Chapter 1016

Then the strange force suddenly erupted, stabbing toward Zhou Zhiruo's extraordinary meridians and vital acupoints all over her body.

Zhou Zhiruo was greatly astonished, but by now the strange force was coming from every direction—there was no time left to dodge.

She steadied her mind at once and drove the Nine Yang true essence with all her might.

Once the Nine Yang Divine Art reached Great Completion, it doubled the cultivator's defense.

Any attacker whose cultivation was lower than the practitioner's would have most of their force rebounded.

Caught off guard, Zhou Zhiruo could only hope the Nine Yang Divine Art could hold back this strange force.

"Sizzle…"

Wave after wave of odd, ear-piercing sounds rang out.

That strange force, after Zhou Zhiruo pushed the Nine Yang Divine Art to its fullest, truly dissolved the instant it met her!

"What Wu Gong is this, that it can block this sovereign's demonic-seed strange force?"

At this moment, the one who had struck from the shadows revealed himself, his face full of surprise.

Looking closely—was that not the Great Yuan's offering, the Devil Master Seeing Meng Chixing!

"Who are you?"

Seeing the man appear, Zhou Zhiruo did not recognize him at all and instinctively assumed he was a martial artist from the foreign Great Ming.

She could not help wondering—hadn't the jianghu always said the number one under heaven was Zhu Wushi?

Yet this strange man's cultivation was clearly above Zhu Wushi's!

If not for the Nine Yang and Nine Yin within her, she would likely have already fallen into his trap!

This man was truly far more troublesome than Zhu Wushi.

"Heh! This old man is who I am—no need for you to know!"

Seeing Meng Chixing would never reveal his identity. With a cold smile, he pointed at Zhou Zhiruo and was about to state his purpose.

But before him, behind Zhou Zhiruo, a blaze of fierce flame suddenly flared to life.

Then an arrogant, overbearing voice rang out from within that flame,

"Zhou Zhiruo, hand over the Heaven's Reliance Sword!"

The one who had come was none other than Wu Zun Watching Bi Xuan, who had fought Zhou Zhiruo in the Damo Hall and thereby destroyed it!

Two of the Great Yuan's offerings had already shown themselves for the sake of the Heaven's Reliance Sword.

"It's you?"

Even without turning around, Zhou Zhiruo knew who it was.

"Correct! This time, even if you grew wings, you would not fly away."

Watching Bi Xuan slowly dispersed the flames around him and said with an arrogant air,

"Your Mount Emei Sect is nothing but a small, minor faction of Great Ming—what gives someone like you the right to hold the Heaven's Reliance Sword?

Hand it over, and we will not only spare your life, but are even willing to pay some price in exchange. How about it?"

"Boom!"

Just as Zhou Zhiruo was thinking it over, a blaze of light came crashing down from the sky.

Like a meteor, falling from beyond the heavens.

It slammed down not far from Zhou Zhiruo's side!

The surging true essence and terrifying killing power made Zhou Zhiruo's heart pound with dread.

When the halo of light faded, what remained on the spot was an ordinary arrow!

"No more tricks—hand over the Heaven's Reliance Sword!"

At this moment, another voice rang out from the void.

That utterly ordinary arrow, not only carrying the momentum of a rainbow, had utterly annihilated every tree around Zhou Zhiruo.

Even the ground beneath her feet had been smashed down by more than three inches.

Only the spot where Zhou Zhiruo's feet stood was left untouched.

This move truly showed that the archer's strength was unfathomably deep, and his control of force was exquisite down to the finest hair's breadth.

Zhou Zhiruo's heart pounded with dread; she knew the hidden archer's strength was far beyond what she could match.

At the very least, he was at the Supreme Mythical Realm, and quite possibly a grand master at the Heavenly Dao combat ceiling-list level!

This Heaven's Reliance Sword of hers had finally brought her great trouble.

Only Zhou Zhiruo had originally thought this trouble would not come until she returned to the Nine Provinces.

Yet the current situation had truly exceeded her own expectations.

"Just who are you people? Though I am only of the Mount Emei Sect, this time I am here on the orders of the Great Ming Emperor.

To strike at me is to strike at the Great Ming Imperial Court!

Please, everyone, think twice!"

Zhou Zhiruo was secretly weighing things in her heart—her first reaction was to find out exactly what these people's background was.

The Great Ming Imperial Court was, after all, one of the many imperial courts of the Nine Provinces—not a top-tier great power, but not something an ordinary person would dare provoke either.

Moreover, her invoking the Great Ming Imperial Court was really just a trial balloon.

Sure enough, the moment they heard Zhou Zhiruo invoke the Great Ming Imperial Court, Watching Bi Xuan and Seeing Meng Chixing could not help but throw their heads back and laugh long and hard.

After Watching Bi Xuan finished laughing, he said even more wildly,

"The Great Ming Imperial Court? Oh, we're so scared!

If not for your little emperor throwing in with the Qinglong Society, this sovereign would have taken that little emperor's dog life long ago.

What dog-shit Great Ming Imperial Court—it's something we could overturn with a flick of our hands!"

What an arrogant tone!

Zhou Zhiruo's brows furrowed deeply; she had already guessed that these people most likely came from a major power.

If not one of the three great dynasties—Great Qin, Great Yuan, or Great Tang—then they were from one of the other two great powers, You Dongying or Yunzhou Dynasty.

These great powers were truly the strongest and greatest forces in the Nine Provinces besides the Chuqinglong Society.

Each of these powers not only had a multitude of experts, but Heavenly Being Realm strong practitioners emerged from them in endless succession.

Among them were certainly no shortage of supreme Mythical Realm experts, as well as powerhouses on the level of the Heavenly Dao Golden List!

The one who had just loosed that arrow was most likely a strong practitioner who had already made the list.

Zhou Zhiruo, meticulous by nature, thought rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, she recalled that among those currently on the list, only one archer existed—General Zhebie, the great general of Great Yuan!

"So all of you are strong practitioners of the Great Yuan Dynasty. General Zhebie, if you want this sword, why don't you show yourself?"

Zhou Zhiruo spoke out directly and clearly, revealing the identities of these people.

Watching Bi Xuan's face changed drastically; taking on this mission had truly involved considerable risk.

After all, this was a mission within the Great Ming Dynasty, and the mission had been issued by the Qinglong Society.

If the Qinglong Society learned of it and believed Great Yuan was sabotaging a Qinglong Society mission,

would it not once again bloody purge the upper ranks of Great Yuan?

All of this was precisely what the upper ranks of Great Yuan least wished to see.

Thinking of Long Xiang Seng's utterly formidable cultivation, and how he had still died a tragic death before the two armies,

further provoking the appearance of Qinglong Dian, with several Dragon Heads and guest ministers stepping out one after another,

Watching Bi Xuan's thoughts reaching this point only made him more terrified; his face turned the color of earth, and he could not help but deny it outright,

"No! We are not from Great Yuan! You little girl, stop making wild accusations."

"Puchi…"

Seeing that she had pierced through their origins and provoked such panic from this expert,

Zhou Zhiruo could not help herself and burst out laughing at once.

"You—you—you…"

Watching Bi Xuan, both ashamed and furious, immediately prepared to strike again.

But at present, not only was Seeing Meng Chixing present, but General Zhebie was also following in the shadows.

Without General Zhebie's approval, how would Watching Bi Xuan dare act rashly?

Therefore, apart from pointing at Zhou Zhiruo with his finger, he truly did not dare do anything else.

"Enough! Shut your mouth!"