The pressure radiating from the two of them alone was enough to overwhelm even a True Qi Realm Martial Artist.

But some of the braver ones, after fleeing to a safe distance, stopped to see what exactly was happening...

After Jinluan Hall completely collapsed, what appeared before everyone’s eyes was a pitch-black "cage."

From time to time, Sword Qi imbued with a righteous intent would slash out from within this "cage."

But before long, the bursts of Sword Qi became fewer and fewer...

A moment later, the pitch-black space abruptly vanished.

The figures of the two men reappeared amidst the ruins.

Zou Feng had already finished his attack and retracted his Skill. The pitch-black flames covering his body had completely vanished, and he had returned to normal.

Well, not entirely normal. After all, the exertion and side effects from fighting far beyond his current Realm couldn’t be completely transferred away.

As a result, he now felt top-heavy and was utterly exhausted.

Fortunately, Lu Guanghua was in even worse shape, swaying on his feet as if he could collapse at any moment.

But he was unwilling to fall just like that. He had clearly burned the last of his power to create a death trap for Zou Feng, yet he had still underestimated Zou Feng’s strength.

’No, it’s not that I carelessly underestimated him,’ he thought. ’It’s because Zou Feng’s current strength far surpasses what it was when he killed Li Dingjie.’

’But how much time has passed? How could he have grown this strong?!’

’Even "terrifying" isn’t enough to describe it...’

A bitter smile touched the corners of his mouth, and then Lu Guanghua’s gaze turned vicious and resolute once more.

"Die!"

With a final roar, Lu Guanghua’s Outer Body Incarnation used all its remaining power to transform into a giant sword. Filled with the determination to take Zou Feng down with him, or at least ensure Zou Feng wouldn’t have it easy even in death, it shot toward him.

Seeing this literal "Man-Sword Unity" hurtling toward him, Zou Feng’s first instinct was to use the "Iron Block" Skill to take it head-on.

But he immediately realized he couldn’t block it. Even if he did, he would definitely suffer a severe and troublesome injury.

’Run!’

’I have to stall until the sword’s power runs out!’

The "Iron Block" instantly switched to the Moon Chasing Step. With a flicker, Zou Feng vanished from his spot.

Only a series of terrifying sonic booms remained in the air; Zou Feng’s figure was no longer visible.

And just as he expected, the giant sword formed from Man-Sword Unity was able to lock onto him. It pursued him relentlessly, like a maggot clinging to bone.

Zou Feng began a mad dash around the Forbidden City.

He ran a full three laps around the Forbidden City, yet the Sword Qi’s momentum showed no signs of weakening. This secretly alarmed Zou Feng, and he finally couldn’t stop himself from vomiting a mouthful of corrupted blood.

The exertion was too great; he had ultimately suffered an internal injury.

However, Zou Feng knew he couldn’t stop. He still couldn’t afford to clash head-on with this "True Man-Sword Unity."

The consequences would be even more dire if he did.

Shoving a large handful of Elixirs into his mouth, Zou Feng had no choice but to continue stalling.

These Elixirs were originally gifts he had brought for Bian Yixia and Tian Yun, but now he had to use them for his own emergency.

’Just hold on a little longer. This sword shouldn’t be able to last much longer...’

"Zou Lang!"

An incredibly familiar voice rang out, making Zou Feng shudder.

The ground in an open area of the Imperial City suddenly split open, and a giant ship, over a hundred yards long, slowly levitated into the air.

"Zou Lang, get on the ship!"

’Sister Yun?’

Hearing that Tian Yun was indeed safe, Zou Feng was overjoyed.

Although his analysis earlier had been logical, he couldn’t help but feel tense.

Now it seemed that not only was Tian Yun fine, but she had also, just as he predicted, built a very impressive spirit ship.

At the same time, Zou Feng understood Tian Yun’s intention.

She wanted him to hide inside the spirit ship and let its defenses wear down the life-chasing sword.

Without any hesitation, Zou Feng immediately changed direction and rushed into the spirit ship.

The moment he entered, the entire spirit ship flared with brilliant light. It was clear all of its defensive systems had been activated.

RUMBLE...

The instant the giant sword touched the light, it set off a violent explosion, and the massive spirit ship rapidly began to disintegrate.

But this was a spirit ship that Tian Yun had built with the resources of an entire nation; it was not to be underestimated.

