The Jiyue Pavilion disciples tried again and again to break through Drunken Heart Valley’s encirclement, but none could escape. Their gazes turned to Elder Du Yu. After delivering three sweeping strikes, the Eighth Elder of the Pavilion stood still with his blade, as if lost in meditation.
What is he holding back? they wondered. His divine power flowed evenly—and no sign of a hidden technique.
At the edge of life and death, they stopped questioning his intent and focused on simpler thoughts: how to break out of this trap.
Soon one voice rang out above the others: “Eighth Elder, please strike once more and drive back these Drunken Heart Valley scum! If you hold them off, we’ll escape and immediately petition the Divine Pact for aid. You only need to endure—reinforcements will come, and we’ll all live!”
Appealing to both emotion and reason, the plea bound their shared survival to Du Yu’s blade. Under normal circumstances, no one would refuse such a reasonable request.
But Du Yu was no ordinary man—he was a warrior born for battle, utterly beyond conventional logic.
He slowly opened his eyes, standing firm on his blade. “I’m clearing a way out to awaken your will to live—so you may slay these Drunken Heart Valley foes before departing,” he said. “Not to have you pin your hopes on me alone. Strong ones seek strength within, not without. Whether you survive depends on your own fate. I do not expect any aid!”
His meaning was clear: We stand and fight together—no one begs another.
The Pavilion disciples froze. Seriously? You’d rather watch us die than simply cut a path?
As they cursed, Zhu Xincheng and Elder Xiao Nanxing of Drunken Heart Valley advanced to finish off Du Yu. Tang Jiansheng, meanwhile, had been assigned by Zhu Xincheng to slaughter the fleeing Pavilion disciples—and she could not risk him being undone here.
Just as the clash between divine-warrior realms was about to ignite, a lone figure soared in from outside, slipping through the breach Du Yu had carved. It was Ye Yu.
He had rushed straight here upon learning Bone Ji was in Sunken Yang Gorge—only to find no one. He searched until he discovered this colossal living-wood barrier... with a convenient loophole.
His arrival drew everyone’s attention—each side assuming he was an enemy. Only Bone Ji stood rooted to the spot, stunned. She had longed for this figure day and night, never expecting to see him here.
Ye Yu saw her and ran forward, taking her hand to lead her away. But escaping was far harder than entering: ten Drunken Heart Valley warriors barred their path.
Ye Yu sized them up—each was beyond the Celestial God Realm. A direct fight was impossible. He needed another tactic. Spotting Zhu Xincheng, he called out, “Lord Zhu, this is my Dao partner. She strayed into Jiyue Pavilion by mistake. I ask you to let us pass. When I see that old bastard again, I’ll repeat your words verbatim!”
Zhu Xincheng’s eyes flickered. She glanced at Xiao Nanxing, silently commanding him to clear the way.
Xiao Nanxing frowned. “Why?”
Zhu Xincheng’s gaze softened as she whispered to Ye Yu, “He is my... friend. He has no threat to us. Let them go.”
With that, Xiao Nanxing signaled his men to stand down. A New God Realm warrior and a Celestial God Realm warrior could not raise much trouble. No hope of reinforcements, he thought. In the time it takes incense to burn, all the Pavilion disciples here will fall.
The ten Drunken Heart Valley disciples opened a corridor.
“Thank you, Lord Zhu!” Ye Yu bowed and led Bone Ji through.
The other Jiyue disciples attempted to follow—but a sudden gale knocked them back a hundred paces. The weaker ones coughed blood, grievously wounded.
Zhu Xincheng’s voice rang coldly: “I said let them go, not you! All of you die here—especially you, Du Yu!”
Du Yu’s response was a whisper: “That depends on whether you can kill me.” He stroked his blade, and murderous intent coalesced into palpable form—like a sacred sword unsheathed.
Meanwhile, Ye Yu and Bone Ji had already traveled thousands of li away. Throughout the flight, Bone Ji gripped Ye Yu’s robe as if fearsome of any lapse—fearful he might vanish again.
Ye Yu laughed softly. “Relax. I won’t leave you again.”
Bone Ji raised her hand to his cheek, fingertips tracing gently, as though storing the image forever. Then her hair shimmered gold, and her eyes grew ice-cold.
“You’re hiding something—tell me, what happened between Yinghuo and Yu Buxia?”
