The Betrothal Letter Was Left with Me!

The moment those words were spoken, everyone present froze and looked at Zhang Mohu as though he were a fool.

Xiao Chen? A sword cultivator?

Did he even hear the nonsense coming out of his own mouth?

Xiao Chen was a Heaven-Jealous One, born rejected by the Great Dao. Could someone like that become a sword cultivator?

Xiao Zhentian was so furious that he laughed instead. "Zhang Mohu, I think you truly don't care about your life anymore. You dare spout even such lies? Do you have a grudge against me, Xiao Zhentian, so you deliberately used that bastard to insult my Zhenbei King Manor?"

An hour ago, he had still sensed that although Xiao Chen's talent had recovered, he possessed no cultivation whatsoever. In less than an hour, Xiao Chen had not only comprehended the Sword Dao, the most difficult path to cultivate, but had also gained the strength to defeat Zhang Youzhi?

How was that possible?

"I thought Zhang Mohu truly had some grievance, but it turns out he really ate a leopard's gall and came to Zhenbei King Manor to court death. If that trash Xiao Chen can become a sword cultivator, then I'm a Sword Immortal!"

"Exactly. And Zhang Youzhi is at the seventh level of the Martial Disciple Realm, one of the outstanding young talents in all of Barren North City. Xiao Chen had no cultivation not long ago, not to mention that he's a Heaven-Jealous One rejected by the Great Dao. How could he possibly gain the strength to kill Zhang Youzhi so quickly?"

"He's gone mad. Zhang Mohu has definitely gone mad!"

Everyone present believed that Zhang Mohu had been unable to bear the pain of losing his son and had gone insane.

Quite a few people looked at Zhang Mohu with sympathy, feeling that a giant of Barren North City had fallen to such a state. His twilight years were truly bleak.

"Your Highness, every word I said is true! If the evidence were not conclusive, how would I dare babble nonsense before you? Do I not want my life?"

Zhang Mohu argued with reddened eyes.

"Zhang Mohu, do you know what you're saying? Even this young master finds the Sword Dao difficult to comprehend. How could a mere Xiao Chen, a worthless thing cursed by the Heavenly Dao, become a sword cultivator? What kind of joke are you making?"

Xiao Lingtian could no longer hold back and spoke up in rebuke.

"But..."

"Enough! Get the hell out of here at once! Otherwise, after today, there will be no need for your Zhang Family to exist in Zhenbei City any longer!"

Just as Zhang Mohu was about to continue, Xiao Zhentian cut him off coldly.

"Patriarch, we should leave first! Our Zhang Family cannot bear the Zhenbei King's wrath!"

"Yes, Patriarch. Please put the bigger picture first!"

"We can slowly discuss the Young Master's vengeance after we return and proceed step by step!"

The Zhang Family martial artists were terrified when they sensed the killing intent emanating from Xiao Zhentian.

Many among them were merely Attendants of the Zhang Family, working for money. Though the Zhang Family paid generously, it was not enough for them to risk their lives!

Xiao Zhentian's strength was too terrifying. If he made a move, they would not even have a chance to flee!

"Proceed step by step? Open your eyes and look! Even in death, my son's eyes could not close, yet you tell me to proceed step by step? Isn't it just death? Even if I must throw away this life today, I will demand an explanation from Xiao Zhentian!"

Seeing how weak his martial artists were, Zhang Mohu flew into a rage.

Xiao Zhentian narrowed his eyes. "Zhang Mohu, it seems this king has not acted for too long. You no longer even place this king in your eyes."

As he spoke, he slowly clenched his fist. A terrifying martial aura spread from his entire body, like a fearsome beast awakening from its slumber, radiating an extreme sense of danger.

Locked onto by Xiao Zhentian's aura, Zhang Mohu was just about to resist when he discovered in horror that he could not move. He had been completely suppressed by Xiao Zhentian and had utterly lost the ability to fight back.

His heart jolted in alarm.

Though he had always known that Xiao Zhentian's combat strength was heaven-shaking, he had never expected it to be this terrifying. Merely releasing his aura had rendered a Martial General Realm expert like him unable to move.

It was simply too terrifying!

"Your Highness, aren't you afraid that people throughout the world will poke at your spine behind your back for using your power to bully others?"

Zhang Mohu gritted his teeth.

"Heh. So long as I, Xiao Zhentian, remain alive, who would dare? If there truly are those unafraid of death, just destroy them. Why should I care?"

Xiao Zhentian sneered, tyranny overflowing from his words.

Under the absolute suppression of strength, Zhang Mohu deeply felt a sense of powerlessness. He closed his eyes in despair, then abruptly opened them again and threw back his head in a furious roar. "Xiao Chen, even as a ghost, I will not let you go!"

