The Emperor's Domineering Favor, the Evil Consort's Unparalleled Reign

Standing behind Ying Li and Yi Bicheng were two other people: Wang Mingjing, the yellow-robed spirit sorcerer from the Mo family, and her apprentice Qi Chen!

Although Old Man Yan had left her again, Wang Mingjing knew Old Man Yan's temperament well. He wouldn't be back anytime soon anyway, and with the spiritual battle imminent, she couldn't let his disciple be bullied.

"Hmph, so that's why Senior Brother Zhao and Senior Brother Cui didn't go to meet up with their fellow disciples. Turns out they were hiding in this dark place, abusing their disciples! What a great master who led his disciples to ruin. Today, I, Wang Mingjing, have truly seen the light of day!" Wang Mingjing was dressed in plain clothes, without makeup. His thick black eyebrows were faintly white, and his disdainful expression made him appear very distant.

With a wave of her right hand, the barrier trapping Yao Fan vanished instantly. Yao Fan took a few steps back, landing behind Wang Mingjing and the others, staring at Zhao Lei and Cui Yunfei with incredulous expressions. Only today did she realize Zhao Lei's true purpose in taking her in—not out of pity, but to kill her!

But he turned out to be a Pupil Power Master. Yao Fan snorted coldly, his eyes filled with endless sorrow. He glanced at Yi Bicheng beside him out of the corner of his eye, his lips twitching uncontrollably. Fate was cruel. He didn't like Yao Fan, and Yao Fan's destiny in this life did not allow her to get close to Yi Bicheng.

"You old woman, your beauty has faded and your love has gone stale. Why are you meddling in other people's business? Senior Brother Zhao and I can do whatever we want. It's none of your business! You're just a woman, the weakest of the Yellow-Clad Spirit Masters back then. What makes you think you can challenge us?!" Cui Yunfei stared at Wang Mingjing's no-longer-young face with a sarcastic expression and spat.

Zhao Lei chuckled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. In everyone's eyes, his behavior was even more malicious than Cui Yunfei's.

Without saying a word, Wang Mingjing unleashed a powerful surge of spiritual energy from his body, forcing Ying Li, Yi Bicheng, and the others to the door. Meanwhile, Ma Yin, standing next to Cui Yunfei, looked pained, his face twitching as if he were under immense pressure.

Wang Mingjing shot towards Cui Yunfei, and a flash of light appeared in his hand. Only then did Cui Yunfei put away his amused expression and stomped his right foot on the ground, his body flying over the window and shooting backwards towards the street!

A series of flashes of inspiration struck Wang Mingjing, who launched a palm strike at Cui Yunfei. White lotuses bloomed from his palm, bursting forth with daytime flames, and the palm struck Cui Yunfei's face with overwhelming force!

"It's the fourth level of the martial skill, Lotus Heart Flame!" Zhao Qi's expression changed upon seeing Wang Mingjing display such skill. A martial skill at the Spirit Lord level was being executed so easily by Wang Mingjing. And judging from Wang Mingjing's current state, he had only used less than 30% of his strength!

Lotus Heart Flame is considered a mid-to-high-level martial art among the four levels, only wielded by spirit masters at the Spirit Lord level. Wang Mingjing was only at the Divine Cultivation level back then, but due to her mental control abilities, she was several times stronger than her contemporaries, though still far inferior to other spirit masters of her generation. Yet, unexpectedly, she has achieved such a level of cultivation. This martial art requires at least the third level of Spirit Lord cultivation to master, and Wang Mingjing has executed it with such ease!

Cui Yunfei dared not be negligent and quickly gathered his spiritual power in the back of his hand. A chilling aura circulated within his body and finally met Wang Mingjing's palm fire. Cold sweat poured down Cui Yunfei's face, and for a moment, his whole body felt as if it were on fire.

He gritted his teeth, looked up at Wang Mingjing who was calm and composed in front of him, and a sense of fear inexplicably ignited in Cui Yunfei's heart. How could a woman like her possess such terrifying strength?!

Meanwhile, Zhao Lei, who was upstairs, also felt the spiritual pressure emanating from Wang Mingjing's battle with Cui Yunfei. He had originally planned to take action against Ying Li and the others after Wang Mingjing finished fighting Cui Yunfei. But since Yi Bicheng had seen it, he decided to go all the way and kill him directly, then frame someone else. That way, when they arrived in Tianfu, the investigation wouldn't trace it back to him.

But Wang Mingjing actually had the strength to restrain him even while fighting. What kind of cultivation allowed a woman at the Divine Cultivation stage to leap to the Spirit Lord level in just ten years?! Zhao Lei felt a sudden surge of tension. If the other party also had a contracted spirit beast, then today, he might have accomplished nothing.

"Pfft!" After several rounds of fighting Wang Mingjing, Cui Yunfei was still no match for him. The pressure of the spiritual energy caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood. His whole body ached and felt weak, as if all the blood in his body had been drained. He was, after all, a yellow-robed spiritual master at the second stage of the Spirit Lord realm, but he never expected to be forced to such a state by Wang Mingjing!

Back then, when he faced off against Old Man Yan Zheng, the two were evenly matched. Both of them were experts several times stronger than Wang Mingjing in the past, but now he was being utterly defeated by Wang Mingjing. Cui Yunfei was not convinced! But the fact was that he was directly beaten without any power to fight back. Looking at Wang Mingjing, whose face was as usual, Cui Yunfei could not stop trembling.

"Hmph, I thought you must have some skill after all these years, but I didn't expect you to have regressed so much. Cui Yunfei, you're going to die! Today I will avenge Yan Zheng's expulsion from the family!" She couldn't forget the year when Cui Yunfei tripped Yan Zheng up and forced him to leave the Yun family. Yan Zheng came to say goodbye to her weakly, his face full of anger and regret. She thought that another capable spiritual master would take his place, but she didn't expect it to be the lecherous Cui Yunfei. She was angry, she hated, and she would take revenge today!

