"Ye Kid, the woman has a Saint Lord-level cultivator beside her. She's even faintly touched the threshold of Immortal Three."
Black Emperor sent him a secret telepathic message, leaving Ye Fan quite surprised.
He'd known that after failing to capture him, the other side would send someone even stronger.
But he hadn't expected a Saint Lord to show up directly.
The Saint Lords were already the highest combat power openly known on Big Dipper Star, the leaders of the various great holy sects.
He hadn't expected one to come in person for him.
And from the looks of it, this Saint Lord was also the purple-clad woman's guardian.
"You brought people to capture me, and now you want me to let her go?"
Ye Fan pointed at his own head, the corner of his mouth curling into a smile.
"Is there something wrong up here?"
"How dare you show disrespect to the Imperial Daughter!"
The middle-aged beauty narrowed her eyes and stared coldly at Ye Fan, as if he were already a dead man.
Purple Dragon Girl wasn't angry. She merely raised a hand, signaling for the woman to step back.
"Human, since you prepared a formation in advance, I assume you already know why we're here."
She lifted her delicate chin slightly, as if bestowing charity upon a beggar.
"Hand over the True Dragon Essence Blood, and I may consider sparing your life."
"Imperial Daughter!"
The middle-aged beauty grew anxious when she heard this.
The True Dragon Essence Blood was of great importance. It could even increase the Imperial Daughter's chances of becoming a Great Emperor by forty percent.
They absolutely couldn't let word of it get out. After all, they weren't the only Primordial Royal Family on Big Dipper Star.
If the others found out, they wouldn't give up easily, whether to prevent the Imperial Daughter's successful transformation or to obtain the True Dragon Essence Blood's baptism for themselves.
"Don't worry. I have my own plans."
Purple Dragon Girl's tone was firm. The middle-aged beauty wanted to say more, but after seeing Purple Dragon Girl's expression, she reluctantly backed down.
"Young human, have you made up your mind?!"
The most important thing now was to get the True Dragon Essence Blood. If they pushed him too hard and he decided to go down fighting, they would lose more than they gained.
Just then, a black dog sprang out from atop the formation and immediately launched into an insult.
"This Emperor thinks you're quite the looker. How about becoming my human pet? Oh, I mean my dragon pet!"
"You're asking for death!"
The middle-aged beauty struck in a fit of rage. The skies and clouds shifted as a huge black dragon claw materialized above Black Emperor. Its terrifying aura made space itself twist.
"Woof! You think you can take on this Emperor?"
Wearing nothing but a pair of oversized shorts, Black Emperor stood upright and wiggled his rear at the woman. Then he pulled out a White Jade Platform and wrapped himself in it.
Complex, mysterious spatial runes appeared on the White Jade Platform. They streamed into the void, trying to open a spatial passage.
But something went wrong. No matter how hard he tried, he managed to open only a crack in space barely a finger's width wide.
"Still trying to escape? Did you really think I hadn't prepared for this?"
The woman glanced at the Old Woman, who was trapped in the formation and looking rather miserable, then spoke mockingly.
"Oh, mama mia! Ye Kid, save this Emperor!"
Feeling the terrifying force above his head, Black Emperor ducked behind Ye Fan.
"..."
Ye Fan was speechless for a moment, then his expression grew solemn.
Drawing on his knowledge of the world's formation patterns from the Source Heavenly Book, he formed hand seals and controlled the formation's power to defend against the attack.
The abundant source energy of the mountains converged into a massive yellow sword. Its blade, without a hilt, thrust straight at the dragon claw blotting out the sky.
"Rumble!"
After the earth-shaking crash, silence fell all around them.
"It blocked it?!"
Black Emperor cautiously poked his head out to inspect the scene.
The woman had staggered back several steps, while Ye Fan had spat out a mouthful of blood.
The formation beneath them was riddled with cracks, as if it could shatter at any moment.
"Woof! No way! This formation gathered the Earth Veins' energy from hundreds of miles around, and it broke in one strike?!"
Black Emperor's eyes widened in disbelief.
With a crisp crack, the Old Woman, covered in dust, flew out of the formation.
"Thank you, Elder, for rescuing me."
The Old Woman went up to the woman and bowed gratefully.
"That human boy's formation is truly formidable. If this had continued, I might really have been worn down by them."
Thinking of this, relief spread across the Old Woman's face.
Fortunately, she hadn't kept the matter from the clan's powerful figures just to claim the credit for herself.
Otherwise, this would truly have been her moment of death.
"Mm!"
The woman nodded, then looked past her toward Ye Fan.
"Human, the Imperial Daughter's offer still stands. If you hand over the True Dragon Essence Blood, not only will you be spared, you'll also have the chance to become one of the Imperial Daughter's generals!"
The woman had developed a desire to recruit Ye Fan because she recognized his talent.
Putting everything else aside, with his formation able to withstand one of her attacks, he was already an exceptionally rare genius.
Purple Dragon Girl stepped forward as well. She naturally understood the woman's intentions and had no objections.
"I am Purple Dragon Girl, daughter of an Ancient Great Emperor. Serving under me will be no loss to you. If I become a Great Emperor one day, you'll be second only to me, above countless others!"
"Oh my, that was the daughter of a Great Emperor!"
Remembering what he'd said earlier, Black Emperor rolled his eyes and pretended to faint.
"Heh!"
Ye Fan laughed in disdain, then couldn't help coughing up another mouthful of blood.
"So what if you're a Daughter of the Great Emperor? Could an Ancient Great Emperor be stronger than the Heavenly Emperor?"
"The True Dragon Essence Blood was bestowed by the Heavenly Emperor. Even if I hadn't already swallowed it and merged it into my body, I still wouldn't hand it over to you!"
A streak of light flew out of Ye Fan's Sea of Suffering and transformed into the Double-eared Mysterious Yellow Cauldron, hovering above his head.
"You swallowed it?! You're asking for death!"
The middle-aged beauty's expression changed instantly, killing intent filling her beautiful eyes.
"Since that's the case, I'll just refine you into a human pill. I should still be able to extract some of the essence blood that way."
Without wasting a word, she reached out and grabbed at Ye Fan from afar.
A celestial phenomenon manifested, and the Dragon's Roar rang out around them. Wherever her five fingers passed, space shattered, leaving behind black trails.
"Fatty, if you don't make a move now, I'm done for!"
Feeling the terrifying force bearing down on him, Ye Fan shouted.
"Hahaha, don't worry! Dao Master is here!"
A stout figure appeared out of thin air, holding a battered Formation Disk in his hands.
The Formation Disk was badly damaged, with only a third of it remaining. Countless mysterious runes were carved into it, but at a glance it looked plain and unremarkable, like a child's scribbles.
"What kind of Saint Lord are you? Get out of here!"
After making a hand seal toward the Formation Disk, Duan De threw it straight at the woman.
"Boom!"
The instant the Formation Disk touched the woman's attack, it exploded. Then an aura that could suppress the Nine Heavens Ten Earths surged out from within.
"A Saint's aura! Those are Saint's Dao Patterns!"
The middle-aged beauty's expression changed dramatically. Runes appeared on her legs, but before she could flee, the Dao Patterns enveloped her.
The Old Woman was closest to the woman. She didn't even have time to scream before a wisp of Saint's aura crushed her into dust.
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