"I've spent my life studying Martial Soul Theory and caring for all under heaven. Why would I fear the powerful?"
Yu Xiaogang spread his arms and roared at the high platform, his voice turning shrill as it cracked.
"Tang Yu! Just because you have tens of thousands of soldiers under your command, you think you can throw your weight around here!"
"Do you think you can make the whole world submit with force?"
"You're wrong! Justice will never be crushed by tyranny!"
His words were impassioned enough that even Yu Xiaogang was moved by them.
He felt like the only torch burning in the darkness, defending the Soul Master World's last shred of decency with his life.
Even if he died here today, his name would surely go down in history, becoming a spiritual totem for all who resisted.
Beside the high platform, Xue Qinghe watched the man lost in self-admiration and furrowed her brows.
As the Heaven Dou Crown Prince, she had seen all sorts of people.
But she had never encountered someone as weak and stupid as Yu Xiaogang, yet so determined to put on airs.
Xue Qinghe sneered, her eyes full of undisguised disgust.
"Justice?"
"You can't even protect yourself, yet you're here prattling about justice and all under heaven?"
"You're nothing but a reckless buffoon. How dare you spout such nonsense in front of Prince Wuyang?"
Xue Qinghe had originally planned to leave him with an intact corpse, but now she felt that every second he remained alive polluted the air.
She stopped wasting words on Yu Xiaogang and turned to the guards below the platform.
"Guards."
"Slap him."
"Keep going until that foul mouth of his can't utter another word."
As soon as Xue Qinghe finished speaking, two Black Horse Iron Cavalry soldiers standing on either side of the square immediately strode forward.
The two soldiers wore heavy armor and were powerfully built. Their boots thudded against the flagstones as they walked.
When Yu Xiaogang saw the two tower-like men approaching, panic finally rose in his heart.
"What are you doing!"
"Are you planning to commit violence in broad daylight, in front of everyone!"
Yu Xiaogang shouted as he hurriedly summoned his Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao.
A small purple pig resembling a country dog appeared at his feet, grunting. It looked utterly harmless.
As the cavalry soldiers charged at him, Yu Xiaogang roared and prepared to unleash a Soul Skill.
One soldier didn't even glance at Luo Sanpao. He kicked out, and the Martial Soul dispersed into a cloud of purple mist.
Then a large, calloused hand clamped around Yu Xiaogang's throat.
Like a duck caught by the neck, Yu Xiaogang's feet instantly left the ground, and his face turned bright red as he choked.
He was given no chance to catch his breath.
The other soldier stepped forward, drew back his arm, and slapped Yu Xiaogang hard across the face.
Smack!
The blow landed with tremendous force. The soldier hadn't used a shred of Soul Power, relying entirely on raw physical strength.
The right side of Yu Xiaogang's face caved in, and several bloodied molars flew from his mouth.
The enormous force whipped his head sharply to one side, and his neck made a crisp cracking sound.
"Argh—"
His shrill scream tore through the silence hanging over the square.
But the soldier had no intention of stopping. He swung back and delivered another heavy slap to Yu Xiaogang's left cheek.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The crisp slaps burst across the Blue Silver King Mansion's square like firecrackers.
The Black Horse Iron Cavalry soldiers hit him brutally, every blow aimed with lethal force.
Yu Xiaogang's meager cultivation was no better than a sheet of paper against such raw violence.
After just a few slaps, his nose was broken, and blood trickled down his chin onto his heavy armor.
The face that had just looked so righteous was now a bloody mess, barely recognizable as human.
His screams grew weaker and weaker, until all that remained were broken whimpers and gasping breaths.
Blood splattered across the flagstones around them, a horrifying sight.
Throughout it all, Tang Yu remained leaned back in the main seat on the high platform.
He propped his chin on one hand and toyed with a jade thumb ring on the table with the other.
His deep eyes showed no hint of emotion as he quietly watched everything unfolding below.
He neither intervened nor showed even the slightest satisfaction.
His utter indifference, as if human lives were no more than weeds, sent a chill through the representatives of the various powers below.
Yu Yuanzhen sat in a corner with his eyes shut, gripping his thighs so hard that they bled.
As he listened to the screams of his own flesh and blood, this Super Douluo didn't even dare turn his head.
Ning Fengzhi, seated beside him, was pale as well. He silently turned his gaze away.
No one present was a fool.
As they watched Yu Xiaogang being beaten in public, everyone understood.
This wasn't just a lesson for a useless man who'd spouted off.
It was a warning to everyone!
Tang Yu was using the most primitive and brutal method to tell every sect and noble house under heaven:
Dare to shout in front of the Wuyang Marquis Mansion. Dare to challenge his authority.
And this would be your fate.
No matter who you once were. No matter what powers stood behind you.
If you crossed him, he would trample you underfoot like a dead dog, without even giving you the chance to beg for mercy.
This silent show of force was more effective than any threat.
The atmosphere in the square was oppressive beyond measure. No one dared even breathe too loudly.
They feared that the slightest movement would bring the Black Horse Iron Cavalry's blades down on them.
After countless blows, Yu Xiaogang had become a pile of mush.
His arms hung limply at his sides, his eyes rolled back, and he no longer had the strength to cry out in pain.
His face was swollen like a pig's head. He was taking in less air with every breath and could die at any moment.
Just as the soldier drew back his arm again, ready to finish the wretch off—
At last, a calm voice came from the high platform.
"That's enough."
The words weren't loud, yet they instantly carried across the utterly silent square.
The two soldiers, still seething with bloodlust, froze as if someone had pressed a switch.
Their raised arms dropped at once, and the hand around Yu Xiaogang's throat released him.
Thud.
Yu Xiaogang, barely clinging to life, hit the flagstones like a broken sack, splashing blood across the ground.
The two soldiers didn't even glance at the bloody figure on the ground. They turned and marched back into formation in perfect unison.
Tang Yu slowly released the jade thumb ring and placed both hands on the armrests of his chair.
He rose to his feet.
As he stood, a heavy pressure instantly swept across the entire square.
The guests, already trembling with fear, lowered their heads until they nearly touched their chests.
Tang Yu took two steps forward and stopped at the edge of the high platform, looking down over the dark mass of people below.
His gaze passed over Yu Xiaogang's mangled body, then turned to Yu Yuanzhen, Ning Fengzhi, and the representatives of the various powers.
"I can see that quite a few of you are still holding on to wishful thinking."