These days, people could be heard repeating Ye Xuan’s words in every street and alley. Children adopted his phrases as their catchphrases, while frustrated, unfulfilled elders looked up at the sky and bellowed.
"These are timeless quotes, maxims to be passed down through the ages!"
"We of this generation must forge ahead through hardships and never slack off."
At this moment, everyone in the world who was silently striving and enduring hardships had made Ye Xuan their idol. His words were simply too philosophical, and their impact was profound. Many cheered for him in their hearts.
"Ye Xuan, even though I know you’re doomed to die, why do I still want you to live so badly!"
"Ye Xuan, you must survive. If someone like you dies, what hope is left for the rest of us? In this world, is it truly impossible to defy the strong? Can a peerless hero really never emerge from a weak family? If you can truly create miracles time and time again, then this time, you must survive."
The more people learned about Ye Xuan’s story, the more they admired him from the bottom of their hearts. Even those who had already listened to *Ye Xuan’s Record* countless times would stop to listen whenever someone told it again. It was as if his story contained an unknown power that planted a seed in their hearts—a seed called relentless self-improvement.
All these stories had been spread by Man Tian. Despite spending only two days with the Ye Family, he had managed to uncover almost everything about Ye Xuan’s past.
Who knew whose mouth was so quick? Especially regarding Liu Ruoxi’s story—who had told Man Tian? Was it Ye Ling’Er? Among the Ye Family, only Ye Ling’Er and her mother knew what had happened at the Liu Family’s residence that day. It was highly likely that Ye Ling’Er had been the one to tip Man Tian off, as she had never liked Liu Ruoxi.
Of course, the story of Liu Ruoxi serving as Ye Xuan’s servant was not spread.
Meanwhile, in Chasing Moon City.
Compared to the bustling liveliness elsewhere, Chasing Moon City had its doors tightly shut. Not a single pedestrian could be seen on the streets. From the direction of the City Lord’s Mansion came earth-shattering noises. The Battle for the City in Chasing Moon City had already reached its final, decisive stage.
This was because the main courtyard’s barrier had been broken.
"Impossible! How could the barrier break?!" the members of the Liu Family exclaimed in shock.
The Liu Family’s barrier had also been set up by the Celestial Secret Pavilion, and its grade was no weaker than that of the Gongsun Family. However, there was no one from the Celestial Secret Pavilion among those attacking the Liu Family. How did these people manage to break the Guardian Array?
"Hahaha! Liu Family, you didn’t expect the barrier to break, did you? Haven’t you realized that your Guardian Array is exactly the same as the Gongsun Family’s? There’s absolutely no difference!"
"You... you consulted the people from Hero City?" The members of the Liu Family quickly understood.
The array had been broken because, during the Battle for the City in Dapeng City, Sun Juguang of the Sun Family had dismantled the array in front of everyone. Sun Juguang wasn’t particularly familiar with arrays. His steps to break it weren’t obscure, and his movements had been very slow. The observing families had watched his every step closely. It was clear that the major families of Chasing Moon City had come prepared; they had long been ready for the start of the Battle for the City.
"Hmph, even so, how could you be a match for our Liu Family? Today, all of you must die!"
"Liu Family, you’re too arrogant. Since we anticipated the Battle for the City, did you really think we wouldn’t hire experts in advance?"
Several hidden experts suddenly struck. Shockingly, their auras revealed cultivation at the 5th Layer of the Earth Spirit Realm. It was obvious that after the Battle for the City erupted in Dapeng City, these families had already begun secretly recruiting Loose Cultivator experts.
"You’re the bandit leader, Cao Dahua!" a Liu Family Elder exclaimed, having recognized the identity of one of the attackers.
He was a notorious bandit. A hundred and fifty years ago, the Liu Family had lost many lives attempting to wipe out his group, including four Elders. In that battle, although they had destroyed the bandit stronghold, the leader, Cao Dahua, had managed to escape with severe injuries and subsequently vanished without a trace. They all assumed he had died of old age. To their surprise, not only was he still alive, but his cultivation had even advanced.
