The newcomer was none other than the Demonic Cult's Saint Yang, Xiahou Yang!
Months ago, the entire martial world of the State of Lan had been thrown into turmoil because of Xiahou Yang.
He had traveled across several provinces, challenging multiple Rank One Grandmasters in his quest to carve out an invincible path.
Eight Rank One Grandmasters had already fallen to his blade, shaking the land and striking terror into the hearts of heroes.
A month ago, three Rank One Grandmasters, infuriated by his rampages, had joined forces to ambush and kill Xiahou Yang. Yet he defeated them all—leaving two dead and one grievously wounded!
Once that news spread, not a single Rank One Grandmaster dared to face him. Hearing that he had arrived in their province or commandery, they would promptly flee into hiding to avoid being hunted down and killed.
Everyone said that unless a Celestial Being took action, Xiahou Yang was practically peerless. Unfortunately, the State of Lan was the Demonic Cult's home turf. The Celestial Being experts in both the imperial court and the martial world were kept in check by the Demonic Cult's lineage masters, unable to act at will.
Furthermore, to avoid frightening off his intended opponents in advance, Xiahou Yang had begun concealing his movements. When a Rank One Grandmaster deliberately went into hiding, very few could detect him. Without accurate intelligence, Celestial Beings naturally would not personally scour the world in pursuit of him. Had they done so, the Demonic Cult Master was not one to sit idly by either—
Wind and Cloud Villa.
A murderous chill permeated the surroundings. The disciples within the villa were trembling with fear.
"Is that man really the Demonic Cult's Saint? Just last month, I heard he was far away in the Southeast Circuit. How did he arrive at our doorstep today?"
"I heard he has slain quite a few Rank One Grandmasters and possesses terrifying strength. Who knows if Villa Master..."
"Keep your voice down! Let's fall back first and head to the rear mountain so we don't get caught in the crossfire."
"Senior Brother Fu, as a personal disciple of the Villa Master, you actually plan to abandon him and flee?!"
"I'm not fleeing. I'm afraid that staying here will only make us a burden to Master! After all, we aren't even Rank Three Grandmasters. Just the aftershocks of their clash could gravely injure us."
"This... Senior Brother is right! I'll head to the rear mountain with you!"
"Let's go, quickly!"
The disciples' hushed whispers drifted on the wind, darkening Yue Dingshan's face. Yet at this moment, he had no time to reprimand them. His gaze was pinned firmly onto Xiahou Yang like an iron nail, daring not to lose focus for even an instant.
"Xiahou Yang, this old man has no desire to fight you. If you agree to withdraw, I can offer a thousand-year precious medicinal herb, a hundred prime dragon horses, and ten large carts of—"
"Since I have come, I have only one objective," Xiahou Yang cut him off. "And that is to kill you!"
Yue Dingshan's heart sank. "There is no room for negotiation?"
"What do you think?"
"Good! Good! Good!"
Yue Dingshan's expression turned frigid. As a Rank One Grandmaster, he possessed his own pride. A single plea for retreat was more than enough.
Without another word, the vitality and blood throughout his body detonated with a roar!
*Rumble!*
Like thunder cracking over the plains, surging waves of air erupted outward from around him, blasting open in concentric circles!
Across the immense bluestone plaza, countless clouds of grit and dust flew into the air. Hundreds, thousands of bluestones were ripped up and cast into the sky, merging with the raging air currents into a horrifying storm of earth and rock that swept violently outward in all directions.
The disciples watching from afar blanched in terror, forced backward again and again by the tempest. Those with weaker cultivation were knocked flat on the ground, their vitality and blood churning wildly.
"Hurry, run!"
"Don't just stand there like fools! We can't help Master; we'll only drag him down!"
"Everyone run, move!"
The crowd of disciples scrambled toward the distance, though as they fled, some still cast back worried glances.
"Allow this old man to witness the methods of the renowned Saint Yang!"
Wielding his spear with one hand, Yue Dingshan thrust forward with ferocity!
The coiling dragon spear unleashed a deafening roar. The spear shaft vibrated, drawing the surrounding airflow into a mad swirl.
In an instant, an incomparably concentrated beam of golden astral radiance erupted from the spear tip. Initially only as thick as a child's arm, it transformed in a flash into a clawing, fanged golden dragon!
Wherever the golden dragon passed, the air exploded in succession, gouging a chasm over a hundred fathoms long and a fathom deep into the ground.
Facing this spear thrust capable of piercing mountains and rivers, Xiahou Yang unsheathed his blade with a resonant *clang*.
The blade was dark crimson, with a thick spine and a thin edge, measuring three feet four inches in length.
Holding the blade in hand, he took a step forward and delivered an overbearing downward slash!
A stream of blood-red blade astral qi, refined to the utmost, burst forth like a crimson meteor tearing through the sky to plummet toward the earth!
Wherever the blade astral qi swept, the airflow was cleaved cleanly in two. Visible white vapor rolled away to either side, the air twisting and scalding with shrill screeches. Gale-force winds whipped broken stone and splintered timber backward in a frenzy, rattling the distant buildings until they threatened to collapse.
