The Secret of the Azure Star Token!

Xia Wudao's head was still being ground beneath Xia Wuji's foot.

Xia Xuan, wary of harming the wrong person, shouted angrily, "Xia Wuji, I'm your father! Wudao is your younger brother!"

"Don't you fear Heaven's punishment for doing this?"

"Master Xia, my patience is limited!" Xia Wuji said coldly.

What father?

What younger brother?

These people were nothing but jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards!

"One!"

Xia Wuji's voice rang out again.

"Crack!"

His foot pressed down harder. Xia Wudao's head sank into the ground, blood streaming from his seven orifices!

"Two!"

Just as Xia Wuji was about to count to three—

"The Azure Star Token is here!" Madam Liu's hair was disheveled and her eyes were swollen red from crying, yet her expression was savage. Afraid Xia Wuji would press down harder, she hurriedly took out the box containing the Azure Star Token.

"Let Wudao go first!" Madam Liu's voice was shrill, brimming with boundless hatred.

Xia Wuji sneered. "You have no right to bargain with me!"

As he spoke, the sound of the bones in Xia Wudao's head breaking beneath his foot rang out without pause!

"Here!" Madam Liu no longer dared delay. She suddenly flung the box from her hand.

Just as the box reached Xia Wuji's side, a poisonous glint flashed violently in Madam Liu's eyes.

However, Xia Wuji did not reach out to catch it.

A strand of his Sword Essence instantly pinned the box in midair. In the blink of an eye, a blazing flame surged up and engulfed the box.

"That flame was extracted from the Beast Core of a Blazing Flame Tiger..." Xia Wuhui cried out in alarm.

She had longed desperately to possess this kind of flame. Some days ago, she had even made Xia Xuan sell off a large portion of the Sword Pavilion's businesses to buy a portion of it, but she had failed to refine it...

All that effort had gone to waste!

Yet now, she had actually seen this kind of flame on Xia Wuji. She was utterly shocked!

Under the flames' burning, a thread of gray air slowly seeped across the surface of the box containing the Azure Star Token. It was deadly poison!

Madam Liu's scheme had failed!

Xia Wuji looked at Madam Liu and snorted. "The pain you wanted to inflict on me will fall upon your own heart!"

As his voice fell, he flicked a finger. The gray air flowing from the box's surface instantly sank into Xia Wudao's body.

In an instant, Xia Wudao's body began convulsing violently as the deadly poison spread through him!

"Wudao... Wudao!" Madam Liu cried out in panic once more, grabbing Xia Xuan's arm. "Hurry! Save Wudao... save my son..."

Xia Xuan clenched both fists, his back teeth nearly ground to pieces. He growled, "I've already given you the Azure Star Token. Why haven't you let him go?"

In full view of everyone, Xia Wuji reached out and took the box. Primal energy flowed through his palm, and lines of Primal Energy light immediately lit up across the box's surface.

In his previous life, Xia Wuji had opened the box and taken out the Azure Star Token before giving it to Xia Wudao. He had felt nothing when opening it then.

But now, his feelings were completely different.

Even through his eyes, the restriction on this box appeared remarkably ingenious!

Mother's methods are so extraordinary. Just what is her identity? Xia Wuji thought to himself.

With a click, the lid sprang open. A brilliant radiance of stars shot into the sky, and Xia Wuji took out the Azure Star Token inside.

The square token was slightly smaller than a palm. The four words Azure Star Academy were carved on its front, while its back bore a starry-sky design.

Mother left this item for me. Perhaps it has something to do with where she went. Xia Wuji glanced at the Azure Star Token, then put it into his clothes.

He looked down at Xia Wudao beneath his feet.

He knew that if he released Xia Wudao, these people would immediately retaliate.

But... Xia Wuji did not care.

Let them try.

What harm was there in giving them a sliver of hope?

When they acted again with hope in their hearts, he would shatter that hope to pieces once more!

Was that not another kind of torment for them on a spiritual level?

But at that moment—

A hearty laugh rang out.

"Congratulations, Young Master Wuji, on reclaiming the Azure Star Token!"

As the voice fell, Lin Zhengyuan and Lin Piaoxue leaped into the arena together and came to Xia Wuji's side.

Xia Wuji froze for a moment as he looked at Lin Piaoxue.

Lin Piaoxue smiled. "Young Master Wuji, you saved my life. I thought we would never have the chance to meet again, but it seems our fate is not yet at an end!"

Lin Zhengyuan said, "Now that Young Master Wuji has reclaimed the Azure Star Token, the matter here is settled. Why don't you come with us?"

Although they knew Xia Wuji was very strong—stronger than Xia Xuan—

this was ultimately the Sword Pavilion!

The enemy had overwhelming numbers. Xia Wuji could not fight them all alone, and once he released Xia Wudao, he would inevitably be surrounded and attacked from all sides.

That was why the two of them had stepped forward!

"Master Xia!" Xia Xuan drew a deep breath. "This is a matter concerning my Sword Pavilion. I ask that the Lin Household not interfere!"

Madam Liu shouted like a shrew, "Your Lin Household is indeed formidable... Our Sword Pavilion is insignificant before the Lin Household..."

"But this world still operates on reason! The Lin Household has no right to interfere in our Sword Pavilion's affairs!"

"You came to our Sword Pavilion to throw your weight around. Even if our Sword Pavilion has to fight until our heads bleed and our bones break, we will battle you to the end! If you have the guts, wipe out everyone in our Sword Pavilion!"

"But even if you could kill everyone in the Sword Pavilion, so what? I refuse to believe the Lin Household can silence the mouths of everyone under Heaven!"

Lin Zhengyuan's brows drew tightly together.

He had no desire to wear such a huge hat.

