Slaying

"Heh, just as the Zhao family members said, Kong Ming really was here!"

"We brothers are lucky indeed. Today, not only can we kill Kong Ming, we can also make a tidy profit."

"End this quickly, lest the Zhao father and son escape."

Hearing the three men's conversation, Shen Yi's face filled with killing intent. It seemed another killing tribulation had come for him.

The three were assassins sent by Wang Lie. They had tracked their way here and finally found the Zhao Lineage. After a round of threats and temptations, they had learned Shen Yi's whereabouts.

"Listen up, brat. The ones killing you today are the Three Heroes of the Song Family!"

"The Three Heroes of the Song Family?"

Shen Yi had heard the names Song Zhe, Song Ze, and Song Bo as soon as he entered Qingxuan Sect. All three possessed peak Qi Refining strength and were highly valued by Wang Lie's faction. There were even rumors that once the three brothers broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, they would become the Great Elder's personal disciples.

The three brothers all had fierce, savage faces and gave off the aura of powerful experts. They were far stronger than Zhao Ye, making Shen Yi cast them a sidelong glance and remain on guard.

Song Zhe transformed into a streak of azure light and charged at Shen Yi like a bolt of lightning.

Shen Yi gave a cold snort. The immense power lurking within him abruptly stirred, and a powerful aura instantly erupted from his body. Dim black light filled the surface of his body, its cold radiance draping him like a black battle armor of a war god.

He stepped forward and fiercely threw out his right fist, colliding with the dozen or so interwoven fist shadows Song Zhe had unleashed—force against force, violence against violence.

Black rays danced around the black fist shadows like flood dragons. The immense power pulverized the surrounding grass and trees, whipping up gusts of sand and dust. An overwhelming pressure swept in every direction. Facing the terrifying aftershocks spilling from the battlefield, Song Ze and Song Bo had no choice but to circulate their spiritual power with all their might to resist.

Shen Yi's right fist drove straight into the very center of Song Zhe's fist shadows. An earth-shattering boom rang out, and immense spiritual power erupted across the battlefield.

"An earthquake!"

In Qingxuan Town, all the mortal residents rushed from their homes, calling out questions to one another.

"Such powerful spiritual energy! I wonder who is fighting!"

The cultivators in the town also climbed atop the city walls to watch from afar. None dared approach rashly, afraid of being caught in the disaster.

The fierce wind howled, whipping Shen Yi's long hair into disarray, yet his body stood as immovable as a mountain. It was as though the power of Gods and Devils surged around him, intimidating all directions.

The rampaging spiritual power gradually dispersed, and the gale died down. Before Shen Yi lay an enormous ravine over a zhang deep. The ruined temple had already been destroyed beyond recognition.

"Cough..."

A series of coughs came from within the ravine. A huge hand gripped the edge of the pit, and Song Zhe struggled out, his face covered in dust. He was in a miserable state, his right hand bruised black. Had he not used a secret technique at the last moment to divert the thousand-jun force in his fist throughout his limbs and bones, his right hand would likely have been completely crippled.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, attack together!"

Song Zhe spat out a mouthful of congealed blood. The three brothers joined forces and charged at Shen Yi once more.

A sharp gleam flashed in Shen Yi's eyes. Black radiance filled his body as vast strength burst forth from within him. In an instant, killing intent flooded every inch of space, making the three Song brothers feel a tremor rise from the depths of their souls.

"Heh!"

Song Zhe and his brothers shouted loudly, driving away the fear in their hearts. Their surging spiritual power gathered as one, breaking through the killing intent Shen Yi had released before crashing fiercely into him.

The tremendous impact resounded in all directions. The cultivators in Qingxuan City could clearly see dazzling spiritual light rising from the direction of Qingqiu, violently surging into the sky.

"Form the array!"

After being driven back by Shen Yi again, the Song brothers ignored their injuries. Their figures shifted in an instant, surrounding Shen Yi in the middle.

Each of the three held a black longsaber. The saber light flickered with eerie radiance, while three demonic shadows circled the field. Torrents of spiritual power crashed toward Shen Yi like raging waves of a furious sea. Broken branches and shattered stones on the ground floated strangely into the air, bobbing up and down beyond the demonic shadows.

Shen Yi was trapped in the center, gripping the Coiled Dragon Halberd tightly as he watched the circling demonic shadows before him with tense focus. The three auras made his heart tremble slightly.

The distant cultivators stared with eyes wide open, chills running through their bodies as an icy feeling arose uncontrollably in their hearts.

"That aura... it feels as though merely touching it would scatter one's soul!"

The three demonic shadows revolved around Shen Yi faster and faster, until they finally connected into a sheet of black light that completely surrounded him. Then, in an instant, they abruptly stopped before pouncing upon Shen Yi together, intending to tear him to pieces.

Shen Yi likewise released jet-black radiance. The dragon markings on the Coiled Dragon Halberd seemed to come alive, leaping from the halberd and circling above his head. At that moment, Shen Yi seemed to be drawn along by the three demonic shadows. The power of death within the Coiled Dragon Halberd was unleashed without restraint. His eyes were completely black, without a trace of white, like two black holes devoid of all life, as though they led straight to hell.

At that moment, Shen Yi resembled a demonic god from hell, filled with an aura of decay and destruction.

"Die!"

All four shouted as one, and the weapons in their hands collided.

Black saber light tore through the moonlight and fell straight down.

The black halberd blade swept forth with the force of divine punishment, sweeping through a thousand armies.

The might of that single strike drained heaven and earth of color.

Terrifying spiritual power surged between heaven and earth. An invisible pressure swept wildly outward like angry waves, crashing into the hearts of every cultivator watching from the city walls.

Song Zhe's expression changed. From the moment Shen Yi released that aura of death, he had known the man before him could not be judged by ordinary standards.

The three brothers slashed down with all their strength, their immense power causing the saber light to swell even further. Yet when the two forces collided, the black flood dragon actually devoured the black saber light. The saber light grew dimmer and dimmer before vanishing into nothingness.

The three men's bodies swayed, and they involuntarily staggered back a step. Their blood and qi churned, and dull pain throbbed in their chests. Looking down, they saw bloody wounds across their chests. In the next instant, the wounds burst apart, and blood mixed with shattered organs sprayed from their chests, dyeing the ground before them red.

Until their deaths, they never imagined they would lose to a newcomer of the sect.

Shen Yi's body also swayed. His figure seemed to have grown somewhat faint. The black light receded, and golden radiance spread from his body. The Indestructible Scripture was circulating, healing the injuries within him.

"It's over!"

"Even watching from so far away made my blood boil. Those final two streaks of black light were truly terrifying."

The cultivators atop the city walls were still discussing the heaven-shaking battle they had just witnessed. This battle was destined to become Qingxuan City's foremost topic tomorrow.

After recovering briefly, Shen Yi walked over to the corpses of Song Zhe and his brothers. After considering it for a moment, he picked up a longsaber nearby and swung it down at the three men's necks.

With several leaps, he vanished into Qingqiu, leaving behind only devastation strewn across the ground and violent spiritual power fluctuations lingering in the air.