Just after Ye Chen had slain Zhou Yuntian, the symbol smoke from the talisman that had flown towards the direction of the Heavenly Net Sect had already entered the vicinity of a cave dwelling deep within the sect.
At that moment, the door of the cave dwelling was tightly closed, while the talisman's symbol smoke hovered at the door of the cave, swaying in the air incessantly.
After a short while, the door of the cave dwelling burst open, and the talisman's symbol smoke shot into the cave.
Looking into the cave, one could see an old man with white hair and eyebrows, sporting a snow-white goatee, suddenly opening his eyes from a meditative pose.
His eyes were fixed on the incoming symbol smoke from the talisman, his white eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"A 'Luo Voice Talisman'? Is this the Sound Transmission Talisman I gave to Yuntian?"
"Didn't he go to Qingyun Sect? Has someone from Qingyun Sect actually forced him to use this talisman to contact me?"
With a pinch of his fingers, the old man captured the symbol smoke, slowly turning the talisman between them, his white eyebrows knitting more tightly.
"To think he was forced to use a 'Luo Shield Talisman' to defend himself to this extent?"
"Well, I shall make a trip to Qingyun Sect myself!"
In the end, with a cold huff, the talisman in the old man's hand immediately combusted into green smoke, and the meditating elder vanished from the cave in an instant.
The thunderous sound of Zhou Yuntian hitting the ground caused the Qingyun Sect's Sect Master and the seven Elders to jolt in shock.
They realized that Ye Chen had struck to kill Zhou Yuntian, but the disciples in the main square of the sect were utterly clueless about what had transpired.
They only saw Zhou Yuntian, who had been furiously resisting Jiang Yao's attacks, suddenly plummet from the sky and land on the ground, motionless.
In the end, a few bold disciples from the Heavenly Net Sect approached, and when they saw Zhou Yuntian's wide-open eyes and the lifeless body, the disciples were visibly altered, shrieking, "The Elder, he..."
"The Elder, he... died?!"
The cries of these disciples set off more shrieking among all the sect disciples looking in the direction of Zhou Yuntian's fall. When they saw that Zhou Yuntian indeed lay still, they began to scream frantically.
"That Zhou Yuntian is really dead!"
"How did he die? I didn't even see it clearly!"
"A Spirit Sea Realm expert, dead just like that?"
Zhou Yuntian, a mid-Spirit Sea Realm expert, had died right in front of their eyes; one can imagine the shock this brought them.
"Ye Chen, was it you who killed Zhou Yuntian?"
Liu Chan'er, standing by Ye Chen's side, had also observed the sword shadow that had shot towards Zhou Yuntian and then returned. She clearly saw that it was precisely that sword shadow that caused Zhou Yuntian to tumble from the sky and die without question.
And that sword shadow had returned in the direction of Ye Chen, who stood beside her!
Liu Chan'er looked incredulously at Ye Chen.
She knew of Ye Chen's strength, but Ye Chen had actually managed to kill Zhou Yuntian instantly—the mysterious sword attack startled even Liu Chan'er.
Ye Chen nodded and, smiling at Liu Chan'er, said, "Yes, your sister Jiang Yao kept Zhou Yuntian busy, and I took advantage of his distraction to kill him."
"This matter is finally over!"
In the sky, Jiang Yao noticed the situation changing the moment Zhou Yuntian fell, the huge green shield dissipated, and the sword light returned to Ye Chen's position.
When she saw the sword light re-enter Ye Chen's brow, Jiang Yao's beautiful eyes filled with panic.
"Could it be that Ye Chen, seeing my prolonged battle with Zhou Yuntian unable to finish, decided to launch a sword attack?"
"It can't be that he forcibly initiated the Life-bound Damage of his sword, could it?"
Jiang Yao's heart raced at the thought of Ye Chen initiating the Life-bound Damage, which would put his sword to sleep.
If his sword were to sleep, Ye Chen would lose a significant source of strength; a consequence Jiang Yao could not accept.
She would rather her own sword fall dormant, so that Ye Chen could remain safer!
"I was already gaining the upper hand; Ye Chen wouldn't rashly trigger the Life-bound Damage of his sword."
Jiang Yao, in turmoil, turned in the air and flew towards Ye Chen.
As she moved, the great ice phoenix illusion circling her slowly sank into her body, and the several-zhang-long blue silk trailing behind her gradually shrank as she flew.
When Jiang Yao landed before Ye Chen, her long hair had returned to waist length.
"Ye Chen, are you alright?"
Jiang Yao's beautiful eyes stared intently at Ye Chen, her lovely face full of concern.
Seeing the worry in Jiang Yao's eyes, Ye Chen understood what she feared.
"I'm fine, Jiang Yao. Thanks to you exhausting Zhou Yuntian's True Qi earlier and him focusing entirely on warding off your attacks, I just used the sword's normal battle strength to kill him. I haven't even utilized the latter two combat powers," said Ye Chen with a smile, as he spoke to Jiang Yao.
Hearing Ye Chen's words, Jiang Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief, completely at ease.
She walked up to Ye Chen, her delicate hands softly grasping his.
Ye Chen, looking at the heart-stirring girl before him, took her hand just as firmly in response.
The battle with Zhou Yuntian was finally resolved with their mutual cooperation!
