Troubled Times Produce Monsters

A Fifth Rank Martial Artist was annihilated with a single strike!

"It seems I can't act so casually in the future."

Chen Mu slowly lowered the Broken Sword in his hand. Looking at the spot where the man in commoner's clothes had vanished and the nearly ten-foot-wide pit in the ground, he murmured inwardly.

The might of the Heart Sword was even greater than he had expected!

If he hadn't struck from above but had instead swept his sword horizontally, then this entire nearby street would probably have been split in two, cut into upper and lower halves!

No wonder the Fifth Rank Sorcerer realm represented a qualitative transformation. Beginning with the Subordinate Fifth Rank Dao Technique Realm, they were all known as high-ranked.

Nearby.

Chen Yao was still completely frozen.

She knew sorcerers were powerful. Beginning from the Seventh Rank, they could directly contend with Martial Artists of a rank higher than themselves. But that man in commoner's clothes had been a genuine Fifth Rank Martial Artist!

Old Meng had fallen in realm and was only a Fifth Rank Martial Artist now. At the Fifth Rank, one was a figure of importance in any faction—not some insignificant nobody by the roadside!

Yet now.

A Fifth Rank Martial Artist had been blasted into scraps right before her eyes, without even a trace of residue left behind. It had happened with such ease that he hadn't even had room to struggle!

That was impossible for a Sixth Rank Sorcerer to accomplish.

Moreover, what had happened just now was clearly not a sorcerer's flying-sword technique. That overwhelming sword light and surging sword intent had seemed more like a strike from a grandmaster who had entered the Dao through the sword!

Was Chen Mu a Third Grade Martial Dao expert?

Clearly, that was impossible!

Then only one explanation remained... Daoist arts!

"Second Brother, you..."

Chen Yao gradually recovered from her shock. A trace of grievance surfaced in her gaze as she looked at Chen Mu.

Chen Mu was no Sixth Rank Sorcerer at all. He was clearly stronger—a Fifth Rank Dao Technique expert!

He hadn't told her the truth, hiding his realm, and had even scared her half to death just now. She had worried that Chen Mu, being too close, would be taken advantage of by that Evil Cult devotee.

If she had known Chen Mu was a Fifth Rank Sorcerer with Daoist arts at his command, she wouldn't have been afraid at all!

Chen Mu turned to look at Chen Yao. Seeing that trace of grievance in her eyes and knowing what she wanted to say, he tossed away the half of the Broken Sword in his hand and said with a faint smile, "I had to keep a trump card hidden, didn't I?"

"..."

Chen Yao sighed and revealed a trace of melancholy. "Fifth Rank Daoist Arts, Fourth Rank Non-Human... It looks like it'll really take me a long time to catch up with you, Second Brother."

If Chen Mu had been a Sixth Rank Sorcerer, then she would only have needed to reach the Fifth Rank to at least gain the ability to protect him. But a Fifth Rank Sorcerer was genuinely at the Non-Human level. In terms of combat strength, they were no weaker than a Fourth Grade Martial Dao expert. The gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

"It's only the Fourth Rank. Aren't you still planning to become a Martial Saintess?"

Chen Mu let out an amused laugh.

Chen Yao's mental fortitude was truly firm enough. She had first nearly died, then decisively committed suicide, only to be rescued by him afterward. She had experienced several tremendous ups and downs in a short span of time, yet she had still recovered so quickly.

"Daoist arts... They're so powerful..."

Chen Yao looked at the pit where the man in commoner's clothes had vanished. Recalling what had happened earlier, she still couldn't calm down and couldn't help murmuring twice.

But she soon took a deep breath, and clarity returned to her eyes.

Although sorcerers were enviable, that was all they were—enviable. After all, among the hundreds of millions of people in the Great Yuan, there were only so many sorcerers, and those who could reach the Fifth Rank were rarer still.

