78: Chapter 78 A Beauty Adds Fragrance to Overcome Peril, Fighting Against a Poor Scholar

At Ye Xiu's command.

Within the suffocating black miasma of Tianyin Pass, a group of four figures slowly pushed forward.

The three stunning beauties were either cold and ethereal as immortals, dignified and majestic, or bone-deep alluring.

This "Red Sleeves Add Fragrance" divine formation, let alone braving the life-or-death Tianyin Pass, would be enough to make all the men in the world go mad with jealousy even if they were just strolling through the capital's temple fair.

"The further we go into the killing formation of Tianyin Pass, the more it targets a Cultivator's Divine Soul and reason."

Qiu Dieyi explained softly to Ye Xiu while leading the way; although her voice remained cold, it unconsciously carried a hint of concern.

"The person guarding the next stage... is an extremely troublesome old monster."

"Oh? How troublesome is he?"

Ye Xiu raised an eyebrow and took another swig of wine.

"He has no name; the world calls him the 'Poor Scholar'."

Yu Yuan Chuyu took over the conversation from the side, a look of deep wariness appearing on her stunningly beautiful face.

"When I was still a Prefect in the imperial court, I once saw the top-secret file on this person in the royal archives."

"This Poor Scholar was a great Confucian scholar of the old era and a rare master of treasure refining in the world. But what he cultivates is not ordinary Origin Qi, but 'Principle'!"

"Principle?"

A gleam of interest flashed in Ye Xiu's eyes.

"That's right. He created an extremely terrifying Cultivation Technique called the 'Poor Principle Technique'."

Long Jiaonan also lowered her voice, her snake tail sweeping uneasily across the ground.

"He takes 'investigating things to exhaust principles, and examining things to extend knowledge' as his Foundation, refining the operational Laws of all things in Heaven and Earth into his own body."

"His attacks do not harm skin or flesh, nor do they touch true Origin Qi; instead, they strike directly at the opponent's 'Principles', 'souls', and 'Divine Bridges'!"

"No matter how fierce your combat techniques or how exquisite your Divine Abilities, in his eyes, they are just formulas that can be dismantled."

"Once he sees through the 'Laws' in your Cultivation Technique, he only needs one finger to make your Divine Ability collapse on its own, or even cause your Origin Qi to backflow and explode inside your body!"

"This old monster is naturally the nemesis of all martial artists with strong Physical Bodies and boundless Origin Qi!"

Listening to the warnings of the three beauties, Ye Xiu not only didn't stop, but the smile at the corner of his mouth grew even more intense.

"The nemesis of all martial artists? Interesting."

"I'd like to see whether his 'Principle' is greater, or my Ye Xiu's 'fist' is greater!"

Before the words had faded, the miasma in front suddenly rolled and parted to the sides without warning.

In the originally dim and gloomy canyon, a scent of ink, thick to the extreme, appeared out of thin air!

This ink scent was not like the elegance of a study room, but carried a heavy, mountain-like, unquestionable sense of oppression.

It was as if the scent itself was the manifestation of some kind of Heaven and Earth Law.

"A disgrace to refinement! A disgrace to refinement!"

A voice, old and hoarse yet exuding an awe-inspiring righteousness, suddenly rumbled throughout the empty valley.

Everyone looked up.

They saw that on the path ahead, an old wooden desk had appeared out of nowhere.

Behind the desk sat an old man wearing a faded green Confucian robe and a square cap.

The old man had white hair and beard, a gaunt face, and was holding a yellowed bamboo scroll in his hands.

A brush stained with thick ink was tucked casually behind his ear.

He looked just like a poor, shabby teacher in a village private school.

But when he raised his head and his murky eyes looked at Ye Xiu and the others.

The surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi instantly stopped flowing, as if it had encountered a monarch—an absolute stillness!

This person was none other than that old monster from the previous era, the one whom even the Empress and the Demoness feared—the Poor Scholar!

"Palace Master Qiu, you have disappointed me too much."

The Poor Scholar put down the bamboo scroll in his hand, his gaze passing over Ye Xiu and landing directly on Qiu Dieyi.

With just one sweep of his eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through all the illusions in the world, he saw the truth.

"The Lihen Sword Intent has dissipated, and your Profound Yin Body is actually mixed with such strong, impure Yang Qi."

"As the dignified Palace Master of Liqing, you actually broke the Heart-Clearing Ice-Heart Technique for a mere brat, reducing yourself to a mortal woman indulging in lust."

"You are throwing the faces of the successive Ancestral Masters of Liqing Palace onto the ground and trampling on them!"

The Poor Scholar's words were heart-piercing, each sentence seemingly carrying the righteousness of Heaven and Earth, slamming heavily into Qiu Dieyi's heart.

"I..."

Qiu Dieyi's face instantly turned deathly pale, her body trembled slightly, and she subconsciously took half a step back.

The shame of having her century-long Heartless Dao broken was infinitely magnified at this moment.

But just then, a warm, broad palm domineeringly wrapped around her slender waist.

Pulling her into a solid embrace.

"Old thing, is my woman someone you are qualified to lecture?"

Ye Xiu held Qiu Dieyi with one arm and a wine gourd in the other, looking at the Poor Scholar opposite him with a disdainful gaze.

"I was wondering who was playing god here; it turns out to be a poor, shabby scholar who can't even scrape together his own coffin money."

