Du Chuyao had reached her limit.

Her protective spiritual light flickered like a candle in a gale. Blood spilled from the corner of her lips, her delicate body went limp, and she plummeted from the clouds.

Wan Lang threw his head back and laughed maniacally.

“Hahaha! Du Chuyao, to think you’d see a day like this! Once this Young Master refines you into a top-grade Cultivation Vessel, with your Spirit Ying Sacred Body, my Fated Chances will be inexhaustible!”

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at her exquisite, well-proportioned figure. He could already see the future—his cultivation soaring, his power unrivaled.

“Damn it,” Zhou Kai cursed inwardly.

He had hoped Du Chuyao would put up more of a fight. Even if she couldn’t win, he needed her to at least cause mutual destruction to create an opening.

Now it seemed that while the Spirit Ying Sacred Body had a resounding reputation, its direct combat enhancement wasn’t as overwhelming as rumors suggested. When the chips were down, raw power was king.

He glanced at Yun Kang. The incompetent “grass bag” of a Young Sect Leader couldn’t restrain himself. Leading a few subordinates, Yun Kang abandoned the Spirit Boat to check the situation.

Zhou Kai kept his expression blank, deliberately slowing his pace to drift to the rear of the group. His mind raced, calculating his next move.

He prayed that Wan Lang would remain too blinded by triumph to notice a lowly “Bone Forging Sixth Layer” minion. If his Cicada Raiment disguise was seen through now, things would get ugly fast.

Du Chuyao crashed into the earth, kicking up a ring of dust.

Wan Lang was arrogant, but not entirely careless. After all, this was the Eldest Senior Sister of Qionghua Palace. Who knew what trump cards she had hidden at the bottom of her box?

He probed her form with his Mana from a distance several times. Then, he waited for the time it took to burn two incense sticks. Seeing Du Chuyao lying motionless, her spiritual power in chaos and her face flushed red, he finally relaxed.

Wearing a lascivious smile, he slowly approached.

“Fairy, don’t struggle. Submit to this Young Master, and I guarantee you—”

Before Wan Lang could finish, the situation flipped!

The dying Du Chuyao’s Dantian suddenly erupted with blinding radiance! Several Dharma Treasures shot out, their light piercing and peerless, rocketing straight for Wan Lang’s face!

“A deathbed struggle!” Wan Lang’s expression twisted. He shouted fiercely, surging his Mana to block.

But a look of absolute resolve flashed in Du Chuyao’s eyes.

Self-Destruction!

BOOM—!

A deafening explosion shook the heavens, sending a violent shockwave of spiritual power sweeping in all directions!

The Spirit Ying Sacred Body possessed the miraculous ability to “dot jade to connect with the divine,” nurturing Dharma Treasures within the Dantian until their spirituality and power far surpassed their peers.

Detonating several of these meticulously nurtured treasures at once unleashed a terrifying force!

Wan Lang bore the brunt of the blast. He had no time to mount a proper defense. His protective light tore apart like wet paper, and his body was flung backward, blood spraying wildly from his mouth. Deep, bone-exposing wounds marred his flesh, and his aura withered instantly.

Simultaneously, a jade hairpin artifact transformed into a stream of light, slamming viciously into the Entrapment Array’s barrier!

Crack!

A crisp sound rang out—the light curtain had been blasted open!

Yun Kang and his men, who had just disembarked and hadn’t yet reached the scene, were tossed like ragdolls by the shockwave. They tumbled head over heels, covered in dust and dirt. Those with weaker cultivation vomited blood, unable to stand.

“A chance!”

Sharp light flashed in Zhou Kai’s eyes. The Entrapment Array was breached. This was the perfect moment to escape to survival!

He reached into his robe, grabbing a Void-Piercing Talisman, ready to crush it.

But then, his gaze swept over the edge of the Spirit Boat.

He saw Wu Hongxiao lying there helplessly, her Vitality sealed, her face pale. His heart seized, and a fierce internal struggle erupted.

Save her!

Reason instantly tried to pull him back. Taking only Wu Hongxiao and using the talisman guarantees escape. But to save Du Chuyao, who is running on fumes, means facing both Wan Lang and Yun Kang’s groups…

“Screw it. I’ll gamble!”

In a split second, the hesitation vanished.

“If I save them, Qionghua Palace owes me a heavenly favor. The ROI is worth it! If I can’t save them, I can still run solo! It all depends on whether Du Chuyao has one last trick to stall Wan Lang!”

In a flash of lightning, Zhou Kai flipped his wrist. A talisman as black as ink appeared in his palm—the Unsealing Talisman Li Youci had given him.

Whoosh!

He flicked his finger. The black talisman transformed into a streak of dark light, shooting straight for Wu Hongxiao on the Spirit Boat.

Simultaneously, his voice transmission drilled into her ear: “Fellow Daoist Wu, it’s Zhou Kai! Undo the seal, grab Du Chuyao, and get to me! I’m getting us out of here!”

On the Spirit Boat, Wu Hongxiao trembled, disbelief flooding her eyes. But she was decisive. Without a second thought, she guided the talisman’s power to assault the seal on her Vitality!

