The Holy Sword Appeared, and Han Su Dropped to His Knees Faster Than Anyone

The instant the golden light burst forth.

The entire corridor lit up.

It wasn't an ordinary brightness.

It was the kind of light that pressed down on you, as if someone had forcibly crammed a blazing sun beneath the eaves.

Han Su's palm was still halfway through its strike.

His palm wind was icy, Soul Power surging as it aimed for Su Chen's chest.

But the moment the Judgment Holy Sword left its sheath,

his vicious momentum seemed to meet its natural bane. Even the temperature of the air changed.

It wasn't hot.

It was searing.

So searing that it made the gaps between one's bones tighten.

Xiao Wu stood behind Su Chen, still holding her breath.

At that moment, the light before her eyes flared, and even her breathing paused for half a beat.

Su Chen held the sword in one hand.

Its entire blade gleamed gold, its edges wrapped in a fine layer of holy flame. The flame patterns didn't flare up; they flowed quietly along the sword's spine.

That quiet was what made it most frightening.

Because this wasn't an empty show of force.

This was power that could truly be restrained—and unleashed in a decisive strike.

Han Su's eyelid twitched.

He couldn't recognize what kind of Martial Soul this was.

But he recognized the force suppressing him.

This wasn't a simple case of one attribute countering another.

It was an overwhelming difference in rank.

The hand he had struck out with actually slowed by half.

That half beat.

Was enough.

Su Chen didn't retreat.

He didn't even dodge.

He simply raised his sword and swept it across in front of him.

Clang!

The explosive clang shook plaster from the corridor walls.

Han Su's palm struck the blade as if it had hit a wall of red-hot iron.

The next second,

his face changed on the spot.

A searing pain shot from his palm up his arm, followed by an overbearing, unreasonable counterforce that surged along his meridians and slammed into his chest.

Thud, thud, thud!

Han Su staggered back three steps.

With each step, his boots scraped across the floor tiles with a piercing shriek.

By the third step, his throat turned sweet, and a thread of blood had already spilled from the corner of his mouth.

The corridor fell silent.

The guards who had been rushing forward were all dumbstruck.

The two female Deacons behind Xu Tinglan were so stunned they held their breath.

Xiao Wu froze at first, then her eyes lit up startlingly bright.

"Now that's something."

"Wasn't that old bastard acting all high and mighty just now?"

"Why does he look like he got slapped by a door?"

Han Su's face turned green.

He raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at Su Chen, genuine shock and fury showing in his eyes for the first time.

"You dare injure me?"

Su Chen held his sword, his tone as even as if he were talking about the weather.

"You struck first."

"I'm just showing you what pain feels like."

At that, Xiao Wu almost burst out laughing.

The more she watched, the more satisfying it felt.

The most despicable thing about people like Han Su was that they were used to standing above others and trampling them, so they always thought whatever they said went.

But now,

he'd struck out with his palm, only to fail to suppress his opponent and end up spitting blood himself.

That had utterly dragged his dignity through the dirt.

Han Su had clearly realized it too.

His eyes darkened, and Soul Power exploded from him again.

All five of his Soul Rings lit up in unison.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black.

A Soul King.

And no ordinary Soul King, either.

As his fifth Soul Ring lit up, the chill in the corridor instantly deepened. Even the shadows on the ground seemed to stretch longer.

"His Highness the Holy Son."

Han Su's voice was hoarse.

"If you truly want to make a big deal of this, then I'll see it through with you."

Xiao Wu couldn't help laughing when she heard that.

"Is something wrong with your head?"

"You're obviously the one about to get into trouble. Why are you acting like the victim?"

Han Su ignored her.

He fixed his eyes on Su Chen and suddenly pressed one hand downward.

His fifth Soul Ring lit up.

Gray-black Soul Power spread out from beneath his feet, flowing through the cracks between the tiles like ink. In the blink of an eye, it covered half the corridor.

"Careful."

Xu Tinglan finally spoke.

