Both sides suffer

That sword strike was unleashed, the waves of Qi pressing down on Long Chen, his clothes fluttering non-stop. Before that sword, it seemed as if nothing could stand in its way.

That was absolutely the strongest sword strike Ying Hou had unleashed to date. Long Chen knew this must also be an Earth Rank battle skill, though it was even more terrifying than the battle skills he had used previously. A powerful Aura locked onto him tightly.

Facing death, Long Chen's mind was, however, completely tranquil. In this moment, he seemed to capture the trajectory of the heavens and earth, the derivation of the ten thousand laws and the Dao, and even everything around him was clearly reflected in his mind.

It was as if he had detached from his own perspective, and from the angle of a bystander, seen clearly everything around him.

What Long Chen did not know was that the Fengfu Star beneath his feet had completely stilled, as if waiting for some kind of enlightenment, though unfortunately, Long Chen did not notice.

Spiritual Qi surged into his Qi cyclones, the twelve cyclones swelling violently, as if twisted into a single rope, flowing along Long Chen's meridians and injecting into the broadsword in his hand.

"Heaven Severing"

A strange pattern appeared on the broadsword, as if it had come alive. It emitted a soft hum, cutting out in a profound arc, like a Dragon emerging from the sea, its Aura overwhelming. This was also Long Chen's strongest technique.

"Boom"

The explosion shook the heavens, the waves of Qi surging like a vast ocean. Two figures flew out simultaneously, blood filling the sky.

The longsword in Long Chen's hand was knocked away, rolling over a hundred zhang away before crashing into a rock and coming to a stop.

"Wah"

A mouthful of blood sprayed out wildly. Long Chen felt as if every bone in his body was about to fall apart, and his Aura rapidly declined.

Over a dozen wounds on his body were gaping open, blood flowing uncontrollably. What made Long Chen feel most helpless was that the meridians throughout his body had been ruptured, nearly shattering completely.

This was still because Long Chen had the experience from using Heaven Severing last time, using all the meridians in his body together to bear the recoil force.

However, because the power used this time was greater than last time, he was just a hair's breadth away from truly becoming a cripple.

If a small portion of meridians were broken, they could be reconstructed because there was a path to follow. If all the meridians were shattered, even if Long Chen possessed the memories of the Pill Emperor, he would have no power to restore them.

At this moment, he could not utilize a single shred of Spiritual Qi, not even a tiny bit; his meridians could not withstand any impact.

Over there, Ying Hou's condition was not much better than Long Chen's. The longsword in his hand had exploded, and the broken fragments had wounded both of them.

If it were only external injuries, Ying Hou could still rely on his powerful cultivation to suppress them. However, he had just used his strongest technique, causing him to be unable to suppress the virulent poison, and a trace of the poison had actually surged into his heart meridian.

Now, his heart was actually beginning to show signs of withering, frightening Ying Hou into hurriedly using all his Spiritual Qi to defend against the invasion of the poison.

Long Chen took a deep breath, slowly stood up, picked up the broadsword that was stuck in the mud nearby, and walked slowly toward Ying Hou.

He saw a trace of darkness appear at the center of Ying Hou's brow; that was one of the reactions to the poison attacking the heart, which meant that Ying Hou was now just like him, unable to utilize Spiritual Qi.

Now the advantage had tilted back to his side, and he would rely on his powerful physical strength to slay Ying Hou.

Long Chen desperately wanted to rush forward and slice Ying Hou in two with one sword strike, but his body was exhausted, blood gushing from dozens of wounds all over his body—those were injuries caused by the fragments of Ying Hou's shattered sword. If not for his robust Physical Body, he would have long been riddled with holes. Waves of exhaustion washed over him, making him ready to pass out at any moment.

But he absolutely could not fall. Although he had reached the point where his oil was exhausted and the lamp was dry, his eyes remained completely calm, devoid of any emotion, as he walked slowly toward Ying Hou.

"Ying Zhao, next, the one who will die is you."

Long Chen walked slowly to within close range of Ying Hou and swung his sword down.

Seeing that Long Chen was still able to attack, Ying Hou was shocked to his core and hurriedly rolled to the side. The broadsword slid past Ying Hou's cheek, and he could even feel the cold Aura on the broadsword.

"Damn it, he actually still has such powerful strength."

Ying Hou's expression finally changed drastically. After dodging Long Chen's strike, for the first time, he felt fear from a Qi Gathering realm brat, especially from Long Chen's gaze, which was as calm as water.

It was as if Long Chen was a well; on the surface, it looked like there was only that little bit, but just how deep he was, no one knew.

Ying Hou could feel the unwavering killing intent in Long Chen's heart. Now, for him, he was at an absolute disadvantage; he could not utilize Spiritual Qi, and in terms of Physical Body, he was no match for Long Chen.

"Consider yourself lucky today."

Ying Hou let out a cold snort and actually turned and fled.

"Want to leave? You might as well leave your life behind."

Long Chen shouted and gave chase with all his might.

However, the broadsword in Long Chen's hand was simply too heavy, and he fell further and further behind. In a moment, he had already lost sight of Ying Hou.

Seeing Ying Hou's shadow disappear, the look of anger on Long Chen's face vanished, replaced by a look of relief. Suddenly, the world spun, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

…

Seeing that Long Chen could not catch up to him, Ying Hou couldn't help but secretly call himself lucky. Long Chen's Physical Body was too powerful, but all his lethality was on that broadsword.

