I, Ye Tianming, Swear an Oath!

Ye Tianming was not angry. On the contrary, he was calm, unnaturally calm. He stared at the leader of the men in black. "The Ye Family is indeed my weakness, but I know that even if I compromise today, we'll still find it hard to escape your Xiao Family's murderous hands in the end. So go ahead and kill them."

The leader rasped, "You're not afraid of death, and you're not afraid of the Ye Family dying either. But you should know there's such a thing as a fate worse than death. We can make every member of your Ye Family suffer that fate."

Ye Tianming stared fixedly at him. "I, Ye Tianming, swear on my blood that if I survive, one day I'll make every member of your Xiao Family unable to live and unable to die."

"Heh heh."

The leader laughed, his laughter dripping with mockery. "Ye Tianming, you have no idea how ignorant you are, nor do you understand what a second-tier noble family truly means. If you ever reach a higher level, you'll understand how ignorant it is to say such things before a second-tier noble family. It's like an ant standing before an elephant and saying, 'I'll bite you to death.'"

The powerful men in black beside him also laughed.

Ye Tianming stared fixedly at the men in black before him. He had considered killing himself and triggering the Guanxuan Realm's self-investigation procedure, but he had abandoned that thought. He knew perfectly well that even if he killed himself and the Guanxuan Realm launched a self-investigation, it most likely would not execute the people before him. The Xiao Family would still exist, and before long, it would be just as it had been before.

Because no one would go out of their way to offend the Xiao Family to the death for a dead man.

The Guanxuan Divine Law?

Now, he finally saw it clearly: the law was of no use whatsoever against these privileged families. It even existed to serve them.

The leader stared at Ye Tianming. "I'll count to three. If you don't come with us, we'll kill one member of the Ye Family every breath. One..."

Just then, a sudden change occurred. Above the Ye Family residence, three young people of terrifying strength appeared and attacked. There were two men and one woman, all very young, in their twenties. They charged at the men in black, and in less than a few breaths, the three had slain them...

The sudden turn of events made the leader and the others facing Ye Tianming blanch.

Beside Ye Tianming, Nanling Zhao looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry. When I came looking for you, I asked my friends from the academy to go to the Ye Family and protect your family."

The weight hanging over Ye Tianming's heart finally lifted. He looked at the woman before him and said solemnly, "Thank you."

Nanling Zhao smiled without saying anything. She turned to the leader in the distance. "I'm taking him to the Guanxuan Realm now. If your Xiao Family wants to kill him to silence him, you'd better hurry."

"Nanling Zhao!"

The leader's composure was gone. He stared fixedly at Nanling Zhao, a vicious look emerging in his eyes. "What good does doing this do you and your Nanling Clan?"

Nanling Zhao stared at him. "In my official capacity, as an inspector, I cannot shirk my duty when I encounter injustice. In private, I don't like what I see, so I'm going to take you bastards on."

Ye Tianming: "..."

"Fine, fine, fine!"

The leader was so furious that he laughed. "Kill her! Kill that bitch!"

As soon as he spoke, several mysterious experts beside him suddenly charged forward. They tore straight through space, carrying terrifying presences as they slammed toward Nanling Zhao.

Nanling Zhao narrowed her eyes. "Half-Step Emperor Realm..."

As she spoke, she stepped forward and opened her palm. The Inspector's Seal in her hand trembled violently, transforming into a thousand streams of golden light that surged outward. But her face instantly turned pale, for she had unleashed all the power of the Inspector's Seal, and it placed an enormous strain on her.

Boom!

The thousand streams of golden light instantly sent the three Half-Step Emperor Realm experts staggering hundreds of zhang backward. Nanling Zhao grabbed Ye Tianming, turned, and leaped away, vanishing at the end of the horizon.

But just then, the leader suddenly charged forward. The space in front of him exploded, and a spear appeared in his hand. Its force locked onto Nanling Zhao and Ye Tianming in the distance.

At the end of the horizon, Nanling Zhao's pupils abruptly contracted. She spun around and tapped the Inspector's Seal with one finger. A beam of golden light poured from the seal and enveloped her and Ye Tianming. But when the spear thrust toward them, the golden light shuddered violently, and countless cracks appeared in it.

