Chu Xingchen's eyes lowered slightly. The violent spiritual energy before him was brought under control, condensing almost entirely as it focused solely on the old monk directly ahead.
Yun Chuan, merely by facing that faint trace of Dao resonance, felt his entire body break out in goosebumps.
He had not even had time to process what was happening.
The next moment.
A streak of blood-qi light surged forward.
Li Xingtian did not hesitate. As if by pure instinct, the blood qi in his spiritual treasure long blade raged as he pressed his attack toward the old monk.
There was no exchange of words. His strike came only slightly after his master's.
The old monk unfurled the Ten Thousand Buddha Golden Illumination.
But the azure light pierced straight through, shattering his barrier without the slightest regard for reason.
Li Xingtian could naturally sense the old monk's terrifying cultivation. But he did not retreat.
When his master drew his sword, he followed.
Regardless of who the opponent was, that was not something he needed to think about. Nor was it cause for hesitation.
Whether it was for his master or for Third Junior Sister, he would not take a single step back. He would never cling to life or fear death.
The blood qi solidified, radiating an aura like that of hell itself.
Li Xingtian seized the opening created when his master shattered the barrier, unleashing a blade imbued with the purest blood qi.
The old monk's eyes widened. He felt the absolute purity of this blood qi.
But as a Buddha realm cultivator, he could naturally handle it. His right arm wrapped in golden light transformed into a faintly translucent golden Buddha hand as he caught the blade barehanded.
Li Xingtian's strike carried tremendous force. Though it was a hasty blow, it bore the shadow of a true divine ability.
Buddhist light had a natural suppression effect on blood qi. Combined with the gap in cultivation realms...
The old monk felt that using his hand would suffice.
The golden Buddha hand met Li Xingtian's blood-qi blade. But the instant they made contact, something felt wrong.
This blood qi... was not suppressed by Buddhist light. It could even rebound against the power of Buddha.
The blood qi contained none of the impure, lowbrow elements typical of scattered evil cultivators. It was extraordinarily pure.
Pure to the point of being... positively righteous and luminous.
Li Xingtian's aura surged as he pressed down, forcing the golden Buddha hand back slightly.
The old monk was about to speak when his gaze shifted again.
A long sword radiating righteous qi arrived in the blink of an eye.
Lin Luoyu, at the Golden Core realm, had followed up the instant Li Xingtian made his move.
The righteous qi crashed directly into the Buddhist light, as if trying to shatter it apart.
Lin Luoyu's eyes were cold and clear. Gripping her spiritual treasure sword, she delivered a single slash at the old monk.
Sword intent surged, a divine ability crystalized in its execution, brimming with righteous conviction.
The old monk raised his other hand to block this strike. His gaze swept left and right.
A blood-qi cultivator and a righteous-qi cultivator, attacking him in unison.
Two types of power that should have been fundamentally incompatible, now fighting side by side.
The world had truly moved in a direction he could no longer recognize.
"Stand back!"
Chu Xingchen barked coldly.
Lin Luoyu and Li Xingtian both instantly pulled back.
The azure light reappeared.
One was Golden Core, one was Nascent Soul. Relying on his higher cultivation, the old monk could naturally withstand them through brute force.
Though Chu Xingchen was only at the Perfected Integration realm and had not yet reached Mahayana, the force behind his strikes exceeded what even most Mahayana cultivators could achieve.
Moreover, Chu Xingchen wielded Wanban.
The old monk met the attack again, raising his golden Buddha hand to block. But this time, he could not stop the azure light.
The sword formed by Wanban pierced through the golden Buddha hand, shattering the old monk's right shoulder blade. Drops of pale golden blood sprayed into the air.
Li Xingtian and Lin Luoyu moved to press the attack again, but Chu Xingchen shot them a look that stopped them in their tracks.
The two halted and moved back toward Chen Baiqing.
Chu Xingchen gripped Wanban tightly, the blade still resting against the old monk's shoulder. He asked coldly.