*Squelch!!*
The moment the blade astral qi collided with the golden dragon, it sliced through it effortlessly, like a giant cleaver slicing through bean curd.
With its momentum unbroken, trailing like a meteor with unmatched ruthlessness, it carved straight toward Yue Dingshan!
Yue Dingshan's pupils shrank violently. Letting out a great roar, he brought his spear across his chest to block.
*Clang!!*
A deafening explosion rang out!
The coiling dragon spear bent sharply, letting out a low groan under the unbearable strain. Yue Dingshan felt an overwhelming, irresistible force travel down the spear shaft. His body was blasted backward as though struck by an ancient colossus, smashing through two high walls in succession before he barely halted his momentum. Kneeling on one knee amid the rubble, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the dirt before him red.
"How... how can he be this strong?!" He looked down at the split webbing between his thumbs and forefingers, both arms trembling violently.
A single strike!
With just one strike, he had been beaten to the brink of severe injury!
Though both were Rank One martial artists, the difference between them was like cloud and mud!
"You are even weaker than I anticipated."
Xiahou Yang gave a soft sigh. The sound carried far and wide, allowing anyone who heard his words to feel the profound disappointment in his heart.
"You!"
Yue Dingshan was choked with fury. It was one thing to be defeated, but to be humiliated so thoroughly was unbearable!
Seeing Yue Dingshan's futile rage, Xiahou Yang shook his head slightly and spoke: "To be this weak means you have no value as a whetstone. You are utterly useless. And since you are useless, you may die."
As the words fell, his second strike slashed down with a roar.
This strike felt as though hundreds, thousands of volcanoes had erupted at once. An immense, matchless dark-red blade light plunged down boldly like an apocalyptic fire tearing through the firmament!
Wherever the blade light passed, the air was scorched into distorted blurs, sizzling loudly.
"Ahhh!!"
Yue Dingshan's eyes nearly split open, blood weeping from their corners. The vitality, blood, and true qi throughout his entire body erupted with all his might. The long spear in his hands let out a dragon's shrill cry, piercing through layered white shockwaves to crash violently against that blade light!
*Rumble! Boom! Boom!*
As if a meteor had slammed into a mountain peak, an enormous mushroom cloud billowed upward alongside an earth-shattering blast.
Under this tempestuous shockwave, the buildings of Wind and Cloud Villa collapsed in vast swaths. The ground rolled like waves, throwing up dragons of churning earth. From the distant mountains came rumbling crashes as boulders tumbled down and the earth shook.
*Whoosh—*
Abruptly, a fierce wind blew from high above, sweeping away the shroud of dust over the bluestone plaza.
Hundreds of deep ravines, hundreds of fathoms in length, crisscrossed the area. Amid a ruin piled with dirt and fractured bluestone, a coiling dragon spear stood slanted in the ground, clutched tightly by a blood-drenched hand.
"The... the... third strike!"
A voice arose, faint as a whisper. Yue Dingshan, his lower body completely severed, stared fixatedly at Xiahou Yang with blood overflowing from his eyes. "I... am waiting for your third strike..."
*Clang!*
The long blade returned to its scabbard.
Xiahou Yang turned away with cold indifference.
*Thud—*
Yue Dingshan could no longer hold on. His remaining upper torso collapsed straight into the rubble, his hand loosening and falling limp against the earth. The coiling dragon spear hummed faintly, as if weeping for its master's death.
"Master!!"
Not far away, several disciples who had not fled too far saw their master die so brutally. They collapsed to their knees, weeping bitterly.
A quarter of an hour later, wails echoed to the heavens across the vast Wind and Cloud Villa, filled with grief, fury, and terror.
However, Xiahou Yang was no longer there to see it. He walked leisurely out of the villa. A red-robed woman bowed respectfully. "Saint."
Xiahou Yang nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, a goshawk swooped down from the sky.
"A message from the Holy Cult!"
The red-robed maidservant stepped forward swiftly, untied the slip of paper bound to the goshawk's talon, and unfolded it. Her face instantly drained of color, her hands trembling violently.
Xiahou Yang frowned. "What is it?"
The maidservant glanced at him, her eyes filled with dread and worry. "Saint..."
"Do not make me repeat myself," Xiahou Yang said with displeasure.
"It's... Saint Yin... is dead," the red-robed maidservant whispered.
*Buzz! Buzz!!*
"He... is dead?!"
Xiahou Yang's eyes instantly turned crimson, as if harboring boundless fury. The long blade in his hand seemed to sense its master's wrath, letting out bursts of humming.
"Give it to me!"
"Yes, yes!"
Holding her breath, the maidservant stepped forward and placed the slip into Xiahou Yang's hand. He took it and swept his gaze over it.
*Poof—*
The next instant, a burst of flame consumed the paper slip, scattering a drift of ash into the air.
"Dead... He is truly dead! Huang Tian? I will kill you!"
