The soldiers wielding heavy crossbows seemed to have fallen into some strange Illusion Realm. They stood there, stunned, their gazes vacant!

Meanwhile, the unaffected members of the caravan could only stare, dumbfounded and horrified, at the girl dancing with her sword. Though she was dressed in coarse clothes, at that moment, no one would have questioned it if someone claimed Fengling was a celestial maiden.

Just then, an enraged roar echoed from the distance, the sound seeming to pierce the very heavens!

The roar instantly snapped the soldiers and the young man out of their stupor. Fengling’s expression changed dramatically. Her swordsmanship shifted in a flash, and in the next instant, she had unleashed dozens of strikes, killing the young man and all the soldiers!

She gave Boss Wang one last deep look, then pushed off the ground with her toes and flew away.

In the distance, a man in yellow robes shot forward like a bolt of lightning, chasing after Fengling. He roared as he ran, "You wretched woman, get back here!"

Fengling’s movements were light and agile. In a flash, she vanished into the distance like a wisp of smoke. The yellow-robed, middle-aged man disappeared right after her.

Boss Wang, his face pale, slapped his own cheeks. Just then, another large group of people arrived. One of them, a man who looked like a high-ranking official, spotted the young man lying dead on the ground. He instantly threw himself upon the body and burst into tears.

"My son! What a terrible death!" he wailed. Lifting his head, his face streaked with tears, he roared with bloodshot eyes, "Seize every last one of them!"

Just then, the yellow-robed man returned, fuming. The moment the official saw him, he cried out, "Master Yu Guang, did you manage to kill that woman?"

Yu Guang looked embarrassed. He had been injured by Tiger and hadn’t fully recovered, which was why he had failed to catch that slippery girl. At the question, he blushed faintly and said, "Don’t worry. She won’t get away!"

Inside the great city of the Southern King’s base, in the council hall, the Southern King was seated at the head. Flanking him were many people of all ages, dressed in a variety of attire.

The Southern King spoke in a grave voice, "Elder Peng, Ling Xiao grows ever more powerful. It won’t be long, I fear, before he interferes with our grand ambitions."

Elder Peng mulled it over for a moment, then turned to an old man in the seat of honor to his left and asked respectfully, "Master Yu, what are your thoughts?"

The old man had white hair but the face of a child, his skin as smooth and delicate as a baby’s. His eyes, though his lids drooped, were sharp and bright. "I only care about one thing," he said, "whether that Ling Xiao truly possesses the Ancient Elixir Secret Recipe, just as the Second Prince claimed. As for sword skills and such, I couldn’t care less. This old man has already reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship. Even if he has a Divine Sword Skill, it means nothing to me."

The Southern King nodded emphatically. "Master Yu, how would I dare deceive you? Ling Xiao most certainly has a divine-grade Alchemy Secret Manual! Last year, he was a penniless nobody, just a Celestial Vein Master. In a single year, he’s suddenly accomplished so many earth-shattering feats. And why do you think my father, the Emperor, now dares to ignore both me and the Crown Prince? Hmph. It’s because... the poison afflicting him was cured by that brat!"

After listening, the old man known as Master Yu said coolly, "Very well. The Sword Emperor you spoke of—leave him to me. I hear your father, the Emperor, has bestowed another title upon the Ling Family? I suspect he’s also after that Alchemy Secret Manual. You wish to usurp your father’s throne... If I can obtain that item, hmmm... I wouldn’t mind lending you a hand."

Hearing this, Li Wutong stood and gave the old man a deep bow. "Wu Tong... is deeply grateful, Master Yu!"

Just then, a voice announced a visitor from outside. The yellow-robed, middle-aged man then entered. Ignoring everyone else, he went straight to Master Yu and said, "Master, I saw that wretched girl who killed our Disciples!"

"And where is she?" Master Yu asked coolly.

The yellow-robed man didn’t dare to hide the truth and sheepishly recounted what had happened.

"Useless trash!" Master Yu shot the yellow-robed man a cold glare. ’Can’t even catch a little girl. What good are you?’

When Li Wutong heard that the girl had killed a dozen more of his men, as well as the son of one of his Senior Staff Officers, his face turned livid with rage. ’Ling Xiao,’ he thought, ’even if I don’t come after you, I’m afraid you won’t let me off the hook!’

’So be it. My father, the Emperor, has clearly gone senile. He actually made your father a First-grade Duke. If this goes on, is he going to make him a Prince, the same rank as me? And he made you, a little whelp who still smells of his mother’s milk, a Marquis! He even doubled your territory... My dear father Emperor, you truly are willing to spare no expense! I can’t wait for Ling Xiao to reject you! Now that I’ve finally established a connection with this hidden clan, the Crown Prince, the Emperor... you can all get out of my way!’

’This world... will be mine, Li Wutong’s!’

Fengling came to the Southern King’s base alone. She couldn’t have cared less about the others in the caravan, but Boss Wang had been kind to her. She couldn’t abandon him. And so, Fengling came.

Boss Wang dabbed at the moisture in his eyes. He looked at the silent members of his caravan, then glanced back at the towering city and sighed. "Let’s go."

Everyone in the caravan felt as if they were waking from a nightmare. They had thought they were cast into an abyss, never to see the light of day again. But they never expected that young girl to actually come back and trade her own life for theirs.

Fengling was bound tightly with soaked Magic Beast Tendons, but she stood proudly before Li Wutong. The Senior Staff Officer whose son she had killed stared at her with bloodshot eyes, looking as if he wanted to devour her flesh and drink her blood.

"Why did you kill our people?" Li Wutong asked.

"They deserved to die," Fengling said, a trace of contempt on her face. "If you’re going to kill me, then do it. You’re a Prince, after all. Don’t make a girl like me look down on you."