Innate Domain: Purple Imperial Bamboo Forest

This epiphany allowed the Purple Imperial Bamboo martial soul to fully integrate the bloodline of the "Imperial," evolving the innate domain—Purple Imperial Bamboo Forest.

At the same time, his comprehension of the way of the sword crossed the threshold, reaching the first realm of swordsmanship—Sword Momentum.

Although his Soul Power Level did not improve, his combat strength had increased significantly.

Right now, Gui Mei would certainly need to recover some soul power before he could continue flying; if he used his flight skill during this interval, there was still a chance he could escape...

Thinking of this, Chen Xing secretly formulated a plan in his heart.

He would just wait for Gui Mei to land and lower his guard.

As time passed, a sense of solidity suddenly came from beneath Chen Xing's feet.

He knew this meant they had landed on the ground.

The moment the black mist dissipated and his vision recovered, he burst forward like a coiled spring.

[Soul Bone Skill: Flight]

[Second Soul Skill: Purple Imperial Sword Domain]

In this critical moment, he really couldn't care about whether he would expose his soul bone.

Compared to worrying about whether his flight ability would be discovered by the other party, he was more afraid of falling into the hands of Bibi Dong.

The scene before him was a forest; as long as he could get out of Gui Mei's line of sight.

By then, he could take off his ring, hide in the grass, and disguise himself as a soul beast; he would definitely be able to escape.

Chen Xing's plan could be described as perfect, so perfect that even he couldn't find any flaws in it.

Unfortunately!

As a Titled Douluo, Gui Mei had been extremely vigilant toward this youth ever since he was wounded by that sword strike from Chen Xing.

Are you kidding?

A level 32 Soul Elder who could react to his sneak attack while he had status buffs active, and even counter with a sword—how could he possibly underestimate this monster?

The moment Chen Xing burst forward, Gui Mei unleashed a strand of soul power.

"You brat! You really don't know what's good for you!"

Accompanied by a helpless sigh, the black soul power moved like a stream of light, catching up to the youth in the blink of an eye and sinking into his body.

Chen Xing, who was in the middle of flying, felt his entire body tighten, and the soul power in his body could no longer be mobilized.

His meridians were still intact, but the interior had completely solidified.

"Damn it! My soul power has been sealed..."

At this moment, Chen Xing had just flown into mid-air, and having lost the support of his soul power, he plummeted straight toward the ground.

Gui Mei's figure gradually grew larger in his vision.

Finally.

Another strand of black soul power wrapped around Chen Xing, slowly slowing his falling speed so he wouldn't be injured by the impact.

Gui Mei felt helpless.

After catching Chen Xing, he knocked him unconscious directly.

This brat was simply too difficult to deal with; this was not at all how a six-year-old boy should behave.

He had been in Martial Soul Hall for so many years and had assassinated many enemies.

There were indeed people who could react under his sneak attacks, but it was certainly not something someone of Chen Xing's age could achieve.

This had nothing to do with his soul power level; it was entirely due to his combat awareness.

What Gui Mei did not know was that the reason Chen Xing was able to react was entirely due to the effect of his innate domain—Purple Imperial Bamboo Forest.

[Purple Imperial Bamboo Forest: Deploy the domain to rapidly grow a bamboo forest centered on oneself. Attack, defense, and speed increase by 100%. Within the bamboo forest, no enemy can hide.]

This domain was somewhat similar to spiritual detection, but the Purple Imperial Bamboo Forest could only detect information about enemies.

Only in this way could Chen Xing react to Gui Mei's sneak attack.

It was just a pity that the gap in their strength was too great; as a Titled Douluo, even if that sword had struck him squarely, it would not have posed a threat.

On the other side.

She Long hurried as fast as he could and finally returned to Tiantou City.

By this time, Yue Guan had already left for a long while, and he happened to run into Qian Renxue, who was about to return to Martial Soul Hall.

"Young Master! The Grand Elder asked me to bring you and Chen Xing back to the Worship Hall together..."

As soon as they met, he hurriedly conveyed the decree of Qian Daoliu.

Qian Renxue looked at the other party's respectful expression, and her already extremely frustrated mood became even more stifled.

Her blood surged, and she almost choked on a mouthful of blood.

Feeling a bit dizzy, she hurriedly steadied herself against the wall beside her.

"Young Master... are you alright..."

Seeing their young mistress in this state, a sense of foreboding welled up in She Long's heart.

Chi Xue carefully used his spiritual power to transmit a message, explaining everything that had just occurred.

"What else did Grandfather say?"

Qian Renxue gritted her teeth, struggling to suppress the emotions threatening to erupt as she questioned She Long.

After learning the full story, She Long realized that his return had been too slow, allowing the people from the Pope Hall to intercept Chen Xing first.

He spoke with a guilty expression.

"The Great Elder... also ordered us both to ensure the safety of you and Chen Xing at all costs..."

"..."

As the words fell, Qian Renxue could no longer hold back.

She hurriedly activated her Martial Soul Avatar: Six-Winged Angel, letting her spirit power flow through her meridians in a gurgling stream, attempting to soothe her surging blood.

She feared that if she didn't do this, she might actually faint from pure rage.

This She Long... he had already received the order, so why couldn't he have returned sooner!

And the spies from the Pope Hall had already relayed the news to Bibi Dong's ears; they had even sent Gui Mei and Yue Guan, yet these two hadn't noticed a thing.

She clutched her heaving chest, forcing herself to take deep breaths.

After a long while, it finally had some effect.

By now, She Long and Chi Xue didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

It was obvious that the responsibility for this failure lay with them.

One was too slow to deliver the message, and the other hadn't even noticed Title Douluo lurking in the Spirit Fighting Arena.

"The two of you, take turns using your spirit power to carry me back to Martial Soul City right now."

"Within two days! We must arrive!"

Years of undercover work had accustomed Qian Renxue to regulating her emotions quickly, but even so, She Long and Chi Xue had never heard their young mistress speak in such an icy tone.

The two of them had no doubt that if they failed to accomplish even this, Qian Renxue might truly do something extreme.

Chi Xue dared not delay; She Long had just returned and likely had little spirit power left, so he would take the lead.

He immediately wrapped his spirit power around the two of them, shot into the air, and flew toward the direction of Martial Soul City.

At the same time, Qian Renxue was racking her brain for a countermeasure.

There was only one shortest route from Tiantou City to Martial Soul City, and as an agility-type Title Douluo, Gui Mei would certainly be faster.

However, she had two Title Douluo on her side, which meant they wouldn't need to stop for rest along the way.

If they were lucky, they might even encounter the other party mid-journey.

At that point, as long as Yue Guan wasn't there, they would have a chance of snatching Chen Xing back in a two-on-one fight.

Even if they didn't encounter Gui Mei, she could still arrive back at Martial Soul City one step ahead.

On the other side, the unconscious Chen Xing had no idea that he had become a resource being fought over by the Worship Hall and the Pope Hall...

Two days later.

Worship Hall.

She Long and Chi Xue's lips were pale, their eye sockets bruised, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

Two consecutive days of high-intensity flight were more than even these two Title Douluo could handle.

Fortunately, they had arrived before dark on the second day.

The elders of the Worship Hall saw the two of them looking like they were on the verge of death and pulled out a few herbs for spirit power recovery.

The two treated them like precious treasures, swallowing them whole, and only then did their parched meridians feel a bit better.

"Xue'er? What are you all doing?"

"Also, didn't I tell you to bring that youth back with you?"

"Where is he? Has he not woken up from his epiphany yet?"