A strange look appeared in Chu Kuangren’s eyes as he looked at Shi Ying in his arms.

He sensed something weird from the woman.

She was surely not just a Ninth-grade Heavenly Immortal. However, that heartfelt joy she displayed upon seeing him could not be faked either.

Besides, how many people in the world would be willing to put their life on the line like her to protect someone else?

“What happened while I was in closed-door meditation? Where did this woman come from? Is she hiding something from us?” Chu Kuangren murmured.

Soon, he stopped thinking about it. The next time he met his true self, all her hidden secrets would all be exposed before the Omniscient Spirit anyway.

At that time, Chu Kuangren looked at the crowd of yokai before him coldly. “Do you have anything to say for disrupting my closed-door meditation?”

Every yokai cultivator shuddered with fear under Chu Kuangren’s domineering aura!

Only one thought remained in their minds, and that was they had incurred the wrath of someone powerful!

“We have no choice but to fight him!”

“Attack!”

The crowd of yokai cultivators charged toward Chu Kuangren, unleashing a variety of their most powerful yokai techniques!

However, Chu Kuangren remained still.

He raised his hand and released the Yin Yang energy in the air to form a gigantic Duality Rites Yin Yang Symbol!

Under the might of the Yin Yang Symbol, the surges of yokai qi disintegrated, leaving Chu Kuangren unscathed!

On the contrary, the moment the Yin Yang Symbol crashed downward, its power crushed one yokai cultivator after another until they all exploded!

Countless yokai cultivators were crushed into dust!

Having defeated the bunch of yokai cultivators with one move, Chu Kuangren looked at the demonic bull that was battling with Fu Yin. He casually raised his arm, and as Yin Yang energy circulated in the void, it transformed into a colorful Divine Yin Yang Rejuvenation Light!

“Oh no!”

The demon bull became terrified upon sensing something while the battle was ongoing. Then, he turned and looked in Chu Kuangren’s direction.

A light beam formed by two intertwining black and white demonic lights were approaching him at lightning speed!

Soon, the light was everywhere, and its immense power made the demon bull shudder in fear!

“I must block this attack with my full power!”

The demon bull roared while channeling his Bloodline Berserk technique to its limit. Then, he punched forth, unleashing bursts of yokai qi that formed a giant black fist!

Boom!

The void was blasted open with a loud bang!

The divine light destroyed the black fist before heading straight toward the demon bull!

Feeling an unprecedented pressure engulfing him, the demon bull saw the black and white divine light heading toward him, filling his field of vision, until an immense pain spread all over his body!

The next instant, the demon bull lost consciousness!

From Fu Yin’s point of view, she saw Chu Kuangren releasing a divine light, which broke through the demon bull’s attack and blew him up into a mist of blood!

She had used up most of her strength while fighting that demon bull, yet Chu Kuangren defeated her opponent with one move.

‘He’s just too terrifyingly strong!’

Fu Yin gasped as she looked at Chu Kuangren with shock and horror.

“But he’s even stronger now!”

Compared to before the closed-door meditation, his clone had gotten a lot stronger after absorbing that Immortal Crystal.

‘Oh yeah, that’s just his clone…’

Fu Yin gasped. Only then did she remember that the Chu Kuangren before her was just his clone!

‘If his clone is so scary, how powerful is the real Chu Kuangren right now? He’s a monster!’

Fu Yin recalled that many sky-prides in the Interstellar Arena called Chu Kuangren a monster!

‘He truly lives up to that nickname!’

“Fu Yin, where did you find this woman?” Chu Kuangren asked Fu Yin.

He was talking about Shi Ying, who was laying in his arms.

“Master, she told me she’s from the Hundred Academy…”

Fu Yin then told Chu Kuangren everything.

Upon hearing that, Chu Kuangren started pondering. ‘How did a Hundred Academy cultivator appear here?’

“Oh well, I guess I’ll ask her when she wakes up.”

