*Boom*---
The golden dragon broke through the snowy curtain with great energy, raised its head, and, with the momentum of surging from the sea, opened its jaws in mid-air and bit toward a purple ball of light.
In the pile of rubble below, countless guards and cultivators that had been seized by the blood spirits lay in pieces. Among them, a figure wearing a bamboo hat could not support herself and fell on one knee, using her sword as a crutch thrust into the ground.
Xiao Tian circled her, looking worried. *"Yu Die! There is a huge gap in cultivation between this person and you! You can't hold on..."*
"Cough--"With a cough, the bandage wrapped around Feng Yu Die's mouth and nose was stained with blood. Now that she couldn't spit out the blood, she had to force herself to swallow it.
"There was a big commotion in the east just now. Young Master Ye and Sister Pei should be done with it. If I hold on for a little while, they will arrive... Xiao Tian!!"
Xiao Tian felt happy and sad at the same time. It was a good thing that her Yu Die trusted that kid Ye so much, but that purple-clothed monk was simply out of her league.
That kid had said that Feng Yu Die could handle it.
Xiao Tian really wanted to believe him, but the current situation...
"Ha!!!"
With a roar, the purple spiritual energy suddenly expanded, and the golden dragon raised its head and let out a mournful cry."Roar--"
Zi Tiancheng, a cultivator almost at the early stage of the *Nascent Soul*, was able to block the full-out attack and, in turn, forced the golden dragon back.
Floating in the air, Zi Tiancheng gasped for air, raised his right hand, and grabbed it forcefully. A purple spiritual longsword appeared in his hand, and then, in an instant, he arrived under the golden dragon's head.
*Ding*--
The purple longsword drew a curved arc in the air that was nearly a hundred feet long and struck the golden dragon's neck. Although it only left a very shallow mark on its scales, the force still pushed the dragon back again.
"Holy Emperor Dragon Body..."
Zi Tiancheng gritted his teeth. Seeing that his attack had little effect, he changed his target and looked down at Feng Yu Die. He then spun a half circle in the air and used the air as a downward force, glaring fiercely.
Strong air waves enveloped his whole body, pressing on his tattered robe with terrifying power as he charged straight to Feng Yu Die.
*"Yu Die!! He's coming!"*
"Hiss--"
Feng Yu Die clenched her teeth as she stood up. She pulled out the sword from the ground and held it with her backhand in a spear-throwing posture.
"Get down here!!"
*Boom*--
Her right foot crushed the ground, and the gravel behind her was sent flying by the shockwave. Her sword drew a straight line of light as if aiming for the sun, and it headed toward Zi Tiancheng's chest.
His eyes widened, and he immediately activated his spiritual energy to protect himself. However, unexpectedly, Feng Yu Die's sword penetrated his protective spiritual shield as easily as a piece of paper. He moved but couldn't dodge completely.
The sword pierced his left arm.
*Swish*---
The sword cut his tendons, and his left arm was severed from the body, but this did not make Zi Tiancheng stop. Instead, he used the momentum of the blow to imitate Feng Yu Die's sword-throwing and threw the purple spiritual sword toward her with his right hand.
The golden sword soared into the sky like a beam of sunlight.
The purple spiritual sword shot out downward like a ray of moonlight.
"What?!"
Feng Yu Die didn't expect that he would also throw his sword over, and her eyes widened as she tried to dodge. Unfortunately, the speed was too fast, and she didn't have time to move at all. Zi Tiancheng's sword pierced through her shoulder, pinning her to the ground.
"Cough--"
Her back hit the ground hard and bounced back.
Feng Yu Die only had time to feel that most of her internal organs were broken. However, before she could recover, a pair of hands grabbed her neck and knocked her head to the ground.
"Hoo-hoo-hoo-" Zi Tiancheng glared at her, panting heavily. "A person with the bloodline of the Holy Emperor carries the *Mandate of Heaven* and will definitely sit on the throne in the future. You think that just because of this prediction, you can ignore the level gap between us and kill me?!"
"Tsk..."
Feng Yu Die met his gaze and clicked her tongue.
"Let me tell you, in the past thousands of years, the number of people with the Holy Emperor's blood who died at the hands of the ***Demonic*** Sect is so high that they can't be counted on one hand. The Holy Emperor left behind hundreds of descendants who passed down their heirs from generation to generation. You are just one of the passing owners of this golden dragon. Right now, the whereabouts of the *Heavenly Dao Scroll* are unknown, and it's the one who holds the Scroll that has the *Mandate of Heaven* that you, Immortal cultivators, talk about!"
"Heh!" Feng Yu Die sneered and glanced behind him. "Behind you!"
?!
Zi Tiancheng turned his head to look behind him, but there was nothing there, and the golden dragon in the sky had not yet recovered.
Seeing that he really looked back, Feng Yu Die, who was still strangled, immediately took out a dagger from her storage bag and stabbed him with all her might.
"Hiss--"
Feeling the pain in his abdomen, Zi Tiancheng became even angrier. He pulled out his sword that was nailed to Feng Yu Die's shoulder and prepared to cut her throat.
But, at this time, Feng Yu Die glanced at his left ear again and shouted. "Behind you!!"
"You think the same trick can work twice... ah---!"
Two swords penetrated his back, came out of his chest, and almost pierced Feng Yu Die's face.
Feng Yu Die's eyes widened, and she quickly turned her head.
*Ding ding*---
The two swords that penetrated Zi Tiancheng almost skimmed Feng Yu Die's left and right cheeks and pierced into the ground beside her.
"Hiss--"
Feng Yu Die took a sharp breath, but she did not stop. With a gesture, the sword she had thrown, which had flown somewhere into the stratosphere, instantly turned 180 degrees and headed downward.
Ye Anping looked at the ominous black mist emanating from Zi Tiancheng's body and frowned. "Sister, again!"
*Swish*---
The double sound of flesh piercing overlapped, and Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue, standing behind Zi Tiancheng, twisted their bodies and thrust their swords again, this time aiming for the back of his head.
However...
*Boom*--
A purple aura instantly enveloped Zi Tiancheng, and the two swords hit the purple energy shield, unable to even get close to him.
Ye Anping frowned. He held the sword with both hands, released his whole body's spiritual energy into the sword, and pressed forward with all his strength.
"Sister, don't stop!"
At the same time, he glanced at Feng Yu Die, who was lying on the ground, conveying: *Use your Nine Heavens Sword Technique to call back the sword you threw!*
Feng Yu Die returned his look: *I did it a long time ago! Let the sword fly for a while!*
"Ahhhhh---"
Zi Tiancheng shouted angrily and released his remaining spiritual energy, attempting to expel those two sneaky swords trying to kill him.
Feeling this force, a cold sweat broke out on Ye Anping's forehead.
The next moment, a golden meteor cut through the dark night, pointing straight down like a falling star and hitting Zi Tiancheng's head top directly.
Under this golden 'falling star', Zi Tiancheng's protective shield was as fragile as paper.
*Click*---
Feng Yu Die's sword was sheathed. It was sheathed by Zi Tiancheng's spine.
At the same time, Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue's swords also broke through the protective spiritual shield and pierced Zi Tiancheng's neck.
*Swish---swish*---
Once again, the sound of entering flesh resounded in unison, and Zi Tiancheng fell on the spot.
