The ancient tree phantom flashed by and disappeared quickly, unnoticed by the members of the Myriad Paths Sect. The petals fluttering in the sky were as sharp as blades, as flamboyant as the intent of a sword.

Everyone was watching this breakthrough closely, secretly amazed by the sword intent, unaware of the slightest problem.

But for Shen Changlin, who was familiar with Ruan Qing'an's scent, it was so fake that it made him want to vomit. He had once held her long sword and had also leaned close to her, like guarding a large dog, kissing her fingertips.

This is just a fake simulation of the floating tree, designed to confuse those who are trying to break through, and to attract more spiritual energy from heaven and earth to devour them!

Outside Yanlai Peak, a crowd was watching the ceremony.

"My goodness, Elder Ruan truly lives up to his reputation as the youngest of all the elders; his talent is simply beyond our reach!"

"Yes, even before entering the Void Refinement Realm, Elder Ruan was already the number one disciple. I never imagined that even after becoming an elder, his talent and ability would still make him the number one elder!"

"Do you think we can succeed in breaking through? Wait a minute—"

The person asking the question suddenly paused, raised their voice sharply, and even changed their tone in surprise: "Who is that?!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, a figure sped past.

This sudden turn of events left everyone dumbfounded. That was Ruan Qing'an's only disciple! Why would Shen Changlin interfere with his master's breakthrough? Had he gone mad?

With a knife in one hand, Shen Changlin's tall figure flashed past the restrictions of Yanlai Peak.

The surging petals came with a sharp, knife-like intent!

"This is so fake..."

Shen Changlin murmured softly, his eyes filled with coldness, and his attempt to imitate her aura only made him appear more disgusting.

As the petals, mixed with spiritual energy, swept towards him, carrying the blade, Shen Changlin's figure paused in mid-air. Then, with a flick of his longsword and a slight deflection of the blade, he unleashed a slash at the wave of spiritual energy!

That was the same aura as Ruan Qing'an's, an extreme and unstoppable sharpness, a strike that silenced all sounds!

Silently, the obstructing petals finally withered.

Immediately after breaking through the large petals, Ruan Qing'an sat cross-legged on Yanlai Peak. The woman wore a moon-white Taoist robe, her eyes were closed, and a sharp sword intent emanated from her body.

She sat cross-legged on a boulder by the stream, silent.

However, seemingly sensing a similar sword intent, the sword intent surrounding Ruan Qing'an did not attack Shen Changlin.

Upon seeing Ruan Qing'an, Shen Changlin was overjoyed, but before he could react, he discovered that she was already preparing to gather her divine sense and break through the barrier of the Integration Stage.

Shen Changlin cried out in alarm, “Master, you mustn’t!”

Mixed with spiritual power and divine thought, Shen Changlin's voice drilled straight into Ruan Qing'an's mind. The spiritual power around her suddenly stopped flowing, and her body froze for a moment.

The next moment, Ruan Qing'an suddenly opened his eyes, his leaden gray eyes staring at Shen Changlin, the young man standing in mid-air, looking down at him.

There was only anxiety and worry in those eyes.

037: [What the heck is going on? Ancestor, you're now on the verge of firing!]

Hearing the system's bewildered mechanical voice, Ruan Qing'an didn't ask any questions. Instead, she closed her eyes again and forcibly suppressed the spiritual power that was about to break through—she trusted him, that was all.

The violent spiritual energy was flowing through his body, but it was forcibly suppressed under Ruan Qing'an's control, in an attempt to calm it down.

But it was like forcibly stopping a dam about to burst, and the difficulty was terrifying. Ruan Qing'an felt that the meridians all over his body were aching, and the pain was even more intense when spiritual energy flowed through them.

Seeing her face grow paler and paler, Shen Changlin became even more anxious.

But now is a critical moment, and he doesn't even dare to step forward, for fear of affecting Ruan Qing'an's spiritual energy flow.

When the awakened floating tree sensed the dissipation of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, its already broken petals stirred restlessly for a moment, as if it were angry at the retreat of the person who had broken through, which prevented it from absorbing more spiritual energy, and its branches grew wildly.

