Yu Huatian

Zu Hao watched coldly as Gu Shaotang collapsed limply into a pool of blood, without the slightest ripple in his eyes.

He truly could have saved Gu Shaotang and Feng Lidao.

But his relationship with those two had been nothing more than mutual exploitation; they might even turn on him at any moment.

Now that Yu Huatian had removed them for him, it saved him a great deal of trouble.

"Two more rats."

Yu Huatian tossed aside the hilt, flicked dust that did not exist from his sleeve, and turned his gaze toward the statue where Bulu Du and Zu Hao were hiding.

The West Depot archers behind him immediately nocked their arrows and aimed at the statue.

At that moment, Zu Hao moved.

Without the slightest warning, the "Little Divine Edge" dagger he had just acquired became a streak of ghostly blue light and shot out soundlessly.

Its target was not Yu Huatian, but one of the archers.

"Pfft!"

The dagger flew as swiftly as an arrow loosed from a bow, burying itself precisely in the archer's throat. He did not even have time to make a sound before the light in his eyes faded. His bow fell to the ground, and he toppled backward.

This sudden turn of events startled everyone present.

Yu Huatian's pupils contracted slightly, and his gaze upon Zu Hao grew more solemn.

"What a fast throwing knife."

Yu Huatian commented calmly, then curled his lips into a cold smile. "Unfortunately, you will die as well."

As the words fell, Yu Huatian flicked his wrist, and an unusual weapon leaped into his hand.

As the sword left its sheath, it seemed to ring with the cries of phoenixes and luan birds. It was the Three-Edged Sword, forged from black iron.

A dark gleam flowed along the blade, which was carved with intricate trailing-vine patterns. It was as splendid as an imperial court painting, yet concealed deadly intent.

The sword's strangest feature lay three inches below its tip, where a mechanism was hidden. With a slight exertion of force, the blade split into three: one mother sword and two child swords. The mother sword remained firmly in hand, while the two child swords were thin as cicada wings and incomparably sharp. They could break enemies in close combat or whirl through the air to claim lives.

Moreover, black iron possessed unusual magnetic properties. Yu Huatian often controlled the swords with his inner energy. After the child swords shot forth, he could use the magnetism of the mother sword to alter their paths in midair and draw them back as suddenly as venomous snakes returning to their nest.

"A fine sword."

Zu Hao's gaze sharpened slightly as he praised it inwardly.

He had the thought of learning from Yu Huatian's techniques, but he knew this was no time for a spar.

Five pairs of West Depot lackeys' eyes still watched from all around, eager to make a move.

At a thought, the Little Divine Edge embedded in a corpse in the distance trembled faintly, silently pulling free and becoming a silver streak.

Ma Jinliang was fully focused on the confrontation between Yu Huatian and Zu Hao when he suddenly felt a chill at his neck. As he raised a hand to touch it, his entire field of vision began to spin.

The last thing he saw was his headless body spurting hot blood as it slowly dropped to its knees, along with the horrified faces of the guards around him.

"Chief—!"

The cry had barely risen before it was cut short.

The cold gleam in Zu Hao's eyes intensified. Driven by his telekinesis, the Little Divine Edge flashed through the air like a silver butterfly darting among flowers, or a shooting star chasing the moon.

The cold light flickered three times, and bloody slashes bloomed across the throats of the remaining three guards. They collapsed limply before they could even scream.

A sudden chill ran through Yu Huatian's heart.

His martial arts could be considered among the best, yet he had never seen such an eerie art of controlling objects.

That short blade was absurdly fast, its trajectory as tricky as a ghost's. It seemed like a living thing, moving with its wielder's thoughts.

Knowing that defense meant certain death, he suddenly exerted force. The Three-Edged Sword split apart with a metallic clang, and its two child swords shrieked as they spun toward Zu Hao's neck.

At the same time, he stamped hard, shattering the golden bricks beneath his feet. He moved with his sword, and the mother sword traced three blossoms of sword light as it lunged at Zu Hao's center like a venomous python emerging from its lair.

"Good!"

Zu Hao shouted, and the Turn-Hand Sword slid from its sheath.

His wrists spun, sword light pouring forth like rain. With two crisp rings, he precisely knocked aside the incoming child swords.

