The moment that icy gaze sharp as a sword fell upon Zhu Bufan, a chill crept over him, and he quickly turned around. The surrounding crowd had clearly noticed Zhu Bufan's previous action.

The look from Grand Steward Lius of Lanyue Pavilion was as if he wished to flay and dismember Bufan alive, while Wang Hui's gaze brought Zhu Bufan great shame. Even though Huo Ling's stare felt like thorns on his back, it still couldn't reach that intensity.

"Could it be an illusion? This hateful gaze is rather unusual..." Unfortunately, the gaze had disappeared in an instant, leaving Zhu Bufan unable to ascertain who had looked at him with such enmity.

Finally, Zhu Bufan and his three companions, after passing through many defenders, arrived at the gateway to the tower's second floor.

A gigantic circular stone platform was engraved with intricate inscriptions, a towering blue radiance surged up from the platform, and strange spatial fluctuations emanated from the column of light, clearly indicating the gateway to the second floor of the tower.

"Zhu Bufan, Wang Hui! You've reached the gateway, time to release the hostage, right?" With sinister eyes fixed on Zhu Bufan, Grand Steward Lius seemed eager to rush forward and kill Bufan on the spot. Faced with the surging killing intent from the Grand Steward, Zhu Bufan had nothing to say – who told him to act impulsively? The current situation called for simply ignoring it.

"Of course, regarding Miss Yue Lan, I have no wish to keep her with us forever… As we approach the gateway, we will naturally return Miss Yue Lan to you, don't worry." Heh heh, with a smirk, Zhu Bufan and his party were still a good hundred meters away from the gateway. Regardless, they had to be within two to three meters to return the hostage.

"Master Wang, do we just walk onto that stone platform to go directly to the second floor, or is there something else we need to operate? If they play any tricks, this could spell doom for us all." Swiftly approaching Wang Hui, Zhu Bufan whispered his question.

"No! There's no need, you can go straight through." Seeing the gateway to the second floor, Wang Hui was visibly excited. After so many years, he was finally close to this place; his inner excitement was naturally hard to contain.

As the group made their way forward, not a single soldier attempted to stop them. The token in Grand Steward Lius's hand was like a divine edict, parting the soldiers like the tide, and finally, Zhu Bufan, Huo Ling, Wang Hui, and Yue Lan – kidnapped by Zhu Bufan – stopped less than two meters from the massive stone platform.

"Now, can we make the exchange?" Three times extorted by Zhu Bufan, Grand Steward Lius's anger had reached the explosive threshold, his sanity teetering on the brink. If Zhu Bufan found another excuse, the steward might risk harming Yue Lan just to erupt in an attack on Bufan.

"Hehe, of course." Seeing that the surrounding soldiers and Grand Steward Lius were at a safe distance, Zhu Bufan smiled and nodded to the Grand Steward. Just then, Yue Lan suddenly said, "First, remove the prohibition on me! Otherwise, don't even think about leaving!"

"Don't worry, the prohibition will automatically dissolve after twelve hours; it's fine even without my help. Heh heh, I must also thank you, Miss Yue Lan, for escorting me along this journey. I am eternally grateful." Right after Zhu Bufan finished speaking, intending to push Yue Lan towards Grand Steward Lius and the others, an unexpected change occurred.

A flash of sword light suddenly shot out from the crowd, aiming straight for Yue Lan's lower back – the ferocity of the attack could pierce through her waist and then impale Zhu Bufan. If Zhu Bufan were to save Yue Lan, there was absolutely no chance to dodge. Naturally, pushing Yue Lan towards the sword light would save himself, but he would likely face an all-out pursuit from Lanyue Pavilion. This reaction was something Zhu Bufan hadn't even considered.

With a flick of his left hand, Yue Lan was swung over to his right. At that moment, the sword light was about to hit Zhu Bufan. In the heat of urgency, Zhu Bufan, carrying Yue Lan, made a retreating move while his left hand surged with the Primordial Qi of Universe Unbound, blasting toward the incoming sword attack.

'Boom'

The tremendous force made Zhu Bufan spew a mouthful of blood, as the opponent's sword qi was unimaginably powerful, causing him internal injuries on the spot and sending him flying directly towards the 'door'.

"No!!!!" Seeing Zhu Bufan's right hand still holding Yue Lan as he crashed towards the door leading to the second floor, the Grand Steward Huo Ling was scared out of his wits and wanted to leap forward to pull Yue Lan back, but was it already too late? In a flash, Zhu Bufan and Yue Lan were enveloped in a blue light and instantly vanished.

