The moment those words left Bai Ruochen's lips, everyone present drew a sharp breath.
If her earlier "Stop" could have been taken as merely wanting to prevent Sima Ying from being beaten further, then her current "Get lost" was a direct provocation aimed squarely at Tao Xiangyu.
"Get lost? And who do you think you are?"
Sure enough, Tao Xiangyu — already burning with fury — erupted into even greater rage upon hearing Bai Ruochen's words. As she spoke, her fair, jade-like hand swept lightly toward Bai Ruochen, and an invisible force manifested as a howling gale, forming a wall of wind that bore down on her head-on.
Though Tao Xiangyu was powerful, she was only a sixth-rank Martial King. As a fellow prodigy who herself held the rank of fifth-rank Martial King, Bai Ruochen would not be so easily suppressed.
Bai Ruochen raised her arm slightly and struck out with her palm. A surge of martial power erupted from within her body, and with a deafening boom, she shattered Tao Xiangyu's attack.
Having dispelled the incoming strike, Bai Ruochen didn't stop there. Seizing the momentum, she launched a follow-up with her other arm. Both arms swept through the air, leaving trails of afterimages in their wake.
Two palms became ten thousand, unleashing a devastating storm of attacks.
Each palm sent out a bolt of martial power — not only pure and potent, but constantly shifting in form, condensing into blades, axes, spears, and swords, each striking at Tao Xiangyu from a different angle. This was no ordinary assault. These were forbidden martial arts — and not just one, but multiple forbidden arts deployed simultaneously.
"Heavens! Those are human-grade forbidden martial arts! She can unleash them with a mere gesture — and more than one at that! This Bai Ruochen..."
The combined might of multiple human-grade forbidden martial arts was simply unstoppable. Everyone present could feel the terrifying power behind those techniques, and while they marveled at the spectacle, cold sweat dripped down their backs.
The fact that Bai Ruochen had resorted to such techniques the very moment she engaged spoke not only to her formidable strength, but to her unyielding resolve. This was no simple spar — Bai Ruochen was aiming to take Tao Xiangyu's life.
"Hmph."
Yet despite Bai Ruochen unleashing her killing move, Tao Xiangyu merely let out a soft snort, utterly unfazed. With one hand still pressing Sima Ying's head down, she slowly clenched her other fist, and a jade-green longsword materialized in her grip.
The longsword gleamed brilliantly, its surface alive with swirling rune patterns — a standard peak-grade King Weapon. But what truly mattered was that in Tao Xiangyu's hands, it radiated power far beyond anything one could have imagined.
"Shua! Shua! Shua!"
The King Weapon swept through the air as blinding arcs of light danced about. Those arcs were not only blindingly fast but virtually indestructible — capable of slicing through the very void. They didn't just dismantle Bai Ruochen's offense; they surged straight toward her, threatening to carve her to pieces.
Against such an onslaught, ordinary defenses were nearly useless.
Seeing the situation take a turn for the worse, Bai Ruochen had no choice but to draw her own King Weapon — the Dragon Serpent Whip — to defend herself.
But Tao Xiangyu's combat strength was truly nothing to scoff at — at the very least, she was no weaker than Bai Ruochen.
Thus, with both combatants wielding King Weapons but Tao Xiangyu holding a full rank of cultivation above her, the advantage was clearly hers. Bai Ruochen was thoroughly suppressed.
"As expected of Tao Xiangyu. No matter how strong Bai Ruochen is, with a one-rank gap in cultivation, she can't possibly be Tao Xiangyu's match." As they watched Bai Ruochen break into a cold sweat and retreat step after step, everyone believed the duel had gone Tao Xiangyu's way.
Still, some withheld their judgment. They knew that Bai Ruochen had yet to reveal her true trump card. After all, this girl who had only recently risen to fame at Azurewood Mountain was no pretender — she possessed an Emperor-level bloodline.
And so, many watched with eager anticipation, waiting to witness Bai Ruochen's Emperor-level bloodline — to behold the extraordinary bearing of one who belonged to an Emperor Clan.