Their strength was not greater than that of those who had already died. The only reason they were still alive was pure luck—they simply hadn't crossed paths with that demon yet. What if... what if the next demon they encountered was them? Wouldn't their fate be... That thought flashed through everyone's mind. Fear gripped their hearts. "The scoundrel can't be far. After him."
"Split up and chase him. Once you pick up his trail, don't act recklessly. Fire a signal flare first to notify the others..."
"What are you standing around for? Move! Find that scoundrel, and tear him limb from limb to avenge our fallen kin."
The First Elder of the Zhao family spoke in a deep voice. In the Zhao family, the First Elder's status was second only to the family head, Zhao Heihu. No one dared disobey his orders, and under his command, the men reluctantly scattered to pursue the target. Team after team departed. Only the First Elder remained in the clearing. He glanced once more at the seven corpses on the ground, sighed, and turned to leave. Suddenly, his footsteps froze. He raised his head to stare directly at a towering ancient tree before him and roared, "Who's there?"
A figure leaped down from the treetop.
"Your perception is quite sharp." Xu Chen shook his head, thinking it a pity. The First Elder of the Zhao family, a cultivator at the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation, possessed extraordinary perception. Most importantly, he had maintained a high level of vigilance from the very beginning. The slightest movement on his part had been detected.
"It's you!" The First Elder recognized Xu Chen at a glance. Not every martial artist in the Zhao family had seen Xu Chen, but everyone carried a portrait of him.
"What a shame." Xu Chen muttered to himself. After killing the Zhao family members, he hadn't left immediately; instead, he had concealed his aura, hiding in the treetop in search of a prime opportunity to ambush another Zhao squad. Unfortunately, the one who stayed behind was the First Elder, who had detected his trace in advance. Since the ambush had failed, he had no choice but to kill him head-on.
With a thought, the Qingchi Sword appeared in his hand.
"A Spirit Artifact?" The First Elder stared at the Qingchi Sword in Xu Chen's hand, his eyes burning with greed and a sudden impulse to seize it for himself. With a Spirit Sword, his combat power would double—so much so that even the family head, Zhao Heihu, would no longer be a match for him.
"A man is innocent, but harboring a treasure is a crime. Boy, a Spirit Sword isn't something you're qualified to possess. Die!"
With a low roar, Spiritual Power surged through his body. He formed hand seals, and a concentration of Spiritual Power as dense as water gathered between his palms. "Mountain-Splitting Palm!"
He struck with a single palm.
A massive handprint formed of Spiritual Power rapidly descended to crush him.
A deafening roar erupted.
The earth and sky shook violently.
The ground split open.
Countless stone fragments flew like arrows through the air.
Looking at the area covered by the Spiritual Power handprint, it had already turned into a huge crater, with countless fissures spreading outward.
At the bottom of the crater, Xu Chen was nowhere to be seen. He had been obliterated without a trace.
"Hahaha..." Not seeing Xu Chen, the First Elder assumed the boy had been blown to smithereens, and he laughed triumphantly, looking up to the sky. Xu Chen was dead. The debt owed by the Zhao family members was avenged. And the Spirit Sword now belonged to him. He looked down into the bottom of the crater, searching for the traces of the Spirit Sword. Nothing.
Just as he was about to walk over and search carefully, a glint of cold light suddenly magnified before his eyes. He froze. Xu Chen drifted toward him out of nowhere, the sword in his hand blooming with a dazzling, icy light. A chill gripped his heart. A battle blade materialized in his hand, and he swung it to parry.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew in all directions. Tremors rippled outward continuously.
Then—
"Crack!"
The battle blade snapped in two.
A flash of cold light swept past.
"Pfft!"
A thin line of blood sprayed from the First Elder's neck, scattering across the ground.
"You're actually not dead... And... your sword, so sharp... Ah, I remember now, it's... Sword Intent..." The First Elder's eyes widened. Both hands clamped around his neck as he spoke in broken, stuttering breaths.
Standing opposite the First Elder, Xu Chen sheathed his sword and said calmly, "I thought you'd be able to last a couple of moves against me. It seems I overestimated you."
The First Elder's pupils dilated. "You... you're a genius... Crossing you... was the biggest... mistake the Zhao family ever made..."
"Hurry, hurry up!"
"There are sounds of a fight over here, hurry! The scoundrel must be right ahead."
"Push harder, we absolutely cannot let him escape this time."
