Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

”Hmph, I’ll deal with you later!”

Though not knowing why Li Xuefu suddenly held back, Lou Liheng avoided saying too much to prevent further complications. Naturally, these inner thoughts wouldn’t be spoken out loud at this moment.

Perhaps Lou Liheng could guess Li Xuefu’s intention to sit back and watch the tigers fight, but as a Heavenly Realm Late Stage expert, he had absolute confidence. That young boy couldn’t possibly make any waves.

When the time comes, he’ll first kill that boy in rough clothes, control the genius of the Nangong family, and then deal with Li Xuefu; it would be a perfect plan.

These two Heavenly Realm Late Stage experts were playing their own mental chess games, while Lou Liheng’s aura had already locked onto that young man in rough clothes.

”Qingchen, quickly capture the Nangong family’s boy!”

Since he needed to deal with the boy in rough clothes, Lou Liheng feared Nangong Xiaofeng would take the chance to escape, so he coldly shouted, causing Fei Qingchen to immediately bow and dash out.

Facing the unpredictable young boy in rough clothes, Fei Qingchen was somewhat apprehensive, but against the defeated Nangong Xiaofeng, he had absolute confidence, having defeated him before.

”You’re called Yun Xiao, right? Dare to defile the Empress Statue and kill the Elder of the Emperor Palace. You’ll pay a hundredfold price!”

Hovering several zhang in front of Yun Xiao, Lou Liheng’s eyes carried a trace of viciousness, and his words made some distant onlooking cultivators tremble.

They could all tell that Lou Liheng was, under no circumstance, going to kill the young man in rough clothes with one strike; what awaited him would be endless torment.

”That kid is probably doomed!”

A Lingyun Realm Late Stage cultivator looked at the young man in rough clothes with a cold smile, and his words garnered subtle nods from many, believing him to be right.

”Sigh, he offended the Emperor Canglong Palace, after all.”

Another seemingly kind-hearted cultivator bluntly stated the truth. At least on the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, it was better to offend the fierce Strange Spirit Experts than the dominating Emperor Canglong Palace.

In the past, even a Holy Rank Third Realm peerless expert who dared to offend Emperor Canglong Palace would find themselves with no escape and ultimately die after endless torment.

The Four Great Families were strong, weren’t they? Back then, they stubbornly wanted to plead for the traitorous Long Xiao Battle God and were ultimately wiped out by Emperor Canglong.

This showed how formidable Emperor Canglong Palace was. Legend had it that Emperor Canglong’s strength surpassed Empress Lu Qinwan; if she could annihilate the Four Great Families single-handedly, imagine the world-shattering destruction if Emperor Canglong personally took action.

When Yun Xiao was locked onto by Lou Liheng’s aura, everyone had already sentenced him to death in their hearts, even though Yun Xiao had previously withstood a powerful attack from Heavenly Realm Late Stage expert Li Xuefu.

No matter what, Li Xuefu’s previous attack was just a sudden sneak attack, probably not his full power, which allowed the young man in rough clothes to gain a slight advantage by being better prepared.

But these onlookers seemed to forget it wasn’t something anyone could achieve to push Nangong Xiaofeng aside and take Li Xuefu’s claw in such a critical moment.

Bang!

While everyone was lost in thought, the other battle erupted first. As old rivals, Fei Qingchen and Nangong Xiaofeng’s initial clash was evenly matched.

”Nangong Xiaofeng, I didn’t expect you not only recovered from your injuries but also improved your cultivation!”

Fei Qingchen’s face didn’t look good. After saying this, Nangong Xiaofeng, who took two steps back, couldn’t help but glance at the rough-clothed figure over there.

That day, although Nangong Xiaofeng avoided severe injury thanks to the defensive armor, his internal organs still suffered some shock, requiring at least ten days to half a month to recover.

But Nangong Xiaofeng didn’t expect that Yun Xiao, who saved his life, not only had formidable Meridian Qi cultivation combat power but was also a High Rank Meridian Refining Master.

Under Yun Xiao’s medical pulse techniques, Nangong Xiaofeng quickly recovered from his injuries, and the casual guidance greatly benefited this heir of the Nangong family.

You see, in his previous life, Yun Xiao was very close friends with the former Clan Leader of the Nangong family, Nangong Buxun, so he was well acquainted with some of the Nangong family’s cultivation methods or Meridian Techniques.

Even if Yun Xiao didn’t know the deepest secrets of those Meridian Techniques, it was more than enough to provide guidance to Nangong Xiaofeng, opening a new door for him.

Because the Nangong family was destroyed a century ago, and Nangong Xiaofeng’s father barely escaped, many legacies were lost. What Yun Xiao knew were undoubtedly those lost Nangong family legacies.

