Originally fighting fiercely, but suddenly interrupted by someone's foot stepping in. Although it was to kill his opponent, the grand sect leader also had his dignity and face. It was impossible for him not to be angry being targeted like this.

"Interesting, even if you sneakily killed Guilin, you've gone too far in front of me," said Tang Lifu.

Chang Lifeng raised the immortal sword in his hand, silently estimating Xiang Ling's strength while pretending to be tough and calculating his own odds of winning if a real battle broke out. On the one hand, he had mainly been in a defensive position when facing Guilin just now, so he hadn't used up much energy. On the other hand, in his view, Xiang Ling's successful sneak attack from behind was solely relying on that sneak attack. In terms of true strength, it wouldn't exceed the category of an Earth Immortal – rather, it could be said that there was no one in the entire Divine Land who could surpass the realm of Earth Immortals.

Ready to fight.

Swoosh—

Just as this thought arose in his mind, a strong sense of crisis exploded in his heart. Almost as a reflex, Chang Lifeng pushed forward with the immortal sword in hand and pushed his "Sword Dao" to the extreme.

Even though his defense was already so well-prepared, the powerful force in that one strike made Chang Lifeng feel as if his defense was useless. He was pushed back nearly ten meters, relying on the airflow from his auxiliary cultivation to barely support his body, preventing the esteemed sect leader from being knocked to the ground with just one blow.

What kind of nonsense was this? Hacking?

Chang Lifeng, who had smoothly risen from being a disciple at the gate to the sect leader position following the script of a senior disciple of a renowned sect, found himself almost knocked out by three hits from the start. Especially when he saw that the immortal sword forged by the Spirit Mother in his hand even got a small dent after withstanding a blow, he showed an expression of doubting life.

The "Dao" older generations of the former King of Western Chu relied on to become famous and undefeated in the world was just so unreasonable.

"Here's your chance, leave or die."

Impatience already evident in Xiang Ling's eyes, she had spent a lot of time trying to find these two guys. In her eyes, the enmities and alliances of Earth Immortal powerhouses in the cultivation world were all a joke. Handling this situation and returning to control the overall situation were the top priorities.

"Your cultivation system is of the Immortal Dao school, but your fighting technique is unreasonable. Who exactly are you?!"

"…Someone who even coming to stir this troubled situation from the Mount Yunjian Sword Sect doesn't know even the most basic information?" Xiang Ling found it rather speechless; indeed, she and these cultivators couldn't communicate.

…

Xiang Liang seemed to have already seen his victory.

Initially, when Xin Ji came forward to lead the palace guards and his private army to resist and defend the city, it did make him quite frantic. However, after steadying the situation, he still controlled the city guard. The advantage on the battlefield was tremendous. Although the outer city walls were under intense attack, the city defenses there were not on the same level as the Imperial City. The city guards could hold out for quite some time, during which the defense line of the Imperial City was already precarious.

Even though the rumor-mongering had elevated Xin Ji somewhat, now he was trapped in the Imperial Palace, with the commoners in the city and the garrison troops, who had been thrown into chaos by the deliberate troublemaking of the old wolf, unable to come to his aid.

"Your Highness, the main gate defense line has been breached, the right army's assault camp has already penetrated the front square!"

As expected, after losing the main gate, the guards, without heavy armor and shields, were basically engaged in a slaughter with just swords and short crossbows in hand against the tightly formed heavy infantry, pushing forward. On this battlefield, individual strength was greatly weakened to the maximum extent, and no matter how high one's martial arts skills were, as long as one couldn't sweep through a group of heavy infantry with one sword stroke, facing a combination of heavy armor and elongated spears in a narrow passage would only result in being pierced through like a sieve.

"Good! Everyone follow me, push forward, from today onwards, all of you will be meritorious officials, receiving titles and ranks!"

Xiang Liang withdrew the precious sword from its scabbard and led the remaining city guards who were still outside the imperial city to advance.

The passage inside the gate of the imperial city was described as flowing with blood, quite literally. Every person entering could smell the strong scent of blood hitting them in the face. The ground was completely covered with a mixture of blood and mud, making it unimaginable how many had fallen in such a narrow space to create the scene as it was.

Upon passing through the gate, they entered into a clearer area where the city guards had already cleared a path by moving the bodies of both allies and enemies. They did not rush forward but stood firmly as per Xiang Liang's orders after breaking through the palace gate.

Although they had suffered some losses during the siege, the city guards held an absolute numerical advantage over the imperial guards. Bereft of the protection of the walls and facing heavy casualties due to the equipment gap during the ambush, the imperial guards, despite regrouping, were almost suffocating in the face of the overwhelming rebel forces.

Walking through the path cleared by the front-line soldiers, Xiang Liang approached the military formation and stood face to face with Xiang Ji, just as he had not long ago under the walls of the imperial city. Although Xiang Ji still stood high on the steps of the Hall of Heavenly Peace, the balance of power had completely shifted in favor of Xiang Liang.