It was only then that they both truly put this matter behind them.
Seeing the intimate gestures between Jiang Yao and Ye Chen, Liu Chan'er and Tao'er, the two girls standing by, both blushed.
"How can those two be so excessive! Can't they see we are still here? Yet they're being so intimate!"
"But… they do seem quite well-matched."
The two girls exchanged a glance, a hint of a smile flashing through their eyes.
Especially the little maiden Tao'er, seeing her young master holding such a beautiful and powerful girl's hand in his palm filled her eyes with pride.
"My young master is becoming more and more impressive!"
At this time, within the crowd of disciples at the sect gate plaza, a tall girl watched Ye Chen and Jiang Yao holding hands, her face filled with complex emotions.
After sighing deeply, she turned around and walked towards the mountain peak where the outer sect disciples resided.
"Ye Chen… he has never been so intimate with me."
"This one must be the person he truly likes, Jiang Yao? She really is beautiful."
"She was willing to fight Zhou Yuntian to the death for Ye Chen. She likes Ye Chen more than I do."
"Only she truly deserves Ye Chen."
This tall girl who turned and left, if not Lin Jing who had hurried from the outer disciple's mountain peak to the sect gate plaza, who had once faced the Mirror Lake Serpent with Ye Chen at Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, then who?
When Lin Jing arrived at the sect gate plaza, she happened to see Jiang Yao descending from the skies, landing right in front of Ye Chen.
Seeing this stunning girl who captivated her with her beauty, standing in front of Ye Chen, directly facing Zhou Yuntian, Lin Jing, who initially wanted to walk up to Ye Chen, unconsciously halted in her steps.
Now, having seen Ye Chen and Jiang Yao holding hands, Lin Jing knew that her love affair, which had not yet started, was likely over before it began.
"Ye Chen, I won't forget you."
"Perhaps one day, when I'm as powerful as Jiang Yao, when I can protect you, I will come looking for you again!"
Muttering to herself, Lin Jing disappeared into the crowd.
Due to Zhou Yuntian's death, the entire sect disciple area in the plaza was in an uproar.
Ye Chen hadn't noticed Lin Jing walking away.
After killing Zhou Yuntian, all his thoughts were on his parents.
His parents, still captured within Qingyun Sect, their fate unknown!
"Let's go find Father and Mother. That Zhou Yuntian managed to send off a talisman just now; I'm afraid staying here any longer might lead to unexpected trouble."
"That's exactly why I made my move, taking him out while he was unprepared, to avoid any accidents!"
Ye Chen, holding Jiang Yao's hand, said to her softly.
"Yes," Jiang Yao nodded her little head, her delicate face turned towards Heavenly Net Sect, "I also noticed the fleeing talisman just now, but I was too busy dealing with Zhou Yuntian to take care of that talisman."
"Let's go, saving Uncle and Aunt is what's important."
Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, hand in hand, began walking directly toward the Sect Leader of Qingyun Sect and the seven Great Elders.
Ye Chen's parents had been taken by Qingyun Sect, and these individuals surely knew where his parents were being detained.
"Young Friend Ye Chen!"
"Young Friend Jiang Yao!"
Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao approaching, Sect Leader Luo Kun of Qingyun Sect and the seven Great Elders hurried forward to greet them.
One of them with unfathomable skills, ultimately using a bizarre flying sword to kill Zhou Yuntian, and the other able to directly confront and wholly suppress Zhou Yuntian, who was at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, from front on.
With two such individuals, the Sect Leader and Elders of Qingyun Sect dared not show the slightest negligence. They even worried that their previous attitude towards Ye Chen might bring disaster upon them.
Seeing the two approaching, Luo Kun immediately thought of the purpose of their visit; he swiftly said to Ye Chen, "Young Friend Ye Chen, your parents are within the inner peaks of Qingyun Sect. I will go bring the elders to you right now, so please don't worry!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth, Sect Leader Luo Kun flew straight toward the inner peak.
Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hadn't expected Luo Kun to react so quickly. They exchanged a glance and then watched Luo Kun flying away.
Just as Luo Kun reached halfway into the sky, his figure suddenly froze as if locked in place, unable to move a muscle in the air.
This shocking turn of events caused Luo Kun, who was anxious to bring Ye Chen's parents to apologize, to change his expression dramatically.
Luo Kun's cry of alarm caused everyone, who was looking at him, including Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the others, to look toward the sky.
The seven Great Elders and the disciples in the plaza also all looked up.
At this moment, a ripple suddenly emanated from above Luo Kun's head in the void, and amid the peculiar flux, the space seemed to tear open as an old man with white hair and white eyebrows slowly emerged from the void.
As soon as the old man with white hair and white eyebrows appeared, his gaze swept in all directions. When he saw Zhou Yuntian lying on the ground, dead beyond doubt, the old man's expression changed abruptly.
"Have I still arrived too late?"
"Who dares to kill an Elder of Heavenly Net Sect?"
The old man's eyes flashed sharply as he quickly surveyed numerous people, finally resting on Jiang Yao, who stood next to Ye Chen, "Was it you, girl?
When they recognized the old man's face, Luo Kun in the sky, along with the seven Great Elders on the ground, exclaimed in shock.
"Are you… the Sect Master of Heavenly Net Sect?!"