After descending the mountain, my aloof fiancée became completely devoted to me.

Before the words were even finished, a storm of killing intent crashed down!

The Blood Shadow Pavilion Master, his black robes billowing wildly, unleashed a torrent of dark, malevolent energy from his palms, accompanied by a piercing, tearing sound as he struck down at Lin Ping's head. Wherever his palm strikes passed, the bluestone ground cracked instantly, and the chilling, domineering martial arts pressure locked down the entire space.

Immediately following, dozens of grandmasters from various sects set off simultaneously, their figures blurring as they clashed, their swords flashing and weaving a dense, deadly net of attacks, closing in from all directions. Hundreds of black-clad assassins, wielding poisoned blades, charged forward, their killing intent overwhelming, completely surrounding the Forgetful Valley courtyard.

In everyone's eyes, Lin Ping, whose cultivation had been reduced by half, was no match for this all-out, deadly attack and was doomed to die today!

"die!"

A half-step Grandmaster roared, his longsword, imbued with fierce energy, slashed out with a blade of light several feet long, aiming straight for Lin Ping's neck. Every move was deadly and merciless.

Lin Ping's eyes were cold, and instead of retreating, he advanced. He lightly touched the ground with his feet, and his body swept out like flowing clouds, easily avoiding the domineering blade.

Ding!

A crisp, ear-piercing metallic bang suddenly exploded!

He raised his hand barehanded, his fingers forming a pincer, precisely locking the blade. A surge of immense internal energy erupted instantly, twisting and deforming the steel longsword. Before the opponent could react, Lin Ping flicked his wrist, causing the twisted blade to rebound abruptly, its sharp back slamming into the grandmaster's chest.

puff!

The grandmaster coughed up blood, his sternum shattered inch by inch, and he flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily to the ground and immediately losing consciousness.

One-hit kill!

The pupils of the martial artists who were surrounding the area shrank drastically, and a storm of emotions surged within them.

"With half of his cultivation gone, how could he still have such combat power!" someone exclaimed in disbelief.

Lin Ping gave no chance for the crowd to hesitate. He moved swiftly and cleanly through the barrage of attacks, each move overwhelming the others.

Two grandmasters attacked from the left and right, their palm strikes fierce and their fists whistling through the air, attempting to surround and restrain Lin Ping. Lin Ping turned and spun, sweeping both arms horizontally at the same time, two powerful energies exploding outwards and precisely colliding with the two men's attacks.

Bang!Bang!

Two muffled thuds rang out in succession. The arm bones of the two grandmasters shattered, and with a scream, their arms fell limply to their sides. Their bodies staggered and flew backward, completely losing the ability to fight again.

As the blade flashed, he dodged to the side, lightly touching the blade with his fingertips, precisely using the force to deflect it, and then seized the blade to counterattack. With a flash of cold light, he forced back several charging assassins. When a fist struck, he met it head-on, his physical energy bursting forth, causing the opponent's tiger's mouth to explode and his blood to surge.

Countless deadly attacks landed on Lin Ping, but he effortlessly neutralized, shattered, and countered them all.

The Blood Shadow Pavilion Master's face was extremely gloomy. He fully activated his cultivation technique, and the dark, malevolent aura around him surged several times over. He unleashed a series of ferocious palm strikes, bombarding Lin Ping from all directions, attempting to forcefully break the deadlock.

"I'd like to see how long you can hold out with your cultivation already more than half gone!"

Lin Ping's lips curled into a cold smile. He shattered the void beneath his feet and instantly appeared in front of the Pavilion Master, dodging all the vicious palm attacks. He concentrated his strength in one palm, the white light in his palm concealed. The seemingly ordinary palm strike carried a terrifying force that could crush everything, and struck straight at the opponent's chest.

The sect leader's pupils contracted sharply, and he hurriedly raised his hand to block, gathering all his strength in his palms to resist the attack.

Click!

The cracking sound of bones breaking was incredibly piercing!

The immense force pierced through layers of malevolent energy and slammed into the chest of the Pavilion Master. His proud protective aura shattered instantly, and he staggered back several steps, his black robe torn, black and red blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His aura instantly became disordered and weakened.

Seeing this, the other assassins and masters from various sects went completely berserk. They joined forces to attack, unleashing all their martial arts skills, weapons, and poison techniques. The dense barrage covered the entire courtyard, leaving no blind spots.

Despite everyone's all-out fighting and frantic attacks, they could not even touch the hem of Lin Ping's clothes.

His movements were graceful and agile, weaving through the barrage of attacks with ease. Each strike was accompanied by screams and serious injuries. In a short time, dozens of grandmasters fell to the ground, howling in agony. Hundreds of black-clad assassins were routed, leaving the ground in a mess, and the stench of blood permeated the entire courtyard.

Of all the enemies standing, only the wounded Blood Shadow Pavilion Master remained.

He stared intently at Lin Ping, who stood calmly and whose breathing remained steady, his eyes filled with terror and horror, his voice trembling: "You...you didn't experience a significant drop in cultivation at all! This is a hoax!"

