Remembering the Terror of Being Ruled by the Xunyang Marquis

At a quarter past the hour of the Rooster, a light rain fell.

Jiang Wang sat before the threshold of Xunyang Marquis Manor.

Xiaoyu held a longsword and practiced swinging it amid the misty rain.

Meanwhile, Zhao Si painted beneath the eaves.

Tonight's moon was not very round.

Yet Du Heng, in the Du residence of South City Alley, had his eyes opened perfectly round.

He was having dinner at home, accompanied by Su Lingyi and Du Yanruo.

That wretch Du Zicheng had naturally been sent straight back to his room, with no dinner for him.

But just as Su Lingyi raised a toast to him and he beamed with delight, a tremendous crash suddenly sounded outside.

A servant came rushing in with a panicked report.

The Black Flame Army had torn down the Du Family's front gate.

Seeing that all-too-familiar face before him, Du Heng recalled the miserable experience of being violently beaten several days ago.

Shan Qiyu held a bright silver spear, with a vast mass of a hundred Black Flame Knights behind him.

They blocked South City Alley before the Du Family's gates so tightly that not even water could pass through.

The fine drizzle washed their black armor until it gleamed.

Whenever the Black Flame Army conducted business, the citizens on the street had to avoid them, lest innocent people be caught in the crossfire.

But news that the Black Flame Army had directly come knocking on the Du Family's door spread across all of Hun City in the shortest possible time.

Du Heng's face darkened as he said, "Commander Dan, what is the meaning of this?"

Shan Qiyu gave a cold laugh and directly pressed his spear against Du Heng's forehead. "I didn't get enough of beating you last time. I want to beat you again. Got a problem with that?"

Du Heng flew into a rage from humiliation. "You go too far in bullying others!"

"My daughter is an outstanding disciple of Fish Abyss Academy. You are merely soldiers of a fallen marquis manor. Hun City does not bear the surname Jiang. Do you really think this is still the time when the Xunyang Marquis had the final say with a single word?!"

Yet Shan Qiyu was exceedingly arrogant, saying bluntly, "That is only because the Young Marquis keeps a low profile. So long as the Young Marquis is willing, Hun City can bear the surname Jiang."

Du Heng truly had not expected Shan Qiyu to dare say such words.

Su Lingyi stepped forward at this moment and said, "I never expected the Black Flame Army to be this wanton. If we put it bluntly, Xunyang Marquis Manor commands troops for its own ends. That carries the suspicion of rebellion."

When facing the monster Ao Yin on Pinglan Street, he had felt that Jiang Wang had played him for a fool yet again.

He was clearly very strong, yet deliberately pretended to be weak.

But even if Jiang Wang was a great cultivator, he was being far too presumptuous.

If they pinned the charge of rebellion on him, no matter how powerful Xunyang Marquis Manor was, it would be unable to escape the fate of having its household confiscated and its clan exterminated.

He felt this was an excellent opportunity.

And it was an opportunity delivered right to their doorstep.

Yet Shan Qiyu simply ignored Su Lingyi.

Although the Young Marquis had told him to determine exactly which member of the Du Family had hired the Jianli, Shan Qiyu felt that the Young Marquis was far too kindhearted.

Who cared who it was? Wipe out the entire Du Family in one pot—simple and effortless.

Rebellion or no rebellion, so long as word did not get out, what did it matter?

At this moment, Du Zicheng ran out of his room.

Shan Qiyu raised an eyebrow. "Break his legs first."

Du Zicheng: "..."

One person stepped out from the Black Flame Army.

He strode directly toward Du Zicheng.

Du Yanruo immediately drew her sword, her face cold. "Who dares touch my younger brother!"

A silver spear swept out in an instant.

Du Yanruo was sent sprawling to the ground.

Immediately afterward came Du Zicheng's screams.

Du Heng was terrified out of his wits.

"A Third Realm Martial Artist!" Du Yanruo watched her brother's leg get broken, hatred pouring from her eyes.