Xiahou Yang laughed out of sheer fury. "Set out. To Great Gan, to Qin Province!"
The red-robed maidservant hesitated. "Saint, the Cult Master instructed you to test your blade within the State of Lan..."
Xiahou Yang said coldly, "I will send a letter to Master to explain. He will understand. As for testing my blade in Lan, it will be the same once I return after killing Huang Tian."
The maidservant was still somewhat uneasy. They had free rein within the State of Lan because it was the Holy Cult's stronghold; its influence was vast and spread across every province, so they hardly had to worry about a Celestial Being expert suddenly striking them down.
Going to Great Gan, however, would be completely different. If their whereabouts were exposed, it was very likely to draw out a Celestial Being expert belonging to the Great Gan court. At that point, the two of them would face certain death—no matter how powerful a Rank One Grandmaster was, they were no match for a Celestial Being!
Throughout the ages, only a single Yin Fenghai had ever managed to slay a Celestial Being face-to-face while still at Rank One!
Although that Celestial Being had already been severely injured before the battle, an injured Celestial Being was still a Celestial Being!
As for Xiahou Yang, talented though he was, compared to Yin Fenghai—a figure appearing once every several thousand or ten thousand years in the Five Directions Realm—he was like earth to heaven.
Knowing what the maidservant feared, Xiahou Yang said, "You remain here. I shall travel alone in stealth. Once I kill Huang Tian, I will return immediately without lingering. Even if a Celestial Being wishes to kill me, they won't make it in time."
"This servant should still accompany Young Master—"
"No need. If you come along, you will only slow my pace and increase the risk of exposure."
Wind and Cloud Villa was situated in a large province on the State of Lan's northern border, adjoining Great Gan. From here to Kunyun Commandery in Qin Province, riding a dragon horse would take only twenty days!
Twenty days. Strike the kill and return immediately.
By the time news leaked out and reached the ears of a Celestial Being, he would already be back in the State of Lan.
The maidservant hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. "May the Saint claim that person's head and return safely."
Xiahou Yang looked toward the north, as if gazing upon Huang Tian in Great Gan's Kunyun Commandery, and said coldly:
"Killing him will be easy."
***
"'Killing him will be easy'?"
Watching Xiahou Yang in the projected image, Huang Tian shook his head slightly.
If the man could fly before him right now, killing him would indeed not be overly difficult.
Xiahou Yang's strength stood virtually at the absolute pinnacle of Rank One Grandmasters in the world, which was why he needed only two strikes to defeat and slay Yue Dingshan of Wind and Cloud Villa.
Huang Tian estimated his own combat power to be around the middle tier of Rank One—neither at the bottom nor at the absolute top. By comparison, he was slightly stronger than Yue Dingshan.
In other words, if Xiahou Yang appeared before him this instant, three or four strikes would suffice to kill him.
Unfortunately.
"It will take you roughly twenty days to rush here from the State of Lan..."
After twenty days, everything would be vastly different.
Because at Rank Four, I am no match for you.
At Rank Three, however, it was another story entirely.
"I'll break through in a dozen days or so. Your timing is truly impeccable..."
Huang Tian sighed with emotion, then closed the image and began to cultivate with full focus.
Time flowed like water, and eighteen days slipped by in the blink of an eye.
On this day.
Inside a quiet room in the Funing County Martial Restraint Guard Company Office.
Huang Tian sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, quietly regulating his breath for an hour until the aura around him became completely harmonious and clear. Only then did he slowly open his eyes and retrieve a jade-like, warm medicinal pill from a translucent vial beside him.
It was precisely the Precious Elephant Sacred Fetus Pill!
Although his intuition told him he could break through even without a pill, why forgo such a precious elixir when it was right before him?
"It is time."
With a faint smile, he placed the Precious Elephant Sacred Fetus Pill into his mouth. The pill dissolved upon touching his tongue, transforming into a warm current that slid down his throat. The medicinal potency diffused in his abdomen, bringing no violent shock as one might imagine, but instead quietly seeping into his limbs and meridians like spring rain nourishing the soil.
*Swish—*
The vitality and blood within his body naturally grew lively, as if a frozen river had awakened in springtime, rushing merrily through his meridians and producing a pleasant, gurgling sound like flowing water.
Almost at the same moment, the spiritual qi outside the quiet room seemed drawn by an invisible pull, surging toward him wildly like a tidal wave.
The raging spiritual qi poured into his body. Upon contact with the efficacy of the Precious Elephant Sacred Fetus Pill and his vitality and blood, it instantly softened, transforming into gentle true qi that circulated through his heavenly cycles along with the grand, surging river of true qi inside him.
A layer of luminous white light surfaced on his skin, glowing warm like jade and enveloping his entire figure in a hazy halo. The light was as pure and gentle as moonlight, illuminating the entire quiet room.
At a certain moment.
*Pop—*
A faint sound, like the snapping of a bottleneck, abruptly rang out in his mind.
*A Rank Three Grandmaster—it is done!*
Chapter 125