Li Guanqi turned a deaf ear to the clamor below, causing the woman beside him to tremble slightly. As if recalling something, she looked up at Li Guanqi's defined jawline, her heart fluttering.
Yet just as Li Guanqi was about to intervene, his gaze swept over the crowd.
He paused, then slowly leaned against the window sill, tipping his head back to sip his wine as his eyes searched the throng below. Extending his divine sense slightly, a trembling voice from a young man reached his ears:
"His mother... must be pacing in circles up in heaven, frantic with worry..."
Boom!
Those words struck Li Guanqi's heart like a massive hammer.
Looking closer, he saw that the young man's face was already streaked with tears, his left hand gripping his scabbard so tightly that his knuckles were stark white.
Perhaps by putting himself in the old man's place, he had thought of his own mother.
If he had fallen into such a plight, his mother would surely be frantic with worry as well...
Beneath the young man's black hood, his face had long shed its boyish innocence, now filled with heroic resolve.
Li Guanqi suddenly felt a lump rising in his throat. The wine in his cup became hard to swallow, and his eyes grew faintly moist. The murmur from that youth had struck a profound chord within him too.
Down by the street, Zhou Ze merely shrugged, long accustomed to Wu Jiang killing people. Still, such dirty work was usually left to Wu Jiang; he had no desire to get punished after returning home.
Loving nothing more than stirring up trouble, Zhou Ze said excitedly, "Why not break his limbs and chuck him into the river? If he doesn't die completely, where's the fun in that?"
Wu Jiang's eyes flickered, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "As expected of you, always so thorough."
With those words, spiritual light flared around Wu Jiang's palm, forming an energy blade aimed straight at the old man's thigh!
The many cultivators concealed among the crowd tensed in shock.
"How vicious! If that hand-blade connects, it'll sever flesh and bone alike!"
Right at that instant, an earth-shattering explosion erupted!
Boom!
The bluestone pavement by the street suddenly blasted apart and caved in, causing the ancient trees flanking the road to collapse in an instant.
A black-robed figure burst forth, his outer garments tearing away. A jade pendant shattered midair as the youth in black brocade murmured softly, "Forgive me. My mission has failed."
As the shattered jade scattered, he transformed into a streak of residual light and shot out like an arrow!
From the weathered scabbard in his left hand, a blade instantly unsheathed.
"A wooden sword?"
Splat!
A severed arm flew into the air!
With his cultivation at the early Nascent Soul realm, Wu Jiang could not even track the assailant's movement. Agony tore deep into his nerves. Rolling his eyes toward his attacker, he finally made out the youth's appearance.
Clad in a black robe, with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and sharp, upright features, his gaze was as piercing as a blade, brimming with killing intent.
A ruthless glint crossed Wu Jiang's eyes as his remaining hand violently hurled the mute elder toward the river! Yet an invisible spatial force instantly froze the old man in midair.
The crisp sound of shattering jade followed as an exceptionally dense, earthy-yellow barrier materialized around Wu Jiang. His reflexes were undeniably swift, making a calculated decision in a split second.
Nearby, Zhou Ze's eyes went wide. He vaulted backward in a desperate retreat, pulling out a jade slip and crushing it. Yet that spatial transmission wave was instantly crushed by a mysterious force!
Wu Jiang shouted at rapid-fire speed, "Who are you?! Do you have any idea who I am?!"
The youth who had struck with such fierce empathy was none other than an assassin of Guanyun Pavilion: Chen Xiaotian!
He was the very boy who had once stayed by his critically ill mother's bedside, begging for an immortal blessing. Li Guanqi had gifted him a wooden sword back then, and Chen Xiaotian had remained by her side until she passed away peacefully of old age before ever leaving.
That was precisely why Chen Xiaotian's emotions had erupted so completely in that moment.
The corners of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly. He did not care what mission Chen Xiaotian was supposed to be carrying out. To Li Guanqi, the mission may have failed, but in his heart, Chen Xiaotian had become a far better man.
Chen Xiaotian's cold gaze never wavered. Twisting his wrist and bracing his left hand against the pommel, he thrust fiercely toward Wu Jiang's throat!
