsui was weak and easy to bully, so they wanted to kill her to vent their anger.
But they guessed wrong.
Aunt Ping’s expression changed drastically: “Who are they?”
Shi Chunqiu said furiously, “It must be that old bastard Chao Taichu! Didn’t he say he wouldn’t interfere with her affairs anymore?”
Aunt Ping: “No, absolutely not the Kunlun Sword Sect!”
But very quickly, Shi Chunqiu and Aunt Ping realized something—
It was that group of vicious, heinous bandits!
Recently, Taixuan Wuji’s convoys had been frequently robbed, the auction house robbed, the forbidden grounds robbed… the entire Taixuan Wuji had been plundered once over, yet that group always came without a trace and left without a trace.
But Taixuan Wuji had recently been beset by trouble one after another, and had no time at all to deal with this matter.
Of course Taixuan Wuji knew how formidable that group was, and they had already vaguely formed a guess, which was why they did not dare to make the matter too big.
Cold sweat appeared on Aunt Ping’s forehead. She exchanged a glance with Shi Chunqiu, and both understood the other’s guess—
They were people of the Demon Clan!
If it were truly the Kunlun Sword Sect, they would not be so fearful, but as the saying goes, the ruthless fear those who don’t fear death! Especially the Demon Clan—they were all a bunch of lunatics who did not fear death!
But even though Aunt Ping had a guess, she could not be certain, and even less could she say it out loud at this moment.
Chao Jinsui asked softly, “Elder Ping, can you hand over the item now?”
Aunt Ping made a swift decision:
“Capture her!”
—The so-called bullying the weak and fearing the strong, squeezing only the soft persimmons.
Aunt Ping of course understood the principle of capturing the king before the bandits. Especially since this group had come for Chao Jinsui—if they captured her, they could completely take her hostage and force these black-clothed people to retreat!
As her words fell, Aunt Ping’s staff suddenly lengthened into a long rod, and she leapt toward Chao Jinsui! Shi Chunqiu formed seals with both hands, also striking directly at Chao Jinsui’s face!
The other disciples moved as well, suddenly lunging toward that figure.
The tall Demon Clan youth at the front gave a cold snort. A mass of black-pressing Demon Clan members swooped down toward the white-clothed people on the ground like great crows!
That enormous moving stone statue, enhanced by the formation, possessed astonishing destructive power as it smashed toward the tall Demon Clan youth at the front.
The great demon boss clicked his tongue and blocked the stone statue’s path.
For a moment, the sounds of killing shook the heavens.
Amid the chaotic battle, the demons’ voices were mixed with crude shouts of “damn it” and “you damned bastard.”
Lingyun was shocked: “When your Demon Clan fights, it’s all like this…?”
Hongniang fanned herself: “This old lady wouldn’t be like them.”
“Bah! Guangping, you silver-looking pewter-spear coward—why does it take you half a day just to fight a Golden Core! This old lady’s coming!”
Lingyun: “…”
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
It is said that soft persimmons are always the ones chosen to be squeezed.
But today, what Aunt Ping and Shi Chunqiu grabbed was an iron persimmon.
Chao Jinsui moved very quickly. After reaching the mid-stage Nascent Soul, her Gale Realm made her body even lighter. Almost before Aunt Ping’s staff could touch her, she had already tapped lightly with her toes and shot swiftly toward the depths of Taixuan Wuji!
Aunt Ping followed closely behind.
Shi Chunqiu lagged one step behind.
The staff was like a slithering spirit snake, lashing fiercely toward Chao Jinsui’s back!
She struck back with a reverse sword slash, colliding violently with Aunt Ping’s staff in midair!
Both Aunt Ping and Shi Chunqiu had cultivation at the early Nascent Soul stage, and their attacks were ruthless and seasoned, their coordination seamless. Logically speaking, joining forces to restrain Chao Jinsui should not have been difficult. With a bit of luck, two against one, capturing her would have been easy.
This was also the first time she had truly fought someone after entering the Nascent Soul stage.