Shouts echoed from afar. The battle between Xu Chen and the First Elder had ended too quickly, but the commotion had already drawn over the Zhao family members who had not left long ago. Teams from various directions rapidly closed in, the sound of footsteps rushing toward them.
Clack!
The First Elder's head tilted to the side and rolled off his neck. A fountain of blood gushed from the headless corpse, staining the ground crimson.
"Ah—" A terrified scream suddenly rang out from behind. Xu Chen turned to look.
A squad that had arrived first stood frozen a hundred meters away, their faces plastered with sheer terror.
"The... the First Elder? The First Elder is dead?"
Witnessing the First Elder's head roll away dealt a massive psychological blow to this group. The First Elder was the second-highest-ranking figure in the Zhao family, second only in strength to the family head Zhao Heihu. If even the First Elder had died under the scoundrel's sword, what about them...
"You guys really move fast. You've come at just the right time—I'll finish you all off together."
Watching the Zhao family members paralyzed by fear, a flash of murderous intent crossed Xu Chen's eyes. He sprinted forward in a few strides, the Qingchi Sword sliding from its scabbard with a ringing chime. Before the Zhao family members could recover from their panic, he swept his sword horizontally in a single fluid motion. With several wet tearing sounds, the three men standing side-by-side were decapitated, three columns of blood shooting into the sky like crimson fountains.
Splattered by the blood, the remaining men shivered violently and snapped out of their terror, only to be met by a chilling, razor-sharp blade.
"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!!!"
Several fine heads were once again sent flying into the air.
Under Xu Chen's slaughter, a seven-man squad barely lasted ten breaths before all of them died miserably.
Yet, in the fleeting window while he was dispatching this seven-man squad, reinforcements from other directions finally began to arrive. Seeing the Zhao family members arriving one after another, Xu Chen had no intention of retreating. It was time to settle the score between him and the Zhao family once and for all today. An icy, bone-chilling aura radiated from his entire body. At that moment, he looked like a god of war. With a shift of his feet, he took the initiative to meet the incoming Zhao family members.
"Die!"
With a low shout, Xu Chen leaped into the air. Mid-air, the sword in his hand was already raised high and then violently swung down. A thick wave of Sword Intent carried a piercing howl as it slashed viciously toward the terrified Zhao family members.
"Boom!"
The ground split open. Fissures spread rapidly outward like a spiderweb.
None of the Zhao family members caught within the range of this sword strike were spared. They were all blasted apart, turning into mists of blood, leaving not even a skeleton behind.
That overbearing and peerless sword strike truly shocked the Zhao family members approaching from other directions. Their faces turned pale, and their bodies shook uncontrollably.
"Today, all of you are going to die!"
The pent-up frustration from being hunted down by the Zhao family erupted all at once. Xu Chen's face was as cold as a blade, his gaze frigid, and his killing intent soaring. With a flash, he plunged into the crowd, wielding his sword and swiftly harvesting lives.
At that moment, regardless of their cultivation level, no Zhao family member could withstand a single stroke of Xu Chen's sword. They were treated like weeds under his blade, harvested at will, falling row after row. The flowing blood stained every inch of the ground, and a pungent, nauseating stench of iron hung thick in the air for hundreds of meters around.
"Pfft!"
With a single swing of his sword, a fleeing Zhao family member ten meters away stumbled, his upper body slowly sliding off his lower half.
He scanned the surroundings. Not a single person was left. Only a small fraction of the Zhao family members drawn by the noise had arrived, and upon realizing Xu Chen was invincible, they had wisely chosen to flee. The rest were buried here.
The number of Zhao family members who had died by his hand had already surpassed two hundred.
The number of Zhao elders he had killed exceeded a single hand.
The Zhao family was now severely crippled. Even if he stopped here, the Zhao family would be reduced to a second-rate clan in Liuguang City, never to regain its former glory.
Would he stop here?
No!
Because the head of the Zhao family was still alive!
Ever since the day the Xu family was annihilated because of him, his heart had grown exceptionally cold. Since they were enemies, there was no reason to spare them.
Little did they know, if you cut the grass without digging up the roots, the spring breeze will make them grow again. He didn't believe that, given his rate of growth, the Zhao family could pose any real trouble for him, but having a hostile family constantly plotting to take his life was an annoyance to look at. Wiping them out made things simpler.
...
Liuguang City.
