Brushing the debris and dust off his robes, Tao Mu grabbed his qiang and flew back into the sky. He wasn't injured, but it wasn't like Su Jia's attack didn't hurt either.

"So it seems that you were simply stalling for a piece of your soul to return to you. Now that you are a complete being again I presume that this is your full power?"

Surrounded by an aura of orange, Su Jia radiated limitless vitality and power. Color was restored to her face and she looked like she was full of energy.

"That's right. My dao is the Dao of Youth and this is my first virtue, hot-bloodedness!"

Tao Mu stroked his chin. It was obvious that he was impressed by Su Jia's dao.

"The Dao of Youth... A very fitting dao for you. The same goes for the virtue you selected. While your dao may not be one of the Great Heavenly Daos, its synergy with your character could be considered flawless."

"Just because my dao isn't one of the heavenly daos, it doesn't mean I won't be able to pummel you now that we are on equal levels of power old man!"

"That was not what I meant. Many cultivators in this world strive to master the strongest and most complex dao's they can find, thinking that power lies within the dao itself. However, there have been cases where this isn't always true. Sometimes, the best dao is the one that correlates most strongly to the person. There is a legend that the first immortal from our world ascended with a very common dao, but the synergy was so great that not even those possessing heavenly dao's were a match for him."

"I'm sick of your rambling! Fight me once more!" Drawing her sword, Su Jia charged towards Tao Mu like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

Tao Mu used his Afterimage Array once more, producing a line of afterimages that were so perfect others would think that they were solid clones.

However, Su Jia did not show weakness in the face of the numerous clones that appeared before her. Brute forcing her way towards Tao Mu, she released a barrage of high-speed sword strikes at every single afterimage.

Maneuvering into her blind spot, Tao Mu sent a piercing jab towards Su Jia's stomach. The spear connected and Su Jia was pierced by the blade of Tao Mu's qiang.

"Too arrogant. In your mania you have left yourself wide open to an attack in your blind spot. Now you have paid with--- What?"

Tao Mu's eyes widened as Su Jia pulled herself out of the blade of his qiang. Immediately, the wound began to rapidly heal until there was no hint of damage at all.

"My virtue of hot-bloodedness doesn't just empower my attacks, it also fills me with vitality and energy! When my virtue is active, I can fight using my full speed and power for three days straight and any wounds I receive will instantly heal!" Putting away her sword, Su Jia rushed towards Tao Mu and gave him a hard tackle. She wrapped her arms around his waist and they began to descend downwards like a meteor.

"You are crazy!" Holding his qiang in his right hand, Tao Mu tried to stab Su Jia with it. However, Su Jia grabbed his wrist and twisted it. He groaned in pain as his grip on the spear faltered and slipped out of his fingers.

The guards below looked on in horror as they watched their leader descend towards the ground like a shooting star.

"We must help Lord Tao Mu!"

"Fool! What can we do? If that girl can fight on par with Lord Tao Mu, we wouldn't be able to take two steps without dying first! All we can do is wait and hope that Lord Tao Mu has a trick up his sleeve!"

Crash~

A large cloud of dust formed as Su Jia and Tao Mu hit the ground. With her massive vitality reserves, Su Jia recovered from the impact quickly and rose back into the air. Her injuries weren't heavy to begin with as it was Tao Mu's body that took most of the hit.

"Lord Overseer!" The soldiers cried out.

"That girl emerged from that crash with next to no injuries! On the other hand, Lord Tao Mu has yet to reappear..."

"Impossible! Did that girl kill Lord Tao Mu?"

Looking down at the dissipating cloud of dust, Su Jia let out a snort.

"I know that wasn't enough to kill you. Stop pretending!"

As the dust settled, Tao Mu's body could be seen sprawled across a crater created by the impact. His eyes were closed and his robes were in tatters. Despite this, upon closer inspection it was clear that he was not injured at all!

Letting out a sigh, he opened his eyes and slowly got up.

"This old man hasn't had this much fun in a while. Regardless, it is time for me to end this."

-------------------

"You can't hide forever brat!" Tao Kai shouted.