Boom!

Her power returned in an instant. She kip-up’d to her feet, her figure blurring as she sprinted toward the fallen Du Chuyao.

The moment she moved, Zhou Kai exploded with power!

A low, bestial roar ripped from his throat. Vast Vitality surged like a tsunami!

His body swelled against the wind. Under the blessing of the Heavenly Scripture, he transformed in the blink of an eye into a majestic Emperor Form towering fifteen zhang high. Five-colored divine light swirled around him, guarded by five phantom emperors. His aura was majestic, domineering enough to swallow mountains and rivers!

“OPEN UP!”

Zhou Kai, now the Five Emperors True Body, roared. The Chaotic Sky Hammer in his hand flowed with Five Elements Vitality, faintly manifesting the rotation of stars!

He didn’t hesitate. His target wasn’t the strong—it was the weak.

He aimed straight for Yun Kang, who was scrambling up from the dirt in a sorry state!

The Chaotic Sky Hammer, carrying the power to shatter mountains and split peaks, tore through the air, crashing down toward Yun Kang’s head!

Yun Kang, already disoriented by the explosion, felt a deadly pressure lock onto him. He looked up, his soul nearly leaving his body in terror.

“Stop him! Quickly, stop him for this Young Master!!” he shrieked.

The two Bone Forging Grand Perfection guards beside him abandoned their pursuit of Wu Hongxiao. With strange cries, they turned back, summoning their Dharma Treasures and expanding into twelve-zhang Heavenly Demon Forms to block the strike.

BOOM—!

The collision was earth-shattering.

The two guards blocked the hammer, but the impact shattered the webs of their hands. Their Vitality churned violently, and they vomited blood, their faces twisted in horror. The ground beneath them cracked inch by inch.

They had stopped the hammer, but just barely.

Yun Kang, caught in the shockwave, rolled away in a panic. He landed hard on his backside, a warm, wet sensation spreading from his crotch accompanied by a foul smell.

On the other side, Wu Hongxiao reached Du Chuyao. She scooped her Senior Sister up and launched herself toward Zhou Kai.

“Slut! You think you can run?!”

Wan Lang, half-dead from the earlier explosion, roared hoarsely. He forced his battered body out of the ruins, his face twisted in pure, unadulterated rage.

The peerless Cultivation Vessel was practically in his mouth, and now it was flying away? How could he endure this?!

He burned his remaining Mana, transforming into a streak of light to chase them. Even heavily injured, the speed of a Golden Core cultivator far outstripped a Bone Forging body cultivator.

The distance closed rapidly. Wu Hongxiao gritted her teeth, pushing her speed to the limit, but she couldn’t shake him.

At this critical moment, Du Chuyao stirred in her arms.

A faint light flickered in her dim Jade Soul Golden Pupils.

Pfft!

Du Chuyao spat a mouthful of Essence Blood onto a jade seal that appeared in her palm. The seal absorbed the blood and flashed. Another stream of light flew from her Dantian to merge with it.

The jade seal shot out, expanding in the wind. In an instant, it became a mountain phantom dozens of zhang wide, carrying a heavy, crushing momentum as it smashed down toward the pursuing Wan Lang!

“This move again?! Break!” Wan Lang roared.

This time, he was ready. A large red cloak appeared in his hand, rolling like waves of blood.

Bang!

The mountain phantom crumbled under Wan Lang’s strike—Du Chuyao was truly spent.

Her head lolled to the side, and she fainted completely in Wu Hongxiao’s arms.

But the delay was enough. Wu Hongxiao crossed the final distance, reaching Zhou Kai.

“Yun Kang is too damn hard to kill!” Zhou Kai mentally grumbled, abandoning his assassination attempt. He forced back the guards with a swing of his hammer and shrank down, appearing beside Wu Hongxiao instantly.

“Go!”

Zhou Kai shouted. His left hand grabbed Wu Hongxiao’s arm, and his right hand crushed the Void-Piercing Talisman!

Hum—!

Spatial ripples distorted the air, wrapping around the three of them. A flash of light, and they vanished without a trace.

Leaving behind a dumbfounded, urine-soaked Yun Kang, and a furious Wan Lang stomping on the ground in a rage.

After a wave of dizziness, Zhou Kai felt solid ground beneath his feet.

They were in a dense, unfamiliar forest.

He released Wu Hongxiao and swept the area with his Divine Sense. Confirming no pursuers, he quickly retrieved several Array Flags and expertly drove them into the earth, setting up a formation to isolate their aura and conceal their presence.

Only then did he turn to look at the women.

Wu Hongxiao had laid Du Chuyao flat on the ground and was checking her injuries, her brows furrowed tightly.

Zhou Kai’s gaze fell on Du Chuyao’s clenched right hand.

There, held tightly between her fingers, was an unactivated Void-Piercing Talisman.

His heart stirred, and he let out a breath of relief. If Wan Lang had some tracking technique, they at least had one more charge to run.

At the same time, a sense of admiration rose within him.

This Senior Sister of Qionghua Palace had held onto her own ticket to survival until the very end, choosing instead to use her final strength to buy time for her Junior Sister.