The Kunlun Sword was thrilled—this battle-loving sword resonated with Chao Jinsui’s will.
She seemed to have returned to the Patriarch’s little classroom of the Kunlun Sword Art—
Only this time, facing Aunt Ping, she was certainly not the one being pressed down and beaten.
And today she was in a very bad mood—when she struck, she no longer wanted to hold back.
Her sword was like a storm of wind and rain, unbelievably fast. She almost perfectly replicated every move the golden miniature Patriarch had used to beat her back then.
The sound of sword and staff colliding rang without end.
Aunt Ping blocked with great difficulty, retreating again and again. At that moment, Shi Chunqiu’s sword suddenly stabbed toward Chao Jinsui from her rear flank!
Chao Jinsui flipped her body midair, colliding directly with Shi Chunqiu’s sword.
Seizing the chance, Aunt Ping’s staff shot forward like a venomous snake.
The two joined forces, front and back.
Shi Chunqiu sneered, “Let’s see how you escape today!”
However, the next second, Chao Jinsui pushed her Gale Realm to the extreme, violently withdrawing dozens of meters out of their encirclement. One step landed on a rooftop—she flipped, her sword condensing with icy frost, suddenly transforming into thousands of tiny frost swords that shot toward the two of them!
Just as they were caught off guard, hurriedly trying to dodge those tricky little swords—
Her blade flashed like a startled swan, sweeping across!
Aunt Ping crashed heavily from midair onto the ground!
The next sword was already thrusting straight toward her face!
Cold sweat drenched Aunt Ping’s body. She barely managed to roll aside to avoid that strike.
So much for a soft persimmon—it was truly a tough one with bronze skin and iron bones!
A palm strike came from behind Shi Chunqiu, intending to rescue Aunt Ping—but before his eyes blurred, Chao Jinsui’s figure appeared behind him.
A sword stabbed fiercely toward him!
The protective artifact on Shi Chunqiu’s body burst into blazing golden light, yet the sword still pierced through half his body!
He suddenly fell from midair, endured the intense pain, and fled!
Aunt Ping also turned and ran.
Chao Jinsui chased closely after her.
Aunt Ping shouted, “Stop! We can talk this out!”
Chao Jinsui: “When I tried to reason with you at the beginning, why didn’t you say anything about talking?”
Aunt Ping failed to dodge in time and nearly got knocked out of the air!
She was familiar with the terrain of Taixuan Wuji, but Chao Jinsui was like a lingering ghost, impossible to shake off.
And Chao Jinsui deliberately smashed Taixuan Wuji’s most iconic buildings—
Wherever her sword edge passed, towers collapsed, rooftops thundered down.
Aunt Ping gritted her teeth in hatred—
At this rate, half of Taixuan Wuji would be smashed into ruins.
The sword cultivator behind her kept chasing while asking questions.
Aunt Ping broke down: “Stop, talk it out! I’ll reason with you! Whatever demands you have, we can negotiate!”
At first, they had bullied the weak with their strength, refusing to honor their promise, shouting to kill her; now that they had fallen into a disadvantage, they wanted to start negotiating.
—In this world, how could there be such a cheap thing!
This sword cultivator had probably spent too long with the demon boss and had begun to pick up some of his temperament.
She said, “I don’t want to listen anymore.”
Aunt Ping was shaken by the sword until blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. She knew in her heart she was no match for this sword cultivator. And Shi Chunqiu, badly injured, had run off who knew where—what had been a perfect situation had turned into this—
Aunt Ping gritted her teeth: “Don’t you want the real Yin-Yang Fish? I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you everything!”
But Chao Jinsui did not stop—her sword thrust fiercely toward Aunt Ping’s face.
Aunt Ping screamed, “In the Treasure Pavilion!”
The sword tip suddenly stopped at Aunt Ping’s brow.
Aunt Ping said, “I’ll take you there!”
Just as Aunt Ping thought she would withdraw her sword, it turned, changing direction, and rested against Aunt Ping’s neck.
