This forced him to leap across the gap, throwing out his Chain Hammer to hook onto a suddenly empty section of the gallery. With a flick of his wrist, power surged through the chain, swinging him over to another corridor bridge. Another shake and the Chain Hammer rapidly retracted, once again becoming the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer.

Thankfully, Zhan Yan had swallowed his pride and invited the Mechanical Hall to help forge the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer. Otherwise, traversing this place would require extreme caution, even with his Flying Leg Light Body Skill at the Perfection level. The slightest misstep would mean a three-hundred-meter fall into Celestial Craft City.

As if triggered by an unspoken command, the entire corridor bridge Xu Yunfan was sprinting across suddenly disintegrated.

Three hundred and sixty bridge planks transformed into flying blades, assailing Xu Yunfan like a rainstorm.

Xu Yunfan’s expression remained unchanged as he spun, whirling his hammer in a circle. Amid the turbulent winds of the blow, he glimpsed Profound Iron Heavy Armor flash near a bridge pier. It was the missing Hidden Blade Pavilion Master, Bao Yan!

Bao Yan’s face held a hint of indescribable fanaticism. As he watched Xu Yunfan effortlessly block the flying blades, he realized, ’The traps here are completely useless against him.’

"What a pity you took the Celestial Craft Corridor Bridge. It renders the Thunder Fire devices I laid within Celestial Craft City completely useless. Even a master of the Blood Exchange Realm wouldn’t have been able to escape."

"You treacherous dog!"

Xu Yunfan’s gaze hardened, his expression grim. He glanced around, and only after confirming they were alone did he let out a slow breath.

"Hall Master Bao, I’ve heard that you’re past your prime. Has your strength really dropped to just the Half-Step Blood Exchange realm?"

Bao Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of surprise in them. "Don’t tell me you actually think you can defeat me? You may have reached Tendons and Bones Second Refinement Perfection, unparalleled in all of Cangzhou, but across the wider Yanbei Dao, there are many who can best you. There are even those at Third Level Perfection. There’s no need for such arrogance here."

Xu Yunfan chuckled, appearing completely unhurried.

"Hall Master Bao, you turned your back on us for the Incense and Candle Sect. Don’t tell me you’re like Zhou Yuande, hoping to worship the Incense Flame Ming Venerable and pray for eternal Longevity?"

"I am no member of the Incense and Candle Sect."

A mocking expression appeared on Bao Yan’s face. "The Incense and Candle Sect? They aren’t worthy of my submission."

"Then why are you a traitor?"

As he spoke, Xu Yunfan slung the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer onto his back. A mechanical clasp instantly activated, firmly securing the heavy hammer, which weighed nearly four hundred pounds.

He patted the Fine Steel Box he always carried on his back, the one he hadn’t even taken off in Cui Bo City.

"’Traitor?’"

Bao Yan’s face twisted into a smile of utter absurdity, his old features creasing with mockery.

"Throughout all the lands under heaven, none do not belong to the Empress. To the very shores of the earth, none are not her subjects. My loyalty has been, and always will be, singular. I serve the Empress of Great Zhou, who carries the Mandate of Heaven. How, then, can I be called a traitor?"

As he spoke, Bao Yan even made a gesture of cupping his hands in the direction of the northeast. The Black Gold Threads wrapped around his wrists glinted coldly in the twilight.

Xu Yunfan’s boot sole scraped against the floor of the corridor bridge. He glimpsed turning gears beneath a crack in the floorboards and silently took a step to the side.

The chain of his Thunderfire Hammer made a soft, metallic scraping sound. "To call slaughtering a city ’carrying out the Mandate of Heaven’... Hall Master Bao, your tongue must be hotter than a branding iron from Melt Gold Hall."

"So that’s how it is!"

Xu Yunfan understood now. He nodded slightly. "You’ve got some nerve, saying that out loud."

"Cangzhou has been chosen as the Blood Sacrifice Land. My mission is complete, and it is time for me to withdraw. However, eliminating a talent like you along the way would be a great service to Great Zhou."

At this point, Bao Yan’s tone suddenly shifted.

"Xu Yunfan, servant of the Jiang Family, originally exiled by Her Majesty to Ninggu Tower. I didn’t expect you to reappear, cross all of Wuzhou, and come to Qingzhou to find a master. How interesting. That name of yours... did you pick it yourself?"

