But then Lu Yuan had severely wounded Tiemuer, and the situation unexpectedly took another turn.

Suddenly, a figure in green burst onto the scene, intent on abducting the Reincarnated Spirit Child, Tiemuer. The heavily injured Tiemuer had no strength left to fight back. Fanfa Shangren clashed with the green-robed man, and surprisingly, the latter gained a slight upper hand. With that advantage, the green-robed man seized Tiemuer and was about to depart when Fanfa Shangren unleashed the Void Great Handprint and the Blood Handprint.

The Void Great Handprint, as previously described, was a technique possessing tracking capabilities.

As for the Blood Handprint, the hands would suddenly enlarge more than tenfold, and both hands would become crimson, capable of instantly boosting one's combat power.

With both great hand seals of Esoteric Buddhism deployed simultaneously, even the green-robed man was forced to retreat slightly.

At that moment, a dark shadow surged forth—this was Fanlun Shangren, another esteemed figure under the Grand Master of the Great Yuan Kingdom, Master Tianyuan, also an Shangren-level master. He usually dressed as an ordinary monk, but seeing the Reincarnated Spirit Child in danger, he immediately rushed out, dropping all pretense of concealment regarding his strength.

Fanlun Shangren practiced the Five Wheel Great Art, a divine technique cultivated by Master Tianyuan before he achieved his ultimate power. His five wheels consisted of the Gold Wheel, Wood Wheel, Water Wheel, Fire Wheel, and Earth Wheel, each imbued with an esoteric mantra of Tibetan Buddhism. Every wheel held immense power, and they could also be arranged into the Five Wheel Great Formation.

He activated all five wheels now.

On one side were the two great hand seals of Fanfa Shangren.

On the other side were the five activated wheels of Fanlun Shangren.

Even for a master of Yuan Yuan Shangren's caliber, navigating this situation while the green-robed man was also dragging someone along was not easy. The headscarf piercing his hair was torn off, instantly revealing a stunning head of silver hair and a young, handsome face, with narrow eyes that seemed supremely wicked. A snake!

Upon seeing this person, everyone's immediate reaction was of a serpent.

"Yuan Ling!"

Lu Yuan immediately recognized the man as Yuan Ling. He was astonished that Yuan Ling dared to storm this place, possessing such boldness, considering this location was teeming with top experts, the very stronghold of Yuan Yuan Shangren, and with the peerless Yan Cangtian present—yet Yuan Ling dared to intrude.

The Nine Generations Sword Immortals, most of whom knew this supremely evil traitor of Mount Hua, were all taken aback.

Yuan Ling, having revealed his true appearance, showed no haste. His narrow eyes narrowed: "Fanlun Shangren, Fanfa Shangren, your combined effort is indeed formidable. Worthy of the Shangren level; even I find it difficult to withstand. But the Reincarnated Spirit Child is mine. I have studied countless forbidden arts, but I have yet to study the Reincarnated Spirit Child. I wish to see what this secret reincarnation and empowerment process of your Esoteric Sect entails."

Finally understanding his goal, it was revealed he sought the Reincarnated Spirit Child Tiemuer to research the mystery of the spirit child's reincarnation and anointing. Of course, the Reincarnated Spirit Child possessed many esoteric skills of the Esoteric Sect, and if Tiemuer fell into Yuan Ling's hands, those skills would likely follow.

Fanfa Shangren and Fanlun Shangren unleashed their ultimate techniques in tandem.

Especially Fanlun Shangren's Five Wheel Great Art, the signature technique of Master Tianyuan. The five intents used in the five wheels represented the intent of Metal Dao, Wood Dao, Water Dao, Fire Dao, and Earth Dao—the Five Elements embodied in the five wheels. This technique was claimed to be inescapable unless one truly stepped outside the Three Realms and was not bound by the Five Elements. A sword has Sword Intent, a palm technique has Palm Intent.

