Chapter 830: White-Haired Witch

Hearing Bi Linglong’s words, everyone from Prince Qi’s Mansion burst into laughter. What a joke! Lu Xiao was the top master among Prince Qi’s retainers, a mid-Grandmaster realm expert, highly ranked even in the capital, which was swarming with powerful individuals.

Although Bi Linglong had decent cultivation for her age, she was too young to be considered an opponent for Lu Xiao. To put it bluntly, even a random disciple of Lu Xiao's could easily overpower Bi Linglong.

Lu Xiao smiled, saying, "I've long heard of the Crown Princess's wit and intelligence, but I didn't realize until today that you're even better at telling jokes." Then he dropped his smile. "You're not qualified to challenge me to a fight."

His tone was calm, devoid of any anger, as if stating the most obvious thing. Even the people from the Eastern Palace were bewildered, unable to understand why the Crown Princess would make such a request. Meng Pan's cultivation was even higher than the Crown Princess's, yet Lu Xiao had effortlessly killed him moments ago without even needing to use his hands. Wasn't the Crown Princess simply walking to her death?

Zu An also frowned, looking at Bi Linglong. However, he said nothing, knowing full well that she was not someone who made idle boasts.

As expected, Bi Linglong stepped forward, gazing coldly at Lu Xiao. "I will only strike once. If you can survive that, then we can discuss qualifications."

As she finished speaking, she pressed a finger to the flower ornament on her forehead. Immediately, a golden light erupted from her brow, and she slowly rose, hovering in mid-air. Her meticulously styled, elegant bun came undone, and her dark hair cascaded down, flowing in the wind. She looked like a goddess about to unleash divine wrath.

"Ninth-rank or Grandmaster?" Wei Pingyang and others from Prince Qi's Mansion were all aghast. It was widely known that only cultivators of the Ninth-rank and above possessed such flight abilities. Could the Crown Princess truly be beyond Ninth-rank? But how could that be possible? Yet, they couldn't deny the truth, for they felt Bi Linglong's aura surge dramatically.

A terrifying pressure descended instantly. Those nearby trembled and involuntarily knelt to the ground. Even Zu An, despite his cultivation, found it difficult to withstand and instinctively retreated a few steps.

"The Emperor's aura?" Zu An looked at Bi Linglong in astonishment. He was all too familiar with this aura; back in Mingyue City, when the Embroidered Uniform Guards invoked the imperial decree, the Emperor's single strike had nearly left him traumatized.

Zu An had often seen the flower ornament on Bi Linglong's forehead and had thought it was just a beautiful accessory, similar to what many palace beauties wore in period dramas from his previous life. He hadn't given it much thought, never imagining it was actually a seal, containing an extremely potent killing move.

Lu Xiao's smile froze. Losing his earlier relaxed demeanor, he hastily raised both hands, and a transparent energy shield materialized around him, encasing him. Even so, an alarm blared in his mind. In that instant, he knew he was locked onto by that terrifying aura, every cell in his body screaming of the imminent threat of death.

He dared not delay, pouring all his cultivation into creating seven more layers of protective shields around himself. At the same time, a treasured sword, his life-bound spiritual artifact, floated above his head, ready to live or die with him.

Just then, Bi Linglong opened her eyes. Her gaze was filled with indifference, like that of an empress deciding all fates. Behind her, a golden phantom shimmered into existence.

"The Emperor!" Although the figure was blurry, its appearance was vaguely discernible, and that exceptionally familiar oppressive feeling finally made the people from Prince Qi's Mansion realize what was happening. In that instant, they all felt as if they could wet themselves. After all, the concept of the Emperor being invincible was deeply ingrained, and no one dared to cross swords with him, not even those who had reached the Grandmaster realm.

"Linglong is amazing! Kill them all!" The Crown Prince clapped and shouted excitedly. Everyone from the Eastern Palace showed joyful expressions, no longer despairing as they had been moments before. So the Emperor had left such a contingency! With the Emperor's power present, what did anyone else matter?

Only Zu An was filled with worry. Could Bi Linglong sustain such a powerful move? She had, after all, only just broken through to the Sixth-rank. This was different from when the Embroidered Uniform Guards invoked imperial decrees. Back then, they used the intricate formations on specially crafted decrees to communicate with the powers of heaven and earth, thereby drawing forth the Emperor's divine consciousness. However, Bi Linglong's move was clearly different. This secret realm formed its own world, and even the Emperor's divine consciousness couldn't traverse two separate worlds. Therefore, this move must be a life-saving measure left by the Emperor for Bi Linglong. But to unleash such immense power through her physical body, how could there be no price to pay?

