Chapter Nineteen: You Dare Scheme Against Me? Go to Hell!

Su Jian’s move was, in truth, an open conspiracy.

Su Henli was utterly in his grasp, unable to break free.

In the next instant, Su Henli acted decisively, repeating her earlier trick; with a single strike, she disrupted the Blade King’s advance, and in the same breath, seized the “Diamond Ring” with lightning speed.

The Blade King glared at her in rage. “Do you understand the consequences of your actions? Do you truly believe that with mere late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, you can show such contempt for the righteous path?”

Yet even as he spoke, confusion gnawed at him. What was the true depth of Su Henli’s cultivation? Had she been hiding her strength all along?

He realized he was caught in a trap.

Biting his lip in frustration, the Blade King knew how badly he had been deceived, and that his current predicament was even more dire.

Su Henli laughed mockingly, her eyes brimming with ridicule. “Naïve. But I really ought to thank your Righteous Alliance. If not for you, my dear master wouldn’t have died so easily, and I wouldn’t have had the chance to obtain this treasure.”

She glanced at the item in her hand, a trace of doubt flickering in her eyes. She’d only glimpsed it once before, and not clearly at that… But it hardly mattered whether it was genuine or fake.

The Blade King’s death was already sealed. Once Su Jian and Zhao Qianxue were in her grasp, the truth would soon be revealed.

The Blade King’s expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, he turned to flee, abandoning the struggle for the Diamond Ring.

At this moment, he bitterly regretted volunteering for this mission; if only he’d kept away, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.

But Su Henli would not grant him any chance to escape. A flash of blood-red light, too swift for the naked eye, shot straight into the Blade King’s back.

A terrible, piercing scream tore from his throat. His body faltered, tumbling off his spirit sword and crashing hard to the ground.

His uncontrolled spirit sword landed upright between his legs.

Cold sweat broke out all over the Blade King, but now, faced with mortal peril, he had no strength left for complaints.

Seeing Su Henli poised to finish him, his eyes bulged in terror. Wounded and exhausted, all will to resist had left him.

Besides—

In their first exchange, he’d already realized he was no match for Su Henli. If he’d had any chance of victory, he wouldn’t have turned tail and run.

His only thought now was survival. Without hesitation, he cried out, “Don’t kill me! I’ll swear loyalty to you, be your dog! With my introduction, joining the Righteous Alliance will be no problem for you. Every deal you negotiated with the Temple of Karma—I can make it all happen!”

Su Jian arched an eyebrow. Why did that sound so familiar? He seemed to recall hearing it somewhere before. Outside Lingzhou City, hadn’t that Zhou Tie said much the same? Did everyone in the Righteous Alliance enjoy offering themselves as dogs?

More than that, Su Jian had just uncovered a shocking secret from their conversation.

So Su Henli had been in collusion with the Righteous Alliance all along. No wonder the alliance had hesitated to act for so long.

In fact, when the Biyou Divine Palace fell, the true culprit wasn’t the Righteous Alliance, but Su Henli standing right here.

Such a vicious heart… Clearly, she was a worthy disciple of that unscrupulous master—she’d inherited his every trick.

But Su Henli seemed to find the Blade King’s plea laughable. Her laughter rippled like flowers in the breeze. “Hehehe… Are there really such naïve souls in the Righteous Alliance? I always thought your lot were a pack of sanctimonious, cunning hypocrites. You, though, are a real treasure—can’t even guess what pleases others, can’t read a soul. Don’t stay alive to further pollute the world’s spiritual energy.”

“You—!”

The Blade King trembled with rage and humiliation; never in his life had he suffered such insult, but more than that, fear of death gnawed at him.

Su Henli, however, was done with words. She unleashed the full force of her Blood Transformation Art.

At once, the Blade King’s vital energy seemed irresistibly drawn, pouring from his body straight into Su Henli’s mouth.

Feeling his life force drain away, the Blade King’s veins withered instantly.

He growled in a hoarse, resentful whisper, “Demon!”

His voice had grown so rough it was almost grating.

The sight sent chills down Zhao Qianxue’s spine, draining the color from her cheeks.

Near death, the Blade King suddenly found clarity—it had all been a ruse. Su Henli had only ever used the Righteous Alliance, never intending to join at all.

With the last flicker of his strength, he broke free from Su Henli’s grasp using a forbidden technique. His face, deathly pale and streaked with blood, looked like a dying ember flaring one last time.

Desperate, he lunged at Su Jian, who stood not far away. Even in this state, a dying camel is still larger than a horse; against Su Jian’s mere Foundation Establishment cultivation, he would have no trouble overwhelming him.

His face twisted with urgency, veins bulging around his bloodshot eyes, he shouted, “Use your Greater Teleportation Talisman and send me away—if you don’t, I’ll kill you!”

It all happened in a flash, so quickly not even Su Henli could react. She tried to intervene—she still needed Su Jian alive—but it was already too late.

Su Jian could only feel speechless—calling this man clever was no exaggeration. Such a desperate ploy! But there was no way it could work. Anyone with the slightest sense would use the Greater Teleportation Talisman themselves rather than let an enemy force their hand.

But Su Jian was hardly ordinary.

He pulled out several Heavenly Star Thunder bombs, and before the Blade King could close the gap, hurled them without hesitation.

“Still trying to outsmart me? Die!”

The thunder bombs, each specially crafted by Su Jian, exploded across the courtyard in a chorus of magical detonations, throwing the Blade King several yards away.

Like a deflated puppet, the Blade King could barely even lift himself from the ground.

Though he was a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, on the verge of death and still poisoned by the Five Venoms, he could do nothing more.

Su Henli frowned, her face darkening. When she’d been absorbing the Blade King’s life force just now, she’d felt an unprecedented satisfaction—being interrupted left her feeling irritable and restless.

The Blade King struggled a moment, then breathed his last.

Su Henli hadn’t continued feeding on him because she’d caught the scent of Five Venoms in the air.

What rotten luck!

Xi Wang promptly stepped forward to congratulate her. “My lord, your divine art has reached perfection. Soon, you will rule over all ages.”

Su Henli’s beautiful eyes flickered, then turned to Su Jian. “It’s far too soon for such talk—don’t you agree, my good junior brother?”

Su Jian smiled. “Indeed, it is a little early for that, my dear senior sister.”

Su Henli took no offense at his mockery, instead laughing softly. “My good junior brother, you performed admirably this time. Tell me, how should your senior sister reward you?”