Still, more stones needed hauling. The ruins were finally cleared, and they managed to locate Vatti's head and lower body, assembling a complete corpse, yet the King and Queen remained completely untraceable.

“Vatti is dead, and the King and Queen are nowhere to be found!” A Flin Republic officer roared, slamming a palm strike that pulverized a five-meter-high remnant wall nearby. “What exactly are those invisible people? Vatti may not have been a martial officer, but he was from a prestigious lineage, and his cultivation wasn't weak. Even if his opponent was at the peak of the Third Level, he shouldn't have perished so quickly.”

Even among peak Third Level masters, there were differences in strength; it wasn't unexpected for the weaker to lose to the stronger. However, for the enemy to dispatch Vatti in mere minutes suggested a vast disparity in power.

This was because the spiritual energy of a peak Third Level master was immensely accumulated, allowing for sustained engagement, precognition of attacks, and reaction speeds that surpassed the perception of time. The resulting defensive sphere was virtually flawless; a single, instant kill was unheard of in contests at this echelon—the most common outcome was a protracted war of attrition.

Under normal circumstances, a battle between peak Third Level experts would take at least half a day to reach a conclusion, and outright death was a rarity.

Everyone felt that even if Vatti couldn't win, he should at least have been able to escape to call for aid. The fact that he couldn't even manage a distress signal implied the power of his opponent.

A strange atmosphere began to take root in the hearts of the assembled group, and some of the experts hired at great expense by the Flin Republic gradually entertained thoughts of retreat.

In truth, as soon as Yang Ying clashed with Vatti, he knew that although his own strength surpassed Vatti's, killing him quickly would be impossible. Yet, letting Vatti live felt wrong.

Vatti was Tallinn’s employer. In the scene Yang Ying had accessed within Tallinn's mind, he had clearly seen Vatti giving the orders to assassinate him. This was someone who desired his death and had acted upon that intent. While it hadn't caused him catastrophic losses, it had certainly created significant trouble. Yang Ying would not overlook such an action. Since they had met today, it was only fitting to settle the score—who knew when they might cross paths again?

Before the tower collapsed, a golden light flashed in Yang Ying’s hand, summoning his thirteenth clone, which transformed into the Blade Master Emperor form, joining the encirclement of Vatti. The Blade Master Emperor possessed terrifyingly potent combat instinct; all of Yang Ying’s acquired knowledge was expressed through the Emperor to its absolute limit, perfectly melding various combat techniques into endless variations, turning the mundane into the miraculous.

More valuable still was that these transformations required no deep contemplation but arose spontaneously during combat, subtle as an antelope’s leap, perfectly tailored to the immediate situation.

After acquiring the accumulated knowledge of the Neng Temple from Langdon, Yang Ying had merged the Neng Temple’s combat techniques with those of the Protoss. While the Protoss techniques were profound, they were meticulously designed for the Protoss physique. Applying them to humans resulted in subtle disharmony, which magnified during combat—the principle of "a hair's breadth deviation leads to a thousand miles of error." This was especially true when facing masters; even the slightest opening could invite disaster.

It was partly due to this discord that Yang Ying’s six peak Third Level Blade Master Emperors had been unable to subdue Hardek, who was also a peak Third Level master, back then. Now, with the supplement of Neng Temple techniques, Yang Ying's martial repertoire was significantly refined.

The Neng Temple housed millennia of human cultivation methods, supplemented by centuries of innovation since its founding. The sheer volume of its combat techniques was oceanic. Now, with both Protoss and Neng Temple arts condensed within him, and executed by the Blade Master Emperor's combat instinct to their utmost potential, even average peak Third Level masters were no match. Almost instantly upon the Emperor’s appearance, Vatti was forced onto the path of doom.

Vatti’s combat strength was not weak; among peak Third Level experts, he could barely be considered upper-tier. However, the Blade Master Emperor grew stronger against superior opposition. Stimulated by Vatti's esoteric techniques, the Emperor's instinctive counter-attacks were several times more profound and subtle. Coupled with the main body's pincer movement, the two sides exchanged dozens of moves in an instant, finally shattering Vatti's defensive perimeter. One sword strike cleaved him at the waist, and another severed his head.

In his final moments, Vatti attempted to use psychic communication to call for outside help. A psychic projection employed by a peak Third Level master could easily span a planet, transmitting information instantaneously. However, the Blade Master Emperor was prepared, unleashing a Whirlpool Technique that abruptly cut off his spellcasting, causing Vatti to die silently. Vatti's death was only known after Yang Ying recalled the Blade Master Emperor and fled the collapsing tower.

