The Meat Grinder

The sword point aimed straight ahead.

The leading Soul Saint swallowed hard, forcibly suppressing the chill in his heart.

"What are you all standing around for? Get him together!"

"He's just a brat who hasn't even grown all his hair yet. So what if it's an array? It can kill ten people, but can it kill three thousand?"

"The prince has given his order! Take the Crown Prince's Residence, and you'll be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins and granted a barony!"

The enormous reward made the dead soldiers' eyes turn red.

Several thousand people charged forward once more.

The dark mass of people surged ahead like a tidal wave.

The front ranks fell, while those in the rear trampled over their companions and continued charging forward.

Blades pressed toward the steps.

Inside the study.

Qian Renxue stood behind the window.

As she watched the sea of people outside, a trace of resolve flashed through her golden eyes.

She could not let one person stand in front alone.

Even if she exposed the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, even if the Heaven Dou infiltration plan ended in complete failure.

Her hands clenched tightly.

Pure light Soul Power gathered in her palms.

She had just been about to push open the wooden door and fight to the death at his side.

Su Chen stood on the steps without even turning his head.

"Stay inside."

"An angel doesn't need to stain her hands with this kind of dirty work."

Qian Renxue halted.

The golden light in her palms flickered faintly before finally dispersing.

Below the steps, the dead soldiers had already closed to within three paces.

Several long blades from the leaders slashed toward the young man's shoulders at once.

Su Chen flipped his left hand.

Several black array flags appeared in his palm.

With a casual toss.

The array flags scattered, landing precisely at eight positions around the courtyard.

They sank beneath the stone tiles.

"Great Thousand Sword Formation!"

"Rise!"

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword spun once in midair.

Then shot straight into the sky.

It became the formation core.

The defensive formation, which had initially possessed only a faint layer of light, changed color.

In the night sky.

Countless fierce Immortal Dao Sword Qi appeared out of thin air.

They were packed densely enough to blanket the sky.

Every sword point faced downward, locking onto the three thousand dead soldiers in the courtyard.

Without any pause.

A rain of swords poured down.

The more than one hundred dead soldiers charging at the front had not even finished raising their blades before dozens of sword qi pierced through them.

Their bodies were torn apart.

Blood splattered across the bluestone pavement.

The dead soldiers in the rear stopped in their tracks.

The madness on their faces turned to blank stupor.

"Retreat!"

"Retreat, quickly! This isn't a soul skill!"

The crowd began to crush and trample itself.

The once orderly charging formation collapsed in an instant.

Su Chen stood on the steps.

His fingers moved lightly before him.

The sword qi filling the sky seemed to have grown eyes.

Whether the dead soldiers hid behind artificial rockeries or beneath the covered corridors.

A flash of sword light passed, and heads fell to the ground.

The entire Crown Prince's Residence became a merciless meat grinder.

The leading Soul Saint's eyes turned bloodshot.

"Bastard!"

"Martial Soul Avatar!"

A massive Ironclad Rhinoceros phantom rose from the ground.

Seven Soul Rings flashed wildly.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros stood before several dead soldiers, attempting to withstand the descending sword qi head-on.

The sword qi struck its iron armor.

The rhinoceros phantom shook violently.

After lasting only two breaths, cracks appeared in its armor plates.

"I can't hold it!"

The Soul Saint spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Second Brother! Third Brother! Attack together! Protect the formation and charge out!"

The other two Soul Saints also dared not hold back.

They each revealed their Martial Soul Avatars.

A Spotted Leopard and a Venomous Python.

The three great Soul Saints stood in a triangular formation, driving their Soul Power to its peak.

They formed a defensive barrier.

It barely protected several dozen core dead soldiers around them.

Outside the barrier.

The one-sided slaughter continued.

Before the Immortal Dao Sword Qi, they had no power to fight back.

Su Chen no longer looked at the horrific scene in the courtyard.

He turned and crossed the threshold, returning to the study.

He closed the wooden door.

Cutting off the rain of blood that filled the sky.

Inside the study.

Qian Renxue stared blankly at Su Chen.

Even though she had grown accustomed to life and death, the slaughter outside had still stunned her.

Su Chen walked over to the desk.

Then walked up to Qian Renxue.

He extended his right hand.

Qian Renxue looked at that hand.

It was clean and slender.

Subconsciously, she raised her hand and placed it in his palm.

Holding Qian Renxue's hand, Su Chen pushed open the wooden door on the other side of the study.

This side connected to the rear courtyard's covered corridor.

The two strolled through the courtyard.

The formation's soundproofing effect was excellent.

The slaughter outside seemed to be taking place in another world.

The night wind blew past.

Several white petals, like lingering snow, drifted down from the branches.

Su Chen stopped walking.

He raised a hand to catch a petal and watched it fall like snow.

"Heaven Dou City's night view is actually quite nice, as long as there aren't any annoying flies around."

Qian Renxue looked at Su Chen's sharply defined profile.

The heart that had been frozen for many years slowly began to thaw.

"Su Chen."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Su Chen turned his head.

His fingertips brushed away the fallen flower from Qian Renxue's shoulder.

"Words alone don't show much sincerity."

"Once you take the Heaven Dou Empire, offer the whole realm as a dowry. That would show at least a little sincerity."

Qian Renxue's cheeks flushed.

She did not refute him.

