"It was time to send you on your way."
After a fierce struggle, the tiger demon realized that this little human girl seemed to be toying with it. She did not attack with spiritual power, merely twisting and turning through the air, chopping, slashing, thrusting, and lifting her blade, striking it with methods that neither hurt nor itched. Irritation rose within it, followed by rage. It wanted to devour this little girl as quickly as possible and end this meaningless battle.
Thus, one human and one tiger, without prior agreement, both wished to unleash their final killing move and bring this somewhat lengthy battle to an end.
Abruptly.
Xiao Minghuang stood suspended in the air, her arms hanging naturally at her sides. The hand gripping her saber seemed powerless, yet invisible vortices appeared to tremble all over her body, stirring the surrounding spiritual energy into restless turbulence!
What was she doing?!
A sense of unease unlike anything it had ever known suddenly rose in the tiger demon's heart. Since its birth, it had never experienced such fear, yet it descended upon it in an instant.
Driven by this indescribably intense unease, the tiger demon unleashed all its strength, pouncing through the air as it opened its bloody maw and savagely bit toward Xiao Minghuang!
It was at that moment.
Above the endless vault of heaven, starlight seemed to flash in broad daylight, connecting the immortal stars to the peerlessly beautiful girl upon the earth.
Then—
Feeling the immense enhancement brought by the Power of Stars, Xiao Minghuang held her breath and focused. This was not her first time using this divine ability, and she showed no trace of unfamiliarity. The long saber in her hand suddenly swept out, releasing a golden blade-light. Boundless splendor concealed boundless killing intent, like a death omen star descending from the infinite starry sky into the mortal world, scattering the starlight of death!
In that instant, the surging blood energy, the fluctuations of spiritual power, the roars of ferocious beasts, the shouts of martial warriors—everything, all of it, paled before the brilliance, glare, and splendor of this strike!
The golden blade-light swept horizontally, like a star that had burned for untold ages suddenly exploding. It swept through the void and cut straight across the tiger demon's body at the waist!
This sudden strike drew the attention of everyone present.
Every one of them widened their eyes, sensing the endless glory and boundless magnificence of that strike. It was as though they stood at the dawn of creation, watching stars take shape and worlds unfold, as though they saw the heavens full of stars—eternal and lonely.
A momentary desolation swept through everyone's hearts, only to vanish in the blink of an eye. The next moment, they had forgotten it completely.
All they saw was—
That Qi Refining Realm tiger demon had been severed at the waist by the Ninth Princess's dazzling strike. Blood poured endlessly from its body, and it died on the spot!
Among the soldiers present, some had followed Xiao Minghuang to the battle over the spirit vein and personally witnessed the Ninth Princess use one sword strike to destroy the full-force attack of a Spring Gushing Peak Realm expert. Now, seeing another radiant strike as brilliant as starlight, they were no less astonished than anyone else.
Because—
This strike was more than a little stronger than it had been then!
They understood that anyone present—
Or rather—
Anyone in the world—
Would not dare face this meteor-falling strike head-on.
To be able to gaze up at the shining starlight was already the greatest honor of their lives!
Assassination, Courting Death!
Dark clouds pressed overhead, and the setting sun was as red as blood. On the bloody battlefield strewn with corpses and severed limbs, that bright yellow figure was especially eye-catching.
The girl rode the air, her skin white as snow and her black hair cascading like a waterfall. Her clothes remained spotless and fresh, utterly out of place amid this battlefield filled with blood, filth, and mud. She seemed like a heavenly fairy who had fallen into the mortal realm.
Xiao Minghuang landed on the ground, sheathed her saber, and immediately swallowed a medicinal pill. Feeling her spiritual power gradually recover, she let out a long breath.
Killing the tiger demon had consumed an enormous amount of her energy. The spiritual power in her body was almost entirely depleted, and she needed a great quantity of spirit stones and pills to replenish it.
"With my current strength, even if I faced a sect's true disciple at the Spring Gushing Second Layer, I would have the power to fight."
Xiao Minghuang pondered inwardly. Sect true disciples were completely different from people with unstable cultivation like that old man in yellow; their strength was worlds apart.
Although she could defeat the old man in yellow at the Spring Gushing Peak Realm, if she faced a sect true disciple at the Spring Gushing Peak Realm, defeat would be inevitable.
Xiao Minghuang took a deep breath, her gaze sweeping across the battlefield.
