For the past few days, Zhou Kai couldn’t shake the feeling that Xia Min’s gaze had grown increasingly strange.

It used to be a mix of two parts courtesy, four parts arrogance, and four parts interest. Now? Her eyes looked at him as if he were some kind of garbage. The disdain was unmistakable.

To make matters worse, Shen Hanyi was getting closer to Xia Min.

Zhou Kai had tried several times to find an excuse to invite Shen Hanyi out to investigate together. But each time, before he could finish his sentence, Xia Min would appear out of nowhere, her voice icy:

“By the Grand Miss’s order, during this period, Senior Sister Shen must keep me by her side. We are not to be separated for a single step.”

Shen Hanyi would nod, her words sparse. “Mm.”

Zhou Kai: “…”

He began to suspect Shen Hanyi had been put under some kind of bewitching spell.

“Hanyi, when did you and Junior Sister Xia become so close?” Zhou Kai finally cornered Shen Hanyi privately to ask.

Shen Hanyi flipped her pale hand, and a longsword appeared in her palm.

The blade shimmered with a faint, dusky yellow light. The hilt was ancient and desolate, yet the edge was incomparably sharp. A faint, metallic killing intent swirled around it, its divine might awe-inspiring. It was clearly no ordinary item.

“This sword is named ‘Tianque’,” Shen Hanyi gently stroked the blade, ripples appearing in her cool eyes. “A gift from Miss Li.”

Zhou Kai’s eyelids twitched.

The sword he had helped Shen Hanyi pick out at the Three Watches Market was a magic treasure, sure, but compared to this “Tianque,” it was the difference between a fire poker and a divine artifact.

What surprised him even more was that Shen Hanyi had summoned this sword directly from her dantian!

“This is already at the magic treasure grade, isn’t it? You want to refine it into your lifebound sword? That’s probably as difficult as ascending to heaven,” Zhou Kai frowned deeply.

Magic treasures possessed their own spirituality. To completely transform one into a lifebound object was a difficulty no less than reshaping one’s own bone structure.

Shen Hanyi’s gaze was resolute. “I nourish it day and night with my sword essence and supplement it with Essence Blood refinement. One day, it will truly belong to me.”

“Therefore, I promised Miss Li that during this period, I will only act together with Junior Sister Xia.”

She paused, raising her eyes to look at Zhou Kai, her gaze full of apology. “During the day, I take Junior Sister Xia around. At night, I need to focus without distraction to refine Tianque. If my husband truly… cannot bear it, then come find me.”

Zhou Kai felt like he was about to cough up a mouthful of old blood. His mouth twitched violently.

Well, well. Poaching right under my nose?

Li Youci’s methods were ruthless—digging people out from his own backyard and not even sparing the nights?

He had no idea that Li Youci’s feelings toward him were no longer simply disdain.

Every time Li Youci recalled the old stories about Zhou Kai—like the Cultivation Vessel agreement made when taking advantage of someone’s weakness, and Shen Hanyi’s forbearance in not cutting him into a thousand pieces after the Mysterious Nether Sub-Mirror incident—the trace of subtle interest she once held for him melted away like snow in summer.

It was replaced by utter contempt.

She, Li Youci, had never imagined that one day she would become an “accomplice” who aided a tyrant, delivering a sword prodigy like Shen Hanyi straight into the tiger’s mouth.

The mere thought of Zhou Kai’s various deeds caused the crack that had just begun to form in the fortress walls of her heart to seal right back up.

“The Grand Miss is short on hands. When she encounters a sword cultivator like Hanyi, who is strong, talented, and single-minded, of course she wants to befriend her,” Zhou Kai consoled himself. “Winning over Shen Hanyi is winning me over. No difference.”

He remained completely unaware that his standing in Li Youci’s mind had plummeted straight from “a somewhat interesting genius tool” to the very bottom: “a shameless, utterly detestable maggot that must be kept far away.”

