Thunder Qilin Space-Shattering Flash! Flying Bird Breaks the White Plum! Awakening of Insects Formation-Breaking Melody! Twin Swords Ring in Unison!

High in the sky, the giant eagle was still circling.

Lin Yan had been turned away by the God of Love, so in the end he had no choice but to resume his search.

Before long... Ah Yin suddenly cried out in surprise.

"Master, I found her! My Blue Silver Domain sensed something happening to the north."

"Well done! Ah Yin, you're the useful one after all."

Lin Yan slapped his thigh, then quickly turned and directed the Sky-Hunting Eagle toward the target location.

Meanwhile, in the woods.

Zhu Zhuqing watched the guards draw closer, their eyes plainly filled with ill intent, and could not stop herself from backing away.

"No! Don't! Stay away from me! Get lost!"

"Second Miss, treason is a capital crime!"

"Why don't you give us brothers a little something, and we'll all pretend we never saw you today? How about it?"

The guard in the lead had clearly received Zhu Zhuyun's instructions, and his triangular eyes were full of lechery.

When had Zhu Zhuqing ever encountered a scene like this?

Even when men had coveted her figure in the past, they had only dared steal a few extra glances at most. The bolder ones might whisper about her behind her back, but she was the third prince's consort, after all, and no one dared say anything openly.

But today... these guards acted as though they had caught Zhu Zhuqing with a weakness they could exploit, growing bolder and bolder, their eyes plainly filled with greed.

This time, Zhu Zhuqing was truly frightened. She was terrified that something terrible would happen to her, that she would be violated.

"No, get away from me!"

"Zhu Zhuyun, you crazy woman! Make them go away!"

Across from Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuyun saw that the girl was so frightened her voice had begun to tremble, and a sneer escaped her lips.

"Little sister, this is the price of freedom!"

"We're both daughters of the Zhu Family, so why must I marry Dai Weisi? Why must I take part in a political marriage?"

"You want to run? Fine!"

"But you have to give up the thing most precious to you. Otherwise, why should you get to have everything? Why should you get to be free?"

Clearly, Zhu Zhuyun meant that she could let Zhu Zhuqing leave.

But she couldn't accept it, and would not let the matter rest until Zhu Zhuqing had paid a price.

"Have you gone mad? I'm your sister!"

"Aren't you afraid Father and Mother will find out what you've done?"

Zhu Zhuqing braced one foot against the ground, thick with dead leaves, and propped herself up with both hands as she kept backing away.

She tried to escape, to flee the Star Luo Empire and the people surrounding her...

But she couldn't!

"Help! Somebody save me!"

"Can anyone save me?!!!"

The girl could hold on no longer. Large tears fell from her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her knees in a final attempt to defend herself.

But...

The figures still closed in around her.

"Heh heh heh..."

"Second Miss, we brothers have admired that figure of yours for a long time. Today, we can finally..."

At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing's world was filled with a dull buzzing.

Excessive fear had nearly robbed her of the ability to think. She could only wrap her arms tightly around her knees like a puppet.

Is this... really how it ends?

Zhu Zhuyun, I hate you!

Dai Mubai, I hate you!

If only I hadn't been born into the Zhu Family.

If only I didn't have the Nether Civet Martial Soul.

If only... someone would come and save me now...

In Zhu Zhuqing's field of vision, a pair of large hands, covered in dust, calluses, and grime, had already reached out in front of her.

She watched in despair, her body already numb, and closed her tear-filled eyes.

She clenched her teeth down on her tongue, trying to die this way, to resist this way...

But the instant the pain came, a piercing eagle's cry suddenly rang out across the sky.

Scree!!!

[Fourth Soul Skill: Thunder Qilin Space-Shattering Flash!]

In an instant, it was as though a drop of ink had fallen into the clear sky, dyeing it gray in the blink of an eye.

Thunderclouds gathered densely, and a blue qilin wreathed in arcs of lightning took shape in an instant. Opening its enormous, bloody maw, it plunged straight toward the ground.

Roar!!!

"All of you, die!!!"

The qilin's furious roar resounded through the heavens, mingling with the screams of the surrounding guards like a hymn from hell!

At the same time, a black figure descended from the sky!

Tribulation Fire in his left hand, Shocking Thunder in his right!

As Lin Yan stepped forward, he flourished both swords. As the flourish ended, the black figure vanished from where he stood.

[Twin Swords Ring in Unison!]

One strike, two strikes...

Three strikes, four strikes...

[Awakening of Insects Formation-Breaking Melody!]

[Flying Bird Breaks the White Plum!]

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A black shadow invisible to the naked eye darted through the crowd. Every time it swept past a guard, one fell.

"No! Don't kill me!"

"Aaaargh!"

"Eldest Miss, help!"

"My arm! My arm!"

Zhu Zhuqing was dumbstruck!

Screams, wails, and thunder intertwined, pressing pause on her entire world.

This...

Who is that?

Is he here to save me?

The girl stared blankly at the scene before her, bewildered yet excited...

Until, a short while later...

The guard captain, with five Soul Rings beneath him—two yellow, two purple, and one black—came up behind Lin Yan, trying to launch a sneak attack.

Only then did the girl come to her senses.

She wanted to warn Lin Yan, but the tongue she had just bitten through allowed her to make only muffled whimpers, utterly lost amid the screams.

She also wanted to intervene, but after the adrenaline wore off, even lifting her leg was terribly difficult.

In the end, Zhu Zhuqing could only watch, her heart burning with anxiety, as the Soul King seized his chance and charged at Lin Yan from behind.

[Fifth Soul Skill: Netherworld One-Slash Kill!]

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes widened in fright at the sight! She could already foresee Lin Yan being cleaved in two by that slash.

But... what happened the instant the blade's light fell overturned her understanding once again.

[Eighteen Blows of the Blazing Prairie!]

Lin Yan did not even turn his head, but he gave a low shout, and purple Soul Power instantly gathered around him, forming a skeleton!

Rumble!

The netherworld blade struck the skeleton, and the skeleton's purple light blazed!

The next instant, the black flames on the Tribulation Fire Sword in his left hand surged in the wind. Lin Yan swung it fiercely forward, and a black-flame shockwave tore the Soul King in half.

Even then, Lin Yan did not stop moving!

The black flames of the Tribulation Fire Sword surged uncontrollably, as though a switch had been flipped.

Lin Yan sent out wave after wave of sword Qi, cutting down every enemy around him who tried to surround him!

Finally, after the last guard fell.

The clamor stopped abruptly, and the world fell silent.

Now, aside from Lin Yan, Zhu Zhuqing, and Zhu Zhuyun, no one else in the clearing was alive.

"Whew..."

A long exhale sounded. Lin Yan closed his eyes, then opened them again and murmured.

"A bunch of trash fish. They deserved to die!"

His voice was quiet, indifferent and bone-chillingly cold, but Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing heard him perfectly clearly.

Trash fish?

Was the Soul Ancestor guard squad the Zhu Family had spent decades cultivating nothing but trash fish in this man's eyes?

"Y-you... who... who are you?"

Zhu Zhuyun asked Lin Yan, her voice trembling.

But Lin Yan ignored her and spoke instead to Ah Yin in the sky.

"Ah Yin, come down and save her!"