"Old monk, you know who I am, do you not?"
The smile had not left the old monk's face.
"Naturally. Who in Zhongzhou does not know Chu Xingchen these days?"
The coldness in Chu Xingchen's expression did not fade.
"Since you know me, are you satisfied with the sword you just took?"
The old monk nodded slowly. "Naturally, I accept it."
If he did not accept it, the one delivering the next sword might be Bai Xuanling, who would not hold back.
Chu Xingchen's reputation in Zhongzhou was actually quite good. After all, being able to interact with core disciples from various factions meant that, at the very least, his character and intelligence were beyond question.
But who would have thought... Chen Baiqing merely said the word "Master" with a smile, and Chu Xingchen could tell that his disciple seemed to have been wronged.
What was even more monstrous was that a blood-qi cultivator and a righteous-qi cultivator, two extremes, could follow Chu Xingchen's movements without a moment's hesitation.
Their coordination was seamless, clearly the result of fighting together many times.
Add to that the ambiguously aligned Chen Baiqing, plus Chu Xingchen, a sect master who protected his people to an absurd degree...
This sect had quite the complete assembly.
The old monk assumed a conciliatory tone.
"This old monk merely observed your disciple and felt something. I exchanged a few words, nothing more."
Chu Xingchen sneered. "My disciple, and you felt something about her, did you?"
The old monk put on a smile. "I merely observed her with my Buddha heart..."
"With your filthy Buddha heart, what could you possibly observe?"
"...She seems like a demoness."
"That is all?"
"A demoness that heaven and earth can no longer bind." The old monk's tone grew more serious.
Chu Xingchen's voice remained flat.
"That is all?!"
The old monk paused before asking.
"You feel she has nothing to worry about. But what if you were no longer around?"
Chu Xingchen slowly drew Wanban free.
"She is my disciple. The disciple I have poured my heart and soul into nurturing. If I am no longer here, then she should be unbound by heaven and earth, free to do as she pleases."
Chu Xingchen grinned coldly.
"Whether she is righteous or evil, that is my concern now. It falls on my head."
"Otherwise, would she not have called me Master for nothing?"
The old monk seemed to realize something. He turned to look at Chen Baiqing, who stood in place, her lips pressed together, her eyes seemingly reddening.
Then he turned again to look at Li Xingtian and Lin Luoyu, whose expressions were equally cold as they stared at him.
Chen Baiqing might be able to bewitch the entire world. That was her divine ability, her talent.
But this Chu Xingchen... it came naturally to him.
Even a heaven-charming demoness like Chen Baiqing would ultimately be disarmed by Chu Xingchen. In a way, it made perfect sense.
This was personal charisma. Something no one else could imitate.
It had nothing to do with good or evil. It was about genuine devotion.
The old monk endured the pain and slowly rose, clasping his hands once more.
"This old monk has been taught a lesson. My deepest apologies."
Chu Xingchen retracted Wanban. When his disciple was wronged, a master naturally had to set things right.
Aside from hiding the fact that she liked to eat fish behind his back, Chen Baiqing was transparent about almost everything.
Everyone in the sect knew that she was a warm, caring person on the inside, wrapped in thorns on the outside.
Chen Baiqing was actually aware that her nature had changed from what it once was. She harbored little outward compassion for others and sometimes worried inwardly.
Would her master despise her for being different?
After all, there were very few things that could make Chen Baiqing genuinely angry.
Chu Xingchen naturally had to answer. He had to give an answer, both to her and to those watching.
Whether one could see through Chen Baiqing or not, whether she was a world-endangering demoness or not, she was his disciple.
And Chu Xingchen's favorite thing in all the world was protecting his own.
Chu Xingchen returned to stand before Chen Baiqing and ruffled her hair again, mussing up the neat strands he had just smoothed.
"Master..." Chen Baiqing said softly.
Chu Xingchen gently pinched Chen Baiqing's cheek, just as he used to when she was tiny.
"Master is here."
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