"What? After having your spine broken by the State Preceptor of Yankang in the old era, now you only dare to hide in this sunless canyon, relying on wagging your tongue to find a sense of existence?"

This barrage of sarcasm and mockery from Ye Xiu made Yu Yuan Chuyu and Long Jiaonan beside him gasp.

"My ancestor! This is a peerless fierce person at the Peak of the Divine Bridge Realm who cultivates 'Principle'! Is it really okay for you to provoke him like this?!"

Sure enough.

A flash of furious green Qi crossed the Poor Scholar's gaunt old face.

"Ignorant brat, you dare to speak wildly about the Principles of Heaven and Earth in front of me?"

"With your demonic bones, surrounded by beauties, and behaving perversely, you are the greatest anomaly and the greatest tumor in Heaven and Earth!"

"Today, I shall act on behalf of Heaven and let you know what 'rules' are!"

The Poor Scholar did not stand up; he just slowly raised his right hand, dipping his index finger into the ink on the desk.

Writing one character extremely casually in the air.

"Suppress!"

As the character was written, the Heaven and Earth changed color!

The literary Qi Divine Ability of the 'Poor Principle Technique' — [One Character Suppresses Mountains and Rivers]!

That ink-black character "Suppress" instantly swelled in the air against the wind.

Turning into a black mountain, a hundred feet high, condensed from pure "Principles" and "Awe-inspiring Literary Qi".

It smashed down towards the heads of Ye Xiu and the others with a boom!

This "Suppress" character did not suppress the Physical Body, but the Divine Soul!

Under the suppression of this massive Law, Yu Yuan Chuyu only felt a boom in her mind.

It was as if countless sages were chanting scriptures in her ears, scolding her for her sins, causing the purple Qi in her body to instantly stagnate.

Long Jiaonan was even more miserable; as a demon Cultivator, she was naturally suppressed by this awe-inspiring righteousness, and under the pressure of the "Suppress" character.

Her legs went soft, and she was about to kneel on the ground with a thud.

Even Qiu Dieyi, who had the highest cultivation, was pressed until she couldn't breathe by this power that struck directly at the Dao Heart, her face showing signs of pain.

"What kind of bullshit Principle is this!"

"In front of me, Ye Xiu, there are only my own rules!"

Just at the moment when the three women were about to collapse.

Ye Xiu snorted coldly and hung the wine gourd on his waist.

He did not draw his sword, nor did he activate his true Origin Qi to hard-resist that mountain of characters.

Because he knew that the Poor Scholar's attack was on the level of Laws; the more Origin Qi one used, the greater the rebounding force.

Ye Xiu puffed out his chest, and the purple-gold giant Dragon tattoo on his back instantly came to life!

"Roar—!!!"

A heaven-shaking Dragon roar erupted from within Ye Xiu's body.

Undying Golden Body, Seven Transformations of the Dragon!

Ye Xiu bent his legs slightly, like a fully drawn bow, and then his whole body shot into the sky like a cannonball.

He crashed directly into that huge "Suppress" character!

"Seeking death."

The Poor Scholar saw this and stroked his beard with a cold laugh.

"My 'One Character Suppresses Mountains and Rivers' is the condensation of Heaven and Earth's Laws. No matter how strong your Physical Body is, crashing into Principles will only result in your Divine Soul being destroyed."

However, the next second, the cold smile on the Poor Scholar's face froze.

"Boom!!!"

Ye Xiu's body, radiating blinding golden light, smashed fiercely against the "Suppress" character.

There was no collapse of his Divine Soul, and he was not suppressed into the ground.

That mountain condensed from awe-inspiring literary Qi, in front of Ye Xiu's domineering Pure Yang Dragon body, shattered inch by inch like glass!

"How is this possible?!"

The Poor Scholar stood up abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Old man, your Principles don't seem to be very effective!"

Ye Xiu let out a wild laugh in mid-air, his figure not falling.

Instead, borrowing the reaction force from shattering the mountain, he made a sharp turn in the air.

He knew well that in dealing with such an old monster of the Divine Bridge Realm who relied on deduction and Laws, one must never give the opponent the slightest chance to catch their breath!

Once this Poor Scholar recovered and began to "calculate" again, that would be endless trouble.

"Since you've finished preaching your Principles."

"Now, it's my turn to use my sword to explain physics to you!"

Ye Xiu's eyes instantly became incomparably sharp, his right hand forming a sword finger, pointing through the air at the Poor Scholar below.

"Clang!!!"

A crisp, high-pitched sword hum, sufficient to tear through the clouds, soared from Ye Xiu's waist.

The long sword that had been hanging quietly seemed to feel the wild and unbridled killing intent of its master and instantly unsheathed itself!

This was not an ordinary sword slash.

But the most fierce ultimate technique of the Wine Sword Immortal lineage—the Sword Control Technique!

"Go!"

Ye Xiu swung his sword finger violently.

The unsheathed long sword turned into a blinding silver rainbow, with purple-gold Pure Yang True Fire entwined around the blade, dragging a long tail flame.

At a terrifying speed that almost tore through space and exceeded the sound barrier, it struck directly at the Poor Scholar's glabella!

This sword strike had no complicated tricks, no unnecessary opening moves.

Only extreme speed!

Extreme sharpness!

"How dare you, brat!"