Jing Zhiyuan was greatly shocked. He hadn’t even caught any movement from the Blood Princess! But she had vanished in a bizarre manner.
The next moment, a terrifying evil aura surged from his back. The Blood Princess had appeared right behind him.
She clearly didn’t know how to use a sword. Wielding it like a saber, she brought the heavy blade down squarely at Jing Zhiyuan’s head.
"Behind me? How did she do that?" Jing Zhiyuan exclaimed while frantically deploying his Spiritual Qi to defend himself.
BOOM.
With a muffled bang, Spiritual Qi scattered in all directions. Even though Jing Zhiyuan had released his Spiritual Qi with all his might, a hideous wound still appeared on his shoulder. A sword was now embedded deep in his flesh.
The Blood Princess’s strength was naturally immense, and the sword was additionally forged with Profound Weight Stone. Against such tremendous force, even Jing Zhiyuan was injured despite resisting with everything he had. In fact, if he hadn’t sensed the evil aura and shifted his body a few centimeters just now, the sword wouldn’t have struck his shoulder—it would have cleaved his head in two!
He wondered, "Is this an Earth-tier mid-grade weapon?" Otherwise, how could it pierce his skin so easily? He possessed a cultivation base at the 4th Layer of the Earth Spirit Realm. With this level of cultivation, few in the Gongsun Family could match him. This was also why the Gongsun Family was so courteous to him.
"Die. You must die," he growled.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Jing Zhiyuan immediately launched a counterattack at the Blood Princess. But her body vanished once again without the slightest warning.
Fortunately, the evil aura appeared above his head once more. Jing Zhiyuan dared not be careless. He stomped his feet and quickly retreated into the distance.
Yet even as he was still moving, the Blood Princess’s body reappeared right in front of him. The heavy blade in her hands slashed directly toward his neck.
"Impossible. How could she be so fast? It’s like Instant Movement!" Jing Zhiyuan was beyond astonished, but he couldn’t block it at all.
The strike shattered his Protective Spiritual Qi and slashed into his neck, instantly opening a gruesome gash across his throat.
But unfortunately for her, it was ultimately just an Earth-tier low-grade weapon. The only reason it could harm Jing Zhiyuan was because it was enhanced with Profound Weight Stone, combined with the Blood Princess’s Body Refining that made her physique like a supreme treasure, granting her astonishing strength. The combination of these two factors allowed her to easily wound him.
At this moment, without the slightest hesitation, Jing Zhiyuan unleashed his Beast Soul Power.
The Blood Princess’s body had vanished yet again, and the evil aura surged from behind him. With no time to mount an attack, Jing Zhiyuan could only defend passively.
CLANG!
After utilizing his Beast Soul Power, his defense was visibly enhanced. The heavy sword clashed against his Spiritual Qi, sending a shower of sparks flying. Surprisingly, it failed to shatter his Spiritual Qi upon impact, resulting in a deadlock instead.
Seizing this opportunity, Jing Zhiyuan unleashed a Martial Technique. "Great Withered Palm! Die!"
However, just as he was about to strike, the Blood Princess vanished completely. Ye Xuan had told her that if she couldn’t kill Jing Zhiyuan within three strikes, she had to retreat. She had already attacked three times. It was time to go.
The Blood Princess had been gone for quite a while, yet Jing Zhiyuan maintained a vigilant expression until there was absolutely no trace of evil aura left in the courtyard. Only then did he heave a heavy sigh of relief.
He turned his head to glance at Sun Hang, who had died with his eyes wide open. His expression instantly became exceedingly grim.
"He’s dead... Young Master Hang is dead," the shop assistant’s voice rang out, his body trembling uncontrollably in fear.
Jing Zhiyuan suddenly raised his hand, seemingly intending to kill the assistant to silence him. But then, he lowered it. "Whether he is truly dead or not remains to be seen."
With those words, Jing Zhiyuan picked up the severed head from the ground. The head, its eyes still wide open in death, retained a faint trace of warmth.
