“Little Sister Lian Yue, is Li Muchen your friend? He sure is handsome!” transmitted the snowy, charming beauty on the Divine Contemplation Lotus Platform beside Lian Yue. “And if Xun Jiu’an sees him as a worthy opponent, he must be strong, too!”

The woman was dressed in purple, with a charming, curvaceous figure. Every movement and every gesture was enticing. As she spoke, her bright eyes watched Su Yi, sparkling like sunlit water.

Her name was Xia Rouyun. She was from Eternal Lightning Court, and she was a descendant of the Celestial Fox race, famed throughout the Five Great Continents. She was born with Thunder Incineration Blood, and she was ninth in Divine Reverence Pavilion’s Unfettered Ranking. She’d proven her Dao and entered Eternity about a thousand years earlier than Lian Yue.

“I wouldn’t call us friends,” said Lian Yue, her gaze cold and ethereal and her words straight to the point.

Xia Rouyun tittered. “I see. You aren’t friends, yet you offered him your Divine Contemplation Lotus Platform. An ambiguous relationship indeed.”

Lian Yue calmly disregarded her.

Xia Rouyun suddenly asked, “Little Sister Lian Yue, do you think Li Muchen is a match for Xun Jiu’an?”

Lian Yue shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Oh,” said Xia Rouyun. She paused, then said out of nowhere, “If he wins, I’ll pursue him!”

Lian Yue looked stunned. They say that the women of the Celestial Fox Race are passionate, but isn’t this a little too abrupt and inexplicable?

Out loud, she couldn’t help but say, “How mercenary of you. You’re deciding based on his strength? You obviously don’t really like him.”

Xia Rouyun smiled, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons. “Men love beauty, while women love strength. All of it comes straight from the heart, as natural as can be. How can you say I don’t really like him?”

Lian Yue frowned and said nothing.

“Little Sister, it’s fine if you like him too. It’ll just prove that we have similar tastes!” Xia Rouyun stretched, pulling the fabric of her clothing tight over her ample breasts.

It was a soul-stirring sight. Many of the nearby cultivators couldn’t help but gulp.

In the Five Great Continents, Xia Rouyun was renowned for her unique beauty and world-toppling charm!

Despite all that, her looks couldn’t outshine Lian Yue’s. On the contrary, the contrast only made Lian Yue seem all the more ethereal and radiant, like the full moon shining overhead.

“You’re jumping to conclusions,” said Lian Yue, but she couldn’t be bothered to explain.

Suddenly, a man laughed, seemingly out of nowhere. “If Li Muchen defeats Xun Jiu’an, I’ll even drink the water you wash your feet with, Xia Rouyun!”

The speaker was a silver-robed, dashing, and composed man in a pine-marked cloud crown. His name was Dong Liujia. He was a legacy disciple of Limitless Palace and was fifth in the Unfettered Ranking!

He’d been so immersed in contemplating the Grand Dao that he’d seemed lost to the world earlier, as if he were sleeping. His powers of the Grand Dao even created strange, wondrous visions on the Starry Star.

He was also Wu Xun’s senior apprentice brother!

Wu Xun was a lawless, arrogant hooligan, but he treated Dong Liujia with the utmost reverence; he didn’t dare to even breathe too heavily in front of him.

“You’ll drink the water I wash my feet in? You’re delusional, Dong Liujia,” Xia Rouyun said with a derisive laugh.

Dong Liujia thought nothing of it. Instead, he looked at her with appreciation. “How about this? If Li Muchen wins, I’ll play with him next. If I win, call me ‘Big Brother Dong’ going forward. How ‘bout it?”

Xia Rouyun blinked. “So simple?”

Dong Liujia laughed. “It was always that simple.”

As they conversed, Xun Jiu’an stepped off his Divine Contemplation Lotus Platform and stopped just one thousand feet away from Su Yi.

Everyone on the Divine Contemplation Lotus Platforms, including Lian Yue, Xia Rouyun, and Dong Liujia, instantly looked over.

“Draw your sword,” Xun Jiu’an said calmly. “I’ve never looked down on my opponents. Even if I were fighting an ant, I’d crush it with all my might. Refuse to draw your sword now, and I’m afraid you won’t get the chance later.”

“There’s no need to do that just to defeat you,” said Su Yi.

Xun Jiu’an nodded, then attacked.

Heaven and earth shook. Dazzling light condensed in midair, transforming into a glittering blue Dao Sword.

The Baleful Radiance Sword!

Boom!

Xun Jiu’an attacked in natural, sweeping motions, the stars shifting around him as he attacked. His slash was as simple as could be, yet he charged ahead with unparalleled valiance, as if cleaving through heaven and earth.

His terrifying power of the Dao of the Sword stung the onlookers’ eyes to the point that they could barely keep them open. They felt as if knives were twisting in their heart and minds.

Even Yuwen Che was overcome with astonishment.

The Sevendeaths Scripture of Refining the Profound was a supreme legacy of Sevendeaths Court. The Baleful Radiance Sword was one of the mightiest divine abilities recorded therein.

A single slash was like baleful light pouring down from the heavens. Sword intent shook the nine abysses, and its power would have astonished in any age.

Heavenly Sovereign Yaoguang of Sevendeaths Court had once used this very technique to cleave open an Eternal Gateway, leaving a three-thousand-mile gash in the River of Destiny itself.

Xun Jiu’an had obviously learned the Baleful Radiance Sword in its entirety. When he attacked, heaven and earth seemed on the verge of collapse!