Now, he was instead dragged down by that broadsword and unable to catch up, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. However, what he did not know was that Long Chen was at the end of his rope, and by exhausting his final strength, he was just gambling to see if he could scare him away.

As it turned out, Ying Hou had really fallen for it. After running wildly for a distance, Ying Hou's heart suddenly jumped wildly; he discovered that his Spiritual Qi was somewhat insufficient, and he was beginning to be unable to suppress the virulent poison.

He hurriedly took out a few Medicinal Pills and shoved them into his mouth indiscriminately. Now, the medicinal power of the Snow Toad Pill was beginning to wane, but the virulent poison that Long Chen had released had only decreased slightly.

If he did not neutralize it in time, he would still die. At this moment, Ying Hou could no longer be concerned about Long Chen; his own life was what mattered.

In one day, he ran over five hundred li and finally exited the forest. A patch of tents appeared ahead, and upon seeing the tents, Ying Hou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When the patrolling soldiers saw the blood-covered, dying Ying Hou, they were so frightened they were stunned. Was that really the powerhouse who was like a god on ordinary days?

Ying Hou grabbed the patrolling soldier who looked like he had some rank and said urgently, "Order the hundred-thousand-strong army to search the entire mountain forest. If you encounter Long Chen, kill him without mercy. Send me… back to the Empire's capital…"

After relaying these instructions, Ying Hou could no longer hold on and passed out. Only then did that squad of soldiers react, hurriedly carrying Ying Hou inside and rushing to report to their superiors.

…

Time returns to the third day after Long Chen slew Xia Changfeng. The Fourth Prince looked at the secret letter in his hand, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Long Chen, you truly did not disappoint me."

He gently set down the letter and picked up a cup of fragrant tea from the table, taking a light sip. Suddenly, the room door opened, and a man in white entered.

Seeing the man in white, the Fourth Prince smiled slightly: "Chu Xia has already prepared fragrant tea, waiting for Your Excellency for a long time. However, Your Excellency arrived a bit late, so I had to taste a sip myself. I hope Your Excellency will not take offense."

The man in white's eyes were originally cold, the depths of his pupils filled with killing intent, but because of the Fourth Prince's words, he was stunned for a moment.

"You know who I am?" the man in white said coldly.

"I know a little."

"Then do you know why I came here?"

"To kill me," the Fourth Prince said indifferently. Those two words, which were originally hair-raising, became extremely plain words in his mouth.

"Knowing I came to kill you, you are still so calm?" The man in white's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Because I know you cannot kill me."

"Haha, if I, Luo Fang, want to kill you, even if the entire Empire combined, they couldn't stop me," the man in white sneered.

"It is not a question of whether it can be stopped or not, because I do not need to stop it. I know you will not kill me," the Fourth Prince said very firmly.

"Oh? I would like to hear it," the man in white seemed to have been stirred by the Fourth Prince's words.

"First, I believe Xia Changfeng was not your best partner. His stupidity proved this point, so he died."

"Continue."

"Second, you have a better partner, one who can serve you more effectively than him, allowing you to achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Are you talking about yourself?" the man in white said.

"Correct."

"Reason?"

"The reason is that I have a comprehensive understanding of your plans. I know how to let you take 'that' without shedding blood," the Fourth Prince said with a very firm tone.

Seeing the man in white remain silent, the Fourth Prince continued: "You have been laying the groundwork for this matter for over twenty years. From the moment my mother married the Fengming Emperor, you have always been careful, the goal being not to cause too much of a stir."

"Utilizing us mother and son, you successfully held back the entire Fengming Empire. Your Majesty has completely passed away, and the Empress Dowager is also controlled by my mother."

"Apart from Long Tianxiao, everyone who knows this secret is on our side. Therefore, the only person who needs to be concerned about now is Long Tianxiao."

"And for all these years, Long Tianxiao has refused to submit to me. He seems to have sensed some clues and has become alert, consistently refusing to return to the Empire's capital."

"So now, Long Tianxiao is the biggest obstacle in your plan. Am I right?"

The man in white frowned and said: "Everything you said is nonsense, it's equivalent to saying nothing."

The Fourth Prince smiled slightly: "If I say that I can solve the problem of Long Tianxiao, do you still think what I said is nonsense?"

"Is that true?" The man in white stared intently at the Fourth Prince and said.

"I never do things I'm not sure of. Chu Xia was born in Fengming, born to be treated as a pawn. I have had enough of this life without seeing the light of day. So, I want to cooperate with you; I will help you solve Long Tianxiao, and you will help me ascend to the throne." When the Fourth Prince spoke to this point, his breathing became somewhat heavy; clearly, he was very nervous at this moment.

Although he was also a prince, he had come into this world with a mission. As a spy, he was like a ghost, forever unable to see the true light.

He had been suppressed for too long, and he needed release. Especially when he saw that idiot Xia Changfeng actually able to lord it over him and put on a high-and-mighty face, he decided at that moment to get rid of that bastard and make himself the partner of the man in white.

The man in white looked at the Fourth Prince and said word for word: "What is your bargaining chip?"

Seeing that the man in white did not refuse, the Fourth Prince was overjoyed. A look of confidence appeared on his face, and he reached out to hand something to the man in white.

The man in white looked at that object and could not help but be startled.