Aunt Ping sucked in a cold breath.
Chao Jinsui: “Lead the way.”
Aunt Ping stood up stiffly, her entire body rigid.
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
By this time, the whole of Taixuan Wuji was already in utter ruin. Even the inner courtyard was in such a miserable state—the outer courtyard could only be imagined.
Aunt Ping suppressed both anger and fear, her face deathly pale.
Chao Jinsui followed Aunt Ping to the Treasure Pavilion.
Only then did she understand why that demon boss had found nothing the last time he broke into the Treasure Pavilion—because inside this Treasure Pavilion was an extremely complex formation.
Aunt Ping: “Let go of me first. Otherwise, how am I supposed to undo the grand formation like this?”
That sword cultivator said coldly, “Don’t you still have feet? Use your feet.”
Aunt Ping choked for a moment.
Feeling the Kunlun Sword at her neck humming in displeasure, Aunt Ping took a deep breath. She could only maintain this posture and, with difficulty, drew a Yin-Yang formation on the ground.
Before them, the Treasure Pavilion vanished, replaced by another tall tower.
Yet beyond the opened doors, a surging mass of flames burned—a sea of fire.
The next moment, Aunt Ping suddenly stretched out her hand and threw half of the Yin-Yang Fish into the sea of fire!
Chao Jinsui saw the piece of the Yin-Yang Fish fall into the blazing flames. Without hesitation, frost condensed at the tip of her sword, and she lunged straight into the sea of fire!
The instant the flames were visibly blocked by ice, she shot rapidly inside.
That was the real Butian Stone—whether mountains of blades or seas of fire, she would not hesitate in the slightest!
In that flash of lightning and sparks, Aunt Ping suddenly fled, shooting out of the Treasure Pavilion!
The real Yin-Yang Fish had always been carried close to Aunt Ping’s body—this woman was clever enough. She knew that between the Yin-Yang Fish and herself, Chao Jinsui would choose the Yin-Yang Fish without hesitation, so she used it as bait to gain a chance to escape alive!
However, just as Aunt Ping rushed out in retreat, she suddenly froze.
Because she saw a handsome youth with two demon horns atop his head leaning against a pillar, glancing over sideways.
“Didn’t you wonder why she didn’t even spare you a glance just now?”
Of course it was because she knew someone was outside.
Aunt Ping’s heart jolted in shock, and she immediately fled outward in frantic haste!
But the great demon boss was not Chao Jinsui. Chao Jinsui had not dealt a killing blow only to force out the whereabouts of the Butian Stone. Now that the Butian Stone had appeared, Aunt Ping no longer had any value in staying alive.
A massive black skull in midair suddenly rushed straight toward Aunt Ping!
Aunt Ping’s protective artifact burst into golden light, and she used all the spiritual energy in her body to resist.
But the next second, a shadow appeared behind her.
Aunt Ping spat out a mouthful of black blood and shouted angrily:
“Demon Venerable Yan Xueyi! What a Chao Jinsui—she actually colluded with the Demon Venerable!”
The tall youth revealed a smile as if steeped in poison, his phoenix eyes brimming with malice:
“If you’re dead, then no one will know, right?”
They had originally planned to kill Chao Jinsui in Taixuan Wuji. As long as they silenced her, what broken promises, what going back on their word—if they killed her, no one else would know.
In their eyes, Chao Jinsui’s life was worthless, merely a reckless upstart, a headstrong fool who had offended their dignity and thus deserved to be silenced. Yet they did not know that, in others’ eyes, her life weighed as heavy as Mount Tai.
The black skull suddenly pierced straight through Aunt Ping’s body!
✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦
Chao Jinsui chased the Butian Stone inside, but after passing through the sea of fire, she saw another stone Xiezhi.
However, it was completely different from the one Aunt Ping had summoned at the beginning. This one was vividly lifelike, its surging aura making it seem exactly like a real divine beast Xiezhi!
