Chapter 166: Hao Hun Kills A Holy Son?
Chapter 166: Hao Hun Kills A Holy Son?
The stone path beneath my boots remained deathly silent as I closed the distance toward the weakened, weaponless Lin Feng.
As I walked, a thick plume of black smoke began to pour from the open wound where Lin Feng’s sword had just been embedded. To an outsider, it looked like a corruption. In reality, it was my Vanguard’s Fast Healing ability kicking into overdrive. Lacking a Summons Rebirth to fall back on, I couldn't afford to play fast and loose with my mortality. The dark vapor was actually a byproduct of my Nether-Ice aura burning away to fuel the regeneration. It was an expensive trade-off in aura, but a twenty percent health recovery every six seconds was worth every drop of aura.
Lin Feng rubbed his raw, throbbing eyes. Realizing my intent to kill was entirely genuine, he desperately pulled out a backup Jian—the very blade he usually reserved for sky-riding. He braced himself for a death match, completely unaware that he wasn't the real target on my hit list today.
Receiving my silent mental command, Minglong glided across the courtyard, positioning herself right between Su Ruyan and Ye Chen.
Her sudden movement immediately drew the sharp gazes of the Emperor, Su Mei, Xia Sha, and Xue Wuxia, who were all watching the confrontation from a careful distance. In the cultivation world, senior Sect Masters rarely intervened in the squabbles of the younger generation. For one of them to break rank meant risking a chaotic domino effect—a world-ending maelstrom where everyone dog-piled into the fray, ensuring mutual annihilation.
To the hidden masters' collective relief, Minglong showed no intention of fighting. Instead, she lazily munched on a stick of candied haws, looking for all the world like an amused bystander at a street performance.
Nearby, Su Ruyan’s hands moved subtly. The moment the first spark of hostility caught, she had begun channeling energy into a Recording Stone. She was a terrifyingly intelligent battlefield actor—the type who only drew blood when she possessed enough cold intelligence to guarantee a flawless mission execution.
Ye Chen, standing right beside her, was her exact polar opposite. He was a hot-headed butcher, personally responsible for the slaughter of countless Ice Palace disciples. Back in the Dragons Graveyard, Ye Lin had indeed raised those fallen disciples as undead soldiers. But she had also confessed the truth to me in private: it was her own brother who had murdered them just to strip their rare gear, tossing her the corpses as raw materials to build her personal raiding army.
I deliberately channeled my Radiate Nether-Ice passive, careful to keep the surrounding bystanders out of the direct damage radius. I did, however, let the unholy frost bite the air, purposefully turning my back to Ye Chen. I wanted to give the idiot a golden opportunity to strike.
As I baited the trap, I quietly triggered my Vanguard’s Harden Flesh technique. A form-fitting layer of crystallized Nether-Ice rippled across my skin like demonic armor, transforming me into a terrifying apparition straight out of the Underworld.
Between my passive Toughness and the newly activated Harden Flesh, physical slashing damage was mitigated by nearly three-quarters. Combined with my new Nether-Ice Body constitution, that threshold pushed to a staggering ninety percent damage reduction. These overlapping passives were the sole reason Lin Feng's earlier thrust hadn't left me mortally wounded—even if he hadn't aimed directly for my heart. It was also a core reason why I couldn't kill Lin Feng here.
The other reason was purely political: he was the Emperor’s personal student.
Sensing my feigned vulnerability, Ye Chen drew his Zhanmadao—a massive heavy saber forged from Black Iron. As a Time-attributed Body-cultivator, he began channeling his energy, preparing a long-range Line Attack. The weapon was magnificent: a dual-handed, slightly curved blade that perfectly married the devastating reach of a Japanese Odachi with traditional Chinese saber aesthetics.
Su Youming made no move to physically stop the impending violence, but her voice drifted over from the sidelines, carrying a tense, urgent warning.
"Hao Hun... don't kill Lin Feng. Not here. Not like this."
I knew the Love Gu was forcing her to look out for my safety, even if she couldn't explicitly warn me that we were being watched by powerful entities.
My gut told me the Emperor had a highly specific use for Lin Feng’s unique eyes—perhaps a transplant technique pulled straight out of an old ninja anime.