"His Martial Soul is corrosive. Don't stay in contact with the floor for too long."

Su Chen glanced down.

When the gray-black Soul Power touched a wooden rack in the corner, the surface immediately began to sizzle, as if something were gnawing it away layer by layer.

Xiao Wu's expression turned serious, too.

She could fight.

But she wasn't stupid.

This kind of wide-area suppression was a nightmare for someone like her, who fought at close range.

Han Su sneered.

"Now you warn them? Too late."

He stomped down and lunged forward.

Not at Xiao Wu.

At Su Chen again.

It was obvious.

He knew better than anyone who truly held the upper hand tonight.

As long as he could suppress Su Chen, everyone else would scatter.

Unfortunately,

his reasoning was sound.

He'd just picked the wrong target.

Su Chen stepped forward.

There was nothing fancy about the sword.

He simply brought it down in a slash.

No Soul Skill.

No buildup.

Not even a single unnecessary movement.

Just speed.

So fast it was like a golden line dropping straight down before Han Su's eyes.

Han Su's pupils contracted. He forcibly pulled back the hand he'd originally aimed at Su Chen's chest and crossed both arms to block.

Boom!

The blade didn't actually cut into his arms.

But the force crashing down still buckled Han Su's knees.

Crack!

The two floor tiles beneath his feet split on the spot.

Han Su's whole body sank lower.

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up as she watched.

"He's kneeling?"

"No way, he really did kneel?"

Her words were like another slap across Han Su's face.

Han Su nearly ground his teeth to dust.

He hadn't wanted to kneel.

The force was simply too heavy.

Worse still, the golden light pressed down along the sword, landing right on the points where his Soul Power circulated. It left him feeling as though all his strength had been choked off.

He was a Soul King.

His cultivation was clearly higher.

Yet in front of Su Chen's sword, he was so thoroughly suppressed that he couldn't even lift his head.

"Get—up!"

Han Su let out a fierce growl, and Soul Power exploded throughout his body as he tried to force Su Chen's sword aside.

But Su Chen merely looked at him, his gaze as indifferent as if he were watching a clown struggle in an embarrassingly pathetic way.

"Do you think having more Soul Rings makes you invincible?"

As his words fell,

Su Chen turned his wrist lightly.

The sword blade, which had been pressing down, suddenly tilted.

Han Su's upward force missed its mark.

His balance pitched out of alignment.

And in that instant,

Su Chen raised his leg.

One kick.

Thump!

It struck Han Su square in the chest.

Han Su flew backward as if he'd been struck head-on by a battering ram.

With a crash, his back smashed through half a wooden door at the end of the corridor. Splinters flew everywhere, and even the screen behind it toppled over.

That kick,

left everyone in the corridor numb with shock.

Even Lu Ming forgot to tremble. He remained kneeling there, staring blankly, his face pale as if he'd just been hauled out of the water.

Xiao Wu was silent for half a second.

Then she completely lost her composure.

"Su Chen."

"That was way too brutal."

That was what she said, but her eyes were shining like they were glowing.

Standing behind them, Xu Tinglan's moon-white sleeve tightened slightly.

She had already done her best to overestimate Su Chen.

And she had still underestimated him.

Han Su wasn't Zhou Ling, nor was he an ordinary Deacon.

That was the Suotuo Branch Hall Vice Hall Master, a bona fide Soul King.

Yet in front of Su Chen, he hadn't even lasted two rounds.

This wasn't a victory.

It was a crushing.

Su Chen didn't pursue him.

He simply held his sword and walked forward at an unhurried pace.

When he reached the shattered doorway, Han Su was bracing himself against the ground, trying to stand again.

A section of his chest had caved in.

His breathing was ragged, too.

The blood at the corner of his mouth was no longer a trickle. It was running down in a steady stream.

Su Chen stood before him, looking down.

"Do you still think you get to call the shots?"

Han Su looked up.

At last, there was something real in his eyes.

Not anger.

Fear.

Not feigned.

