Seeing their Miss Yiyi get slapped, several of her guards flew into a rage and charged murderously toward Cheng Yunsu.

A cold glint flashed in Cheng Yunsu’s eyes as the Fire Sparrow Bone True Qi in her body erupted, revealing she had already reached the Innate Fifth Layer.

And she had fused with the Star Fire Sparrow Bone, a bone of the Divine Bone Level.

Naturally, this made her stronger and more ferocious than ordinary cultivators of the same realm...

Wu Yiyi’s guards were all in the Transformation Realm, yet Cheng Yunsu effortlessly weaved between them, dodging their attacks. She spoke nonchalantly, "Wu Yiyi, didn’t you want to steal Lu Chao from me? What kind of skill is calling on your guards?"

Her words stabbed cruelly at Wu Yiyi...

Cheng Yunsu continued, retreating as she fought, "With pathetic skills like these, you think you’re worthy of loving Lu Chao?"

She was throwing Wu Yiyi’s earlier words right back at her.

Those two sentences, on top of the two slaps she had just received, combined with Cheng Yunsu’s terrifying combat strength, were like needles stabbing into Wu Yiyi’s heart, driving her into a frenzy...

"Take her down! Now!"

The guards erupted with even greater ferocity, completely surrounding Cheng Yunsu.

Their True Qi bore down on her relentlessly.

After all, the guards were in the Transformation Realm, and Cheng Yunsu wasn’t a seasoned killer like Lu Chao. She was naturally no match for Wu Yiyi’s guards.

But Cheng Yunsu remained composed...

...because a figure had suddenly flashed out from the shadows... THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

In an instant, the figure sent all of Wu Yiyi’s guards flying before landing in front of Cheng Yunsu.

It was none other than Cheng Chuming.

He turned his head to the side and asked, "Yunsu, are you alright?"

"Don’t worry, Father, I’m fine," Cheng Yunsu replied softly.

Hearing this, Cheng Chuming immediately shot a vicious glare at Wu Yiyi. His True Qi erupted as he roared, "You dare touch my daughter?"

At that moment, Cheng Chuming revealed his power: the Eighth Layer of Transformation.

After his Saint Bone Awakening, his progress had been nothing short of explosive.

Seeing this, Wu Yiyi stared death at Cheng Yunsu...

She shrieked, "You didn’t come alone! Didn’t I write in the letter that you had to come by yourself?"

To this, Cheng Yunsu replied indifferently, "I’m not an idiot. Why would I come alone? And you, Wu Yiyi, what gives you the right to threaten that my husband wouldn’t see the light of another day?"

After receiving Wu Yiyi’s letter, of course Cheng Yunsu was going to bring her father along to the meeting.

Why would she ever risk coming alone to meet the duplicitous Wu Yiyi? Why would she ever cause trouble for Lu Chao?

She had simply let her father hide in the shadows earlier to see what Wu Yiyi was planning.

She wanted to understand the true meaning behind the letter.

What she hadn’t expected was...

...that Wu Yiyi actually wanted her to give up Lu Chao. ’What a joke.’ In that instant, Cheng Yunsu understood. Wu Yiyi’s letter was utter bullshit, intended only to lure her out.

"Wu Yiyi, you didn’t actually think I’d be so frightened by your letter that I’d come running here all by myself, did you?"

At Cheng Yunsu’s second rhetorical question, the look on Wu Yiyi’s face grew even uglier.

Because that was exactly what she had thought. According to Wu Yiyi’s investigation, Cheng Yunsu was just a meek little woman hiding behind Lu Chao, plagued by all sorts of insecurities...

Wu Yiyi loved to play mind games, and she believed a woman like Cheng Yunsu would be the easiest to manipulate.

She had thought a simple scare would be enough to make Cheng Yunsu panic and come running over like a fool... but the result completely defied her expectations. Not only did Cheng Yunsu show no insecurity, she even looked at her as if she were a joke and called her boring.

’She slapped me, had her father lying in wait... I completely, utterly miscalculated.’