Daoist arts were powerful, and even a Fifth Rank Martial Artist could hardly withstand a single strike. But that was as far as it went. As long as she continued along the Martial Dao, there were still the Fourth and even Third Grades. Sooner or later, she would cross this stage.

Moreover.

Those who survived great calamity were bound to have good fortune afterward.

This time, she had faced a Fifth Rank Martial Artist while only at the Eighth Rank. Although the Xuanguo Estate had quite a few Fifth Rank Martial Artists, experiencing their Martial Dao Will and clashing wills between life and death was entirely different.

At the very least, after this experience, the difficulty of breaking through to the Sixth Rank in the future would be greatly reduced.

She would soon reach the Seventh Rank, and then the Sixth Rank wouldn't be too difficult either. After that came the Fifth and Fourth Ranks. Hmm, calculating it this way, it seemed she wasn't actually all that far from Chen Mu.

"Second Brother, you mustn't scare me like that again next time."

"Mm. I definitely won't."

Chen Mu answered casually, then turned around and walked ahead, beckoning to Chen Yao as he went.

The disturbance just now would certainly alarm quite a few people. They would probably arrive one after another before long. He had no interest in meeting those unrelated people.

"Okay."

Chen Yao came back to herself, answered obediently, and followed Chen Mu until they disappeared into the street.

A moment later.

A figure appeared without a sound.

In this freezing, snowbound winter, he wore only a thin set of commoner's clothes. His eyes were pitch-black and unnervingly intimidating. As he walked step by step along the street, most of the snow by the roadside melted silently.

Yu Cheng!

A grandmaster who usually guarded Yuan Wu Alley!

When he reached the roadside and looked into the street, he saw the pitch-black pit. A strange glint flashed through his eyes, and he immediately walked to its edge.

"This is..."

Yu Cheng's pupils contracted, and astonishment appeared on his face.

With only a glance, he could sense the remnant of a chilling sword intent. That sword intent was so intense, and faintly carried such a transcendent quality, that it was alarming!

For a sword intent to remain until now without dispersing, its source had to be at least a Fourth Rank Martial Artist who specialized in the sword. It might even have belonged to a grandmaster who had entered the Dao through the sword!

Who was it?

It wasn't either of those two in the Capital. He had sensed both of their sword intents before, and they were entirely different from the one before him. This was a completely unfamiliar sword intent.

Yu Cheng's expression grew solemn. He stood there in thought for a long while before finally shaking his head.

An existence like this couldn't be an unknown nobody. Judging by the opponent's strike, they hadn't tried to conceal it, clearly not hiding themselves deliberately either. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he heard their name.

"Troubled times..."

Yu Cheng let out a soft sigh.

Even this fleeting glimpse of sword intent made him feel terrified. If the other party truly possessed Third Grade cultivation, then he was most likely no match for them. In fact, the vast majority of grandmasters would find it difficult to withstand that person's sword.

The saying "Troubled Times Produce Monsters" probably referred to exactly this.

However, the Martial Saint realm of the First Grade Martial Dao had been vacant for several decades. It was about time someone crossed that threshold and achieved Martial Saint—perhaps it would happen in this generation.

He simply didn't know whether the person who would become the ninth Martial Saint since the founding of the Great Yuan would be one of the peerless prodigies from the Eight Sects of the World, or one of the freaks cultivated by the Great Yuan Dynasty.

If the new Martial Saint emerged from the Eight Sects again, then the Great Yuan would truly be in grave danger.

Yu Cheng shook his head.

He looked once more at the pitch-black pit in the middle of the street, then lightly stamped his foot.

Crack! Crack!!

The ground shattered at once, spreading to the entire edge of the pit. Finally, it collapsed piece by piece, completely filling the pit. The traces of sword intent left behind were also smoothed away by Yu Cheng.

After finishing all this, Yu Cheng finally turned around. He took a single step forward, leaving behind only an afterimage where he had stood. It gradually vanished like a bubble, while his true body had already disappeared without a trace, as elusive as a ghost.