"Roar! Damned bastard!!" Infuriated beyond measure, the Grand Steward Huo Ling, after steadying himself, saw the ambusher who had just gained his footing. Huo Ling's hair and beard bristled in anger—the ambusher was none other than Lin Ya who had his right hand severed that day. After escaping, Lin Ya knew he couldn't settle down in Heiyan City, so he kept a covert watch over Zhu Bufan and the others and infiltrated the guard troops.

The Grand Steward Huo Ling, in his rage, did not hold back even slightly, sending his pale green Primordial Qi blasting directly at Lin Ya, instantly snuffing out Lin Ya's slim chance of survival. After killing Lin Ya, the Grand Steward Huo Ling was clearly not yet satisfied and turned his attention, charging towards Wang Hui and Huo Ling.

Similarly, Wang Hui and Huo Ling were stunned by the sudden turn of events. It was only after the Grand Steward Huo Ling killed Lin Ya that the two snapped out of their shock. Seeing the Grand Steward Huo Ling charging towards them like a mad tiger, Huo Ling stepped into the light column and said, "Let's leave first, and think of a way to send Yue Lan back once we're there."

"This time, it's a big mess," Wang Hui sighed helplessly and followed Huo Ling's steps into the light column quickly. Seeing the two enter the light column, the Grand Steward Huo Ling shouted an order to the people behind him, then charged into the light column alone, leaving everyone else present exchanging bewildered looks.

The pure white light obscured their sight, and waves of dizziness struck them repeatedly. When Zhu Bufan regained consciousness, he found himself lying on the ground.

"Cough cough" After coughing up a couple of mouthfuls of blood-stained sputum, Zhu Bufan suddenly discovered something and turned his head to look, his soul nearly flying out of fear!

In front of Yue Lan's eyes was a boundless and ethereal wasteland. The grey land and pitch-black sky created an immensely oppressive atmosphere around them, but this was not the worst of it. The worst was the endless black clouds that continuously bombarded the ground with lightning—some as thick as children's arms, some as thick as thighs, and some bolts of lightning that struck were as thick as hundred-year-old trees. The whole wasteland was like the Thunder God's workshop, with formidable and astonishing power.

The thunder and lightning that struck the ground resounded with loud booms echoing in all directions, as though they were about to shatter the very space. If it weren't for themselves collapsing beneath something akin to an umbrella-shaped stone that shielded them from the sky's lightning, they would probably be dodging for their lives by now.

"This... this is Thunder Marsh!! You brought me to the second floor! You bastard, why did you bring me to the second floor too? If you want to die, go by yourself!!" After being dazed for a good while, Yue Lan jumped up like a cat whose tail was stepped on and started punching and kicking Zhu Bufan relentlessly. However, because her Primordial Qi was suppressed, her blows were indeed 'Flower Fist Embroidered Legs', so Zhu Bufan didn't resist and let her vent.

After a while, Yue Lan felt a little better, and looking around at the chaotic lightning strikes, she didn't know what to do and just sat down and sobbed softly.

"Hey, you know this wasn't my intention to bring you here. It turned out this way because of an ambush... Stop crying, will you..." Seeing Yue Lan sitting on the side and crying, Zhu Bufan stuttered clumsily trying to comfort her. He feared nothing in the world except a woman's tears. With Yue Lan crying in front of him, he truly didn't know what to do.

But soon, Zhu Bufan spoke to Yue Lan more seriously, "Miss Yue Lan, I admit that my previous actions were somewhat inappropriate, and you have every right to hate me. But after all, we stand on different sides, and I don't believe I did anything wrong. If we want to leave this tower, the only option is to act as we did. I believe that wherever we go, no one would allow us to the second floor of the tower. As for the reality, you are well aware of what happened, so out of necessity, we resorted to this strategy. The mix-up that led to you also being involved was totally accidental—you saw the ambush yourself."

Zhu Bufan's words silenced Yue Lan. After a while, Yue Lan spoke with a mocking tone, "Yes, in your eyes, you did nothing wrong, and your goal has now been achieved. So now I want to ask, now that you've arrived on the second floor, how do you feel?" Pointing at the chaotic, incessantly booming dark plain filled with lightning, Yue Lan revealed a hint of a cold smile.

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