Before Nanling Zhao could react, the leader thrust his spear at them again.

Bang!

The golden shield shattered instantly, and the powerful force of the spear dao sent Nanling Zhao and Ye Tianming reeling backward.

Saint Realm!

Nanling Zhao's expression was grave. As soon as she stopped, three powerful forces swept toward her. They came from the three Saint Realm experts.

Nanling Zhao suddenly formed a seal with both hands in front of her. "Myriad Laws Seal Defense!"

The Inspector's Seal floating before her suddenly trembled violently. Streams of golden runic light poured out and hung between heaven and earth, shielding her and Ye Tianming. The three Half-Step Emperor Realm experts could do nothing against the golden runes, but when the leader thrust his spear, all the golden runic light shattered instantly. The spear drove straight through and pierced Nanling Zhao's abdomen.

Just as the leader was about to deliver the killing blow, suddenly-

Hum!

A sword's cry suddenly rang out from the distant horizon. A streak of sword light swept across the sky, flying straight toward them. It was so fast that it reached the leader's back in the blink of an eye. The powerful Sword Qi made his expression change instantly. Forced to defend himself, he spun around and thrust his fingers forward like a spear. Spear light surged from his fingertips.

Boom!

Countless streaks of spear light shattered, and the leader was sent reeling hundreds of zhang backward.

The leader looked into the distance in shock. A woman in a black dress stood there, a sword case on her back and a longsword in her hand, cold and aloof as snow.

He stared fixedly at her, his eyes filled with deep wariness. "You're from the Sword Sect."

The Sword Sect!

At those words, the expressions of all the powerful men in black changed.

There was only one Sword Sect in the Guanxuan Universe, and it held an exceptionally special position there. Not even the Inner Pavilion could command it directly. Its members took orders only from the head of the Guanxuan Universe's academy, making it a truly transcendent force.

Why had someone from the Sword Sect come?

The leader's expression grew extremely ugly. Suddenly, he looked at Nanling Zhao. That woman must have called her here. The woman's status was special too, and she had many friends in the Guanxuan Realm. It was only natural that she had friends in the Sword Sect as well.

Nanling Zhao looked at the female sword cultivator and smiled. "Pei Buleng, if you'd come any later, we could only have met again in our next lives."

In the distance, the woman in black turned and glanced at her. When she saw the wound on Nanling Zhao's abdomen, her delicate brows immediately furrowed. She turned to the men in black. "How dare you."

Nanling Zhao said, "Buleng, the Xiao Family definitely won't let this go. Help me hold them off. Also, please call more friends from the Sword Sect to help, just in case."

Pei Buleng stared coldly at the men in black. "You two go first."

Nanling Zhao's figure flickered, and she vanished with Ye Tianming, who stood beside her, at the end of the horizon.

In the distance, the leader said in a low voice, "Your Excellency, we..."

Pei Buleng said, "Fuck off."

With that, she attacked with her sword.

The leader: "..."

Meanwhile, not long after Nanling Zhao fled with Ye Tianming, her body went limp, and she and Ye Tianming fell straight down. Fortunately, just before they hit the ground, she forced herself to draw a breath, and the two landed safely.

They were now in an unknown mountain range, its mountains stretching as far as the eye could see.

Ye Tianming hurriedly took off his robe and spread it on the ground. He helped Nanling Zhao lie down on it, and when he saw the wound on her abdomen, his face turned slightly pale. "Lady Zhao, do you have any medicine for your injuries?"

Nanling Zhao raised her right hand. Her storage ring trembled slightly, and a pill fell out. Ye Tianming hurriedly caught it and fed it to her, but blood continued to seep from her abdomen.

Seeing this, Ye Tianming hurriedly said, "Lady Zhao, it doesn't seem to be working..."

Nanling Zhao glanced at him, a smile appearing on her pale face. "Do you think that pill is some legendary saint-grade pill that restores you on the spot as soon as you take it?"

Ye Tianming said somewhat nervously, "Then..."

