Evil Meets Its Retribution

Chen Changqing's face instantly darkened.

He strode across the threshold, shielding Chen Fan behind him, gripping his spirit sword tightly, his voice icy.

"This is the courtyard that the Immortal Alliance has allocated to our Azure Cloud Sword Sect. The array is here. You have three breaths to get out."

The middle-aged man in the dark blue brocade robe slowly turned around, looked Chen Changqing up and down with disdain, and curled his lips into a mocking smile.

"A poor wretch from the Southern Region dares to occupy a private courtyard? The rules of the Divine City are that strength reigns supreme. Be sensible and spend two months in the stables. If you dare utter a word..."

"Zheng!"

The middle-aged man drew his Flying Thunder Saber half an inch from its sheath at his waist, and blinding lightning danced and flickered in the courtyard.

I'll chop off your Nascent Soul and use it as a snack!

Chen Changqing's Taixu True Essence exploded, his footsteps cracking the bluestone beneath his feet, veins throbbing on his forehead, and his anger soaring to the top of his head.

Standing half a step behind Chen Fan Chen Changqing, Chen Fan idly raised his left hand to rub his ear, and with a light flick of his right toe, a small blue stone the size of a fingernail was hooked onto the instep of his foot.

"Whoosh!"

A violent burst of blue-purple lightning exploded in the cramped courtyard. The Flying Thunder Blade in the hand of the middle-aged cultivator from the Thunderblade Sect crackled with lightning, instantly turning the withered leaves falling from the air into charcoal.

A strong wind blew in, making Chen Changqing's green robe flutter loudly.

The powerful pressure of a mid-stage Nascent Soul crashed against the dilapidated low walls surrounding the courtyard like an invisible tide.

"You ignorant, lowly ants from a remote region!"

The middle-aged cultivator grinned maliciously, pressed down with his blade, his arm muscles bulging, and the lightning-infused longsword, accompanied by a shrill sound of air being torn apart, slashed straight at Chen Changqing's face.

Chen Changqing's eyes widened, and bright red blood spilled between his teeth. The Taixu True Essence surged wildly and backward through his meridians.

He didn't retreat an inch.

Because Chen Fan was just half a step behind him.

"Get the hell out of here!"

Chen Changqing roared, his natal sword emitting a sharp clang. Even if his Dao Fruit was torn apart, he was determined to withstand this killing blow head-on.

However.

Just as the blade was about three feet from Chen Changqing's forehead, Chen Fan, standing behind him, casually flicked his right ankle upwards.

The ordinary blue pebble that had been resting on the instep of the straw sandal bounced up silently.

Chen Fan slightly bent his right middle finger and gently flicked it on the pebble.

There was no fluctuation of True Essence, nor any dazzling light.

Only the faint life force that settled on the surface of the stones caused the space in front of them to subtly sink for a moment.

"Laugh!!"

A soft sound, like a red-hot iron rod piercing thin paper.

The raging, sweeping lightning suddenly froze.

The middle-aged cultivator's sinister smile froze completely on his face.

He didn't even see what happened. He only felt a lightness in his palm. The Upper Earth Grade Flying Thunder Saber, which he had nurtured with two hundred years of painstaking effort, disintegrated inch by inch from the tip to the hilt, turning into a pile of lifeless iron filings.

Immediately following was a heart-wrenching, excruciating pain.

"Puff!"

A cloud of blood mist exploded from the middle-aged cultivator's abdomen.

The ordinary pebble pierced through his protective qi, through his internal organs, and finally through his Dantian (Qi Sea), disappearing into the hard Obsidian floor tiles behind him, leaving a small, bottomless hole.

Inside the Qi Sea, the middle-aged cultivator's seated Nascent Soul Body had half of its arm and waist shattered by the stones, and its Primordial Spirit energy poured out like a burst dam.

"Boom!"

The thunder and lightning scattered into nothingness.