The spectating Unfettered Realm cultivators, no matter who they were, felt their courage fail them. Their will to fight wavered.

This was the strength of the man in seventh place in the Unfettered Ranking. One slash was enough to shake heaven and earth and startle everyone present.

Su Yi didn’t dodge. He just let the strike hurtle toward him.

It looked as if he’d been intimidated to the point that he was too afraid to fight back.

But then, much to the crowd’s astonishment, the slash bounced harmlessly off Su Yi. It couldn’t so much as scratch him.

On the contrary, it shattered. Sparks of sword light flew in all directions.

Su Yi brushed off his clothes and advanced, calm and leisurely as could be.

But now, when the crowd looked at him, there was no disguising the astonishment in their faces.

How terrifying was Xun Jiu’an’s attack?

Even the other unparalleled figures present would have had to defend themselves with all their might, but Li Muchen had relied on no more than his defensive aura to block it head-on! It couldn’t even scratch him!

Xun Jiu’an furrowed his brow and waved his sleeve. His aura rumbled and boomed, churning like lava, as he swung his palm like a sword.

One streak of sword qi after another flew into the air.

The Baleful Flaming Current Sword flew forth, scattering flaming sword intent.

The Baleful Quenched Metal Sword shone as if intent on illuminating the nine heavens and the ten earths.

The Baleful Spirit Wind Sword stirred up fierce gales that swept across the land.

The Baleful Condensed Earth Sword was like mountains rising out of the ground.

Xun Jiu’an went on to launch seven supreme divine abilities of Sevendeaths Court in rapid succession.

The humming of his sword swept forth in waves. Everything between heaven and earth was beset by an avalanche of sword intent. Within moments, a perfectly straight rift had formed in the sky. It covered the thousand feet of air between Xun Jiu’an and where Su Yi had stood just moments prior. Wherever the rift passed, streak after streak of sword qi shattered, stirring up misty sword light.

Su Yi, meanwhile, had already appeared right in front of Xun Jiu’an!

Boom!

Heaven and earth swayed behind Su Yi. Shattering sword qi formed a current of destructive power billowing with misty light.

The distant onlookers watched in horror. Startled cries arose on all sides.

The Heavenly Monarchs all looked stricken.

Over on her lotus platform, Lian Yue’s eyes widened, and her slender fingers clenched into a fist.

Xia Rouyun put her hand on her ample chest, her eyes sparkling. Her red lips formed a perfect “O.”

Even the way she lost her composure was extraordinarily enchanting.

However, Dong Liujia was in no mood to admire it. His eyes were as sharp as swords, and he watched the battle intently, his qi coursing through him.

Earlier, he’d watched as Su Yi took a step forward, then shot forth like a sword. He made no attempt to dodge, instead bursting through streak after streak of terrifying sword qi to create a terrifying rift in midair.

Within moments, he’d appeared directly in front of his opponent.

He was unbelievably quick, like a beam of flowing light! All of his enemies' attacks collapsed before him!

Xun Jiu’an was obviously overcome with surprise, too. His eyes widened, his hair stood on end, and he immediately tried to retreat, only to discover that he was pressed right up against the lotus platform. There was nowhere to run!

His heart filled with shame. I didn’t think about how to fight back. Rather, I instinctively wanted to flee! That shouldn’t be the case!

Su Yi put his hands behind his back and looked at Xun Jiu’an. “You really aren’t worth drawing my sword for.”

Xun Jiu’an’s face alternated white and green as he sank into a dazed silence.

He’d lost!

Worse, he’d lost without the slightest suspense. If his opponent hadn’t stopped his offensive, he’d have been badly injured by now... or perhaps even killed!”

Li Muchen is terrifying! So terrifying that he suppressed me with casual ease!

This was Xun Jiu’an’s first time suffering such a crushing defeat.

He’d once tried to challenge Fu Xiaofeng, the second strongest expert on the Unfettered Ranking. He’d lost, but only after an extended, incomparably fierce battle, and even then, only by a hair.

Yet now, when he fought Li Muchen, he couldn’t even fight back!

Xun Jiu’an felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. His heart shook, and he sank into despondence.

Silence descended over the area. Even the birds ceased their song.

Everyone who’d witnessed their battle was too stunned to even speak. Li Muchen is seriously this unbelievably strong?

A long time passed before Xun Jiu’an came back to his senses, his gaze melancholy. “I... I really did lose.”

He clasped his fist, then turned to leave. He couldn’t persist, not when he knew that his opponent had already shown mercy!

The Dao Protectors of Sevendeaths Court watched him leave. They exchanged glances, all of them with complicated looks on their faces.

None of them had anticipated that Xun Jiu’an would lose!

But it was undoubtedly Yuwen Che who found this most frustrating.

He’d threatened Su Yi, insisting that he overestimated himself. He’d tried to prevent Su Yi from drawing closer so as to avoid disturbing Xun Jiu’an’s cultivation.

Xun Jiu’an’s defeat had left Yuwen Che’s face hot and stinging with shame, as if he’d been slapped in the face.

Now, all eyes were on the tall, upright figure facing the Divine Contemplation Lotus Platform, his back to the crowd.

He stood alone, his blue robes swaying around him.

His majesty exceeded all others present!

Who could have imagined that a sword cultivator of the Literati Continent could appear out of nowhere, only to shake the heavens?

“Oh, this is bad,” said Xia Rouyun, clutching her chest. Her gaze was full of infatuation. “Is this love? Little Sister Lian Yue, it seems I’ve really fallen for him.”

Lian Yue didn’t know what to say.