She had struck at her apertures more than six hundred times. Though that sounded like a great many, she had only just begun Foundation Establishment. This was also why cultivators were so few in number.

Not to mention a Third Realm Martial Artist who had strengthened all five viscera and six bowels to their utmost limits—even a Second Realm Martial Artist could easily defeat four or five people like her.

The First Realm of martial artists was a level ordinary people could attain through training alone.

The Second Realm, like cultivators, required one to sense the existence of Qi.

But they could only make Qi adhere to the surface of their skin. Upon cultivating it to its peak, they could become impervious to blades and spears.

Third Realm Martial Artists could make Qi course through their limbs and bones without end. They could even borrow Qi to scale walls and leap across rooftops. They had truly entered the ranks of experts, and facing a hundred alone was as easy as turning one's hand over.

Fourth Realm Martial Artists already possessed strength capable of matching true cultivators.

Even novice cultivators could only give Fourth Realm Martial Artists a wide berth.

Ever since arriving in Hun City, Su Lingyi had suffered setback after setback. He felt that his time to display his full abilities had finally come.

He was only one step away from becoming a true cultivator.

He was very confident. So long as he did not face a martial artist above the peak of the Third Realm, he could remain undefeated.

Being wary of Jiang Wang was one thing, but that did not mean just anyone could come to his door and humiliate him.

"Truly a crude martial brute." Su Lingyi stepped forward to help Du Yanruo up, assuming the bearing of a lofty master. "Today, I will let you deeply understand the greatest difference between cultivators and martial artists."

The moment his words fell—

The sword at his waist flew from its sheath on its own.

No matter what the Black Flame soldier who had broken Du Zicheng's leg did, he could not shake the flying sword's lock.

"Cultivators refine Qi, and the Qi of heaven and earth is theirs to wield. Martial artists can only borrow Qi to temper their bodies. No matter how strong you temper those bodies, it is all in vain if you cannot hit your enemy."

The Black Flame soldier wore a green-faced, fang-toothed mask. Though his expression could not be seen, there was a clear trace of mockery in his gaze.

Watching Su Lingyi ramble on and on, flaunting his sense of superiority, he suddenly swung his spear and directly knocked the flying sword down.

Then he charged forward in great strides and, with the force of sweeping through a thousand armies, viciously slammed the spear across Su Lingyi's face.

Looking down at Su Lingyi, who had been sent vomiting blood by a single blow and was sprawled on the ground wailing miserably, the Black Flame soldier sneered. "As long as one's strength is powerful enough, no problem is a problem. Besides, you do not even qualify as a cultivator. With only that flimsy flying sword, where exactly does your superiority come from?"

Su Lingyi had never expected the slap to the face to come so swiftly.

His words had not been wrong, but he had overestimated his own abilities.

Though he was only one step away, he was ultimately not yet a true cultivator.

If he had encountered an ordinary Third Realm Martial Artist, he could indeed have gotten his wish.

But against the battle-hardened Black Flame Army, his ideas were merely ideas.

Shan Qiyu was actually somewhat wary of Su Lingyi as well. Fish Abyss Academy was not easy to offend. But since things had already come to this, it would be better to cut the grass at its roots, lest spring winds bring new growth.

He gave the Black Flame soldier a meaningful look.

The Black Flame soldier understood.

He raised the bright silver spear high.

Su Lingyi, who was alternating wails with Du Zicheng, saw this and disregarded the agonizing pain in his face. He cried out, "I am from Fish Abyss Academy! Think carefully about the consequences of killing me! Once Instructor Cai comes to Hun City, your entire marquis manor will be uprooted!"

Shan Qiyu raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "If that is how you want to put it, then I have no choice but to kill you."

Du Heng tightly gripped Du Yanruo at this moment. The scene before him made him recall the time when the Xunyang Marquis led the Black Flame Army into Hun City, suppressed the various clans, and hung Black Flame Army banners all over the city.