However, just as Zhang Mohu closed his eyes and prepared to await death, a soft, sweet, syrupy voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. "Wait!"

Everyone followed the sound and saw an incomparably beautiful figure slowly emerge from the crowd.

Everyone was stunned.

The Ninth Princess of Great Xia, Ye Qingxuan? Why was she here, and why was she pleading for Zhang Mohu? Could it be that she intended to protect him?

Xiao Zhentian's punching motion paused as well. Turning his head, he frowned slightly when he saw that Ye Qingxuan was the one speaking. "Qingxuan, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to stop me from killing Zhang Mohu?"

Though Ye Qingxuan was the Xia Emperor's most favored Ninth Princess, before Xiao Zhentian, she was still merely a junior. Her public interference had stirred some displeasure in him.

"Uncle Xiao, there is a misunderstanding here."

"What misunderstanding?"

"Patriarch Zhang was not lying. Zhang Youzhi truly was killed by Xiao Chen, and he was killed in a single strike of the sword. I was there at the time!"

Ye Qingxuan spoke slowly.

Ye Qingxuan's words were like bolts of thunder exploding beside everyone's ears. Disbelief appeared on every face.

Zhang Youzhi had truly been killed by Xiao Chen?

And killed in a single strike of the sword?

How was that possible?

Xiao Zhentian was dumbfounded as well.

The Xiao Chen everyone regarded as trash had become a sword cultivator in less than an hour, his cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds, and had directly killed the martial Heavenly Prodigy Rank Zhang Youzhi with one strike of the sword?

Zhang Youzhi's strength was comparable to Xiao Lingtian's. If Xiao Chen could kill Zhang Youzhi in one strike, didn't that mean he could kill Xiao Lingtian in one strike as well?

His eldest son, whom he had regarded as garbage all these years, was actually so much stronger than Xiao Lingtian, the young True Dragon in their eyes. Could the heavens possibly be playing a joke on them?

"Qingxuan, could you have seen it wrong? Xiao Chen is a Heaven-Jealous One, an out-and-out piece of trash! How could he possibly become a sword cultivator?"

Xiao Lingtian truly could not endure it any longer and shouted.

Ye Qingxuan cast Xiao Lingtian an indifferent glance and said nothing.

Trash?

Before today, she had indeed believed Xiao Chen to be trash and Xiao Lingtian to be a heavenly prodigy. But after witnessing Xiao Chen's breathtaking brilliance today, her thoughts had changed completely.

Xiao Chen might indeed be a Heaven-Jealous One, but there had to be some profound mystery in the hidden latter half of the Martial Spirit Mirror's words!

The iron law that Heaven-Jealous Ones had always died young might well be broken by Xiao Chen. Just as no one throughout the ages had ever recovered after their dantian shattered, yet Xiao Chen had done it. He must possess some unknown great opportunity, and she absolutely had to obtain it!

Seeing Ye Qingxuan's cold gaze, Xiao Lingtian's heart suffered a tremendous blow.

Why was she looking at him like that?

Hadn't she said that, in her eyes, he would always be the best?

Xiao Chen!

It was all because of Xiao Chen that Ye Qingxuan had changed her attitude!

Xiao Chen, you truly deserved to die!

Zhang Qitian, who had been standing nearby without speaking, also had countless flashes of shock pass through his eyes.

Xiao Chen had become a sword cultivator?

And the moment he became one, he possessed such combat strength?

Could there truly be some great mystery in the latter half of the prophecy that the Martial Spirit Mirror had failed to reveal?

If so, then even at any cost, he had to bring Xiao Chen to Saintly Wasteland Academy. Saintly Wasteland Academy also possessed several Sword Scriptures and could fully cultivate Xiao Chen in the Sword Dao.

A monstrous talent who could enter the Sword Dao within an hour was simply unprecedented throughout all eternity. Even if he had to stake his old life, as long as he could poach Xiao Chen into Saintly Wasteland Academy, it would be a blood-profit bargain!

"Senior, could that little bast... could my son truly become a sword cultivator?"

Xiao Zhentian turned toward Zhang Qitian.

"By all logic, one cursed by the Heavenly Dao is essentially fated to have no affinity with the Dao and cannot become a sword cultivator! Yet this old man has always felt that half of the Martial Spirit Mirror's prophecy was never revealed. Perhaps the mystery lies hidden within that latter half. But I cannot be certain either. I must ask my senior brother, the Saintly Wasteland Old Man!"

Zhang Qitian frowned.

Upon hearing the Saintly Wasteland Old Man's name, everyone present changed expression.

