Chou Wantian looked at Xiao Chen and frowned. "Kid, you really knew how to stir up trouble. You'd barely come down the mountain before killing the young master of one of the five great families. Couldn't you keep a lower profile?"
Xiao Chen shrugged. "With two Sword Kings like you here, did I need to keep a low profile? Besides, Zhang Youzhi was the one who provoked me first!"
Chou Wantian shook his head. "We won't readily act on your behalf. A sword cultivator cannot develop a dependent heart. Otherwise, all sharpness will be lost. Could he still be called a sword cultivator then?"
The Zhang Family was nothing more than a mere family, its strongest member only a Martial General. They could destroy it with a wave of their hands. But if they did that, Xiao Chen would develop a dependent heart toward them. In the future, whenever he encountered the slightest difficulty, he would seek their help. If that happened, Xiao Chen's sword heart would be finished.
Of course, if he truly encountered a life-or-death crisis, they would not stand by and watch Xiao Chen come to harm.
Xiao Chen froze when he heard that. "No way? Then why did you say earlier that you'd have my back?"
"Heh-heh, we were just being polite. Who knew you'd actually take it seriously? From now on, you'll have to carry your own burdens!"
Xiao Chen: "..."
At the same time.
Barren North City.
Zhang Family main hall.
A group of Zhang Family members gathered before a corpse. Not a sound could be heard, and the atmosphere was heavy to the extreme.
No one had expected that Zhang Youzhi, who had joyfully been admitted into Zhenkun Academy not long ago and set foot upon the path to becoming a dragon, would turn into a corpse in the blink of an eye.
A burly middle-aged man with a sinister appearance sat in the patriarch's seat at the very top. His face was as dark as water, his tiger eyes bloodshot as they stared fixedly at Zhang Youzhi's corpse.
This man was Zhang Mohu, the Zhang Family patriarch. He was a terrifying Martial General who had cultivated the Asura Blade Sutra to major success, making him exceptionally fearsome.
Below Zhang Mohu stood a dense crowd of people, all powerful martial artists—fifty or sixty of them in total!
Even the weakest among them was at the seventh level of the Martial Disciple Realm, while more than a dozen had reached the terrifying Martial Master Realm.
Every one of them radiated a sharp martial aura. Gathered together, they gave off an even more terrifying pressure that made people shudder with fear from afar!
If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would have been utterly horrified. Martial artists, such scarce fighting forces, had appeared in piles within a single family. It was simply outrageous!
This was the strength of the Zhang Family, one of Barren North's five great families.
At this moment, every Zhang Family member's eyes burned with intense fury.
Their young master had actually been killed in Barren North City!
Someone actually dared to be so arrogant!
That motherfucker was tired of living!
Zhang Youzhi's corpse had already turned stiff and pale. His lips were purple, and the blood around the hole in his forehead had dried and clotted. Even now, his eyes remained wide open, filled with terror. He had died with his eyes unclosed.
Kneeling before his corpse were five pale-faced middle-aged men with both arms severed. They were Zhang Shiyi and the others.
After they brought the corpse back to the Zhang Family, Zhang Mohu had immediately gone mad. Without even giving them a chance to explain, he had directly severed all five of their arms, venting his fury brutally. Only then had he summoned the Zhang Family members to the main hall for a meeting.
"Zhang Shiyi, the patriarch trusted you greatly and entrusted the young master's protection to you. Is this how you protected him?"
"Who exactly dared lay hands on the young master of my Zhang Family? I'll lead men there and wipe out his nine generations!"
"Zhang Shiyi, why aren't you explaining everything clearly?"
Several Zhang Family martial artists spoke with furious expressions.
The Zhang Family had always run rampant through Barren North City. Aside from a few giants, they held no one in their eyes. Now that their young master had been brutally killed, if they did not avenge this grudge, the Zhang Family would have no reason to remain in Barren North City.
They secretly made up their minds. The moment Zhang Shiyi revealed the murderer's name, they would immediately charge to his home and slaughter his entire family, leaving not even a chicken or dog alive.
In Barren North City, there were not many people the Zhang Family could not deal with.
"Heh-heh, with just you lot, you still wanted to wipe out his entire family? I'm afraid the moment I say his name, your legs will already go weak from fright!"
Zhang Shiyi sneered.
He had thought that after returning to the Zhang Family, Zhang Mohu would at least learn what had happened before punishing them. In that case, they might still have had a sliver of hope, since Zhang Youzhi himself had stubbornly insisted on shaking them off.
