The headless corpse fell, landing squarely before Yu Xiyi, who rose with his sword and struck once more, slicing the body clean in two. Even then, the young great sword immortal’s fury did not subside. Gripping Wild Grass, he continued to swing without pause.

Before long, there was no corpse to be seen between heaven and earth, only a not-too-heavy, not-too-light rain of blood.

Letting the blood rain splatter over him, the young great sword immortal, face covered in blood, suddenly broke into tears. His whole body trembled, his gaze dazed.

Some things, no matter what one did afterward, were already a done deal.

They could do nothing to change what happened.

Yu Xiyi hovered in midair. The flying sword in his hand quivered softly. Lowering his head, he murmured, “You silly boy... weren’t you the one who valued your life the most?”

When that overwhelming pressure had descended earlier, Chen Chao was the first to sense it. If he had truly wanted to avoid it, he could have. Yet his instinctive reaction had actually been to push Yu Xiyi away first.

That damned brat, was his own life worth nothing?

You’re carrying the fate of the entire Great Liang Dynasty on your shoulders, how can you just die like that?

Tears streamed uncontrollably from Yu Xiyi’s eyes. Since this young great sword immortal had begun practicing the sword, he had never once wept, yet now he could not stop.

He lowered his head, almost afraid to look toward the deep pit carved into the mountain. In the end, he forced himself to look, but his tears blurred his vision.

“Crying for a funeral? Save those tears for when Your Father is dead.”

An extremely feeble voice rose from below. Yu Xiyi froze, then hastily wiped his tears. When his vision cleared, he saw at the pit’s edge a young man, body covered with fresh wounds, struggling to climb out.

Then, he started gasping heavily for air.

However, this young man's abdomen had such a gapping wound that even his intestines were visible.

Yun Jianyue was standing closest. He took out a small jade bottle, poured out a crystal-clear pill, and moved to feed it to Chen Chao.

But Chen Chao did not open his mouth. Staring straight at Yun Jianyue, he asked hoarsely, “Do you have a second one?”

Yun Jianyue shook his head. The pill was an extremely rare treasure of the Infatuation Daoist Temple; only a few existed within the temple.

Chen Chao gave a faint, bitter smile. “Keep it for yourself. You’re already in such a state, can a damaged Great Dao foundation be saved?”

Yun Jianyue said nothing, merely forced the pill into his mouth. Chen Chao was too weak to move right now, he could only let it happen.

The pill was indeed extraordinary. The moment it entered his mouth, it turned into a cool current that coursed through his meridians and acupoints.

Almost at once, Chen Chao felt the pain reduce greatly.

Yu Xiyi descended from the sky. As soon as he landed, he stumbled and fell onto the rubble. He didn’t care, just sat there and cursed, “Next time you’re not dead, say something earlier, damn it. Trying to con whose fucking tears?”

Chen Chao couldn’t be bothered to reply and instead asked, “How’s your injury?”

“Won't die That old ox-nose Wuyang, his cultivation’s still lacking, his attacks don't even hurt.”

When Yu Xiyi spoke, he gritted his teeth, but he truly was the least injured of the three. Although almost mortally wounded, aside from that one full-force sword strike, he hadn’t harmed much of his cultivation essence. These injuries, frankly, could be healed with some heavenly resources and time.

“By the way, damn it... who’s paying for the recovery costs this time? Your Father will make it clear first: Your Father is broke as hell, not a single coin on me.”

Yu Xiyi muttered to himself. Since Chen Chao was still alive, there was nothing left to be sad about.

......

......

Above the sky screen, the somewhat tired Great Liang Emperor rubbed his forehead. After confirming that Chen Chao was not going to die, he turned his gaze toward Daoist Wuyang.

This former Temple Master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple had once gone back and forth on the boundary of life and death, but at this moment, there was truly no possibility he could remain alive.

His vitality was draining like a river flowing downhill, and at this point, no matter who tried to save him, it would be difficult to fish him back from the gates of death.

However, Daoist Wuyang was still some distance from truly dying and his Dao dissipating.

He looked at the Great Liang Emperor who had left the human world and then returned to it, perhaps wanting to know what he had been doing during these days. After a moment of silence, he let out a long sigh, "Your Majesty is indeed unprecedented through ancient and modern times. Whether in stratagem or in talent, you surpass this penniless daoist far too much."

Failure was not frightening. What was frightening was discovering that even if you tried again, you still would have no chance of victory.

That was what left one the most helpless and afraid.

The Great Liang Emperor said indifferently, "If it were not for the fact that you have a rather good martial nephew, the Infatuation Daoist Temple would have been casually erased by Us."

Daoist Wuyang smiled slightly and asked with some curiosity, "In Your Majesty's eyes, does A'Yue surpass this penniless daoist by a great deal?"

The Great Liang Emperor did not answer this question, because to him, it was nonsense.

