Chapter 537: You Can't Blame Me for This. Ji Xiaolin Has a Lot of Grievances!
Meanwhile, as the Peak showdown of the Artificer world unfolded in the Villa courtyard, deep within the underground secret chamber…
"I, I can't control it anymore. Help me~" Ji Xiaolin pleaded bitterly.
"No, although I, Shen Anyu, am not a gentleman, I am not a scoundrel who takes advantage of others in their time of need. I will never do such a thing. Ji Xiaolin, self-control, you must maintain your self-control! I can do it, so you definitely can too! Come on!"
Shen Anyu sat cross-legged, refusing righteously, his face seemingly radiating with Buddhist light, truly embodying the image of a highly disciplined eminent monk.
"No, it's fine, I forgive you. You don't have a fiancée, and my fiancé was chosen by my father without my consent, so I don't acknowledge him. We can be together, I agree, okay?" Ji Xiaolin struggled to hold on, her voice, clear as an oriole, now laced with a desperate, honeyed rasp that could melt steel. The heat in the sealed chamber was becoming suffocating, every breath a thick, humid draft. Her skin was flushed a deep crimson, and a fine sheen of sweat glistened on her brow, tracing the perfect lines of her face.
'Still not enough?' Shen Anyu thought, a flicker of amusement dancing behind his serene facade. 'This girl's will is stronger than I expected. But the harder she resists, the more potent the eventual release will be.' Outwardly, he maintained his pious expression, his voice unwavering. "Still no. Right now, you've been affected by the spell and are not in control of yourself. Afterward, you'll definitely want to kill me and won't forgive me. I don't agree." He suppressed a chuckle. It was almost too easy.
"No, it won't happen, it really won't. Please help me, can you help me?" Ji Xiaolin was fraying at the edges, her composure shattering. She felt like her entire body was a furnace on the verge of exploding. To beg a man like this, to offer herself so completely only to be rejected—was she not beautiful enough? Not tempting enough? The thought was a fresh spike of agony in her spiraling mind.
In truth, Ji Xiaolin was beyond charming; her allure at this moment was catastrophic. The spell had stripped away her usual reserve, amplifying her innate magnetism to an astonishing degree. Shen Anyu felt the primal pull, a fire coiling low in his own gut. But he was a man of refined tastes. Today, his particular brand of laziness had taken over; he preferred to be a spectator, a director, not an actor.
While he continued his performance as a stoic saint, offering hollow words of encouragement, his focus was split. A single, invisible nanometer monitoring robot fed a live stream of the chaos unfolding outside directly into his mind. The corners of his mouth twitched. 'The show's starting.'
The villa's meticulously manicured courtyard had become a warzone. Zhang Tianen and his young charge, Zhang Zhiyun, had walked straight into a kill box. Dozens of robed figures, the elite of the Wan Fa Sect, materialized from the shadows, their killing intent a freezing wave. The ambush was perfectly executed. Before the two could even react, the sky ignited.
Spells erupted from all directions. It wasn't a duel; it was an execution. A storm of raw, destructive magic descended upon them. Fireballs the size of carriages screamed through the air, trailing plumes of black smoke. Jagged spears of lightning forked down from a cloudless sky, striking the same spot again and again with deafening cracks. Clouds of viridian mist rolled across the lawn, the grass withering and turning to black sludge on contact. A whirlwind of razor-sharp wind blades shrieked past, carving deep gouges into the stone pathways. Shards of ice, each as long as a man's arm and colder than the grave, rained down in a relentless fusillade. Ethereal swords of condensed energy materialized and lunged, seeking any opening.
The sheer volume of the attack was overwhelming. Zhang Tianen and Zhang Zhiyun were instantly on the back foot, all avenues of escape cut off. They were caught, pinned, and about to be annihilated.
But Zhang Tianen was not just any Artificer. He was a legend, the man who once stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Yanxia Artificer world. Even in a Shunshun Express delivery uniform, his reaction was instantaneous. With a low growl, he slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Aegis!"
An explosion of golden light erupted from his body, expanding into a semi-translucent dome of pure energy that enveloped both him and Zhang Zhiyun. It shimmered with ancient, complex runes, a fortress of divine radiance.
The storm hit.
BOOM! CRACK! FWOOSH!
The sound was apocalyptic. The first fireball slammed into the golden barrier and detonated, washing the shield in a sea of fire. The lightning strikes hammered down, causing the dome to ring like a colossal temple bell. The poisonous mist swirled around its surface, hissing and boiling away without leaving a scratch. Wind blades shattered into harmless gusts of air. Ice spikes disintegrated into glittering dust. The magic swords bounced off with sharp, metallic pings.
The courtyard became a kaleidoscope of violent, exploding light. It was as if a hundred fireworks displays had been set off inside a shoebox, a blinding, chaotic spectacle of shattered spells. The ground trembled, flagstones cracked, and ancient trees were stripped bare by the deflected shockwaves. Yet the golden light shield held. It didn't even flicker.
