Ha Qi’s fist had just been about to smash them into pulp when he felt his heart tighten. With his experience, a grave sense of danger filled him

He forcibly changed the direction of his fist to punch to the left.

BANG! Ha Qi’s fist blocked the sword, but the powerful force behind the sword still forced him back several steps, shocking him.

Hastily stabilizing himself, he saw a young woman in long robes. Her hair was in a high bun, her phoenix eyes contained true power, and the edge of her sword rippled like water. She possessed an unspeakable grandeur.

“Third princess?!” Shi Feng and the others let out a startled cry. That sword-bearing woman was Phoenix Cry’s third princess, Chu Yao.

“You guys be careful and don’t be reckless. We have to stall until Long Chen returns,” whispered Chu Yao to them quietly.

Shi Feng slowly nodded. Two of them bent down to help their companion who had been heavily wounded. The right side of his stomach had been impaled by a spear, and he was already on his last breaths.

Shi Feng quickly took out a medicinal pill and gave it to him. Although this wouldn’t let him recover, it would be able to keep him alive for a while longer so that he wouldn’t immediately die.

Although everyone had already made their resolve regarding their deaths, naturally if they didn’t have to die, they wouldn’t want to. Seeing that Chu Yao was actually able to force back a Tendon Transformation expert, a slight hope ignited inside them.

Chu Yao’s appearance shocked everyone, including Xia Youyu and Chu Xia. They were all looking at her in disbelief.

Xia Youyu immediately thought of something and said with complete shock, “You’ve broken the Nine Dragon Sealing Field?”

Chu Yao tightened her grip on her sword and pointed it at Xia Youyu. “You contemptible bastards, today I’ll make you pay for your sins!”

Although she didn’t know what the Nine Dragon Sealing Field was, it was obvious that he was talking about the nine foreign spiritual qi seeds that had been in her Dantian.

If it hadn’t been for Long Chen, her life would have become incomparably tragic. She would have become a tool used by others without even her knowledge. Thinking of that, her fury blazed.

“Hmph, looking at your aura, you’ve only just broken through to Tendon Transformation. You probably can’t even properly control your own strength, yet you dare make such wild ravings? Ha Qi, capture her,” ordered Xia Youyu with a sneer.

The fourth prince was also looking at Chu Yao in shock. Her appearance caused his confidence to be shaken slightly. He was starting to feel a bit uneasy.

Long Chen’s face appeared in his mind. Even up until this day, he had yet to receive any further news of Long Chen. He was just like a permanent thorn in his side, and now that Chu Yao had appeared, that thorn became even bigger.

“Hmph, let me test Phoenix Cry’s princess.” Ha Qi laughed. Veins popped up all over his body, and his terrifying aura advanced another level as he punched out.

Before he had even arrived, just the wind from his fist caused her hair and clothes to blow back. Ha Qi had now clearly exploded with his true Tendon Transformation power.

Chu Yao didn’t face Ha Qi’s fist head-on. Instead, she was sliding her feet to dodge and stabbing her sword towards his throat.

Ha Qi laughed coldly and didn’t dodge. A light-yellow light appeared on his other hand and he swatted away Chu Yao’s sword.

Chu Yao felt a huge force send her flying, and she also felt intense pain from her hand.

Xia Youyu was completely correct. Chu Yao had only just advanced into the Tendon Transformation realm, and furthermore, her advancement had been done in secret since she hadn’t dared to let anyone else find out.

And she was also helpless that after advancing, she hadn’t had any chance to test her strength. So her control over her own power was limited.

Now that she was facing a Tendon Transformation expert who had already experienced hundreds of battles, she immediately fell into a disadvantage. That was especially true since she had almost zero combat experience.

“Hmph, an empty realm is all you have. Give me your life!” Ha Qi sneered. Without giving a damn about her gender, he sent a punch smashing at her.

Just as Chu Yao was preparing to forcefully block it, a red ball of light suddenly flew over and collided with his punch.

BOOM! Ha Qi felt as if his fist had been enveloped by lava and was immediately forced back.

“Being so ruthless to a young woman, don’t you feel ashamed?” An aged voice rang out as a figure appeared in front of everyone.

“Grandmaster Yun Qi?” Chu Yao couldn’t help but celebrate that grandmaster Yun Qi had finally come out at this critical moment.

“Yun Qi, as an alchemist guild chairman, in compliance with the alchemist treaty, you cannot meddle in secular matters. Are you not afraid of the guild’s punishment?” shouted Xia Youyu coldly.

“You are correct; a guild chairman cannot participate in worldly matters.” Grandmaster Yun Qi laughed slightly and suddenly turned his head. “Sun Nian!”

“Present.” In a distant crowd was a middle-aged man in Pill Apprentice robes who hastily walked out and respectfully bowed.

Grandmaster Yun Qi waved his hand, sending something flying over. When Sun Nian saw what that was, his expression immediately changed.

“Sun Nian, I hand the guild signboard to you. You are the new guild chairman,” said grandmaster Yun Qi.

“Guild chairman...” Sun Nian was completely shocked.

Grandmaster Yun Qi cut him off. “I am no longer the guild chairman. Our guild’s rules cannot be ignored. If you still think of me as the guild chairman, then you cannot stop me from removing myself as guild chairman.”

