Rising to One's Feet

A black cover.

This was the first scene Xu Yuan saw after crawling out of the sealed chamber buried in earth and rocks.

Before entering the secret room, one sees that the azure sky has vanished, replaced by a black canopy overturned above the Xu Estate mansion, completely isolating the entire Jingjiang Xu Estate from the outside world.

However, this canopy was not completely black; through its surface, one could faintly see the intricate array patterns visible to the naked eye in the sky above.

The City Defense Array of Jingjiang City was activated, and array patterns, each ten feet wide, shimmered with white light and spread out in mysterious lines across the sky.

However, this black canopy enveloped the entire Xu Estate, preventing the massive array from locking onto its target.

Soon, Xu Yuan's gaze fell upon the four figures on the horizon.

Ying'er, Zhou Chen, Si Ziyu, and... a fleeting, illusory shadow.

Even while maintaining the black canopy, the Saint's Remnant Soul showed no signs of weakness in the face of being surrounded and attacked by three Grandmaster.

With his immense Will Soul perception, even the various martial arts techniques of a third-grade Grandmaster were almost unable to hit him.

Xu Yuan's gaze quickly settled on Zhou Chen, who was standing still.

As gusts of wind gathered around him, Zhou Chen's aura as he gripped the sword hilt grew stronger and stronger. The light flashing at the sword tip grew brighter and brighter as the Source Qi condensed, until finally, Xu Yuan could hardly look directly at the light on the sword tip.

For a fleeting moment, time seemed to freeze, and Zhou Chen suddenly swung his sword hilt.

The Heavenly Edge Nine Swords, the Sword Concealment Stance.

The Sword-Ray flashed, and the air vibrated wherever it passed.

However, his target was not the illusory Saint's Remnant Soul of the saint, but the black curtain of the sky that stretched across the heavens.

With a single sword strike, a gaping hole over thirty feet wide was ripped open in the black sky.

The white light of the array patterns on the city's main formation, which had been prepared for a long time, instantly turned into a sinister red. Unfortunately, before the condensed beam of Source Qi could be released, the black sky had already closed up, but the black light on it had already faded a bit.

Just then, a loud shout came from the sky:

"Qin Mo, hurry up! I've already broken the formation over there. Capture that kid quickly, or we won't be able to leave!!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan's pupils constricted sharply.

No, no!

This sage did not control Qin Mo's body to fight, but directly appeared and used his Will Soul body to confront the three Grandmaster head-on.

Where is Qin Mo?!

"Third Young Master!! Are you alright?"

At this moment, a group of muscular thugs suddenly broke into the courtyard. Xu Yuan was quite familiar with the leaders, as they were all sixth-rank peak close-combat instructors from the Wuxuan Academy.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yuan's breath hitched. He activated his Cultivation Method to be on guard and asked, "..."

"Instructor Wang, where are the others?"

"The others?" Instructor Wang, somewhat puzzled.

Xu Yuan was direct and to the point:

"What about the fifth-rank Soul Condensation and fourth-rank Body Fusion guest elders?"

Instructor Wang hesitated slightly and said in a low voice:

"I don't know, but they were the ones maintaining the formation in the northwest courtyard just now, and now the formation has broken."

At this point, Instructor Wang stopped talking.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan raised his hand and rubbed his temples, suddenly feeling an urge to laugh.

Xu Changge was about to kill a second-grade Origin Beginning, but three Grandmaster were being held back by the old man, leaving him only with a sixth-grade peak guard.

They're back, they're all fucking back.

Just as I was thinking,

"Bang!"

A figure carrying Ancient Ingot Longblade suddenly leaped over the courtyard wall and landed heavily on the lawn of the garden.

Blood dripped continuously down the sharp and heavy ancient sword blade, and the coarse linen clothes on his body were also stained with scarlet blood.

Qin Mo fought his way here.

Xu Yuan frowned and stepped back behind the crowd.

A moment of silence,

Xu Yuan looked at the protagonist of the story who had revealed his true appearance and suddenly spoke:

"Qin Mo?"

He tried to stall for time with talk therapy.

But Qin Mo clearly had no intention of speaking, and walked towards Xu Yuan with his long sword in hand.

Upon seeing this, Instructor Wang automatically stepped in front of Xu Yuan:

"Stop!"

"."

As Qin Mo advanced, Xu Yuan hesitated slightly, then turned and ran away without saying a word.

The opponent has clearly reached the seventh rank. With his current strength, which would require considerable effort even to defeat an eighth-rank opponent, he would only be a hindrance here.

Qin Mo frowned slightly when he saw Xu Yuan about to run away, but almost at the same time, he stomped his foot hard.

The stone slab shattered!

His figure blurred into a streak as he rushed toward the guards blocking his way.

The martial arts students in the Wuxuan Academy were all selected from the Tian'an Martial Hall, which was an important source of soldiers for the Prime Minister's Estate Tian'an Martial Hall. The Cultivation Method and techniques they practiced were all prepared for the battlefield. Almost instantly, this group of guards formed a small battle formation and blocked Qin Mo's advance.

Even though his opponent was only a seventh-grade Bone Tempering, Instructor Wang showed no sign of underestimating him.

The Third Young Master was right behind him; he couldn't afford to be careless.

Once the battle formation is established, the martial artists' auras overlap within it, and the Source Qi forms a closed loop, extending endlessly.

Xu Yuan stopped watching the battle behind him, but after a few leaps and bounds to the upper floor, he suddenly stopped.

The scene before me was somewhat suffocating.

The enormous black canopy in the sky was like a giant cage, covering the Jingjiang Xu Estate. Several men dressed as servants tried to escape, but the moment they touched the black canopy, their Will Soul were drained, and they collapsed and died.

