Translator: CinderTL
Boom!
The great halberd spun, effortlessly deflecting a streak of light. Xu Sanyan glanced down—it was a blood-red dagger.
"Kill him now!"
Zheyun's delicate face twisted into a ferocious grimace as she charged forward with her sword. Her left hand, however, remained hidden behind her back, concealing something.
The four guards attacked in unison, their swords flashing and mystical arts erupting in dazzling displays, completely surrounding Xu Sanyan.
Boom!
Surging spiritual power filled the air, and rising dust obscured his figure. Seizing the moment while Xu Sanyan's vision was obscured, Zheyun swung her hidden left hand forward, hurling a spherical object at his feet.
Boom!
The sphere exploded violently, enveloping him in a mottled barrier of light that also trapped Zheyun and the four guards within its confines.
Zheyun grinned maliciously. "Heh heh, just give up and die! Where do you think you can run now?"
This sphere had been crafted by a great formation master of the Qian Kingdom. Impeccably sturdy, its sole purpose was to trap enemies, buying its user time to escape.
Zheyun, however, had no interest in using the sphere to trap enemies. Instead, she preferred to treat it as a dueling arena, ensuring her prey couldn't escape.
Five against one? The odds are in my favor!
The smile on Zheyun's face grew increasingly manic as the dissipating dust revealed a towering crimson figure. Four bare, muscular arms bulged with dark red veins that crisscrossed his entire body. His pitch-black eyes locked onto her, sending a chill down her spine.
Xu Sanyan lowered his head expressionlessly, glancing at the blood streaks on his body. Under his gaze, the wounds slowly began to heal, vanishing completely within moments.
To him, attacks of this magnitude were no more than an itch.
His physique, enhanced by the Blood-Red Dagger and two blessings, had long surpassed the limits of ordinary comprehension. Even if Zheyun stood there hacking at him, she'd be hacking for quite a while.
The four Soul Refining Realm guards beside Zheyun were stunned. This man had withstood their combined assault without a scratch—what kind of physical constitution was this?!
Xu Sanyan glanced up at the mottled barrier, then grinned. "So you think you've got me cornered?"
Zheyun's face twisted with mockery. "Empty threats! A mere Initial Stage Soul Refinement cultivator dares to face five of us alone?"
With a wave of her longsword, she commanded, "Kill him!"
Instantly, multicolored lights erupted within the mottled barrier. From the outside, only a dazzling display of colors could be seen, obscuring the chaos unfolding within.
The barrier not only trapped enemies but also completely silenced all sound.
Bang!
Suddenly, a figure crashed heavily against the barrier. Zheyun's face was deathly pale, blood trickling from her mouth. Her treasured sword flew from her grasp, embedding itself in the ground before her with a whoosh.
"Ah!"
Zheyun cried out in agony as her right arm, severed at the shoulder, dangled limply. Raw, bloody flesh was exposed to the air, and blood gushed forth like an unstoppable stream.
One move!
In a single exchange, she had barely managed to withstand one strike before her arm was twisted off, her sword stolen, and a palm slammed into her chest.
This was the first time she had felt the breath of death so intimately. The momentary despair left her breathless.
As an Imperial Princess, Zheyun had enjoyed a life of unparalleled privilege since birth. For decades, she had never suffered such injuries. Everyone who knew her status treated her with utmost deference, fueling her arrogance and recklessness.
But today, she had encountered someone who refused to indulge her. If not for her guard's desperate sacrifice, she would already be dead.
Pfft...
Zheyun forced herself to stand, retrieving a medicinal pill from her storage pouch. Her empty right sleeve felt incredibly awkward; it took several attempts before she finally managed to swallow the pill.
"I will kill you!" Zheyun gritted her teeth, her hatred so intense she wanted to devour the man alive.
How dare he injure me? How dare he?!
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Zheyun roared with a twisted expression, "Capture him alive! This princess will make him beg for death!"
Boom!
Dust billowed, shrouding the mottled barrier in chaos. Visibility was zero, and Zheyun dared not recklessly join the fray, forced to wait at the edge.
"Ah!"
A bloodcurdling scream pierced the air. Zheyun recognized it as Xiao Bai's voice—her guard, a Mid Stage Soul Refinement cultivator and the most powerful among the four.
Suddenly, another desperate cry tore through the dust: "Princess, hurry..."
Crack!
A sharp snap cut him off, followed by the sound of bones breaking.
Thud!
With a final muffled thud, the swirling dust finally settled, as if signaling the battle's end.
Zheyun's heart pounded with dread, her initial confidence shattered. The guard's final words seemed to be warning her...
Run?
In her panic, Zheyun's face instantly broke out in a cold sweat. She still couldn't believe it—all four guards were dead?
"No... impossible," Zheyun stammered, staggering against the luminous barrier. She peered into the depths of the dissipating smoke, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly. "Xiao Bai, A'Da, did you catch him?"
Silence hung in the air.
As the smoke gradually cleared, a figure sat beside a shattered tree. At the figure's feet lay four bodies, their limbs twisted at unnatural angles, severed limbs scattered haphazardly around them.
Zheyun's mind went blank at the sight. A head had been violently torn from its body, the deathly pale face drained of blood. The eyes remained open, staring blankly at her.
"Xiao... Xiao Bai?" Zheyun murmured in disbelief, staring at the familiar head. She couldn't accept that Xiao Bai, who had been by her side since childhood, had died so meaninglessly here.
"A'Da..."
Beside the head lay another body, its spine snapped in half, the back of its skull nearly crushed against its legs. The man was long dead.
As the smoke completely dissipated, Xu Sanyan slowly rose to his feet, cradling the secret realm fruit in one hand and gripping his great halberd in the other. One of his arms hung limply, broken at the elbow, and a massive gash on his waist oozed blood.
Xu Sanyan was severely injured, but not as critically as it appeared. These were mostly superficial wounds, unlike the internal injuries he had suffered before.
"Princess Zheyun?"
Xu Sanyan turned his head, his crimson face streaked with blood—it was impossible to tell if it was his own or his enemies'.
Zheyun remained silent, staring blankly at the corpses of her four guards, her mind a blank.
She suddenly realized that without her guards, she was nothing more than a roadside weed, easily plucked and broken by anyone.
As the man advanced relentlessly, Zheyun didn't know what to do.
Should she kneel and beg for mercy?
Or fight back with all her might?
She had always resented A'Da's overbearing protectiveness, but now that his nagging was gone, she felt like an empty shell.
Xu Sanyan's towering figure loomed before her, his dao body manifested to over three meters tall. Zheyun, standing at his feet, looked like a mere infant, barely reaching his waist.
Xu Sanyan grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air, his menacing fangs gleaming.
Tears welled uncontrollably in Zheyun's eyes. The primal terror of facing death instantly banished all other thoughts, leaving no room for grief.
Only now did she realize that she wasn't fearless after all. Her previous recklessness had stemmed from the certainty that she couldn't die.
But this was different. She knew the man before her truly dared to kill her!
She didn't want to die.
Gasping for breath, her face flushed crimson, Zheyun pleaded, "Spare me! I am a princess of the Qian Kingdom! If you kill me, my father will never forgive you..."
"Heh heh heh..."
(End of the Chapter)
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