Seeing how domineering the floating tree was, Shen Changlin's eyes darkened. He stepped forward with his sword and cleaved a large peach blossom forest in two with a single stroke!

The floating tree hadn't absorbed any spiritual energy to begin with, and it had been awakened from its dormant state, which was then disguised as a simulated state, encouraging Ruan Qing'an to break through further, which consumed even more spiritual energy.

There was nothing the floating tree could do for the time being, so it had to go into hibernation again.

Shen Changlin breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from Fu Huishu's anxious state, if Ruan Qing'an were to break through here, not only would the spiritual energy of heaven and earth be stolen, but she herself would also have her spiritual energy drained and die of exhaustion...

"We'll cut down these lousy trees sooner or later."

Shen Changlin cursed under his breath and was about to wait aside when suddenly the restriction on Yanlai Peak was triggered, followed by a frenzied attack. The restriction shattered like glass the next moment.

His reaction was even faster; as the sword shattered, he raised it and his tall figure leaped gracefully into the air.

"Who has trespassed on Yanlai Peak!"

"Shen Changlin, surrender immediately!"

The response to Shen Changlin was a shout, as loud as a bell, carrying a spiritual energy impact that could instantly cause a person to bleed from all seven orifices!

Shen Changlin was only at the Nascent Soul stage, so he couldn't help but take a few steps back.

Soon, Zhan Hongyuan, who had arrived with the elders, appeared before the broken barrier. He looked anxiously at Ruan Qing'an, a fleeting look of disappointment in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

Damn it, it was so close...

As long as Ruan Qing'an breaks through, and he arrives to stop her before the Floating Tree drains her into a dried-up corpse, he can steadily control Ruan Qing'an's cultivation at the early stage of the Void Refinement realm, thus having the best control over her.

Unexpectedly, all our efforts have been in vain!

Thinking of this, Zhan Hongyuan's gaze turned slightly cold as he looked at Shen Changlin: "Shen Changlin, do you know what you're doing!"

"Elder Ruan is indeed aloof and doesn't like to talk, but she treats you like her own son and is very responsible. Back when the Yang family sought revenge, she risked her life to save you. Now you're actually hindering Elder Ruan's breakthrough. How can someone so young be so vicious!"

Behind Zhan Hongyuan, the elders who had rushed over also had cold expressions, staring intently at Shen Changlin. They had all seen that Ruan Qing'an was about to break through, but this boy had interrupted him!

In the world of cultivation, the most important thing is to respect one's teacher and the Way.

Shen Changlin's actions in publicly hindered his breakthrough. For a cultivator, this enmity is no less than the hatred of killing one's wife and taking away one's children. Who knows if there will be another chance to break through? This is tantamount to destroying someone's path to enlightenment!

Zhan Hongyuan looked at Shen Changlin and said in a deep voice, "I don't care what your reasons are, Shen Changlin, this matter is of great importance!"

"You know better than I why she's like this."

Shen Changlin scoffed, not wanting to say anything more to Zhan Hongyuan; the blame was clearly going to be placed on him, but—

He couldn't not come, he couldn't not do it.

Shen Changlin couldn't bear to watch Ruan Qing'an get into trouble. As long as his master was safe, he didn't care what happened to him.

Finally, the surge of spiritual energy subsided, and Ruan Qing'an forcibly stopped the breakthrough. Although he suffered some loss of spiritual energy, he fortunately did not fall from his cultivation level. However, he was pale and in a semi-conscious state, probably still affected by the Floating Tree.

However, Shen Changlin still breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Zhan Hong had laid traps everywhere, which were impossible to guard against. He could only stop the loss in time.

Just as Shen Changlin was about to step forward—

"Elder, go and check on Elder Ruan's condition."

Zhan Hongyuan coldly ordered, pressing down with one hand, the pressure of the Mahayana stage suddenly struck, forcibly suppressing Shen Changlin in place: "And you, Shen Changlin, take him to the execution peak to await your fate!"

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