The Mirror of Startling Beauty: Her courtiers are everywhere

A pale, bloodless face, devoid of any expression.

It was an exquisitely crafted face, the face of a puppet.

There was no anger, no fear, only a chilling emptiness.

The sword energy continued its relentless advance, cleaving through the golden mask and then splitting open the entire Guixu Palace.

The mountain was roaring, boulders were falling, and a huge crack appeared in the dome.

Sunlight poured in through the cracks, illuminating the underground palace that had slumbered for countless years.

The sword light shot into the sky, leaving a long white trail across the heavens, as if it had cleaved the sky itself.

She, Tang Xixue, no longer needs anyone to sacrifice themselves to protect her.

She is strong enough.

"Click..."

The figure of the Palace Master of Guixu Palace was shattered amidst the sword energy.

The golden mask that had been split open shattered into countless pieces.

It fluttered down like a golden snow.

The body of the Palace Master of Guixu Palace also shattered.

It wasn't a bloody, shattered collapse, but a silent, withered one.

Beneath the long, dark gold robe, there was no flesh or bones, only countless intricate mechanical parts that were reduced to dust by the sword energy.

The wooden and metal skeletons, covered with runes, crumbled inch by inch.

"What kind of monster is that?"

Feng Zhuo stood at a distance, his eyes wide, his voice filled with disbelief.

His hand holding the Crimson Flame Sword froze in mid-air, the firelight reflecting the ghostly expression on his face.

"Heavenly Puppet".

Jiu Fangzhi answered for him.

He staggered, his face pale to the point of being almost transparent.

The price of using himself as the core of the formation was too high. His meridians were breaking inch by inch, and his soul had been burning in the formation light for too long, leaving him extremely weak.

A hand supported him.

That hand was steady and warm.

The power of the Heart of Azure Snow enveloped him.

He looked down and saw Tang Xixue's hands, slender and fair.

Her palms rested on his back, firmly supporting his swaying body.

"Senior brother."

Her voice came from beside him.

Jiu Fang felt her hand tighten slightly, as if afraid he would really fall down.

"Even if you're wearing a mask, I can recognize you at a glance."

Jiu Fangzhi was stunned for a moment.

"Um."

His voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

He lowered his eyes, as if savoring the weight of those words, and then nodded slightly.

"Zhizhi recognized me."

Feng Zhuo finally snapped out of his shock and rushed over in three quick steps.

"A puppet? I...we went through all this trouble, almost lost our lives, only to fight a puppet?"

His voice rose eight octaves.

"Where is the real Master of Guixu Palace? Where is he hiding?"

No one answered him.

No one expected that the powerful Lord of Guixu Palace was actually a puppet.

Everyone thought he was the most loyal servant of Heaven, one of the strongest cultivators in the world, and an invincible being.

In the end, however, what was hidden beneath that golden mask was a bunch of mechanical parts driven by talismans.

Where is the true master of Guixu Palace?

Nobody knows.

The Guixu Palace was cleaved in two by a single sword strike, and the puppet body of the Guixu Palace Master perished.

Those Heavenly Apostles who once relied on the Guixu Palace Master and the stolen fortune of Tang Xixue lost all protection in that instant.

The power of fortune emanating from them receded like a tide, and the power that had once allowed them to escape misfortune and made them believe they were the darlings of heaven vanished completely in an instant.

They began to scatter and flee.

Like a swarm of ants that have lost their nest, they flee in panic in the collapsed palace, stepping on rubble and knocking down their companions, no longer possessing their former lofty demeanor.

"Run! The luck is dissipating!"

"Impossible! Impossible! We are the Apostles of Heaven!"

"Even the Palace Master has fallen. If we don't escape, we're doomed..."

The silver dragon of wind and snow flew out, its breath of cold air freezing a large number of Heavenly Dao Apostles, but some managed to escape.

However, they cannot escape.

Outside Guixu Palace, Yunjue, the number one assassin organization in the dark world, had already laid an ambush.

"Kill! Leave no one alive."

Those silver-winged mist feathers emerged from the shadows, like sharp blades growing from the mist, silently reaping the lives of the Heavenly Apostles.

"Mountains and seas belong to us, they have been leveled and returned to ruins."

In the sky, the Azure Scaled Eagle of the Mountain and Sea Organization, which controls beasts and listens to the wind, circled down.

Those giant azure eagles with wingspans of several meters drew arcs in the sky, and the cultivators on their backs drew their bows and nocked arrows, raining down arrows like locusts, pinning down every apostle who tried to escape from the air.

"Ground blockade complete."

The voice of Qian Su, commander of the Nightblade Legion, was steady and powerful.

"None of these Heavenly Apostles will escape today."

On the ground, the Nightblade Legion of the Battle Hall stood in formation, ready to fight.

The jet-black armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and the sound of their synchronized footsteps, like muffled thunder, rolled through the collapsed ruins of the Guixu Palace.

Spears stood like a forest, swords and shields like a wall, and iron cavalry surged like a tide.

