C194 Ancestor Appearance

The very thing she had feared most had come to pass.

Given Yu Yuan's temperament, should he strike at Van Hua, it was likely that none of the Silvermoon Empire's cultivators present would escape unscathed.

Yu Yuan didn't see himself as a subject of the Empire, yet she steadfastly viewed herself as one, a citizen of the Silvermoon Empire.

She remained the City Lord of Darkmoon, held in high esteem by Her Majesty the Empress.

Amidst the myriad calamities that had befallen the Empire, how could it withstand the onslaught of Yu Yuan's unrestrained havoc?

"Yu Yuan! You've got some nerve!"

Van Hua soared into the sky, conjuring a series of golden books beneath her feet as if by magic.

Each tome shimmered with a radiant glow, the tiny golden characters within seemingly eager to leap off the pages.

With a swift motion, Van Hua transformed into a towering bookcase, the rows of golden books arrayed before her serving as a barricade.

As a practitioner at the Yin God Stage, she channeled her spiritual Qi and life force, wielding these artifacts with all her might in defense.

Clearly, the onslaught of sword intent directed at her was enough to strike terror into her heart.

At the bottom of the pool, Yu Yuan's face registered surprise, his lips curling into an odd smile.

Unexpectedly, a mere shift in his thoughts had stirred the sword intent into action.

When his malicious thoughts and desire to kill the man with the dragon's body and human's head dissipated, the sword intent retreated of its own accord.

Whenever Van Hua became a thorn in his side, causing him discomfort, the sword intent would respond to his mood, poised to eliminate the nuisance.

Su Xiangtian, Lee Yuangui, and Yuan Lianyao were now utterly convinced of the inexplicable bond between Yu Yuan and the sword intents. Despite his attempts to conceal it, he couldn't sway their beliefs.

His disdain for the Van family, stemming from issues with Fan Li, was no secret.

Van Hua's antagonism only added to his irritation. He had considered intervening when the sword intents targeted her, but upon hearing her accusation of cowardice, he chose to step back and let the sword intents run wild.

"Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!"

Five sword intents burst forth from the sword scars on the pool's wall, ascending like a crystalline cascade defying gravity.

Within the depths of this crystal stream, myriad slender beams of sword light, as fine as strands of hair, danced with the profound truths of the sword, echoing the ultimate principles of the universe.

Yu Yuan, with eyes narrowed, could just make out the five Great Sword Immortals, their robes billowing as they commanded the vast starry expanse. With wine pots in hand, they cleaved through the brilliant stellar river, sending the lurking Devaputras in the outer dark depths into a frenzied flight like terrified bats.

The quintet of sword intents seemed to share a lineage, all tracing back to an ancient Sword Immortal from the Sword Sect. The arrogance, nonchalance, and confidence inherent in the sword intents burst forth from each glint of light.

Golden books were suddenly ripped asunder, their radiant pages transforming into molten streams of gold and iron, coalescing into birds that scattered in all directions.

Van Hua cried out, her hand seals shifting rapidly. The ancient tomes morphed into a thick shield, safeguarding her chest. From those books emanated a clear, melodious voice, reminiscent of a learned scholar imparting wisdom. He instructed children, shared knowledge with illiterate farmers, and taught rulers and ministers the virtues of loving their people and governing wisely.

Countless golden characters spilled forth from the ancient texts, bathing the world in a resplendent glow. Amidst this brilliance, one could glimpse a scholar in golden garb, as if stepped right out of myth, holding a book and reading aloud with vigor.

The five Sword Intents, now personified as Sword Immortals wielding ancient swords capable of sundering stars, struck at him repeatedly. The scholar was shattered but then reassembled, unyielding.

A swarm of golden ancient text filled the space like a cloud of gnats. The Sword Immortals appeared to hold back, sparing the scholar a true death blow.

Eventually, the scholar's form dissipated, and Van Hua, having distilled complexity into simplicity, stood alone amidst the fading light and shadow, cradling a single golden ancient book.

This book, a relic entrusted to someone before a Van family ancestor's departure from the Heavenly Source Continent, was the Van family's most cherished heirloom, handed down through the ages.

Rumors held that this golden tome was authored by that very ancestor, whose works were revered across numerous sects of the Heavenly Source Continent. Even in death, the ancestor's legacy was held in high esteem by the continent's cultivators.

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of fresh blood erupted from Van Hua's lips, splashing onto the golden ancient tome.

The tome, bathed in the blood, absorbed it eagerly, its glow intensifying.

"Van Hua!"

General Lee Yuangui's face twisted in alarm as he glared at her, barking, "The Van family's treasured heirloom has already shielded you from one disaster. Don't act recklessly!"

Su Xiangtian's brow furrowed as he observed, "The five sword intents must have detected the presence of your Van family's golden book and held back their full force."

Both men noticed that the sword intents, which had surged from the wall's engravings, had lost their edge following the arrival of the golden-robed scholar.

It was as if, out of respect for the Van family's ancestor, they refrained from delivering a fatal blow to Van Hua.

Van Hua, leaning on the power of the golden book, had only expended some spiritual energy and vitality. She bore no grave physical wounds, nor was her soul harmed.

Yet...

Van Hua seemed oblivious to the fact that her lack of injury was solely due to the Van family's sacred relic.

After coughing up blood and invoking the family's secret method, she was convinced that Yu Yuan was to blame for her inability to fully unleash the heirloom's might.

She also held Yu Yuan responsible for Van Li's death.

"Yu Yuan struck first!"

Her icy gaze swept over Su Xiangtian and Lee Yuangui with disdain. "From what I see, this lad from Darkmoon has been adrift in confusion for years, likely overtaken by an Alien Soul Demon. It was only during the upheaval of the world that he truly awoke. And what awoke was none other than the Alien Soul Demon from the forbidden lands!"

Her words were laced with malice.

She twisted Yu Yuan's past confusion to connect him with the forbidden land's Alien Soul, aligning him with Ann Jieshan and the draconic figure, as if they were kin.

Should these accusations stick, Yu Yuan, the Yu family, and even City Lord Yuan Lianyao would struggle to clear their names.

"The one who acted wasn't me; don't pin this on me."

Yu Yuan, from the pond's depths, shrugged nonchalantly, his demeanor serene, "It was the pond wall's sword mark that harbored malice towards you, not me. What does it have to do with me?"

Before any bridges were burned, if there was a chance to disentangle himself from the situation, he would take it. The cultivators from the Silvermoon Empire who were present all harbored a clear animosity towards him, with Fan Hua being the most overt.

If Fan Hua were to die, the others would likely fall silent and accept him...

Yu Yuan pondered the circumstances, stroking his chin as he glanced at the man with the dragon's body.

The man who had been laughing boisterously moments before now exchanged a knowing look with Yu Yuan. It seemed they had come to an unspoken understanding in the blink of an eye.

"This is utterly nonsensical," Yu Yuan grumbled to himself. "Senior Ann Jieshan is still here, and that other person has also shed his constraints. Why single me out?"

He looked up at Su Xiangtian and Lee Yuangui and challenged them, "If you're so eager to kill, why not do it yourselves? Why command me to do your dirty work?"

"Forgive me, but with my modest level and limited strength, I'm afraid I won't be of much assistance."

With a nod and a bow, he gestured to Su Xiangtian and Lee Yuangui to go ahead and make their move against the man with the dragon's body and Ann Jieshan.

Yet, inside, he was utterly detached.

"Just try it. You may not even stand a chance against those two!"

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