The Debt Is Settled, Time to Speed Up

"Incorrect answer."

The moment the words left his mouth, a gust of wind swept between the two of them without warning.

The wind was extremely light yet extremely sharp, causing Sun Yue's disheveled hair and clothes to flutter wildly.

And it was in this gust of wind.

His proud head split open along the neck, slid diagonally, and crashed into the mud.

Its massive body swayed twice before collapsing with a thud.

Zhou Heng stared blankly at the scene, his mind completely blank.

On that battlefield, he witnessed Ninth Level of Cultivators make a move.

Standing in mid-air, its feet not touching the dust.

With a mere wave of his hand, he unleashed a martial art capable of shaking mountains and rivers.

Without needing to get close, one can wield swords and blades to kill enemies in mid-air.

The most terrifying thing is that layer of True Qi; even if one is surrounded by thousands of troops and attacked by swords and spears, one cannot be harmed in the slightest.

In the eyes of ordinary Martial Practitioner, he was already Deity -like, unattainable powerhouse.

But now.

The same level nine expert was killed in the blink of an eye, from the moment he drew his sword to the moment his head was severed.

His body was still standing straight, but his head had already fallen to the ground.

There was not even a sliver of room for resistance.

It wasn't the tree that was strong, but him.

Just how strong are you?

Zhou Heng snapped out of his daze and murmured to himself unconsciously.

Upon hearing this, Qin Wangchuan turned his head slightly, revealing half of his profile.

A trace of nostalgia flickered in those Golden Eyes.

"I've been asked this question before."

And my answer is--

"The strongest."

Zhou Heng was taken aback.

"The strongest?"

"Um."

Qin Wangchuan withdrew his gaze, gave a faint reply, and offered no further explanation.

Just then, Chen Yan quietly approached Zhou Heng, tugged at his sleeve, and whispered.

"Just who is your friend?"

Zhou Heng opened his mouth.

He had known Qin Wangchuan for many years; they had bickered and argued, and he had watched Qin forge iron and treat patients.

But if you really want to know his background...

Zhou Heng suddenly realized that he couldn't answer a single word.

"I... I can't explain it either."

He managed to squeeze out a dry sentence.

Meanwhile, Qin Wangchuan looked up at the fleeing bandits, then turned back to look at Zhao Biao's headless corpse in the mud, and frowned slightly.

"They've mostly run away; finding the others now won't be easy."

"We should have spared Zhao Biao's life."

As he spoke, he stepped into the village, intending to find someone else to talk to.

Zhou Heng and Chen Yan quickly followed.

"Didn't you just say you were going to take action...?"

"I asked you to do it so you could break his arm and keep him for questioning."

Zhou Heng's eyes widened immediately. "Then... what do we do now?"

Qin Wangchuan did not answer immediately.

He stopped and looked back at the area behind him.

The once bustling and lively mountain village has now become a living Purgatory.

Dozens of deep ravines crisscross the land, tearing it to pieces.

The collapsed mountainside was still shedding loose rocks.

On the scorched earth, limbs, broken knives, and bits of flesh were mixed together, and blood mixed with spilled lamp oil, forming dark red puddles on the ground. A few scattered flames flickered in the night after the rain.

The bandits who survived by sheer luck scrambled away, their cries fading into the distance.

"If we can find it, we will; if we can't, it doesn't matter."

Anyway.

Qin Wangchuan withdrew his gaze and didn't look at the ruins again.

"From now on, there will be no more Broken Tiger Stronghold."

On the other side, the Soaring Tower.

It's a little earlier.

Ever since news of Zhou Heng's disappearance reached him, Qin Wangchuan set out to search for him.

But so much time has passed and there is still no news. Fan Yuan is still worried, so he mobilized a lot more people to search every place Zhou Heng might have been to.

Speaking of which...

I initially took notice of Zhou Heng because of Mr. [Name].

But after spending these past few years together, even the coldest heart would have been warmed by this kid.

"Don't worry, Old Fan," his subordinate said, noticing his anxiety. "That kid is lucky and always escapes danger. He'll be fine."

"Sigh, you have no idea..."

Fan Yuan let out a half-sigh.

Boom--

Without any warning, the earth suddenly began to tremble violently.

His expression suddenly changed.

"This commotion... an enemy attack?!"

After being ambushed that time, Fan Yuan was truly terrified, and almost instinctively tensed up his entire body.

Before long, someone rushed in to report.

"Old Fan! Something strange has happened in the southeast direction!"

"Southeast?"

Fan Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

That direction, Broken Tiger Stronghold?

