The Price of a Warrior

As that voice echoed, Cai Tongchen, who had been standing behind Wei Yan, stepped forward, his face and body gradually changing. By the time he reached Wei Yan's side, he had become another person. He was gaunt, with a hideous scar on half his face, as if it had been burned by fire.

"Half-faced Great Scholar, Su Liancheng!" Ji Zhong gasped, "He's actually here!"

Chen Luo understood inwardly. This half-faced Great Scholar must be Wei Yan's contingency plan. With two Great Scholars working together, today's matter should be settled.

"Su Liancheng, it's actually you." Granny Rong, who had transformed into a young woman, her expression shifted slightly.

Su Liancheng ignored her, merely turning his head to look at Wei Yan, "Brother Wei, rest assured and expel the gu, these two cannot escape!"

Wei Yan nodded, "I'm ashamed, the rest is up to Brother Su..." With that, he sat down cross-legged, the blue light on his body flickering unstably, clearly beginning to mobilize the Righteous Qi within him to expel the蛊 (gu).

Granny Rong quickly considered the situation in her mind. She pulled the scholar, and with a slight tremor of the three pairs of insect wings behind her, the space they occupied twisted again, swallowing them both. In the blink of an eye, they vanished from the plaza.

"That... person seems to have escaped..." Chen Luo spoke.

Su Liancheng glanced at Chen Luo, shook his head slightly, and slowly extended his right hand forward, palm up, back of hand down.

The universe in his hand, to be flipped at will!

With a sudden flip of Su Liancheng's palm, Chen Luo felt as if heaven and earth had shaken for a moment. The space where Granny Rong and the scholar had disappeared twisted again, and the figures of the two reappeared, as if everything had been rewound.

Great Scholar's Supernatural Power: Heaven and Earth Overturned.

"I said, you cannot escape," Su Liancheng said calmly.

Granny Rong took a slight step back and transmitted her voice to the scholar, "My lady, I miscalculated. I thought the other was like Wei Yan, a Great Scholar of the Fourth Mountain Sea, but I didn't expect it to be Su Liancheng! I will hold off Su Liancheng for a while, and you can leave on your own."

The scholar shook his head slightly, "It's nothing more than using the art of 'Family, Nation, and World' to cover this area. Old woman, prepare to use the Thousand Mile Wormhole, and I will stop him."

Their telepathic conversation seemed to not escape Su Liancheng's notice. Su Liancheng frowned slightly, "Girl, you have quite the audacity. If you have such great ability, why conceal yourself!"

"Disperse!"

Su Liancheng uttered a single word, and it was as if a layer of glass armor on the scholar's body shattered with Su Liancheng's word "disperse." When everyone looked again, the person standing behind the young woman was no longer that scholar in a green robe, but someone else, wearing a wide black cloak and a mask that covered the lower half of his face. Judging by his build, he was indeed a woman.

"This humble one, Lian Ai, greets the Half-faced Great Scholar, Mr. Su." The other bowed, "My mistress and I came only for this Literary Heart, and have not harmed anyone. We implore Mr. Su to let us leave, and consider this matter settled, how about it?"

"Absurd!" Su Liancheng sneered, "You two are full of secrets, and you will both accompany me to the Central Capital Heavenly Prison!"

After Su Liancheng spoke, the phantom image of a bamboo scroll appeared behind him. The phantom solidified, and two bamboo slips detached from the scroll, piercing towards the woman calling herself Lian Ai and the young woman like sharp swords.

Lian Ai shouted, "Granny, now!"

At the same time, a beam of light flew out from Lian Ai's wide sleeve. Lian Ai grasped the light, which turned out to be a scroll. Lian Ai unrolled the scroll, and a pressure emanated from it. The two flying bamboo slips fell into the pressure, melting and dissipating instantly, like snow meeting a hot iron. At the same time, the bamboo scroll behind Su Liancheng also dissipated almost simultaneously.

Su Liancheng's gaze was solemn as he looked at the scroll in Lian Ai's hand, "Emperor Lin's Martial Book, how do you have..."

Su Liancheng's words were cut off by Lian Ai's shout, "Emperor Lin's decree: Lock the Great Scholar Su Liancheng!"

As Lian Ai's voice fell, eight trigram symbols appeared around Su Liancheng: "Heaven, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth." The eight trigrams rotated rapidly around Su Liancheng, emitting light that formed a circle, locking Su Liancheng within.

Seeing this, Wei Yan was about to get up, but Lian Ai shouted, "Granny!" Granny Rong, who was constructing a wormhole, took a dagger from her embrace and quickly plunged it into her left chest. The gu in Wei Yan's body seemed to be stimulated, and began to erode Wei Yan's body even more fiercely. Wei Yan lost his balance and fell back down.

Su Liancheng looked at Wei Yan, "Brother Wei, do not worry. This seal prevents entry and exit, they cannot make a move on me. Moreover, this is not the true Martial Book, but a replica. I can break it in a few breaths..."

Almost simultaneously, Lian Ai, holding the scroll, turned to Granny Rong, "How much longer?"

"My lady, ten more breaths!"

At this very moment, cracks began to appear on the scroll in Lian Ai's hand.

On the viewing platform, since the start of the battle, it had been enveloped by a white light, the protection of the Confucian Temple's Destiny/Fortune. Everyone on the platform watched the fierce battle in the plaza with great tension.

At this moment, Ji Zhong walked up to Chen Luo, "Young Master, I must go and assist the Great Scholar. Please be careful yourself!"

Chen Luo grabbed Ji Zhong and whispered, "You, a cultivator at the Poem Creation Realm, aren't you just walking into a trap?"