It was the instinctive fear that rose up in the face of absolute suppression.

But he still wouldn't back down.

"You... You dare hurt me in the branch hall."

"The Pope Palace can't—"

"You're wrong again."

Su Chen cut him off.

"I didn't hurt you."

"You attacked the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son. You got what you deserved."

Those words tore away the final scrap of cover.

Han Su's face turned ashen.

At last, he understood.

From the moment Su Chen got hold of that ledger, tonight's game had already slipped beyond his control.

He had thought he could suppress the matter with the branch hall's territory, its guards, and his status.

But now...

The ledger was in Su Chen's hands.

The Black Seal was in Su Chen's hands.

They had both witnesses and physical evidence.

He hadn't even managed to overpower them.

What did he have left to turn things around with?

At the other end of the corridor, the guards looked at one another, but none dared step forward again.

At last, Xu Tinglan took two steps forward.

She looked down at Han Su, her voice still soft.

"Do you want to keep going?"

Han Su glared at her.

His gaze looked ready to devour her whole.

Xu Tinglan didn't flinch.

"You lost for two reasons."

"First, you were too greedy."

"Second, you thought too much of yourself."

After hearing that, Xiao Wu gave her an immediate verdict.

"That's a pretty good insult, too."

Xu Tinglan glanced at her.

"I wasn't insulting him."

"I was keeping accounts."

Xiao Wu cracked up.

"Fine. Is that how everyone in the Internal Affairs Department talks?"

Su Chen sheathed his sword.

The golden light faded.

The oppressive aura that had made it hard to breathe also weakened.

He turned to Lu Ming.

"Can you talk now?"

Lu Ming shuddered all over.

This time, he didn't even dare look at Han Su.

"I'll talk. I'll tell you everything."

"Vice Hall Master Han ordered me to alter the accounts."

"He also ordered me to make those two transfer orders, saying we'd use the pretext of external transfers to erase several batches of goods from the branch hall's books."

"He also issued the travel permits for the Black Market. He... he was the one who issued them."

"I only did what I was told. I really only did what I was told!"

The words came fast and jumbled.

He sounded as if he were afraid that if he waited even a second, Han Su would silence him.

Han Su's face went completely white.

"Lu Ming, shut up!"

"Let him speak."

Su Chen replied with just three words.

His tone wasn't heavy.

But Han Su truly didn't dare make another sound.

The two female Deacons behind Xu Tinglan stepped forward, took out their notebooks, and recorded Lu Ming's words one by one.

Shen Zhi finally arrived from outside.

As soon as he entered, he saw half the corridor smashed to pieces, guards sprawled across the floor, and Han Su looking like he was half dead. He even stopped in his tracks.

"Am I a little late?"

Xiao Wu turned around, grinning from ear to ear.

"Not at all."

"You've arrived just in time for the house search."

Shen Zhi's mouth twitched.

He looked at Su Chen again, and only one thought remained in his mind.

This Holy Son really didn't care for doing things by the book.

By then, Xu Tinglan had rehung the remaining keys at her waist.

She looked at Shen Zhi.

"Go call the Branch Hall Legal Department and the Sealing Department."

"The Suotuo Branch Hall can't keep tonight's matter under wraps anymore."

Shen Zhi nodded and turned to leave.

At last, Han Su seemed to realize something and jerked his head up.

"Xu Tinglan."

"You think you'll be in the clear after bringing me down?"

"You have keys, too. You knew what was going on and didn't report it. You—"

"That's why I came."

Xu Tinglan cut him off.

"I brought out the ledger and laid the witnesses and evidence out in the open."

"What about you?"

"Other than running your mouth, what do you have left?"

Han Su was completely at a loss for words.

Xiao Wu stood beside Su Chen, in the best of moods.

She'd been worried this situation would be hard to untangle tonight.

But what happened?

Han Su had buried himself.

She leaned toward Su Chen and lowered her voice.

"That kick you landed just now was so cool."

