Chapter 999

Therefore, the three monks had just taken their stance, and only when the flames reached their bodies did they notice something was wrong.

But it was already too late.

The flames swiftly pierced through the protective Thunder Gang Qi of the three of them, and then swallowed the three old monks whole.

In an instant, the three "Liao"-generation old monks who had been guarding Xue Damo Hall were also swallowed by the raging flames along with Xue Damo Hall itself.

Master Mie Jue and Seeing Gu Hongzi escaped the range of the flames, not yet having caught their breath.

They saw from all directions countless Wu Lin figures rushing over.

Gu Hongzi was inwardly horrified, his mind racing as he tried to think of how to frame his excuse.

But when Master Mie Jue turned and saw the towering flames, the rumbling explosions, and no sign of Zhou Zhiruo, she couldn't help being startled.

Ignoring the occasion and not caring that so many Wu Lin people had rushed over, she wailed directly,

"Zhiruo, Zhiruo…"

Toward Zhou Zhiruo, she was both master and friend—there was the bond of master and disciple, and also within it some measure of friendship and familial affection.

Moreover, with Gu Hongzi still alive, her temperament had not greatly changed.

So in her usual conduct, she was mostly forthright, never holding things back.

Now, seeing the explosions so fierce, she feared that even an ordinary Heavenly Being Realm expert could not withstand them.

It happened that Zhou Zhiruo had also not broken through the barrier of the Heavenly Being Realm.

Therefore she thought Zhou Zhiruo was dead, wailing without cease, and was preparing to rush over to see what had happened.

If not for Gu Hongzi holding her back, she would truly have charged into the flames to see for herself.

"Zhiruo? Zhou Zhiruo? You know Zhou Zhiruo?"

Cao Zhengchun was, in today's world, truly one of the experts second only to Zhu Wushi.

Moreover, he had long since learned the news that the Sky-Sweet Cardamom was enshrined within Xue Damo Hall.

Therefore, when Xue Damo Hall erupted in flames and explosions, he was among the first to set out.

Now, hearing from afar Master Mie Jue wailing the name Zhiruo, he reacted at once.

He had not yet arrived, but his voice of interrogation had already reached them.

Gu Hongzi thought things were going badly; he had long known that Zhou Zhiruo was here and had provoked enemies of no small stature.

Now, hearing the interrogation from the richly dressed man in the distance, and seeing how swiftly he moved,

When his voice rose, no figure was yet to be seen.

Before his voice had finished falling, the man had already arrived nearby.

His cultivation was terrifyingly profound.

And seeing his fair, beardless face, his orchid-finger gesture, his whole manner of a sissy,

He knew at once that this man was most likely the Eastern Depot Superintendent Cao Zhengchun that Zhou Zhiruo had mentioned.

With one part of his mind thinking things were ill, Gu Hongzi replied,

"You must be the renowned Cao Duzhu? I am Gu Hongzi of the Mount Emei Sect, and this is my junior sister, Master Mie Jue.

Whom my junior sister laments is her disciple Han Zhiruo, not some Zhou Zhiruo.

Master Yeyu can testify to all this; I ask the Superintendent not to misunderstand."

Master Mie Jue was in the midst of her grief, and by the time she sensed something was wrong it was already too late.

Hearing Gu Hongzi's explanation, she cast a glance toward Cao Zhengchun.

But she saw that Master Yeyu, along with Shangguan Haitang disguised as Zhou Zhiruo, had also followed far behind Cao Zhengchun.

Accompanying Master Yeyu were also Yunzhou Shaolin's Master Liaofan, Zhuge Shenhou Zhu Wushi, and several other figures of sect-master caliber.

Master Yeyu, hearing Gu Hongzi mention her and claim to be a disciple of the Mount Emei Sect,

Yet she had truly never met Gu Hongzi or Master Mie Jue.

But Shangguan Haitang beside her had long since quietly told her.

She had accepted Zhou Zhiruo's favor and learned deeper Mount Emei sword arts.

Now was the perfect chance to repay the kindness, so she called back to Gu Hongzi from afar,

"Cao Duzhu, please do not misunderstand—these two are indeed disciples of my Mount Emei Sect.

Isn't Zhou Zhiruo right here beside me? You were looking for Zhou Zhiruo, so why have you come here?"

As she spoke, Master Yeyu, along with Liaofan, Zhu Wushi, and the several sect masters, had all arrived nearby.

The crowd gazed at the raging flames of Xue Damo Hall, burning on and on, and looked at one another in horror.

Zhu Wushi was the highest-cultivated among those present.

He saw at a glance that within the flames were not only the primordial force of heaven and earth, but also several unique strands of true essence mixed in.

That was why the flames could be so fierce and so enduring.

Seeing that Liaofan's heart was ashen and he was preparing to unleash his divine skill to extinguish the blaze,

Zhu Wushi said unhurriedly,

"Master Liaofan, do not waste your effort.

These flames, I fear, can only be extinguished by a great expert of the late Mythical Realm coming in person.

Otherwise, no matter who it is, they can forget about putting them out."

All present broke into an uproar at once.

The Supreme Mythical Realm in today's world was already a figure of legend.

And that wasn't all—it still required a great expert of the late Mythical Realm?

What on earth was the origin of the flames that burned Xue Damo Hall?

But Zhu Wushi was, after all, the foremost expert in today's world; when he spoke thus, the Jidazhang Sect masters all believed him.

Still refusing to believe it, Fan flicked his sleeve and sent forth a gust of violent wind.

But the gale failed to extinguish the great blaze; instead, the fierce flames rode his true-essence-laced wind and came rushing back to burn him.

The onlookers' hearts clenched, yet none dared casually step in to help.

Zhu Wushi naturally could not sit by and watch Fan be burned to death by those flames, and suddenly struck out with a palm.

An invisible force of suction appeared, drawing the gale Fan had raised directly into Zhu Wushi's palm.

Those fierce flames, of course, changed direction and came burning toward Zhu Wushi.

But Zhu Wushi, having absorbed the gale, immediately withdrew his palm and stepped back.

In an instant, the flames lost their target and could only fall upon an empty patch of ground not far away, burning away in lonely solitude.

788 Zhou Zhiruo? Just who is she, after all?

Seeing this, the several sect leaders all began to flatter him one after another.

Saying things like how Zhuge Shenhou was unrivaled under heaven, peerless in all the world, and the like.

Cao Zhengchun paid it no heed, merely giving a cold snort.

In his heart, though, he was secretly on guard—Zhu Tie Dan's Wu Gong had improved yet again.

But his thoughts shifted, and he recalled the matter of Zhou Zhiruo once more.

If it really was as Master Yeyu had said, that the one beside her was the true Zhou Zhiruo,

while the Zhiruo that Extinction Master had been wailing over was some Han Zhiruo or other—

then why did he, looking at this Zhou Zhiruo, keep feeling something was off?

After all, the real Zhou Zhiruo ought to know that he was determined to have her.

At the very least, that sword in her hand…

Right!

This Zhou Zhiruo simply didn't have that sword in her hand!

That precious blade that had appeared so suddenly and beaten him into a defeated retreat!

Thinking of this, Cao Zhengchun finally came to his senses.

Suddenly, he threw a punch straight at the completely unguarded Shangguan Haitang.

In that punch, he had used at least eighty percent of his power.

Even the real Zhou Zhiruo would have had to fight with all her might to face it.

Or draw that precious sword.

Shangguan Haitang had still been feeling pleased, glad that her adoptive father had once more shown his face before the jianghu.

Who could have expected that this Cao Zhengchun would suddenly strike without so much as a word of warning, throwing a punch right at her.