Just then, Bi Linglong finally moved. She raised the sword in her hand and lightly swept it in Lu Xiao's direction. Concurrently, the phantom behind Bi Linglong also extended its hand and made a sweeping motion. A colossal golden sword energy shot forth, seemingly transcending the concepts of time and space, appearing directly in front of Lu Xiao.

The seven protective shields he had set up in front of him shattered instantly like paper. Then, the sword light struck the life-bound treasured sword hovering above his head. The treasured sword lasted for a second, but in the next instant, it fractured into pieces.

With his life-bound sword shattered, Lu Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood. His formerly rosy face instantly turned ashen white, but he had no time to recover. Instead, he strenuously raised his hands, attempting to block the sword energy.

Boom... A deafening roar erupted, and dust billowed. In the direction where Lu Xiao stood, a trench dozens of feet deep appeared. All the trees, grass, and rocks along its path were pulverized into dust. As for the experts from Prince Qi's Mansion who had been beside Lu Xiao, they had simply vanished.

Everyone stared in horror at the scene. The power of a single sword strike was truly terrifying! Wei Pingyang and the others instinctively retreated several steps. If even Lu Xiao couldn't withstand that sword strike, they certainly had no chance.

Just then, the golden light in the air suddenly dimmed. With a soft groan, a figure fell from the sky.

"Linglong!" Zu An had been silently monitoring her condition. Seeing this, he immediately flew out and caught her. However, seeing her appearance at that moment, he was startled. A second ago, Bi Linglong had a full head of black hair, but now, her smooth, lustrous locks had all turned white. Her usually radiant, jade-like skin was now dull and lifeless. Clearly, that sword strike had drained too much of her life essence.

Hearing his anxious call, Bi Linglong slowly opened her eyes. Seeing that it was Zu An holding her, she felt a slight relief, but then something occurred to her, and she quickly asked, "Am I old and ugly now?"

Zu An shook his head. "No, you're as beautiful as before. No, you're even more beautiful than before."

Bi Linglong sighed softly. "You're still as good at lying as ever. When the Emperor gave me this flower ornament, he told me it was a life-saving measure, not to be used unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, the lightest consequence would be aging, and the heaviest would be instant death."

Zu An cursed inwardly. That old schemer, the Emperor – why would he give something with such severe side effects? Wasn't he just setting her up?

Sensing the despair in her eyes, Zu An quickly said, "Don't worry, although you're weak now, you won't die. With some good rest, you should be able to recover."

"My beauty has faded. What's the point of recovering?" Holding a strand of her pale hair, Bi Linglong's voice was utterly despondent.

Zu An knew that the more beautiful a woman, the more she cared about her appearance. What's more, Bi Linglong had married into the imperial family, and the significance of her looks was self-evident. He smiled and comforted her, "You don't need to be so despairing. Even if your white hair doesn't recover, what of it? It looks quite good, doesn't it? One day, I'll tell you the story of *The White-Haired Witch*. I've always liked the protagonist in it."

Bi Linglong's face flushed slightly. "You certainly have unique tastes, you rascal."

Many in the crowd were still reeling from the shock of the recent attack's power and hadn't fully recovered, so no one paid attention to the two's whispered conversation.

Just then, a chilling cackle echoed. "Hahahaha, I'm alive, I'm alive!"

Bi Linglong's expression changed, and she quickly turned her head towards the sound. A figure covered in blood and grime was crawling out of the deep trench. He had barely an inch of intact skin on his body, and his left arm was completely gone, yet he was still alive.

"Brother Lu!" Wei Pingyang and the others from Prince Qi's Mansion cheered joyfully.

Lu Xiao's eyes, filled with venom, fixed on Bi Linglong. "What a pity, what a pity! Your cultivation is too low to fully unleash the power of that sword, and this secret realm, being a world unto itself, severed the connection between your sword and the Emperor. That's how I managed to keep my life. But you shattered my life-bound sword and caused me to lose an arm, a wound that will never heal. This grudge, I will surely avenge upon you!"

Normally, cultivators gaining self-healing abilities after reaching the Seventh-rank could slowly recover from injuries, provided no vital organs like the head were damaged. Regrowing a lost arm wouldn't even be difficult. However, his arm had been severed by the Emperor's aura. Unless his cultivation allowed him to completely expel the Emperor's aura from his body, his arm would never recover. But who in the world possessed the ability to expel the Emperor's aura?