"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The gang members patrolling the courtyard erupted into an uproar at the sight, drawing their blades and swords as they surrounded Liu Feng.
"A pack of ants dares block my path?"
Liu Feng sneered and thrust out both hands.
Crimson true qi gathered in his palms, transforming into two enormous bloody hands that grabbed at the charging gang members.
Blood-Sucking Devil Palm.
This was a martial skill recorded in the Blood Origin Technique. It could draw out the blood and qi within another person's body to nourish its wielder. Those struck by this palm would suffer severe loss of blood and qi at best; at worst, all their blood would be drained, leaving them as dried corpses.
"Ah—"
Miserable screams rose one after another.
Several gang members at the forefront were seized by the bloody hands. Their bodies instantly stiffened, and their faces turned pale at a visible rate.
Their blood was forcibly extracted through the pores of their skin, turning into wisps of blood mist that flowed into Liu Feng's palms.
In just a few breaths, those gang members became dried corpses and fell stiffly to the ground.
The remaining gang members were scared out of their wits. They scrambled backward, rolling and crawling away, no longer daring to step forward.
"Chen Xuan, come out and die."
Liu Feng stood in the courtyard, his icy voice echoing through the grounds.
Crimson true qi swirled around him. The blood he had just absorbed circulated through his body, making his aura even stronger.
"A worthless Body Tempering Realm fighter is worthy of making me come here in person?"
A trace of disdain curled Liu Feng's lips.
The information he had received said that Chen Xuan cultivated the Vajra Technique and had reached the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering, Huajin Realm, making him comparable to an ordinary First Layer of Qi Casting.
But so what?
He was at the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer. He cultivated the Superior Technique, Blood Origin Technique, and had opened forty-eight qi meridians. Before him, someone at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering was nothing more than a slightly stronger ant.
"Are you looking for me?"
A calm voice came from the inner courtyard.
Liu Feng looked toward the sound and saw a youth of seventeen or eighteen slowly emerge from the inner courtyard. He wore a blue robe, had refined features, and carried a longsword in his hand.
"You're Chen Xuan?" Liu Feng sized Chen Xuan up, contempt flashing through his eyes. "My useless little brother died by your hand."
"Don't put it like that." Chen Xuan's expression remained calm. "Your brother was indeed useless, but you're useless too. Big brother shouldn't laugh at second brother."
"Courting death!"
Being called useless by a Body Tempering Realm martial artist made the killing intent in Liu Feng's eyes surge.
As soon as he spoke, Liu Feng struck with both hands. Crimson true qi gathered in his palms, transforming into two enormous bloody hands that clawed toward Chen Xuan.
Blood-Sucking Devil Palm.
This strike contained his full strength.
He wanted to drain Chen Xuan dry and make him die in agony.
Yet Chen Xuan did not even raise an eyelid before this fierce attack.
He merely lifted his hand and gave a light sweep.
A golden Sword Qi shot from the blade, cleaving the two bloody hands in half.
The bloody hands exploded in midair, turning into countless wisps of blood mist that scattered into the night wind.
"What? You... you're not at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering?"
Liu Feng's expression changed.
His Blood-Sucking Devil Palm had actually been broken by a single sword strike?
The power Chen Xuan had unleashed just now was clearly true qi.
"When did I ever say I was at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering?"
Chen Xuan did not waste words.
The Hanfeng Sword left its sheath.
Golden Sword Qi burst forth like thunder. Forty-five sword shadows appeared in the air at once, like a blooming golden lotus spreading dazzling radiance beneath the night sky.
Every sword shadow was solid as though real, radiating chilling killing intent as they enveloped every vital point around Liu Feng's body.
"No—"
Liu Feng let out a despairing roar.
The true qi of a Top-Tier Technique at the Fifth Layer of Qi Casting was of a quality far beyond the true qi he had cultivated.
Before these sword shadows, his true qi was as fragile as paper. The instant it burst from his body, it was torn apart.
