Hatred as Deep as the Sea

Thunder out of a clear sky! A sword like lightning!

While Mount Yang Daoist was still lost in that radiant face, brilliant as a lotus in bloom, Xu Zhi's sword had already closed to within thirty feet of him!

"An assassin? Where did this martial Grandmaster come from?"

Mount Yang Daoist was scared out of his wits. "What a fast sword! An assassin from the Chen Clan!"

The third form of the Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual-

Whirling Wind Draws Fire!

The blade pierced Mount Yang Daoist's chest at an unbelievable speed and thrust farther forward beneath his terrified, despairing gaze.

Clang!

What came back through the blade was not the dull sensation of flesh tearing, but the feeling of striking iron or stone.

No-

Even iron or stone should have been sliced apart by this sword imbued with embryonic breathing. Yet only a few drops of blood flowed from Mount Yang Daoist's chest. The blade had sunk just two inches into his flesh before an immense force clamped it fast.

"This... could this be a Dao art for tempering the body externally?"

Xu Zhi froze for an instant, but that instant was enough for Mount Yang Daoist to recover. He clenched his fist and sent Xu Zhi flying backward, overturning countless tables and chairs along the way.

"I mastered the Dao art in the Golden Book! I'm destined to become an immortal patriarch and enjoy an unchanging lifespan through ten thousand ages! You? You think you're worthy of killing me?"

Mount Yang Daoist's extreme fear turned to rage.

With two savage tugs, he tore off his slashed Daoist robe. Bare-chested, he lunged like a bear at Xu Zhi, who was struggling to rise!

Boom!

A pillar thick enough to take two men to encircle was smashed apart by a single punch. Amid screams and showers of dust, Mount Yang Daoist grew fiercer still, every step stamping spiderweb cracks into the floor.

Damn it! If only my right hand could still wield a sword, and I had a low-grade talisman artifact...

Such strength was like a giant demon descending into the world.

Xu Zhi dodged left and right under his pursuit. Only the footwork of the Land-Escaping Art allowed him to barely keep moving and fend him off.

Pfft!

Another elusive sword thrust flashed out, like a mischievous child stabbing at a cicada. Though it appeared riddled with openings, it gave the sense that there was nowhere to dodge.

Unable to evade it, Mount Yang Daoist could only watch the blade fall toward his neck. It nearly sliced through half his throat before finally grinding to a halt.

"This..."

Silence fell over the onlookers.

Xu Zhi paused, not having expected his strike to achieve so much. Suddenly, he laughed. "I thought your body really was indestructible! Turns out it's all for show. Nothing special after all!"

"It's enough to kill you!"

Mount Yang Daoist glared in humiliation and anger. His five fingers spread like a palm-leaf fan, whipping up a violent gale as he slapped down viciously.

Xu Zhi flickered aside and evaded Mount Yang Daoist's palm.

"I understand now. A rogue cultivator after all, without a proper lineage. This body-tempering Dao art of yours may be extraordinary, but it only strengthens your flesh. As far as I can see, you know nothing about escape arts or any other talisman methods and Dao arts."

He planted his feet with his sword in hand. A Baleful-Falling Talisman flew from his fingers toward the crown of Mount Yang Daoist's head.

"Strike!"

Mount Yang Daoist's escape arts were too poor for him to evade this talisman, unleashed as swiftly as lightning.

Savage, ruthless baleful energy poured out like a vast ocean. It soon muddled Mount Yang Daoist's mind, leaving him standing witless on the spot, oblivious to everything around him.

"This really is the shell of a demon..."

Xu Zhi repeatedly slashed at his left arm, only to send sparks flying amid the harsh ringing of metal.

He shook his head and stopped toying with him, preparing to take his head off with one stroke, when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Mount Yang Daoist, who had been bewitched by the Baleful-Falling Talisman, actually began to open his eyes. He stared blankly, then screamed in pain. One punch sent Xu Zhi flying into the air, nearly making him cough up blood.

"My talisman artifacts! Bring me my talisman artifacts!"

Mount Yang Daoist roared.

"Junior brother, stop watching the show. Come help me..."

Coughing, Xu Zhi propped himself up with his broken sword.

Had he not reacted quickly and held his sword across his chest to block Mount Yang Daoist's punch, he would have suffered far more than a cough.

"What?"

Hearing Xu Zhi's shout, Mount Yang Daoist suddenly felt a terrible premonition.

"It seems that despite your remarkable swordsmanship, senior brother, you really aren't good at magical combat. You underestimated your opponent."

Under Mount Yang Daoist's stunned gaze,

the figure who had haunted his dreams slowly stood up. The voice was warm, deep, and resonant-a man's voice.

"What? What?"

Mount Yang Daoist clutched the bleeding wound on his neck and nearly collapsed.

"Beauty, you... you're a man?"

"I once watched Yan Zhen exchange magical blows with someone. All I saw then was dazzling radiance, her hands untouched by dust. Those were truly the methods of immortals."

Chen Heng pulled the jeweled ornaments from his hair, tossed them carelessly to the floor, and stepped on them.

"What happened today looked rather more like a fight between mortal Grandmasters."

"Give me a talisman artifact, and I can show you an immortal's flying sword techniques too."