Chu Kuangren activated his Yin Yang Life and Death Symbol.

The Life and Death Symbol had a damage-reversing effect, so it instantly healed most of Shi Ying’s injuries. As to the remaining and more serious wounds, Chu Kuangren dealt with them with his advanced physician skills.

It did not take long before Shi Ying regained consciousness.

She was stunned for a moment when she saw Chu Kuangren, but after that, her face beamed with joy. “It really is the Chief. A-Am I dreaming?!”

It was no different than a fan girl meeting her idol for the first time in her life.

Chu Kuangren observed her expression the entire time and concluded that Shi Ying’s feelings of joy and excitement were genuine.

“So, your name is Shi Ying? You’re from the academy too?” Chu Kuangren asked.

“That’s right.”

“Why have I not seen you before in the academy?”

“Chief, I used to be an ordinary, nameless nobody back then in the academy. It’s no surprise that you didn’t know about me,” Shi Ying said while looking at Chu Kuangren with admiring eyes.

From her memories, she was a student at the academy. However, her talents were not particularly outstanding and were worlds apart compared from the Hundred Academy’s Heavenly Champions.

Meanwhile, as the academy’s Chief, Chu Kuangren was an unrivaled genius among his peers.

She had always wanted to catch up to him or just enough to follow behind him. That was why she came to the Interstellar Arena alone, seeking to become stronger on her cultivation journey.

She has had a near brush with death countless times throughout that whole time, which, in turn, made her so strong in her current state.

Chu Kuangren was a little suspicious as Shi Ying seemed to be speaking the truth.

‘Is she really from the Hundred Academy?’

‘Am I overthinking this?’

‘Seeing that there are so many students in the Hundred Academy, I can’t even say I know every one of them. I guess it must be normal then if I don’t recognize her.’

“Since you’re from the academy, you can stay by my side for the time being,” Chu Kuangren said with a smile.

As the academy’s Chief, he had no intention of abandoning Shi Ying. Besides, she was willing to risk her life to help Fu Yin, who once saved her. That was proof that she had a pure heart.

Even in the worst-case scenario that Shi Ying was truly hiding something, he could still observe her behavior by keeping her at his side.

Once he met up with his true self, every one of his doubts would be answered through the Omniscient Spirit.

“I-Is this for real? Am I really allowed to follow you, Chief?!”

Shi Ying got excited. It was as if she was surrounded by nothing but pure bliss and happiness.

“Cultivators from the academy should stick together. That way, we can have each other’s back.”

Chu Kuangren nodded gently.

Along with Shi Ying and Fu Yin, Chu Kuangren continued traveling across the Holy Violet Emperor Planet.

Besides displaying a great deal of enthusiasm and excitement to Chu Kuangren, there seemed to be nothing strange with Shi Ying’s behavior. It was as if she was just a super fangirl obsessed with Chu Kuangren.

“Seven-layered Sword Barrier!”

Somewhere in an open area, Shi Ying cried out as she unleashed her sword qi technique!

Her sword qi swept forth and intertwined with Daoist patterns, forming seven layers of sword qi barrier in the void!

After a while, the sword qi dispersed.

“Awesome! The Sword Barrier technique I’ve cultivated has always been at three layers, yet I’ve now reached seven layers thanks to the Chief’s guidance!”

Shi Ying looked at her Immortal Sword in shock.

Chu Kuangren was surprised as he watched her from the sidelines.

Shi Ying’s Sword Barrier technique contained a total of nine layers. It was a top-tier Arch Gilded Technique that was one of the Twenty-Four Sword Dao Techniques.

However, she had only been cultivating its three-layer form up until now.

Under his guidance, she managed to improve the technique to seven layers!

As for him, he also took the opportunity to learn that technique, making it a new addition to his growing collection of the Twenty-Four Sword Dao Techniques.

Furthermore, he also noticed something interesting while guiding her. Although Shi Ying was not very talented, her level of understanding was exceptionally good.