"How is this possible?" the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect whispered, his confident sneer wiped clean from his face. The other Artificers stared in wide-eyed disbelief. Their combined assault, a force that could level a small hill or turn a conventional Celestial Master into ash, had been stopped cold. Blocked by a single, ridiculously powerful Golden Light Spell.
It was only then, as the initial glare faded, that the Sect Master's eyes focused on the man inside the barrier. The cheap courier uniform. The weathered but unyielding face. His pupils shrank to pinpricks. "How could it be Zhang Tianen? Didn't he retire?"
The name hung in the air, heavy and cold. Zhang Tianen. The former titan of their world. A Celestial Master Peak existence, a giant whose retirement years ago had sent shockwaves through the community. What in the hell was he doing here, dressed like a delivery boy and protecting Zhang Zhiyun?
"Hmph, so it's you rats from the Wan Fa Sect, daring to attack me. You're courting death!" Zhang Tianen's voice, amplified by his energy, boomed from within the shield. He stood ramrod straight, the uniform doing nothing to diminish the immense pressure that began to radiate from him. It was the aura of a predator who had just been poked by a pack of hyenas. He showed no fear, only contempt.
"Wan Fa Sect!!!" The name was a venomous roar from Zhang Zhiyun. His eyes were completely bloodshot, consumed by a rage that burned hotter than any spell. These were the monsters who had slaughtered his family, who had razed his home to the ground. Twenty years of buried hatred erupted, a volcanic force that made his entire body tremble. He would have charged out to his death if not for Zhang Tianen's restraining hand on his shoulder.
The Master of Myriad Dharma Sect's shock quickly hardened into cold calculation. 'So, it's him.' He was a veteran Celestial Master himself. While a one-on-one fight against Zhang Tianen was a losing proposition, this was not a one-on-one fight. He had the Left and Right Protectors, both seasoned Half-Step Celestial Masters. He had dozens of elite Artificer True Persons and even a few Grand Artificer True Persons. Numbers were on their side. The initial shock had passed; their advantage was still absolute.
"Zhang Tianen, you can leave," the Sect Master declared, his voice regaining its authority. "But Zhang Zhiyun must die. Otherwise, my Wan Fa Sect will never give up!"
His subordinates moved in unison, their hands already forming new, more powerful seals. They tightened the encirclement, their gazes locking onto the two men with undisguised malice. In that brief exchange, they had confirmed their intelligence. The boy, Zhang Zhiyun, was indeed a Half-Step Celestial Master of freakish talent, already on par with their own veteran Protectors.
'This child must not be allowed to live!' The thought was shared among all the Wan Fa Sect members. An enemy with this much talent and such a deep-seated grudge was a walking catastrophe. Better to deal with him now, even if it meant making an enemy of the legendary Zhang Tianen. A minor grudge versus an irreconcilable blood feud—the choice was simple.
It was then that a horrifying realization struck Zhang Tianen. He scanned the courtyard, his sharp eyes finding no trace of his daughter. They had come here to find Ji Xiaolin, to confront her about her fake boyfriend. Instead, they were ambushed. The timing was too perfect. His expression darkened, the calm fury replaced by a surge of panicked rage.
"What have you done to my daughter, Ji Xiaolin?" he demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous low. Could she have already fallen into their hands? The thought sent a jolt of ice through his veins.
"Master of Myriad Dharma Sect," Zhang Tianen bellowed, his killing intent flooding the courtyard and making the air feel thick as molasses. "If anything happens to my daughter, Ji Xiaolin, I, Zhang Tianen, swear that I will pursue and kill every single person in the Wan Fa Sect, even if I have to chase you to the ends of the earth!"
The Sect Master's expression turned strange, a flicker of understanding dawning in his eyes. Ji Xiaolin… Zhang Zhiyun's fiancée… was Zhang Tianen's daughter? 'Of course. She took her mother's surname.' That treacherous dog Du Zhao from Emei Peak had conveniently left out that crucial detail, deliberately setting them up for this confrontation. The old fox's mind spun rapidly, immediately seeing a new angle to exploit.
"Zhang Tianen, rest assured," he said, his tone oozing a false sincerity. "I am also a respectable person and will not do anything to your esteemed daughter." He paused, letting the words hang in the air before delivering the killing blow.
"At this very moment, your esteemed daughter is having a romantic rendezvous with the Eldest Young Master of the Yanxia Shen Family, utterly infatuated with each other, their youthful passion enviable to all. They are doing wonderfully, with no safety concerns whatsoever."
Then, he turned his venomous gaze to Zhang Zhiyun, his voice dripping with mockery. "Zhang Zhiyun, what kind of thing are you? Your fiancée? Are you even worthy of being compared to the Eldest Young Master of the great Shen Family? Only a man like that can bring Ji Xiaolin happiness. The Hangzhou Zhang Family is trash, and you, their worthless remnant, are also trash!"
"I'll kill you!" Zhang Zhiyun's eyes turned red. There was no greater hatred than the destruction of one's family and the theft of one's wife. Now, with both superimposed, he was utterly enraged, the string in his mind snapped, and he charged at the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect to kill him. With a command, streaks of lightning struck the Master of Myriad Dharma Sect from the clear sky…
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