Chapter 152

Chapter 152: Heavenly Blazing Fire!

Must die!

　　Qingshu stopped with Ye Tianming. She looked up and saw a black-robed figure standing not far away, with twelve mysterious powerhouses clad in dark armor standing behind him.

　　Qingshu studied the group’s attire, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Xianbao Pavilion.”

　　The black-robed man at the front rasped, “Miss Qingshu, you are the chief executive of Tianxing Civilization, which makes you one of our Guanxuan Academy’s own. I don’t understand why you would do this. Do you know that this person has slaughtered nearly ten great clans, hundreds of thousands of people in total?”

　　Qingshu said calmly, “You know in your own heart what is right and what is wrong.”

　　The black-robed man shook his head. “Miss Qingshu, Tianxing Civilization belongs to Guanxuan Academy. We should be standing on the same side.”

　　Qingshu fixed her gaze on him. “I only stand on the right side.”

　　After a brief silence, the black-robed man said, “Are you speaking on behalf of Tianxing Civilization?”

　　Qingshu nodded. “I am.”

　　The black-robed man said nothing more and gave a single nod. “Kill.”

　　Kill!

　　At this point, further words were useless. There was no way they could let Ye Tianming walk away.

　　Ye Tianming was only at the Zhixian realm now, and the abilities he already possessed were utterly outrageous. If he ever reached the Pojuan realm, what then?

　　This time, the Guanxuan Universe was truly afraid.

　　The moment the black-robed man’s voice fell, the dozen or so top-tier powerhouses behind him immediately charged forward.

　　Almost simultaneously, a tree mark quietly appeared between Qingshu’s brows. She pulled Ye Tianming behind her, gripped her sword with both hands, and slashed fiercely forward. Countless streaks of cyan light flew out alongside golden ancient characters.

　　Boom!

　　As a burst of sword light erupted, the space-time tunnel shattered entirely. Wave after wave of terrifying force blasted outward from the center. Qingshu pulled Ye Tianming back in a rapid retreat, swinging her sword as she went to deflect the devastating shockwaves.

　　At the same time, the space-time tunnel they had been in collapsed completely, and the two of them found themselves in an unknown expanse of starry sky.

　　Qingshu pulled Ye Tianming back nearly ten thousand zhang before finally stopping. The moment she did, a spear came tearing through the void with overwhelming force.

　　The one who had struck was none other than the black-robed man at the front.

　　Qingshu’s eyes narrowed slightly. She extended two fingers and pointed, sending a thread of cyan sword light slicing through the air to block the spear dead in its tracks.

　　But at that moment, over a dozen Pojuan realm powerhouses came charging in from all sides. Their target was not Qingshu, but Ye Tianming, who stood not far behind her.

　　Seeing this, Qingshu quickly stepped forward. She opened her palm and let out a sharp cry, “Rise.”

　　Boom!

　　From her palm, an ancient tree suddenly shot into the sky. Immediately after, a terrifying aura of dominance swept across the field, forcibly sending those Pojuan realm powerhouses stumbling back in retreat.

　　In the midst of the star river, a towering ancient tree tens of thousands of zhang tall had suddenly appeared.

　　”The Tianxing Life Tree!”

　　Not far away, the black-robed man’s expression turned gravely serious.

　　The Pojuan realm powerhouses who had been pushed back were equally grim. This tree was the civilization ancestral artifact of Tianxing Civilization — no, it had already surpassed that level, because this ancient tree had been modified by the Spirit Ancestor of old.

　　Qingshu stood beneath the Life Tree with Ye Tianming. The Tianxing Life Tree radiated wave after wave of terrifying pressure that spread outward in all directions. The aura was so overwhelming that none of the surrounding Pojuan realm powerhouses dared to make a move.

　　The black-robed man said in a low voice, “Miss Qingshu, do you truly intend to represent Tianxing Civilization and make an enemy of Guanxuan Academy?”

　　At this point, Qingshu’s face had gone somewhat pale. Driving a divine artifact like this took an enormous toll on her.

　　Qingshu looked at the black-robed man. “The Academy has been acting against all reason and righteousness. Are you not afraid of facing retribution one day?”

　　The black-robed man said coldly, “We are sworn to serve the Yang family unto death. Who would dare bring retribution upon us?”

　　Qingshu shook her head. “The Guanxuan Sword Master is not someone who cannot tell right from wrong. What you are doing is not serving the Yang family — you are tarnishing their name.”

　　The black-robed man gripped his spear and walked slowly toward Qingshu. “Chief Executive Qingshu, your willingness to protect him like this must go beyond a simple matter of right and wrong. You also want the Zhongsheng Law on him, don’t you? If that’s the case, rest assured — once we take down this Ye Tianming, the Zhongsheng Law will be shared among everyone.”

　　Qingshu smiled. “I do have some interest in that Zhongsheng Law.”

　　As she said this, she suddenly turned to look at Ye Tianming. “Young Master Ye, if the opportunity arises, would you allow me to take a look at it?”

　　Ye Tianming nodded. “Of course.”

　　Qingshu let out a quiet sigh and looked at the black-robed man and the others. “Actually, you don’t need to take it by force at all. His teacher created the Zhongsheng Law for the sake of all living beings in the Guanxuan Universe. If the Academy had not gone astray and lost its way, the Academy would surely have obtained the Zhongsheng Law by now.”

　　The black-robed man said, “Right and wrong no longer matter at this point. Between us and him, it is not a question of right or wrong — it is a question of where you stand.”

　　With that, he tightened his grip on the spear. “Miss Qingshu, this is your last chance. Do you truly intend to represent Tianxing Civilization and stand against the Academy?”