Instead, she tightened her grip around Su Chen's hand.

"Alright. I'll definitely do it."

Half an incense stick's time passed.

The commotion in the front courtyard gradually subsided.

The light of the Great Thousand Sword Formation faded.

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword flew back into its sheath.

Holding Qian Renxue's hand, Su Chen followed the covered corridor back to the front courtyard.

The sight in the courtyard resembled an Asura hell.

The once level bluestone pavement had been completely dyed red.

All three thousand dead soldiers were dead.

They lay scattered haphazardly in pools of blood.

Only several Soul Saints remained.

Their Martial Soul Avatars had already shattered.

The three men were covered in blood and half-kneeling on the ground.

Around them, ten injured Soul Emperors also knelt.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros Soul Saint panted heavily.

He looked at the corpses filling the courtyard.

There was nothing in his eyes but fear.

Three thousand people.

They had died before even entering the gates.

This simply was not power a human could possess.

When he saw Su Chen and Xue Qinghe walk out side by side.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros Soul Saint struggled to raise his head.

"Crown Prince... Your Highness..."

"We admit defeat."

"Forget the conditions the prince promised us. As long as Your Highness spares our lives, we'll serve the Crown Prince's Residence like loyal dogs and horses from now on!"

The other two Soul Saints also kowtowed.

"Please show mercy, Your Highness!"

Qian Renxue's gaze was icy.

"Serve me like dogs and horses?"

"If not for an expert setting up this formation tonight, the Crown Prince's Residence would already have been trampled flat by you. You beg for mercy now? Too late."

The Ironclad Rhinoceros Soul Saint gritted his teeth.

"Your Highness! We are Soul Saints! Ten Soul Emperors! Keeping us alive is more useful than killing us!"

"Even if this brat's formation is powerful, it has already stopped. If we truly fight to the death, no one will come away well!"

Su Chen released Qian Renxue's hand.

He slowly walked down the steps.

Without the formation's protection.

His green robes fluttered faintly in the night wind.

"A fish dying while the net tears?"

"What kind of fish are you? How dare you think you can tear my net?"

A fierce glint flashed through the Ironclad Rhinoceros Soul Saint's eyes.

"Since you won't leave us a way out, then we'll die together!"

He suddenly sprang forward.

Somehow squeezing out the last trace of Soul Power.

His hands transformed into sharp rhinoceros horns, stabbing straight for Su Chen's throat.

They were too close.

He was moving at the peak of speed.

Qian Renxue cried out in alarm.

"Watch out!"

Su Chen stood where he was without even blinking.

He raised his right hand.

And extended a single finger.

His fingertip struck the very tip of the rhinoceros horn with perfect accuracy.

The charging momentum came to an abrupt halt.

The Ironclad Rhinoceros Soul Saint froze in midair.

His face was full of disbelief.

A Soul Saint's desperate final counterattack had been blocked by a single finger?

"Is that all the strength you have left?"

Su Chen shook his head.

Spiritual light flickered from his fingertip.

The rhinoceros horn shattered inch by inch.

Su Chen changed his finger into a palm and lightly struck the Soul Saint's chest.

An invisible force penetrated his body.

Directly shattering his internal organs.

The Soul Saint's body collapsed limply.

His life was extinguished.

The remaining two Soul Saints and ten Soul Emperors were utterly stunned.

No formation needed.

A single slap to kill a Soul Saint?

What kind of monster was this?!

"Run!"

The Spotted Leopard Soul Saint roared.

He turned and fled toward the courtyard wall.

The Venomous Python Soul Saint followed close behind.

The remaining Soul Emperors scattered like frightened birds and beasts.

Su Chen did not pursue them.

He held two fingers together like a sword.

Then struck repeatedly through the air.

Several fierce, invisible sword energies tore through the air.

The Spotted Leopard Soul Saint, fleeing through the air, was pierced through the heart from behind by a sword energy.

The Venomous Python Soul Saint had both legs severed and crashed to the ground.

None of the ten Soul Emperors escaped.

Every one of them died in a single blow.

The front courtyard finally fell silent.

Su Chen took out a white handkerchief and wiped his fingers.

Then he turned to look at Qian Renxue on the steps.

"All right, the field's been cleared."

"Now let's see how His Highness the Prince performs."

Qian Renxue walked down the steps.

She looked at the mess covering the ground.

"Prince Xue Xing thinks he'll succeed tonight, so he'll definitely bring men over to rescue us before dawn."

"As long as we hand these corpses and the captured Soul Saints over to Father,"

"Xue Xing's charge of rebellion will be undeniable."

Su Chen casually tossed the soiled handkerchief onto the ground.

"Elder Gui, clean this up."

"Just don't dispose of any useful evidence."

In the corner, Gui Mei's figure slowly emerged.

Looking at the corpses filling the courtyard.

Even as a Title Douluo, the corner of his eye could not help twitching several times.

Too ruthless.

Several thousand people, in less than the time it took to burn an incense stick.

All turned into lifeless flesh.

"This subordinate will see to it immediately. Before dawn, I guarantee that all the upper ranks of Heaven Dou City will come and witness His Highness the Prince's handiwork."

Gui Mei bowed respectfully and disappeared into the darkness.

Su Chen took Qian Renxue's hand again.

"Come on. Let's go back and rest. There's still a good show tomorrow morning."