In the face of the Xunyang Marquis, who intended to establish his authority, many wealthy clans had suffered disastrous misfortune back then.

Although the Xunyang Marquis only targeted wealthy clans that preyed upon the common people, some of those wealthy clans had sect backgrounds.

Just as Du Yanruo attended Fish Abyss Academy.

Though that sect back then could not possibly be mentioned in the same breath as Fish Abyss Academy, the Xunyang Marquis had dared to lead a group of martial artists directly to that sect's gates. In the end, the sect had sent cultivators to apologize to the Xunyang Marquis.

In the eyes of Du Heng, who had not yet risen to prominence at the time, the Xunyang Marquis had simply been a godlike existence.

How could mortals dare challenge immortals?

Du Heng now knew that immortals and cultivators were not the same thing, but what difference was there to ordinary people?

Due to the marquis manor's decline, Du Heng had gradually begun to forget this matter.

And Du Yanruo's entry into Fish Abyss Academy had somewhat gone to his head.

Perhaps the marquis manor was no longer the marquis manor it had once been, but the Black Flame Army was still the Black Flame Army once led by the Xunyang Marquis.

Watching Su Lingyi's hysterical appearance, Du Heng recalled the terror of being ruled by the Xunyang Marquis and had even begun blaming Su Lingyi in his heart.

Thinking of how, despite frequently mocking Xunyang Marquis Manor over the years, he had often warned his family not to provoke it first so long as the Du Family's power had not truly surpassed the marquis manor.

Now, the only person who could have brought the Black Flame Army here was the outsider Su Lingyi.

Du Zicheng, who had been clutching his leg and howling all along, had been completely ignored.

Du Heng only wanted to pull Du Yanruo farther away.

After all, they were both people of Hun City. So long as the Du Family was not at fault, he felt the matter could still be discussed.

Just as the Black Flame soldier was about to kill Su Lingyi—

A fierce wind suddenly rose above the Du residence.

Shan Qiyu's expression shifted slightly.

His figure darted out at once.

He directly seized the bright silver spear from the Black Flame soldier's hands, swung his arm, and smashed it down at Su Lingyi with terrifying force!

Bang!

Crack!

The bright silver spear smashed Su Lingyi's right hand apart, and the entire ground cracked open.

Su Lingyi only let out one scream before fainting dead away.

But Shan Qiyu's expression was exceedingly ugly.

Because the place he had struck had been Su Lingyi's head.

Seeing a figure appear out of thin air in the Du residence, Shan Qiyu cursed under his breath and smashed his spear forward once more, with even greater force than before.

"Insolence!"

The newcomer wore a gray robe. He was thin and his face was withered, yet his eyes were exceptionally sharp.

At this moment, he stretched out a hand and flicked a finger toward Shan Qiyu. The bright silver spear was blasted straight from Shan Qiyu's hand and deeply embedded in the wall, its tail trembling violently.

Shan Qiyu staggered back more than ten steps in succession, blood already flowing from the tiger's mouth between his thumb and forefinger.

"Instructor Cai!" Du Yanruo cried out.

Cai Tanggu lightly swept his sleeve, and Su Lingyi, who lay unconscious on the ground, was directly lifted up and slowly lowered beside Du Yanruo.

Looking at the hundred Black Flame Knights before him, all standing ready for battle, he said in a grave voice, "Are you the garrison of Hun City? For what reason do you dare kill a student of Fish Abyss Academy? If you cannot give me a reason that satisfies me, I will grind your bones to ash."

Shan Qiyu lowered his trembling arm and grinned. "The reason you want is very simple. The Du Family secretly hired the Jianli to assassinate the Young Marquis. That is an enormous crime, and that Su fellow sheltered them. He brought this upon himself."

In the Sui Kingdom, none who could be granted the title of marquis were ordinary.

It was not something one could obtain merely through military merit.

Assassinating a marquis's son was an unforgivable crime.