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nXiao Ran walked out of the darkness. “It’s a sure bet this time.”

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nLooking at the 500,000 taels of silver in his hand, he thought since he had already placed 300,000 taels, the dealer probably wouldn’t mind care if he added another 500,000 taels.

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nAfter asking around,

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nhe chose the largest casino—the Jade Manor.

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nAs the Four Great Institutes had lost three competitions in a row, the odds were now as high as 10 to 1.

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nIf the Dragon Lake Institute won, one tael of silver could yield a return of ten taels of silver.

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nOn the contrary,

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nif he bet on the Yin Incubation Institute to win, for every tael placed he would only get one tael of silver plus one.

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nThis one was a hundred wen.

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nHe pocketed the receipt and left the Jade Manor.

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nWhen he arrived at the Predestiny Bridge, Xiao Ran paused for a while.

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nThree months ago,

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nLittle Zhou was here on a blind date with a female ghost and the incident had become a joke in the Celestial Dungeon.

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nHe recalled his complaint in the morning about his restless father wanting to arrange for another blind date for him again. It was said that this time, the other party came from a prestigious family with a long history of government service spanning several decades.

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nHis grandfather had once been a third-grade official. Even though he had passed away, his disciples still held him in high regard.

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nHis father was the county magistrate, stationed in a county near the capital.

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nThis blind date was only possible due to Little Zhou’s recent promotion, which led him to be transferred from the Celestial Dungeon to the Divine Sword Guards division, in addition to his own father pulling strings everywhere.

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n“This guy has really good fortune.” Xiao Ran smiled at the recollection.

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nAs he was just about to leave,

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nthere was a big splash in the river as a figure fell into it.

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nA gush of chilly air swirled around, freezing the river surface solid. Blood could be seen spreading out underneath, staining the river red.

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n“Huh?” Xiao Ran turned towards the river with a frown.

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nBefore he could go over to check, a terrifying demonic aura gushed over. The overpowering pressure from the aura blanketed the surroundings, wreaking havoc with wild abandon within its realm of influence.

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nAn arrogant voice rang out. “Little girl, let’s see how you can escape this time!”

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nAs his voice trailed off,

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na bear demon dropped to the ground from the sky. Its demonic aura surged and churned, condensing into a huge hand that made a vicious grab at the river.

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n“A Profound Realm demon?” Xiao Ran’s eyes lit up with anticipation.

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nHis body quivered momentarily,

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nand he re-appeared above the river. Immense Righteous Energy shot out, and the righteous and saintly power manifested as a shield that violently smashed into the other party’s incoming giant hand.

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nWith a grab at the air,

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nXiao Ran sent half the river flowing backwards, revealing the river bed. He reached out and plucked out the woman who had fallen into the water.

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n“Why is it her?” Xiao Ran looked down, puzzled.

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nThe woman before him was Xia Luoran.

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nHowever, she was seriously injured this time and was unconscious. Her whole body was covered in blood.

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nHe injected a little purifying spiritual force into her body to stabilize her injuries.

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nHolding her with one arm, he stood looking at the bear demon.

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nThe bear demon was also sizing him up. Seeing that he could not see through him, he began to feel afraid. “Hand her over to me!”

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n“Do you know who she is?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“A Princess!”

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n“Since you knew, why did you still lay your hands on her?”

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nThe bear demon gave a sinister smile. “Her body contains dragon aura which is useful to us.”

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n“Aren’t you afraid of the Imperial Court’s revenge?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“Hmph! How can you accomplish anything if you are afraid of so many things?”

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nSeeing that Xiao Ran was still holding onto her with no intention of handing her over, the bear demon became enraged. “Are you handing her over or not?”

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n“Not handing her over!”

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n“Then you shall die!” The bear demon’s murderous intent soared menacingly.

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nHe then revealed his true form. A gigantic bear hundreds of feet tall stepped across the sky. The billowing demonic aura converged and as his palm landed, the powerful aura slammed down in a violent swipe that tore apart everything in its path.

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n“Get lost!” Xiao Ran said with a scornful snort.

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nHe manipulated the Immense Righteous Energy to transform into the Six Domains of Holy Dungeon’s Fist.

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nAs shots of golden light burst forth, a thousand-foot-tall Holy Dungeon smashed through his giant palm and struck his chest.

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nBang!

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nThe impact sent him flying into the river and pushing back the river waves, with the resulting collision forming a wall of water thousands of feet high before crashing violently back into the riverbed.

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nStruck by the colossal river wave, the bear demon fell into the water, half dead.

