Emotional Wounds: Proposal (I)

The two middle-aged men stared at the scene before them, somewhat stunned.

Before their eyes lay a blade-shaped chasm dozens of zhang long. With their insight, they could naturally tell that it had been created by a single slash—and absolutely not by the blade itself. It could only have been Saber Qi, or more likely, Blade Aura. Saber Qi or Blade Aura with such destructive power meant this opponent's cultivation was truly astonishing.

Turning to look at the people from the Li Family, they saw that Divine Guard No. 3 was already barely clinging to life, while Heavenly Guard No. 2 beside him seemed rather dazed, as though he had yet to recover from his shock.

The two middle-aged men had not lost their tempers for hundreds of years since achieving Great Accomplishment in martial arts, but now they were furious. When had the Li Family ever suffered such humiliation? Even those two experts who had reached the Divine Realm would not stoop to quarreling with Divine Guards, much less the lower-ranked Heavenly Guards. Yet someone had actually beaten the Li Family's people into such a state. Was that not a blatant refusal to put the Li Family in his eyes?

"What happened to you? Can you still hold on? What exactly happened?" the middle-aged man emanating a faint King's Aura asked Divine Guard No. 3.

Divine Guard No. 3, who was already on the verge of collapse, seemed to gain strength the instant he saw the man before him.

"My lord, it was a young man. Just one move—only one move! His Blade Aura was at least ten zhang long. It was Blade Aura! He seemed to be in a great hurry. After striking once, he quickly left."

The moment Divine Guard No. 3 finished speaking, he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. Forcing himself to explain everything in one breath had been an exceedingly difficult task in his current condition.

"Rest first. Heal your injuries properly."

The middle-aged man who faintly exuded the bearing of a commander immediately placed his hand on Divine Guard No. 3's body. A flash of purple light passed over him.

Divine Guard No. 3's face immediately regained a healthy flush. Looking at the middle-aged man before him, he was deeply moved, but his body did not permit any large movements, so he could only express his gratitude slightly.

"Heavenly Guard No. 2!" A lion-like roar burst from the mouth of the middle-aged man who exuded a commander's bearing.

Heavenly Guard No. 2 jerked violently, clarity returning to his eyes. The moment he saw the two middle-aged men before him, he immediately dropped to his knees and said:

"My lord, General, we encountered a young man. He was extremely powerful. One move—Blade Aura ten zhang long! And he likes Miss Yuwen. It was because we tried to stop him and told him to leave Miss Yuwen that he attacked us."

"Second Brother, do you think he might be that expert who reached the Divine Realm ten years ago?" the man called General asked the middle-aged man beside him.

The middle-aged man who faintly emanated King's Aura said, "That is probably unlikely. The one who broke through to the Divine Realm ten years ago and reached the utmost of the blade path could not have been him. He is still only a young man now—how old would he have been ten years ago? Around ten? How could he possibly have reached the Divine Realm? Have you forgotten how long it took us to reach the Divine Realm? Besides, the strength he displayed was only about equal to Divine Guard No. 1. He is still some distance from the utmost of the blade path, so he should not be from that person's sect."

The man called General said, "Then could it be his master?"

The lord with King's Aura furrowed his brow. "It seems we have provoked great trouble. To allow a young man to reach the pinnacle of the Heavenly Realm, perhaps even the Divine Realm, his master must not be as you imagine. The one who reached the Divine Realm ten years ago was likely something like his senior brother, while his master has probably already broken through the Divine Realm. Otherwise, how could he allow such a young fellow to reach such a high realm?"

The General cried out in shock, "Break through the Divine Realm? How is that possible? We have cultivated diligently for over a thousand years, yet we have made no progress at all these past few centuries. How could someone have broken through? I do not believe it. I do not believe anyone could be more formidable than you, Second Brother."

It seemed that this General held his lord in absolute reverence. In his eyes, his second brother was the most powerful, just as Zhang Xingfeng was the most powerful in Lang Feng's eyes.

