Azure Cloud Kingdom Ruins

Meanwhile, beside the post road outside the Imperial City.

Two figures raced away, one after the other.

Inside the Pang Family's great hall, Pang Jinbiao flew into a rage and smashed the long table before him to pieces with a single slap.

They had lost two core geniuses in succession. The Pang Family could never swallow this blood debt.

"Notify Seventh Elder. Have him personally lead men out of the city to intercept her! The moment that little bitch steps beyond the Imperial City's borders, kill her without mercy! Bring back her head to offer in sacrifice to my son!"

The Pang Family's Seventh Elder was a Martial Dao grandmaster at the peak of the Seventh Realm. Upon receiving the order, he did not delay in the slightest, immediately leading his men as they used their movement techniques and rushed beyond the city.

Yet just as Seventh Elder led his men out of the forest beyond the Imperial City's outer walls, a royal guard clad in golden armor stood silently upon the only road ahead.

The guard rested both hands on the longsword at his waist. A faint flowing light circulated around him, and what he emitted was not the vitality and blood of an ordinary martial artist, but the spiritual pressure of an immortal cultivator.

Seventh Elder came to an abrupt stop, his expression changing slightly as he asked in a deep voice, "Your Excellency is an Inner Palace Guard. What is the meaning of blocking the road here?"

The golden-armored guard lifted his eyelids and gave him an indifferent glance. "Elder Pang, do you truly not know the meaning of this?"

Seventh Elder frowned tightly and probed, "Is Fourth Prince determined to protect that woman? Could it be that the unconditional request she earned as champion was for the imperial family to shelter her? But she clearly chose to enter the Azure Cloud Ruins!"

The golden-armored guard shook his head. "That is not the case. Su Yueli did not ask the imperial family for protection, but she is, after all, the champion publicly selected in this tournament."

The meaning of those words was already obvious. If the champion met with an accident at the feet of the Imperial City the moment she left the city, would that not be a public slap across the imperial family's face, chilling the hearts of Rogue Cultivators across the realm?

Suppressing his anger, Seventh Elder gritted his teeth and asked, "Then what do you want?"

The guard raised three fingers. "His Highness has decreed that for three days, no one may attack her within a hundred li of the Imperial City. After three days, life and death will rest with fate. The imperial family will not interfere."

"Three days?"

Seventh Elder laughed in fury. "With that little bitch's speed, she'll have entered the Azure Cloud Ruins with the key long before three days are up! Once the formation cuts it off, we won't be able to get in at all!"

The guard patted the hilt at his waist, his expression icy. "That is none of my concern. The order I received is to guard this place for three days. If Elder Pang wishes to force his way through, feel free to test whether Great Li's laws and this immortal master's flying sword are sharp enough."

Facing an Inner Palace Guard at the level of an immortal cultivator, even with his Seventh Realm Martial Dao cultivation, Seventh Elder did not dare act recklessly.

Martial artists and immortal cultivators were simply not on the same level.

If they offended the prince, the Pang Family's good days in the Imperial City would be over.

"Fine. Very well! Let's go!"

Seventh Elder secretly ground his teeth, but there was nothing he could do. He could only swallow his rage and lead his men back to the imperial residence to report.

Su Yueli knew nothing of the turmoil behind her.

She did not rest along the way, pushing the vitality and blood of her Fifth Realm Martial Awakening cultivation to its limits. Wind rose beneath her footwork as she sped between the official road and the wilderness like a green afterimage.

After only one day and one night, she arrived at the location marked on the parchment map.

This was a primeval mountain range several hundred li from the Imperial City.

Ancient trees towered all around, jagged rocks rose in disorder, and thick white mist coiled through the valleys. An ordinary person would lose their way in the blink of an eye upon entering.

Following the mist to the end of the valley, an ancient stone gate stood abruptly between the sheer cliffs.

Dense, ancient runes were carved across the gate, carrying the weathered air of a thousand years.