Outside the northwest courtyard, the once elegant and tranquil Xu Estate mansion, with its orderly houses, pavilions, and towers, has now collapsed into a pile of rubble and ruins, with scorched pits, deep marks left by Sword Qi, and damage caused by the aftershocks everywhere.

Composing himself, Xu Yuan prepared to search for the other guards in the mansion, but after searching around, he couldn't find a single living creature.

As far as the eye could see, there were almost only corpses.

There were guards, servants, and stewards. The aftershocks of the battle between the third-rank Grandmaster were enough to kill ordinary people and even low-level martial arts practitioners from a distance. The once prosperous Xu Estate now had very few people left alive.

It's like a closed-off hell on earth.

The inferno continued, but the four people fighting in the sky all deliberately avoided the northwest courtyard.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath.

He couldn't leave; with that black canopy blocking his way, even if he left, he couldn't escape.

If the guards underground die as well, he will have to face Qin Mo alone.

The battle in the courtyard had reached a fever pitch in the short time he had been gone.

But the scene was somewhat bizarre, with the guards, including Instructor Wang, who had formed a battle formation, being almost completely overwhelmed and beaten.

Because the martial arts techniques used by Instructor Wang were blocked by some invisible force, and although Qin Mo's slashes failed to penetrate the turtle shell formed by the guards' formation, almost every time they struck, the battle formation would surge with Source Qi.

Xu Yuan realized almost immediately that the main character of this storyline was now most likely buffed by the Saint's Remnant Soul.

Qin Mo keeps striking the weak points of the battle formation. If this continues, the formation will be broken soon.

Xu Yuan's heart sank, but he didn't approach; keeping his distance from Qin Mo was very important.

Su Jinxuan had mentioned that she knew a dash attack that allowed her to teleport and use an invincibility frame.

Standing atop the courtyard wall, more than ten feet outside the circle, he concentrated intently, preparing his ultimate skill, while simultaneously trying to distract his opponent with words and a smile:

"Qin Mo, it's true what they say, seeing is believing! You are indeed very strong; a seventh-grade cultivator can withstand a sixth-grade peak battle formation."

Qin Mo completely ignored him.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan pondered for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject, a smile playing on his lips:

"I've heard Jinxuan say your name in bed all the time, telling me to be careful of you. I'm so tired of hearing it."

He suddenly remembered what the Succubus Miss had told him earlier.

"."

Upon hearing Su Jinxuan's name, Qin Mo suddenly looked up and glanced at Xu Yuan:

"Shut up!"

As he spoke in a low voice, the Ancient Ingot Longblade in his hand emitted a burst of white light.

Thousand Mechanism Slash!

With this strike, an eighth-grade Pulse Tempering artist in the battle formation lost his weapon and was sent flying backward!

Xu Yuan's lips curled into a smile.

It's good that you're responding; I'm just worried you won't say anything at all.

"Continue to gather power for your ultimate move, "Xu Yuan said with a smile.

"Judging from your expression, you came to my residence to save her, didn't you?"

Seeing this, Qin Mo stopped talking and focused on breaking the formation.

But that Xu Changtian kept sitting on that courtyard wall, babbling on and on.

"Ah, do you know how I snatched him from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion back then?"

"The first time, Jinxuan cried out in pain, and before I was satisfied, she fainted."

"If you were stronger, the outcome might have been different."

"What a devoted lover! But it seems you're a little late."

"."

Qin Mo dismissed the other party's words as mere nonsense, an attempt to distract him, and maintained perfect composure while wielding the Ancient Ingot Longblade.

until,

Then Xu Changtian suddenly said with a smile:

"Oh, you don't think I've been controlled by Jinxuan, do you?"

"." Qin Mo.

"You're really pathetic. Your background has ultimately limited your imagination. You're just a Charm Soul Demon Body, aren't you?"

Qin Mo's breathing became slightly erratic.

Xu Yuan's voice continued to drift in slowly, like a leech clinging to a bone:

"Although the Charm Soul Demon Body is terrifying, my father is the current Prime Minister. Isn't it normal for him to have a secret treasure to protect his Will Soul?"

"Qin Mo, would you like to hear the details of what happened between Jinxuan and me?"

"Shut up!!"

Qin Mo suddenly erupted, Heaven-Capturing Slash that swept across the void.

"Boom!!!"

A tremendous explosion resounded in the courtyard, flashing with the light of a blade, and the shockwaves created ripples in the small pond more than twenty feet away!

In contrast, Instructor Wang let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from the corner of his lips. He was temporarily pushed back several feet, creating a huge opening.

After unleashing this strike, Qin Mo disregarded the reversed flow of Source Qi, immediately shifted his left foot to the side, retreated half a step, and lowered his center of gravity.

Upon seeing this familiar starting stance, Xu Yuan's narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and his heart began to race, but he still spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Oh, by the way, Qin Mo, do you want to know my opinion of Jinxuan?"

Qin Mo's eyes narrowed.

Void-Stepping Slash!

Qin Mo suddenly darted forward and accelerated, then vanished from sight.

At this time,

Without hesitation, Xu Yuan unleashed a powerful attack that he had been charging up for a long time.

Blood Phoenix Drill!

The next moment,

Qin Mo reappeared, and now he was standing right in front of Xu Yuan as if out of thin air.

Xu Yuan grinned maliciously.

This is exactly what I've been waiting for!

The close eye contact lasted only a moment.

The next moment,

"Bang!!!!!"

Qin Mo's entire body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily against the courtyard wall and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Upon seeing this scene,

Xu Yuan's heartbeat gradually stabilized. Although his Source Qi was somewhat exhausted, he still stood up from the courtyard wall and said with a smile:

"Qin Mo, my assessment of her is..."

"Very moisturizing~"