"Elder Brother, you must know that beyond every man is another man, and above every heaven is another heaven. Just as ordinary people do not believe that anyone's martial arts can surpass the First-grade realm, you do not believe that someone can break through the Divine Realm. Legend says that Pangu cleaved the highest Tianya Mountain of that time in two with a single axe blow, forming the boundless Tianya Mountain Range of today. Would you say that is merely a legend?"

The General smiled. "How could that possibly be true? Splitting a mountain apart with one axe strike—just thinking about it, it is impossible! Second Brother, you are not about to say it is true, are you? Hahaha..."

"I am telling you, it is true. Our Li Family has existed for thousands of years. Later, we established the Tang Dynasty. Later still, the Tang Dynasty was destroyed by Xiang Yu, and we turned instead toward commercial development. At the end of our Li Family genealogy, it is recorded that five thousand years ago, a burly man holding a giant axe flew through the air and later fought another man. Our ancestor hid in a corner at the time, and there were more than ten others present as well. Those two experts fought for a long time, yet not a trace of energy escaped. Do you find that strange? Why was there not the slightest leakage of energy? Could it be that they were weak, without much cultivation, and merely possessed some extraordinary art that allowed them to fly?"

The General looked at his second brother in great confusion. The lord looked at him, smiled, and continued:

"Later, after a long battle, the burly man holding the axe killed the other with a single strike. The excess energy released by the axe split the greatest mountain of that time in half. At first, I thought their divine arts were simply that powerful. Only after my cultivation reached the Heavenly Realm did I understand just how terrifying they truly were. They fought for so long without wasting even the slightest excess energy; every bit was perfectly measured. It was too terrifying. In such a life-and-death battle, they did not expend even a fraction more energy than necessary. And when that final axe strike killed his opponent, the tiny trace of energy that leaked out alone destroyed a mountain. Would you not call that terrifying?"

The General had also reached the Divine Realm, so he naturally understood how terrifying that was. Though he trusted his second brother deeply, he still found it difficult to believe that such powerful people truly existed.

The lord looked at his elder brother. Knowing that his elder brother found his words hard to believe, he smiled, somewhat smugly.

The middle-aged General was greatly astonished. How many years had it been since his second brother had shown such a smug smile? It seemed that aside from when he broke through the First-grade realm, it had only appeared when he abdicated to his son and saw that the realm he had governed was flourishing, with the people well-fed and warmly clothed. And now it had appeared again...

"Let me tell you—I believe I am about to break through the Divine Realm!" the lord said with a smile.

The General looked at his second brother, unable to react for a moment. "What did you say? You... you... you are about to break through the Divine Realm? Is that true? Say it again. Did I hear wrong?"

The lord looked at his elder brother and smiled. "Elder Brother, I am telling you, I—am—about—to—break—through—the—Divine—Realm. Did you hear that clearly? Hahahaha..."

The General immediately burst into laughter. "Hahaha, Second Brother, how many years have we waited for this? The day has finally come! Wonderful, wonderful! Oh, then that young man's master may truly have reached that realm. What... what should we do?"

"Hmph. Have we brothers ever feared anyone in all these thousand years? Besides, a fight does not rely solely on cultivation. It also depends on experience and wisdom. Most importantly, whether his master has reached that realm is not certain. Perhaps this young man himself is exceptionally intelligent, and perhaps he obtained some heavenly treasure or another. Therefore, I have decided that when we go to the Yuwen Family tomorrow to propose marriage, we will go together and meet this mysterious young man and that master of his. Hahaha..."

"Good, Second Brother. We will go meet him together. There has never been anything in this world that our brothers could not settle. Let us see exactly what kind of being he is! Hahaha..."

In an instant, the four people on the street had vanished, leaving behind only that terrifying chasm. What would happen to Zhang Xingfeng tomorrow...