On the street.
Shen Muxue flicked her slender wrist, and the whip in her hand lashed straight toward Huyan Xiang.
Huyan Xiang was furious.
In his eyes, Shen Muxue was serving as Yang Cheng's carriage driver, which meant she had to be the Crown Prince's handmaiden.
And yet a handmaiden dared to look down on him?
Huyan Xiang felt utterly humiliated.
"Wretched wench!"
He didn't dodge at all and reached out to grab the incoming whip barehanded.
The nearby Great Zhou martial artists looked stunned.
Even though Shen Muxue's cultivation wasn't as high as Huyan Xiang's, she possessed the Sacred Spirit Dao Body—her talent and foundation were far superior to his.
In other words, her actual combat strength might not be much weaker than his.
Now Huyan Xiang dared to try grabbing her whip barehanded? Was he asking for pain?
Even if he was stronger than her, that kind of recklessness would cost him dearly and give her the upper hand.
The very next moment—
A miserable scream echoed out.
Huyan Xiang's right palm was mangled and bloody.
He had underestimated Shen Muxue and hadn't even bothered to shield his hand with true qi.
As a result, his right hand was basically ruined.
"Who… exactly are you?" Huyan Xiang glared at her, both stunned and angry.
"His Highness's handmaiden," Shen Muxue replied.
Huyan Xiang thought she was mocking him, and his eyes instantly turned red. "You damn slut—playing with me, huh? Die!"
He lost it on the spot, lunging at Shen Muxue like a mad dog.
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of her.
He stretched out his right hand, true qi condensing into claw-like talons over his fingers.
Those claws swiped fiercely toward Shen Muxue's flawless face.
But Shen Muxue stayed calm.
Though Huyan Xiang seemed fierce, his form was a mess. He was flustered and couldn't possibly beat her now.
She flicked her whip again, aiming it at his face.
Huyan Xiang's eyes gleamed with madness.
He ignored her counterattack and charged ahead anyway.
Clearly, he planned to trade injuries. He didn't care about getting hurt—he just wanted Shen Muxue to suffer too.
But he forgot one thing.
His vision had just been blocked by Shen Muxue's whip.
That was exactly her plan.
The moment his sight was blocked, her figure blurred into an afterimage.
By the time the whip struck his face and he regained sight, Shen Muxue was already at his side.
His claws slashed empty air.
Realizing something was wrong, he tried to react—but it was too late.
Shen Muxue raised her leg and kicked him hard in the right waist.
A searing pain exploded from his side and shot through his whole body.
He let out a scream and flew backward.
Before he could recover, Shen Muxue whipped again.
This time, the whip shot toward his neck.
"No—!"
Terror flooded Huyan Xiang's face.
If that whip coiled around his throat, he was finished.
Just then, a flash of fire surged in from the side.
Boom!
Shen Muxue's whip was blasted away on the spot.
The one who acted—Tuoba Xiao.
His eyes were filled with fury. He was clearly truly enraged now.
After knocking her whip aside, Tuoba Xiao didn't let up. He launched Crimson Flood Dragon Hand toward Shen Muxue.
Its pressure was terrifying.
Shen Muxue's face turned cold as she braced herself.
A white lotus of true qi bloomed in front of her, trying to block the incoming strike.
Boom!
In an instant, the white lotus was shattered by the Crimson Flood Dragon Hand.
A violent shockwave blasted out, sending Shen Muxue flying through the air.
Just as she was about to take a heavy hit, a small figure appeared behind her.
Shen Muxue's body was caught gently.
Everyone looked over—standing beside her was a tiny figure.
It was Yang Cheng!
"You finally showed up," Tuoba Xiao said coldly.
But his attack didn't stop. Another Crimson Flood Dragon Hand lunged forward.
This time, his target wasn't Shen Muxue, but Yang Cheng.
"His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Many of the Great Zhou citizens around them paled.
They knew the Crown Prince's talent was extraordinary, but he was still just a child.
Very few believed he could block someone like Tuoba Xiao, a Martial Master at the ninth level.
Even the Third Prince, Yang Ye, had been no match for him.
Yang Ye's breathing hitched slightly.
If it were before, he would've been secretly glad if the Crown Prince got hurt.
But now, for reasons he couldn't explain, seeing Yang Cheng in danger made his chest tighten.