Xu Zhi rolled his eyes. "His body-strengthening Dao art is so formidable that if I'd shown off by killing with a breath in front of you, I probably wouldn't even have scratched his skin!"

"Damn it, where are my talisman artifacts? Why can't I sense a single one?"

Mount Yang Daoist clenched his fists uneasily.

"I knew how powerful your talisman artifacts were. As soon as I got them, I had a guard with decent lightness skills take them all away. By now, he's probably nearly ridden off this mountain with them.

"I thought it would take some effort," Chen Heng said calmly. "I never expected you to hand me the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead so easily. That was quite a surprise."

"You... no! Besides the bead, I still have the Five-Color Pendant and the Six-Yin Heavenly Ghost Banner!"

At this moment of life and death, Mount Yang Daoist's mind was clearer than ever before.

Then,

he saw his own son silently lower his head and hand a Vermilion-Lacquered Great Bow to Chen Heng.

"Fuck-"

Mount Yang Daoist hesitated no longer. He condensed his embryonic breathing into a black cloud, which lifted him as he tried to flee in panic.

"Trying to escape?"

Twang, twang, twang, twang, twang, twang!

Chen Heng gave a sharp cry and drew the bow into a full moon. Six arrows flew in succession, targeting Mount Yang Daoist's brow, heart, and four limbs. In a flash of lightning and sparks, the air burst apart, murderous intent biting keenly!

"Strike!"

In midair, Mount Yang Daoist rode his cloud straight up like a living target. All six arrows struck him, and he fell from the air, hitting the ground hard enough to leave him utterly dazed.

Before he could rise, stars still swimming before his eyes,

Chen Heng had seized his Daoist crown. Holding a Refined Iron Arrowhead, he drove it viciously through Mount Yang Daoist's neck!

Squelch-

Blood gushed out like a spring, soon splattering Chen Heng's head and face. Yet that divinely handsome face, now all the more bewitching, remained calm and expressionless.

"Fuck... I didn't lose to anyone else. I lost to myself..."

Mount Yang Daoist struggled to draw one last breath and spoke his final words, filled with resentment and bewilderment.

"Damn you, Heaven. How can there be a man as beautiful as you? I-"

Pfft!

Still expressionless, Chen Heng thrust the arrowhead into him again.

Mount Yang Daoist's eyes bulged wide. His body went limp and never moved again.

The great hall was silent now as well.

Some yellow-robed Blazing Mountain Disciples huddled together timidly. Blazing Mountain's elite had already been shot dead at the Chen Residence. Whether these remaining disciples had only recently joined or had long resented Mount Yang Daoist, not one of them had stepped forward to help.

"Dead? He's dead? Hahahahaha!"

Only after a long while

did a burst of laughter ring out.

Wang Duanbao, who had kept himself curled into a ball, finally raised his head, trembling. Seeing Mount Yang Daoist's corpse on the floor, he first froze, then burst into tears. He ran forward a few steps, suddenly embraced the pale, thin-faced young woman, and spun her around several times.

"Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu..."

Wang Duanbao choked with sobs. "He's dead! We can have a good life now!"

He held the young woman, crying and laughing. Only after a long time did some life slowly return to her face, along with an unnatural flush.

"Duan Bao."

Xiao Yu spoke softly. "Bring your face a little closer."

Wang Duanbao did not understand, but he obeyed joyfully.

"This is bad..." Xu Zhi's expression changed.

Chen Heng frowned and said nothing.

The next instant,

the woman called Xiao Yu opened her mouth and bit savagely into Wang Duanbao's eye. She bore down, then tore!

"Aah!!!"

Half his eyeball and his eyelid were ripped out.

Wang Duanbao roared in pain. Instinctively, his arms tightened, about to strangle her in his embrace. At the last moment, however, he abruptly stopped, trembling uncontrollably.

"Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu, what are you doing? Why are you hurting me..."

Wang Duanbao whimpered like a puppy. "I've never hurt you. What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"You watched your father defile me!"

"I couldn't beat him! I was scared..." Wang Duanbao covered his face with his hand and wailed, tears streaming down.

"I would rather have died with you back then than lived until today!" Xiao Yu seemed to laugh and cry at once. "You deserve to die! Your father deserved to die! I... I deserve to die too!"

She hammered her fists against Wang Duanbao's skull, but the force rebounding from him left her bleeding.

And Wang Duanbao suddenly stopped resisting. He only sobbed quietly, his body shuddering.

A stool, fingers, stones, hair ornaments...

She even snatched the broken sword from Xu Zhi's hand before he could react in his astonishment.

After nearly an hour, all that remained on the floor was a mangled, incomplete corpse, blood flowing everywhere.

Xiao Yu slowly raised her head. The surrounding Blazing Mountain Disciples avoided her gaze as though fleeing a plague god, as if what stood there was not a person but a vicious ghost.

The corners of her lips slowly lifted, and she made to walk toward the young man holding the bow in the distance.

Whizz!

Fragments of brick and stone flew!

A feathered arrow embedded itself two inches from her toes. One more step, and it would have pierced her foot.

"Stay back. Dare to come one step closer, and I'll shoot you dead," Chen Heng said calmly.

"I know where that old swine of Blazing Mountain kept his treasures."

Xiao Yu smiled, unperturbed.

"Young master, let me take you to them."