Nanling Zhao said, "Clean the wound for me, then bandage it."

Ye Tianming composed himself. "Pardon me."

He gently tore open the clothing over Nanling Zhao's abdomen, revealing a bloody hole. It was the size of a child's fist, and the flesh around its edges had already turned black and charred. A strange energy was still corroding the fresh flesh around it, and inside the hole, the flesh could be seen rotting, the decay continuing to spread.

Nanling Zhao said softly, "As expected of the Saint Realm... If I hadn't had the Inspector's Seal strengthening me, I would have been no match for him at all."

Ye Tianming took out some water and gently cleaned her wound.

Nanling Zhao suddenly said, "I'm sorry."

Ye Tianming turned to look at Nanling Zhao. She was looking at him, and her words had been meant for him.

A puzzled look appeared on Ye Tianming's face. "Lady Zhao, are you apologizing to me?"

Nanling Zhao nodded.

Ye Tianming was confused. "Why?"

Nanling Zhao said softly, "That day in Qingzhou City, if I hadn't compromised and had investigated to the end, perhaps none of these things would have happened to you afterward."

Ye Tianming shook his head. "If you'd investigated to the end, I still would have had a hard time escaping implication. After all, I killed people too."

Nanling Zhao smiled. "You actually dare admit you killed people. Aren't you afraid I'll arrest you and bring you to justice?"

Ye Tianming said, "If you'd wanted to arrest me, you could have done it back then. After all, once you had me in custody, would you have worried that I wouldn't confess?"

Nanling Zhao looked at Ye Tianming. After a moment, she asked, "When you killed them in Qingzhou City, you were already at the Myriad Law Realm, weren't you?"

Ye Tianming nodded.

Nanling Zhao said, "Under normal circumstances, you couldn't possibly have reached the Myriad Law Realm, because your Ye Family couldn't possibly have had a Myriad Laws Pill or a high-level cultivation technique."

Ye Tianming said nothing.

Nanling Zhao smiled. "I was being a little presumptuous."

Ye Tianming said, "I created my own cultivation technique."

"Hm?"

Nanling Zhao's beautiful eyes widened. She sat up and stared at Ye Tianming. "You created your own cultivation technique?"

Ye Tianming nodded.

Nanling Zhao stared at him without speaking.

Ye Tianming took out all his papers and showed them to her. As Nanling Zhao looked through the sheets, her expression gradually grew grave. After a moment, she looked at Ye Tianming. "This is at least equivalent to a heaven-grade cultivation technique. You started creating it when you were twelve, and in only four years, you created a heaven-grade cultivation technique..."

Ye Tianming said, "This is only the first part. The second part isn't finished yet. There wasn't enough time."

Nanling Zhao stared intently at him, as though trying to see through him.

Ye Tianming said nothing. He carefully cleaned the wound on her abdomen.

Nanling Zhao suddenly asked, "How did you get through the Guanxuan Dao?"

Ye Tianming looked at Nanling Zhao. She said, "I'm simply curious, because we all attempted it back then."

Ye Tianming was immediately somewhat shocked. "You all attempted it?"

Nanling Zhao nodded. "Many, many geniuses have attempted it, but they all did so in private. After all, who wouldn't want the Guanxuan Sword Master's recognition? But unfortunately, in the past thousand years, apart from the two of you, not a single genius has made it through-not just in Wan Prefecture, but even in the Guanxuan Realm..."

Ye Tianming was somewhat curious. "Lady Zhao, you're so formidable. How could you have failed to get through..."

At that point, he realized something and hurriedly stopped.

Nanling Zhao merely smiled. "I failed at the second trial. Not just me-at least ninety-nine percent of people failed at the second trial. So I'm rather curious how you passed it... Of course, if it's inconvenient, you don't have to tell me."

Ye Tianming shook his head. "There's nothing I can't tell you."

He then gave her a detailed account of the second and third trials.

After listening, Nanling Zhao stared at Ye Tianming. "What you said was truly rebellious beyond the pale... You've got the heart of a rebel, kid."

Ye Tianming: "..."