"Hahaha, what a rush."

"Only Senior Brother Xiao Ming can pull it off like this."

"Look at those bumpkins from Daqian, every one of them acting like their parents just died."

"Honestly, in all of Daqian, only this Xu Yang is worth looking at; the rest are trash. Without Xu Yang, what waves could they possibly stir up in the Spirit Realm?"

...

Excited laughter echoed between heaven and earth.

On the other side, the Daqian martial artists wore sullen, ashen faces.

Glaring furiously, but utterly helpless!

Even Can Sutian didn’t react at all, as if tacitly consenting—what could they possibly do?

"Damn Spirit Realm, when I make my breakthrough, I won’t let you off!"

The crowd gnashed their teeth, swearing to themselves in secret!

Xiao Ming looked down from on high at the Five Elements Heaven-Trapping Bowl, let out a cold laugh, turned in midair and vanished from sight in just a few blinks.

His appearance was only to help Spirit Realm save some face.

In his eyes, even if Xu Yang defeated Stone Jade and broke through to True Monarch, he was still not qualified to be his opponent.

The hunt was over.

The Daqian martial artists stood motionless for a long while before slowly departing, hurtling toward Cangyue Mountain.

"Mr. Ning, why don’t you come with me to Cangyue Mountain?" Yang Ziye said, looking at Ning Wuyang.

Ning Wuyang forced a bitter smile. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

At this moment, he regretted that he hadn’t managed to follow Xu Yang just now.

Now, he was the only one left outside.

Ning Wuyang pondered for a moment and said, "You go to Cangyue Mountain. I intend to venture out alone. I believe Xu Yang won’t be trapped for long."

Yang Ziye glanced at the spirit bowl, and immediately muttered resentfully, "Mr. Xu must mean a lot to you, doesn’t he?"

Even if Ning Wuyang were a fool, he’d still catch the meaning in her words. The corner of his mouth twitched: "Ziye, my master is still with Xu Yang."

"Oh."

Yang Ziye froze, instantly looking at the spirit bowl in concern.

"Hurry and go, don’t worry about me."

Ning Wuyang hesitated, then said, "Once Xu Yang escapes and we settle down, I’ll come find you."

Yang Ziye instantly beamed. "Really?"

"Really."

"Alright, I’ll wait for you."

Yang Ziye waved happily, then left.

Ning Wuyang gazed at the spirit bowl, silent for a long time, then chose a direction and left.

"Friend, you’re not going to Cangyue Mountain?"

Ning Wuyang looked back and saw it was Shi Haoting. He instantly grew wary.

Shi Haoting glanced distantly and, seeing Li Wang and the others had left, whispered, "I have no ill intentions. Back then, my War King Clan also sided with the Daqian Emperor."

"Just now, I even gave that guy a tip—it was my suggestion that he go into the ancient city."

Ning Wuyang’s pupils contracted, but he remained on guard.

Previously, he hadn’t been inside the Cyan Jade Yin Yang Pendant, so he hadn’t known about any of this.

Seeing Ning Wuyang’s vigilant expression, Shi Haoting gave a helpless smile. "You’re not going to Cangyue Mountain? Don’t tell me you really don’t get along with Can Sutian, like that guy said? That’s strange—he’s Daqian’s Crown Prince, after all..."

Ning Wuyang glanced uneasily at Stone Jade, who was silently staring at the spirit bowl beside him, hesitated, then said, "Xu Yang’s father and Can Sutian are blood brothers, but it was concealed from him from the start, using him as a chess piece. The resentment between Xu Yang and his father is basically irreconcilable."

"Uh."

Shi Haoting was dumbfounded.

Is it really that complicated?

He pondered for a bit and said, "If you don’t go to Cangyue Mountain and leave alone, once your identity’s discovered, you won’t get far!"

"To be honest, though you’re not weak, in the Spirit Realm..."

Shi Haoting spread his hands; the words left unsaid were evident.

Ning Wuyang knew he was speaking the truth.

"What are you planning to do?"

"You’re a sword cultivator, right?"

"I am."

"Let me recommend a place."

"Ten Thousand Swords Island!"

"Back in its heyday, Ten Thousand Swords Island wasn’t any weaker than the three great sacred lands or the four major clans today. Because of the Daqian Emperor, it even gained several more Celestials, its combat power at its peak. After the trouble, they refused to betray Daqian, so they were purged, and now are only a second-rate faction."

"But when it comes to the Sword Dao, Ten Thousand Swords Island is still quite something!"

"If you go, you might be given a hard time, but nothing will actually happen to you."

Ning Wuyang’s eyes flickered. He wasn’t fully convinced, but he made a note of ’Ten Thousand Swords Island’ in his heart.

He could verify its truth or falsehood after asking about it when he left.

"So what happened with the War King Clan back then?" Ning Wuyang suddenly asked.

Shi Haoting grimaced helplessly. "The War King Clan was with Daqian Emperor too, but when it was clear he was about to fail, and the world turned, we could only surrender to survive."

"Otherwise, the War King Clan today would probably be even less than Ten Thousand Swords Island, or even completely wiped from the Spirit Realm!"

Ning Wuyang’s heart churned—a history like that?

As someone born later, he couldn’t pass judgment on the rights and wrongs of the past.

"Take this. Most folks will still give my War King Clan a little face." Shi Haoting tossed over a War King Clan Token.

Ning Wuyang didn’t stand on ceremony. With his strength, if the other side really wanted to trick him or scheme, he couldn’t resist anyway.

"Thank you."

Ning Wuyang put away the token, saluted, and quickly left.

Shi Haoting turned to look at Stone Jade. "Yu, what do we do now?"

"That damn Xiao Ming, damn it, truly damn it!"

Stone Jade said softly, "You think he can get out?"

"I doubt it."

"If he could escape, I’d be shocked."

Shi Haoting curled his lips, not believing at all that Xu Yang could escape.

Stone Jade gazed deeply at the utterly unmoved spirit bowl, sighing in her heart.

"Let’s go."

"Have someone keep watch here in secret!"

"Got it."

Soon, the pair soared away.

The ancient city was also whisked away by a giant hand manifesting from the void.

In just a few hours, the place was empty and desolate.

...

Inside the spirit bowl.

Xu Yang seemed to stand beneath a dazzling, multicolored dome.

All was deathly still, everything nearly frozen—there wasn’t even a trace of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

He could only sense an intimidating power condensed in the dome and all around him.

It truly felt like a self-contained world within a bowl, utterly unbreakable!

With his own strength, even going all-out, he could hardly budge it at all.

"To break it, I’ll need absolute strength."

"But here, there’s no Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, I can’t cultivate, and I’m cut off from the outside world and Spirit River..."

Xu Yang stared solemnly at the dome, not harboring the slightest thought of giving up.

Absolutely impossible to give up!

They think this bowl can trap me?

Delusional bastards!

Shua, shua, shua!!

One by one, figures emerged from the Cyan Jade Yin Yang Pendant, each subdued in spirit by the terrifying power around them.

Gu Jun and Jian Chuan exchanged a look and both gave wry smiles.

"Even if we join forces, we can barely shake it!"

Xiao Ming didn’t exaggerate a bit!

Its terror made itself clear!

Keep in mind, back then he broke through the shackles inside here, striving for even greater transformation and managed to advance!

Now, he’s even at the True Monarch Middle Realm!

"Kid, what do you plan to do?" Gu Jun looked at Xu Yang.

Xu Yang licked his lips, withdrew his gaze from the dome, and said each word deliberately: "This place is perfectly seamless, isolated from heaven and earth. Then—I’ll break open a gap!"