"City Lord!!"

Grand Commander Liang and the two other commanders were fending off the crowd, never expecting such a sudden turn of events from behind them.

They turned to see Liu Qi land a palm strike, then immediately retreat more than thirty feet, nearly reaching the edge of the stone chamber.

Seeing that Wu Lingxiao didn’t pursue him, he finally burst into wild laughter.

"Wu Lingxiao, how does a taste of the Great Cold Scripture feel?"

Before Wu Lingxiao could even respond to this, Grand Commander Liang exploded in fury.

"Liu Qi! You secretly learned the Great Cold Scripture and dared to ambush the City Lord! You deserve to die a thousand deaths!!!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he pushed off the ground, unleashing the Clear Frost and Falling Snow Palm on Liu Qi.

Shedding his previous meek and timid demeanor, Liu Qi met the attack with a palm strike of his own.

The moment their palms met, Grand Commander Liang’s expression changed drastically. As if struck by lightning, he was sent flying backward in an instant.

But Wu Lingxiao reached out, drew him back, and dissipated the force of the blow.

Even so, Grand Commander Liang had suffered serious internal injuries.

Liu Qi’s eyes narrowed at the sight.

"You’ve been hit by the Great Cold Scripture, yet you still dare to use your Inner Strength? Aren’t you afraid your meridians will rupture and you’ll die?"

"I have always treated you well. Why are you doing this?"

Wu Lingxiao spoke softly, his calmness throughout the ordeal unsettling.

Liu Qi’s brow furrowed. He vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but in his current state of overwhelming excitement, how could he possibly control himself enough to think it through?

His face was flushed with excitement as he said:

"Treated me well? You, a bastard, usurped the title of City Lord of Flying Snow City, forcing me, the true City Lord, to become your Chief Steward.

"On what grounds do you claim to have treated me well!?"

Fang Shuwen, who had been watching coolly from the sidelines, couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

’There’s more drama?’

’Just how much drama can this little Flying Snow City contain?’

’So Wu Lingxiao isn’t Wu Changzai’s biological son. Now, judging by what Liu Qi is saying... could it be that *he* is Wu Changzai’s real son? Otherwise, how could he claim to be the true master of Flying Snow City?’

As he was thinking, he glanced over at Chen Yan, who had sidled up to him at some point.

He saw Chen Yan scribbling furiously in his notebook, not even looking up.

Taking a closer look, his expression turned strange as he read the last passage written there:

"A Shocking Secret Revealed: Wu Changzai colluded with Jinghua Pavilion, secretly plotting to harm Wu Lingxiao!

"The cause: Lingxiao is not of his flesh and blood—does his true father belong to another?"

And now, he was writing:

"Wu Lingxiao appears; the heroes vying for the Seven-String Ancient Chapter are all terrified, erupting in a desperate struggle for survival.

"Suddenly, Liu Qi ambushes Lingxiao from behind. When questioned by Lingxiao, he brazenly claims to be the true master of Flying Snow City!"

When Fang Shuwen read this, he couldn’t help but point to the words ’ambushes Lingxiao from behind’.

"He clearly hit him in the Qi Sea acupoint. How is that ’from behind’?"

Chen Yan shot Fang Shuwen a look one might give an illiterate person, then ignored him and continued to stare intently at the scene.

Fang Shuwen felt that look was very similar to the one Chen Yan’s *Huoshao* gives Chen Yan.

’So, if you spend enough time together, is it inevitable that you start to become like each other?’

Meanwhile, Wu Changzai, who was still planted in the ground, looked at Liu Qi with a worried expression.

"Qi’er, are you all right?"

"All right? How could I not be? I have never felt as good as I do right now!"

Liu Qi must have been suppressing his feelings for a long time. The moment he dropped his disguise, all his emotions erupted uncontrollably, his face twisting into a mask of both laughter and tears.

"Thirty years... I’ve waited a full thirty years for this day.

"I am the rightful heir of Flying Snow City! I am Wu Changzai’s biological son, yet you, a bastard, stole the City Lord’s position from me for all these years...

"You stole my life!!

"Wu Lingxiao, you deserve to die!!!"

At this moment, the other masters, already driven to a frenzy, knew this was their last chance.

They had been fighting with desperate courage before, but none of them could say how confident they truly were.

But at this critical juncture, Liu Qi’s sudden ambush and Wu Lingxiao being struck by the Great Cold Scripture undoubtedly gave them a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Thus, their attacks grew even more ferocious!

The guards of Flying Snow City and the two remaining Commanders were completely unable to hold them back.

Eventually, the attackers found an opening and charged toward Wu Lingxiao.

One of them leaped high into the air, his single saber a blur of light as he viciously chopped down at Wu Lingxiao’s head.

"Die!!!"

Loyal to his lord, Grand Commander Liang tried to struggle to his feet to intercept the blow, but his meridians were frozen by the Great Cold Scripture’s energy, and he couldn’t even get up.

As the blade fell, Liu Qi’s eyes gleamed with excitement. But Wu Lingxiao merely sighed, flicked a single finger against the blade, and with a DING, the weapon shattered.

The residual Finger Power continued onward, striking the man between the eyebrows in an instant.

The man didn’t even have time to grunt before he was sent flying backward. He was silent upon landing.

In that instant, the entire stone chamber fell silent.

Liu Qi’s face changed dramatically.

"How is that possible? You were clearly..."

"Clearly hit by the Great Cold Scripture?"

Wu Lingxiao gave him a wooden glance.

"You thought you could harm me with an incomplete version of the Great Cold Scripture?

"That’s just wishful thinking."

His gaze swept across the room before finally landing on Fang Shuwen.

"Young brother, would you be so kind as to return the Seven-String Ancient Chapter to me?"

The moment he said this, the Jianghu people, who had been frozen in place, all turned their gazes to Fang Shuwen.

They had arrived late and had no idea that the Seven-String Ancient Chapter was now in Fang Shuwen’s possession.

Chen Yan had originally moved closer to Fang Shuwen to avoid getting splattered with blood when the fighting started.

He never expected that Fang Shuwen would turn out to be the center of this maelstrom.

He immediately began to sneak away again.

Fang Shuwen smiled faintly and took the Seven-String Ancient Chapter from his robes. To be honest, he still couldn’t see what magical allure this thing possessed that made these Jianghu people willing to risk their lives for it.

But in the next moment, he put the Seven-String Ancient Chapter back into his robes and shook his head decisively.

"No."