In the end, Liu Feng only had time to let out half a scream before all forty-five sword shadows pierced through his body at once.
The sword shadows vanished, and Liu Feng's body froze where he stood.
His eyes were wide open, his mouth agape, disbelief still etched across his face.
Until his death, he could not understand why an Outer Disciple supposedly cast out by the Guiyuan Sect to Tiannan Prefecture could possess such terrifying strength.
Liu Feng's body began to collapse.
Like Lei Hu, his body was sliced into tiny chunks of flesh. Blood gushed out, staining the bluestone slabs in the courtyard red.
Silence.
A deathly silence filled the courtyard.
The gang members hiding in the distance all stared wide-eyed at the scene in disbelief.
Liu Feng, an Inner Disciple of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect at the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer, had been slain by their branch leader with a single sword strike?
"C... clean this up."
Chen Xuan sheathed his sword and turned back toward the study in the inner courtyard.
His expression was calm and his steps steady, as though he had merely done something utterly insignificant.
The study door was pushed open.
Chen Xuan walked inside, placed the Hanfeng Sword on the table, and returned to his chair.
He had just lifted his teacup when footsteps sounded outside the door.
"Branch Leader, Young Master Wan Guiyun requests an audience."
A gang member reported from the doorway, his tone carrying a hint of caution.
Young Master Wan?
Chen Xuan's heart stirred. He set down his teacup. "Let him in."
A moment later, a figure in white walked in from outside.
It was Wan Guiyun.
He still wore a white robe, though the sword hanging at his waist had been replaced with another.
However, Wan Guiyun's face was somewhat pale now—not from injury, but as though he had witnessed something utterly terrifying and been badly frightened.
"Branch... Branch Leader Chen."
Wan Guiyun stood before the desk and cupped his hands in salute, his voice somewhat unnatural.
His gaze fell upon Chen Xuan, and a complicated emotion flashed through his eyes.
When Liu Feng entered the branch, Wan Guiyun had also just arrived. There was absolutely no mistake about Liu Feng's cultivation at the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer.
Yet Chen Xuan had killed Liu Feng with just one sword.
Just moments ago, he had personally witnessed Chen Xuan slay Liu Feng in a single strike.
An Inner Disciple of the Blood Fiend Devil Sect, a Qi Casting Realm Third Layer expert who cultivated the Superior Technique, Blood Origin Technique, and had opened forty-eight qi meridians.
Killed in one sword strike by Chen Xuan.
Those forty-five sword shadows, that golden Sword Qi, that terrifying pressure...
Wan Guiyun closed his eyes. The scene from moments ago still replayed in his mind. He had seen many geniuses and many experts at Ten Thousand Sword Villa.
He could not see through Chen Xuan's exact cultivation.
But at the age of seventeen, someone capable of instantly killing a Qi Casting Realm Third Layer opponent with one sword strike—even within Ten Thousand Sword Villa, only those few prodigies with Transcendent Bone Aptitude possessed such strength.
Ten days ago, Chen Xuan had sparred with him and caught his Ultimate Sword Art with two fingers.
At the time, he had believed the gap between himself and Chen Xuan was not that great.
With his exceptional comprehension, he had become a Direct-Line Disciple. With Ten Thousand Sword Villa's resources, he had forcibly raised his bone aptitude to superior grade. The reason he had not yet broken through to the Zhuqi Realm was that the technique he cultivated was also at the level of an Ultimate Art. The First Layer of Qi Casting required opening seventy-two qi meridians. As long as he broke through to the Zhuqi Realm, together with his Ultimate Sword Art, he would surely wash away his past humiliation in one stroke.
But now, he finally understood how outrageously wrong he had been.
Even Liu Feng at the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer had been instantly killed by Chen Xuan. Even if he had now broken through to the First Layer of Qi Casting and mastered an Ultimate Sword Art, defeating Chen Xuan would likely still be difficult.
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