Xu Yunfan’s heart trembled, his pupils contracting sharply. He truly hadn’t expected Bao Yan to reveal his origins in a single breath.

Seeing Xu Yunfan remain silent, a smile crept onto Bao Yan’s face.

"You thought you were well hidden? Nothing can be hidden within the borders of Great Zhou. From the day you settled in Qingzhou, the hounds of the Profound Armor Guard were already on your scent.

"Your aptitude is impressive, and I am one who appreciates talent. I can give you a chance to redeem yourself for your past crimes. Celestial Craft Cave is about to be destroyed. We have people in the other seven sects of Cangzhou, ready to coordinate from within. The fate of a sect like this can be overturned in an instant."

Xu Yunfan’s eyelids drooped, hiding his emotions. "And what method of redemption does Hall Master Bao have in mind?"

"Kill Zhan Yan and destroy Celestial Craft City. This would be a great merit. You might even receive a reward from Her Majesty, freeing you from your lowly status and granting you an official position."

"Then I am truly..."

Before he could finish, the force erupting from the arches of his feet shattered the floor tiles within a ten-foot radius.

The Fine Steel Box on his back buckled and cracked open during his charge, revealing the Dragon Swallowing Mouth of a Gilded Mace within. The power from his feet launched him forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, his figure tearing through the wind.

"My thanks, Hall Master Bao!"

A sharp glint exploded in Bao Yan’s eyes. The Black Gold Threads on his ten fingers suddenly went taut. The air within a hundred-foot radius rippled—it was the Heaven and Earth Net laid by his Hundred Refinements Silk Binding Strength!

Facing Bao Yan’s rapidly enlarging, furious face, Xu Yunfan reached back to grab the handle of the Gilded Mace. But just as he was about to, his eyes flickered. He abruptly halted his charge and whipped his head to the side, looking down at Mo Shisan who was rushing up from below.

"Be careful of that old dog’s Silk Binding Force! Stop!"

As Mo Shisan’s roar echoed from below, thirty-six beams of silver light suddenly shot up from the ground.

In mid-leap, the Mechanical Armor on his body exploded apart. Three hundred and sixty Profound Iron Armor Leaves shot through the air, attempting to sever the Celestial Silkworm Threads in front of Bao Yan.

Bao Yan looked at the stationary Xu Yunfan with some regret. The Celestial Silkworm Threads were nearly invisible to the naked eye, yet as tough as steel wire. If Xu Yunfan had charged through at his original speed, he would have been sliced into countless pieces of flesh and blood.

How could Bao Yan let Mo Shisan get his way? With a slight twitch of his fingers, he used his Hundred Refinements Silk Binding Strength to pull on the Black Gold Threads. The sharp sword on his back unsheathed itself and shot toward Mo Shisan’s flying blades.

Amidst the clang of metal on metal, the corner of Xu Yunfan’s mouth twitched. He moved again, his charge suddenly accelerating. He moved with the fury of wind and thunder, the veins on his neck bulging like pythons wrapped around a tree.

The next second, Mo Shisan’s expression turned to horror, and Bao Yan’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

The muscles all over Xu Yunfan’s body were seen vibrating at a bizarre frequency. He had actually used his Cross Training Skill to ram right through the Celestial Silkworm Threads.

At the same time, he backhanded his grip on the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer. As his vitality surged, lava-like lines on the hammer’s handle lit up, and arcs of electricity began to flicker around the hammer’s head.

The air roared, seeming to be torn apart and sucked backward. With a piercing shriek that split the sky, the Heavy Hammer descended upon Bao Yan’s head, using the ultimate killing move of the Thirty-six Cloak Hammers technique: Reversed Celestial River.

With no time to retreat, Bao Yan’s eyes widened in a furious glare. He thrust both his hands, sheathed in Profound Armor, upward and caught the descending hammer head.

BOOM!

Accompanied by a teeth-grinding shudder of bone, the ground beneath Bao Yan’s feet exploded. The entire section of the Celestial Craft Bridge Corridor couldn’t help but tremble, and gears and bridge sections were occasionally sent flying. Watching from a distance, Mo Shisan’s eye twitched.

’He had helped build this Celestial Craft Corridor Bridge with his own two hands, after all.’