Yan Ruyu

Long Street Blood Battle, the smoke and dust had yet to settle.

Illusion Zenith Sovereign's doppelganger was retreating step by step under the combined assault of two Rank Four experts.

Jin San's Embroidered Spring Blade suddenly erupted with a dragon-like roar, the blade light cutting through the sky like a bolt of white silk, actually severing Illusion Zenith Sovereign's left arm at the shoulder!

Fresh blood gushed out like a spring, staining the bluestone slabs of half the street red.

"Ugh... ah!"

Illusion Zenith Sovereign grunted, his face instantly turning as pale as paper, but he forcibly swallowed the cry of pain back into his throat.

His right palm formed a claw, black energy swirling between his fingers, taking Flying Eagle's throat in a lightning-fast strike!

Flying Eagle smiled sinisterly, the Judge's Pens drawing several afterimages in the air, accurately striking the vital points on his wrist.

A cracking sound of bone breaking rang out, and Illusion Zenith Sovereign's wrist immediately twisted and deformed like a withered branch.

"Illusion Zenith Sovereign, the situation is set." Jin San sheathed his blade, the scabbard colliding with the guard, emitting a clear ringing sound.

This giant of the Demonic Path knelt on one knee, blood still gurgling from his severed arm, but he stubbornly raised his head, his eyes burning with monstrous anger: "Today's humiliation... I will repay it a hundredfold in the future..."

Flying Eagle lightly stroked the bloodstains on the Judge's Pens, his voice shrill: "Take him away! This old one will personally serve this Sovereign!"

Just as Illusion Zenith Sovereign was being escorted into the Imperial Prison, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out in Li Chen Zhou's mind—

"Ding! Task completed! Reward issued: Heaven-Rank Martial Skill - Wind God Kick (Three Absolutes Old Man's Secret)!"

In an instant, countless profound martial arts truths flooded into his sea of consciousness like a tide. Li Chen Zhou only felt as if hurricanes were howling in the meridians of his legs, and every acupoint was frantically devouring the heaven and earth's spiritual energy!

With a slight thought, his figure actually left afterimages in place.

"Boom!"

On the bluestone screen wall ten zhang away, a footprint three inches deep suddenly appeared, spiderweb-like cracks spreading out from the footprint as the center.

"This speed..." Li Chen Zhou stared at his legs, his eyes flashing with intense light, "It's more than three times faster than before! If I fight Illusion Zenith Sovereign again..."

Before he could finish speaking, the system prompt rang out again:

"Ding—Limited-time task issued: Purge Heavenly Desire Palace's hidden stakes!

Reward one year of pure cultivation for each leader captured!"

In the void, a three-dimensional map of the Capital City slowly unfolded, dozens of scarlet points of light flickering like the eyes of poisonous snakes, precisely the locations of Heavenly Desire Palace's hidden strongholds!

Li Chen Zhou slowly tightened his grip on the Blood Demon Blade's hilt, a subtle hum emanating from the scabbard: "This hunt... it's time to change the hunter."

At the third quarter of the hour of the Rat, the West Market Gambling Den.

"Bang!"

The nanmu gate shattered in response, and Li Chen Zhou burst in like a ghost. Before the Heavenly Desire Palace leader, who was in the midst of secret discussions in the gambling den, could see who had arrived, his throat had been pierced by a streak of bloody light!

"The first one."

At the hour of the Ox, the Rouge Shop in the south of the city.

The charming proprietress, still full of allure, twisted her water snake waist as she greeted him: "This young master, the newly arrived Jiangnan rouge..."

A cold light flashed, and the Blood Demon Blade's icy blade was already against her snow-white chin: "Heavenly Desire Palace's 'Alluring Bone Fragrance', you should save it for the road to the Yellow Springs."

At the beginning of the hour of the Horse, the teahouse in the north of the city.

Just as the storyteller's gavel fell, the lattice windows of the elegant room suddenly shattered silently. The three Heavenly Desire Palace spies, disguised as merchants, froze at the same time, each with a vermilion-like bloodstain slowly seeping out from between their eyebrows.

In one day, six hidden strongholds in the Capital City were uprooted, and more than twenty leaders were all executed!

When the last leader was escorted into the Imperial Prison, the true energy in Li Chen Zhou's body was already surging like a great river.

The infusion of twenty years of pure cultivation caused the acupoints all over his body to flicker with faint radiance.

Heavenly Desire Palace, the Cold Jade Secret Chamber.

The heavy black iron stone door slowly opened, and a snow-white figure stepped out through the cold mist.