The remaining resistance of Guixu Palace was like a paper wall in front of these well-trained soldiers, collapsing at the slightest push.

"Sister-in-law, I've come to pick you up."

A clear, melodious voice came from the horizon.

Piercing through the clamor of the battlefield, the sound landed precisely in Tang Xixue's ears. It was as if the voice had come not from the battlefield, but from a leisurely rendezvous.

"Am I too late?"

Tangxi Xue raised her head.

The Guixu Palace, cleaved in two by a single sword strike, had its dome riddled with a massive crack that sliced ​​the sunlight into a long, narrow white ribbon.

Within that white ribbon, a figure rode a sword.

Her white hair was like frost, her clothes were whiter than snow, and the sword light beneath her feet left a long, silvery-white trail.

He passed through the crack.

Thin clouds spread out.

He stood on the sword, his white hair flying in the wind, like a banished immortal.

His gaze pierced through the smoke and dust billowing from the collapsed ruins, accurately locating the white figure standing in the center of the rubble.

One is in the sky, and the other is on the ground.

They gaze at each other from afar.

"Thank you, Ayan, you came at just the right time."

Tang Xixue spoke up.

All her strength had been poured into the sword that shattered the Lord of Guixu Palace. At this moment, her body felt as if all her strength had been drained away, and she was even trembling slightly as she stood up.

Jiu Fangzhi's body was still leaning on her shoulder, and she herself was also struggling to maintain the last bit of consciousness.

Feng Zhuo rushed in from afar.

"Ah Xue! How are you...?"

But he hadn't arrived yet.

A white light flashed by.

Faster than lightning.

Tang Xixue's body suddenly felt light.

One hand encircled her waist, with an unwavering certainty that left no room for refusal.

She fell into an embrace filled with the scent of incense, the white robe covering her completely like an umbrella suddenly opened in a blizzard.

Yun Boyan picked her up horizontally, his movements as gentle as if he were holding a rare treasure.

Her white hair fell down, with a few strands landing on her face.

He casually pushed Jiu Fangzhi toward Feng Zhuo, who was rushing over.

"I'm taking my sister-in-law away."

He looked down at the person in his arms, a slight smile playing on his lips, his eyes conveying a sense of matter-of-fact composure.

Then he raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping lightly over Feng Zhuo and Jiu Fangzhi.

"You guys follow along yourselves."

A single sentence was uttered.

The next instant, the sword light shot into the sky and disappeared into the distance.

Feng Zhuo stood frozen in place, supporting Jiu Fangzhi who had been pushed in front of him with one hand. His outstretched hand was still suspended in mid-air, his fingertips only managing to touch the breeze stirred up by a wisp of sword energy.

He watched the sword light recede into the distance, his handsome face turning bright red.

"Hello!"

His roar was left far behind by the sword light, dissipating into the ruins of the collapsed Guixu Palace.

But Yun Boyan's figure had already turned into a white dot on the horizon and disappeared into the clouds in an instant.

Sword immortals wield their swords; who in the world can keep up with them?

Feng Zhuo angrily withdrew his hand and turned to look at Jiu Fangzhi, who had already avoided him and was resting against the ruins.

"He's utterly unreasonable! This so-called Holy Son of Moon Brahma is nothing but a scoundrel! A robber!"

Jiu Fangzhi leaned against the broken wall, his face pale, but a faint smile appeared on his lips.

He gazed at the sword light disappearing into the clouds, his voice hoarse and soft.

There was bitterness in that smile, but also a hint of relief. At least, she was never short of people willing to protect her.

"cough."

He coughed, and a trace of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, but he wiped it away without a care.

"Let's go."

His voice was as calm as if nothing had happened.

"Hurry up and follow."

"You make it sound so easy..."

Feng Zhu gritted his teeth and angrily swung his fist at the sky.

"So what if you can fly on a sword! If you're so capable, don't run so fast next time!"

Mu Liangmian walked past him expressionlessly, her steps never faltering.

He's long gone.

"I know!"

Feng Zhuo roared irritably, then took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"But I still need to bring Ah Qiao along, don't I?"

Feng Zhuo and Mu Liang looked at each other, and then pulled Chu Qiao out.

As Feng Zhuo pulled people out, he muttered to himself:

"Who carries their sister-in-law like that? She runs faster than a rabbit, and they expect us to follow? Follow her my foot!"

Mu Liang, unusually, added, "If you were skilled at flying on a sword, you could run faster than a rabbit."

"My heart is so cold..."

The wind scorches as I gaze at the sky, wanting to cry but unable to shed a tear.

Mu Liang actually stabbed him in the heart!

Behind them, the Guixu Palace slowly collapsed amidst a roar.

The Guixu Palace, which stood in the abyss, was finally cleaved in two by a sword on this day and buried by a group of people who did not believe in fate.

Sunlight poured down through the cracks, illuminating every inch of the ruins.

On the continent of Nine Provinces, the war of retaliation against the Heavenly Dao Apostles has begun.