If it were his junior sister coming at him, Ye Anping felt he could handle it somewhat.

After all, he had sparred with her every day for over a decade, so he was familiar with her sword techniques.

But Feng Yudie was a different story.

Her “Nine Heavens Sword Art” was so powerful that even in a game, it was the only sword technique capable of dealing “real damage.” Even if a player took on the role of an unrivaled celestial in the game, they would need to accumulate sufficient qualification points in the late game to learn it.

However, Ye Anping didn’t feel panicked.

He knew that among those present, the most anxious person was likely his big brother Zhuang Hu.

He was the only one who knew how to silently leave the back mountains of the Profound Star Sect.

If he were to die, even if Zhuang Hu managed to defeat Feng Yudie and Pei Lengxue with all his might and skill, he would either be surrounded and killed or captured by the arriving disciples of the Profound Star Sect.

Zhuang Hu was different from him and his “Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Brothers.” He was calm and intelligent, understanding this truth very well.

In other words, Zhuang Hu would undoubtedly go to great lengths to protect him.

And that’s exactly what Ye Anping was thinking.

Seeing Feng Yudie charging toward him, Zhuang Hu didn’t dare to fully engage the formidable Pei Lengxue. Instead, he hurriedly came in front of Ye Anping, blocking Feng Yudie’s attack for him.

He summoned several talismans from his storage pouch and activated them with his spiritual energy.

In an instant, the talismans glowed with spiritual light, transforming into a scorching fireball that exploded right in front of him and Feng Yudie, creating an intense burst of flames.

The searing heatwave blew Feng Yudie off her feet.

With Feng Yudie momentarily vulnerable, Zhuang Hu could have seized the opportunity to counterattack and potentially severely wound her. However, he didn’t dare to use another talisman on Feng Yudie. Instead, he used it to continue protecting Ye Anping.

At this point, Pei Lengxue had also reached Ye Anping’s side. She bent down and aimed her sword at her Senior Brother’s back.

Boom—

A wave of heat forcefully pushed Pei Lengxue back several steps.

Zhuang Hu watched as the two were repelled and quickly grabbed Ye Anping’s shoulder. He leaped into the air, summoning his flying sword to carry them both aloft. Without looking back, they soared upward.

In the next moment, they heard Feng Yudie’s impotent rage from below:

“You little bastard!! If you have the guts, don’t run away! Come down and fight me!! Are you scared?! Are you, a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator, actually afraid of two Qi Refining cultivators like us? Do you still have any dignity?!”

Zhuang Hu’s eye twitched at the trash talk, but given Ye Anping’s presence, he had to hold back his annoyance and swiftly leave the area with him.

Turning his head, Ye Anping glanced downward. He saw Feng Yudie dancing about and trying to thrust her sword upward to strike them. He was unsure what expression to make.

In any case, the situation was developing mostly as he had anticipated.

Because he was present, Zhuang Hu chose not to continue fighting Feng Yudie and Pei Lengxue.

With the two talismans that Zhuang Hu had used earlier, it was evident that he was a talisman cultivator, and a Late Foundation Establishment one at that.

Now that Feng Yudie and Pei Lengxue were without flying swords, it would be challenging for them to approach Zhuang Hu in the air.

If a real fight were to break out, even if his junior sister and Feng Yudie managed to kill Zhuang Hu, they would undoubtedly pay a significant price and sustain severe injuries.

After flying for a while, Ye Anping took the initiative to apologize, “Big Brother Zhuang Hu, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t come, you would have likely handled those two…”

“Don’t think too much about it…” Zhuang Hu turned to give him a glance and interrupted, “I expected that Feng Yudie would be tough to deal with since she managed to kill the Grand Elder of the Poison Gu Sect. But I never thought that the other girl accompanying her would be equally difficult to handle…”

That girl is the one that I raised~~~

Ye Anping stifled a laugh, nodded, and said with a deep tone, “Indeed, it’s incredible. Where would you find a Qi Refining cultivator who can effortlessly kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”

“Heh heh…” Zhuang Hu smiled bitterly and shook his head, “Are most Qi Refining cultivators at this level these days?”

“How could that be? If all Qi Refining cultivators were like them, the world would be unbearable. The real Qi Refining cultivator should be that purple-haired girl from earlier.” Ye Anping stated.

Hearing this, Zhuang Hu recalled the purple-haired girl from earlier and couldn’t help but sigh again, both girls were truly extraordinary.

Most Qi Refining cultivators had only recently embarked on the path of immortality, practicing swordsmanship and meditation daily. They had no experience in combat and would generally panic and feel fearful when faced with enemies. Some would even hesitate to kill.

However, Feng Yudie and the other girl were completely different. They were like individuals who had grown up in a blood-soaked world since childhood, not even blinking an eye at the sight of death.

Zhuang Hu let out a sigh and thought about the sword he had taken from the purple-haired girl earlier. He then raised a finger, taking the sword out of his storage pouch.

“At least I didn’t come back empty-handed, even though the price was a bit high…” Zhuang Hu handed the sword to Ye Anping and asked, “Little Sixth… or should I call you Little Second? Whatever, Little Second, take a look at this sword.”

Ye Anping stared at Xiao Yunluo’s sword, bewildered for a good while before he accepted it.

This sword was a birthday gift from “Moon Dan Master” to Xiao Yunluo, a high-quality spirit sword forged from millennium-old mystic stone and countless celestial materials. The sword’s crafting was overseen by an elderly craftsman in the Nascent Soul stage from the Profound Star Sect.

In other words, even if it were placed in a sword cultivation sect, it would serve as a treasured artifact.

If it were to be sold at an auction, it would fetch a minimum of one million spirit stones.

But…

Who would dare to sell it?!

If someone dared to sell it, they would be pursued all over by a return-to-virtual-realm little granny, enacting a scene of “you chase me, and if you catch up to me, you’ll have to deal with me exploding your head.”

“I just snatched this sword from the purple-haired girl earlier,” Zhuang Hu explained, “I’m not a sword cultivator and don’t know much about swords. I can only tell that this sword should fetch a good price. Little Second, what do you think it’s worth?”

Ye Anping hesitated for a moment and tentatively said, “This sword seems to have been crafted from a whole piece of mystic stone.”

“Mystic stone? What’s mystic stone?”

“Mystic stone is a somewhat rare spiritual material and is often used in crafting spirit swords.”

“I see…” Zhuang Hu nodded in understanding and asked, “So, how much is it worth?”

Ye Anping carefully observed Zhuang Hu’s expression. Seeing that he genuinely didn’t know what “Mystic stone” was, he relaxed.

But he definitely couldn’t say it was worth a million spirit stones, lest Zhuang Hu decide to “crack” his head off right then and there.

After a moment’s pause, he smiled and said, “It’s definitely valuable. If you were to auction it on the black market and find a buyer who likes it, you could probably sell it for around ten thousand spirit stones.”

“Ten thousand spirit stones? Is this sword really that valuable?”

“Absolutely.”

Ye Anping nodded and, taking advantage of Zhuang Hu’s focus on controlling the flying sword, quickly spat on the sword to erase his fingerprints. He then handed it back.

Zhuang Hu took the sword back, examined it for a moment, and joked, “It seems that Second Brother’s death wasn’t in vain… Hahaha… What do you think, Little Second?”

“What do I think?” Ye Anping raised an eyebrow and said somewhat disappointedly, “I actually liked them quite a bit. We were like brothers for these past three days. When we’re back, let’s go and set up a monument for them and offer some offerings.”

“Hahaha… that’s a good idea.”

The two of them rode the flying sword and quickly slipped away from the Profound Star Sect’s back mountain, unnoticed.