Ye Wen's speed now was far from what it once was. When he unleashed the sword light conjured by the Golden Dawn, it vanished in an instant, like a streak of golden meteor.

After exchanging a look with Zhang Sanfeng, She Yue could only sigh in resignation. The move Ye Wen had just executed was genuinely unexpected. While magical artifacts or spells that affected vision had been employed before, for masters of their caliber, sight was never the sole sense used to gauge a situation.

However, Ye Wen's technique had not only momentarily blinded them but had also interfered with their other senses, allowing him the composure to depart.

"Although this move is strange, it is not insurmountable. One only needs to evade that flash of intense light!"

Though Zhang Sanfeng's cultivation was inferior to She Yue's, his combat experience was vast. Within moments, he discerned that Ye Wen's maneuver was merely a minor trick, not worth undue concern; with a little caution next time, it wouldn't yield such favorable results.

She Yue said nothing, merely turning his head to look at Bai Suzhen, then chastising her, "Who told you to run out here on your own initiative? With your level of cultivation, what if something had happened to you?"

Bai Suzhen pouted, "I saw that Ye Wen didn't seem like an unreasonable person, so…"

"Silence!"

She Yue had rushed over in a panic, fearing Bai Suzhen, acting without sense, might provoke a fight with Ye Wen and lose her life, rendering all his current efforts fruitless. After all, his elaborate scheming to trouble Ye Wen was only to vent his daughter's anger. Otherwise, since the Dragon Transformation Pool of the East Sea Immortal Palace was not destroyed, why would he bother seeking out Ye Wen? Though he knew killing Ye Wen wouldn't undo the damage, it would at least offer some measure of relief.

"Return to the East Sea Immortal Palace immediately! You are forbidden to come out again!"

After snapping a couple of times, She Yue watched Bai Suzhen storm off, then stood gazing at the sky in a daze.

Zhang Sanfeng stood nearby, also seemingly watching the horizon, "Senior, what enmity do you hold with Sect Leader Ye?"

Zhang Sanfeng did not know the precise reason for the conflict between She Yue and Ye Wen, but he sensed something peculiar beneath the surface.

It couldn't be that Ye Wen was flirting with that girl, irritating this old senior?

Thinking this, he mused that if such were the case, this old senior might end up becoming family with Ye Wen. The current situation felt somewhat like a domestic matter, and he felt it best not to interfere rashly.

Unexpectedly, She Yue merely stated, "A feud unto death!"

In reality, She Yue suspected there was indeed something strange afoot. Yet, the wreckage of the Dragon Transformation Pool bore a formidable Buddhist aura, an energy fluctuation quite similar to that emanating from Ye Wen. He hadn't been entirely certain before, but after seeing Ye Wen's eyes just now, he knew Ye Wen had indeed destroyed the Dragon Transformation Pool, likely utilizing those Glazed Pupils.

However, She Yue was not rash or foolish; he could sense the complexities involved. For one thing, the moment the Dragon Transformation Pool was destroyed, the Kunlun Sect eagerly awaited his arrival specifically to inform him of the matter, which gave him the distinct impression that the Kunlun Sect had orchestrated it deliberately.

But these matters were hard to judge and required a direct confrontation with Ye Wen.

Regardless, that little brat did destroy the Dragon Transformation Pool. How can I quell my anger without teaching him a lesson?

With this thought, She Yue quickly pondered for a moment, then ignored Zhang Sanfeng and left directly, leaving the founder of Wudang standing alone, contemplating the shifting dynamics of the situation.

Meanwhile, Ye Wen, having utilized his sword light to vanish and cover an immense distance, paused high above the lands of Shu. The peak beneath him was the nationally renowned Mount Qingcheng, where the Qingcheng Sect was situated.

Opening his eyes and employing his sight, the light flowing through his pupils revealed the Qingcheng Sect, hidden by its illusion formation. He also noticed that they had already spotted him; several young Daoists were scurrying inside, likely to alert their Sect Leader.

Ye Wen paid no mind to their reactions, descending directly on his sword light into the Qingcheng Sect's compound. As soon as his feet touched the ground, several young cultivators rushed forward, shouting in unison, "Who goes there, daring to trespass upon Mount Qingcheng?"