Su Yueli stepped forward, took the bronze key from her robes, and inserted it into the hole at the center of the stone gate.

"Click."

Along with the sound of the mechanism locking into place, the runes on the stone gate lit with a faint glow.

Then, the massive stones slowly shifted apart to either side, revealing a gap wide enough for only one person to pass through.

Su Yueli slipped inside sideways.

The instant she entered, the massive stone gate behind her rumbled and shut tightly once more.

The aura of the surrounding formation flowed, completely severing the space within from the outside world.

Su Yueli surveyed everything before her.

This was a ruin that had been forcibly trampled flat. Looking into the distance, she could see countless broken walls, collapsed palace complexes, and enormous shattered stone pillars.

Every sight told of the tragic scene from a thousand years ago, when the Azure Cloud Ancient Kingdom had been destroyed beneath Great Li's iron cavalry.

Fortunately, the heaven-and-earth energy here was indeed exceptionally dense, and the vitality and blood drifting through the air was suitable for martial artists to absorb.

Su Yueli made a circuit around the outer edge of the ruins and found the place extremely quiet. She did not encounter a single living creature.

Only then did she secretly breathe a sigh of relief. The Great Li prince had said before that there were some low-level demonic beasts in the depths of these ruins.

Su Yueli had a clear understanding of her own combat strength.

She was currently only a Fifth Realm martial artist with a mortal body, yet even a low-level demonic beast of the First Realm possessed combat power equal to that of a First Realm Dao Entry immortal cultivator.

There was a fundamental chasm between martial artists and immortal cultivators.

If she were unlucky enough to encounter a First Realm demonic beast now, then with her current methods, she feared that even if she exhausted every trick up her sleeve, winning would be exceedingly difficult.

There was no danger in the outer region, making it perfect for her current stage.

Su Yueli found a flat gravel plaza at the edge of the ruins. The view around it was wide open, making it very suitable for martial arts practice.

She set down her bundle and took out the pair of top-grade Earth-rank Shadow Fist Blades, strapping them onto both hands.

In the days that followed, Su Yueli's life became dull and regular.

During the day, she remained in the plaza, madly practicing her punches.

At first, the weapon clashed somewhat with the force of her cultivation technique. Whenever she unleashed an inch-force strike, the fist blades would often vibrate violently, scattering her strength.

But after tens of thousands of punches, adjusting her breathing, and exploring the techniques of force application, Su Yueli gradually adapted to this divine weapon.

Now, when she threw a punch, the tips of the fist blades gleamed with a dazzling dark light, faintly accompanied by a sharp whistling sound as they tore through the air. Their killing power had increased severalfold compared to when she relied solely on her bare fists.

At night, Su Yueli did not blindly grow arrogant either.

She merely restrained her vitality and blood, cautiously wandering through the wreckage of buildings around the outer edge of the ruins.

Several days passed in succession. Aside from some weathered and broken ordinary iron weapons, she found none of the so-called opportunities left behind by the ancient kingdom.

As for the inner region deeper within the ruins, where faint demonic aura seeped through the air, she did not spare it so much as a glance.

She was still too weak. Entering it would be no different from throwing her life away.

Standing atop a ruined beacon tower, Su Yueli looked at the empty palace ruins in the distance and shook her head.

"Looks like I was overthinking it. This place has been sealed off by the Great Li Imperial Family for over a thousand years. If there had truly been some heaven-defying treasure or powerful cultivation technique opportunity here, those imperial family people would have already scoured it clean, leaving not even dregs behind. How could anything have remained until now?"

Su Yueli laughed at herself, though she did not feel overly disappointed.

Seeking the Dao of immortality and living through endless ages could never depend on vague and intangible luck.

Only one's own body and strength were the truest capital.

Casting aside her stray thoughts, Su Yueli returned to the gravel plaza, assumed her stance once more, and amid the sound of her breathing, continued swinging her fists in the silent ruins of a fallen kingdom.