Peerless Empress: One Woman, One Sword, Slaying Through Myriad Realms

Just as the group stepped onto the ninetieth step, four figures appeared behind Gu Baiyi and Du'e on the top platform.

"Gentlemen, your tavern has never actively recruited students, and I suppose this year will be no exception?" the young man in purple robes asked with a smile.

"I've only set my sights on one person. If you've taken a liking to someone, just say so. Why beat around the bush?" Gu Baiyi rolled her eyes.

"Oh? Actually, it's too early to make a decision now. These five people have done very well to get this far. However, very few people have ever been able to surpass the ninety-fifth level. These three cyan jade tablets are very important."

"To become a direct disciple, winning the cyan jade token is a must, right? Two of these five people must be eliminated. Sister Gu, I wonder who you are so confident in?" the woman in the cyan dress asked curiously.

Gu Baiyi only smiled slightly and did not answer, while Du'e was expressionless, revealing nothing.

The man in purple robes then changed the subject, "How about we each say who we think is the best, and make a bet?"

“Gambling is harmful to your health. How about each of you wager five hundred Mystic Crystals? The winner takes all four,” the woman in green smiled gently.

"As my sister wishes, you two go first," Gu Baiyi said with a broad smile.

"Hou Bufan," the purple-robed youth replied without hesitation.

"Hua Xiyu".

"Lin Cangxue".

"Shi Dongtian".

The four people spoke one after another, and their names were all very different.

"Hmm, not bad. They're not all favoring the same person. That's what makes it fun. One person taking on four. The bet is pretty good." Gu Baiyi's lips curled slightly. "Ye Wuxi."

"Oh?" The four looked at each other in surprise. This bet was also a test to see who the tavern had its eye on. They hadn't expected it to be Ye Wuxi, who had the lowest cultivation level. It was quite unexpected.

Du'e, who had been silent all along, suddenly put his hands together and said, "Amitabha, Benefactor Zhang's judgment is really not very good. This humble monk is truly worried about the future of the main hall."

Zhang Danyang, dressed in a purple robe, frowned slightly. "What do you mean by this?"

“Zhang Danyang, you’re supposed to be the main hall, what kind of people are you favoring? This Hou Pingfan, I think he’s going to be the first one eliminated. You want to take someone like that as your junior brother? Sigh…” Gu Baiyi said with a smile.

“Amitabha, the outcome is imminent, just watch.” Zhang Danyang seemed unconvinced, but Du’e spoke up again calmly, and the four of them patiently looked toward the Heavenly Ladder.

On the Heavenly Ladder.

"Brother Hou, what you say makes sense!"

Shi Dongtian glanced around and noticed that Lin Cangxue and the others were examining the jade tokens, seemingly planning to seize them before climbing the ladder.

This makes a major battle inevitable, and he and Hou Bufan are more confident in their alliance.

"If you don't even have the confidence to climb up, how can you possibly climb up?" After a moment's thought, Ye Wuxi made a decision not to take this level of jade token.

hum!

Just as she was about to continue climbing the ladder, strange phenomena of bloodlines appeared behind Shi Dongtian and Hou Bufan, who were not far away, and they attacked her together.

"A journey of ten thousand miles through frost!"

"The Earth Dragon Roars to the Heavens!"

The two peak eighth-level Heavenly Martial Realm experts joined forces to attack, causing the ninth-level cultivator to tremble. Terrifying frost and earth power surged towards Ye Wuxi.

"I let you go this time, and you still dare to come looking for death." Ye Wuxi's eyes turned cold. She had originally intended to climb the ladder in peace, and deal with the later competitions later, but this Hou Bufan was ungrateful.

As the Spirit-Slaying Sword was drawn, its sword intent instantly broke through the two's blockade. Ye Wuxi's five illusory cores trembled simultaneously, and he unleashed a horizontal slash, the sword energy blooming wildly and extremely frenzied.

Boom!