Holding the head in his left hand, Jing Zhiyuan wielded a long needle threaded with a golden silk thread in his right. The next moment, the long needle traced a bright trail of light through the air. Using the golden thread as a guide, he began sewing Sun Hang’s neck back onto his body.
Before stitching, he dropped an Elixir down the severed throat. Jing Zhiyuan’s hands moved with incredible speed. In just a few breaths, the neck was completely sutured.
Supporting Sun Hang’s head with his hands, he fed him another Elixir. This Elixir was primarily used to stimulate the mind and restore consciousness.
"Don’t die. I hope it’s still not too late. Regain consciousness. Quickly, regain your consciousness," Jing Zhiyuan muttered, praying silently while continuously channeling Spiritual Qi into the body.
He knew that Sun Hang’s physical body wasn’t dead yet. His heart was still beating. However, when one was decapitated, the greatest fear wasn’t the heart stopping, but brain death. Once brain death occurred, even if the bodily organs hadn’t failed, the person was truly gone.
He didn’t know if he was in time, but he had to try regardless. The woman from earlier had struck with blinding speed, but precisely because it was so fast, he still had a narrow window of time to save Sun Hang.
Meanwhile, inside the Beast Vehicle.
Ye Xuan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. He sensed the presence of an evil aura beside him.
"You’re back? How did it go?"
"Master, I’m sorry. I couldn’t kill that old man. But I decapitated that young man with a single strike."
"I understand. Come, have some blood."
"Thank you, Master! Master is the best!" Without any hesitation, the Blood Princess bit down on Ye Xuan’s arm.
Half an hour later, at the Gongsun Family residence.
Ye Xuan had returned to the Lingxuan Courtyard. Upon arriving, he immediately sought out Gongsun Yanran and asked, "Mother, does the Sun Family hold a very high status in Dapeng City?"
Gongsun Yanran was slightly taken aback but still answered, "Indeed. Even our Gongsun Family has to show a degree of deference to the Sun Family."
Ye Xuan asked again, "Is the Sun Family’s strength very formidable?"
"They are strong, but definitely not stronger than our Gongsun Family. Why do you ask about them? Did you encounter someone from the Sun Family when you went out this time?"
Ye Xuan pondered for a moment before saying, "Mother, I’ll tell you the truth. I killed Sun Hang."
Gongsun Yanran had been watering the flowers. The watering can slipped from her grasp and clattered to the ground. She turned her head and exclaimed in shock, "What did you say? Who did you kill?"
"Sun Hang."
"Is this... true? But that’s impossible! Sun Hang’s strength is even a bit higher than Gongsun Po’s. You were able to kill him? Xuan’Er, you mustn’t joke about such things."
"Mother, I’m not joking." Ye Xuan’s expression was entirely serious.
"You..." Gongsun Yanran furrowed her brows, finally realizing the gravity of the situation. She continued, "Why?"
"Because he insulted you right to my face."
Gongsun Yanran didn’t ask what he had said—that would show a severe lack of emotional intelligence on her part. Nor did she blame Ye Xuan for killing a man simply because he had insulted her. On the contrary, she felt deeply touched.
After a good while, she asked, "Other than you, who else knows that you killed him?"
"Jing Zhiyuan."
"Elder Jing! This is bad. I’m afraid the Sun Family already knows that you killed Sun Hang. You’ve really stirred up a hornet’s nest. If you had killed anyone else from the Sun Family, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But why did it have to be Sun Hang? Not only is he Elder Jing’s personal disciple, but his grandfather is also a member of the Celestial Secret Pavilion."
"Mother, is the Celestial Secret Pavilion very strong?"
"Of course. Our Gongsun Family’s Clan Protection Grand Array was set up by the Abnormal Warriors of the Celestial Secret Pavilion, and the Spirit Gathering Array covering the entirety of Dapeng City was inscribed by them as well. No, I must go find your eldest uncle. Xuan’Er, don’t worry too much. As long as your mother is here, absolutely no one will be able to hurt you. Ultimately, this city belongs to the Gongsun Family, not the Sun Family."
With that, Gongsun Yanran left the Lingxuan Courtyard.