Lin Ping glanced at him indifferently, his voice icy: "Do you think you can truly cause me to lose my cultivation?"

A simple sentence, yet utterly disdainful!

The Blood Shadow Pavilion Master was both shocked and furious. Knowing that the situation was hopeless and that staying here would mean certain death, he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Retreat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and, with the remaining seriously injured disciples, leaped out of the courtyard in a disheveled state, fleeing in panic and daring not to linger for even a moment.

The murderous intent in the sky faded away, and the courtyard returned to silence, leaving only the wounded and the messy aftermath.

Zhu Xiaohan, Chi Yao, and the others stared in shock at the tall, upright young man, their hearts filled with a turbulent emotion that lingered for a long time.

But at that moment, Lin Ping, who had been standing steadily, swayed slightly.

In the unseen depths, a flicker of dizziness flashed across his eyes. His body, which he had been holding up, could no longer support him. His legs buckled, and one knee slammed heavily onto the bluestone ground!

Boom!

A dull thud echoed as Lin Ping landed, his shoulders heaving slightly. His face turned ashen, and having exhausted all his strength in feigning an attack, his vision went black, and he completely fainted.

"Lin Ping!"

"Brother Linping!"

Several people exclaimed in surprise and immediately surrounded them.

Lingyun Immortal Master, who had been observing the whole thing from the sidelines, frowned and quickly stepped forward. He placed his fingertips on Lin Ping's wrist pulse. After a moment, a complex expression flashed in his eyes. Without saying anything more, he raised his hand and flicked out several streams of pure spiritual energy, which flowed into Lin Ping's body. He then took out several rare pills and carefully fed them into his mouth. The spiritual energy slowly protected Lin Ping's heart meridian.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Ping's eyelashes trembled slightly as he slowly opened his eyes. The weakness he felt had mostly subsided, and his breathing gradually became steady.

He had just pushed himself up from the ground when Zhu Xiaohan suddenly turned her head, her gaze fixed on Master Lingyun, her tone laced with accusation and coldness: "Master!"

"The 'Mother-Child Bond' poison is insidious and deadly, possessed only by my Valley of Forgetfulness, and no one but you is proficient in it! Tonight's deadly predicament, Liu Lian's afflictment with this strange poison, and the encirclement and attack by experts from all sides—all of this stems from poison!"

Her words were forceful, filled with incomprehension and anger: "Disciple may ask Master, was this something you secretly orchestrated, deliberately poisoning and plotting against them?"

The atmosphere froze instantly upon hearing this.

Shen Aoxue and Chi Yao tensed up, their gazes falling on Master Lingyun as they awaited his reply.

Upon hearing this, Master Lingyun not only remained calm but also laughed in anger. He glanced coldly at Zhu Xiaohan and sternly rebuked her: "Nonsense!"

"I have cultivated for a hundred years, and as the dignified Master of the Valley of Forgetfulness, I am upright and honorable. Why would I need to resort to such despicable and underhanded methods as poison to kill or cripple whomever I wish?"

His gaze swept over Liu Lian, whose face was full of unease, and he spoke calmly, revealing the whole truth in one sentence: "What mother-child bond poison, what incurable poison, it's just the most common love poison in the martial arts world."

"This poison can be refined by any ordinary martial artist; it's not a secret poison of the valley at all. You were prejudiced and deceived by the illusion deliberately created by the other side, imagining the so-called deadly trap of the 'Mother-Child Bond Poison'!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire room fell into a deathly silence!

Liu Lian's cheeks flushed bright red, her ears burning with embarrassment. She clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, her head bowed low, wishing she could disappear into the ground.

There was no deadly poison that would sever all meridians and cause the body to explode, nor was there a twelve-hour deadly trap. It was all a psychological trap set by the enemy!

Zhu Xiaohan stood frozen in place, her pretty face slightly flushed, speechless for a moment, her heart filled with embarrassment and guilt.

She wrongly accused her master, causing Lin Ping to suffer the misunderstanding of disgracing the marriage agreement and damaging his cultivation, and even attracting countless experts to fight to the death, creating such a huge blunder.

Looking at the embarrassed group, Master Lingyun then glanced at Lin Ping, who had regained consciousness and appeared calm. The anger in his eyes gradually subsided, replaced by a deep and solemn expression. He slowly spoke, "To be able to understand my Forget-Love Valley's poison techniques so thoroughly, to forge them so flawlessly, and to be able to coordinate with the Blood Shadow Pavilion and other major martial arts forces to lay out plans..."

"The identity of the person behind this is far more terrifying than we imagined."

Lin Ping's gaze suddenly darkened, and his fingertips tightened slightly.

What appears to be a simple scheme involving a beautiful woman and poison hides a meticulously planned scheme capable of mobilizing the entire martial arts world and accurately exploiting everyone's cognitive weaknesses.

Who exactly is this enemy lurking in the shadows?

Just as everyone was deep in thought, a distant, hoarse, and chilling old laugh slowly pierced through the clouds and echoed throughout the Valley of Oblivion!