The flying swords in these youths' hands gave off a dim light; they were likely not Qingcheng masters, perhaps just ordinary disciples, and thus not worth Ye Wen's notice. He merely stood with his hands behind his back, head held high, and announced, "Ye Wen of the Shushan Sect has come to visit. Tell your Sect Leader Yu to come out and see me!"

"What arrogance! Our Sect Leader is not someone you can summon at will..." The young man began his habitual rebuke, but halfway through, he felt someone tugging at his Daoist robe from behind, whispering urgently into his ear, "Senior Brother, it's the Shu! Shan! Sect!!!" The syllables of Shushan were heavily stressed.

"The Shu... Shan... Sect?"

For the past few years, Ye Wen and the others had been hidden away in the Changbai Immortal Realm, and these people had almost forgotten the name Shushan. It was only upon this sharp reminder that the quicker-witted ones recalled the Shushan Sect that had annihilated the Emei Sect.

"Ye Wen?"

The faces of the Qingcheng disciples drastically changed, and many subconsciously took a step back. The dense encirclement instantly showed numerous gaps.

Ye Wen watched their reaction, smiled without speaking, but inwardly mused, Am I that terrifying? It seems the Kunlun Sect has been doing quite a bit of publicity for me!

Indeed, since Ye Wen entered the Changbai Immortal Realm, the Kunlun Sect had spared no effort in portraying the Shushan Sect as an unorthodox cult and Ye Wen as an utterly wicked demon lord, cruel and bloodthirsty, who left no one who fell into his hands alive. This narrative, combined with the annihilation of the Emei Sect by Shushan and the killing of the Three Elders of Emei by Ye Wen's own hand, carried a convincing weight.

At this moment, a streak of sword light rushed out from the rear hall, instantly arriving before Ye Wen. This was undoubtedly Yu Lin, the Sect Leader of Qingcheng.

"Sect Leader Ye!" Yu Lin appeared quite composed. Upon landing, he immediately cupped his fists toward Ye Wen in salute, his polite demeanor suggesting he certainly didn't regard Ye Wen as an enemy.

However, having already learned that this bastard had used the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book against him, Yu Lin knew he could not be fooled by such pretense. Ye Wen merely gave Yu Lin a cold glance and spoke mockingly, "Sect Leader Yu possesses such skill. I, Ye Wen, almost fell into your hands. I am truly full of admiration!"

Yu Lin’s heart lurched, but his face maintained an expression of confusion as he smiled, "What manner of words are these, Sect Leader Ye?"

Ye Wen waved his hand dismissively. "Stop playing games with me. I know you used the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book to harm me. I have come specifically today to discuss this with Sect Leader Yu!"

Yu Lin felt a momentary calm, wondering how Ye Wen had deduced he was the culprit, yet he maintained his air of ignorance, "Sect Leader Ye, is there perhaps some misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding?"

Ye Wen gave a cold laugh, flipped his hand, and the Buddhist Wheel gifted to him by Wu Zhen appeared in his palm. The Wheel emitted a faint glow, and from its center, it lifted a strange black mass of energy that struggled violently within the confines of the Wheel, unable to break free.

Yu Lin was first confused upon seeing this object, but then he noticed a faint white light emanating from the booklet he carried in his robes, subtly resonating with the black mass.

"This is...?"

Though a sense of foreboding arose in his mind, and he vaguely understood what this object represented, he still could not be certain.

But Ye Wen shattered his last vestige of doubt. Pointing at the black mass, he stated, "On the Golden Summit of Emei that day, Sect Leader Yu managed to inflict this upon me without anyone knowing. Truly, I am deeply impressed!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Lin finally understood that everything was exposed. He sighed inwardly, What a pity that my Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book is an incomplete manuscript, and I had to complete it myself, leaving many flaws. If it were the true Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book, how could this Ye Wen possibly detect such an anomaly?

Of course, if it were the genuine artifact, Ye Wen would likely have already been cursed to death and wouldn't be here demanding an accounting. Ultimately, the problem lay with this home-made technique and its significantly reduced power.

