Huo Ling's abnormality fueled a flicker of survival hope in the despairing Lian Family, with the remaining guards, now seemingly crazed, charging straight at Huo Ling, their Qi Claws formed from Primordial Qi showing not the slightest bit of reservation.

"Get lost!!" Zhu Bufan, who had just steadied Huo Ling, saw these guys who were desperately fleeing just moments ago counterattacking and his eyes instantly flashed with a blood-red light. Drawing the Emperor Yan's army-breaker with a shake, he immediately summoned Purple Cloud and swept it towards the ground.

'Boom'

A dark green Poison Fire burst from the ground like a geyser, throwing the guards into disarray. Seizing the gap as the Lian Family guards scrambled, Zhu Bufan, holding Huo Ling by the waist, quickly employed Thunderbolt Step, attempting to break through the encirclement.

"Leave that woman behind!!" With a fierce yell, the guard with the Nine-Ring Great Saber viciously slashed towards Huo Ling. Still freshly remembering the brush with death, he had never felt so close to dying. Thus, as soon as he escaped danger, his first thought was to take Huo Ling's life.

"Scram!"

Seeing the Nine-Ring Great Saber hurtling towards the half-conscious Huo Ling, Zhu Bufan's eyes burst with boundless fury. Purple Cloud spun and met the incoming Nine-Ring Great Saber.

'Clang'

With a light sound, to the astonished gaze of the guard, the heavy Nine-Ring Great Saber was effortlessly sliced in two upon contact with Purple Cloud. Realizing something was wrong, he quickly threw down his saber and ducked, narrowly escaping the fate of having half his head chopped off.

"Where do you think you're going?"

As Zhu Bufan sliced through the Nine-Ring Great Saber, a heavy punch suddenly landed on his ribs. It turned out that a guard with Body Tempering Eighth Layer Heaven cultivation, noticing Zhu Bufan's exposed weak spot, had without hesitation concentrated all his Primordial Qi and struck Zhu Bufan's ribs, intending to kill him with a single blow.

"Urgh." A muffled grunt. Zhu Bufan felt his Primordial Qi become tumultuous; the Shui Xuan silver clothing dissipated much of the Qi, but the guard's punch contained a tenacious Dark Force, causing Zhu Bufan great discomfort.

Naturally emanating protective Poison Fire warmed the ambushing guard's fist, startling him as he quickly retreated to drive away the burning Qi Force. But because of him, Zhu Bufan's attempt to break free was interrupted, and the Lian Family guards pressed on again, this time with Lian Hao joining the attack.

"Green Corpse Training Claw!"

Lian Hao's body burst with Primordial Qi as he fully unleashed his Body Tempering Seventh Layer Heaven cultivation. Both his originally normal hands transformed in an instant into a corpse-like ashen green, growing white hairs, and his fingernails rapidly elongated like sharp little knives, accompanied by a disturbing Corpse Qi, as Lian Hao's claws swiftly aimed at Huo Ling by Zhu Bufan's side.

"Damn it!" Seeing Lian Hao suddenly strike threw Zhu Bufan into disarray, though these Lian Family guards had already expended much, they should have been able to escape the encirclement shortly. However, Lian Hao's forceful intervention immediately changed the situation; helplessly, Zhu Bufan extended his left arm, which had been wrapping around Huo Ling's waist, to block Lian Hao's Corpse Claw forcefully.

"Watch me tear your hand off." With a sinister laugh, Lian Hao's Corpse Claw viciously tore at Zhu Bufan's left arm. But against expectations, there was no spray of blood or bone, as after Zhu Bufan's sleeve was completely torn, revealed was skin shimmering with a pale bluish light, silvery in color. Witnessing this unusual spectacle, Lian Hao was immediately stunned.

However, he soon snapped out of his daze, "Shui Xuan Silver Clothing!!!" The uncontrollable greed could clearly be heard in his tone; the Shui Xuan Silver Clothing was a treasure anywhere, able to effectively deflect an opponent's incoming Primordial Qi attack, and not just a little but the majority, making it an irresistible temptation for any cultivator, especially those of lower cultivation. With the Shui Xuan Silver Clothing, one could even fight and not lose against an opponent many levels higher, no wonder Lian Hao was so agitated.

Hearing Lian Hao's roar, the other guards were momentarily stunned; then greed swiftly crossed their faces. They had always assumed it was some sort of Cross Training Qi Technique that allowed Zhu Bufan to withstand many attacks without injury, but it turned out what Zhu Bufan relied on was the Shui Xuan Silver Clothing, which required at least a Artifact Refiner of the Fourth Rank to refine!

Fourth Rank Artifact Refiners, such an exalted height was truly beyond their reach, a presence that had already achieved the Soul Refining Realm. With just a slight raise of their hand, existences like themselves would be annihilated to oblivion. Of course, if they knew that the Water Profound Silver Clothes on Zhu Bufan's body were not the work of a Fourth Rank Artifact Refiner, but rather a genuine Fifth Rank Artifact Refining Master, they would indeed be even more horrified. But right now, they could no longer care about that; their sole thought was to snatch the Water Profound Silver Clothes from Zhu Bufan!

