Conflict Escalates

Su Guang was so close to the Great Earth Black Bear.

Moreover, just a moment ago, the Great Earth Black Bear had been as docile as a dog.

And now it had suddenly gone berserk...

Su Guang was caught completely off guard.

"Boom!"

The Great Earth Black Bear slammed Su Guang straight into the ground.

One of the Great Earth Black Bear's paws pressed down on Su Guang's chest, while its two arms hammered viciously at his head.

Su Guang crossed his arms to shield his head. His Primal Energy Realm Third Layer cultivation erupted, and primal energy condensed into astral energy like armor, but it still could not withstand the Great Earth Black Bear's strength.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

The Great Earth Black Bear viciously pummeled Su Guang. In only a moment, the astral energy Su Guang had condensed was already shattered to pieces. Lying on the ground, he spat out mouthful after mouthful of blood.

Everyone was stunned.

The Su Household guards came to their senses and immediately charged at the Great Earth Black Bear, but it sent every one of them flying.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Su Guang erupted with strength and broke free from beneath the Great Earth Black Bear's paw. But before he could put any distance between them, the Great Earth Black Bear's claw shot out, seized Su Guang, and repeatedly smashed him into the ground!

"Boom boom boom!"

"Aah! Aah! Aah!"

The ground trembled.

Screams rang out without end.

Blood sprayed from Su Guang's entire body.

"Roar!"

The Great Earth Black Bear threw back its head and roared at the sky. It opened its cavernous, blood-filled maw, intending to toss Su Guang into it and eat him alive!

But at that very moment, a talisman shot over and instantly stuck to the Great Earth Black Bear's head.

The Great Earth Black Bear's body flew backward and crashed to the ground. Then, as though it had stiffened into a corpse, it could no longer move.

Su Guang struggled free from the Great Earth Black Bear's claws. He crawled awkwardly across the ground, wanting only to get as far away from the maddened beast as possible.

Just then, another group of people entered the scene.

"Twelfth Prince..."

"Greetings, Your Highness, Twelfth Prince."

The onlookers hurriedly saluted.

Leading them was none other than the Twelfth Prince, Chu Jue.

Chu Jue's face was livid.

The Great Earth Black Bear was a Fierce Beast he kept in captivity, and tonight's plan had been supplied to Su Guang by him. In the end, it had all gone awry!

He was furious.

"Your Highness..." The miserable Su Guang crawled to Chu Jue's feet.

Chu Jue flew into a rage and kicked Su Guang away.

"Useless fool!"

"I entrusted Little Black to you to watch over and care for, yet you actually caused this kind of mess. Fortunately, it didn't result in a major disaster!"

Chu Jue berated him furiously.

He had never intended to conceal the fact that the Great Earth Black Bear was a Fierce Beast he kept in captivity. Anyone who made even the slightest effort to investigate would find out.

As for today's incident, all he needed was a barely plausible excuse, but the result had been disastrous.

"So you're the one who released the beast and caused this trouble?" Xia Wuji's voice rang out as he stared at Chu Jue.

Chu Jue immediately turned a cold gaze toward Xia Wuji, murderous light flashing in his eyes.

"How dare you speak to the Twelfth Prince like that!" someone beside Chu Jue shouted angrily.

"Brother Xia, forget it." Huang Hu hurriedly grabbed Xia Wuji's arm.

A moment ago, he had been unwilling to let Su Guang off so easily.

But now that the matter had implicated the Twelfth Prince, Chu Jue, Huang Hu was also worried that things would spiral out of control. Though he felt stifled and aggrieved, he could only swallow this bitter breath.

Xia Wuji, however, would not let it go so easily.

He knew that everything that had happened today had been aimed at him.

"What? What else do you want?" Chu Jue spoke, his tone indifferent.

With his sword in hand, Xia Wuji walked over to the Great Earth Black Bear, whose head still bore the talisman.

Chu Jue's eyes narrowed sharply, and icy light burst from the slits.

"Touch a single hair on my Fierce Beast, and I'll tear you limb from limb!"

"Pfft!"

Xia Wuji drove his sword down!

The sharp tip instantly plunged into the Great Earth Black Bear's body.

The Great Earth Black Bear's body was bound by the talisman and could barely move, but it kept twitching as fresh blood gushed out.

"Xia Wuji, you're courting death!" Chu Jue roared, killing intent boiling over!