Lately, rumors had been flying thick across the city. In teahouses, taverns, and wherever crowds gathered, people could be seen huddled in twos and threes, discussing something in hushed tones.
"Eighty percent of the Zhao family's martial artists poured into the Tianyuan Mountain Range, and they've suffered heavy casualties. I wonder if that rumor is true."
"It's true."
"How so?"
"A friend of mine is a martial artist from the Zhao family. Yesterday, while we were drinking together, he accidentally let slip that the Zhao family went into the Tianyuan Mountain Range to encircle and annihilate a murderer—the one who killed the young master of the Zhao family. But that murderer is a ruthless bastard. Not only did he evade justice under their encirclement, but he's also dealt heavy losses to the Zhao family."
"Hiss—"
"Are you saying this is true?"
"The young master of the Zhao family is actually dead?"
"The young master of the Zhao family is dead? Won't Zhao Heihu fly into a rage?"
"Everything I'm saying is true. And it's not just the young master; a few elders of the Zhao family have died as well..."
Inside the tavern, patrons sat clustered together in discussion.
Not far away, a youth dressed in black sat alone at a table in the corner, taking a bite of food and a sip of wine, drinking by himself. He showed not the slightest interest in the discussions of the crowd nearby.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside the shop.
Everyone lifted their heads to look. A terrified-looking man came stumbling across the main street from the tavern's entrance, running and muttering like a madman: "They're dead, they're all dead..."
The patrons exchanged glances.
One diner frowned and spoke up, "That guy looks so familiar. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."
Another diner thought for a moment and said, "I remember now. He's Zhao Tie, one of the Zhao family. Why... why is he like this? He looks like he's run into something terrifying."
"I think I heard him say 'they're dead, they're all dead'. Who's dead? Could it be..." chimed in a diner with sharp hearing.
The expressions of everyone present shifted. They all thought of a terrifying possibility.
"Let's go take a look." A patron stood up immediately.
"Where to?" someone who hadn't caught up yet asked, looking confused as people began to rise.
"To the Zhao family."
In an instant, more than half the patrons in the tavern cleared out.
The youth sitting alone in the corner wiped his mouth at that moment, left a few spirit stones behind, and stood up to leave as well.
...
The Zhao family estate.
Zhao Heihu abruptly stood up, his face painted with shock. "What?"
He stared fixedly at the subordinate below the hall. "Say that again."
"Family Head... the First Elder and the others are dead. They're all dead..." The subordinate's voice carried a weeping sob.
"How can that be?"
Zhao Heihu still refused to believe it. Because the clan's martial artists had entered the Tianyuan Mountain Range, the estate was left defenseless, and other factions in Liuguang City were growing restless. Upon receiving the news, he had immediately handed over the mission of hunting down Xu Chen entirely to the First Elder, while he himself had rushed back through the night to sit in the family seat and deter petty minds.
Yet he had only been back for two days.
The First Elder and all the martial artists of the clan had actually been wiped out?
If the news were true, wouldn't the foundation of the Zhao family be shaken to its core?
The other factions in Liuguang City would undoubtedly kick them while they were down once they learned of this.
The subordinate below had been frightened out of his wits by Xu Chen and urged frantically, "Family Head, let's run! That scoundrel won't let us go; he's definitely coming!"
Zhao Heihu slammed his palm down on the table, hatred burning in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, enunciating every word with icy rage, "If he dares to come, I will surely use his head as a sacrifice to the restless souls of our dead!"
Just as his voice fell—
"Pfft!"
A muffled sound echoed.
Zhao Heihu lifted his head to look. He saw the subordinate standing below bleeding from the center of his forehead, his expression frozen in place. With a heavy thud, his body collapsed to the ground.
He froze for a moment.
Then he looked toward the youth who had appeared at the entrance, heaven knows when.
Xu Chen stared directly at Zhao Heihu and said calmly, "I heard you wanted to use my head as a sacrifice to your dead souls. So, I came."
Zhao Heihu had also seen Xu Chen's portrait, so he naturally recognized at a glance that this was the culprit who had killed his son and his clansmen.
Meeting one's mortal enemy turns the eyes red with hatred. Zhao Heihu's eyes split with rage.
Having just received news of the death of the First Elder and the rest of the family's martial artists, the murderer had now proactively shown up at his doorstep. How could he not be furious? How could he possibly remain calm?