The experts from the Flin Republic conferred briefly over Vatti's body before dispersing, many still wearing expressions of lingering dread. The battle had been ferocious, resulting in heavy losses for the Republic. Several officers originating from the military branch began calculating how they were to report this operation, which had been planned as a clean sweep, as an absolute disaster.

Turning to Yang Ying and his thirteen figures, after they escaped the palace and confirmed no pursuit, he recalled all the clones. They arrived at the small hillock where he had left the Flin maiden, finding her pacing anxiously, hands wrung together, muttering under her breath, "What exactly happened in the palace? The fighting was so intense; it's driving me mad!"

“Your intelligence was flawed. Their Majesties weren't held in the dungeons beneath the castle, but rather on the tower,” Yang Ying’s voice materialized suddenly behind her.

"Ah!" The maiden spun around violently. Seeing Yang Ying, she snapped, "You scared me again!"

Both Yang Ying and his clones were shrouded in black robes, obscuring their faces. The fact that he always appeared behind her precisely when her nerves were tight was causing her delicate heart to trend toward neuroticism.

However, concern for the King and Queen quickly took precedence. The maiden rushed forward, grasping Yang Ying's arms, and asked anxiously, "How was it? Did you rescue Their Majesties?"

Recalling Yang Ying’s complaint about her faulty intelligence, a terrible thought suddenly flooded her mind. She reasoned: Why would this black-robed man complain about my intelligence? Is it because of the information that he failed to rescue Their Majesties? He said they were held in the tower, and the tower collapsed during their battle. Could Their Majesties have perished along with the tower at that moment? Their Majesties were but mortals; they couldn't withstand the residual force of combat between near-godlike beings.

The more she thought, the worse it became. Yang Ying appeared alone to meet her; none of his dozen black-robed accomplices or the monarchs were with him. If Their Majesties had been saved, would things be like this?

Seeing the maiden lost in her dreadful imaginings, Yang Ying recalled his entry. He had ordered twelve clones to hold the battle line while he infiltrated the castle. He had first gone to the dungeons, descended three levels, and checked the innermost room. The monarchs were nowhere to be seen, though there were plenty of traps—Micro-Fusion Furnaces, Cutting Lasers, strong acid—everywhere. He then remembered the powerful, solid force field outside the tower, leading him to correctly surmise the King and Queen were upstairs. Thus, he ascended and found them.

At that time, the entire underground structure beneath the castle had collapsed due to a chain reaction of trap detonations. Yang Ying had relied on his Plasma Shields to fend off the attacks; otherwise, he would have emerged dusty and disheveled from the basement. Had he not wasted precious time in the dungeons, Vatti might not have noticed Yang Ying’s absence from the main fray when he finally rescued Their Majesties and exited the castle.

"A single error in intelligence work can lead to enormous losses. She misidentified the dungeon and the tower today, which thankfully didn't cause a catastrophe, but if someone else had been here, it might have been different. Perhaps the King and Queen would indeed have died in the tower," Yang Ying mused. "Letting her misunderstand for a moment will serve as a profound lesson. If she learns from this mistake and avoids similar errors in future operations, it might be for the best."

The maiden had held a sliver of hope that Yang Ying would announce the successful rescue of Their Majesties, but his silence extinguished that last flicker of hope. She assumed Yang Ying was tacitly admitting mission failure.

“Have Their Majesties passed away? Why! Why would this happen!” The maiden released Yang Ying’s arms, covered her face, and sank to her knees, tears streaming uncontrollably as she sobbed.

After three seconds, Yang Ying felt the lesson from the intelligence failure had been sufficiently impressed upon her. He said, “Don’t cry! Their Majesties have been successfully rescued; this is good news. Why are you crying?”

The maiden’s sobs softened, then ceased. She lifted her head, fixing her red eyes on Yang Ying, and asked, “Is that true?” Her voice trembled, like a dying person spotting a final lifeline.

“Of course, it’s true. They are in a safe location now, being looked after by my companions.” This was also factual; the safe location was the floating continent, and their caretakers were his medical corps.

The maiden’s gaze sharpened, clearly enraged: “Are you playing with me? Then why didn't you say anything earlier? You nearly scared me to death!”

“Your intelligence was faulty; you deserved a lesson.”

Yang Ying waved his hand, and the maiden felt herself gently lifted by a soft force, a light breeze brushing away the clinging grass and leaves. She wanted to refute him but found herself at a loss for words. The information she provided had indeed been flawed. If the situation were reversed, and the Kingdom’s intelligence department faced such a severe lapse, she would certainly be facing a military tribunal.