"That’s right, it’s me! Liu Family, you annihilated my hundred thousand bandits. Today, I’ll slaughter your entire clan!"
The battle reached a fever pitch. The Liu Family began suffering heavy casualties.
"Report! The Third Elder, Fourth Elder, Eighth Elder, and Ninth Elder have all been killed in action!"
"Report! The Supreme Elder has been severely injured!"
Just one day later, the Liu Family could no longer hold on.
"Where is Liu Zhengyuan? Hurry and lead the younger generation to retreat!"
"Understood!"
Liu Zhengyuan ran toward the rear, shouting as he went. "Everyone whose name I call, follow me immediately! Liu Yan, Liu Ruoxi, Liu Xiangyu, Liu Tang, Liu Xiahui..."
As Liu Zhengyuan finished speaking, Liu Ruoxi, clad in red with slightly disheveled hair, kept shaking her head. Gritting her teeth, she yelled, "Father, you’re telling us to leave... Does this mean our Liu Family is going to lose?"
"Yes, we can’t hold them off anymore."
"Impossible! How could our Liu Family fail to hold the line? I’ll kill them... I’ll kill them all!"
Liu Ruoxi was frantic. She unleashed her Beast Soul once more, determined to slaughter the enemy. She had to kill them all. She simply couldn’t accept the reality of the Liu Family’s defeat. If the Liu Family failed to defend the city just like the Gongsun Family had, her status would plummet from the young lady of the City Lord’s Mansion to a mere village girl. She couldn’t stomach such a massive fall from grace.
At this moment, Liu Ruoxi finally seemed to understand what the members of the Gongsun Family had felt back then. Had Ye Xuan felt the same way as she did now?
Wait... why was she thinking about Ye Xuan?
"Stop this nonsense! Hurry up and leave! Every second you waste costs everyone their lives!"
"Father, the Liu Family won’t fall! We will definitely win! This city will still be called Chasing Moon City, and its master will still be the Liu Family!"
"Ruoxi, I’ll be honest with you. The Liu Family is destined to lose. No one can save us."
"No one can save us?"
Liu Ruoxi wanted to say more, but a deafening BOOM echoed through the air. An Elder had detonated his own body.
The massive explosion finally jolted Liu Ruoxi awake. Gritting her teeth, she was just about to flee when a white crane suddenly flew over from the horizon.
Sitting on the white crane was a young man. His eyes were profound, as mysterious and magnificent as the starry sky. In his left hand, he held a sword, while his right hand casually toyed with a lock of hair by his face. As the breeze blew, his hair fluttered in the wind. The young man looked like a man who had walked straight out of a painting.
Upon reaching the airspace above the main courtyard, the young man stood up.
"It seems I’ve arrived at just the right time."
As his voice faded, the young man leaped off the crane’s back. Suddenly, his body radiated a brilliant golden light that grew increasingly intense as he plummeted. He shone like the midday sun, so dazzling that no one dared to look directly at him.
Falling from hundreds of meters in the air, he crashed heavily into the ground like a meteor.
BOOM!
The earth shattered, sending spiderweb-like cracks spreading outward in all directions. Wielding his longsword and glowing with golden light, the young man stood blocking the enemies in front of the Liu Family.
In his left hand, he held a severed head. It belonged to none other than the fierce bandit, Cao Dahua—the very man who had forced the Liu Family Grand Elder into a constant retreat and driven two Elders to self-detonation.
GASP!
As soon as the young man appeared, everyone present sucked in a cold breath, their fighting coming to an instinctive halt.
"A Lord from a Three-Star City!" someone exclaimed in shock.
They didn’t recognize the young man. However, embroidered on his luxurious long robe was a golden Howling Cat.
And above the Howling Cat were three stars.