For several days in a row, Zhou Kai and the others meticulously scoured the outskirts of Wangchuan City, not even sparing the rat holes. Yet they found nothing unusual.

Just as everyone was at their wits’ end—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

War drums thundered across the sky.

Immediately following, Song Tiancheng’s icy, murderous voice, amplified by Mana, spread in all directions: “By the Sect Master’s order, attack the city immediately! Not a single Demonic Path evil shall be spared!”

In an instant, the clouds were torn asunder, revealing twenty majestic warships.

Six powerful auras shot into the sky. The Aura Pressure of Golden Core Great Cultivators spread out like a tsunami—these were the six Golden Core Elders accompanying the army!

Rumble—

The warships uniformly adjusted their direction. The giant cannons at their prows began gathering spiritual light.

The six Golden Core Elders each formed hand seals. Some summoned magic treasures, their radiance dazzling for miles. Others channeled their Mana into giant palm imprints. Still others chanted incantations, summoning wind and thunder.

Their target was directly aimed at the massive city-protecting formation enveloping Wangchuan City!

“Holy smokes, they’re playing for real!” Gao Feiyang clicked his tongue in amazement, the flashy cloak on his back seeming to lose its luster in the face of such power.

Fish Baibai pressed herself tightly against Zhou Kai. Though she feared nothing under heaven, a battle of this scale was beyond her comprehension.

Zhou Kai’s heart also grew solemn. The war drums stirred one’s blood. With such a display—skipping the probing phase entirely—it was clearly a thunderous, overwhelming force meant to launch a full-scale assault.

They were giving the enemy no chance to catch their breath!

“Break the formation!” Song Tiancheng shouted fiercely, flying high into the air.

A steel ring appeared in his hand. The ring split into two, then four, finally totaling thirty-two. They whistled through the air as they attacked the formation.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—

The giant cannons on all twenty warships fired simultaneously. Twenty pillars of spiritual light, trailing long plumes of flame, tore through the air and slammed violently into the black light-net!

The attacks of the six Golden Core Elders followed right after. Magic treasures, spells—everything poured down.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Deafening roars rose and fell in an unending chain. Each impact caused the black light-net to tremble violently, sending out rippling waves. Terrifying shockwaves spread in all directions, whipping up clouds of dust that blotted out the sun.

Even Zhou Kai and the others, miles away, felt the earth tremble and their Vitality churn.

Spiritual light flashed and exploded, illuminating half the sky in a riot of colors as if doomsday had arrived.

Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes, straining his vision to see the battle situation clearly.

He could sense that although Wangchuan City’s protective formation was sturdy, under such a savage assault, it was merely holding on desperately. The light of the formation dimmed at a visible rate.

From within the city, there didn’t seem to be much of a proper counterattack. Only a few sporadic beams of light shot out, but they couldn’t even shake the warships’ protective shields before being annihilated.

“Something’s off…” Zhou Kai frowned deeply.

This resistance is far too weak, isn’t it?

Even if it wasn’t the Yin Ruins Sect’s main force, it shouldn’t be this utterly feeble. Could it be…

An absurd thought flashed through his mind.

Crack—

After enduring yet another round of saturation bombardment, the enormous black light-net finally couldn’t bear the strain. It shattered inch by inch, dissolving into a sky full of scattered light motes.

Wangchuan City’s gates were wide open!

“We did it!” Gao Feiyang excitedly pumped his fist.

However, the anticipated cheers did not come.

Song Tiancheng’s face was livid, the fury in his eyes almost erupting. He was a completely different person from the confident, commanding figure of moments before.

He stared fixedly at the wide-open city below, feeling utterly played.

“Search!” Song Tiancheng roared, his face iron-gray. “Turn Wangchuan City upside down if you have to, but find out what’s going on! Bring any living soul you find for strict interrogation! We cannot let them escape just like this!”

Li Youci signaled Zhou Kai and the others. “Come, let’s go take a look.”

Flying to the city wall, they peered down.

Wangchuan City was empty. Not a single person in sight.