The Qi of the two Spirit Lords burst forward, threatening to crush everyone present.

Xuan did his best to hold on, and even then, some blood dripped down his nose. Clearly, this amount of pressure was way too much.

"Nephew, just like yourself, I hate prolonged battles... Why don’t we do three attacks each?" Chen Zemin suggested. "Three of our most powerful attacks, and whoever dies first is the loser."

Chen Shun smiled. "You’re underestimating me, uncle. Just because I have been here for so long doesn’t mean I didn’t have all the time in the world to hone my techniques. An old coot such as yourself still follows the old ways, doesn’t he?"

He didn’t get a reply in return. Instead, Chen Zemin entered a defensive stance, his expression hardening.

"As your elder, I shall give you the first attack, dear nephew."

Xuan carefully covered the cups in his Qi, reinforcing them. He didn’t want the cups to break because they were passively weakening everyone present.

But I sure as shit know I won’t be able to block the shockwave of their attack. Xuan frowned. I just hope several minutes of exposure is enough for them to have some Qi blockage.

With those thoughts aside, Chen Shun finally moved, his fist covered in Demonic Qi. There was a transparent black dragon behind him, which seemed to travel at the same pace as his fist.

Yet right as it was about to connect, Chen Zemin took a step forward and struck Chen Shun across the face with a powerful kick. The space around them distorted, and one of the cups Xuan had been protecting cracked, spilling the poisonous tea onto the table.

The others didn’t because, to his genuine surprise, Huizhen had extended his own Qi to protect them, unbeknownst to everyone except Xuan.

Chen Shun narrowed his eyes, and then spoke:

"Uncle, it was my turn."

"Was it? I couldn’t tell..." Chen Zemin smiled. "I must be going senile, as you’ve said. Apologies..."

But alas, that response didn’t slide, as Chen Shun vanished from sight, clashing against his uncle.

This time around, the two stopped holding back. Their attacks sent the roof of the main hall flying as their bodies were soon riddled with injuries.

Minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and by now, the two had taken their fight to the skies above the Grand Jade Temple. Each clash sent a powerful shockwave, which destroyed portions of the temple, and even a nearby mountain range was not spared.

As for Xuan and his cups, they had long since shattered. However...

"Cough... Cough...?" Lin Fei spat out a mouthful of black blood. "Poison? When did I..."

Slowly, his gaze turned over to Xuan.

"Did you do this?"

Xuan tilted his head playfully. "I wonder...? Tell me though, was my poison effective? You seem pretty messed up."

A sharp killing intent hit Xuan, causing a single bead of sweat to roll down his forehead.

Then, Lin Fei vanished from sight, but Xuan’s training wasn’t useless. He managed to sense the movement in the ground, and upon doing so, he twisted his body at an odd angle, slightly cracking his bones, but dodging an attack that was headed straight for his heart.

"You dodged that...?" Lin Fei grinned, rolling up his sleeves. "I see... I guess there’s no need for me to hold back against a Spirit Warrior when he can dodge my attacks."

In an instant, he unleashed his threatening Qi, but before he could strike Xuan, a fist flew directly at his temple, caving his head in slightly and sending him off the side of the mountain.

Xuan’s eyes widened when he saw who was responsible.

"Huizhen, what are you doing? Don’t intervene, or they’ll trigger the parasite," he said.

"My grudge is not against the Grand Jade Temple, but against this man," Huizhen mumbled, straightening his back and getting ready to fight. "He killed someone dear to my heart... And he was also the one who found me when I was a child and brought me into the temple."

Taking a deep breath, he gave Xuan a lonely nod.

"He is much stronger than me, but the least I can do is buy you enough time to escape... This is the perfect moment, Xuan. Don’t waste my sacrifice or my master’s legacy."

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, and Xuan knew that it was because Huizhen wasn’t immune to the poison.

But even so, Huizhen took a step forward with determination in his gaze and vanished from sight. A moment later, a fierce clash resounded from the side, as well as one from above.

Xuan stared blankly at the scene, but then shook his head.

"I’m afraid you’re not meant to die here, Huizhen..."

As those plain words hung in the air, Xuan finally gave the order.

<Xiao Xuan: Yuelan, it’s time. Kill every demonic cultivator except the ones I told you about. Don’t intervene in the fight against the two Spirit Lords in the sky. Let them fight it out first.>

He didn’t even need to get a reply as the ground underneath his feet shook. It was as if a stampede had started making its way toward him. And as expected, within just a few seconds, there were hundreds of cultivators in the sky. Many of them used Qi to fly on their swords, while a select few floated in the air with just their Qi alone.

Then, traveling up the mountainside were the weaker cultivators, all of whom were between Spirit Warrior and Spirit Apprentice. Yet their sheer number was enough to make a chill go down his spine.

Amidst the many powerful cultivators, there was a single one floating in the sky, her long black coat fluttering in the wind. Her hair was dark blue as always, just unlike her usual straight hair, she now had bangs. Even her eye color changed from a sky blue to a deep ocean blue color.

Of course, that woman was none other than Yuelan herself.

The Qi he felt from her didn’t seem any less than the Spirit Grandmasters beside her, and not only that, her cold and commanding gaze was enough to make all the people beside her listen to all her orders to a T.

Her smile momentarily widened. She raised her hand, and then brought it down, causing every single cultivator that had come alongside her to crash down to the ground, their swords drawn as they relentlessly killed monk after monk.

Not all monks wielded Demonic Qi. It was roughly 1 in 3 monks that did. But even so, when there were nearly a thousand disciples, killing a couple hundred made the mood of the remaining monks fearful.

But not minding that in the slightest, Xuan continued looking up until finally, Yuelan’s gaze met his.

Her previously stern and cold expression melted away in an instant, and without even waiting a single moment, she vanished from sight, appearing in front of him.

A warm feeling welled up in Xuan’s chest upon seeing her again this close.

She looked more mature than the last time he had seen her, but in the end, she was still the very same Yuelan.

Ignoring the chaos all around them, Xuan suddenly stepped forward and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you, Yuelan."