Yan Qing

There was only one person Fan Xinglou would address as Young Master.

Fan Zhenyu of the Fan Family.

As an Innate Warrior, Fan Xinglou was qualified to take part in certain important affairs of the Fan Family, including matters related to Fan Zhenyu.

He knew that Fan Zhenyu was about to return.

Yet—

Fan Xinglou did not see Fan Zhenyu at the Fan Family estate in Qingfeng County. Instead, he saw this young master in Flying Cloud Stronghold.

Hearing Fan Xinglou's voice, Fan Zhenyu merely cast him an indifferent glance before surveying the situation in the main stronghold.

The arrival of this group—

Their uniform attire, impassive expressions, and chillingly murderous air gradually affected the chaotic melee.

More and more people stopped, turning in unison to look toward the people from the Profound Nether Platform. Curiosity and astonishment surfaced on their faces as they sought to discover this group's origins and strength.

When Ma Zhuo, Flying Cloud Stronghold's chief, saw the people from the Profound Nether Platform appear, his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately stopped pursuing Fan Xinglou.

Right after that—

With a tap of his foot, he swiftly retreated and returned to Xianyu Tu's side.

"Master, it's the Profound Nether Platform."

Ma Zhuo's voice was low and heavy, filled with deep vigilance.

The Profound Nether Platform was a rather special institution of the Great Yin Dynasty. It stood above the yamen constables, and every one of its members was a martial artist, possessing formidable strength and authority. Even local yamen had to cooperate with its power to act as circumstances demanded.

Flying Cloud Stronghold had caused the Qingfeng County yamen and its people endless trouble, but before the Profound Nether Platform, Flying Cloud Stronghold was nothing at all.

"The Profound Nether Platform arrived quickly indeed."

Light gathered in Xianyu Tu's eyes, and a trace of gravity appeared on his face.

He had not been back at Flying Cloud Stronghold for long, yet the Profound Nether Platform had already come knocking.

Worthy of the Profound Nether Platform.

Xianyu Tu's gaze crossed more than a hundred meters and settled on the people from the Profound Nether Platform slowly entering through the stronghold gates. He scrutinized them closely, paying attention to their attire.

A wooden sword?

Xianyu Tu spotted a wooden sword embroidered upon the shoulder of Yan Qing, who led the group. It was not of any other material or color, and a faint smile rose at the corner of his lips.

The Profound Nether Platform had a strict hierarchy. To raise one's status within it, one had to ensure that martial cultivation and merits advanced neck and neck. Of the two, martial cultivation should have been the more important.

Once one's martial cultivation was sufficient, merits would naturally follow.

One could tell a person's position and strength within the Profound Nether Platform from the item embroidered on the shoulder of their uniform.

A wooden sword merely represented the status of a Formal Profound Nether Guard. Most of them were martial artists at the Xiantian level.

For Profound Nether Guards who had entered the Meridian Opening Realm, an iron sword would be embroidered on their shoulders.

Among the martial artists from the Profound Nether Platform who had appeared, only two were Formal Profound Nether Guards. The rest were merely Trainee Profound Nether Guards. With a force of this scale, it was impossible for a Meridian Opening Realm martial artist to be present.

To Xianyu Tu, who had mastered the Little Netherworld Sword, as long as no Meridian Opening Realm martial artist appeared, he could remain completely unharmed.

Tap, tap, tap.

A fine horse carrying a trace of exotic beast blood trotted forward under countless watchful eyes, drawing close to Xianyu Tu.

When they were about fifteen meters apart, Yan Qing stopped.

She lowered her gaze toward Xianyu Tu, her lips parting slightly as she said in a cool voice, "Xianyu Tu, you cannot escape. Surrender without resistance."

A cold gleam flowed through Xianyu Tu's eyes. The instant his brows rose, he sneered. "If a Banner Commander from the Profound Nether Platform had come, this old man would certainly surrender without resistance. But only a few wet-behind-the-ears brats have come, yet you dream of making this old man submit? You truly know neither the height of heaven nor the depth of earth." After a brief pause, he looked at Yan Qing with a smile. "You are quite a lovely woman. If you serve this old man well enough, this old man may not be unwilling to go with you."

"How dare you!"

Fan Zhenyu shouted.