Su Chen turned his head.

"You're only saying that now?"

"What else?"

"Weren't you watching the whole time?"

Xiao Wu's ears warmed, and she immediately glared at him.

"Who was watching you the whole time?"

"I was watching to see if Han Su looked ugly when he flew out."

Su Chen looked at her with a faint, amused smile.

"Did you get a good look?"

Xiao Wu coughed and turned away.

"It was, it was okay, I guess."

Though she said that, her hand quietly edged closer to Su Chen's until it gently brushed the back of his. Only then did she seem reassured.

The touch was light.

Light as a tentative probe.

Su Chen didn't pull away.

He didn't say anything, either.

But just as her fingers began to retreat, he caught her hand and clasped her slightly cool fingers in his.

Xiao Wu went completely stiff.

Her heart gave a sudden, frantic leap.

She looked up at him, eyes wide.

But Su Chen acted as if nothing had happened, his tone as even as ever.

"Don't wander off."

"We haven't finished cleaning up here."

Xiao Wu parted her lips.

She'd wanted to retort that she wasn't wandering off.

But in the end, she only gave a very quiet, "Oh."

She didn't pull her hand away.

She couldn't bear to.

Suddenly, a rush of orderly, hurried footsteps sounded outside the corridor.

The Sealing Department, Legal Department, and branch hall Deacons had all arrived.

The moment their leader entered, he saw Han Su's pitiful state, and his brows jumped sharply.

Then he spotted Su Chen and immediately bowed.

"Your Highness the Holy Son."

"The ledger and the people are here," Su Chen said coolly. "You can handle it yourselves."

The man didn't dare say much. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to secure the people, seal the doors, and lock down the ledgers.

Han Su still tried to struggle.

But when two Legal Department Deacons pinned his shoulders from either side, he could barely stay on his feet.

There wasn't a trace of his former dignity left.

Before he was taken away, he still turned back and glared at Su Chen.

His eyes held hatred.

And a trace of fear he couldn't hide.

Su Chen ignored him.

As if he were looking at a piece of filth about to be cleared away.

Once everyone had been taken away, the corridor finally quieted.

Wood chips, bloodstains, toppled shelves, and ledgers scattered across the floor.

Xu Tinglan stood where she was and let out a soft breath.

She turned to look at Su Chen.

"If you hadn't come tonight, we couldn't have turned this around."

Su Chen let go of Xiao Wu's hand, his tone indifferent.

"It's not like you didn't have a backup plan."

Xu Tinglan paused, then nodded.

"I did."

"But a backup plan you don't use is more or less the same as having none."

At last, Xiao Wu managed to steady her ragged breathing and regain some of her spirit.

"So what about now?"

"Can we eat now?"

Xu Tinglan was rarely caught off guard, but she was for a moment.

"...You're still thinking about food?"

"What else?" Xiao Wu replied, perfectly unapologetic. "I haven't had a proper meal since I walked into the Banquet Hall. I've been acting the whole time."

As she spoke, she glanced at Su Chen.

"And I've used up so much energy today."

Su Chen gave a quiet hum.

"You should eat."

Xu Tinglan was silent for two seconds, then actually nodded.

"There's still some hot food set aside in the back hall. It was meant for the Internal Affairs Department staff on night duty." She looked at Xiao Wu. "If you don't mind, you can go have some."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up.

"You're actually pretty nice."

Xu Tinglan's mouth twitched slightly.

"You're pretty direct with your compliments, too."

Su Chen looked up just then, gazing toward the inner door at the end of the corridor, which hadn't quite shut.

Inside was pitch-dark.

Yet in that darkness, something seemed to flash faintly.

For an instant.

But he didn't miss it.

His gaze instantly turned colder.

"Wait."

Xiao Wu had just started to leave, but immediately stopped.

"What is it?"

Su Chen didn't reply.

He simply raised his hand again.

The Judgment Holy Sword gleamed with golden light once more.

The next moment.

He swung his sword at the half-open inner door.