Sun Nian looked at the guild signboard in his hand and didn’t know what to do. But he realized that a major event was about to occur.

“Now I am no longer a member of the alchemist guild and have the qualifications to participate in secular matters,” said grandmaster Yun Qi lightly.

No one would have imagined that grandmaster Yun Qi would actually remove himself from the guild for the Long household. Without his status as a guild chairman, then even if someone killed him, no one would be able to investigate it.

“That is true. I’ve waited a long time for this day. Yun Qi, as expected, you haven’t let me down.”

Two people walked out from the crowd, and when people saw one of them in particular, many let out startled cries. 

“Wei Cang!”

That was grandmaster Wei Cang who was equally famous as grandmaster Yun Qi. Everyone could tell that there was intense hatred between the two of them from the time they had exchanged blows at the Phoenix Cry Lantern Festival.

But both of them had kept things in reserve back then. It was practically just a symbolic fight without any display of their true strength.

Now hearing what grandmaster Wei Cang said, it seemed grandmaster Yun Qi’s appearance today was entirely within his expectations. Perhaps a truly great battle would be fought today.

“Who’s the other old guy?” 

“I know! That’s Wang Luyang, another Pill Master.” That was a person who had attended the Huayun Pavilion’s auction, and so he recognized him.

During the auction, Wang Luyang had been low-key all the way until the final Flesh Bone Restoration Pills appeared. Only then did he shock everyone, leaving behind a deep impression.

The fact that he was standing together with Wei Cang today was rather interesting.

Despite seeing Wei Cang appear, no change appeared on grandmaster Yun Qi’s face. He glanced at Wang Luyang. “Have you thought this through?”

Wang Luyang smiled slightly. “Actually, I don’t want to become enemies with grandmaster Yun Qi, but I couldn’t help but accept brother Wei’s kindness. So, I can only offend you.”

“Stop with the crap Yun Qi. Hand over that thing, otherwise, I’ll send you to hell right now,” said Wei Cang icily. “Now that you’ve separated from the alchemist guild, you no longer have a support to rely on. I don’t need to have any misgivings about killing you.”

Grandmaster Yun Qi looked at the fourth prince with a complicated expression. “Fourth prince truly is a dragon amongst men. Your scheming truly causes me to admire you.”

The fourth prince smiled slightly. “Grandmaster’s praise makes this youngster blush.”

“Since fourth prince is so proficient in scheming, I wonder if he has heard of a certain expression?” Grandmaster Yun Qi asked lightly.

“What expression? Please give me some pointers senior.”

“Man proposes but God disposes.” Grandmaster Yun Qi smiled slightly.

The fourth prince narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know why, but hearing that caused his heart to jump a bit.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Fourth prince is smart, so how could you not even understand such a common proverb? Or are you afraid to admit that you know what it means?” asked Yun Qi.

The fourth prince’s expression changed slightly. His scheme had definitely been completely flawless, but unforeseen incidents continued to pop up.

The first mishap was that Marquis Ying had failed to kill Long Chen. Although Marquis Ying had said that Long Chen was already heavily wounded and was most likely unable to survive, he still continued to feel that Long Chen wouldn’t die so easily, and so he had sent the Savage Marquis to search for him.

The second mishap was that Chu Yao had managed to silently resolve the Nine Dragon Sealing Field in her body and broken through to the Tendon Transformation realm.

Although she had only just broken through and wasn’t worth fearing yet, it was still something unexpected. That caused him to feel as if the situation wasn’t as sure as he had thought.

And now grandmaster Yun Qi was still as calm as ever despite knowing he had stepped in a deathtrap. That caused him to feel even more uneasy, and he even felt a bit of fear.

He had been born to be just a chess piece. Then finally, he managed to escape that chess board. Now that it was his turn to control the board, he definitely didn’t want his own chess pieces to be escaping from him.

“Your plans are laughable. Just for some resources, you wasted so much time. So stupid.” Grandmaster Yun Qi shook his head.

That truly made the fourth prince’s expression change greatly. He looked at grandmaster Yun Qi in disbelief. “You actually knew?”

Grandmaster Yun Qi smiled slightly, but he didn’t respond.

The fourth prince glanced over at the distant crowds and immediately calmed himself down. He coldly laughed, “In the face of death, it seems you’ve taken to spouting nonsense. Grandmaster Wei Cang, what are you still waiting for?”

Wei Cang smiled. “Well, he’s an old friend I’ve kept up with for dozens of years. Before I send this friend on his way, I have to give him some time to say his final words first. Well, it looks like he’s finished anyway, so I’ll get going.”

Flames completely wrapped around Wei Cang’s body. A blazing spear appeared in his hands, and he was practically just a human-shaped blaze as he charged at Yun Qi, bringing with him a terrifyingly high temperature.

Wang Luyang also summoned flame armor and a sword. They pincered Yun Qi on both sides.

That terrifyingly high temperature caused space to distort. The heat made the air ripple around them, making them practically illusionary.

Suddenly, Yun Qi’s eyes brightened and he actually smiled. The person who he had been waiting for had finally arrived. It was time to resolve his grudges.

BOOM! Yun Qi’s arms shook and a terrifying red blaze arose. Rolling waves of heat spread in every direction, roasting Wei Cang.

“Wei Cang, give me your life!”