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nWith one step, golden light shot outwards from around Xiao Ran’s body. The surrounding river water had split apart, revealing the wet muddy bottom of the river. He stopped in front of the fallen demon.

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n“S-Senior, this is a misunderstanding!” The bear demon blurted out in terror.

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n“Spirit Shifting Soul Control.” Xiao Ran activated his spiritual skill.

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nWhen his spiritual soul energy entered the demon’s mind, it did not encounter any restrictions enforced by Forbidden Spirit Techniques and was able to control his mind easily.

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nAfter a round of interrogations,

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nhe learned everything from the demon’s lips.

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nThe bear demon was a traitor of the Great Viridian Mountain Bear Tribe. His name was Xiong Kuotain, and he was the same character that the wolf demon had been pursuing.

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nOther than that,

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nthe reason he appeared in the capital city this time was because he was invited by the Three-Headed Dragon to carry out a task. The reward was the position of the Bear Tribe leader.

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nIn their plans,

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ntomorrow afternoon, when the battle between Yin Incubation Institute and Dragon Lake Institute was at its peak, he would break into the Celestial Dungeon and kidnap the Eldest Princess. He would then extract the dragon aura in her body and use it to complete his bloodline’s rapid refinement.

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nOn this night, when he was out walking around, he bumped into Xia Luoran, who had just left the Scholar Provisions Shop after she finished practicing her skills.

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nThe secret technique he possessed sensed the dragon aura on her body, allowing him to guess her identity. He thought he might as well use her to replace the Eldest Princess and complete the Three-Headed Dragon’s task.

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nAfter Xiao Ran understood everything from his mouth, his sword energy slashed down and sent the bear demon on his way to the underworld.

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nThe Golden Tome of Creation flipped open to a random page and displayed three items: 800,000 Mastery points, 80 years of Martial Arts Evolution, Apotropaic Divine Lightning (Heaven-rank Superior-Grade).

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nHe added all 800,000 Mastery points to the Apotropaic Divine Lightning.

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nAfter the attributes were refreshed,

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nApotropaic Divine Lightning: Beginner’s Level

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nHis purifying spiritual force increased again. He was only 190 years away from attaining the next realm.

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nWith a tap of his foot, he flew up from the river bottom, and landed on the shore.

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nHe placed the Elder Princess on the ground and examined her closely. She looked very much like her aunt, the Eldest Princess. In fact they looked almost identical.

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nBoth of them had one thing in common: long legs, hot bodies, small waists, big hips.

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n“You’re really very unlucky. Fancy bumping into a bear demon on your way back to the palace,” Xiao Ran remarked with a wry smile.

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nHe placed his palm above her chest and released a cloud of purifying spiritual force, covering her in a large pool of golden light.

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nWith the help of the purifying spiritual force, her injuries healed quickly.

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nAfter a few minutes,

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nXiao Ran retracted his hand. Her injuries were mostly healed.

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n“Your Highness…” Urgent shouts could be heard coming from somewhere nearby.

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n“The people looking for you are here,” Xiao Ran said.

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nTwo palace maids leading a team of Divine Sword Guards approached their location quickly.

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nXiao Ran could not delay anymore.

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nHe swiftly melted into the darkness and left.

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nAs soon as he left, Xia Luoran let out a soft cry and slowly came to her senses. She hurriedly stood up from the ground and looked around. The bear demon was not around, but there was a strong demonic aura surrounding her. There was also remnant Immense Righteous Energy.

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nEven her injuries were almost healed.

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nAs her exquisite eyebrows knitted into a frown, she wondered out loud, “What happened? Did a Great Scholar pass by and eliminate the bear demon?”

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nThen she thought something felt wrong.

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nHow did her injuries heal so quickly then?

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n“Your Highness, are you alright?” The eyes of the two palace maids lit up as they rushed towards her with the Divine Sword Guards.

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nXia Luoran shook her head and replied, “I’m fine!”

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nQin Fangzhen looked at the chaotic mess around him and asked, “Which Great Scholar was responsible for this?”

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n“I don’t know! When I woke up, you guys had just arrived.”

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n“Many things have happened in the capital city recently. If Your Highness has nothing important to attend to, it’s best if you don’t leave the palace. I’ll escort you back first,” Qin Fangzhen reminded her solemnly.

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n“All right.” Xia Luoran took another look around before leaving under the escort of Qin Fangzhen’s men.

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nIn a remote courtyard somewhere north of the city,

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nthe moment Xiong Kuotian died, the Elemental Jade Tablet he left with the Three-Headed Dragon shattered. He woke up from his meditative session with a shock. “How did he die?”

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