“If Your Highness the Saintess insists on intervening, then I must offend you,” the empire’s prince said, staring at Qing Wenting. He immediately nodded to the great cultivators beside him.
Several great cultivators received the signal. Each brandished their weapons and charged towards Ye Chu and the others. Seeing this, Qing Wenting wanted to block them, but she was quickly intercepted by the empire’s prince’s heaven and earth artifact.
“Saintess, your opponent is me!” The empire’s prince laughed brightly. The heaven and earth energy in his hand danced with vast and majestic power.
On Qing Wenting’s peerlessly beautiful face appeared an icy expression. Rage flickered in her beautiful eyes as she stared at the empire’s prince. The saintess crown erupted with waves of radiance, blocking the overwhelming pressure descending from the prince.
Without Qing Wenting to stop them, the other great cultivators rushed towards Ye Chu and the group. The Pang family elder stood in front of them. With his full strength, he swung his weapon to meet the attack, blocking one strike.
“Jingyun, help!” Qing Wenting, entangled by the empire’s prince and unable to free herself, could only call for Ye Jingyun’s assistance.
Ye Jingyun nodded and signalled the great cultivator beside her to help. She moved her long, slender, and graceful legs, walking to Pang Shao’s side. Looking at the empire’s prince, she said, “Your Highness, you have already obtained one heaven and earth artifact. Why be so greedy?”
The empire’s prince laughed heartily. “It is not that I am greedy. This is an opportunity. If I miss it, I will regret it for the rest of my life. To avoid regret, I can only seize it with all my effort.”
As he spoke, the empire’s prince could not help glancing at Ruoshui. The Cloud Immortal Ribbon was still tied around her slender waist. It accentuated her delicate yet resilient curves, making her figure enchanting and seductive. She was a woman of peerless grace.
“How foolish must you be to think Ye Chu obtained the Three-Yin Coloured Pattern Killing Spider? If he truly had such means, you would have all been suppressed by him long ago,” Qing Wenting scolded the empire’s prince. Her beautiful face was full of cold fury.
“I also think Your Highness makes sense. But only by seeing it with my own eyes will I be convinced. The disappearance of the Three-Yin Coloured Pattern Killing Spider was far too strange. Even if there is only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I must try,” the empire’s prince said. He danced with his heaven and earth artifact, blocking Qing Wenting and preventing her from acting. “Moreover, the Cloud Immortal Ribbon is right before my eyes. If this young lady hands it over and allows me to search Ye Chu once, I will let you all go without another word.”
Ruoshui looked at the empire’s prince. Her expression remained largely unchanged. Even in her heavy injury, that transcendent and otherworldly aura still captivated the heart, making people marvel at her beauty. “If you have the ability, come and take it.”
As Ruoshui spoke, her voice carried a trace of weakness. Clearly, her injuries were severe.
The two great cultivators from the Ye family and Pang family unleashed their power, protecting Ye Chu, Ruoshui, and the others at the centre. Their strength was vast. Each clash produced booming echoes that made the watching cultivators outside feel their scalps tingle.
Shangguan Minda looked at Ye Chu in the centre. He instructed the great cultivator beside him, “Capture that Ye Chu!”
Though the two great cultivators from the Ye family and Pang family were terrifyingly strong, surpassing the others present by a margin, under the growing number of attackers, they gradually felt the strain. Their arms trembled from the shocks, and their faces turned pale.
“Damn it!” Pang Shao cursed furiously, yet he felt helpless inside.
Ye Jingyun could not help glancing at Ye Chu. “For Wenting’s sake, I will help you once. But with only me and the two great cultivators from the Pang family, we cannot hold them off. You should just surrender.”
Ye Chu looked at Ye Jingyun. She stood tall and graceful, her long legs taut. They connected with her perky rear in a highly sensual curve. Seeing Ye Chu staring at her legs, she became furious and kicked towards him. She was extremely annoyed. A leopard cannot change its spots. Even at a time like this, he still had such thoughts.
“If it were you searching, I might consider it. But letting a man search me is too disgusting. I will never agree.”
Ye Chu naturally would not allow them to search him freely. His qi sea contained the killing spider and the black iron. If they invaded his qi sea with their power during the search, Ye Chu could not guarantee these two items would remain undiscovered.
And once discovered, only death awaited him.
“You want to die!” Ye Jingyun saw Ye Chu still staring at her legs. She gritted her teeth in anger. Her fair face flushed. She bit her lip, leaving a glistening water trace that carried an alluring sheen.
Ye Chu ignored Ye Jingyun. He turned to Ruoshui. “How is your body?”
“I need rest. Right now, I can block one or two great cultivators, but it will come at a cost,” Ruoshui said to Ye Chu. “But rest assured, if they truly dare act, I have means to make them all die.”
Seeing the cold determination in Ruoshui’s eyes and feeling her laboured breathing, Ye Chu thought to himself that even if Ruoshui truly had a method to kill them all, she would likely pay an enormous price. She might even cripple herself in the process.
After all, the injuries inflicted by the Three-Yin Coloured Pattern Killing Spider had been far too severe.
“Get lost!” Several cultivators combined their strength against the Ye family and Pang family elders. Though the two were powerful, they could not withstand the sheer numbers. One of them was struck by a dancing weapon.
A long blade sliced across the Pang family elder’s body, drawing a bloody gash. Blood gushed out, dripping onto the ground and staining it red.
The Ye family great cultivator was similarly slashed across the arm. Blood dyed his sleeve red. Both were blasted back and heavily injured.
Seeing the Pang family elder grit his teeth and prepare to strike again, Ye Chu signalled Pang Shao to stop him.
“Get lost!” Qing Wenting roared. Her saintess crown erupted with vast radiance. She tried to break free from the empire’s prince but failed.
Several great cultivators surrounded Ye Chu and Ruoshui. Their eyes blazed with greed as they stared fixedly at the Cloud Immortal Ribbon tied around Ruoshui’s waist.
“This is an item refined by a supreme being. If I obtain and refine it, the world will be mine to roam!”
Pang Shao was frantic. Looking at the great cultivators wielding deadly weapons, he knew Ye Chu and Ruoshui had no way to resist them. Ye Chu could defeat a Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator, that was true, but great cultivators belonged to an entirely different level of terror. Dealing with Ye Chu would be effortless for them. As for that goddess-like woman, in such a heavily injured state, what could she possibly do?
“Strip your clothes! Otherwise, die!” One of the cultivators following the empire’s prince roared. His eyes were cold and bloodthirsty, filled with savage intent.
Hearing this, Ye Chu’s heart surged with rage. Back in the tomb, the killing aura had nearly stripped him once. Now they wanted him to strip naked in front of everyone. Did they think he was some kind of exhibitionist?
“Hurry up! Do not make me help you!” The opposing great cultivator sneered at Ye Chu. His long blade edged forward slightly. Ye Chu’s sleeve tore, and a small cut appeared on his arm, drawing a thin line of blood.
Though it was just a minor wound, the scent of blood told Ye Chu that if he did not comply, the next strike would take his life. Unlike with Pang Shao and the others, these people held no reservations towards him.
Ruoshui wanted to step forward, but several great cultivators surrounded her.
“No one can save you. Be obedient, and we might spare your life,” the great cultivator sneered. But just as his words fell and his long blade prepared to press forward to threaten Ye Chu again, a clear clang rang out.
The sound came suddenly. Everyone turned to look. A golden bowl had smashed onto that great cultivator’s long blade. It hung precisely on the blade’s tip.