After nearly an entire day of bitter fighting, more than half of the sea-like Beast Tide had been slain or driven away. Lin Zhengquan was now leading Beiyang City's soldiers in eliminating the remaining ferocious beasts.
From afar, she saw Lin Wanqiu moving with sword in hand, like a butterfly weaving through flowers as she galloped among the beasts. Sword Qi crisscrossed, spiritual power overflowed, and every swing of her sword slew a Body Tempering Realm ferocious beast.
The Azure Shadow Sword, a mysterious-rank magical treasure, certainly played a role in this, but it could not be separated from Lin Wanqiu's own strength.
Had someone else wielded this sword, they likely would not have been able to unleash such might.
On the battlefield, Lin Wanqiu's brows and eyes were cold and stern, while blood stained her jade-like skin, lending her a different kind of beauty.
"After this battle, Wanqiu's strength should improve somewhat."
The corners of Xiao Minghuang's lips lifted slightly, a trace of a smile appearing in her eyes as she finally relaxed.
She then stepped forward and walked toward the Silver Light Giant Elephant's corpse.
The Silver Light Giant Elephant's nearly hundred-zhang corpse lay sprawled across the ground like a mountain. Its pale golden blood had almost formed a river, while huge swathes of rock had shattered, crushing the land for several hundred zhang around it.
Even Xiao Minghuang's eyes revealed a trace of shock at such a heaven-collapsing, earth-sinking scene.
"A Spring Gushing Realm ferocious beast is already this powerful. How terrifying must Divine Sea Realm, Spirit Seed Realm, and even Primal Embryo Realm ferocious beasts be?"
Xiao Minghuang did not know.
She gathered her thoughts, focused her mind, and flew upward, crossing the gently flowing pale golden river of blood before descending directly onto the giant elephant's corpse.
"With such an enormous elephant body, I wonder how I am supposed to refine the Divine Elephant Seed. These tusks are rather good, though. I can cut them off first; perhaps they can be used in medicine or forged into magical treasures."
Xiao Minghuang considered this, then flashed forward. A long saber appeared in her hand as she arrived before the giant elephant.
Compared to the nearly hundred-zhang-tall elephant corpse, her figure was truly tiny.
Yet the size of one's body often could not determine victory or defeat.
Then—
Golden light flickered in Xiao Minghuang's hand. A sword phantom several zhang long condensed into form and slashed down along the roots of the tusks, as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.
Rumble!
The several-dozen-zhang-long tusks crashed to the ground, smashing deep ravines into the earth and nearly embedding themselves in the soil.
After cutting down the tusks, Xiao Minghuang glanced at the elephant corpse again. After pondering for a moment, she murmured softly:
"Forget it. Whether it is the elephant corpse or the tusks, they are both far too large. It would be inconvenient for me to carry them alone. I should wait until City Lord Lin has eliminated the Beast Tide, then have the guards transport them away!"
With that thought—
Xiao Minghuang did not linger. She put away her saber and was about to fly away from the elephant corpse.
Abruptly.
A sense of danger suddenly surged into her heart, as though she would die on the spot the next moment.
Yet the surroundings were perfectly calm. The Beast Tide had largely been cleared away, and Lin Zhengquan was leading several personal guards toward her.
However, Xiao Minghuang had always been cautious. Without showing any change in expression, she took a protective talisman from her storage pouch, one capable of withstanding the full-force attack of a Spring Gushing Peak Realm martial warrior.
It was at that moment.
A sudden change erupted!
Then—
A point of blood-red cold light tore through the flesh of the elephant corpse and shot out at incredible speed, carrying powerful killing intent, as though it could pierce the void and reach straight into the Nine Netherworlds!
"As expected!"
Xiao Minghuang held her breath and focused, reacting with extreme speed. She immediately crushed the talisman. A hazy divine glow emerged, and a pale cyan curtain of light enveloped her entire body, wrapping her tightly from head to toe.
The light curtain was violently struck by the blood-red cold light. In merely an instant, countless fine cracks appeared across it. Flowing colors spilled outward and divine light rippled, as though it were about to shatter at any moment.
The blood-red cold light suddenly erupted with countless terrifying red rays, instantly shattering the light curtain and shooting directly toward Xiao Minghuang's chest.
"A Spring Gushing Peak Realm talisman cannot even block this cold light. This person is likely a Divine Sea Realm expert. Who exactly wants to harm me?!"
Xiao Minghuang's expression darkened as she reacted immediately.
