Inside Seven Chord City.
Chu Kuangren had just returned from Blaze City. He went back to the inn, only to be welcomed by wreckage.
Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue were nowhere to be found.
"I don"t care what happened. This inn of mine has operated for several hundred years and garnered high praises from everyone in Seven Chord City. But now, you"ve demolished the whole establishment. Don"t even think of running away before you compensate me with several dozen grams of soul emblems."
The inn owner caught Chu Kuangren and refused to let him leave.
Not far away, Yang Xiyun walked up to them. She was here because she was worried about Murong Xuan"s safety. "We"ll pay for whatever they"ve damaged," she said.
"Xiyun, don"t take on more than you can chew. This has got nothing to do with us."
Beside her, Melodious Void Sect Master suggested. She stared at Chu Kuangren with a sense of satisfaction at his misfortunes in her eyes.
"Since you guys were acting arrogant earlier, let"s see how you can deal with this now"
"Honorable Teacher, I owe it to Brother Murong."
Yang Xiyun frowned. Deep down, she felt a little disappointed at Melodious Void Sect Master.
"It doesn"t matter how he helped you. We, the Melodious Void Sect, had already taken care of him here for quite a significant amount of time. We even offered him soul emblems, but he chose to reject them. Of course, if Brother Chu wants to claim those soul emblems back for his use now, I won"t necessarily say no..." Melodious Void Sect Master said as she looked at Chu Kuangren mockingly.
"There"s no need for that. I can still afford this little bit of soul emblems."
Chu Kuangren casually tossed out a Yin and Yang Ring, which had a hundred over grams of soul emblems inside.
That was merely a drop in the bucket for someone as wealthy as Chu Kuangren.
That inn owner took the Yin and Yang Ring and took a glance at it. Almost immediately, his face turned to joy. "Consider everything that happened today settled then. See you around, Sect Leader Chu."
The inn owner grabbed the soul emblems and left in a hurry.
With this amount of soul emblems, he could totally build a few more inns like this one.
On the side, Melodious Void Sect Master looked annoyed when she saw how easily Chu Kuangren could come up with several dozen grams of soul emblems.
Chu Kuangren did not pay heed to her at all as he proceeded to contact Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue. He found out that the two of them were currently inside a jungle in Seven Chord City.
As such, he left the scene and came to the place where Murong Xuan and Shang Qingxue were at.
Besides the two of them, Swordsman Mei was also there
At this point in time, Swordsman Mei was lying on the ground. Her chest had been punctured by sword qi. Ubiquitous sword qi swirled around her wound, locking her spiritual power.
There was a hint of paleness on her pretty face, and she looked incredibly helpless. It was very hard for anyone not to have any sympathy for her.
Nonetheless, Chu Kuangren stared at her calmly while activating his Eye of Revelation.
"Swordsman Mei, one of the Shadow Swordsmen of Sword Tribe. Owns the Dark Descent Physique, skilled in Dark Dao…"
Dark Descent Physique was one of the Three-Thousand Physiques. It was also a Supreme Daoist Physique, one that was almost equal level with Lan Yu"s Holy Radiant Physique.
Such a Daoist Physique would make her one of the most top-notch sky-prides even in a place like the Sword Tribe.
"It"s surprising that a sky-pride of your standard would become one of the Shadow Swordsmen," Chu Kuangren said.
"Hmph, for Master Daoist, it doesn"t matter if I"ll be bound to endless darkness for my entire life."
Swordsman Mei scoffed back at him.
"Oh, Master Daoist? You"re talking about the Sword Tribe"s Daoist, am I right?"
"Since you"ve already beaten me, why don"t you just end me already? You can give up your hopes of obtaining any info regarding the Sword Tribe or Master Daoist from me."
Swordsman Mei looked like she would rather die than surrender.
"It would be a waste to kill you just like that. I"m still thinking of that Supreme Daoist Physique of yours, the Dark Descent Physique."
"What do you want then?"
"You"ll soon find out."
The edge of Chu Kuangren"s lips curled into a cold grin.
He thrust a sword finger sign, with which a ray of light shot out from his fingertip, piercing into the defenseless Swordsman Mei"s mind.
As suspected, it was the Soul-Vanquis.h.i.+ng Slave Seal!
Swordsman Mei noticed that something was amiss. In a frenzied effort, she tried everything to fight off the slave seal"s incursion.