"Don't...don't touch me!" Cui Yunfei clutched his chest, his face filled with fear. He knew Wang Mingjing's methods; she was ruthless. She never hesitated when it came to Yan Zheng. Anyone who dared to insult Yan Zheng would be killed!

Wang Mingjing's lips curled up slightly, and he gathered spiritual power in his hand, unleashing a palm fire attack aimed at Cui Yunfei's head!

"Master's wife, be careful!" Just when Cui Yunfei was doomed, Ying Li saw a black figure leap down from the window. At the same time, an even more powerful spiritual force rushed towards Wang Mingjing. Ying Li shouted and gathered spiritual energy in her right hand to set up a barrier in front of Yao Fan. At the same time, she struck Ma Yin and Zhao Qi with her palms. The two collided unexpectedly. Just as they were about to resist, a barrier suddenly appeared in front of them. It was the same spiritual array as the one in front of Yao Fan. The difference was that the former was for imprisonment, while the latter was for saving people.

Upon hearing Ying Li's reminder, Wang Mingjing quickly looked behind him and reacted swiftly, erecting a thick barrier in front of him. With a loud "bang," the earth trembled as a spiritual force struck the barrier behind Wang Mingjing. Dust billowed up beneath his feet, and time seemed to stand still. The dust slowly drifted upwards, taking what felt like an eternity, before gently floating back down, taking yet another eternity!

"Bang!" Another loud noise followed. Zhao Lei landed on the ground, and the ground beneath his feet cracked open. The man who had been beaten half to death by Ying Li in the pit was now crushed into a bloody pulp by the combined spiritual power of Zhao Lei and Wang Mingjing, a truly gruesome sight.

Ying Li and Yi Bicheng managed to remain unaffected by the pressure only by concentrating their spiritual energy. Ma Yin and Zhao Qi, though possessing spiritual energy barriers, offered no resistance whatsoever, allowing their spiritual energy to be worn down under the pressure. They suffered terribly, utterly helpless against Ying Li's deliberately constructed barrier. They all possessed mental control abilities, so why was there such a vast difference in their abilities?!

"With such high-level skills from Junior Sister Wang, I, Zhao Lei, will have to have a good go at her!" Zhao Lei squinted at Wang Mingjing, then slowly opened his eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashing within them, exuding murderous intent. Cui Yunfei wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, took a few steps back, and stood beside Zhao Lei, looking at Wang Mingjing with a smug expression. "Hmph, don't blame us for being impolite; blame yourself for meddling too much!"

Ying Li thought things were going wrong. Although Master Wang's spiritual power was extremely high, it was still only at the fourth level of the Opening Spirit Lord realm. Zhao Lei's spiritual power was on par with the other party's, and Cui Yunfei was at least at the second level of the Opening Spirit Lord realm. Against the two of them, she had no chance of winning. She thought it was just Zhao Lei alone, but she didn't expect Cui Yunfei to get involved as well. She really couldn't understand why Cui Yunfei had to meddle in everything.

Three beams of spiritual energy flashed continuously, accompanied by a flurry of fist shadows as various martial arts techniques were unleashed. Wang Mingjing initially fought with ease, but after Zhao Lei joined the fray, she clearly began to struggle. While the four stages of the Palm Fire technique were easy to use, they posed no real threat to Zhao Lei. Thinking of her spirit beasts, Wang Mingjing looked at the two before her. If she released their spirit beasts, their mounts would surely tear her and her beasts to shreds!

They were all from the same sect, and Yao Fan was considered her junior. Zhao Lei and Cui Yunfei wanted to kill Ying Li and Yi Bicheng, both of whom were Yan Zheng's disciples. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Moreover, the methods used by the spirit masters who exploited pupil power masters for their own benefit were forbidden techniques. When they obtained their Yellow-Robed Spirit Master qualifications together and joined the same sect, their master had explicitly stated that anyone who used such methods would be cursed. She couldn't allow them to harm the sect.

"Ugh!" But in the end, she couldn't hold on any longer. Wang Mingjing swallowed the blood back down, her lips were red, her face was pale, and cold sweat dripped down her face.

The combined spiritual pressure of the three collided, and Ying Li, Yi Bicheng, and the others could no longer withstand it. Ying Li secretly activated the Bone Ring to create a thick barrier in front of himself and Yi Bicheng, allowing them to at least breathe despite the intense external pressure. Meanwhile, Ma Yin and Zhao Qi, bleeding from their mouths and noses, were on the verge of fainting. Yao Fan, thanks to his constitution and the help of Ying Li's spiritual power, only experienced mild discomfort and could still endure it.

"I think you'd better apologize to me and Senior Brother Zhao obediently. Then we might spare your life out of consideration for our fellow disciples. But you absolutely must get me a batch of beauties from the Mo family this year, otherwise Senior Brother Cui will be angry!" Cui Yunfei, his previous fearful demeanor gone, stared at Wang Mingjing's pale face and said arrogantly.

Zhao Lei remained squinting, but his right hand was gathering spiritual energy, ready to kill her at any moment. Unlike Cui Yunfei, he wasn't spineless; someone like Wang Mingjing, who ruined his plans, deserved to die!

"Let's see who dares to touch her?!" Just as the situation was tense, Old Man Yan's voice suddenly rang out in the street. Wang Mingjing and Ying Li were overjoyed. They watched as Old Man Yan, dressed in tattered clothes, slowly walked down the street. Their previously dim eyes suddenly brightened.

He couldn't let go after all, and he came after all!