"Confucius spoke of righteousness unto death, Mencius spoke of righteousness unto duty. Only when duty is fulfilled can righteousness be achieved," Ji Zhong said.

Good heavens, he's going to fight to the death!

If it was just a single blow, and it only delayed them for a moment, he might be able to do it!

Chen Luo took a step forward and stood beside Ji Zhong, "Listen to me, let's do this..."

"My lady, five more breaths!" Granny Rong shouted.

Lian Ai nodded, and suddenly a loud shout echoed in her ears—

"Haste!"

The moon is dark, the swallows fly high. The Barbarian King flees in the night. Wanting to pursue with light cavalry, Heavy snow covers the bows and swords.

Lian Ai turned her head and saw ten light cavalry forming a formation, charging towards her.

"Overestimating yourselves!" Lian Ai exhaled a breath towards the light cavalry. The breath, as it left her mouth, quickly turned into an icy mist. If one looked closely, they would see that what was glittering in the icy mist were not ice crystals, but countless tiny insects.

The icy mist formed by the insects swept over the light cavalry. The light cavalry troops fell one after another, dissolving as if struck by ice blades and snow swords. Until the last rider fell ten meters away from Lian Ai, Ji Zhong's figure suddenly appeared and lunged at Lian Ai.

"Nine Swords of Dugu—Qi Breaking Stance!"

Ji Zhong no longer attacked with Righteous Qi. Instead, he unleashed the Nine Swords of Dugu he had just comprehended. Lian Ai frowned slightly, unable to understand why a master of the Poem Creation Realm would abandon the attack method of Righteous Qi for such a common, physical fighting style.

However, this did not affect Lian Ai's actions. With a thought, a small golden insect flew from her sleeve and collided head-on with Ji Zhong's long sword. The sword shattered, Ji Zhong spat blood, and was sent flying backward.

But what Lian Ai never expected was that behind Ji Zhong, a figure stood with his right hand's long sword pointing diagonally downward, his left hand continuously flicking his fingers. Under the combined cover of the battle poem "Light Cavalry," Ji Zhong, and Zhong Kui, he had already approached her...

Ji Zhong's figure flew backward, passing Chen Luo. Chen Luo suddenly clenched his left fist, seizing that sliver of opportunity—

"How Tai Shan Is!"

The long sword, like a dragon, dodged the蛊虫 Lian Ai had unleashed again in her shock, and stabbed directly at Lian Ai's throat. Lian Ai reacted too slowly, wanting to retreat, but the sword light was like a maggot gnawing on the bone, relentlessly pursuing her.

"Faster, faster..." Chen Luo shouted inwardly, unaware that as his will surged, a wisp of the Red Dust Qi that had always been within him quietly emerged and coiled around the sword tip.

A strand of Red Dust Qi, like a snake's tongue, suddenly thrust forward. Lian Ai felt a pain in her throat; the sword qi had already pierced the skin of her throat. Just then, the half-mask she had always worn on her face suddenly shattered, and golden light erupted. In the golden light, Chen Luo felt an immense force resisting the sword in his hand. The long sword in his hand shattered, and Chen Luo staggered back several steps.

The killing blow had failed!

Lian Ai picked up her cloak with one hand, covering the face that was no longer concealed by the mask. She glared furiously at Chen Luo, who had just delivered a fatal blow. She never imagined that on her first outing, the one who made her feel the threat of death would not be a Great Scholar, but an ordinary person who seemed to possess no "Qi" at all.

"Impulsive! What happened to the promised cause-and-effect kill!" Chen Luo sighed inwardly. He had calculated everything, but had not accounted for the mask's function.

"You little thief, you're seeking death..." Lian Ai said angrily. But at this moment, the Literary Heart that she had kept hidden in her robes struggled and flew out on its own, transforming into a beam of blue light that shot towards Chen Luo.

In a flash, the blue light plunged into Chen Luo's body.

"Miss, it's done!" Granny Rong shouted.

Lian Ai glanced at the black hole in front of Granny Rong and shouted, "You go first!" With that, she charged towards Chen Luo.

Chen Luo's mind was suddenly flooded with a large amount of information, leaving him stunned on the spot. Lian Ai grabbed Chen Luo and flew towards the black hole.

In the nick of time, Su Liancheng let out a low roar, struggling with all his might. The seal formed by the Eight Trigrams light shattered into pieces. Su Liancheng looked up and saw Lian Ai grabbing Chen Luo and flying towards the black hole.

"Sword!" Su Liancheng let out a low cry.

Ten years of honing a sword, Its frosty edge untested. Today I present it to you, Are there any injustices?

A small sword flew from between Su Liancheng's eyebrows. Su Liancheng slammed his chest, spitting out a mouthful of vital blood onto the flying sword. The flying sword, arriving faster than Lian Ai, seemed to sense it and pushed Chen Luo in front of her.

Wei Yan glared, "No!"

Su Liancheng moved his wrist, and the small sword changed direction, shooting towards the black hole. The small sword glowed faintly, appearing on the verge of exploding. A look of determination flashed in Lian Ai's eyes. Grasping Chen Luo, she rushed into the black hole.

Just as Lian Ai and Chen Luo charged into the black hole, the small sword exploded with a bang. The entire black hole seemed to be torn apart by countless beams of light, and Lian Ai and Chen Luo disappeared within it...

No romance! No romance! No romance!

There will be no plot about turning enemies into friends and taking them into a harem like in martial arts novels. Not even a hint of ambiguity.

Please enjoy with peace of mind.