The guards beside Chu Jue all drew their weapons.

The surrounding onlookers were astonished by Xia Wuji's audacity. He was confronting the might of the Twelfth Prince head-on, actually trying to kill the Fierce Beast the Twelfth Prince kept!

Xia Wuji pulled out his sword.

Blood stained the tip.

The next instant, another sword descended!

This sword cleaved straight through the Great Earth Black Bear's neck!

Everyone was stunned.

No one had expected Xia Wuji to actually dare to kill it!

Suddenly, Xia Wuji flicked up the edge of his sword and extracted a Beast Core.

It was as though a blazing fire were raging in Chu Jue's chest, his fury like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

His guards had all gathered their strength. They were waiting only for Chu Jue's command before moving to take Xia Wuji down completely!

Xia Wuji was utterly fearless.

Now that he had achieved Man-Sword Unity, ordinary Primal Energy Realm martial artists were simply no match for him.

Especially with his feet planted on the earth—if he used a divine ability of the Body Cultivation Path, even martial artists at the first or second layer of the Core Formation Realm might not be able to gain any advantage beneath his sword.

His opponent was bullying others through sheer power, acting tyrannically and arbitrarily. Xia Wuji would not indulge him!

Just as the conflict was about to escalate further—

"What happened?" A figure flew over.

He was flying through the air—a Core Formation Realm martial artist!

The newcomer still looked quite young. He wore the standard disciple's robe of Azure Star Academy. After landing in the middle of the scene, he turned and glanced at Chu Jue, a trace of displeasure appearing on his face.

They had originally agreed that this would be dealt with quickly.

But the disturbance had grown louder and louder. He could no longer pretend he had seen or heard nothing, so he had no choice but to intervene personally.

Chu Jue took a deep breath and said, "Reporting to Senior Brother, my Fierce Beast, the Great Earth Black Bear, went berserk tonight after being maliciously provoked. This person is Xia Wuji."

"I originally had no intention of holding it against him. I even arranged for Su Guang to come and placate the Great Earth Black Bear. I personally took action as well, using a talisman to suppress it."

"Because this is currently the period of Azure Star Academy's examination, I didn't want to cause chaos, so I endured him again and again. I never expected him to be so ungrateful, to keep pushing his luck, and even kill the Fierce Beast I raised!"

With only a few sentences, he had twisted right and wrong and pinned the blame on Xia Wuji.

The Azure Star Academy disciple furrowed his brows, then turned around and looked at Xia Wuji. "Chu Jue is a member of the Great Chu Imperial Family. His character and conduct are beyond question. Xia Wuji, Xia Wuji, today's matter is indeed entirely your fault. In that case, Chu Jue would not be unjustified in dealing with you however he wishes!"

Xia Wuji sneered.

What a pair of scoundrels, working hand in glove!

"Senior Brother, I'll handle it myself. I won't trouble you," Chu Jue said.

The man nodded. "Mm."

As he spoke, he gave Chu Jue a meaningful look, urging him to settle it quickly.

The next moment, Chu Jue swept out his arm. "Move! Take him down. If he dares resist, kill without mercy!"

"Wait!" Just then, a woman's cold shout rang out.

Immediately afterward, an exceptionally beautiful young woman with a striking figure entered the scene.

Everyone's gaze was drawn to the young woman.

Chu Jue's eyes also lit up. He hurriedly said, "Miss Piaoxue, didn't you go straight to Azure Star Academy? How did you end up in Qingyun City as well?"

The moment they heard that name,

the others all widened their eyes.

Could this be Lin Piaoxue, the one specially recruited by Azure Star Academy this year?

Even the Azure Star Academy male disciple who had been working hand in glove with Chu Jue revealed a trace of ingratiation when he looked at Lin Piaoxue. "So it's Junior Sister Lin."

He was merely an Outer Court Disciple.

Lin Piaoxue had been specially recruited, and a high-ranking figure from Tian Xuan Peak had personally named her. Her status and position were far above his.

Lin Piaoxue ignored Chu Jue and the Azure Star Academy male disciple alike, walking straight over to Xia Wuji.

A smile appeared on her face. "I came all the way to Qingyun City to watch your examination. What, aren't you happy to see me? Why are you making such a stern face?"

Everyone: "..."

It seems Lin Piaoxue and Xia Wuji have a relationship far beyond the ordinary!