Chapter 255: Love Hard to Restrain

"Boom—!"

A sword slash struck, sending forth a thunderous roar of mountains collapsing.

The giant golden Buddha finger was severed by a single sword strike; Monk Zhao En spat out a mouthful of fresh blood with a "puff," his face turning as pale as paper, and he quickly summoned a magical treasure to flee into the distance, vanishing from sight.

The Buddha light before his eyes faded, restoring the scene of dark mountains under the night sky; to the side, a mountain peak was collapsing right before his eyes, the earth crumbling and the ground sinking.

Ye Tinglan had severed an entire mountain with a single sword strike!

She had also severed the Shanhe Array that Zhao En was using to steal the qi veins.

From now on, the abyss-like mountain hollow was filled; the qi veins that had been snatched away returned thread by thread, visible to the naked eye for those skilled in observing qi.

Amidst the mountain collapse, chaotic stones flew and fell; Ye Tinglan's figure darted through the flying debris, heading straight for Yingyue City. She had no intention of pursuing Monk Zhao En; her heart was entirely filled with Lu Xingzhou's condition—he should not have had the strength to contend for the qi veins, and the price paid would be enormous!

In the central square of Yingyue City, Lu Xingzhou lay unconscious on the ground, his face the color of gold paper.

A group of high-ranking members of the Yingyue Sect rushed over from all sides, every one of them with a look of terror on their faces. In truth, none of them knew what had happened; they had simply discovered Lu Xingzhou severely injured and unconscious without any explanation. If the little puppy of Holy Master Tian Yao truly met with disaster here, the entire Yingyue Sect could not bear the blame.

Si Han was just lifting Lu Xingzhou up, not yet having time to examine him, when Ye Tinglan's angry voice came from the sky: "Move aside!"

Ye Tinglan descended from the heavens, shoved Si Han aside with one hand, and cradled Lu Xingzhou in her arms.

Si Han: "..."

Ye Tinglan performed a brief examination, her lips pressed tightly together.

Under normal circumstances, tampering with feng shui and qi veins without authorization would result in backlash. Previously, Ye Tinglan had also warned Lu Xingzhou that Mohe's failure was partly due to qi fortune backlash. But such backlash does not manifest on the body; rather, it reflects in one's fortune, likely causing future endeavors to go awry.

However, this time it was Zhao En who altered the qi veins, while Lu Xingzhou was the one protecting them; perhaps this would instead strengthen his fortune, granting him a certain degree of support from the national fortune of the Tianshuang Kingdom.

This is a good thing.

But the price is the exhaustion of his divine soul and the drying up of his soul sea; at first glance, he looks exactly like a corpse. His divine soul power simply could not withstand it; if not for the four-corner array formation that allowed a first-grade powerhouse of the Yingyue Sect to suppress the four directions, he would not have been able to accomplish this at all.

Ye Tinglan pried open his mouth, took out a pill, and stuffed it inside.

Si Han watched from the side, his heart bleeding; he recognized it as the Yaochi Creation Pill of the Holy Land of Tian Yao, a divine medicine targeting the recovery of the divine soul. As long as a person has not been struck until their soul scattered and their spirit dispersed, and as long as a single wisp of soul fire remains, it can stabilize the soul fire and pull the person back from the gates of death.

The value of just this single pill might be enough to exchange for a small kingdom, yet it was being used so casually on a male consort... Was this injury truly in need of medicine of this level?

We can't really say...

However, perhaps because the level was too high, the immortal pill that normally "dissolves upon entering the mouth" had no such effect here; the pill stuffed into his mouth actually slipped out again. Ye Tinglan pinched his mouth shut, but could only keep the pill held in his mouth, unable to get it into his stomach.

Ye Tinglan fell silent for a moment, then slowly said: "Regardless of what methods you use, immediately abolish the cultivation technique the demon monk taught you for controlling the bone dragon; even if it damages your cultivation, you must do it for this seat. In a few days, this seat will return to inspect; if anyone is found still retaining the evil technique, do not expect to keep your seat on the Wang Ting of the Yingyue Sect!"

Si Han trembled with fear: "Holy Master, this matter is..."

"You fools were deceived into cultivating evil path methods, shaking the royal vein, and allowing others to snatch and plunder. If not for Lu Xingzhou risking his life to protect it, your royal qi would have already scattered." Ye Tinglan's beautiful eyes held a murderous aura: "This seat does not care how you do it; if you fail to repay Lu Xingzhou's sacrifice in this matter, then it is better that the Wang Ting not be established at all!"

Si Han bowed deeply: "We understand."

"Immediately mobilize the entire nation's strength to search for clues regarding that demon monk. He is currently in a severely injured state; once discovered, there is no need to report back—kill without mercy!"

"Yes."

Ye Tinglan said no more, cradling Lu Xingzhou, and flashed away, vanishing from sight.

When there was no external brain to offer advice, Ye Tinglan restored the dignity and vigilance befitting the Holy Master of Tian Yao.

She herself was currently suffering from internal injuries; showing outward anger was the best way to prevent others from noticing anything amiss. And at this moment, Lu Xingzhou's condition was extremely dire; being within the territory of the Yingyue Sect, if Si Han had any treacherous intentions, she might not be able to protect herself completely while injured. Thus, she simply did not let Si Han arrange a place to heal, transferring to another location herself.

But was this anger truly just for intimidation?

At least in the hearts of Si Han and the others, her reason for avenging her own man could not have been more genuine.

Only after she had gone far away did Si Han exhale a breath, grinding his teeth in a low voice: "Gu Zhanting has wronged me too greatly!"

Yes, if the demon monk's method contained the intent to destroy the royal qi of Tianshuang, then Gu Zhanting's move of killing multiple birds with one stone behind this act was even more obvious.

An elder responded: "This further proves that Gu Zhanting has dealings with certain ancient existences; the meaning behind this is..."

"Gu Zhanting has been secretly plotting to suppress the Holy Land of Tian Yao, and now it is about to be brought into the open... This is also the reason the Holy Master of Tian Yao wishes to turn and support us." Si Han glanced in the direction Ye Tinglan had departed and said in a low voice: "Regardless, the Holy Master of Tian Yao helped us block internal chaos, and Lu Xingzhou helped us suppress the royal qi; I, Si Han, acknowledge this debt."

"Then what about our secret one..."

"The Ice Prison Sect and we are not entirely of one heart; they have their own pursuits, seeking not worldly benefits. If this matter were to become known to the Holy Master of Tian Yao, then we must cut it off without hesitation."

In a certain small city hundreds of li away from Yingyue City, a private courtyard of an inn.

Ye Tinglan placed Lu Xingzhou on the bed, reached out to gently smooth the disheveled hair at his temples, and gazed fixedly at his pale sleeping face, her lower lip bitten.

In truth, in this battle, whether or not Lu Xingzhou had risked his life to help, she might not have lost.

With all her magical treasures, she still had trump cards she had not fully used.

Of course, Zhao En might also have other treasures; no one knew until the very end of the fight.

What could be confirmed was that without Lu Xingzhou's help, she would not have suffered only these minor internal injuries. Even if she had won, she would have sustained severe wounds, perhaps like Gu Zhanting, difficult to heal for years, which would be very unfavorable for the future landscape.