Hidden in the shadows, Xia Sha watched my rising Nether-Ice element with a mixture of astonishment and dark excitement. She was already rationalizing the breakthrough, assuming it was a direct cosmic consequence of the intimate, passionate morning we had shared. It was a useful misconception, and I fully intended to affirm it later to harvest a little more of her affection.
Whoosh! Dang! Clang!
With a casual flick of my wrist, I tossed Lin Feng’s black-ice-encrusted Jian right back to his feet. He stared at it, utterly stupefied.
"I don’t need your sword to kill," I said, my voice dropping to a glacial register. "Pick it up and fight."
Buzz! Hum!
A pair of sky-grey magic circles flared to life around my palms, signaling an imminent spellcast. Seeing the magical threat, Lin Feng desperately snatched his blade from the stone tiles.
From her vantage point behind the crowd, Minglong felt the heavy shift in the air as Ye Chen hoisted his Heavy Saber, aiming a lethal, sweeping Line Attack directly at my exposed spine. She instantly flagged the danger, alerting me through our mental Summoner bond.
Gu Xia was standing directly opposite Su Ruyan to lock her down and prevent her from interfering, leaving her with no time to shout a warning. Xia Bing, fully aware of my underlying strategy, merely kept a vigilant eye on Su Youming and Lin Feng while I finalized the spell already resting on the tips of my fingers.
"Swap Positions!" I muttered.
In the far distance, Sect Master Su Mei spotted her disciple's reckless, brainless advance a second too late. She could only pray the boy wouldn't lose his life for it.
"Hao Hun, this is vengeance for the Ye clan! Line Attack!" Ye Chen roared.
Whoosh!
A shimmering, silver crescent of raw Time element tore through the air, screaming toward my back.
Buzz!
With a blinding flash of sky-grey radiance, my form vanished, taking the radiating chill of my Nether-Ice aura with it. In my place stood the stunning form of Minglong. She stared directly at the incoming projectile—an element she was fundamentally immune to—and lazily brought her palm down.
With a casual, rhythmic slap, she neutralized the temporal crescent into nothingness.
Ye Chen felt the sudden, unnatural creep of black ice locking up his own spine. He realized the spatial deception instantly, but his reflexes were too slow.
Creak!
I clenched my heavy fist, launching into a dead sprint toward his blind spot as I triggered another Vanguard hallmark: Bull Rush Stun!
Bang!
My fist, heavily coated in a dense layer of Nether-Ice aura, connected cleanly with his jaw before he could even attempt a dodge. The sheer velocity of the impact shattered his momentum, sending him crashing heavily to the stone path. His Black Iron saber clattered away as the dark frost began to aggressively encase his limbs.
I leaned down and retrieved the fallen Zhanmadao. The moment my fingers wrapped around the hilt, I fell in love with the sheer weight and dark luster of the heavy weapon. Thanks to the Share Master's Skill granted to me by Xue Wuxia, the weapon's requirements melted away, leaving me fully proficient in its martial forms.
Reeling from the concussive stun of my Vanguard strike, Ye Chen struggled to push himself off the ground. Over half of his torso was already trapped in a prison of unyielding black ice.
His teeth chattered violently against the supernatural cold as he looked up, his arrogance completely shattered. "Hao... Hao Hun... Spare me..."
Swoosh—Slitch!
Before the final plea could clear his lips, I drove his own Heavy Saber deep into his gut. The Nether-Ice inside the blade immediately began its grim work, freezing his organs from the inside out. In the grand scheme of things, this was one of the very few times I had actively committed cold-blooded murder.
"Tell me, Ye Chen," I said, leaning over the hilt, my voice echoing with a terrible finality. "Do you remember when you and Ye Lin were children? Do you remember killing her pet dog, and then mockingly telling her to just reanimate it from the dead? Yeah... I heard all about that sad little story. You made her cry bitter tears that day."
Creak! Creak!
The frost sealed his lips. The unholy elements did not just claim his flesh; they froze his very soul, anchoring it to his mortal coil. The moment his life signature flatlined, the outer shell of ice shattered under the pressure of his newly reanimated flesh. Under the stunned, horrified gazes of the gathered cultivators, the corpse began to twitch.
I looked down at the newly risen thrall. "I didn't kill you for Ye Lin's sake. I killed you because I happen to love dogs."
Thud.