　　Qingshu smiled. “If you believe I am standing against the Academy, then so be it.”

　　The black-robed man gave a single nod and said nothing more. Suddenly his body shuddered, and a streak of spear light swept across the field like a thunderbolt, heading straight for Qingshu. Almost simultaneously, the black-armored powerhouses behind him charged out together.

　　Over a dozen Pojuan realm powerhouses striking at once — how terrifying was that?

　　The entire star river boiled in an instant, then was annihilated.

　　Qingshu’s eyes narrowed. She stepped forward, and the Life Tree in the heavens and earth shuddered violently. Immediately after, countless streams of cyan-green light poured into Qingshu’s body, and her aura surged wildly in that moment.

　　In that instant, she and the Tianxing Life Tree became one!

　　Qingshu gripped her sword and swept it forward in a fierce slash.

　　Whoosh!

　　A wave of cyan-green sword light swept outward, and the terrifying sword pressure directly forced the black-robed man and the others back in a rapid retreat.

　　When the black-robed man and the others finally stopped, they were all utterly stunned. They stared at Qingshu in disbelief. They had never imagined that the chief executive of Tianxing Civilization could be this terrifyingly powerful. In a one-on-one fight, they would have died ten thousand times over.

　　Even if Ye Tianming and Yang Jia did not use divine artifacts, defeating this chief executive would likely be no easy task.

　　With the Tianxing Life Tree empowering her, Qingshu’s aura grew more and more terrifying. The overwhelming sword pressure permeated the shattered star river, bearing down on the black-robed man and the others with immense force.

　　The black-robed man’s expression suddenly turned ferocious. “Kill.”

　　With that, they all vanished from where they stood and charged toward Qingshu.

　　Not far away, Qingshu’s eyes narrowed. She suddenly extended two fingers and pointed. “Break!”

　　From within the Tianxing Life Tree, tens of millions of sword beams shot out like a torrential downpour. The dense, overwhelming sword energy flooded the entire star river. The black-robed man and the others were horrified and stopped in their tracks, joining forces to resist the onslaught of sword light.

　　But at that very moment, a streak of sword light suddenly tore through the field. It cut straight into the sea of sword energy and forcibly ripped open a gap, then drove forward without stopping, slashing directly at Qingshu.

　　The one who had arrived was none other than the Sword Sect Master!

　　The Sword Sect Master’s sword was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye it was already upon Qingshu. Qingshu reacted just as swiftly — with no room to retreat, she gripped her sword and slashed forward with full force.

　　Boom!

　　A burst of sword energy exploded outward from the center. Both of them were sent stumbling back in rapid retreat, but the Sword Sect Master quickly stopped. She raised her hand and swept it forward, sending sword light tearing through the air to forcibly scatter the sword energy surrounding the black-robed man and the others. They broke free, their expressions gravely serious. Had the Sword Sect Master not intervened, they would have been either dead or gravely wounded.

　　This chief executive of Tianxing Civilization was simply monstrous.

　　What was happening to this era?

　　First Yang Jia and Ye Tianming, and now a chief executive like this — all of them only seventeen or eighteen years old!

　　Not far away, Qingshu gripped her sword and fixed her gaze on the Sword Sect Master a thousand zhang away. Her eyes also carried a look of gravity. Facing this Sword Sect Master, she naturally dared not let her guard down for even a moment — though there was not a trace of fear in her eyes either.

　　The Sword Sect Master held her sword and walked slowly toward Qingshu. “Miss Qingshu, do you know what consequences your actions today will bring to your Tianxing Civilization?”

　　She was also somewhat wary of Tianxing Civilization. After all, the previous chief executives of Tianxing Civilization had been extraordinarily powerful, and their identities were all very special.

　　Qingshu said in a low voice, “The Academy has been acting so recklessly against all reason. Are you truly not afraid?”

　　The Sword Sect Master fixed her gaze on Qingshu. “He not only slaughtered over a dozen great clans, he also tried to kill the Young Master.”

　　Qingshu fell silent.

　　Because she had nothing to say.

　　Right and wrong no longer mattered at this point, because the people before her now only cared about where you stood. Either you stood with Guanxuan Academy, or you were its enemy — and the enemy of the Yang family.

　　Qingshu looked at the Sword Sect Master. “Then let us fight!”

　　She too was a scholar at heart, and she very much wanted to reason things through. But at this moment she found there was simply no way to do so.

　　Because in this world, it was not scholars who had the final say — it was those with the biggest fists.

　　The Sword Sect Master gave a single nod. “Then let us fight!”

　　Hum!

　　In her hand, the sound of a singing sword rang out across the heavens and earth.

　　And at that very moment, dozens of terrifying auras suddenly appeared all around them — all Pojuan realm powerhouses. They closed in from every direction, their divine senses locking onto both Qingshu and Ye Tianming.

　　Qingshu’s brows furrowed. Xianbao Pavilion had this many Pojuan realm powerhouses?

　　Not far away, the black-robed man suddenly said, “Miss Qingshu, it seems you’ve forgotten our Xianbao Pavilion’s greatest advantage. Do you know what that advantage is? It’s money — a great deal of money. We have already issued a universal bounty, and the terms we’ve offered are something no Pojuan realm cultivator can refuse… More and more Pojuan realm powerhouses will keep coming. So, are you sure you still want to protect this Ye Tianming?”

　　Qingshu fixed her gaze on the black-robed man. “Do you think we have no one on our side?”

　　Boom!

　　Suddenly, from high above in the sky, tens of thousands of blood-red flames drifted down.

　　Tianxing Fire!