In essence, they were all the same kind of 'intent.' But those using swords called it Sword Intent, and those using sabers called it Saber Intent. Wind Sword Intent and Wind Saber Intent were essentially the same thing. If one didn't use a saber, sword, or palm, the intents were often called Intent of Metal Dao or Intent of Wood Dao—which were simply Metal Sword Intent or Wood Sword Intent, just called differently; ultimately, it was the same principle.

In the past, Master Tianyuan famously declared: "Unless you leap beyond the Three Realms and are unbound by the Five Elements, do not dream of breaking the Five Wheel Great Art."

Alas, the Five Wheel Great Art was ultimately shattered by Yan Cangtian. After his crushing defeat, Master Tianyuan achieved great enlightenment, abandoning the Five Wheel Great Art to ascend to higher realms. Though broken by Yan Cangtian, it still demonstrated the technique's terrifying power.

As they watched, Yuan Ling produced a silver longsword from his hand. The silver longsword flickered and stabbed towards the Wood Wheel. Upon contact, countless changes erupted, and with a bang, the net of the Five Wheels was shattered: "Monk Fanlun, you are too immature to try the Five Elements Confinement game with me. Call your master, perhaps he'd stand a chance."

He flashed past Fanfa Shangren's attack and fled with incredible speed.

Fanfa Shangren roared: "You villain, Yuan Ling! Aren't you afraid my master will pursue and kill you?"

Yuan Ling’s lips curled into a wicked smile: "I fear Yan Shibo [Martial Uncle Yan] does not fear your master. With Yan Shibo around, your master wouldn't dare cause too much trouble in the Great Jin Kingdom. Besides, even if your master came to the Great Jin Kingdom, he has no intelligence network here. How could he find me, hidden deep underground? Hahaha! The Reincarnated Spirit Child is mine!"

With a burst of wild laughter, Master Yuan Ling sped away, Tiemuer in his grasp, moving with terrifying swiftness.

Seeing Yuan Ling escape with Tiemuer, Fanlun Shangren immediately gave chase. Fanfa Shangren then turned to the dozen or so Shangren masters seated there: "Yuan Ling attacked, why did none of you intervene?"

Yuan Yuan Shangren yawned lazily: "We were entirely drained just then, almost unable to mobilize our internal power. Yuan Ling is always sly; he likely poisoned us." This was, of course, a blatant falsehood. Simply put, although the internal conflicts within the Great Jin Kingdom were fierce, when facing an external threat from the Great Yuan Kingdom, unity was expected. Yuan Ling taking the Great Yuan Kingdom's Reincarnated Spirit Child for research was not something they would help prevent, but they certainly wouldn't hinder it—they simply lacked the inclination.

Yuan Yuan Shangren continued: "Yuan Ling is cunning; we also wanted to capture him, but we couldn't. If we could have caught him, we would have done so long ago." Yuan Yuan Shangren and his group were officials, making it difficult for them to openly capture the Reincarnated Spirit Child Tiemuer. But Yuan Ling, the traitor, capturing Tiemuer was none of their business. It certainly wasn't the Great Jin Kingdom's official action; if the Great Yuan Kingdom wished to vent its anger, they could go after Yuan Ling—as long as they could find Yuan Ling, who hid like a mouse, they were free to try.

Fanfa Shangren was left uncertain by Yuan Yuan Shangren’s explanation. This Yuan Yuan Shangren was truly too slippery; one couldn't find a single crack in his reasoning. Yet, to suggest Yuan Yuan Shangren and Master Yuan Ling colluded was impossible; everyone knew they were mortal enemies.

With this outcome, the Great Jin Kingdom truly couldn't be blamed.

This situation was difficult to resolve.

Fanfa Shangren paused, then, seeing no other recourse, decisively commanded the Great Yuan Kingdom’s delegation that had accompanied them to pursue Yuan Ling immediately.

