Shi Wanshan's Cunning Maneuver

Just as Xue Wushang tried to struggle to his feet, Fang Hanyu followed him like a shadow, the sword blade slicing right past his shoulder hollow.

With a slicing sound, Xue Wushang's right arm, which wore his storage ring, was cleanly severed, and blood gushed out.

"My hand! My storage ring!"

Xue Wushang screamed miserably. Looking at the blood-stained storage ring that had fallen to the ground, his eyes were filled with despair.

He knew that if he continued to fight, he would undoubtedly die. Enduring the severe pain, he channeled his remaining demonic qi, turning into a streak of blood-red light and fleeing toward the secret realm's exit, not even bothering to pick up his severed arm.

Seeing their sect master flee, the disciples of the Blood Soul Sect instantly lost their will to fight. Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu took the opportunity to slaughter most of them. In the end, only three or four surviving remnants were left, crawling and stumbling as they followed in fleeing toward the exit.

Seeing this, Mo Luo was scared out of his wits.

He was already suffocated by the suppression of Xiao Ruobai's halberd radiance. Now, seeing Xue Wushang fleeing with a severed arm, how could he dare to linger in battle?

Taking advantage of the gap when Xiao Ruobai was dealing with the black-robed elders, he violently pushed a nearby disciple away to act as a scapegoat, then turned and ran toward the depths of the secret realm.

But before he could run more than a few steps, a streak of sword qi thrown by Fang Hanyu grazed his back, causing him to spurt a large mouthful of blood. Even so, he did not dare to look back, fleeing toward the exit as if his life depended on it, only hating his parents for not giving him two extra legs.

Two elders of the Demon Heaven Sect were directly slain, their heads separated from their bodies.

At this moment, Xiao Ruobai suddenly erupted, swinging his long halberd to slash at the three black-robed elders.

Seeing this, the three elders hurriedly condensed their flame spiritual energy, stacking three fire shields together in an attempt to block this strike.

However, the moment the long halberd collided with the fire shields, it smashed them to pieces, and the residual force rushed straight at the chests of the three men.

"Pfft—"

The three of them simultaneously spurted large mouthfuls of blood and flew backward like kites with broken strings. They crashed heavily onto the ground, struggled a few times, but didn't even have the strength to crawl up. They could only lie paralyzed on the spot, looking at Xiao Ruobai with eyes full of fear.

And the shockwave of this attack did not dissipate; it continued rushing toward Lie Tianxiong, who was not far away.

Lie Tianxiong was already lying prone on the ground, his qi and blood churning in his chest. Seeing the dark golden shockwave striking toward him, his face instantly turned deathly pale.

He knew very well that in his current state, if he were hit by this shockwave, even if he didn't die, he would have to lie in bed for more than half a year!

"Palace Master!"

Right at this moment, the Second Elder of the Burning Heaven Palace suddenly rushed out. Roaring, he condensed all of his spiritual energy to form a wall of fire in front of him.

"Don't hurt my Palace Master!"

But this wall of fire appeared exceptionally fragile in the face of the sword qi's shockwave. The moment they made contact, it was shaken to the point of crumbling, and the Second Elder's face instantly flushed red, clearly having exerted all his strength.

Seeing this, Shi Wanshan frowned. No longer just watching from the sidelines, spiritual energy surged at his fingertips, and a pale golden shield appeared behind the wall of fire, blocking the shockwave together with the Second Elder.

With a soft boom, the shockwave dissipated. Shi Wanshan took the opportunity to fall to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

The Second Elder staggered back a few steps, clutching his chest and coughing violently.

He secretly sent a voice transmission to Shi Wanshan: "Why did you intervene? I could have blocked it myself!"

Shi Wanshan glanced at him and transmitted back.

"If I didn't intervene, could you have blocked it? That wall of fire was about to shatter just now. Forcing yourself to hold on would have only made it worse."

"Why couldn't I!"

The Second Elder said, and as he spoke, he stealthily circulated his energy to force out a mouthful of blood, letting it flow down the corner of his mouth to deliberately make himself look heavily injured.

"Don't think you're the only one who broke through. I haven't been idle these past few years either. I can still block this little shockwave!"

Not far away, Lie Tianxiong saw this scene clearly. Seeing that the Second Elder had not only taken the shockwave head-on to protect him but had also coughed up blood, his eyes immediately grew hot.

Struggling to crawl up, he shouted at the Second Elder: "Second Elder! How are you? It's all my fault, I was too impulsive just now!"

