"There's nothing more to say. I've made myself very clear," the Young Master sneered. "If Master Qingxia still wants to reason with me now, then I'm afraid he's nothing short of a fool."
There were always those too stubborn to change. To Master Qingxia, the Young Master was precisely such a person—lost in delusion and blind arrogance.
But in the Young Master's eyes, Master Qingxia was the epitome of obstinance.
"I may be a bastard, but I'm no idiot," he said coldly. "You people want me dead, and I'm supposed to stretch out my neck and let you slice it open? No chance. The moment any of you make a move, I'll strike back and kill you. In front of any judge, that's called self-defense. At most, I'll be charged with excessive force. That's it."
He smiled darkly.
"Besides," he added, "since when can any court actually sentence me? Haven't I already said it? In this chaotic world, strength is justice, and power is the law!"
Words, no matter how eloquent, held little weight when life and death were at stake. And the Young Master, infamous for his venomous tongue, was done talking. When speech lost its power, brute force became the language of resolve.
So Master Qingxia finally struck.
He leapt forward, palms and fists unleashing their fury. With his left, he unleashed the Five Flooding Palms; with his right, the Seven Wounds Fist. The twin attacks roared forth like twin hurricanes, tearing through the air with a keening screech as they surged toward the Young Master.
But the Young Master only laughed.
He slowly raised his left hand, and at that moment, everyone watching—including Qingxia himself—felt a strange illusion.
It no longer seemed like a mere hand he was lifting, but a mountain—vast and majestic, full of overwhelming pressure.
Then he brought the hand down gently. Not towards anything in particular—just a casual sweep, as if brushing dust from a sleeve.
And in that moment, something shifted.
Those present saw ripples spreading through the air around him, as if space itself had been stirred. It was as though the Young Master had become a fish swimming through deep waters, his entire form hazy and untouchable.
Master Qingxia panicked.
He could no longer see clearly where the Young Master stood. His fists and palms, mighty as they were, would strike only empty air. They would not even graze his opponent.
In that split-second hesitation, the Young Master moved.
Still as a statue, swift as lightning—his form blurred into a blue streak, closing the distance between him and Qingxia in a blink. It was as if space itself had folded.
Suddenly, the Young Master stood nose-to-nose with Master Qingxia. Their faces were nearly touching.
A wicked grin played on the Young Master's lips as he stared into Qingxia's rapidly shrinking pupils, filled with dread.
"If you come to kill," he whispered, "then be ready to die."
His palm landed lightly on Qingxia's chest.
That "light" palm crushed through bone and sinew. Qingxia's chest caved inward, his back bursting outward.
The Young Master flipped back three full zhang before Qingxia's body fully crumbled, leaving behind nothing but a blossom of red in the air.
The crowd erupted in chaos.
Master Qingxia was no mere martial artist—he was the head of Kongdong Sect. Though his sect had fallen on hard times, his personal skills remained beyond doubt: a top-tier master of the martial world.
And yet such a master had been dispatched in a single exchange.
The power the Young Master displayed struck terror into every heart present.
"That wasn't Heaven-Shrouding Hand," Qin Nier thought, eyes wide with awe. "It looked similar… but no, that was something else entirely. What kind of martial art was that?"
She didn't know. What the Young Master had unleashed was no orthodox technique, but a new creation of his own. After grasping the essence of Heaven's Dao, he had taken the strengths of Qiao Wei's Time Yields to No Man, Uncle Li's Phantom Demon Palm, and his own Heaven-Shrouding Hand, and blended them into a new art—The Tyrant's Mandate.
And even though it was still in its infancy, The Tyrant's Mandate was already strong enough to obliterate a master like Qingxia in one move.
Now, with such power revealed, everyone present had to ask themselves—Do I truly have what it takes to face him?
The answer was plain: not one of them dared to move.
The Young Master scanned the crowd, eyes filled with disdain. Then he burst out laughing.
"What, no one dares step forward?" he called out. "If no one's got the guts to challenge me, then I suppose I'll be on my way!"
Smash!Du Gu Hongjian shattered a teacup in his grip, his rage boiling over.
"Qin Ren!" he roared. "You think Tianping Manor is a place you can walk in and out of as you please? Brothers of the martial world, this villain is cruel and merciless! We must not let him take any more lives! Everyone, attack together—cut him into pieces!"
This cry was met with thunderous approval.
On cue, sect leaders barked orders, and waves of disciples leapt from the wooden platforms like acrobats at a festival. Nearly a thousand swarmed the arena, forming a tight circle around the Young Master.
They weren't elites, but they had numbers, skill, and decent weapons—halberds, spears, broadswords, moon-blades, even banners, throwing knives, and crescent axes. All deadly enough when used en masse.
Du Gu Hongjian shouted again, "To minimize casualties, I suggest we begin with projectiles. No shame in using hidden weapons against a villain like Qin Ren. No matter how good his kung fu is, he can't dodge a thousand incoming blades, right?"
The crowd cheered and drew their concealed weapons.
Sect masters smiled approvingly.
"Truly thoughtful, Lord Du Gu," one said. "Charging him one by one would only get our disciples killed. But with ranged weapons? If they don't kill him, they'll still drain his strength. Excellent plan."
The Young Master sighed.
"Martial world rules?" he muttered. "What rules? You people twist them however you like. Just a bunch of empty words. Damn, and I thought I was shameless. Turns out I still have a long way to go."
Seeing that the mob was ready, Du Gu Hongjian raised his voice once more.
"Ready… one, two, three—release!"
A torrent of hidden weapons flew from the first three ranks—poisoned needles, throwing stars, iron caltrops, whirling blades, jagged coins, even household items: bricks, shoes, pearls, socks, and gold ingots. It was a downpour of chaos.
The Young Master gasped. "Holy hell! If I don't die from the weapons, I'll drown in this junk!"
He dodged a flying millstone, then leapt into the sky—forty zhang straight up—dodging the first wave.
Leaping mid-battle was foolish. Even the best lightness skill couldn't change direction in midair. It was asking to be skewered.
But the Young Master didn't care. Or perhaps he didn't need to.
Every hidden weapon turned skyward, rising to meet his descent. A second wave prepared to tear him to shreds mid-fall.
Then—whoosh!
A sharp, golden streak sliced through the air. A golden arrow, aimed not at his body—but at his feet.
He landed lightly on the shaft, and, foot atop the golden arrow, soared toward the edge of the encirclement.
Only now did the crowd realize—another golden arrow!
Du Gu Hongjian roared and smashed a table in fury."Damn it! I forgot about that bastard Xiao Tianci, the Golden Arrow and Silver Bow!"
The Young Master landed safely beyond the circle.
Just as the mob surged again to re-establish the encirclement, a bold, thunderous voice rang out—
"Liu Duanhun of the Dying Embrace—here to test the blades of the world's heroes!"
A ghostly figure swept in like wind, moving through the crowd. Each touch of his body triggered bursts like firecrackers. Bones shattered, bodies crumpled—anyone in his way was left a heap of limp flesh.
Then another voice boomed—
"Wrathful Thunderbrow answers the challenge of the world's finest!"
A figure cloaked in lightning-charged true energy charged in like a storm. Within three zhang of his path, nothing survived. Bodies were flung like leaves in a hurricane, coughing blood as they flew, dead before they hit the ground.
"And now—Xiao Tianci, the Golden Arrow and Silver Bow, steps forward!"
(To be continued…)