At this, Liu Ruyan's entire body trembled. The Autumn Water Sword, foremost among Great Flame's famed swords, was a relic left behind by Ye Yu's mother.
A sword that had reached the High-Grade Spirit Treasure rank was an exceedingly rare treasure even across all of Azure Prefecture.
It was precisely because of this sword that Liu Ruyan had earned the title of the First Beauty Sword of Great Flame. She knew full well that if she lost the Autumn Water Sword, her Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation would truly be nothing worth mentioning!
"Brother, how could you do this? The Autumn Water Sword was a gift you gave to Sister Ruyan. How can something that has been given away be taken back? Even if you want to win Sister Ruyan back, you should not use such threats. You should reason with her and move her with sincerity instead," Ye Xuan said.
Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan immediately came to her senses. Ye Yu must have known how important the Autumn Water Sword was to her, which was why he had said this. "You really are disgusting!"
Feeling Liu Ruyan's gaze, Ye Yu had no intention of explaining himself. He merely raised his head and looked straight at her. "I'll give you two days to return the Autumn Water Sword to me. Otherwise, don't blame me for coming to take it myself. I always keep my word!"
His voice was soft, yet his tone was filled with unquestionable certainty.
The expressions of the many ministers changed at once, as though the Crown Prince Ye Yu, who had once swept through the world without equal, had returned!
Watching Ye Yu turn and leave, Ye Qingwan's expression darkened further. She slammed her hand against the table and shouted, "Ruyan, don't worry. Since the Autumn Water Sword was given to you, it is yours. If anyone refuses to accept that, I'll personally teach him how to behave!"
Her voice was exceptionally loud, as though she deliberately wanted Ye Yu to hear it.
Yet Ye Yu paid no attention to her and strode away. Perhaps it was an illusion, but his footsteps seemed to grow lighter and quicker.
"Eldest Sister, please calm your anger. Brother merely practiced Demonic Arts by mistake and was confused for a moment. I ask Eldest Sister to give Brother another chance to turn over a new leaf," Ye Xuan hurriedly said.
Though these words sounded as though he were pleading for Ye Yu, they invisibly confirmed the matter of Ye Yu cultivating Demonic Arts.
Hearing this, the several ministers who had intended to persuade them further all fell silent. Since it involved the Devil Race, they could say nothing more.
Still, they were all inwardly astonished. They had never expected Second Prince Ye Xuan, who usually kept himself hidden and unremarkable, to possess such deep scheming. He had completely cut off Ye Yu's retreat.
Seeing that Ye Qingxuan no longer spoke and that Liu Ruyan's face was full of fury, Ye Xuan nodded in satisfaction. He then looked toward Ye Yu's departing back and pondered, I can't let him leave just like this. Though he is crippled now, as long as he lives, he remains a threat.
Ye Xuan recalled the report the Blood Demon Clan had sent him regarding Ye Yu's feats within the Nine Nether Blood Spring, and a trace of fear could not help rising in his heart.
The Blood Demon Clan had also held Ye Yu in extremely high regard.
This child could stand against a hundred thousand Demonic Cultivators.
After leaving the imperial palace, Ye Yu let out a long breath, as though he had finally cast off the countless shackles around him. He did not linger and headed straight beyond the imperial city.
He knew Ye Xuan's methods well. Ye Xuan would never simply let him leave like this. Right now, restoring his injuries as quickly as possible was the foremost priority.
Arriving in a dense forest outside the city, Ye Yu found a secluded corner and took a battered Bronze Cauldron from his Ring of Holding.
This Small Cauldron was something he had brought back from the Nine Nether Blood Spring.
Having lived through one lifetime, Ye Yu knew the Bronze Cauldron's wonders well. In his previous life, if not for this Bronze Cauldron, he could never have contended for so long against Ye Xuan, who had the Blood Demon Clan and all of Great Flame behind him.
Seeing no one around, Ye Yu took a deep breath. His face then turned pale as he spat out a mouthful of essence blood onto the Bronze Cauldron.
Upon coming into contact with Ye Yu's essence blood, the Small Cauldron immediately gave a hum. It then floated up on its own, flakes of bronze rust falling away one after another. Finally, it turned into a streak of light and entered Ye Yu's body, hovering within his dantian.
At once, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged in like a tide, endlessly flowing into Ye Yu's body to nourish him. His injuries gradually recovered, while his aura suddenly soared.
Ye Yu's spirit root had been completely destroyed while suppressing the Nine Nether Blood Spring, and his former cultivation had already dispersed.
Without a spirit root, even immortals could not save him. In this life, he should never again have had any fate with cultivation.
Yet by a stroke of chance in his previous life, Ye Yu had discovered one of the Small Cauldron's abilities: it could completely replace a spirit root.
Its other ability was even more heaven-defying, but Ye Yu could not yet activate it. He would have to wait until his strength recovered to the Golden Core realm.
Gradually, the spiritual power within Ye Yu's dantian grew increasingly dense. It then began to condense at the center of his dantian, slowly becoming tangible as it formed a Golden Core.
Elsewhere, Ye Xuan had just dispatched an assassin. This time, he had sent one of the helpers the Blood Demon Clan had assigned to him, a Golden Core cultivator whose Blood Escape technique could leave even ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivators helpless.
Logically speaking, killing a crippled Ye Yu should have been more than easy. Yet Ye Xuan felt an inexplicable unease. After hesitating for a long while, he finally came before the door of his Second Sister, Ye Qingxuan, and called out, "Second Sister, this is bad! Eldest Sister drove Brother out!"
With a creak, the door opened, revealing Ye Qingxuan's impatient face. She said irritably, "What has that trash done now?!"
Ye Qingxuan, the Second Princess of Great Flame, possessed extraordinary talent. Compared with Ye Yu in his prime, she was only a hair's breadth inferior. She possessed a High-Grade Mutated Ice Spirit Root and had already reached the late Golden Core Stage at such a young age, making her a genius among geniuses.
Upon seeing Ye Qingxuan, Ye Xuan hurriedly recounted what had just happened.
The more Ye Qingxuan listened, the uglier her expression became. She said coldly, "He actually dared to cultivate Demonic Arts. Why drive such trash out? If you ask me, he should have been killed directly."
"Second Sister, no! What if Brother was truly wronged? If Brother dies because of this, I'll be unable to eat or sleep in peace for the rest of my life. Hurry and bring Brother back!" Ye Xuan said, his eyes reddening.
If something went wrong with the assassination plan, he still had to bring Ye Yu back and keep him under his nose. There would be plenty of chances to slowly toy with him to death!
Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan sighed. Her little brother was good in every way except that his heart was too soft. She rubbed Ye Xuan's head, then took him into the sky and followed Ye Yu's aura in pursuit.
Within the dense forest, Ye Yu sat cross-legged. Suddenly, his aura surged sharply. A perfectly round Golden Core floated quietly within his dantian, endless spiritual power seeping from it and flowing through every limb and bone of his body. That familiar feeling had returned.
The next moment, Ye Yu gathered spiritual power and poured it into the Small Cauldron. Once it absorbed enough spiritual power, the Small Cauldron would open, spitting out precious treasures. It could only be opened once a day.
And to gather enough spiritual power to open the Small Cauldron, one had to be at least in the Golden Core realm.
Spiritual power poured into it without end, and the light atop the Small Cauldron grew ever more dazzling. Just as it was about to open, Ye Yu's expression abruptly changed. He slapped the ground with his palm and shot into the air.
Where he had originally been sitting, blood slowly seeped from the earth. Then, a head emerged from it, staring in astonishment at Ye Yu in midair.
"You recovered?!"
Before you continue