The Second Elder waved his hand, pretending to be weak: "As long as the Palace Master is fine, my minor injuries are nothing..."

Looking at his pale face and the blood at the corner of his mouth, Lie Tianxiong felt even more moved.

"Second Elder, you saved my life today. I will remember this kindness forever! In the future... if anything unexpected happens to me, the position of Palace Master of the Burning Heaven Palace will be yours, and no one can take it away!"

Lie Tianxiong paused and said solemnly.

Hearing this, a trace of imperceptible joy flashed in the depths of the Second Elder's eyes, but verbally he hurriedly declined.

"Palace Master, your words are too heavy. Protecting the master is this subordinate's duty. This subordinate absolutely has no intention of coveting the position of Palace Master..."

Lie Tianxiong then turned to Shi Wanshan, his face full of guilt and gratitude. With two large bumps, one blue and one purple, on top of his head, he cupped his fists toward Shi Wanshan.

"Brother Wanshan! Thank you so much for today! Previously, when I lost my storage ring, I saw that the robber's figure was somewhat similar to yours, and I actually absurdly suspected that you were the one who did it that day. Thinking about it now, I was truly blind and almost wronged a good person! From now on, you are my good brother, and the Burning Heaven Palace and the Qingxuan Sect are allies!"

Hearing this, Shi Wanshan smiled and waved his hand.

"Palace Master Lie, your words are too heavy. It was just a small effort, there's no need to take it to heart."

Lie Tianxiong, however, became even more resolute and patted Shi Wanshan on the shoulder.

"No! I must remember this kindness! In the future, if Brother Wanshan has any needs, the Burning Heaven Palace will definitely do our utmost to help!"

The Second Elder watched this scene of brotherly love and respect from the side, and chimed in with a straight face: "The Palace Master is right! Elder Shi helped us out of a sense of justice, we should indeed befriend him properly!"

Standing behind Shi Wanshan, Li Xuanfeng watched this scene unfold, silently exclaiming 'good heavens' in his heart.

He knew very well that Lie Tianxiong's storage ring was robbed by Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu, the Sect Master's clothes were stripped off by Martial Uncle Shi, and one of the large bumps on his head was also knocked by Martial Uncle Shi!

He secretly glanced at Shi Wanshan's still-indifferent profile, secretly admiring him in his heart.

Martial Uncle Shi's move was truly an eye-opener!

Stripping someone down to their underwear from head to toe, leaving them with two swollen bumps on their head, yet still making them treat him as a lifesaver and be immensely grateful—with methods like this, one couldn't help but be convinced!

Shi Wanshan sneaked a glance at the dumbfounded Li Xuanfeng behind him and silently gave the kid a look.

What are you looking at? Learn from this. In the future, when dealing with other sects, this trick is much more effective than fighting head-on!

Xiao Ruobai took in the interactions of these few people, but only gave them a faint glance before withdrawing his gaze. He retracted his long halberd, and the golden halberd radiance instantly dissipated.

His gaze coldly swept over the other powers present. Yun Canghai of the Myriad Law Pavilion gripped his jade ruyi, his fingertips trembling slightly.

The hands of the Heavenly Derivation Sect elders, which were forming hand seals, stopped in mid-air, their faces turning pale.

The hands of the Cold Moon Valley disciples holding their ice crystal longswords were trembling involuntarily.

"Are you still not leaving?"

Xiao Ruobai's voice was not loud, but it carried immense oppressive pressure. Runes of the Heaven Reaching Tower faintly flickered around him.

"Do you need me to personally escort you out of the secret realm?"

As soon as these words came out, the experts of the various sects woke up as if from a dream.

Yun Canghai was the first to react. He gave the First Elder a look and said in a deep voice, "Retreat!"

The sect masters of the major sects successively led their disciples toward the exit of the secret realm. Lie Tianxiong of the Burning Heaven Palace also took the opportunity to flee in a panic with his disciples.

The people of the Qingxuan Sect also left the secret realm under the leadership of Shi Wanshan.

In just a few moments, the core area of the secret realm, which had been packed with people, was left with only Xiao Ruobai, Fang Hanyu, and Little Black perched on a distant tree branch.

Little Black flapped its wings and landed on Xiao Ruobai's shoulder. It gently pecked at his collar with its sharp beak, as if to praise him.

Looking around the now empty secret realm, Xiao Ruobai let out a long breath of relief. "Finally, some peace and quiet."