It was precisely this casual guidance that allowed Nangong Xiaofeng’s strength to improve even further. Although he hadn’t directly broken through to the Heavenly Realm Late Stage, he was at least no longer at a clear disadvantage against Fei Qingchen.

”Again!”

Having gained confidence from the first exchange, Nangong Xiaofeng couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride. He let out a loud shout and immediately rushed towards Fei Qingchen.

”Hmph, I don’t believe I can’t handle a young brat like you!”

After all, Fei Qingchen was also a Heavenly Realm Middle Stage expert, and having immersed himself in this level for many years, he certainly wasn’t going to be too fearful.

For a while, the fierce battle between the old and the young Heavenly Realm Middle Stage experts intrigued everyone. Was the Emperor Palace’s Chief in Yongxiu City stronger, or was the genius from the Nangong Family more formidable?

”There’s no need to keep looking. The outcome of that battle won’t change your fate in the slightest!”

Seeing the young man in plain clothes nod slightly while watching the battle, Lou Liheng could no longer contain his impatience. With a soft voice, he took action the next moment.

Whew... whew...

Strong Meridian Qi surged around Lou Liheng, forming a massive creature in front of him that resembled a mighty lion.

”Is this... an Ancient Divine Beast Qilin?”

When Yun Xiao saw the slightly strange giant creature, his heart was first startled, then he seemed to sense something, and a cold smile appeared on his face.

”It really scared me for a moment. Turns out it’s just a chimera!”

Seeing through the Qi beast, Yun Xiao couldn’t help but mock himself with a light remark that infuriated Lou Liheng instantly. He could not tolerate anyone desecrating his powerful Meridian Techniques.

”Ancient Qilin Shadow, manifest!”

With a low shout from Lou Liheng, a gigantic shadow emerged above the massive Qi beast.

The shadow resembled the beast below, but with slight differences that intrigued everyone, combining with Lou Liheng’s shout.

”This shadow looks much more like the legendary Qilin Divine Beast!”

Spotting the differences in the shadow, Yun Xiao nodded. He had seen illustrations of Ancient Qilins in old books before, and the shadow resembled them by at least eighty percent, much more formidable than the chimera below.

With Yun Xiao’s knowledge, he could naturally guess that Lou Liheng first summoned the beast formed by Meridian Qi to draw out the Ancient Qilin Shadow, and the real threat lay in this shadow.

”Light Ensnarement!”

Lou Liheng wouldn’t care about Yun Xiao’s thoughts. As another low shout fell, blue light burst from the Ancient Qilin Shadow, instantly enveloping Yun Xiao’s entire form.

”Hahaha, Yun Xiao, enveloped by my Ancient Qilin Light Shadow, no matter how skillful you are, there’s no escaping it!”

Seeing Yun Xiao already enveloped by the Ancient Qilin Light Shadow, Lou Liheng smugly laughed at the sky, even feeling a hint of regret in his heart for perhaps overestimating this young man.

To be honest, after Fei Qingchen’s prior description and seeing Yun Xiao withstand Li Xuefu’s blow, Lou Liheng hadn’t underestimated this young man in plain clothes, who was barely over twenty.

After all, the Blood Buddha was a Heavenly Realm Late Stage expert like himself, and from that confrontation, Lou Liheng knew the young man’s physical strength was undeniably impressive.

Thus, Lou Liheng opted out of close combat with Yun Xiao, directly using his most skilled Meridian Techniques, the Ancient Qilin Shadow.

This technique, which had reached Heavenly Rank Advanced, was granted by a Canglong Palace Elder due to significant achievements, possessing boundless power.

Years ago, Lou Liheng once used the Ancient Qilin Shadow to kill a fellow Heavenly Realm Late Stage expert with one move, which made him appreciate the power of this technique deeply.

The Ancient Qilin was said to be a legendary divine beast, rare in numbers yet capable of contending with the Divine Dragon Clan, claimed to be a land dominator.

This Ancient Qilin Shadow technique, Heavenly Rank Advanced, was developed by the Canglong Palace Elder from images of Qilins in ancient books.

Though it couldn’t possess the true Qilin Divine Beast aura, merely capturing some divine essence made it immensely beneficial to cultivators mastering this technique.

At least Lou Liheng knew the young man, if he dodged the Ancient Qilin Light Ensnarement, would be fine, but once caught within, there would be no turning back.

Subduing this highly valued young man in one move seemed rather dull to Lou Liheng, contrasting entirely with his prior expectations and leaving a peculiar sense of disappointment.

For a moment, everyone watched the blue light shadow, likely already forming their own guesses in their minds.