Daoist Wuyang asked again, "When this penniless daoist left, someone told me that since this penniless daoist had already transcended Nepenthe and become a true cultivator, I should no longer concern myself with worldly matters. And what about Your Majesty?"

The Great Liang Emperor said calmly, "We do not think your idea is wrong. But your vision is too shallow, you can only see a single mountain."

Daoist Wuyang carefully pondered the emperor's words. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, "Your Majesty cannot persuade this penniless daoist."

The Great Liang Emperor said, "We have no need to persuade you either."

Daoist Wuyang nodded. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Could Your Majesty allow this penniless daoist these last moments to say a few words to A'Yue?"

The Great Liang Emperor did not refuse.

He walked down from the sky, arriving not far from Chen Chao. Yu Xiyi quickly stood up and asked, "Your Majesty, you killed quite a few people. All of them above Nepenthe?"

The Great Liang Emperor nodded, and his attitude toward the young sword cultivator was decent. "It's not very impressive. When you one day step into that realm, it will be one sword each."

Yu Xiyi chuckled, "Then I will borrow Your Majesty's auspicious blessing."

After that, the Great Liang Emperor pressed a hand onto Yu Xiyi. A vast and overwhelming qi fell upon him, healing his external injuries. Yu Xiyi could now move freely, though it would still take some time before he fully recovered.

"Your Majesty, let me ask a question. These days you were away from the mortal world, what was it for?"

Given the Great Liang Emperor's current realm, if he had not left the mortal world and had continued sitting on the dragon throne, everything would have been far simpler.

The Great Liang Emperor thought for a moment and said, "There were some more important matters to deal with."

This answer was not very clear, but it was an answer.

Yu Xiyi asked curiously, "Then when I break through Nepenthe, can I fight alongside Your Majesty?"

The Great Liang Emperor smiled a little. "Settle the matters here first."

After saying this, the Great Liang Emperor stopped speaking.

Yun Jianyue was rather tactful. After giving a dry laugh, he walked away into the distance, saying he was going to see whether those few severed heads at the foot of the mountain still had recognizable faces. If they could be recognized, he wanted to see whether those fellows were even one-tenth as good-looking as he was.

So only the uncle and nephew remained here.

The Great Liang Emperor looked at the young man before him. After thinking for a moment, he opened his mouth and said, "Well done."

He had thrown many matters onto this kid, and in the end, the kid had done them all well. For an elder to simply toss out a casual sentence like well done was still far from enough.

So the Great Liang Emperor took out a suit of golden armor and handed it to Chen Chao, speaking on his own, "Out at sea, the original owner of this armor was Sun Fu, the fellow in the former Ning Dynasty's with the highest martial cultivation and the foulest reputation. At that time, the former Ning Dynasty spent countless years constructing this treasured armor tied to the nation's fate. Who would have thought that fellow would strut about the world in this armor, far too arrogant and overbearing."

"Perhaps because We have always been an emperor? So when We first saw him, We disliked him. So the very first person We killed was him. But this Skyglow Armor of his is not bad. You can wear it under your clothes. In critical moments, it can save your life."

This Skyglow Armor was able to withstand a strike from him, so naturally it was considered quite good. He had already repaired it on his way back and left it for Chen Chao. If Chen Chao wore it on his body, when fighting a Nepenthe cultivator, he would almost be inherently standing in an undefeatable position. After all, this was a treasure tempered over many years by a martial artist above Nepenthe. It was absolutely impossible for ordinary Nepenthe cultivators' attack methods to destroy it.

In other words, even if these Nepenthe cultivators could destroy this Skyglow Armor, by the time the opponent destroyed it, Chen Chao could already have killed them.

Chen Chao asked, "So it's like putting a turtle shell on my body?"

The Great Liang Emperor said with a smile, "You can think of it that way."

Chen Chao did not refuse. He quickly accepted the Skyglow Armor, thinking that the next time he saw Xie Nandu, he would give this Skyglow Armor to her. She was fighting in the desolate north. With this item, he would feel more at ease.

The Great Liang Emperor was someone with experience after all. From Chen Chao's eyes, he instantly saw what was going on. However, this man was also known throughout the world for his devotion to love and did not expose him. Liking a girl, and being willing to give all your good belongings to that girl, what was there to say about it?

If anything was to be blamed, it was that as the uncle, he was not capable enough, unable to give his nephew and his nephew's wife one piece each.

But thinking again, even if there were two pieces, this kid would probably still force both pieces onto the girl.

The Great Liang Emperor smiled. But speaking of devotion to love, who did he take after?

"Can you still stand? Walk with Us and talk for a bit. We do not have much time and cannot stay long."

The Great Liang Emperor looked at Chen Chao, his face full of smiles.

He had given birth to three sons, and none of them satisfied him. The one before him now was just his nephew, but was the one he was most satisfied with.

______