Qin De's Shock

Qin De's eyes went wide. The teacup in his hand fell to the floor with a crack and shattered, yet he did not even notice the scalding tea splashing onto his shoes.

"Chen? Why have you suddenly come back? And that entrance of yours..." Qin De stared at his third son, who had stepped straight out of midair without even using the door, his mind somewhat dazed.

Qin Feng and Qin Zheng also sprang to their feet, disbelief written all over their faces.

"Father, Eldest Brother, Second Brother." Qin Chen smiled, casually pulled over a chair, and sat down. "I just finished taking care of something overseas and came home on the way. I heard you saying you wanted to wait a while longer before making a move?"

Qin De took a deep breath, steadied his excitement, and stepped forward to pat Qin Chen's shoulder. "Chen, war is no child's play. Though the resources you gave us have greatly increased our strength, the Xiang Family, Chu State's imperial family, still has deep foundations. To be safe, I intend to wait until your eldest brother and I have fully stabilized our cultivation, then..."

"There's no need to wait." Qin Chen cut Qin De off, his tone as casual as if he were discussing what to eat that evening. "Even if Xiang Yang has broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, he's nothing but trash who's barely crossed the threshold. I'm already at the Nascent Soul stage."

The secret chamber fell deathly silent.

Qin De's mouth hung open, the rest of his sentence lodged firmly in his throat. Qin Feng and Qin Zheng stared at their younger brother as though he were a monster.

"The... Nascent Soul stage?" Even Qin De's voice trembled. He swallowed. "Chen, you're only thirteen this year! Are you sure you mean the Nascent Soul stage, not the Golden Core stage?"

Qin Chen wasted no words. With a thought, a faint golden light flashed between his brows. He precisely confined the terrifying pressure of a mighty cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage within the secret chamber, releasing it and withdrawing it in an instant.

In that brief instant, Qin De and his two sons felt their breathing catch, as though a mountain ten thousand zhang tall bore down upon their heads. Even their souls trembled. It was absolute suppression on the level of life itself!

"Gulp." Qin Zheng swallowed with difficulty. "Third Brother, you... are you even human anymore?"

After that brief shock came wild joy! Uncontrollable, wild joy!

Qin De shook all over with excitement, his eyes reddening. He spun around and slammed a palm onto the hard stone table, smashing it to pieces.

"Good! Good! Good!" Qin De threw back his head and laughed, his laughter brimming with the exhilaration of finally releasing decades of restraint and pent-up frustration. "Heaven favors our Qin Family! With my son Qin Chen here, what does a mere Xiang Family amount to!"

He whipped his head toward Qin Feng and Qin Zheng, a terrifying killing intent erupting in his eyes. "Pass down my princely command! Launch the Flying Eagle Plan ahead of schedule tonight! Order the entire Fierce Tiger Army to assemble. Our target: Chu State's imperial capital! I will make the Xiang Family repay their blood debts in blood!"

War erupted that very night without the slightest warning.

With the Dragon-Tiger Pills Qin Chen had provided as their foundation, the Qin Family's Fierce Tiger Army had long since undergone a complete transformation.

This was no ordinary army at all, but a terrifying killing machine made up of Houtian Peak and Xiantian experts.

The imperial garrison troops of Chu State were practically made of paper before the Fierce Tiger Army.

City gates? Xiantian experts blasted them apart with their true qi!

City walls? Soldiers at Houtian Peak could clear them in a single leap!

Wherever the army passed, it crushed all resistance like rotten wood and withered stalks.

Chu State's cities could not hold out for even half a day, falling one after another.

The Qin Family's army was like a red-hot blade plunging viciously into Chu State's heart, splitting through everything like bamboo as it drove straight toward the imperial capital.

The flames of war raged, and signal smoke rose everywhere.

In less than half a month, more than half of Chu State's territory had already changed hands.

The Xiang Family's troops were beaten into discarding their helmets and armor, routed beyond all semblance of an army.

Half a month later, beneath the walls of Chu State's imperial capital.

The dark mass of the Qin Family Army surrounded the entire imperial capital so tightly that not even water could seep through. A murderous aura surged skyward from its ranks.

On the capital's walls, Chu State's emperor, Xiang Guang, stood in his dragon robes, his face deathly pale as he stared at the endless army in black armor below. Both his legs were shaking.

"How did this happen... How could Qin De have such a terrifying army? Those soldiers... they're all internal martial arts experts? Impossible!" Xiang Guang muttered in despair.

Just then, an extraordinarily terrifying aura suddenly erupted from deep within the Imperial Palace.

It was as though a slumbering ancient savage beast had awakened. Its immense pressure instantly enveloped the entire imperial capital, and even the Qin Family Army outside the city felt their chests tighten and their breath grow short.

"Hahaha!" Sensing this aura, Xiang Guang froze for a moment, then cried out in wild delight, "Qin De! You're all doomed! An immortal at the Nascent Soul stage has emerged! You mere mortals are all going to die!"

Boom!

A dazzling pillar of blood-red light shot into the sky from deep within the Imperial Palace. Immediately afterward, an old man in a blood-red robe, his hair and beard white, trod upon empty air and walked out step by step above the Imperial Palace.

With each step he took, the air beneath his feet cracked explosively. He unleashed his powerful aura at the Nascent Soul stage without restraint, pressing down so heavily that the ordinary soldiers below could not even raise their heads.

This man was none other than the pillar anchoring Chu State's imperial Xiang Family-their patriarch, Xiang Yang!

From on high, Xiang Yang looked down upon the Qin Family Army outside the city, his gaze cold and utterly devoid of feeling, as though he were looking at a swarm of ants.

"Qin De, you whelp, you dare rebel against your sovereign and slaughter my Xiang Family's descendants." Xiang Yang's voice boomed like rolling heavenly thunder in everyone's ears. "Today, I shall exterminate all nine branches of your Qin Family as a warning to others!"

As he spoke, Xiang Yang slowly raised his right hand. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth began converging madly, and an enormous blood-red hand of true essence, dozens of zhang across, formed in midair. Bearing the might to destroy heaven and earth, it was about to slam down upon the central command tent where Qin De was stationed.

If that blow landed, every trace of life within a hundred-zhang radius would certainly be extinguished.

Standing on his war chariot, Qin De watched the enormous blood-red hand descend. Rather than showing the slightest panic, he curled his lips into a cold smile.

"Old fool, did all that secluded cultivation rot your brain?"

A languid voice suddenly sounded in midair. It was not loud, yet it clearly drowned out Xiang Yang's thunderous voice.

Immediately afterward, a young figure appeared directly beneath the enormous blood-red hand without the slightest warning.

It was Qin Chen.

He did not even glance at the enormous hand, merely raising his right hand casually and flicking a finger.

"Bang!"

A crisp crack rang out.

The enormous blood-red hand, which contained the full measure of Xiang Yang's true essence and seemed so invincible, instantly burst like a balloon pierced by a needle, scattering into a cloud of disordered spiritual energy that dispersed in the wind.

"What?!"

In midair, Xiang Yang's pupils contracted sharply, and the arrogance on his face froze in an instant. He stared fixedly at the suddenly appearing Qin Chen as towering waves of shock surged through his heart.

"Who are you?" Xiang Yang demanded sharply, though a trace of wariness had already entered his tone.

He actually could not see through the cultivation of the youth before him!

Qin Chen stepped through empty air, walking unhurriedly toward Xiang Yang.

"You don't need to concern yourself with who I am. You only need to know that you're going to die here today." Qin Chen's tone was calm.