I hoisted the heavy, dark blade, resting the blunt edge casually against my shoulder in an effort to look entirely unfazed as I let my demonic ice armor dissolve back into mist. The Ye Chen zombie shambled into place at my right flank, its movements stiff but entirely obedient. I offered it a slight nod.
"Good. I'll present you to Ye Lin as a gift. Consider it a reward for being such an excellent wife."
With a sharp wave of my hand, a localized vortex of Death mana erupted, sucking the freshly minted zombie directly into my Corpse Refining Sect Token. I left his spatial Storage Ring and his official Sect Token resting visibly on the blood-splattered stones.
I pointed the tip of my newly acquired saber toward Su Ruyan. "Those belong to whoever your faction appoints as the next Holy Son. Take them. You have my condolences... assuming you and he were actually a thing."
Turning my gaze to the thoroughly bewildered Lin Feng, who was still gripping his sword in a daze of frozen inaction, I shrugged. "If you're eager to join him in the token, we can keep going. If not, take your junior sister up the mountain and get some rest before tomorrow's trials. Your eyes look like they hurt pretty badly, don't they?"
Whoosh!
With a subtle manipulation of my spiritual energy, my Corpse Refining Coffin hovered back into place against my spine. I glanced over at Gu Xia. "Hey, let's head back and get some rest. I want to wash this blood off."
Simultaneously, I fired a private spiritual transmission directly to Xia Bing: [Good job holding the line earlier. Now, go run some damage control with your Sect Master before she flies off the handle and gets us both into deep trouble, haha.]
As Minglong and Gu Xia fell into step behind me, I reached into my storage and casually pressed the red silk nightwear into Xia Bing’s hands to carry back, purely because I had a particular fondness for that kimono top. I didn't offer a formal farewell to Su Youming—the political atmosphere made it entirely inappropriate—and our trio quietly exited the courtyard, flanked by the intense, whispering gazes of the Ice Palace ladies.
Gu Xia wrapped her arms tightly around my forearm, her expression uncharacteristically grave as we walked down the isolated palace corridor.
"Sect Master Su Mei shouldn't be able to make a massive public ordeal out of this," she noted quietly. "She's the Emperor's wife, and the Emperor himself chose not to step in to save Ye Chen. But Hao Hun... I was honestly stunned to see you kill him like that. It didn't really feel like you."
I offered a slow, deliberate nod. "If he had just run his mouth and acted like an arrogant nuisance, I would have left him with his life. But he tried to put a blade through my spine with clear intent to murder. I'm strong, Gu Xia, but I unfortunately can't save everyone from their own stupidity."
A sudden, sultry glint returned to her eyes, her tone shifting seamlessly into something far more intimate. "In that case... let me help you wash the blood off in the baths. And let me help you resolve all that dark, residual anger you must be holding onto inside of me, hmm?"
I had to admit, she read me perfectly. Giving Gu Xia exactly what she wanted felt like the perfect remedy to soothe my restless, adrenaline-spiked heart.
As we reached the heavy bathhouse doors, I gave her a firm nod of approval, causing her eyes to crinkle into beautiful, joyful crescents.
Just inside the threshold, Xia Sha was already waiting, leaning elegantly against a pillar. Her sharp eyes swept across my form, assessing me for hidden injuries.
"You thoroughly impressed me out there, Hao Hun," she murmured, a trace of pride coloring her words. "Go get yourself properly cleaned up, and then report to my private chambers. I want to conduct a thorough examination of your new Nether-Ice mana. I need to understand exactly how it operates."
Mwah!
I stepped forward and planted a swift, appreciative kiss on her lips, grateful that she had at least stood vigil for me during the madness. As Gu Xia began eagerly tugging my arm toward the steaming water, I looked back over my shoulder.
"Alright, I'll be there in a bit. Thanks for watching my back... and thanks for helping me secure this new magic in the first place."
Xia Sha offered a knowing nod, fully aware of exactly what her daughter was currently planning in the baths. She pulled out a sleek communication slab from her robes; she needed to handle the political fallout with Su Mei sooner rather than later.
Looking toward the bathhouse doors, a faint smile touched her lips. Her new husband had given her a genuine reason to hope for the future, and Xia Sha had every intention of holding onto Hao Hun as tightly as she could.