"Why flee?"

Su Yuxuan's delicate face was icy as she dodged the massive hand with dreamlike grace, slipping through at the last moment. She shot toward the edge of Champion King's mansion, confusion swirling in her heart.

Why run now? She'd long noticed his interest in her, but so what? Plenty lusted after her. A few deflections, grab the goods in a couple of days, and bolt—easy. Even if she skipped the imperial aura infusion, she'd at least secure the Nether King's Gall first. Why escape so abruptly?

Manjusaka's stern voice echoed in her mind. "He's inherited the Northern Emperor's legacy! The Northern Emperor loved crafting jade beauties—using secret techniques and arrays to refine women's flesh into jade statues, immobile except for their eyes, with their spiritual sense eternally trapped. I saw it myself. I spotted those array patterns in the hall. Stop scheming and flee the capital now!"

Su Yuxuan's face paled. Flesh turned to jade, yet conscious forever? Cultivators are sick. By comparison, Senior Brother's foot fetish seemed tame. Without hesitation, she accelerated, racing for the mansion's perimeter.

The mansion's array flared to life, but Su Yuxuan didn't flinch. Her eyes gleamed with divine runes, and a beam of light blasted a gap in the array. She was a heartbeat from escaping when a surprised voice came from the hall: "Interesting…"

Her expression shifted. Outside the array, a flame-wreathed ancient war chariot roared from the void, slamming into her. Unable to dodge, she was hurled back into the mansion, her face now deathly white.

Gritting her teeth, her heart glowed with divine light, rapidly healing her injuries. Champion King emerged, hovering atop the chariot, gazing down imperiously. "I chose you, yet you not only refuse to offer yourself but dally with another man. Tonight, I'll refine you. Tomorrow, you'll join me on the battlefield atop my chariot."

With that, he threw a punch, its unmatched might shaking the mansion as if he ruled the heavens.

Su Yuxuan's eyes shot a beam of destructive light, barely countering it. Champion King smirked, unfazed, unleashing a barrage of punches, his spiritual power vast as a starry river, unstoppable. Despite her arsenal of techniques and the Exquisite Heart's constant regeneration, it wasn't fully hers, limiting its power. Her face paled further, her strength waning.

"Run!" Manjusaka urged desperately. As a mere soul, weakened by her premature awakening due to Ye Chen, she could offer little help. "You won't escape if you don't go now!"

Su Yuxuan's face was grim as she unleashed a blood sea, aiming to engulf Champion King. She spun, her eyes flashing to blast another gap in the mansion's array, darting toward escape. But the blood sea that had trapped Wang Lun couldn't touch Champion King—his divine flames roared, dissolving it instantly.

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He drove his war chariot forward, its momentum poised to crush her.

"Master, what do I do?" Su Yuxuan's voice trembled. Champion King's power was beyond comprehension.

Manjusaka, frantic after years of bonding with Su Yuxuan as her disciple, urged, "Self-detonate your Golden Core…"

Su Yuxuan's eyes widened. A Golden Core was a cultivator's lifeblood—only in absolute desperation would anyone consider such a sacrifice. She balked, but the thought of Champion King's fate for her—trapped as a jade statue, conscious yet immobile—was unbearable. He was too strong; she had no other way out.

Decisive by nature, Su Yuxuan raised her hand. A radiant, near-perfect golden core shot forth. Champion King, ever impassive, narrowed his eyes at its brilliance. The core swelled rapidly, then exploded with a cataclysmic boom, its force shaking the void.

The mansion's array shattered under the impact, half its structures razed to rubble. A ninth-grade Golden Core's detonation was devastating—even Champion King had to retreat. His chariot halted, divine flames flaring to shield him from the chaotic shockwaves.

After dozens of breaths, the explosion's chaos subsided. Unscathed, Champion King scanned the ruins coldly. Su Yuxuan was gone. His mansion lay in tatters, half his subordinates dead or injured.

Several rushed forward. "Lord, she detonated her core—her strength's a fraction of what it was. She can't have gone far. We'll hunt her down."

Champion King shook his head calmly. "Without her core, she's unworthy of being a jade beauty. Find her and kill her."

With that, he steered his chariot toward the mansion's depths. His subordinates gazed at his retreating figure with godlike reverence. Even such a terrifying attack hadn't scratched him—truly a prodigy straight out of ancient legends.

…

Su Yuxuan's face was deathly pale, teetering on the edge of collapse. Her body was carried by a soul force, fleeing relentlessly. The detonation of her Golden Core—her cultivator's foundation—had inflicted unimaginable damage. It didn't just sever her path to immortality; it eroded her lifespan's very essence. Already short on longevity, she was now frail to the extreme.

"Find a place to heal and stabilize your injuries. Then we'll seek a new Golden Core," Manjusaka said, her voice heavy with a sigh as she guided Su Yuxuan's escape. "The Boundless Demon Sect's Elder devised the Core Plundering Technique, which can refine another's Golden Core into your own. But it's flawed—even a ninth-grade core degrades to third or fourth grade after refining. And since it's not your own, it merely sustains Golden Core cultivation. Advancing further? Near impossible."

Su Yuxuan, despite her ashen complexion and feeble voice, managed a weak laugh. "Surviving's enough. Better than being a jade statue. Let's head to the Wang residence to find Senior Brother. Right now, the whole capital's only safe by his side. As for a core, he'll definitely help. Wang Lun has a ninth-grade core—I'll ask Senior Brother to take him down. Pity Champion King's too strong; Senior Brother might not beat him. Otherwise, I'd want his core. Li Feihuang's would do too, but Senior Brother probably wouldn't hurt her."

Manjusaka was stunned. Even after losing her core, Su Yuxuan's spirits were unshaken. She hesitated about seeking Ye Chen but, given their dire straits—Su Yuxuan's strength a fraction of its former self, and her own soul form barely matching Golden Core power—they'd need Ye Chen to secure a high-grade core.

With a shift in direction, Manjusaka whisked Su Yuxuan toward the Wang residence.

…

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