But the two child swords, drawn by the mother sword's magnetism, carved strange arcs through the air and attacked again from behind his head.

Yu Huatian himself had already reached him. As the mother sword danced in his hand, it seemed as though three people were joining forces, its storm-like sword momentum enveloping every vital point on Zu Hao's body.

An ordinary master would have died beneath such an assault, yet Zu Hao remained utterly composed.

Light flowed in his eyes. Under the power of his formidable mental strength, every change in the world appeared to him as if in slow motion.

He saw through every exquisite sword move Yu Huatian made, even the subtle tremors of his muscles that foretold his next movement.

The Turn-Hand Sword seemed able to foresee the future, always deflecting fatal attacks by a hair's breadth. More terrifyingly, Zu Hao's sword techniques gradually began to take on traces of Yu Huatian's style!

Several dozen exchanges passed in a flash. Zu Hao suddenly laughed. "Governor, what fine swordsmanship. Now see how you handle this move of mine!"

Before his words had finished, Yu Huatian suddenly felt a chill at the back of his head.

At some unknown moment, the Little Divine Edge had circled behind him, slashing at the artery beneath his skull.

At the same time, the Turn-Hand Sword in Zu Hao's hand transformed into seven points of cold starlight, like the Big Dipper falling into the world, sealing every route of retreat.

Death lay before and behind him. He had been forced into a desperate situation!

Yu Huatian finally displayed the mettle of a true tyrant. At the critical moment, his body bent as though boneless, narrowly evading the decapitating strike. The Little Divine Edge merely sliced off several strands of his flying hair.

At the same time, the Three-Edged Sword in his hand shook violently, sending out a blinding wave of force that forcibly shattered the Turn-Hand Sword's seven points of starlight.

The clash of metal rang out like torrential rain battering lotus leaves.

Yet the true killing move had only now appeared.

More than a dozen strands of Western Region Golden Silkworm Thread silently slipped from Zu Hao's sleeve.

The threads were finer than hairs, tougher than refined steel, and sharp enough to slice through hair.

From the very beginning of the battle, he had used his telekinesis to control these invisible blades, weaving a net of death around Yu Huatian like a spider spinning its web.

"Close."

Zu Hao's thoughts shifted slightly.

The Golden Silkworm Threads suddenly tightened, cutting inward from every direction.

As the light warped, countless fine silver threads could faintly be seen flashing past.

Yu Huatian's pupils shrank sharply. He finally sensed the fatal danger, but it was already too late.

"Rip—"

The sound of tearing silk was faint, yet it set one's teeth on edge.

Countless neat cuts instantly appeared across Yu Huatian's magnificent brocade robes. The next moment, his body split apart like tofu carved by invisible blades.

Blood and organs spilled to the floor, staining the golden bricks scarlet.

The West Depot Governor, whose power had shaken the imperial court, had been sliced into more than a dozen pieces in an instant!

What an eerie technique!

Bulu Du stepped out from behind the pillar and watched Yu Huatian become a heap of corpse fragments in an instant. Though she prided herself on her courage and had seen countless bloody scenes, the bizarre brutality before her still made her stomach churn.

Seeing Zu Hao's calm, unconcerned expression only filled her with greater awe and infatuation alongside her fear.

Ignoring the severed limbs around him, Zu Hao strolled forward and picked up Yu Huatian's black iron Three-Edged Sword.

His fingers traced the mysterious patterns on the blade as he sensed the strange magnetic force between the mother and child swords. He nodded. "It truly is a fine weapon. We were destined to meet."

After storing the Three-Edged Sword in his personal space, Zu Hao turned and removed the pair of swords still sheathed on Ma Jinliang's back.

The twin swords were ancient in design, with faint flowing patterns along their ridges. Though they were not as extraordinary as the Little Divine Edge, they were still fine weapons forged through countless refinements.

In the original story, Zhao Huai'an fought fiercely with Ma Jinliang, and both swords in Zhao Huai'an's hands were cut apart by Ma Jinliang's blades.

Had Ma Jinliang not had his mask cut open to reveal the split corners of his mouth, causing his mentality to collapse and driving him to unleash a desperate, self-sacrificing strike, it was hard to say who would have won.