Since acquiring the fragmented manuscript, Yu Lin had painstakingly sought to restore the spell, even integrating methods from Miao frontier hexing to truly imbue the remnant technique with some potency. He had only successfully cursed two people since obtaining it: first, Scholar Beihe, and then Ye Wen. The success with Scholar Beihe had led him to believe he had finally fixed the technique; had he known Scholar Beihe had long broken the curse, he would never have been so confident.

Ye Wen snorted, "Still not admitting it?" With that, the Buddhist Wheel flared brightly, completely dissolving the trapped black energy, and then he retracted the treasured item.

In truth, while Ye Wen had suspected the Qingcheng Sect Leader of using the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book against him, it was merely speculation, and he lacked concrete proof. However, after receiving instruction in Buddhist principles from Wu Zhen, he gradually understood the marvelous uses of the Buddhist Wheel. With this artifact, Ye Wen detected the 'Fruit' that had been planted within him, and following the connection, he traced it directly to the Qingcheng Sect. Now, what room was there for doubt? Furthermore, the white light he had just sensed from Yu Lin was precisely the 'Cause' he sought.

With conclusive evidence in hand, he needed no further contemplation; he simply had to eliminate this hidden plotter. Only then could he confidently divert his attention to dealing with She Yue and the Kunlun Sect. Otherwise, if he were engaged in a battle with a master, having this wretch casting spells beside him, even Ye Wen with ten lives wouldn't have enough to survive.

Yu Lin's expression shifted several times, but finally, he dropped all pretense and stated directly, "Sect Leader Ye has excellent fortune to have discovered this supreme Buddhist treasure!"

Buddhism emphasizes cause and effect, and thus many Buddhist treasures are linked to karma, allowing one to trace the effect back to the cause and ultimately find him. Without this item, even if Ye Wen harbored suspicion, Yu Lin could have vehemently denied everything, insisting Ye Wen was merely a demon lord seeking an excuse to destroy Qingcheng.

But now...

Yu Lin considered the situation and found it wasn't entirely catastrophic. He had always approached the situation assuming the Shushan Sect, like himself, belonged to the righteous path. Now that Kunlun had successfully smeared the reputation of the Shushan Sect, those previous scruples vanished. Thus, he could righteously shout, "A demon lord such as yourself must be purged by all under heaven..."

"Hahahaha!"

Ye Wen threw his head back and laughed, realizing how naive he had been. These so-called righteous sects were worse than common thugs. His desire to associate with them had been utterly foolish.

"Let the demonic hordes be scoured away, restoring light to the world!"

As this thought arose in his mind, a golden haze began to emanate from him—the energy of the Golden Dawn responding and circulating. Unlike the dazzling, explosive golden light before, this Golden Dawn energy now appeared exceptionally gentle, subtly imbued with a majestic, solemn Buddhist aura. This was due to the resonance between Ye Wen's inner thought and the Buddhist technique, causing his power to undergo such a transformation.

Although Ye Wen sensed the change, he paid it little heed, feeling instead that this was as it should be. He raised his hand, which seemed coated in a layer of golden powder, dazzling and brilliant.

With a natural motion, he brought his palm forward, releasing a surge of overwhelming palm force.

In this strike, Ye Wen used no specific named technique, simply channeling his cultivation strength into a spontaneous palm blow. Yet, the energy within was incredibly complex. Not only did it contain the Golden Dawn force, but it also incorporated the lotus energy of the Celestial Heart Lotus Ring, carried the sword qi of the PurpleDragon-Slaying Sword, and even enveloped the Yin-Yang transformations of the Supreme Tai Chi Divine Art. This casual strike, in terms of the complexity of its inner energy, could be called Ye Wen's current pinnacle achievement.

Moreover, this palm strike was not delivered as a simple empty-force blow, as in the past. Instead, Ye Wen propelled his entire body forward along the line of the palm, moving at extreme speed. Yu Lin across from him had no time to react and hastily slammed forward the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book he kept in his robes.