Yet Lin Piaoxue stepped forward and said, "Our Lin Household is handling its own family affairs!"

Everyone froze.

How had the Sword Pavilion's affairs become the Lin Household's family affairs?

Even Lin Zhengyuan was utterly bewildered.

Lin Piaoxue continued, "Xia Wuji saved my life and has shown me great kindness. I, Lin Piaoxue, am willing to marry him. Xia Wuji is my husband, and my father is standing up for his son-in-law. What's wrong with that?"

Lin Zhengyuan: "..."

Xia Wuji: "..."

Everyone from the Sword Pavilion: "..."

Lin Piaoxue turned around to face Xia Wuji. "The Sword Pavilion is a nest of snakes and rats, filthy and corrupt. It is right for you to leave. Don't worry—in the future, the Lin Household will be your household!"

"Come on, let's go home!"

After saying that, she looked at Lin Zhengyuan. "Father, you promised me that you would treat your son-in-law like your own son!"

Lin Zhengyuan was torn between laughter and tears. He could only nod, then said to Xia Xuan, "Master Xia, I'm taking my son-in-law with me. Do you have any objections?"

"Of course, even if you did, it wouldn't matter."

"After all, you no longer acknowledge this son of yours. So my fine son-in-law has nothing to do with the Sword Pavilion anymore!"

As he spoke—

A powerful aura abruptly erupted.

He was a great expert at the seventh level of the Primal Energy Realm!

Lin Piaoxue also ignored the residual poison and injuries in her body and released the aura of a first-level Primal Energy Realm cultivator.

Father and daughter were standing up for Xia Wuji!

The might of two Primal Energy Realm experts pressed down on Xia Xuan until he could not utter a single word. Even the hysterical Madam Liu did not dare make a sound.

"Master Xia, oh, Master Xia. The son you cast aside turned out to be the true qilin son. Thank you for your foolishness—it allowed my Lin Household to gain such an excellent son-in-law!" Lin Zhengyuan spoke with deep emotion.

"Husband, let's go." Lin Piaoxue directly took Xia Xuan's hand.

The corner of Lin Zhengyuan's mouth twitched. Well... she went straight for it. Could my precious daughter actually be serious?

Xia Wuji's thoughts turned, and he nodded. He left with Lin Zhengyuan and Lin Piaoxue.

Madam Liu held Xia Wudao, whose head was battered and bleeding, whose dantian had been shattered, whose limbs and meridians had all been severed, and whose body was still being corroded by poison. She wailed to Heaven and Earth.

Xia Xuan stood where he was, motionless, his thoughts in a tangled mess.

"Wuji reconstructed his dantian... He was actually that powerful. Even I couldn't see through his swordsmanship."

"Moreover, Wuji can control flames so skillfully. He clearly possesses an astonishing talent for becoming an alchemist."

"So Wuji was the one who saved Lin Piaoxue's life... And now he's even going to become the Lin Household's son-in-law..."

"And what about Wudao?"

"He insulted the ancestors! He drew his sword against the ancestors! He even insulted me, his father! His temper is explosive, and he flies into a rage at the slightest provocation..."

Could I really... have been wrong? Endless bitterness surged in Xia Xuan's heart.

He turned around and looked at the miserable Xia Wudao. In a feeble voice, he said, "Take Wudao for treatment..."

A moment later—

Xia Wudao was taken away for treatment.

Xia Xuan entered the ancestral temple alone.

"Mother... Are we really going to let what happened to Brother end like this?" Xia Wuhui's face was filled with venom.

Madam Liu said, "That damned bastard Xia Wuji has already clung to the Lin Household's thigh. What else can we do?"

Xia Wuhui gritted her teeth. "Mother, we absolutely cannot let this end here! Your daughter has a plan!"

Madam Liu said, "What plan? Speak quickly! As long as we can get revenge on Xia Wuji, we will stop at nothing!"

Xia Wuhui said, "When Xia Wuji was young, didn't he constantly ask about his mother's whereabouts? We can use that as bait and pass the information to him."

"He will definitely take the bait. As long as he returns to the Sword Pavilion, we can deal with him easily!"

"His dantian was shattered, yet now he can rise from the flames as if reborn. If we pry open his mouth and uncover the secret of how he repaired his dantian, we can repair Brother Wudao's dantian too and make him even stronger!"

"We can also take back that Azure Star Token!"

"By then, Brother Wudao will become even more powerful and enter the Azure Star Academy through his own examination. I can also take the Azure Star Token and enter the Azure Star Academy directly. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

When Madam Liu heard this—

her breathing immediately quickened. She said, "Then we'll do as you say!"

"Young Master Wuji, the situation was special just now. I could only resort to that strategy. Please forgive me!" After leaving the Sword Pavilion, Lin Piaoxue hurriedly released Xia Wuji's hand.

Xia Wuji's expression was complicated.

Lin Piaoxue was one of the ten great beauties of the Great Chu Dynasty, the daughter of the Lin Household, and a woman of extraordinary talent who had been specially recruited by the Azure Star Academy. With those words just now, she had effectively wagered her own reputation.

Xia Wuji knew she had meant well. He said, "Miss Piaoxue, please don't say that. I should be thanking you—and I should thank Patriarch Lin as well."

Lin Piaoxue blinked and said happily, "Young Master Wuji, now that you have the Azure Star Token, you can go to the Azure Star Academy at once. As luck would have it, we can travel together. I just don't know which peak of the Azure Star Academy your token belongs to?"

Xia Wuji knew that the Azure Star Academy had seven peaks, but he did not know the details. He also wanted to know which peak of the Azure Star Academy was connected to his mother.

This was the perfect chance to ask Lin Piaoxue!