Hearing the voice, Commander Yuan and Ye Xuan immediately turned their heads. A Golden Armor Guard commander had appeared in their line of sight.
Shortly after the commander’s arrival, the rhythmic sound of marching footsteps echoed in the distance. Another thousand Golden Armor Guards were approaching. These men were likely the ones searching the vicinity for Blood Princess’s whereabouts. Hearing the commotion, this commander had rushed ahead to investigate, arriving just in time to witness Commander Yuan executing the last few Golden Armor Guards. The sight left him utterly shocked.
“Oh? Isn’t that the guy from the Three-Star Main Town? You caught him,” the new commander said, noticing Ye Xuan standing behind Commander Yuan.
Both Commander Yuan and Ye Xuan’s expressions instantly soured. Commander Yuan felt a chill of despair knowing his betrayal had been discovered. Ye Xuan, on the other hand, grimaced because this new arrival had just made the situation infinitely more complicated.
From the commander’s words, it wasn’t hard to deduce that Ye Xuan was also someone the Sun family was hunting. But why would the Sun family suddenly be looking for him? Sun Hang had even tried to kill him without a second word. Had his true identity been exposed? Was Sun Hang seeking revenge? No, that didn’t make sense. If Sun Hang had discovered his identity, he wouldn’t have tried to kill him in absolute silence. He would have at least mocked Ye Xuan, sneering at his audacity for daring to fish in troubled waters by sneaking into the Sun family’s Secret Realm.
That meant there was only one reason the Sun family wanted to capture him: they believed he had taken the treasures from the cave. Their operating principle was clearly to kill a thousand by mistake rather than let one escape. Things had become incredibly thorny.
If Blood Princess took action, she would have to slaughter all one thousand of these guards. However, as a Spirit Corpse, she was just like a Body Refiner—she possessed absolutely no Spiritual Qi. It would take her a certain amount of time to kill a thousand men. While it might not take very long, it would be more than enough time to attract everyone else nearby. So, should they kill them or not?
“Huh? That’s Lord Sun Hang’s corpse! How did he die? Commander Yuan, what on earth is going on here?!” the new commander suddenly shrieked in horror. He had finally spotted Sun Hang’s body, instantly realizing the gravity of the situation. How could Sun Hang be dead? He was the future of the Sun family! Furthermore, his grandfather was Sun Juguang of the Celestial Secret Pavilion!
Commander Yuan gritted his teeth, his eyes darting back and forth as he desperately tried to concoct a reasonable explanation. After a long pause, he stammered, “Commander Wan, it’s like this…”
But before he could finish his sentence, Commander Wan suddenly screamed, “Watch out!”
He didn’t actually need Commander Wan’s warning. Commander Yuan had already sensed a bone-chilling aura abruptly welling up behind him. It was a sinister, ominous presence, as if a peerless monstrosity had just spawned at his back. Moreover, the source of the aura was shifting at breakneck speed. In the blink of an eye, it was right beside him. Fortunately, he was somewhat prepared and unleashed a dazzling burst of Spiritual Light from his entire body. But it was completely useless.
SWISH.
With a soft slicing sound, his head fell to the ground.
Blood Princess stood there, wielding her Earth-rank weapon. Combined with her monstrous physical strength and the weapon’s terrifying weight, any cultivator below the 4th Layer of the Earth Spirit Realm would find it near impossible to block her attacks. It was as if this weapon had been tailor-made for an anomalously mighty being like her.
Blood Princess striking meant that Ye Xuan had chosen to kill. Aside from slaughter, he had no other option. These people would absolutely never let him leave alive!
“Impossible! Is that Instant Movement?” Commander Wan was utterly astounded. The wilderness was wide open, and from his vantage point, he had seen Blood Princess’s trajectory crystal clear. Initially, she had been quite a distance away. Yet, in just a few flickers, she materialized beside Commander Yuan and severed his head with a single slash. Amidst his shock, the woman’s figure vanished once more. When she reappeared, she was a mere fifty meters away from him. Before he could even blink, she had closed the distance to twenty meters!
She was too fast. What on earth was her cultivation base? Or could it be that this woman was truly utilizing Instant Movement? Thankfully, he had been standing quite far away from her; had he been any closer, she would already be in melee range. Without hesitation, Commander Wan rapidly retreated while roaring a command.