He grabbed the binoculars handed to him by someone and looked southeast.

As expected, this is the location of Broken Tiger Stronghold, where at most a few scattered lights can be seen on ordinary days.

But at this moment.

The entire mountain stronghold was engulfed in flames, thick smoke billowing and turning half the night sky a dark red.

And above that firelight.

Brilliant Sword Lights poured down from the cleaved clouds, slashing fiercely at the earth.

The rumbling sound continued incessantly, rolling dully across the sky.

Even though they were separated by thousands of miles, the gusts of wind that swept out as the Sword Lights fell still faintly brushed against his face, carrying a chilling sensation that made one's heart tremble.

"Broken Tiger Stronghold... what happened there?"

The person next to him was horrified and completely baffled.

The moment Fan Yuan saw the Sword Light, his pupils suddenly contracted.

Only one person can perform this technique.

"Zhou Heng is at Broken Tiger Stronghold."

His voice was strained, "The sir... the sir is there too!"

Without further hesitation.

"Walk!"

Fan Yuan mustered his men and they sped off towards the fire in the southeast.

By the time Fan Yuan arrived, the earth-shattering battle had already ended.

He dismounted, looked up, and froze on the spot.

The first thing you see is a relatively intact boulder high up.

Qin Wangchuan sat there, dressed in white, looking relaxed and unhurriedly in the direction they came from.

Their composed demeanor clearly indicated that they had anticipated their arrival and had been waiting there for a long time.

Not far away, Zhou Heng was also there, unharmed.

Fan Yuan felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

But when his gaze swept past the two men and landed behind them...

He took another breath.

What lies before us is no longer a mountain stronghold.

Dozens of deep ravines have shattered the earth, half of the mountain has collapsed, and scorched earth, debris, and rubble have covered every inch of the landscape. Lingering fires and thick smoke churned in the night.

Fan Yuan knew better than anyone the true strength of Broken Tiger Stronghold.

This large village has been entrenched here for decades, with thousands of inhabitants.

The number of people isn't large, but the key point is that nearly half of these thousands are Cultivators!

In ordinary forces, Martial Practitioner are the main force, while Cultivators are just a few scattered individuals.

However, the situation was reversed at Broken Tiger Stronghold, where Cultivators were clustered together. In terms of sheer strength, even Soaring Tower would have to think twice.

It was such a colossal thing.

At this moment, however, it was razed to the ground overnight and turned into this Purgatory on earth.

Fan Yuan composed himself, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and strode forward to the base of the boulder.

He looked up and bowed respectfully.

"Gentlemen."

Qin Wangchuan nodded slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on the ruins flickering in the firelight in the distance.

"Clean this up."

"Those who are still alive, you decide what to do with them."

"Dead--"

He paused.

"Find a place to bury him."

Fan Yuan was taken aback, then solemnly agreed.

These bandits committed numerous atrocities; even if they were to die, it wouldn't be unreasonable to leave their bodies in the wilderness.

The gentleman, however, still wished to be buried with a handful of earth, so that he could rest in peace.

Fan Yuan knew he could never learn such composure.

Qin Wangchuan said no more.

The firelight illuminated half of his face, flickering on and off, and his Golden Eyes revealed no emotion.

Back then, Qin Rang died at the hands of mountain bandits, sowing the seeds of this tragedy.

Today, the uprooting of this mountain stronghold is the fruit of that upheaval.

Cause and effect are reciprocal.

After a long silence, he spoke softly.

"This debt is finally settled."

(P. S.: Urgent! I'm even more anxious than you guys! I've already thought of the rest. The Ten Emperors Method —each Great Emperor clan has its own, but the Qin Clan doesn't have one, only a tree. Someone mentioned this before, saying the Qin Clan isn't good enough, that they seem too weak.)

At that time, I argued that Qin Clan's strength lay in his bloodline.

Now I will make the bloodline tangible.

The Qin Clan's Supreme Lore, Law Technique created by Qin Wangchuan, Future Seizure (or something to that effect).

Through the Wheel of Fate, one chooses a future and borrows its body. (Something like that.)

The kind that can be used by the Qin Clan, but the Protagonist himself will have an enhanced version for various reasons, far surpassing ordinary people.

There will be events like Eighth Sister's wedding, but I don't plan to write about them in detail because they are ultimately fake and not formal enough, so I will skip them.

There'll be a little more back and forth, and then we'll have a more formal session, one that's more detailed, otherwise it'll get a bit tiring.

I'm not entirely satisfied with the previous chapter; some parts will be slightly reworked before tomorrow.