Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard Xiao Ruofeng respond:

"Oh, I’m coming."

After saying this, he turned and left with the disciples from the Cangwu Sword Sect.

This left Wu Hui utterly bewildered.

When he came to his senses, he hurriedly followed. But as he passed Zhang Xuanfeng’s body, he paused. With a sigh, he hoisted the corpse onto his back.

They’d had no real friendship in the past, but having met by chance in this Earth Palace and traveled together for a time, he couldn’t bear to leave the man here alone.

...

...

A wind from an unknown source stirred Ye Wucheng’s white hair, making it flutter gently.

In his arms, he cradled a longsword in a black sheath that seemed to be made of python skin. It was clearly no ordinary item.

His gaze was calm; he paid Fang Shuwen no mind.

He simply stared at Gu Panxi’s corpse and sighed softly.

His figure flickered slightly as Sword Qi seemed to flow around him, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the body.

He knelt and patted down her body, but then he froze for a moment.

"Where’s the item?"

As the words fell, he looked up at Fang Shuwen.

Fang Shuwen was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"I’ll give it to you right now."

Ye Wucheng seemed taken aback, not expecting Fang Shuwen to be so pragmatic.

He sighed inwardly. ’A pity his pragmatism comes too late. He killed Ye Bai. Even if I wanted to let him live, it’s impossible now.’

Just as he was reaching out to take what Fang Shuwen was offering, he saw a massive palm growing closer and closer.

Ye Wucheng’s pupils contracted violently. With a turn of his feet, his body shot back more than twenty feet. But just as he regained his footing and looked up, he found that the palm, like an inescapable plague, was still descending... and it was even closer than before.

"This is impossible!!"

’I am the esteemed elder brother of the Palace Master of Sword God Palace! If I get slapped in the face by a junior in front of everyone...’

’I wouldn’t just lose my own face. If word got back to the Northern Domain, the entire Sword God Palace would be utterly disgraced.’

His footwork shifted once, twice, then again...

In that instant, Ye Wucheng used nearly every skill he had ever learned, but no matter how fast he moved or how he shifted his position, Fang Shuwen stuck to him relentlessly.

Finally, seeing that he couldn’t shake off the slap, Ye Wucheng hurriedly raised his arm to defend himself.

BANG!

Two immense forces collided.

A powerful blast of energy erupted from where their arms met, spreading outward.

The Jianghu people standing nearby could barely keep their footing. They staggered back, and some even fell right on their asses.

He was, after all, the man who had once come to the Eastern Domain to establish a sect, calling himself the Blood Demon Ancestor.

Even back then, only the Seven Sect Leaders could have suppressed him.

Fang Shuwen’s slap and his Lightweight Technique may have been beyond his expectations, but he was by no means powerless to fight back.

Ye Wucheng’s face was ashen.

"Junior... you’re courting death!!!"

In that moment, Ye Wucheng’s rage was uncontrollable.

With a SHING, the longsword flew from its sheath. His left hand blocked Fang Shuwen’s palm while his right grabbed the hilt, but in the next moment, he found he couldn’t thrust the sword forward.

It was because Fang Shuwen’s palm hadn’t stopped just because it was blocked.

The force behind it grew heavier and heavier.

A moment ago, Ye Wucheng had used his True Qi to eject the sword from its sheath. That briefest lapse in concentration allowed the palm to close to less than two inches from his face.

Ye Wucheng’s body bent under the pressure of the slap. CRACKLE CRACKLE sounds came from under his feet as the ground began to spiderweb with fissures.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the hum of sharp Sword Qi resonated all around his body.

He was already using all his strength to resist.

But the force from Fang Shuwen’s hand continued to build. Finally...

SLAP!!!!

A slap that echoed across the entire Yin-Yang Fish Platform landed squarely on Ye Wucheng’s face.

Ye Wucheng spun on the spot, sent reeling for three full circles.

He opened his mouth and, with a SPIT, spat out two molars.

Fang Shuwen clapped the dust from his hands.

"That’s for showing off."

Silence... Everyone was silent!

It wasn’t until Yu Yaoguang’s roaring laughter broke the silence that the others finally processed what had just happened.

Yu Yaoguang didn’t just laugh; she twisted the knife.

"The esteemed elder brother of the Northern Domain Sword God, the very Palace Master of the Blood Demon Palace who once wreaked havoc in our Eastern Domain, actually got slapped hard in the face by a junior."

"I can’t take it! Where are the people from Heaven-Reaching Pavilion?"

"Hurry up and write this down! Write it down!"

Her last words were purely to spite Ye Wucheng.

But to everyone’s surprise, as soon as her voice fell, a voice came from above:

"Coming, coming! I’m here, I’m here!"

Chen Yan came jogging down from the mechanical staircase.

As he walked, he pulled out a small notebook, casually licked the tip of his brush, and began to write furiously.

Even Yu Yaoguang was stunned. Chen Yan had appeared as if he were a Summoned Beast, arriving the moment he was called... ’Where did this kid pop out from?’

What she didn’t know was that after Lin Fan left through the exit, he had run right into a deeply troubled-looking Chen Yan.

Upon learning there was another entrance, Chen Yan had immediately dashed over.

And now he had arrived just in time to catch this wonderful show.

However, to Ye Wucheng, the laughter of the crowd was like a series of bone-chilling curved blades, each one stabbing him in the heart.

His mind went completely blank. When he finally came to his senses, what followed was infinite rage!

Ye Wucheng had lived his entire life in Ye Wufeng’s shadow. He was already insecure at heart, and now, this mocking laughter was like a demonic chorus, causing him to lose all reason.

HUMMM, HUMMM!!!

Streams of Sword Qi gathered around him. A potent sense of danger, like a giant hand, seemed to clutch at everyone’s throats.

Only Fang Shuwen’s gaze shifted slightly as he raised an eyebrow.

"Calm down. We have company."

But Ye Wucheng’s eyes were completely bloodshot. How could he possibly listen?

He gripped his longsword with both hands and roared:

"DIE!!!!"

Just as his longsword was about to sweep down, a loud BANG suddenly rang out!!

The wall to his side was smashed open, and a small figure flew out from within.

Of all the rotten luck, it just had to crash right into Ye Wucheng!

The two of them instantly tumbled into a heap...

A masked Swordsman casually widened the hole in the wall with a swing of his sword and stepped out.

"You think you have what it takes to hunt me down?"

Having said this, he looked up, jumped in fright, and shrank back a little. ’Where did all these people come from?’ he wondered.

Fang Shuwen paid the masked man no mind. He just looked at Ye Wucheng, whose attack had been interrupted by the small figure, and sighed with a sense of helplessness.

"Anger makes a man blind. I told you someone was coming, but you just wouldn’t listen..."