“Fire the signal flares!”
BANG. BANG. BANG.
As soon as his voice fell, several signal flares shot into the sky in quick succession, exploding brilliantly above the cloud layer. At such a high altitude, they would be visible no matter how vast the Secret Realm was.
“Signal flares!”
“They found the blood-haired woman! Hurry, get over there! It’s not far from our current position.”
Sun Zhenwu and the others immediately sprinted toward the flares.
“Young Master…” Seeing the flares, Hua immediately knew that Ye Xuan might be over there.
“Signal flares…” Ye Xuan furrowed his brows deeply. He hadn’t expected the Sun family to be so well-prepared that they even carried signal flares. That meant reinforcements would arrive very soon. The chances of Blood Princess killing all these people before that happened were practically zero.
Ye Xuan frantically pondered how to handle the situation. There was only one word for a scenario like this: flee!
Although the trial period in the Secret Realm hadn’t ended yet, there was no way he could stay any longer. If he did, he would be besieged by the Sun family experts. He was well aware of the Sun family’s might. Even the Gongsun family had been annihilated by them; how could he possibly be their match? He had to leave right now while he still had the chance. The method to activate the Teleportation Array was no secret to him.
But if he fled now, what about Hua? She had gone off to train by herself. If Ye Xuan left and abandoned her here, she would undoubtedly suffer inhuman torture at their hands. If he was going to leave, he had to find her first.
With that thought in mind, Ye Xuan unleashed his Beast Soul Power. His severed meridians had already recovered after he took the Vessel Continuation Pill the day before.
A massive, twenty-zhang-long Golden Snake manifested, radiating a terrifying pressure. The Spiritual Qi inside the bodies of everyone present instantly spiraled into chaos—including the Spiritual Qi of those rushing toward their location from afar.
“What! My Beast Soul is trembling in fear! Is this the blood-haired woman’s Beast Soul?”
“Such oppressive might… could it be a Fierce Beast Soul? But I’ve never heard of anyone in the Gongsun family awakening a Fierce Beast Soul!”
The Sun family members were all thoroughly stunned.
“It’s the Young Master’s Beast Soul! Young Master, wait for me…” Hua pushed her speed to the absolute limit.
***
Ye Xuan didn’t unleash his Beast Soul Power to kill enemies; he simply wanted to attract Hua’s attention. If she sensed the suppression of his Beast Soul while making her way back, she would definitely rush straight toward him.
Just as Ye Xuan unleashed his Beast Soul, Blood Princess gripped her massive broadsword and, in a few rapid flickers, severed Commander Wan’s head. Poor Commander Wan had originally possessed a chance to escape, but the moment Ye Xuan’s Beast Soul emerged, the Spiritual Qi inside his body was thrown into disarray. Seizing the opening, Blood Princess decapitated him with a single stroke.
Afterward, she went on an absolute killing spree. Without an Earth Spirit Realm expert to lead them, this thousand-man army was nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.
“Blood Princess, there’s no need to kill them all. More people will definitely arrive soon. Take me away,” Ye Xuan’s voice echoed in her mind.
“Understood, Master.” Blood Princess immediately stopped killing and dashed back to Ye Xuan’s side. Wrapping her left arm around his waist, she scooped him up effortlessly, hoisting him into the air like one might uproot a tree.
Tucked awkwardly under Blood Princess’s armpit, Ye Xuan massaged his temples. “Couldn’t you just carry me on your back?”
“It’s fine. This is more convenient!”
Ye Xuan was rendered speechless. He thought to himself, It might be convenient for you, but it’s really not convenient for me! Oh well, he would just have to endure it for now.
With Ye Xuan firmly wedged under her left arm, Blood Princess charged forward, indiscriminately hacking down anyone in her path. Wherever she passed, the Golden Armor Guards were either decapitated or cleaved cleanly in half. The golden armor they wore offered zero resistance against the sheer sharpness of her Earth-rank weapon.
Just as she carved out a bloody path and was preparing to retreat, Hua’s voice rang out from a distance.
“Young Master… I’m coming to help you!”