In that single instant, the unremarkable wooden sword erupted with blinding golden light. The thick earth-element barrier instantly crumbled, disintegrating inch by inch!
Before Wu Jiang's terrified eyes, the tip of the wooden blade pierced the skin of his throat.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring resonated as a ray of cold light violently deflected the blade. Even so, the tip carved a long, bloody gash across Wu Jiang's neck.
A terrifying pressure permeated the void as a white-browed elder with a grim expression stepped out from behind Wu Jiang. Gripping his long sword, the elder narrowed his eyes, the flesh between his thumb and forefinger split open from the impact!
With a solemn gaze, the elder grabbed Wu Jiang and leaped backward several dozen zhang. Without daring to shift his eyes for a second, he demanded in a chilling tone, "Who are you?"
The elder's aura belonged to the late Nascent Soul realm. Yet when facing this young man, he felt an unprecedented sense of suffocating pressure!
Chen Xiaotian was at half-step Soul Formation.
Chen Xiaotian gave no reply to the elder's interrogation. The moment the elder retreated, Chen Xiaotian spun around and shot straight toward Zhou Ze!
Zhou Ze cursed inwardly, raising his sword to parry. Azure light swirled around his frame, and the cloud boots on his feet gleamed with mystical brilliance.
Swish!
Facing a half-step Soul Formation combatant, Zhou Ze's newly reached early Nascent Soul realm was hopelessly outmatched. His vision blurred, and the youth was gone.
The white-browed elder suddenly roared, "Behind you!"
Zhou Ze swung his sword backward in a frantic reflex. Chen Xiaotian sneered and ducked low, letting the blade graze the edge of his hair. Staying crouched, the youth whipped his wooden sword in a vicious diagonal upward slash!
Splat!
A head flew high into the air, blood spraying like a fountain!
"Gulp... Did he... really kill him?"
"Zhou Ze is dead! Who is this guy?"
"Dressed in black, not a local. If he runs now, he might still have a way out!"
Among the watching cultivators, someone even sent a sound transmission: "Fellow Daoist, leave at once! Any later and it will be too late!"
Chen Xiaotian's eyes were sharp as daggers, deaf to all warnings. With a wave of his hand, he drew the helpless mute elder safely into a pocket of void space. With no more worries holding him back, his sword qi unleashed a distinct trace of sword intent pressure!
Golden sword qi crisscrossed violently, instantly shredding Zhou Ze's fleeing Nascent Soul into oblivion. He could not be deader.
Facing this youth brimming with lethal intent, the white-browed elder's heart pounded wildly. The young man showed not a shred of hesitation—from the moment he attacked, he had clearly resolved to slaughter everyone involved!
*Run! This person is too strong; I can't match him!*
Realizing this, the elder wasted no time. Pulling out another jade slip, he shouted into it, "Send reinforcements immediately! Someone is trying to kill the Second Young Master! Zhou Ze is dead!"
This time, the spatial fluctuation was too faint, and Chen Xiaotian had no time to intercept it.
The instant the message went out, the ground across the city's southwest shook violently, and several towering silhouettes surged into the sky!
Chen Xiaotian's eyes flickered slightly, and his movement technique accelerated, closing the distance in the blink of an eye!
"Spirit incantation: One Hundred and Ninety-Two: Wild Dance of Crimson Gold!"
Boom!
In just a single breath, the area within thirty zhang of the elder was completely engulfed by hundreds of Gengjin spirit swords!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions resounded endlessly, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air! Brilliant golden sword qi crisscrossed and hammered mercilessly into the blast zone.
As the surrounding space warped faintly, the onlookers could only glimpse a solitary figure struggling desperately beneath the torrent of golden blades. The primal energy barrier he had erected shook violently and soon shattered into pieces.
Dragging Wu Jiang along, the elder could only dodge frantically while swinging his sword to deflect the relentless stream of spirit swords.
Chen Xiaotian's eyes were ice-cold, reflecting Wu Jiang's trembling figure.
When Wu Jiang caught sight of those eyes, terror finally consumed him.
"Why are you trying to kill me?!"
"Is it really all just for some worthless mortal mute?!"
Chapter 1381