But he had not expected Zhang Mohu to see Zhang Youzhi's corpse and, without a word, chop off their arms. He had even sent people to their homes to wipe out their entire families.
Such a patriarch truly chilled the heart.
Since that was the case, he would no longer be polite to the Zhang Family either.
"Zhang Shiyi, have you lost your mind? How many people in Barren North City could stand against my mighty Zhang Family?"
"That's right. You must resent the patriarch for ordering your entire family's extermination, so you're here making alarmist claims!"
"The patriarch is a Martial General. Apart from the few giants of Barren North City, no one is his match! Even if someone from one of the five great families did this, we'll make them repay their blood debt in blood!"
The Zhang Family martial artists all wore disdainful expressions as they spoke coldly.
They did not believe Zhang Shiyi's words at all.
Just one name could make their legs go weak with fright?
How could that be possible?
"Zhang Shiyi, don't try that trick on me! Tell me the murderer's name at once. I might still grant you a quick death. Otherwise, I'll slice you into a thousand pieces!"
Zhang Mohu stared at Zhang Shiyi, his voice hoarse.
"Speak! Which bastard did it? I'm still waiting to wipe out his entire family!"
"Speak quickly! The long blade in my hand is already hungry beyond bearing!"
"I'll play with every woman in his family until they die!"
The Zhang Family martial artists joined in the clamor. Their eyes were red, their hands pressed against their sword hilts, each of them looking impatient beyond measure.
"Good. I hope you'll keep your word and truly go wipe out his entire family!"
"The murderer who killed Zhang Youzhi is none other than Xiao Chen, son of the Zhenbei King!"
"Hahaha, hurry to Zhenbei King Manor and wipe out his nine generations!"
Zhang Shiyi stared into Zhang Mohu's eyes and spoke each word distinctly.
The moment those words fell, everyone present underwent a drastic change of expression, their eyes filled with utter horror!
The killer was actually the Zhenbei King's son?
Then how the hell were they supposed to avenge this grudge?
The Zhang Family might be strong, but before the Zhenbei King, they did not even count as a hair!
Forget wiping out nine generations—even if they were told to go to the Zhenbei King and reason with him, they would not have the courage!
The Zhenbei King was one of Great Xia's ten great Martial Kings. He commanded one hundred thousand iron cavalry, and his manor was filled with countless experts.
It was no exaggeration to say that if the Zhenbei King wanted to destroy the Zhang Family, he would not even need to act personally. With a casual command, the entire Zhang Family would turn to ashes in an instant!
Zhang Mohu's expression also immediately became incomparably ugly upon hearing this.
He had originally intended to lead men directly to wipe out the murderer's nine generations!
But he had never expected the killer to be the Zhenbei King's son!
Although Xiao Chen was a discarded son who had severed ties and been cursed by the Heavenly Dao, Zhang Mohu still did not dare kill him.
How could a blood relationship be severed just because someone said so?
No matter how fiercely their family fought, it was still an internal conflict.
But if the Zhang Family dared kill Xiao Chen, with the Zhenbei King's overbearing temperament, he would dare wipe out the Zhang Family at any moment.
But Zhang Youzhi was his only son. If he did not avenge this grudge, he truly could not swallow this anger!
He lowered his head and glanced at Zhang Youzhi's face, still frozen in its deathly grievance. His expression grew incomparably gloomy. Suddenly, as though he had thought of something, he turned toward Zhang Shiyi. "You're lying! The murderer of my son was clearly an expert in the Sword Dao. With one sword strike, he pierced my son's forehead. He had at least the strength of a seventh-level Sword Disciple."
"That Xiao Chen had only entered Sword Immortal Academy a few hours ago, and he was a piece of trash cursed by the Heavenly Dao. How could he possibly possess such terrifying strength?"
"Speak! Who exactly killed my son?"
The Sword Dao was the most difficult of all great daos to cultivate and placed immense importance on talent. Sword Immortal Academy had long since declined, its Sword Spirit Stones exhausted. It had not produced a single sword cultivator for many years.
How could Xiao Chen have entered the Sword Dao in less than a few short hours?
Even if he had truly entered the Sword Dao, how could he immediately possess such terrifying Sword Dao strength?
Even Xiao Lingtian, the Xiao Family's current Qilin Child, absolutely could not accomplish such a thing!
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