Xu Chen's gaze locked onto Zhao Heihu with piercing intensity. With a virtual grip of his right hand, the Qingchi Sword materialized in his grasp.
He channeled his strength for a brief moment.
With a single sword stroke, he slashed out. From the very first move, he unleashed his full power.
"Whoosh!"
The thick wave of sword Qi carried boundless destructive force. Wherever it passed, the air was crushed and exploded by the blade energy, producing a series of airbursts resembling thunderclaps.
Dragging a trail of white air currents, the massive sword Qi slashed down viciously.
Zhao Heihu's expression changed slightly. Only by experiencing it firsthand could one truly appreciate the terrifying power contained in that single strike. What made him pale with shock was not merely the power of the blade, but the fact that someone so young possessed such terrifying strength. This person could not be left alive; otherwise, he would undoubtedly become a grave threat in the future.
He had to kill him.
At that moment, an intense desire to kill Xu Chen surged within him.
Zhao Heihu let out a low roar, Spiritual Power surging through his body. He formed hand seals, and a concentration of Spiritual Power as dense as water gathered between his palms. "Mountain-Splitting Palm!"
He struck with a palm.
The Mountain-Splitting Palm he executed was vastly more powerful than the version wielded by the First Elder.
"Bang!"
The sword Qi collided with the Spiritual Power handprint, erupting with astonishing shockwaves that blew the brick-and-wood structure of the main hall apart. Bricks and stones tumbled everywhere, the ground split open, and the sound shook the heavens.
"Crack!"
The sword Qi shattered, and the Spiritual Power handprint likewise collapsed and disintegrated under the cutting edge of the blade energy.
However, Zhao Heihu had ultimately underestimated Xu Chen. The residual blade energy, remaining after the sword Qi shattered, cut a fine wound across his face.
The wound was small, but the burning pain on his cheek stung Zhao Heihu's nerves.
How many years had it been?
How many years had it been since he was last injured?
Today, he had actually suffered a hidden loss at the hands of a boy.
He was furious.
Angry beyond measure.
His intent to kill Xu Chen grew even more intense.
"Damned brat, I will kill you!"
As the final word fell, Zhao Heihu struck out with yet another Mountain-Splitting Palm.
The Mountain-Splitting Palm was a Mystic Grade low-tier martial art, one of the three major martial arts of the Liuguang City Zhao family. With a single palm strike, it could shatter mountains and split rocks with supreme dominance. He had once used this very move to blast a powerful enemy at the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation into pieces, leaving not a single intact bone.
Right now, he struck out in rage, holding nothing back. The millstone-sized hand of Spiritual Power caused the air to explode inch by inch, while the ground continuously cracked open.
Xu Chen's gaze was sharp, his entire body radiating an intangible, formless fluctuation. The bricks beneath his feet silently turned to fine powder, and his figure leaped forward fiercely, the Qingchi Sword in his hand slashing out on a diagonal.
Driven by Sword Intent, the sword Qi grew even thicker, resembling a mountain peak as it crushed through layers of air currents and smashed into that hand of Spiritual Power.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss..."
This time, the sword Qi displayed extreme destructive power. It did not shatter; instead, it slashed into the Spiritual Power hand, causing it to rapidly disintegrate and collapse. Accompanied by a booming crash, the Spiritual Power hand was completely obliterated.
The next moment, the sword Qi—retaining the vast majority of its power—was as fast as lightning, slashing directly down toward the crown of Zhao Heihu's head.
"Sword Intent?"
Feeling the unyielding intent of the sword embedded within the blade energy, Zhao Heihu's expression shifted drastically.
Sword Intent had always been notoriously difficult to comprehend.
Throughout the entire Taishang Country, the number of martial artists who had comprehended Sword Intent could be counted on one hand. It was evident just how difficult it was to grasp.
Yet how old was the youth before him? He had actually comprehended legendary Sword Intent.
This child absolutely could not be allowed to live.
He grew even more resolute in his determination to slay Xu Chen.
"Flitting Shadows."
Channeling his Spiritual Power to its absolute limit, Zhao Heihu's figure retreated violently, his speed so extreme that he left a trail of afterimages in the air.
The sword Qi crashed down.
"Boom!"
The ground split open, revealing a hideous fissure several yards long.
"Whoosh!"
Zhao Heihu's figure reappeared to the front-left of Xu Chen. He formed hand seals and unleashed two Mountain-Splitting Palms in a single breath.