Xianyu Tu's icy gaze shot straight toward Fan Zhenyu. The invisible, awe-inspiring killing intent made this eldest young master of the Fan Family inexplicably feel a chill.

"Courting death."

Cold light flickered in Yan Qing's beautiful eyes. She slapped the horse's back and soared into the air, leaping down from the fine steed. Then, with the sudden rise of a hare and fall of a falcon, she closed in on Xianyu Tu.

Yan Qing's long, fair hand lightly brushed the sword at her waist. Amid a ringing clang, a treasured sword as clear and cold as autumn water slid from its sheath and fell into her grasp. With a sweep of sword-light, it became a streak of grim, icy radiance that stabbed directly at Xianyu Tu.

What a fast sword.

As the fierce Sword Qi came killing toward him, Xianyu Tu's pupils abruptly contracted.

He had initially looked down on Yan Qing because she was merely a Formal Profound Nether Guard, but after witnessing the swordsmanship she displayed—

Even if she was not at the level of a Banner Commander, she was not far from it.

Xianyu Tu stared at Yan Qing's sword and took a step forward. Rather than retreating, he advanced, closing in on her. As his feet shifted, he narrowly evaded the Autumn Water Sword. At the same time, his right hand shot up, five fingers curved into an eagle claw as it grabbed at Yan Qing's shoulder from a tricky angle.

Yan Qing's eyes flashed. Before she could withdraw the Autumn Water Sword, her left palm passed beneath her right arm and struck Xianyu Tu's arm, immediately disrupting his movement. She then retrieved the Autumn Water Sword and swept it horizontally toward Xianyu Tu's head.

After his claw was blocked, Xianyu Tu lowered and spun with the motion, his talons darting swiftly toward Yan Qing's chest.

Yan Qing lowered her eyes, and her left palm surged forward to meet it.

Bang.

Palm and claw collided with a dull impact.

Xianyu Tu felt only a tyrannical force travel from his claw into his arm before crashing toward his body.

Battle-hardened as he was, his expression changed slightly. Borrowing the force of that impact, he retreated again and again, opening the distance between himself and Yan Qing.

What dense inner qi.

Xianyu Tu was inwardly astonished. He discovered that the inner qi cultivation method Yan Qing practiced was anything but ordinary, far more robust even than the Innate Unity Qi Technique he cultivated.

The Innate Unity Qi Technique was already considered fairly good among Xiantian inner qi cultivation arts, yet it could not compare with what Yan Qing practiced.

Just what was Yan Qing's identity?

Before Xianyu Tu could ponder it further, Yan Qing lightly tapped her toes against the ground. Her figure was as graceful as willow catkins in the wind as she charged at Xianyu Tu once more.

Her exquisite swordsmanship and dense inner qi immediately forced Xianyu Tu into a disadvantage.

A faint smile gradually appeared on Yan Qing's face.

Yet just as that smile emerged, vicious light flashed in Xianyu Tu's eyes. He brought two fingers together like a sword, and as inner qi circulated, ghostly light flickered around them. One finger struck the tip of the Autumn Water Sword.

Clang.

A crisp, pleasant sound like clashing gold and iron rang out.

What should have happened—the Autumn Water Sword severing his finger—did not occur. Instead, a strange and tyrannical force violently surged into the Autumn Water Sword, shaking Yan Qing's hand and sending the Autumn Water Sword flying from her grasp to land on the ground in the distance.

Xianyu Tu struck again with a Little Netherworld Sword finger, hitting Yan Qing beneath the shoulder, upon her chest, and blasting her away. Fresh blood streamed from where the sword finger had landed.

"Little Netherworld Sword?!"

Yan Qing's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief.

"You recognize the Little Netherworld Sword. It seems your identity is far from simple." The corners of Xianyu Tu's mouth split into a strange smile. "Then it is even more impossible for this old man to let you leave."

"My lady."

Fan Zhenyu rushed forward, intending to save Yan Qing.

Xianyu Tu swept a glance from the corner of his eye and casually sent out a palm strike. It instantly knocked Fan Zhenyu flying, breaking his bones and tearing his sinews, grievously wounding him on the spot.

The people of the Profound Nether Platform froze at once.

Xianyu Tu advanced toward Yan Qing step by step.

At that moment—

The sound of tapping footsteps came from behind.