Whenever Tao Kai checked a piece of rubble for Yu Zhuwa, he would turn to see more displaced rubble suddenly appear behind him.

Earlier, he had guessed correctly once, but before he could do anything he was hit with another Blinding Light.

Tao Kai briefly considered an area spanning attack that would take out all the rubble out in one go. However, he quickly rejected the idea since there was a possibility Yu Zhuwa could escape in the middle of his attack. If Yu Zhuwa managed to flee back into the castle, tracking him down would be many times more difficult.

Maintaining his position was the best choice to make. After all, he had a hostage.

Watching Tao Kai within the shadow of a tiny pebble, Yu Zhuwa contemplated his next move.

"I need to figure out a way to get that gourd and free brother Yin Hui. Think! With my strengths, what can I do?"

Suddenly, the answer came to him.

"Hey! Lord Kai!"

Tao Kai turned around slowly. He didn't want to be tricked into receiving another blinding flash of light again.

"Have you finally accepted your fate and decided to come forward?"

"If I come out. Will you listen to what I say and not attack me?"

"Yes. I will hear your last words if you surrender now."

Taking a deep breath, Yu Zhuwa stepped out of the shadow he was hiding in. He had initially been charging Blinding Light, but for his plan to work he had to discard it.

Tao Kai's eyes narrowed as he saw Yu Zhuwa walk harmlessly towards him.

"This boy is too trusting and green. I shouldn't be surprised though since he is still quite young. If I were not an honorable man, he would have been killed as soon as he revealed himself."

"Now, what are your final words in this life?" Tao Kai asked.

"I don't have any final words. I want you to release my friend." Yu Zhuwa said sternly.

"Are you mad boy? What makes you think that I'll agree to such a request?"

Yu Zhuwa let out a faint smile.

"Judging by how you are keeping your word right now, it seems to me like you are an honorable man. A person such as yourself must feel disgusted at using such a cheap method to secure a win. Am I right?"

"If your opponent was much stronger than you, then it would make sense that sealing them away would count as a victory. However, the strongest one on our side was just a mid-stage Spirit Manifestation spirit beast. You on the other hand, are a peak Spirit Manifestation cultivator."

"My cultivation dropped to mid Spirit Manifestation due to that girl who accompanied you."

"Still. Wouldn't an honorable man such as yourself prefer a heated battle with a worthy opponent over a situation like this? Release my friend." Yu Zhuwa's last words sounded more like a command rather than a suggestion.

"I... I..."

For some unknown reason, Tao Kai found it very difficult to refute Yu Zhuwa. Even though Yu Zhuwa had offered nothing that would compel him to release Yin Hui, he felt obligated to do so.

"I should release his friend just because it would give me a decent fight? What kind of joke is this? I am an honorable man, but this is asking too much!"

"Yet, I feel obligated to do so. Why?! This boy isn't using any kind of spell or technique to move my mind either! I've already made sure of this using my spiritual sense! It's as if his voice itself possesses some kind of hidden authority that is compelling me to obey!"

Despite looking calm on the outside, Yu Zhuwa was actually very nervous. He had never tried using his unique persuasive abilities on someone much stronger than him. While his persuasion attempts had never failed before, he still felt uncertain.

His eyes shined as he saw Tao Kai take out the gourd and hold it out in front of him.

However, before he could reach out and take it, the gourd began to shake violently. The abnormal behavior of the gourd snapped Tao Kai out of his daze, and he immediately began to try and suppress the shaking.

"What is going on?!"

The cork popped open and large amounts of wind, coupled with strands of black smoke escaped from the gourd. The smoke gathered together and materialized back into Yin Hui and the black leopard.

"Brother Yin Hui!" Yu Zhuwa said happily.

Tao Kai's face turned pale at the sight of Yin Hui and the black leopard.

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"How did you escape?! I didn't even release you yet!" Tao Kai shouted in disbelief.

Holding a small fan in his hand, Yin Hui fanned himself while looking at Tao Kai with a puzzled expression.

"You didn't release me yet? I released myself. What are you talking about?"