However, her power was no match to Chu Kuangren. Adding to the fact that her body was heavily wounded, all forms of resistance would only prove to be futile.
Before long, the Soul-Vanquis.h.i.+ng Slave Seal was marked on the deepest etches of her soul.
"B*stard!! You"d be crazy to think that you can enslave me!!"
Swordsman Mei"s delicate face glared at Chu Kuangren fiercely.
"Whether I"m crazy or not, we"ll soon find out."
Chu Kuangren replied indifferently. With a flicker of his mind, the sword qi on Swordsman Mei"s body dissipated, and her spiritual power recovered.
When Swordsman Mei saw that, she tried to utilize her spiritual power and dragged her heavily injured body toward Chu Kuangren for retaliation.
However, Shang Qingxue and Murong Xuan chuckled when they saw that.
She could not even beat Chu Kuangren"s spiritual thought clone in her prime, let alone wanting to fight his actual form in her mortally wounded body.
Chu Kuangren, on the other hand, had no intention of using any force on her.
Right when Swordsman Mei was getting closer and closer to Chu Kuangren, an agonizing pain suddenly came from the depths of her mind.
It was an intense pain that originated from the soul itself!
That was the punishment that the slave seal brought upon her for disobeying her master!
The excruciating astral pain made Swordsman Mei"s pet.i.te body tremble incessantly. She could not withstand it any longer and collapsed onto the floor on her knees. The sword that she was holding also loosened from her grasp and dropped onto the floor.
"I might not have the strength to kill you, but I"ll never allow you to use me against Master Daoist!!"
From the outside, Swordsman Mei may look soft and gentle, but deep inside, she was a very resilient character.
She conceded that she would not be able to kill Chu Kuangren. Hence, in order to prevent herself from causing any harm to Master Daoist, she endured the harrowing pain and picked up the longsword that she dropped once more, slas.h.i.+ng it at her throat. The sharp sword blade ripped open the smooth skin on her neck, and huge amounts of fresh blood spurted out.
Chu Kuangren was shocked to see Swordsman Mei killing herself in front of him. "Hey, I must admit. Your loyalty for the Sword Tribe and Sword Daoist is truly remarkable."
With that, he stretched out his arm and cast the Spring Breeze Healing Technique.
The life force from the surroundings ama.s.sed before it surged into Swordsman Mei"s body continuously.
With the help of such a powerful healing-type Emperor Technique, the gash on Swordsman Mei"s neck healed rapidly.
Shortly after, Swordsman Mei had recovered back to her usual self.
She touched her neck and found that there was no scar at all. If not for the blood traces that spurted all around her, she would have thought that the sequence earlier was just a dream.
Chu Kuangren, of all people, had rescued her.
Still, she was not gullible enough to believe that he did that to help her.
Suddenly, a sense of despair welled up in her.
She had never imagined that in front of Chu Kuangren, she would have no control of even her own death.
"How the h.e.l.l are you planning to use me to get back on the Sword Tribe?" Swordsman Mei questioned him coldly.
"Relax."
Chu Kuangren mobilized his spiritual thoughts. The next moment, a rune was formed and transformed into a collar that wrapped around Swordsman Mei"s neck.
In that instant, Swordsman Mei could feel the spiritual power in her getting locked inside her own spiritual mound!
"Qingxue, I"ll leave her to you. Keep her close to your side for now, and don"t let her escape," Chu Kuangren ordered.
"Yes." Shang Qingxue nodded.
Murong Xuan, who was beside her, appeared quite puzzled. "Sect Leader, this woman is so resilient and unrequited. I"m worried that we"ll have a tough time handling her."
"Heh, you"ll figure it out soon enough."
Chu Kuangren let out a slight chuckle. The true power of the Soul-Vanquis.h.i.+ng Slave Seal had not been fully expressed yet.
Having gotten the hint, Murong Xuan stopped asking further questions.
With that, the three of them continued their journey to the end of Emperor Road with Swordsman Mei by their side.
However, they did not encounter any major opportunity of fortune along their way this time.
After all, the Emperor Road was a huge place. Although quite a number of Opportunities of Fortune had already emerged, they would still need that tad bit of luck to encounter one themselves.
Moreover, many opportunities of fortune had already been s.n.a.t.c.hed by the various major forces here. It was almost impossible for a normal cultivator to get any share of that.