Her Luo skirt moved without wind, and her jade face was as beautiful as a country but as cold as ice—it was the Heavenly Desire Palace Master "Yan Ruyu," who had been in seclusion for many years!

"Welcome Palace Master out of seclusion!"

Yan Ruyu's eyes swept over the kneeling crowd, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed: "Where are the Left and Right Protectors?"

The Elder in charge trembled as he presented a secret letter.

With a light touch of her slender fingers, the secret letter instantly turned into ice crystals and fell rustlingly.

"Fools!" As her wide sleeves fluttered, a thick layer of frost formed on the floor of the entire hall, "Who gave them the courage to move the imperial hounds?!"

After a long silence, she lightly parted her vermilion lips: "Prepare the sedan, go to the Nangong Residence."

Nangong Residence, Listening to Fragrance Waterside Pavilion.

Nangong Yue bowed gracefully: "Disciple greets Master."

Yan Ruyu nodded slightly: "Introduce me to your father, I have important matters to discuss."

A moment later, inside the study.

Nangong Wentian, adorned in a purple robe and jade belt, was in the midst of painting. Upon seeing Yan Ruyu enter, his brush continued its flowing movements, "Palace Master Yan, I trust you've been well."

Yan Ruyu looked directly into his deep eyes, "Your Excellency, the Heavenly Desire Palace is willing to cede three spirit mines beyond the Great Wall in exchange for the court showing leniency."

Nangong Wentian set down his wolf-hair brush, the ink-soaked character "局" (game/situation) on the Xuan paper penetrating the back.

He chuckled softly and shook his head, "Not enough."

"...Plus the first part of the Heavenly Desire Sutra."

"Still not enough."

Yan Ruyu's jade-like face turned cold, "Does the court intend to push things too far?"

Nangong Wentian stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking out the window, "Palace Master Yan, why ask what you already know... His Majesty has been waiting for you in the Zichen Hall for quite some time."

A withered leaf fell onto the inkstone, the ripples spreading through the ink reflecting the cloudy sky.

The midnight drum had just sounded when Yan Ruyu's eight-bearer soft sedan quietly stopped outside the Xihua Gate.

The moonlight, like water, illuminated her plain white silk skirt with a cold luster.

The Golden Guard guarding the gate, upon seeing the plum blossom pattern embroidered on the sedan curtain, immediately bowed and stepped aside, as if they had already received secret orders.

"Palace Master, we have arrived," the accompanying old nanny whispered.

Yan Ruyu gently stroked her temples, her fingertips lingering on the ice crystal hair ornaments in her hair.

Hidden within this hairpin were three drops of Mortal World Intoxication, a secret and extraordinary poison passed down by the Heavenly Desire Palace, and also its treasure.

She took a deep breath, and as she moved her lotus-like feet, frost condensed on the bluestone floor beneath her skirt.

In front of the Zichen Hall, the lantern-holding eunuch had already dismissed everyone.

As the vermilion palace doors slowly opened, a gust of wind swept through, causing the candles within to flicker.

The figure on the dragon throne was hidden in the shadows, with only a jade thumb ring on its finger emitting a faint glow.

"This concubine greets Your Majesty," Yan Ruyu said as she performed her obeisance, deliberately adding a touch of softness and charm to her voice.

She knew very well that this "young" emperor loathed it when others called him "Ten Thousand Years."

"Rise, my dear subject," the emperor's voice carried a hint of mockery, "I recall that during the martial arts tournament three years ago, Palace Master Yan was unwilling to even glance at this 'greenhorn' of an Emperor."

Yan Ruyu slowly stepped forward, the pendants at her waist making not a single sound, "Your Majesty jests. Back then, this concubine was blind and failed to recognize the true dragon before her."

As she spoke, a gilded sachet slipped from her sleeve.

With a flick of her slender fingers, a wisp of pink smoke rose gracefully, transforming into the shape of twin lotus flowers in the hall.

The emperor's eyes flickered, but then he saw the lotus flowers suddenly scatter into a sky full of sparks, making Yan Ruyu's eyebrows and eyes appear even more delicate and charming.

"A fine move, Prairie Fire," the emperor chuckled as he clapped his hands, "It seems Palace Master Yan has come with sincerity tonight."

"Your Majesty sees clearly," Yan Ruyu suddenly knelt on the ground, offering a roll of parchment with her fair hands, "The defense map of the three prefectures in the northern desert, plus..." she bit her lip, "...the complete incantation of the Heavenly Desire Sutra."

The emperor did not take it, but instead leaned down and pinched her chin. This action made Yan Ruyu's whole body stiffen—in twenty years, no one had dared to be so rude to her.

"These..." the emperor's thumb caressed her lips, "...I have no interest in."