The Saintly Wasteland Old Man, the current dean of Saintly Wasteland Academy, possessed unfathomable combat strength. He was one of Great Xia's ceilings of combat power, an existence above Great Xia's Ten Kings.

Legend had it that he was already two hundred years old this year, and his martial cultivation was terrifying beyond measure. Over the past century, the Demon Race had attacked Saintly Wasteland Academy many times, only to return with feathers scattered and wings broken, all because this terrifying giant was there to hold the fort.

If Great Xia's Ten Kings represented glory, then the Saintly Wasteland Old Man was more like an illusory legend. His fame spread far and wide, yet he was extremely mysterious and rarely appeared before the public. But every time he acted, he stirred up towering waves and left people utterly shaken!

"Then I must trouble you, Senior. The Saintly Wasteland Old Man is learned in both ancient and modern matters; he will surely know the mystery behind this!"

Reverence appeared on Xiao Zhentian's face.

Though he was one of Great Xia's Ten Kings, before the Saintly Wasteland Old Man, he was merely a junior, separated from him by an immense gulf.

"Mm. I will send word to my senior brother now!"

Zhang Qitian nodded faintly. A square white communication jade tablet appeared out of thin air in his hand. With a movement of his thoughts, a passage of golden words emerged upon the tablet before vanishing in an instant.

After doing all this, Zhang Qitian put away the jade tablet. "All right. Now we only need to wait for my senior brother's reply. By the way, Zhenbei King, I wish to accept Xiao Chen into Saintly Wasteland Academy. What do you think?"

The moment those words were spoken, everyone present was stunned.

Accept Xiao Chen into Saintly Wasteland Academy?

Saintly Wasteland Academy had clearly looked down on Xiao Chen before. Now that Xiao Chen had entered Sword Immortal Academy and awakened peerless talent in the Sword Dao, Saintly Wasteland Academy wanted to snatch him away?

Wasn't that a little too shameless?

Even Xiao Zhentian's eyes were filled with astonishment. He hesitated. "Senior, but my son has already entered Sword Immortal Academy. This..."

"It is no matter. I will personally go to Sword Immortal Academy and discuss it with Chou Wantian. Whatever compensation they want, Saintly Wasteland Academy will provide it. I believe they will give this old man some face!"

Zhang Qitian spoke slowly, a faint pride on his face.

There had never been a talent that Saintly Wasteland Academy wanted but could not obtain.

Though poaching someone from another academy was not particularly presentable, he could no longer care about that now!

Getting Xiao Chen, this peerless monster, into their hands was more important than anything else.

Chou Wantian had better agree. If he did not, then even if he had to seize him by force, he would take Xiao Chen away.

At the side, Zhang Mohu's face immediately turned ashen when he heard this.

He had come today intending to use the pressure of public opinion to force Xiao Zhentian to give him an explanation. Yet instead, Zhang Qitian had seen Xiao Chen's heaven-shocking talent and even developed the intention to poach him. With Saintly Wasteland Academy protecting him, Zhang Mohu's hope of revenge was basically gone!

"Senior, but Xiao Chen killed my son. He is a vicious and cruel villain! Saintly Wasteland Academy is a righteous and prestigious sect, how could it possibly..."

Zhang Mohu intended to make one final struggle!

"Patriarch Zhang, have you never killed anyone? The people you have killed are likely a hundred times more numerous than those Xiao Chen has killed. Does that make you a villain too?"

Zhang Qitian glanced indifferently at Zhang Mohu and spoke as casually as though discussing nothing of importance.

Killing people?

As martial artists, whose hands did not carry several lives?

Using that as an argument? With talent like Xiao Chen's, never mind merely killing his son—even if Xiao Chen slaughtered the entire Zhang Family, so what? Saintly Wasteland Academy could still shelter him!

Zhang Mohu was left speechless.

"Zhenbei King, this old man wishes to head to Sword Immortal Academy first. Will you come along?"

"Good!"

Xiao Zhentian and Zhang Qitian immediately prepared to head to Sword Immortal Academy to find Xiao Chen.

"Wait!"

At that moment, Ye Qingxuan suddenly spoke.

"What is it?"

Xiao Zhentian looked toward Ye Qingxuan.

"Xiao Chen accidentally left his betrothal letter with me. I wish to return it to the Zhenbei King for safekeeping!"

Ye Qingxuan walked over to Xiao Zhentian and handed him a document.

The reason she had revealed that Xiao Chen was a sword cultivator was for this very moment.

Seeing this, Xiao Zhentian frowned slightly.

Ye Qingxuan had clearly said before that she wanted to break off her engagement with Xiao Chen. What did she mean by putting on this performance before everyone now?