Three Martial Saints engaged in fierce confrontation; even though Ye Qingzhou used Infinite Heart Image to absorb most of the power of the techniques, the aftermath of the attack still shook the capital, putting the Divine Strategy Army guarding the Imperial City on high alert.

Jundu Mountain, Dragon Return Ridge.

The place where the three battled saw the entire mountain disappear, with an area of dozens of miles radius where trees toppled and houses collapsed.

Luckily, this place was remote and sparsely populated, which prevented any casualties.

Xu Lingxuan stood in front of her younger sister Xu Ningyun with a solemn expression, looking at Ye Qingzhou: "Yin Yang has not changed, vast and void, lightless and formless, shapeless and nameless, how do you know our Feather Race's secret"Taiyi Formless Scripture"?"

"Taiyi Formless?"

Xu Ningyun was lagging in realization, only now realizing how wrong she had been, and thus when she looked at Ye Qingzhou, it was as if she had seen a ghost: "Didn't your Heart Image shatter, causing both your cultivation and realm to fall?"

The two sisters now had expressions full of disbelief and uncertainty; only because 'Taiyi Formless' is the Feather Race's strongest Heart Image, and since the time of Sword Emperor Divine Feather and White Emperor Shaohao, no one has managed to achieve it.

The reason is quite simple, Taiyi represents the state of the boundless void of the universe, the initial stage of the universe, while Formless means everything is void, nothing exists, all laws are void.

To achieve such divine techniques, the mind and consciousness easily get lost in the "void," completely losing oneself, leading to a silent death.

Hence, first practicing the Heart Sword Secret Technique is necessary to anchor the mind and stabilize oneself; even so, practicing"Taiyi Formless Scripture"is a nine-deaths-and-one-life endeavor, extremely difficult to succeed.

But to forcefully practice"Taiyi Formless Scripture"without learning the Heart Sword Secret Technique is to die without any chance of survival; for thousands of years, countless Martial Arts Prodigies of the Feather Race have verified this with their own lives.

Seeing Ye Qingzhou demonstrate the first stage of Infinite Heart Image's Taiyi Formless, Xu Lingxuan and Xu Ningyun's attitudes immediately underwent a one-eighty-degree transformation.

Especially Xu Ningyun, who was just shouting to fight, now completely ignored Xu Jianming as if he never existed.

Instead, she approached Ye Qingzhou, scrutinizing him curiously: "Do you really have no royal bloodline of our Feather Kingdom?"

"???

Ye Qingzhou frowned and remained silent; he didn't have the habit of randomly recognizing ancestors, so he directly shook his head: "No, don't randomly claim relations."

Xu Ningyun was still unwilling to let go; she turned to her sister Xu Lingxuan: "Sister, does our Cyan Bird Clan have a branch with the surname Ye?"

"No."

"Huh? Then the other seven Feather Clans should have branches with the Ye surname lineage, right?"

Xu Lingxuan first smiled at Ye Qingzhou and then nodded to Xu Ningyun: "Jingtian Clan and Dihong Clan indeed have Ye surname branches."

"That's it!"

Xu Ningyun looked at Ye Qingzhou expectantly: "Isn't there a possibility that you are a branch bloodline of our Eight Great Phoenix Royal Families lost outside?"

"No, I've said don't randomly claim relations."

Ye Qingzhou rolled his eyes clearly unwilling to go along with this.

If it was back when he just transmigrated, penniless and without cultivation techniques or resources, if someone claimed relations with him, he wouldn't mind kneeling and calling them sponsor daddy.

Cultivation, after all, is nothing to be ashamed of.

But now that he has reached the Martial Saint Realm, and ascending to Martial God is only a matter of time, he certainly wouldn't want to get involved in the mess of Feather Kingdom, fighting endlessly.

Now he has resources, connections, backers, and cultivation techniques, so why join the Eight Feathers Struggle for the Throne?

Yet Xu Ningyun remained unwilling: "How about you go back and check the genealogy thoroughly? Otherwise, why would Sword Emperor teach you the Heart Sword Secret Technique, it doesn't make sense at all."

She pouted, feeling very dissatisfied, and her resentment was almost overflowing from her eyes, yet she dared not express it.

After all, Sword Emperor is the founding monarch of Feather Kingdom; also, one of the bloodline sources of the Eight Great Phoenix Royal Families, heaven and earth may be vast, but ancestors are the greatest, even if she is usually capricious, she dares not criticize her ancestors.

"Alright, Ningyun, stop messing around."

Xu Lingxuan stepped forward, carefully scrutinized Ye Qingzhou, then spoke seriously: "Sword Saint Ye, this matter is the fault of our Cyan Bird Clan, please don't take offense."