And especially...

...Cheng Yunsu was actually an Innate Realm cultivator, and it didn’t look like it was from a substitute Beast Bone, either. Wu Yiyi felt like she’d been played for a fool.

She had been thoroughly and completely toyed with. It was enough to drive her mad.

At this thought, Wu Yiyi snarled viciously, "Cheng Yunsu, you still can’t compare to me! My family’s power is something you could never hope to match."

’I won’t accept this! I have to beat her with my family status, my birthright!’

The words had barely left her mouth when—THUD!

A heavy footstep suddenly echoed.

A cold voice rang out from the darkness, "And pray tell, how is the young miss of my Saint Bone Su Family inferior to you?"

As the voice spoke, Wu Yiyi snapped her head around to see Su Shangmo.

The man’s face was cold as he said, "I am a guard for our Young Miss Yunsu. Even her guards are stronger than yours."

As he spoke, Su Shangmo’s sword flashed out... SHNK! SHNK! SHNK! SHNK!

In that instant, blood sprayed from Wu Yiyi’s guards as they all collapsed to the ground, dead.

Wu Yiyi froze, so terrified she collapsed onto the ground.

She raised a trembling finger and pointed at Cheng Yunsu...

...then whipped her head toward Su Shangmo. "No! The Saint Bone Su Family... you can’t possibly acknowledge this illegitimate granddaughter with a substitute Beast Bone!" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Su Shangmo tilted his head. "Who said we need to acknowledge her? It is our honor if Young Miss Yunsu is willing to return to the Saint Bone Su Family. Even if she chooses not to, I must remain her most loyal guard."

Mouth agape...

...Wu Yiyi’s mind reeled. ’Has the Saint Bone Su Family become this shameless just to welcome back Cheng Yunsu’s father?’

At this point, Su Shangmo ignored Wu Yiyi...

Instead, he turned to Cheng Yunsu and bowed respectfully. "Young Miss, what are your orders for this woman?"

Cheng Yunsu frowned at Su Shangmo but replied, "Tonight will not be peaceful. The Hundred Flames Trading Company and the Tiger Institute will likely send people to cause trouble for Miss Caicai... Just knock her out. She should prove useful later."

Hearing this, Su Shangmo immediately turned and strode toward Wu Yiyi...

She shrieked, "You—you wouldn’t dare... AAGH!"

Before she could finish speaking, Su Shangmo knocked her unconscious.

Once that was done, Su Shangmo looked back at Cheng Yunsu, his face a mask of subservience. "Young Miss, are there any further instructions?"

At that, Cheng Chuming stared at him blankly and asked, "Su Shangmo, what’s gotten into you?"

Su Shangmo had been accompanying Cheng Chuming recently, so the two had become quite familiar with each other.

But Cheng Chuming knew the attitude of the Saint Bone Su Family all too well; they were constantly scheming to infiltrate and control Dragon Flame Academy.

Just earlier today, Su Shangmo had been analyzing the pros and cons of the situation with him...

...saying that while Lu Chao had shown great strength in the first two trials, there were too many hidden risks and so on. His attitude then was nothing like this.

"You jest, Patriarch. I have always been like this," Su Shangmo replied, maintaining his respectful demeanor.

Cheng Chuming blinked. ’He’s calling me Patriarch now? Before, he only ever called me Future Patriarch.’

Cheng Yunsu, however, just smiled faintly and asked Su Shangmo softly, "What did you notice?"

Su Shangmo’s drastic change in attitude wasn’t without reason. It was, of course, because of the sudden explosion of Cheng Yunsu’s power.

At Cheng Yunsu’s question...

Su Shangmo trembled slightly and replied in a hushed voice, "Young Miss, I dare not say."

He truly didn’t dare to say it, because he couldn’t be certain, and he couldn’t bring himself to believe it.

Just now, when Cheng Yunsu had unleashed her power, Su Shangmo had sensed that the aura of her Heavenly Destiny Bone seemed to surpass even that of a Saint Bone.