"Ah Jiu! Hurry back home and ask father to come over, we'll stall him to death here, hurry!!" Lian Hao, whose heart surged with greed, could no longer care for anything else, and yelled at the Body Tempering Fifth Layer Heaven guard who had barely survived under Huo Ling's attack yet was of no use, to rush away towards the distance.

"Damn it!!" Zhu Bufan naturally knew what these scoundrels were thinking. They were motivated by greed, nothing else, and after seeing the Water Profound Silver Clothes on him, their attacks became even more frenzied. Furthermore, most of the strikes were focused on Huo Ling, leaving Zhu Bufan no choice but to exhaust himself saving her, with no chance to break through.

"Idiot, once I come out, I'll directly take the girl and break out. You follow suit and break out as well. The girl is at a critical moment about to break through to the Bone Forging Realm; we can't delay any longer. Otherwise, she'll be in danger." While Zhu Bufan was busy dealing with the attacks from Lian Hao and the Lian Family guards aimed at Huo Ling, the child-like voice of Emperor Yan suddenly rang in his mind.

Hearing Emperor Yan's voice, Zhu Bufan was first shocked, then elation surged in his heart. "You're awake?" After warding off Lian Hao's pale Corpse Claws with a sword, Zhu Bufan asked eagerly.

"Of course, rest assured, with me here, it's not their turn to run wild! I'll take the girl and go first; you prepare to break out. If you get a chance, make them leave behind a souvenir." As soon as those words were spoken, a burst of black light erupted from Zhu Bufan's body, and the delicate and adorable figure of Emperor Yan suddenly appeared in front of Huo Ling.

Suddenly seeing a petite girl in black clothes, cute and invincible like a finely-carved jade doll appearing in front of him, the Lian Family guard who had lost his Nine-Ring Great Saber and was using his bare hands to condense Sword Energy for an attack, was dumbstruck. However, what followed was even more shocking to him.

Emperor Yan, with her face tightly drawn, upon appearing saw a bearded man. In reality, having just woken up, Emperor Yan was already clear on the whole situation that had happened. Knowing that so many people had besieged Zhu Bufan alone, Emperor Yan was already furious beyond measure. Now that she had come out and saw this unsightly pancake face, how could Emperor Yan not be incensed?

With a light tap of her little foot, Emperor Yan pounced towards the Lian Family guard. In his dumbfounded gaze, Emperor Yan's pale little fist landed on his chest.

'Crack'

The moment Emperor Yan's small fist landed on the chest of the Lian Family guard, his expression swiftly changed from dumbfounded to astonished, and then from astonishment to fear and disbelief. The colossal strength erupting from Emperor Yan's tiny body was not something he could withstand. The moment the formidable power landed on his chest, all of the Lian Family guard's ribs were completely shattered, and the splintered ribs penetrated his internal organs, causing the guard to vomit blood violently as large chunks of his viscera were spewed out along with it.

"Hmph, pathetic!" After casually dispatching the Body Tempering Seventh Layer Heaven Lian Family guard, the diminutive Emperor Yan landed lightly beside Huo Ling, grabbed her and said, "If it weren't for the special circumstances today, all of you would have been left dead right here! I'm leaving first, you take care of the rest yourself."

After saying that, Emperor Yan, holding Huo Ling, leaped and burst through the encirclement. In their astonished gazes, Emperor Yan's small fist landed on the tightly shut city gates.

'Boom'

The pitch-black Wutian Black Flame erupted like a volcanic explosion with Emperor Yan at the center. The solid city gate was just as vulnerable under Emperor Yan's blow, and with a single punch, a large hole about two meters high and wide was blown through by Emperor Yan. Without any delay, Emperor Yan turned into a shadow dashing out of the city gate, while Zhu Bufan also took advantage of the moment when Lian Hao and his group were caught off guard to break out.

"Stop him! We can't let him get away!!" Emperor Yan's unexpected interference caught Lian Hao and the Lian Family guards off guard. But their main target was still Zhu Bufan, and seeing that Zhu Bufan was about to escape, Lian Hao was the first one to rush forward to stop him.

Now without Huo Ling's hindrance, Zhu Bufan was naturally able to unleash two hundred percent of his power. Seeing Lian Hao hastily reaching out to stop him, a chilling Killing Intent surged in Zhu Bufan's eyes. Purple Primordial Qi, sharp as needles, burst forth from his body, and Purple Cloud, mixed with Poison Fire, showed no mercy, slashing directly down on Lian Hao's right side.

'Shing'

"Ahhh!!!" A scream akin to a pig being slaughtered crazily erupted from Lian Hao's mouth. His Corpse Arm, which had become tougher than steel due to the use of the Green Corpse Training Claw, seemed so easily overwhelmed under Purple Cloud's sharpness. As the purple sword light fell, Lian Hao's right arm was severed at the shoulder, and furthermore, the moment the Poison Fire touched Lian Hao's open wound, it began to furiously infiltrate his body, burning the dense Corpse Poison cultivated inside Lian Hao.

With one hand, Zhu Bufan snatched the Storage Ring from the airborne severed hand and activated Thunderbolt Step to follow Emperor Yan and burst through the city gate. Seeing Lian Hao's hand being chopped off, the guards of the Lian Family did not dare to chase; they could only stand there in a daze. At this moment, several dark shadows were rapidly approaching from afar; the reinforcements from the Lian Family finally arrived at this moment.

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