Ye Qingzhou rolled his eyes secretly criticizing internally.

If he hadn't demonstrated Martial Saint Cultivation, along with the Feather Race's strongest divine technique Taiyi Formless, Xu Lingxuan wouldn't be so easy to talk to.

As for apologizing, that's even more unlikely.

"When one goes out of their way to offer courtesy, there's surely something to be sought, speak up, what do you want from me?"

Ye Qingzhou isn't a fool and naturally saw through Xu Lingxuan's intentions.

"Our Cyan Bird Clan has already retrieved the"Heart Sword Secret Technique",but since the time of Sword Emperor and White Emperor, no one has successfully practiced"Taiyi Formless Scripture", so I hope Sword Saint Ye could generously teach us."

Xu Lingxuan spoke very directly.

"What can I gain from this?"

Ye Qingzhou didn't refuse; although the Cyan Bird Clan had just been shouting to fight him, among adults, there's no such thing as overnight grudge, as long as there's benefit, Ye Qingzhou doesn't mind doing business with them.

Xu Lingxuan smiled and said: "Sword Saint Ye, actually inside the Cyan Bird Clan, those who are dissatisfied with you are all old generations of the clan. This time's Eight Feathers Struggle for the Throne, the most hopeful contenders are Jingtian Clan and Dihong Clan, our Cyan Bird Clan had been out early. The reason for targeting you is nothing more than to ally with Jingtian Clan."

Ye Qingzhou instantly understood the meaning of this sentence: "So it's all about going after Xu Yuebing, and I just happened to be in some people's way."

"Correct."

Xu Lingxuan nodded: "Xu Yuebing and Xu Yunxi, both have been found to have Immortal Phoenix Destiny, so the elders plan to marry them into Jingtian Clan and Dihong Clan respectively, that way no matter which side wins in the contest for the throne, our Cyan Bird Clan would be in the best position. However, Xu Yuebing is smitten with you, there's no possibility of her agreeing, so..."

"Beauty is a curse..."

Ye Qingzhou muttered this, but in his heart, he was recalling the bits and pieces of his encounters with Xu Yuebing, and his mouth curled up even harder than controlling an AK.

Later, Xu Lingxuan, after successfully easing the tension between both parties, offered Ye Qingzhou quite a few terms.

But Ye Qingzhou remained noncommittal, didn't agree immediately, then suggested: "Does the ruler of Feather Kingdom have to be male?"

"Not necessarily."

Xu Lingxuan shook her head, patiently explained to Ye Qingzhou: "Sword Emperor and White Emperor were both males, but in Feather Kingdom, the strong are revered, so theoretically both men and women can participate in the contest for the throne. Throughout millennia, female monarchs have appeared, though they remain exceptions, not common occurrences."

In essence, the Feather Race's cultivation techniques are more complete, unlike Linjiang Xu Clan which predominantly comprises female Martial Artists. Males are more adept in fighting and killing, leading to most rulers in the Feather Race being male.

"The key to cultivating"Taiyi Formless Scripture"is something I'll only teach Xu Yunxi and Xu Yuebing, that way, in the Eight Feathers Struggle for the Throne, the Cyan Bird Clan might still have a chance."

Ye Qingzhou smiled indifferently.

He knew how alluring this offer was to the Cyan Bird Clan.

Xu Lingxuan was greatly tempted, and she was very confident that she could persuade the elders of the Cyan Bird Clan. After all, Immortal Phoenix Destiny benefits are for Jingtian Clan and Dihong Clan, but there's no greater advantage than having their own contender win the throne.

Yet she soon furrowed her brow, anxiously asked: "The contest is imminent, is there enough time?"

Ye Qingzhou was confident enough, so he smiled indifferently at Xu Lingxuan: "Xu Yuebing's cultivation is insufficient, lacking accumulation, aiming to become a Martial Saint in the short term is too difficult. But Xu Yunxi is different; she possesses Innate Metal Sword Qi, and her Heart Sword has already reached great success; practicing"Taiyi Formless Scripture"would be highly efficient."

During the Celestial Sword Cup competition, Ye Qingzhou had witnessed Xu Yunxi's astounding progress; in just a month, she had advanced from newly entering the Master to stepping vigorously into the Grandmaster Realm.

Her fortune flourished, unbeatable.

In some degree, Xu Yunxi was also somewhat favored by the Heavenly Dao, a celestial destiny woman.

In the blink of an eye, their relationship had shifted from one of fighting to one of mutual appreciation; Ye Qingzhou engaged in harmonious conversation with Xu Lingxuan, neither mentioned the death of Xu Jianming.

Though his headless corpse still lay on the ground with the blood not yet cooled.

But this is the world of martial arts, this is life.