The middle-aged cultivator coughed up blood from his mouth and nose, his knees slammed heavily onto the muddy ground, his whole body trembled violently, his hands pressed tightly against the bowl-sized piercing wound in his abdomen, his eyes filled only with despair and fear from the depths of his Divine Soul.

One strike.

A shattered Earth-tier magic weapon, a hundred-year-old Nascent Soul was destroyed.

The three young men in the Golden Core stage who had been laughing wildly and smashing the stone table in the courtyard suddenly stopped laughing, their legs went weak, and they all knelt down on the ground.

Chen Changqing raised his longsword high, completely stunned on the spot.

He remained in his slashing stance, staring blankly at the middle-aged cultivator before him, who lay limp like a dead dog.

"What... what's going on?"

Chen Changqing blinked and subconsciously looked down at his sword.

Is the "Great Void Longevity Guidance" technique that I just learned really this powerful?

The enemy exploded before the sword even struck?

Mo Wendao Azure Cloud Sword Sect's pupils also dilated in shock. He strode forward, his Divine Sense frantically sweeping across the surrounding Void. Finally, with a solemn expression, he cupped his hands and looked around the empty courtyard. "May I ask which reclusive senior is here? The Qingyun Sword Sect is deeply grateful!"

Clearly, in Mo Wendao's eyes, there must have been a top-tier expert passing by who couldn't stand the Thunderblade Sect's domineering ways and secretly threw stones at them to help.

Chen Fan stood behind Chen Changqing, lazily yawning, his childish voice echoing in the deathly silent courtyard:

"Aren't you going to get lost?"

This seemingly ordinary word was like a thunderclap in the ears of the middle-aged cultivator.

He swallowed a mouthful of entrails, glanced in horror at the unfathomable Void of the courtyard, then swept his gaze over the expressionless child, and dared not hesitate for a moment longer.

"Go... help me get going!"

The three Golden Core disciples were terrified. They scrambled to their feet, carrying the middle-aged cultivator, and fled from Courtyard No. 7 in a disheveled state, not even bothering to pick up the broken pieces of the wooden sign outside the courtyard gate. They disappeared into the winding alleyway in the blink of an eye.

"Call..."

Chen Changqing exhaled a long breath, sheathed his sword, his palms already soaked with cold sweat.

He turned around, hugged Chen Fan tightly, and carefully checked him over to make sure his son was unharmed. Only then did he hold Chen Fan close in his arms, his eyes slightly red.

"Fan'er, don't be afraid, your father is here, no one can hurt you."

Feeling the warmth and rapid heartbeat from his chest, Chen Fan's slight killing intent subsided.

Within the Sea of Consciousness, the golden light of the "Myriad Realms Red Dust Scripture" flowed, and a wisp of milky-white spiritual light, condensed from pure paternal love, flowed into the Miniature Divine Kingdom like spring rain nourishing all things, causing the gray-white Tai Chi Millstone within the Divine Kingdom to solidify once more.

"Dad, I'm fine. That scoundrel tripped and fell."

Chen Fan patted Chen Changqing on the back, his voice still somewhat childish.

"Yes, evil will be punished!"

Chen Changqing released his grip, wiped his eyes, and then joined forces with Mo Wendao to clean up the dilapidated side courtyard. They then used a few low-grade spirit stones to set up a simple concealment array at the entrance of the courtyard.

Ye Mu fell.

The sky above the Divine City was illuminated as bright as day by the array light of countless floating immortal islands, and the noise was deafening.

In the secluded room number C7, only a dim oil lamp flickered gently.

Chen Changqing sat on the edge of the bed, carefully peeled off the hard skin of a Second Tier Red Spirit Fruit with a short knife, cut it into small pieces, and handed it to Chen Fan's mouth.

"The Divine City is a deep and dangerous place, where all sorts of deities are fighting. Starting tomorrow, you will stay obediently in your room and cultivate Qi. You are not allowed to go anywhere, do you understand?"

Chen Changqing gave instructions with a stern face, his eyes filled with deep worry.