Everyone from King Qi Manor laughed when they heard what Bi Linglong said. What kind of joke was this? Lu Xiao was King Qi Manorâs number one expert, a mid stage master rank! He was one of the best even in the capital.
Even though Bi Linglong wasnât bad for her age, she was still too young. She wasnât someone of the same level as Lu Xiao at all. To put it a bit more bluntly, any random disciple of Lu Xiaoâs would be enough to take out Bi Linglong.
Lu Xiao laughed. âIâve heard that the crown princess is smart and quick-witted. Today, I didnât expect to find out that you were even better at telling jokes.â
His smile faded as he said, âYou donât possess the qualifications to fight against me.â His tone was calm without any anger, as if he were talking about something that couldnât be simpler.
Everyone from the Eastern Palace was baffled as well. They couldnât figure out why the crown princess would make such a demand. After all, Meng Panâs cultivation was above the crown princessâ, but Lu Xiao hadnât even had to use his hands to kill him. Wasnât the crown princess just throwing her life away here?
Zu An looked at Bi Linglong with a frown. However, he didnât say anything, because he knew she wasnât the type to speak without thinking.
Sure enough, Bi Linglong stepped forward and looked coldly at Lu Xiao. âIâll only strike once with my sword. Letâs talk about qualifications if you can survive.â
After she spoke, she pointed at the flower mark between her brows, and a burst of golden light erupted from it. Then, her figure slowly rose into the air. Her meticulously combed hair completely dispersed. Her fine black hair fluttered in the wind, making her look like a goddess that had descended from the heavens to rain down punishment.
âNinth rank? Or maybe master rank?â Wei Pingyang and the others from King Qi Manor were horrified. Everyone knew only those at the ninth rank could fly like this. Could it be that the crown princess was actually at the ninth rank or higher? How was that possible?
But reality forced them to believe it, because they could feel Bi Linglongâs aura becoming more powerful. A terrifying pressure descended. The people nearest to her were already shivering uncontrollably and kneeling on the ground. Even Zu An found it a bit hard to handle with his cultivation, and he subconsciously took a few steps back.
âThe emperorâs aura?â Zu An exclaimed, looking at Bi Linglong in horror. This aura was too familiar! When the Embroidered Envoy had used the imperial decree in Brightmoon City, the emperorâs power had left him with a deep psychological shadow.
Zu An had seen the flower mark between Bi Linglongâs brows many times. Back then, he had only taken it to be some decoration. After all, many of the court beauties had similar decorations, so he hadnât thought too much about it. How could he have known that it would be a seal that hid a formidable ultimate move?
The smile on Lu Xiaoâs face instantly froze, and he could no longer remain calm. He quickly raised his hands and a transparent energy barrier appeared, surrounding him. He didnât relax at all afterward, however. He knew that he had already been targeted by that terrifying aura. Every cell in his body was telling him that the situation was incredibly dangerous.
He didnât dare to treat it lightly, so he drew on all of his cultivation. Soon afterward, seven layers of protection formed around him, as well as a sword that floated above his head. This was a magic weapon he was soulbound to, one he had pledged to live and die with.
At that moment, Bi Linglong opened her eyes. Her gaze was filled with emptiness, as if she were an empress who ruled over all. Behind her was a faintly visible golden figure.
âYour majesty!â Even though that figure was blurry, the onlookers could still vaguely make out who it was. Furthermore, with that distinctive aura, everyone from King Qi Manor finally realized what was going on.
In that instant, all of them were scared witless. The emperorâs might as the most powerful cultivator in the world was deeply embedded within their hearts. No one dared to fight against the emperor, even if they were already at the master rank.
âLinglong is so awesome! Kill them all!â the crown prince cheered excitedly. The others from the Eastern Palace also encouraged her. They no longer despaired as they had before.
It turned out that the emperor still had this trump card to play! With the emperor here, everyone else was insignificant!
Zu An was the only one who was still extremely worried. Would Bi Linglong be able to handle the power needed for such a strong move? She had only recently broken through into the sixth rank, after all!
The decrees of the Embroidered Envoy were different. Back then, they had used the intricate runes on the decree to communicate with the power of the world, and then used that to bring down the emperorâs divine will.
But Bi Linglongâs move was different. The dungeon was a world of its own, and not even the emperorâs divine will could cross worlds. As such, this had to have been something the emperor left for Bi Linglong. However, how could there not be a price to pay if the flesh were used to release such great power?
