Nine Nether Dragon Emperor

"Palace Master, are we too close?"

Beside a boulder that had evolved from some strange substance, a large tree suddenly materialized, and a voice emanated from within.

"Rest assured. This Palace knows its limits."

A woman's voice responded.

Inside the boulder, Ning Xuan and the others, aside from Cheng Dabao, exchanged bewildered glances. They all wondered why both voices sounded so familiar.

Suddenly, Qian Yourong mouthed a name—You Ruo!

If she hadn't misheard, the second voice belonged to none other than You Ruo, the Palace Master of Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace!

Ning Xuan immediately nodded, a grin spreading across his face. He, too, had just remembered who the man's voice belonged to.

Chu Tian!

Back when the two great venerables from the Yao Guang Realm descended to the Lower Realm, they were selecting prodigies to climb the Heaven-Ascending Staircase. It was only with Ning Xuan's help that the three prodigies of Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace had managed to ascend to the Yao Guang Realm. Later, Ning Xuan went to the Yao Guang Realm but left after a short stay, never getting the chance to meet them.

He never expected to run into Chu Tian here of all places.

Inside the boulder, Ning Xuan created a barrier with the strange substance before asking Wu Pianpian and the others directly, "His mobile villa didn't get fleeced by you all, did it?"

"Who?"

With no man other than Ning Xuan in their hearts, the women completely failed to recognize Chu Tian's voice.

After glancing at Cheng Dabao, Ning Xuan recounted how he had scammed Chu Tian after meeting him in the Bi Luo Palace's trial grounds. As the four women watched Cheng Dabao's eyes light up, they exchanged a look and shared other stories they knew.

"This is hilarious! Quick, let's go fleece him again!" Cheng Dabao was bursting with excitement, eager to act.

Inside the nearby tree, Chu Tian suddenly sneezed, a cold chill running down his spine.

"Chu Tian, what are you shivering for?! Be careful, don't let them spot us!" another voice hissed.

The women in the boulder grew even more thrilled, their gazes unanimously turning to Ning Xuan.

He thought for a moment before saying, "That should be Jiang Boya's voice."

"What's there to fear? With the Palace Master here, who could possibly detect us? Besides, Ye Yi's Pupil Skill is not just for show! Ye Yi, Ye Yi, what are you looking at?!" Chu Tian's voice called out again.

Ye Yi retracted his gaze from the nearby boulder. "It's nothing. I must have seen wrong."

"It's just a worthless rock. What's so interesting about it!" You Ruo's voice rang out.

Then, a pale, slender palm shot out and swatted the boulder, sending it flying directly toward the crowd of people ahead.

Just as all eyes turned toward the flying rock, a large tree suddenly soared past it, descending from the sky. It was the result of Ning Xuan's lightning-fast reflexes; he had yanked the tree out by its roots and hurled it forward.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

Before the tree even hit the ground, its countless roots had transformed into sharp blades. In a mere instant, more than twenty people were gruesomely killed.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Two roots shot out to entangle the plummeting boulder, but the moment they pulled taut, the massive stone began to glow red-hot.

With a series of grunts, the large tree vanished, replaced by three men and one woman. The woman, still suspended in mid-air with her reddened palm outstretched, barked an order at the three men, "Forget them! Secure that stone first!"

Chu Tian and Jiang Boya were about to move without a second thought when Ye Yi abruptly pulled them back. As they looked at him in confusion, they saw him mouth something, and in the next moment, they struck in unison.

Their target was You Ruo!

You Ruo never imagined they would turn on her. By the time she realized what was happening, she was already restrained.

This scene left the crowd below, who had already retreated to the sky, completely dumbfounded.

What in the world is going on?! Why did they suddenly start fighting amongst themselves? And that woman… she's pretty, but is she out of her mind? Why pick a fight with a rock?!

"What are you doing?! Hurry and get that stone for this Palace!" You Ruo fumed, watching the boulder roll farther and farther away.

You Ruo's strength was immense, and Chu Tian and Jiang Boya realized they were about to lose control of her. Left with no choice, Chu Tian used a voice transmission to explain, "Palace Master, Ye Yi just saw Ning Xuan! We can't make a move!"

Stunned, You Ruo's towering rage vanished without a trace.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?! Why aren't you letting go? Now that I know it's Ning Xuan, do you think I would dare… could I possibly attack him?"

Hearing this, the two men hurriedly released her.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

You Ruo sent all three of them flying with a series of slaps.

"This Palace may not be able to lay a hand on him, but that doesn't mean I can't lay a hand on you!"

On the other side, the onlookers who had just snapped out of their stupor were dumbfounded once again.

What is this, another act?!

They didn't react until You Ruo had already flown off. Then, with resounding war cries, the entire crowd gave chase.

Inside the boulder, Ning Xuan saw the huge crowd hot on You Ruo's heels and felt his skin crawl. He quickly sent her a voice transmission: "You Ruo, don't you come over here!"

You Ruo did indeed obey and kept her distance. However…

"Xuan Ge is inside that rock!" she bellowed.

With that one shout, Ning Xuan and his companions instantly became the target of the entire crowd.

"You Ruo, damn you!" Ning Xuan cursed. Without a second thought, he and the women revealed themselves.

Then he pointed at the smug You Ruo in the distance and yelled, "She's the one who got Xuan Ge! She was just about to kill us to silence us! If you don't believe me, ask them!"

The crowd, which had been about to attack Ning Xuan, immediately shifted their gazes to You Ruo.

"Palace Master, I'm not even fighting you for Xuan Ge, so why did you attack me?!"

"Palace Master, even if we didn't get any credit, we still went through a lot of trouble! To think you'd discard us after we were no longer useful!"

"You Ruo, how could you be so ruthless as to try and wipe us all out!"

After a brief hesitation, Chu Tian and the other two all sided with Ning Xuan.

RUMBLE—

In an instant, countless attacks surged toward You Ruo. Her power had grown terrifyingly, allowing her to forcefully break through the siege. The massive group of people immediately chased after her.

The extreme back-and-forth between Ning Xuan and You Ruo left Cheng Dabao utterly dumbfounded. Seeing Chu Tian's group heading their way, she couldn't help but look at Ning Xuan. "Are we really still going to fleece them?"

They helped us so much. Fleecing them now would be inhuman, right?

Ning Xuan paused for a moment. Then, he slapped his own face. "I can't believe myself! Hesitating to fleece someone? I must be going soft!"

Beside him, the Golden Silk Giant Ring Blade on Cheng Dabao's shoulder slipped and fell with a loud CLANG!

Chu Tian, who was approaching with a wide grin to greet Ning Xuan, suddenly froze and looked at Cheng Dabao. Then he looked down at his feet.

A moment later…

"Ahhhhh!" he shrieked, hopping around while clutching his foot.

Jiang Boya and Ye Yi, who had also been smiling, glanced at the ground and took a synchronized step back, their eyes filled with wariness as they looked at Cheng Dabao.

Fortunately for Chu Tian, it was the blunt back of the blade that had hit his foot. If it had been the sharp edge, he might have had to change his name to Chu One-Foot.

Ning Xuan and the others all turned to stare at Cheng Dabao.

"Um… if I said that wasn't on purpose, would you believe me?" a guilt-ridden Cheng Dabao weakly asked the three men.

As for Ning Xuan's decision to fleece them, she now supported it wholeheartedly.

After all, she couldn't be the one to play the villain!