This book was neither an ancient relic nor the material used for the original Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book. It was merely a crude imitation crafted by Yu Lin himself. As soon as this object appeared, it released a glow spanning several feet, causing the surrounding disciples to instinctively retreat to avoid its edge. However, under Ye Wen's incoming palm strike, it appeared incredibly fragile. Before Ye Wen's palm even made contact, the book was shattered into dust by the concentrated, yet unreleased, palm force gathered on Ye Wen’s hand.

Seeing this, Yu Lin was even more alarmed. Although he knew his artifact was neither a defensive treasure nor a relic of antiquity, he had invested considerable effort into refining it to be extremely sturdy to prevent the Nail-Head Seven Arrows spell from being easily broken. He never imagined it would fail to last even a moment under Ye Wen's palm. In desperation, he immediately pulled out two hand grenades from his dimensional pouch, flicked the pins out with his thumb, and threw them out with both hands.

"Hand grenades?"

Ye Wen looked at the two melon-shaped fragmentation grenades with slight surprise. But when his divine eyes perceived streaks of spiritual light on the grenades, and saw dense, intricate talismans covering their surfaces, he knew these were no ordinary grenades.

Just then, two loud booms erupted, followed by the incessant swoosh-swoosh-swoosh sound of fragments tearing through the air. The smoke and dust stirred up by the explosions enveloped Ye Wen, obscuring the outcome from everyone’s view.

Yu Lin couldn't see either, but he was certain that these two talisman grenades would make Ye Wen suffer some injury, forcing him to cease his attack to protect himself. These grenades were co-produced by the Artifact Forging Pavilion and the Heavenly Talisman Sect—disposable magical items only recently put on the market, and their power was considerable. Each fragment was inscribed with several talismans, each serving a different purpose. Even the top-tier grenades were inscribed with the Primordial Five Elements Talismans, their explosive power feared by many. Yu Lin had thrown out two of these—the finest of their kind—and he possessed only a handful. He refused to believe Ye Wen could emerge unscathed after deploying two at once.

Yet, what filled him with terror was that Ye Wen truly was unharmed!

The smoke and explosions seemed unable to shake Ye Wen's resolve to attack. Almost simultaneously with the explosions, Ye Wen burst out of the dust cloud, his right palm still held in the forward-striking posture. Although the energy on his palm had dissipated slightly, it was still beyond Yu Lin's ability to withstand.

I'll risk it all!

Filled with bitter hatred, Yu Lin gritted his teeth and stamped his foot, deploying his signature technique: Spirit Invocation! This technique was not inherently rare; many charlatans traveling the jianghu knew of such things. But that didn't mean the spell was merely trickery. In the cultivation world, many sects passed down this method, used in desperate situations as a final gambit against an opponent.

The light in Yu Lin's eyes flashed sharply, and a divine radiance burst forth from his brow. His entire aura instantly transformed. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved the seldom-used Seven-Star General-Slaying Spear from his dimensional pouch.

"Manifest your power, True Lord Erlang!"

With this final shout, Yu Lin suddenly roared, and the Seven-Star General-Slaying Spear, whistling through the air, swung down directly toward Ye Wen’s head. If Ye Wen maintained his current offensive posture, before his palm could strike Yu Lin's chest, his own head might already be crushed into a pulp. Given Ye Wen's current cultivation and the Eternal Indestructible Body, he could theoretically endure the blow to kill Yu Lin.

However, the might of this spear was truly frightening, and the relentless momentum it carried was not something an ordinary cultivator could wield. Furthermore, Yu Lin's final cry genuinely startled Ye Wen.

"Invoking the God Erlang?"

Unsure if Yu Lin was merely bluffing, Ye Wen decided to test the waters. His palm suddenly swept upward, the energy on his arm splitting into Yin and Yang. Simultaneously, judging the spear’s trajectory, he guided his arm past the spear, then used his force to gently deflect it sideways. The spear’s momentum was thus thrown off course.

Immediately, there was a massive BANG. The impact of the spear striking the ground generated a shockwave even more terrifying than the two hand grenades. The resulting surge of energy forced even Ye Wen to maneuver evasively.

"Did he actually summon Erlang Shen?"