Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable, Luo Mengxian

"Was this really something human strength could accomplish?"

The Devil Master hid in the shadows. Seeing this scene, he Only Felt his entire body go numb.

Although the Devil Master had already expected Ren Xiaoyao to be powerful, when he saw that mountain collapse before his eyes, he realized he had still severely underestimated Ren Xiaoyao.

Too powerful!

Ying Huai was merely an ordinary man.

Seeing this, his eyes widened, and his breathing became incomparably rapid.

At that instant, Ying Huai Only Felt that the masked man before him was Not Because a mortal, but an Immortal or God descended from the heavens.

"Do you want to live or die?"

Ren Xiaoyao paid no attention to the Devil Master or Ying Huai. His gaze fell upon Phoenix as he asked indifferently.

"I... want to live!"

Phoenix answered with difficulty.

Though she was already on the verge of Collapse, upon hearing Ren Xiaoyao's words, she still hurriedly replied with a tremble.

"Good. Since that is the case, deliver a message to the Empress for me."

Ren Xiaoyao spoke.

"Tell the Empress that I will protect Ying Huai's life. If Ying Huai dies one day, whether by accident or not, I will make the Empress accompany him in death."

Ren Xiaoyao's voice was calm.

Phoenix froze upon hearing Ren Xiaoyao's words.

By all rights, these words were the utmost disrespect. If the Empress heard them, she would surely fly into a towering rage, leaving a million corpses strewn across the land.

Yet when these words came from Ren Xiaoyao's mouth—

Phoenix did not find them strange in the slightest.

After all.

No matter how sturdy the Imperial Palace walls were—

They could not compare to the mountain that had collapsed before Phoenix's eyes.

No matter how overwhelming the Empress's authority was—

At the end of the day, she was merely flesh and blood.

She had only one life.

Phoenix could only nod stiffly.

Then she hurriedly departed, Afraid Of being slapped to death by Ren Xiaoyao if she lingered even half a step longer.

Seeing this, Ren Xiaoyao merely smiled faintly.

The reason he had spared Phoenix was to let the Empress know that behind Ying Huai stood such a terrifying existence.

He wanted the Empress to hesitate before striking at the rat for fear of breaking the vase.

He wanted her to no longer dare make a move against Ying Huai in secret.

Ying Huai was an exceedingly clever man, so he naturally understood Ren Xiaoyao's intentions. He hurriedly bowed to Ren Xiaoyao in thanks.

Ren Xiaoyao nodded and asked, "Now that you and the Empress have torn off all pretenses, what are your plans?"

After hearing Ren Xiaoyao's words, Ying Huai spoke.

"I would not dare conceal this from Senior. Since I was fortunate enough to survive, I will continue fighting the Empress. If the Empress is allowed to refine Blood Pills for her own selfish desires and harm the common people, all of Great Gan will fall into chaos. When the borderlands become unsettled and enemy nations invade, Great Gan will be left with Living Beings Suffering!"

Ying Huai's attitude was resolute.

Ren Xiaoyao nodded as well and said.

"Though I have no interest in saving the world or relieving the suffering, I am glad to see someone willing to step forward at such a time. Since that is the case, I can Dispatched my servant to your side. He will follow your commands and assist you in your endeavors."

Then.

Ren Xiaoyao's gaze fell in the direction where the Devil Master stood.

The Devil Master naturally no longer concealed himself. He appeared before Ying Huai, removed the mask from his face, and chuckled. "Ying Huai, it has been many years. Do you still remember me?"

"You are... the Devil Master!"

Ying Huai recognized the Devil Master and was utterly astonished.

He had never imagined that the servant Ren Xiaoyao referred to would actually be the Devil Master!

After all.

The Devil Master was the head of the Demonic Sect.

What an arrogant figure he was.

Yet now, he had actually submitted Underfoot Ren Xiaoyao!

However, Ying Huai recalled something and asked, "Weren't you in Youzhou? I heard that you had united the Demonic Sect and the Dragon Capturing Organization, preparing to make a great show of dealing with the Empress. Why have you appeared here?"

Hearing this, the Devil Master could only give a bitter smile. After explaining matters, Ying Huai nodded.

He had not expected—

The Empress's schemes to run so deep.

The Devil Master who had now united the Demonic Sect and the Dragon Capturing Organization—

Was actually nothing more than the Empress's puppet!

"Then I roughly understand the Empress's purpose in doing this!"

Ying Huai took a deep breath and said.

"The Blood Pills refined using the demonic art controlled by the Empress, which extracts ordinary people's Vital Blood, are probably of mediocre effect. But if she can extract the Vital Blood of Martial Artists, even top Martial Artists, then the Blood Pills refined from it will likely be far more effective."

"The Empress is merely using the Demonic Sect and the Dragon Capturing Organization, intending to secretly capture Martial Arts Masters as materials for refining Blood Pills!"

"After all, under normal circumstances, if large numbers of Martial Arts Masters Disappeared from the martial world, it would surely provoke panic throughout the entire martial world!"

"But now that the Imperial Court is at war with the Demonic Sect and the Dragon Capturing Organization, the disappearance of large numbers of Martial Arts Masters amid the chaos of battle becomes reasonable!"

The Devil Master immediately understood and said.

