Ye Chifeng truly deserved his reputation as the rising star of the Jinzhou Ye Clan, with his Literary Splendor Talent nurturing a vast and righteous sword qi, making his foundation remarkably robust.

He had inherited the Star-Chess Sword technique from the Jinzhou Ye Clan, and it seemed that he could anticipate the enemy's moves, changing tactics before his opponent could react.

Though he had tripped up and failed to detect Lei Jun's invisible Yuan Magnetism in time, Ye Chifeng immediately gathered his sword qi to shield himself.

But unfortunately, Lei Jun had constantly refined and adjusted his own skills, and this strike was stronger than any before.

The tip of the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo, smashing down toward his opponent's head, flickered with a wisp of flame, like candlelight.

Yet that tiny spark exploded over Ye Chifeng's head, instantly transforming into boundless, violent thunder-fire, erupting again and again.

The Ding Fire Yin Thunder, compressed to its limit, detonated at close range, blasting apart the hastily gathered protective sword qi around Ye Chifeng.

Then, the Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo fell without mercy, right on the crown of his head.

"Bang!"

Blood spattered, and the Ye Clan prodigy's skull split wide open.

He staggered twice, then toppled backward toward the sky.

Lei Jun let out a long breath, black and white twisting together.

Though this battle had been brief, its heart-stopping danger surpassed even the Dayuling Ridge showdown against Taoist Jiang and those Yellow Sky Sect disciples.

*Ye Qi was one thing.*

*But Ye Chifeng had concealed himself nearby, and Lei Jun really hadn't detected his presence ahead of time.*

*This Confucian scholar hadn't relied only on the spiritual treasure to conceal his presence—his own mind had remained as calm as still water, untouched by the outside world.*

*It was as if he didn't exist at all, with all the world's matters having nothing to do with him, just quietly following behind Ye Qi and the others.*

*When Li Xuan had appeared earlier, Ye Chifeng had acted completely oblivious, letting Ye Qi handle all interactions.*

*Had Lei Jun not hidden himself with extreme secrecy, bursting out in a sudden strike and instantly killing Ye Qi—catching Ye Chifeng off guard—Ye Chifeng would never have stood by while Ye Qi was attacked.*

*At that point, he and Ye Qi would have ambushed from both dark and light, attacking front and back.*

*It wasn't until he suddenly revealed himself to assassinate Lei Jun with his sword that his killing intent truly flared.*

*And at that exact instant, the spiritual object helping him hide also released its accumulated spiritual nature, suppressing his opponent's mind.*

*Thus, for a split second, Lei Jun's consciousness went blank.*

*The Breathing Soil Banner had an innate protective instinct, yet it was still half a beat too late.*

*But who could have expected that, deep within Lei Jun's spiritual soul, the Celestial Master Seal was hidden, allowing him to snap to awareness immediately.*

*If it had been any other Middle Three Heavens cultivator in this situation, most would have fallen.*

*Even Lei Jun had to admit, Ye Chifeng was more a Confucian swordsman than a martial arts expert.*

*Setting aside his offensive strength, whether a body-refining martial artist or a weapon-strike martial artist, at this realm their speed would be shocking; with that spiritual treasure for stealth and a sudden ambush, blood would surely have flown within five steps.*

"This thing, huh…" Lei Jun removed the bone chain wrapped around Ye Chifeng's arm.

[Teng Snake Bone]

He was struck by sudden inspiration, a name flashing through his mind.

The moderately good lot's mention of a fourth-rank opportunity should refer to this object.

Some risk remained—it was best to act with caution.

No lingering troubles.

Lei Jun put away the bone chain, choosing not to inspect it further for now.

At the same time, he stored his Supreme Pure Golden Bamboo, letting Ji Earth Yin Thunder and Gui Water Yin Thunder spread swiftly, sweeping the area.

While dispatching the last remaining Ye Clan members, he also cleared away most of the corpses.

Then Lei Jun left the forest at once.

Though he had already crossed Golden Palace Creek and was not far from the main peak of Dragon Tiger Mountain, talented experts lurked around, both openly and in the shadows.

Maybe most eyes were still focused on the main peak's epic clash between dragon and tiger.

But Lei Jun kept cautious, refusing to linger at the scene.

He followed the current downstream along Golden Palace Creek, heading toward the mountain region, hurrying after Li Xuan and the others who had departed earlier.

As it turned out, Lei Jun's caution proved justified.

Soon, someone approached the area near the Golden Palace Creek crossing.

The newcomer sported three long whiskers, a gaunt but refined face, a sword at his waist, and a relaxed bearing.

It was the very elder of the Upper Three Heavens realm from the Suzhou Chu Clan they had seen earlier.

The Mountain Defense Array of Dragon Tiger Mountain kept him blocked from entering, his strength alone unable to break the massive altar shrouding the main peak, forcing him to wait outside.

Everything outside the mountain was of little concern to this Chu Clan elder for now.

The future of the Celestial Master Mansion would be decided by the victory between several high merit elders on the main peak.

Yet this Chu Clan elder suddenly felt a faint prompting in his heart.

He considered briefly, but finally decided to inspect the Golden Palace Creek crossing.

Though Lei Jun had performed a quick cleanup at the scene, the Seventh Heavenly Layer elder from the Chu Clan still saw plenty at a glance,

A lot of dead bodies, mostly slain by Taoist Sect thunder methods.

Most importantly, those killed seemed to be Confucian cultivators.

Jingxiang Fang Clan members?

Jiangzhou Lin Clan members?

Or his own Suzhou Chu Clan?

During this Celestial Master Mansion dispute, opinions had not been united within the Chu Clan.

Elder Chu's main attention was on the Wu Yue unrest and the havoc caused by East Sea demons.

Thus, the Chu Clan lacked additional resources to intervene in Dragon Tiger Mountain's civil war.

Only this Chu Clan elder set aside his affairs to support Supreme Elder Li Song, who had always enjoyed strong relations with the Chu Clan.

Upon closer examination, he saw that the slain scholars here appeared to be from the northern Jinzhou Ye Clan.

Li Clan reaching out to various external allies was not unexpected for the Chu Clan elder.

All he could do was speculate how deeply the Jinzhou Ye Clan had involved itself this time,

"Boom!!"

Purple thunder split the sky, flying out from the main peak of Dragon Tiger Mountain, wild and dominant.

That Chu Clan elder composed himself, immediately dodging to avoid it.

The purple thunder was not aimed at him, but up on the main peak, where Tang Xiaotang wielded the Celestial Master's Sword in fierce battle against Li Hongyu and the Celestial Master Robe, making the clash more intense than before.

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