"My dear elder brother, you have lost," Xiang Liang declared, slightly raising his head.

"Is that so?" Although Xiang Ji maintained a calm exterior, inwardly he was seething. He was irritated by his younger brother's arrogant behavior, but he couldn't act out against him. The city guards, in terms of both quantity and equipment, held a crushing advantage. It was truly insurmountable. Holding the defense of the city of Luojing in his hands, Xiang Ji felt trapped.

In this moment, Xiang Ji felt somewhat relieved about his cooperation with Yuan. Even if Xiang Liang had known about the immortal from Wushan by his side, he could never have anticipated Yuan's arrival a few days ago.

Wouldn't the immortal just create chaos against the thousands of city guards? Though it might be embarrassing to call for help, at this critical moment, who would still care about saving face?

With these thoughts in mind, the Crown Prince took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs towards the back, "Mr. Yuan! Please lend us your hand!"

Lend a hand... hand... hand...

The sound reverberated on the empty square, gradually fading away, leaving an awkward atmosphere lingering.

Not only Xiang Liang and the city guards below, even their own people were left puzzled. What to do if the Crown Prince lost his mind during the coup? Waiting online urgently, quite in a rush.

Xiang Ji felt embarrassed and wished to disappear into a crack. Yuan, as an immortal, couldn't have provided a more sophisticated means of communication than "just shout at me," right?

"Hello, hello? Can you hear me?"

A voice echoed as if testing a microphone... Well, despite the awkwardness, as long as it's effective, it's fine, right?

"Wow... Your Highness, are you giving up already? You're really incompetent, huh?" The opening statement was a blunt mockery.

Feeling like a knife to the heart, Xiang Ji, amid the bewildered faces of the imperial guards, had to swallow his pride and speak softly, "Mr. Yuan, the situation is dire, and I... indeed cannot hold on any longer."

"If you can't hold on, shouldn't you run for your life instead of chatting with me here?"

"What the heck?" The Crown Prince almost lost his composure and almost let out a curse.

"You see, didn't we agree that in situations like this where there are more casualties on your side, I would assist you against an immortal? This group down here doesn't fit that bill."

"But—"

"Hey, hey, hey, Aya, Miss Aya, don't struggle; it won't hurt... Hey, don't bite me; that hurts! Wow, you have great teeth! Vera, Vera, lend a hand over here!"

"Get lost, you bastard! What slippery thing is this! Disgusting!"

*Beep--*

The piercing mute sound brought an end to the shameful play in front of a large audience, followed by a minute-long silence.

What... What is this! Anjiwo was burning with anger and felt like crying without tears.

"My elder brother, is your pathetic act over?"

Breaking the silence was Xiangliang. Although the bizarre situation had delayed things for a while, it was not a big problem; continuing with the plan would still secure their victory.

"Everyone! We have no way to retreat now, behind us is the Emperor!"

...

"Cough! What did this guy just say?"

Although they were in a serious standoff, the princess was still choked by her own saliva upon hearing the loud cry from the crown prince on Xingjian's live screen nearby.

It wasn't that she looked down on anything, but the context she knew and the prince crying out had quite a disparity. He was defending the country, while you were trying to protect a feudal emperor, and on top of that, it's your dad.

Of course, only those from the previous life would understand this strong sense of dissonance, so Xingjian was rather puzzled by Tiran's reaction.

"Let's not mind that, let's continue."

Tiran waved her hand, regaining her composure.

Standing alone under the vast starry sky, if she were a poet, she might have felt deeply moved, but the princess knew she wouldn't have such thoughts.

Xingjian, a Holy Rank master with the ability to see through causality, was now blocking her path, and in normal circumstances, she wouldn't be in the mood for contemplating the universe under such conditions.

"Princess Tiran, you must have a lot to say."

Xingjian stood casually in the center of The Realm, showing no particular reaction to Tiran's hostility. It was understandable, he was in his own inherent The Realm, where Xingjian's authority could rival that of gods, so there was really no need for him to be on guard against Tiran.

"Isn't that obvious?"

Tiran had intended to question him sternly, pointing out that he was the one who had facilitated her involvement in this troublesome affair with Xichu. But when she met Xingjian's eyes, she hesitated.

She sensed hesitation and conflict in him.

As a priestess who could perceive causality, such emotions should not have appeared in her.

"I'll listen to your reasons. Just don't tell me your hobby is luring people in and then setting them up."

Tiran sighed; fortunately, she had left Jojo outside for safety reasons. Physically, she wouldn't stand a chance against Xingjian in a fight, so she had to see if she could use the protagonist's sharp tongue to open up a path.

"I hope this isn't my perverse taste."

Xingjian sighed helplessly, "Should we call it a sense of duty? Princess Tiran, do you know the purpose of Xingjian's existence?"