"Your Highness…" Shen Muxue's expression changed completely.
She had faith in the Crown Prince. She believed that with time, he would crush all the geniuses of the world.
That is only if His Highness had time.
Right now, he was still far too young.
And this time, he had only stepped in to save her.
If anything happened to him because of her, she would never be able to atone, not even with a hundred deaths.
All the hidden forces watching from the shadows had their own thoughts stirring.
"Is the Crown Prince really going to fall here?"
"Tuoba Xiao probably wouldn't dare kill him outright, but if he injures him badly and shakes his Dao heart, that could be enough to cripple the Crown Prince."
Some were tense. Others looked on eagerly.
But inside, Yang Cheng was as calm as still water.
The reactions around him didn't stir the slightest ripple in his heart.
With a composed gaze, he raised his wooden sword and slashed down.
An even mightier wave of sword qi burst forth.
Boom!
The sword qi clashed head-on with the Crimson Flood Dragon Hand.
The impact was deafening, blasting shockwaves that made countless onlookers' eardrums ache and their blood churn.
In the next breath, they saw the sky-piercing sword qi tear the Crimson Flood Dragon Hand to shreds.
Yang Cheng stood unmoved. Right hand gripping a wooden sword, left hand clasped behind his back—completely steady.
In contrast, Tuoba Xiao was knocked back more than ten steps by the backlash from his own shattered attack.
Silence fell across the street.
Everyone stared in stunned disbelief.
Yang Cheng looked coldly at Tuoba Xiao. "You acted so superior just now, sneering at everyone like you were above them. But now? You're not much at all."
That one sentence made veins bulge on Tuoba Xiao's forehead.
He stared hard at Yang Cheng. "Your cultivation... it's Xiantian late-stage?"
Late-stage Xiantian on its own wasn't much, but for a one-and-a-half-year-old to reach it—that was terrifying.
"What?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince is already late-stage Xiantian?"
The surrounding martial artists were wide-eyed with shock.
They couldn't understand how he had reached such a level.
Even if they'd started cultivating in the womb, they still wouldn't have reached that stage in just a year and a half.
Clearly, normal logic didn't apply to monsters.
"No, something's off. Even with late-stage Xiantian, you shouldn't have that kind of strength."
Tuoba Xiao narrowed his eyes. "Did you use some kind of overdrawing secret art?"
"You're just too ignorant."
Yang Cheng raised his sword again. "Northern Sea Sword Codex, Second Form—Great Fish Surfaces!"
Buzz!
True qi roared through his body.
In an instant, immense sword energy surged forth.
It vaguely took the form of a massive kun breaking through the water's surface, vast and overwhelming.
"Crimson Flood Flame Spear!"
Tuoba Xiao's face twisted. Flames burst from his hands, forming a spear shaped like a flaming crimson flood dragon.
Before everyone's eyes, Yang Cheng's sword qi clashed fiercely with Tuoba Xiao's crimson flame spear.
And then, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
Tuoba Xiao's spear shattered instantly.
Realizing danger, he frantically backed off—but not fast enough. Several strands of sword qi pierced through his body.
In a flash, bloody holes bloomed all over him.
Farther away, Tuoba Xiao staggered back, both terrified and furious. There was lingering fear in his eyes.
That had been too close. If he hadn't reacted fast, he might've actually died by Yang Cheng's hand.
The crowd stood frozen.
They were completely overwhelmed.
Earlier, some might've thought the Crown Prince's first clash with Tuoba Xiao had been a fluke.
But this second clash made it clear—it wasn't luck.
Yang Cheng really did have the strength to battle Tuoba Xiao head-on.
"What just happened?"
People couldn't wrap their heads around it.
"It's the sword art. That sword art His Highness used—it's terrifying."
"No, it's not just the sword art. That technique's extremely profound. Even if others got their hands on it, they wouldn't be able to execute it."
"Which means—His Highness's mastery of the sword is already terrifyingly high."
Some experienced martial artists spoke up.
"Is the Divine Dragon Sword Body really that monstrous?"
Someone muttered.
"I'm not sure. But even Emperor Qian Yuan wasn't this terrifying as a child."
An older martial artist shook his head.
"Your Highness…" Shen Muxue's eyes brimmed with tears of joy.
Yang Cheng's ability to repel Tuoba Xiao lifted the crushing guilt from her heart.