Just then, Bi Linglong finally moved. She raised the sword in her hand and gently swung it in Lu Xiaoâs direction. At the same time, the projection behind her also slashed out. A giant wave of sword ki rushed out, seemingly transcending the concept of space and time to appear in front of Lu Xiao.
The seven layers of protection Lu Xiao had set up melted like paper. Then, the sword light cleaved into the sword above his head. His sword managed to hold on for a second, and then it broke apart inch by inch.
With his soulbound sword in pieces, blood gushed out from Lu Xiaoâs mouth. His originally rosy complexion instantly became as white as snow. However, he didnât have any time to steady his breathing and instead raised his hands to try and stop the wave of sword ki.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, dust flew everywhere.
A groove several dozen meters long appeared where Lu Xiao had been. The nearby trees and rocks were all turned to powder from the attack. As for the King Qi Manor experts who were next to Lu Xiao, they directly vanished from the face of the world.
The others merely watched in horror. The power of this sword was actually that terrifying!?
Wei Pingyang and the others subconsciously backed up. Not even Lu Xiao could take this sword, so what were the rest of them supposed to do?
Just then, the golden light in the sky grew dim. Then, with a groan, a figure fell from the sky.
âLinglong!â Zu An had been watching silently the entire time. When he saw her fall, he immediately flew over to catch her. However, he immediately jumped in fright when he saw her condition.
Her hair had been a fine black a second ago, yet now, her glossy and soft hair had completely turned white. Her skin that had sparkled like jade was now dull in color. The attack just then had clearly used up a lot of her life essence.
Bi Linglong slowly opened her eyes when she heard Zu An rushed breathing. When she saw that it was Zu An who was holding her, she felt a bit more at ease. However, she remembered something and quickly asked, âAm I old and ugly now?â
Zu An shook his head. âYouâre just as pretty as before; no, youâre even prettier right now.â
Bi Linglong sighed deeply. âYou love to trick others, just as always. When he gave me this flower mark, his majesty told me that it was powerful, but I shouldnât use it unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, the lightest consequence would be to age greatly; the more serious one would be to die immediately.â
Zu An cursed inwardly. That damn emperor, why are you giving someone something with such huge side effects? Arenât you scamming them here? When he sensed the sadness in her eyes, he quickly said, âDonât worry. Even though your body is weak right now, you wonât lose your life. Youâll recover if you rest a bit.â
âWith my beauty already faded, what meaning is there left even if I recover?â Bi Linglongâs voice was quiet and sad as she touched her white hair.
Zu An knew that the more beautiful the woman, the more they cared about their looks, let alone Bi Linglong who had married into the royal family. What her appearance represented went without saying.
He consoled her with a smile. âYou donât have to feel so bad. Forget about whether or not your white hair can recover; even if it doesnât, so what? Doesnât it look pretty good? Iâll tell you the story of âThe Bride with White Hairâ next time. I really like that storyâs main character.â
Bi Linglong blushed. âWhat am I going to do with you? Your tastes are so weird.â
The others were still in shock from the power of that strike, and many of them still hadnât recovered from their daze, so they didnât notice Zu An and Bi Linglongâs interaction.
Suddenly, a voice exclaimed with a bitter laugh, âHahaha! Iâm still alive! Iâm still alive!â
Bi Linglongâs expression changed. She quickly turned to look in the direction of the sound. She saw a bloody man crawl out from the deep gorge with almost no part of his skin intact. His left arm was nowhere to be seen. However, he still wasnât dead.
âBrother Lu!â Wei Pingyang and the others from King Qi Manor all cheered.
Lu Xiao glared at Bi Linglong, his eyes filled with resentment. âWhat a pity, what a pity! Your cultivation was too low and you couldnât bring out the full power of that sword. Furthermore, this dungeon is its own world, severing your connection with the emperor. Thatâs why I survived! However, you ended up destroying my soulbound sword, and Iâll never be able to recover my severed arm. Iâll make sure to properly take my revenge for this on your body!â
Normally speaking, after the seventh rank, cultivators would obtain the power of self-regeneration. As long as key areas like the head were unharmed, they could still slowly recover. Regrowing a severed arm wasnât anything too difficult either. However, his arm had been severed by the emperorâs aura. Unless he could completely expel the emperorâs aura from his body, there was no hope for him to ever regrow that arm back.
But if he wanted to remove the emperorâs aura, who in this world had such an ability?