She rapidly turned her body, pushing her speed to its utmost limit. Yet at that moment, she suddenly sensed a faint trace of killing intent from another direction, completely different from the assassin hidden within the elephant corpse.
"Something is wrong! There is another assassin!"
In that flash of lightning and spark of flint—
Her thoughts shifted, and she made her decision. Rather than continuing to move, she stopped, clenched her silver teeth, turned around, and faced that cold light head-on.
In the blink of an eye—
Then—
A point of cold light pierced through Xiao Minghuang's chest like lightning. Fresh blood sprayed out, dyeing her bright yellow dress crimson.
After being struck by the cold light, Xiao Minghuang's aura suddenly plummeted. Like a kite with its string cut, she fell from the sky and crashed into the river of blood, splashing up great waves of crimson.
Everything happened too quickly. No one had time to react.
They only saw the Ninth Princess, who had been standing perfectly fine in the air, suddenly grow incomparably weak and fall from the sky.
Ye Ruoshui stood atop the city wall. Seeing this scene, her mind went blank, as though a hammer had smashed violently into her chest. She ran down the city wall mechanically, her eyes fixed desperately on that bloodstained bright yellow figure. Her mouth called out, yet no sound came forth.
Watching Xiao Minghuang vanish from sight, Ye Ruoshui swayed and dropped heavily to her knees before falling to the ground.
She crawled forward several steps, forced herself to rise, then dragged her numb body as she staggered toward where Xiao Minghuang had fallen. She did not hear any of the cries around her.
Only she knew just how important Xiao Minghuang was to her.
More important than heaven, more important than earth, more important than everything.
At that moment, she could not remember anything, nor did she think of anything. Only one thought remained in her heart, screaming madly from the depths of her soul: Find her! Find her!
It was at that moment.
An enraged roar suddenly rang out from the void!
"Courting death!"
Along with that furious roar, a speck of faint light flashed within the void, sending ripples spreading outward as an aged figure suddenly appeared.
The figure who had suddenly emerged from the void shocked everyone present.
The old man wore a black robe. His hair was gray and white, and he had no beard. He was as unfathomable as an abyss and as vast as the sea, radiating towering fury that crushed every martial warrior within several hundred zhang, leaving them unable to raise their heads.
With a casual wave of his hand, a massive black palm condensed from the void, hundreds of zhang tall, like a hand holding up heaven and covering earth. It slammed viciously onto an open patch of ground not far from the elephant corpse.
Where the black giant palm descended, a black-robed figure appeared out of thin air. Despair filled his face as he waved his arms, firing several blood-red cold lights that struck the giant hand. Yet it was like eggs hitting a rock, unable to stir even the slightest ripple.
The hundreds-of-zhang black hand crashed down heavily. The earth caved in, rocks, grass, and trees turned to powder, and the heavens shook while the earth trembled. A deafening boom spread outward, shocking everything for more than a hundred li!
This palm strike swept through all obstacles like withered wood and rotten weeds, smashing a bottomless hole into the ground. Not a trace of life aura remained.
The black-robed figure had been reduced to ashes!
The pupils of everyone who witnessed this were filled with shock.
"What just happened?"
"The Ninth Princess was injured? Who did it?"
"Who is this senior? Did he kill the assassin who ambushed the Ninth Princess?"
Who Was the Assassin?
The mysterious expert who had suddenly appeared was Wang Jin, who had been secretly protecting Xiao Minghuang all along.
That assassin had hidden inside the elephant corpse, completely concealing his aura. In a moment of carelessness, Wang Jin had actually allowed such a grave mistake to happen.
His face filled with grief and fury, he flashed forward, arriving beside Xiao Minghuang. He pulled the girl's body from the river of blood and brought her onto a clean boulder nearby.
At this moment, the Ninth Princess, Xiao Minghuang, no longer possessed her earlier noble and ethereal bearing.
The girl was covered in blood and filth. Her snow-white skin looked as though it had been coated in a layer of red mud, reeking of blood. Her aura was extremely weak, hanging by a thread.
"Your Highness!"
A mournful cry suddenly came from afar. Ye Ruoshui rushed over at full speed, dropped fiercely to her knees before Xiao Minghuang, and snatched her into her arms.
At this time, Beiyang City's soldiers also discovered that Xiao Minghuang had been assassinated. They raced over one after another, forming a wall of human bodies and sealing off the surrounding area completely.
Before you continue