"Hou Bufan, you've tricked me!" The sword's might was overwhelming, and Shi Dongtian was terrified. He quickly retreated using the Earth Armor.

Ye Wuxi's sword move actually contained several sword intents, and his body's internal energy was also extremely powerful. Hou Bufan must have known his background beforehand, which is why he proposed to join forces with him.

"Brother Shi, I really don't know."

The sword energy kept bombarding the ice wings. Hou Bufan groaned and quickly explained that he and Ye Wuxi had indeed fought evenly before, and he was certain that Ye Wuxi had only narrowly defeated him. He had never used this move at all.

"kill!"

The two of them worked together to block the attack. Ye Wuxi moved his feet and five kinds of sword intent surged out. The Spirit-Slaying Sword quickly approached Hou Bufan and slashed down.

boom!

"Ice Soul!" Hou Bufan sensed the danger of death. His snow-white spear flashed and blocked the attack, but he still spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward.

boom!

Hou Bufan crashed to the ground, blood streaming down his face. The Heavenly Ladder already exerted immense pressure, and Ye Wuxi's sword energy was extremely strange, rampaging wildly within his body and refusing to dissipate for a long time.

He was a descendant of royalty, yet Ye Wuxi's sword was clearly aimed at his life.

Hou Bufan was eliminated from the Heavenly Ladder, causing an uproar around him. Just then, a voice came from above.

“Amitabha, the rules are clear. Benefactor Hou, you used royal weapons knowingly and deliberately violated them, showing that you do not respect our sect. This humble monk will now perform a ritual to guide you to the afterlife as a warning.”

boom!

As soon as Du'e finished speaking, he clapped his hands, and a huge golden handprint descended from the sky, pressing down on Hou Bufan.

"You madman, how dare you kill me!" Hou Bufan quickly crushed a jade slip. His Hou family emperor was still alive, yet these people dared to openly kill him.

A phantom image of an old man with a white beard appeared, exuding an aura of imperial power. Then, he stretched out a hand and shattered the golden palm print.

“Since Bufan has already been eliminated, why be so aggressive, young friend?” The white-bearded old man’s eyes gleamed as he stared directly at Du’e on the top platform.

"Rules cannot be disregarded. Benefactor Hou has broken the rules and will surely die today; even a god cannot save him." Du'e said calmly as he flew down from the top floor, his voice softly uttering, "Dragon Elephant Prajna!"

Roar!

As Du'e struck out with his palm, a dragon and elephant seemed to roar in the void, and a dragon-shaped phantom emerged from his palm, instantly piercing through the old man's phantom.

The old man's body disintegrated, and the huge golden palm prints landed on Hou Bufan.

"No..." Hou Bufan uttered a single word before his entire body turned to dust.

"Amitabha Buddha, I hope all benefactors will take heed and refrain from repeating this mistake," Du'e said softly as he returned to the top platform.

At this moment, deep within the Hou family estate in the southern border, an old man with a withered face suddenly opened his eyes and roared, "You little bald monk, you've gone too far!"

There was a moment of silence in Qingluo City. Even Ye Wuxi on the Heavenly Ladder was stunned. She had indeed gone to take Hou Bufan's life, but she did not expect that even if Hou Bufan invited the Martial Emperor, he would not escape disaster. He even killed his senior brother without hesitation. He truly deserved to be called the Mad Monk.

The three-way battle came and went suddenly. Hua Xiyu and Lin Cangxue hadn't even recovered from Ye Wuxi's defeat of two peak eighth-level Heavenly Martial Realm experts when Du'e shattered the Emperor's projection with a single palm strike and swiftly killed Hou Bufan.

"This tavern truly lives up to its reputation." While it's said to be a set of rules, if a direct disciple of a particular lineage were in charge today, Hou Bufan's violation of the rules would likely have been overlooked.

"It's your turn!" Ye Wuxi turned to look at Shi Dongtian and smiled. If he had come looking for trouble, he would have to bear the consequences.