Hong Shisan was surprised at these elder alchemists' arrival. He was about to shout out "Master" when he remembered his disguise as Hong Shisan.

Master Longyu, on the other hand, threw a glimpse at him. Squinting his eyes, he said with a deep and hoa.r.s.e voice:

"Our Alchemist Tower cannot lose to the warrior alchemists from Moonshine City. Three Lives Valley huh? I wonder what is the best you can pull."

It seemed that he knew that it was Ye Lingyue who was hiding behind the ident.i.ty of Hong Shisan.

And no wonder he knew. Though Ye Lingyue did make some changes with her appearance, the Master knew that only two people on the Continent were able to dispatch hundreds of well-trained warrior alchemists: one being that man from North Qing, and the other was no other than the Cauldron Master Ye Lingyue from Moonshine City, his favorite disciple.

Master Longyu gave Ye Lingyue an angry glare. He had mixed feelings towards this precious disciple of his.

He hated this girl for she was full of wacky ideas. She had even concealed the truth about her "death" from her own Master!

Not knowing that, he, an old man, had cried his eyes out and lost face at the funeral at the Lans'.

But he liked her because not only did she turn out to be alive, but she had successfully smelt Rainbow Reincarnation Dan pill and returned intact from North Qing's Star Cave all by herself.

The Master and the disciple exchanged looks in which everything was explained and understood.

"Old man, you tired of living? I'll send you to your maker today." Luo Song's eye darkened. He had the Wind-riding Gourd under his feet and charged towards Master Longyu.

Master Longyu took out a few talismans and, in a second, they turned into several Multiple-head Alchemist Beasts.

The elderly from the Three Lives Valley also quickly flashed their spirit weapons and confronted Lan Yingwu and Ye Huangyu.

At that moment, it was Hong Mingyue alone who was controlling Xia Houqi.

"Hong Mingyue, let go of the Crown Prince. I will keep my words and let Zhuge Rou and Hong Yulang go." Hong Shisan and Hong Mingyue was in a deadlock.

The two had just had a duel. Who would have known that they were to confront each other again so soon!

"Hong Shisan, you think I'm stupid? My grandpa had broken into the Divine Realm. The situation is in my favor. Besides, I have already killed an emperor. Doesn't matter if I kill a crown prince." Hatred arose in Hong Mingyue's eyes as she remembered her inglorious defeat early on.

Crimson flashed in her eyes.

It was Hong Shisan who had ruined all her life!

Her reputation, and her status in her family were all distained. Should she know it then, she would have finished him off in the Taiyi Secret Realm!

As she was thinking about this, the Wide Sea Three Lives Flute in her hand gave out a loud howl and a chilly sliver of light was about to pierce Xia Qihou's throat.

Ye Lingyue's heart froze: it was already too late to do anything.

"My Qi!" The Empress Liu and the Empress Dowager let out a disparate shrill.

Hong Mingyue felt the satisfaction of vengeance.

But right at that moment, she noticed a strange look in Hong Shisan's face.

There was no blood on the flute. Xia Houqi's body suddenly gave out a loud boom and exploded in a ball of white light. Hong Mingyue was caught off guard and was thrown backwards by the blast and fell to the ground.

The Wide Sea Three Lives Flute also fell and was broken in two.

The corpse of "Xia Houqi" was blast to pieces. Turned out it was nothing but a human-size puppet.

"But how…" Bruised and injured, Hong Mingyue stared at the puppet and murmured.

Hong Shisan was also taken aback.

"Hong Mingyue, I bet you've never suspected. It was not the real ME that you have abducted. It was just a puppet technique that I've recently learnt. I was able to conjure up a puppet of me with a whiff of my spirit power."

With this, an Imperial Troop soldier-looking man standing near the Empress Dowager and Feng Shen took off his helmet and revealed his face.

Apparently no one except for Feng Shen, including the Empress and the Empress Dowager, knew when exactly Xia Houqi had hid behind them.

"His Highness had long suspected the Hong family's disloyalty and had planned with me a few days ago to ensnare them," said Feng Shen in a light tone.

At this, Xia Houqi started and looked wishing to speak, but eventually swallowed his words instead.

Though Feng Shen said it was a collaborated plan, it was Feng Shen who had come to him in the first place.

Xia Houqi was already suspicious of the Hong family's disloyalty after the Ghost Sect letter incident.

But he was convinced after his talk with Feng Shen.

It was also Feng Shen who had reminded him on the day of the Imperial Contest that he needed a doubleganger.

It happened that Xia Houqi had in recent days been making spirit puppets. Therefore, together, they cooked up this plan.

Hong Mingyue raised his eyebrows. He looked at Feng Shen, then at Xia Houqi and thought:

'Strange. Aren't they always at odds with each other? When did they start hooking up, nay, working together?'

There was actually nothing strange about it. Both Feng Shen and Xia Houqi were men with vision. Though they did not get along, they were both willing to lay aside preconceptions and work alongside each other for their common interests.

What she didn't know was that SHE was the reason why Feng Shen and Xia Houqi couldn't get along. If not for her, with the temperaments as theirs, odds were high that they became bosom friends.

Feng Shen quickly glanced at her, eyes twinkling with mischief.

Seeing that Hong Mingyue was injured, Luo Song quickly withdrew.

At this point, Hong Mingyue was at the brink of collapse. Her spirit weapon was destroyed and she was injured all over.

In contrast, Hong Shisan and people on his side were all relaxed and contented.

Hong Mingyue could not stand that she had time and again fallen into others' traps. Now that she had lost the ace in her hand, Xia Houqi, she had no other options than putting up a last desperate fight.

Luo Song smirked.

Suddenly with a boom, Nie Fengxing and Hong Fang broke out of their fight.

Hong Fang landed beside Hong Mingyue and Nie Fengxing retreated back to his side.

In these few minutes, Zhuge Rou and Hong Yulang were also rescued by An Guohou and his people.

Up in the sky, Hong Qingyun and Gu Cangtian were still locked in their fight. But it seemed that Gu Cangtian was in a defense position and was about to be defeated any minute.

Hong Fang looked profoundly disturbed. He was burning with fury watching Ye Huangyu and Nie Fengxing standing next to each other.

"Huangyu, you and I had once been husband and wife. We don't have to be like this. If you surrender, I can offer you a nominal marriage as soon as father accomplishes his great cause."

Hearing this, Zhuge Rou's face changed. But she dared not indulge her discontent right there right then. She had no one but Hong Fang to rely on. Hong Fang was all she had.

Besides, so long as Hong Qingyun won, Hong Fang, as the only heir of the Hong family, would become the future emperor. Wanting to be the empress, Zhuge Rou managed to repress the resentment.

"Dream on, Hong Fang. There is no turning back the moment you threw me and Lingyue out of the gate of the Hong family. This very day is either your funeral or mine!" said Ye Huangyu, firmly holding hands with Nie Fengxing.