Facing the Spiritual Power hands pressing down from both left and right, Xu Chen channeled his Sword Intent and slashed twice in succession. With two loud booms, both Spiritual Power hands collapsed. The resulting Spiritual Power aftermath formed a raging hurricane that swept outward.
"A swordsman who has comprehended Sword Intent possesses the most terrifying lethality. That saying is indeed true. Boy, despite your young age, you actually have the strength to fight me head-on—truly terrifying. But you are destined to die at my hands today."
With those words, Zhao Heihu lunged forward to kill.
Disregarding the consumption of his Spiritual Power, he unleashed palm strike after palm strike, raining them down furiously upon Xu Chen, forcing Xu Chen into head-on collisions with him.
"Boom, boom, boom!!!"
The two of them collided again and again. The shockwaves of their clashes swept out wildly, collapsing houses, shattering the fishpond, and reducing courtyard walls to flying dust. The surrounding architecture was destroyed beyond all recognition.
The massive commotion alarmed the remaining martial artists of the Zhao family, who rushed over one after another. However, the battle between Xu Chen and Zhao Heihu was so intense that the shockwaves of their exchanges alone were enough to kill an ordinary Qi Condensation realm cultivator. Thus, the arriving Zhao family members dared not approach the battlefield at all.
Outside the Zhao estate, countless people had also gathered, observing this battle from afar.
"The Zhao estate is under attack by an enemy."
"It seems the rumors are true. The Zhao family has provoked a ruthless expert."
"The enemy has already fought his way into the Zhao estate, yet none of the Zhao elders are to be seen. It appears that report is factual—the Zhao family suffered devastating casualties in the Tianyuan Mountain Range."
"Who on earth is that youth?"
"To possess such terrifying strength at such a young age..."
"The youth's sword is too sharp. Even with Zhao Heihu using his Mountain-Splitting Palm, he can't shake the boy. Could that youth be a genius disciple from the Heavenly Sword Villa?"
"I've never heard of the Heavenly Sword Villa producing such a terrifyingly talented youth."
The crowd discussed animatedly.
"Boom!"
Following yet another violent collision, Zhao Heihu laughed triumphantly, "A swordsman who comprehends Sword Intent is truly formidable, but what a pity—after all is said and forth, you are merely at the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation Realm. Just how much Spiritual Power do you have left? Less than thirty percent by now, I imagine?"
Xu Chen sneered inwardly.
Though his cultivation realm was low, when it came to competing over Spiritual Power reserves and consumption, he had never feared anyone.
The Devouring Heaven Emperor Art not only granted him heaven-defying cultivation speed, but also provided him with an astonishing recovery rate. While fighting, he continuously circulated the Devouring Heaven Emperor Art, keeping his Spiritual Power stably maintained above a safe baseline line.
Seeing Xu Chen remain silent, Zhao Heihu laughed heartily, assuming he had hit the mark. He leaped into the air, his spiritual aura locking onto Xu Chen as his hands wove through seals at breakneck speed, furiously launching wave after wave of palm prints that shattered boulders and shook the earth.
Xu Chen met the onslaught with his sword.
Streaks of sword Qi shot outward.
The two of them once more engaged in a brutal, bloody slaughter.
After exchanging more than a dozen blows, the smile on Zhao Heihu's face gradually vanished.
He began to notice something amiss.
Xu Chen's offensive output showed no signs of weakening whatsoever.
There was completely no trace of his Spiritual Power being exhausted.
On the contrary, in the course of their continuous clashes, he had expended a massive amount of Spiritual Power, which had now dropped below twenty percent.
With his Spiritual Power on the verge of depletion, his offensive strength involuntarily began to wane.
Zhao Heihu's expression shifted again and again.
Things were slipping far beyond his expectations.
"Whoosh!"
A thick wave of sword Qi, wrapped in white air ripples, slashed down viciously.
"Boom!"
Zhao Heihu was knocked back, staggering. Blood surged in his chest.
His face was painted with shock.
"Impossible! How can you still have such abundant Spiritual Power?!"
Xu Chen mocked, "How could the volume of my spiritual energy be something you can estimate? You racked your brains trying to exhaust my Spiritual Power, but your little scheme is destined to fail. As for you right now, your Spiritual Power is probably down to less than twenty percent, isn't it?"
"Could it be that you took pills to replenish your Spiritual Power?!"