With Fanfa Shangren and his group in pursuit, the cultivators on the Great Jin Kingdom’s side felt their spirits lift. First, their arrogant Tiemuer was defeated by the even more monstrous Lu Yuan; then, Yuan Ling appeared and captured Tiemuer for research; and finally, Yuan Yuan Shangren's words deliberately provoked Fanfa Shangren of the Great Yuan Kingdom.

After this chain of events, everyone felt immensely satisfied.

Internal chaos was one matter; external consistency was quite another.

Naturally, the next order of business was a celebratory banquet honoring Lu Yuan's victory. Lu Yuan himself reflected that his intervention was merely one link in this entire sequence.

It began with the negotiations at the Western Regions River Bend, which led to Tiemuer's conspiracy from the Great Yuan Kingdom, which then necessitated his intervention, unexpectedly leading to Yuan Ling’s appearance. The entire affair involved several interlocking links. Of course, what Lu Yuan did not know was that there was actually one final, crucial link held by Yan Cangtian.

Mount Hua was not composed of just the Five Peaks; it had been mentioned before that Mount Hua possessed as many as a hundred peaks.

However, relatively speaking, the Five Peaks were the broadest, largest, and most famous.

And the highest peak of Mount Hua was not among any of the Five Peaks.

It was Heaven Peak!

Heaven Peak!

Heaven Peak originally did not exist. Initially, the Headmaster of Mount Hua resided on one of the Five Peaks, inevitably causing the Headmaster to favor one peak. Thus, one Headmaster forcefully tore the earth to form a peak, creating Heaven Peak, which surpassed East Peak and South Peak in height.

Of course, this feat of raising the earth to form a peak resulted in Heaven Peak being incredibly high, yet it was almost entirely vertical with virtually no slopes. There was only one way to ascend: fly.

This Heaven Peak, described as a mountain peak, was more like a divine sword inverted against the firmament!

Heaven Peak housed no disciples; only a very select few in previous generations resided there—all confidants of the Headmaster.

In the current generation of Yan Cangtian, the situation was even more absolute: only Yan Cangtian and one trusted page boy lived on this peak; no third person existed.

The summit of Heaven Peak was perpetually shrouded in clouds and mist.

Within the swirling mist, a handsome middle-aged man in white seemed to be sitting in meditation. This man, graceful and handsome in the haze, possessed lips like a sword, brows like a sword, eyes sharp as a sword, a nose bridge like a sword, robes like a sword, and shoes like a sword—everything about him was sword-like.

His face was exquisitely handsome, as if carved from jade. A slight smile seemed capable of captivating every beauty in the world, yet his expression remained cold and devoid of warmth, severe and stern.

The Peerless One, Yan Cangtian!

"The younger generation these days shows some promise. Reaching the fourth stage of Body Refinement at such a young age, and mastering two forms of Transcendent Sword Intent—interesting," said the handsome man in white, Yan Cangtian. His voice was slightly raspy, possessing a magnetic quality that was said to be quite pleasing. Someone once commented on Yan Cangtian:

"No woman could resist his gentle smile, though he never smiles."

"No one can resist his sword strike."

"That boy Yuan Ling is somewhat amusing. He calculated that stealing the Reincarnated Spirit Child would not enrage me enough to draw my sword and pursue him, which is why he dared to act," Yan Cangtian said. Although he was on Heaven Peak, miles away from North Peak, his eyes seemed capable of piercing hundreds of miles of thick fog—what a divine ability this was.

The page boy beside him, Banyue, asked: "Then, Sect Master, what if Lu Yuan failed to defeat Tiemuer, allowing Tiemuer to win and gain an advantage in the Western Regions River Bend negotiations?"

"What then?" Yan Cangtian's lips curved slightly: "Very simple. I will take my Flying Swallow Immortal Sword and slaughter my way into the Great Yuan Kingdom. Let us see which of the three Grand Masters of the Great Yuan Kingdom can withstand my blade." This was truly Yan Cangtian's style; he intended to rampage through the Great Yuan Kingdom until they submitted.

The Peerless Yan Cangtian was indeed the Peerless Yan Cangtian!

One man and one sword could stand against a nation!