Although it seemed about to be destroyed by the sword, it still managed to weaken its power.

Zou Feng seized the opportunity, spat out another mouthful of corrupted blood, and continuously forced himself to unleash the Great Universal Hand.

A few breaths later, as the spirit ship was annihilated, the giant sword finally exhausted its remaining power and began to dissipate.

As the giant sword vanished, Lu Guanghua’s furious, unwilling roar could be faintly heard from the void.

But all of it soon faded away without a trace.

Seeing this, Zou Feng didn’t let his guard down. Instead, he quickly opened the List of Gods to check for Lu Guanghua’s name.

Only after confirming that the name had disappeared from the List of Gods did he let out a long sigh of relief.

’It’s finally over...’

"Sister Yun?"

After slowly landing on the ground, Zou Feng realized that although Tian Yun had used the spirit ship to block the sword for him, she herself had not appeared.

He then quickly darted toward the fissure from which the spirit ship had emerged and discovered an Underground Palace below.

Seeing this, he unhesitatingly performed a leap of faith and jumped down.

Soon, an extraordinarily vast Underground Palace appeared before his eyes.

’To think there’s a place like this beneath the Imperial City...’

"Zou Lang!"

At the top of the Underground Palace, Tian Yun, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, was looking at Zou Feng with tears in her eyes.

She wore a simple white dress, without any makeup, her hair simply tied in a bun with a wooden hairpin.

Compared to when he had left, Tian Yun was clearly much thinner. Fortunately, her fundamental constitution was still solid, so she’d have no problem using a technique like Thunder Escape.

For some reason, when Zou Feng saw her dressed like this, the first thought that came to his mind was "widow"...

"Sister Yun!"

Zou Feng immediately moved to embrace her, but in the next moment, he discovered that the Underground Palace was clearly enveloped by an Array barrier.

Moreover, this Array barrier was surprisingly profound, forcing him to halt his steps.

"This is..."

"Zou Lang, don’t worry. This is a protective Array left behind by the previous dynasty. Thanks to this Array, Yixia and I were able to..."

As Tian Yun explained, Zou Feng finally learned why Lu Guanghua hadn’t been able to capture the two women first.

At that time, Lu Guanghua had snuck into the Imperial City, originally planning to capture Bian Yixia without alerting anyone.

Fortunately, Bian Yixia had inexplicably sensed the danger, opened the entrance to the Underground Palace in time, and escaped inside.

Lu Guanghua naturally gave chase, but he was blocked by the Underground Palace’s Array barrier.

After several attempts, he found that he was temporarily unable to do anything about the Array.

Another important reason he was stymied was that the power of his Outer Body Incarnation was finite; every bit he used was gone for good and could not be restored.

Therefore, he certainly had to prioritize saving his Outer Body Incarnation’s strength for Zou Feng’s arrival, rather than wasting it on this Array.

The only thing that worried Zou Feng now was that although Bian Yixia had escaped from Lu Guanghua with her life, she had still been injured from a distance and was currently in a comatose state from her severe injuries.

"Sister Yun, you can’t shut down this Array manually?"

Actually, he didn’t need to ask. Zou Feng had already guessed as much. Otherwise, there was no reason for Tian Yun not to immediately deactivate the Array barrier after seeing him.

Tian Yun shook her head with a bitter smile. "I didn’t expect it either. Once the Array here is activated, it can’t be turned off!"

"During this time, I’ve searched every corner of the Underground Palace, but I still haven’t been able to find a way to shut it down. I’m afraid that once this Array is activated, we have to wait a certain amount of time before it deactivates on its own..."

’Such a design was probably intentional on the part of the previous dynasty’s Royal Family.’

’It was designed so that if the Imperial City was ever suddenly breached by enemies, they could use this Underground Palace to preserve the last of the Royal Family’s bloodline.’

’But the designer of the Underground Palace was likely worried that their descendants wouldn’t have the patience, so they had the Array block the exit.’

’They would have to hide inside for a long period. To put it bluntly, they would have to wait until the enemy’s search for them relaxed. Only then would the Array deactivate and open the passage out of the Imperial City.’

Hearing this, Zou Feng was suddenly faced with a dilemma.

Under normal circumstances, waiting a year or so would be no big deal.

The problem was, he had agreed to a one-month deadline with Huo Qishan of the Xiangrui.

Not to mention that Bian Yixia was severely injured and in urgent need of his medical treatment...