"So that was it! The Empress truly is ruthless. In order to conceal the truth of capturing Martial Arts Masters to refine Blood Pills, she did Not Hesitate to sacrifice the lives of countless Imperial Court soldiers!"

Even Ren Xiaoyao—

Could not help but sigh at the Empress's ruthlessness.

This was simply digging her own grave.

However.

Ren Xiaoyao also had a question in his heart.

According to the Four Great Royal Princes, they had already pledged allegiance to the Empress ten years ago.

That meant the Empress should not have only recently acquired the means to refine Blood Pills. At the very least, she had already mastered this demonic art ten years ago.

Yet why had the Empress kept such a low profile for more than a decade—

Only to go completely mad in recent times?

Ren Xiaoyao could not find an answer for the moment, so he could only let it go. He then instructed the Devil Master to obey Ying Huai's arrangements before riding the wind away.

Imperial Palace.

Inside the great hall.

As the Empress listened to Phoenix's report while she knelt on the ground, rage surged to the heavens within her. "So not only is Ying Huai not dead, but I have also lost four Martial Artists of the Heavenly Human Realm?"

"This servant is useless! This servant deserves death! I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Feeling the Empress's fury, Phoenix was naturally terrified out of her wits and hurriedly kowtowed to beg forgiveness.

At this moment, she hesitated somewhat, because she had yet to tell the Empress the words Ren Xiaoyao had asked her to bring back.

The Empress also sensed Phoenix's hesitation. She Snorted Coldly and asked, "Do you still have anything you have not reported to me?"

Only then did Phoenix begin to speak cautiously.

However.

After Phoenix said those words, she did not dare look at the Empress at all, because she could already guess just how terrible the Empress's expression would be!

"Ha ha ha!"

The fury in the Empress's heart was beyond compare. She was so enraged that she laughed instead.

"Threatening me! Someone actually dares threaten me again! Do all the Martial Artists under heaven think I am easy to bully? How laughable. Could it be that, In the Eyes of them, I am some kind of joke? Ha ha ha..."

The Empress laughed madly.

Phoenix could only lower her head even further.

After an unknown amount of time.

The Empress's laughter finally ceased. She spoke faintly, "One day, I will Tear into Ten Thousand Pieces every last one of you. None of you will escape!"

Within the Imperial Observatory.

The text information before Ren Xiaoyao appeared as promised.

[You successfully saved Ying Huai and obtained a reward—Advanced Martial Skill: Supreme Yang Divine Art.]

Ren Xiaoyao decisively accepted the inheritance. Soon, all information regarding the Supreme Yang Divine Art surfaced in his mind.

The Supreme Yang Divine Art was an external martial art of utmost hardness and supreme yang.

After mastering this martial art, even ordinary fists and kicks could display immense destructive power.

The Supreme Yang Divine Art was a system reward.

Thus, after accepting the inheritance, Ren Xiaoyao instantly mastered the Supreme Yang Divine Art.

Although the Supreme Yang Divine Art was an extraordinarily terrifying martial art to ordinary people, its usefulness to Ren Xiaoyao was not particularly great.

What Ren Xiaoyao truly anticipated was what he might comprehend from the Supreme Yang Divine Art.

Then.

Another line of text information appeared before Ren Xiaoyao.

[Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension has cultivated the Supreme Yang Divine Art, granting you a reward—Ultimate Martial Skill: Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable!]

Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable.

An Ultimate Martial Skill?

Merely hearing the introduction—

Ren Xiaoyao felt that this Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable was terrifyingly powerful.

Thus, he did not hesitate and began accepting the information concerning Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable. He also came to understand its terrifying nature.

Upon using this Ultimate Martial Skill—

One could effortlessly sweep aside any Martial Artist of the same realm.

Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable was a martial art Ren Xiaoyao had comprehended on his own. Thus, he had not immediately mastered it and still needed to cultivate it before he could fully grasp it.

Over the following days.

Ren Xiaoyao naturally took Qi Gathering Pills to accelerate his cultivation while also practicing Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable.

Before long, he had initially mastered this Ultimate Martial Skill, Radiant Sun Celestial Venerable.

That night.

The Devil Master hurried from Ying Huai's residence to the Imperial Observatory.

He had come both to deliver the medicinal ingredients needed for alchemy to Ren Xiaoyao and to bring an important piece of news.

The Devil Master's identity had been replaced by the Fake Devil Lord controlled by the Empress.

Very few people knew of this matter.

Apart from the Devil Master himself—

There were only Ying Huai, Ren Xiaoyao, and the Devil Master's daughter, Liu Ruyan.

After all, the Devil Master had only this one daughter.

Naturally, he could not let Liu Ruyan mistake a thief for her father.

And the news the Devil Master brought was related to Liu Ruyan.

"Ruyan told me that Martial Artists claiming to be from Qianqiu Pavilion had approached her. They wanted to take her as a disciple and recruit her into Qianqiu Pavilion."

The Devil Master looked at Ren Xiaoyao and continued, "The person who wants to take Ruyan as a disciple is named Luo Mengxian."

"Luo Mengxian?"

Ren Xiaoyao frowned.

The Devil Master hurriedly said.

"Master, I remember that your mother was named Luo Mengshen. Shen and xian differ by only one character, and they both come from Qianqiu Pavilion. I suspect that Luo Mengxian has a deep connection to your mother, which is why I urgently came to report this to you."