Heaven-Dominating Martial Emperor

"No wonder... No wonder!"

"No wonder you're just a Spirit Sea Realm Cultivator, yet you could take off the Tiger's head with a single strike..."

"So you've actually comprehended Sword Intent..."

Xu Zhi muttered, his heart filled with despair.

Faced with such an absolute gap in the realm of the Sword Dao, he stood no chance of withstanding Ye Chen's assault with his Swordsmanship alone.

"Young Master, look out!"

Behind Xu Zhi, the experts from the Xu family all cried out in alarm.

No one had expected that in the very Sword Dao Xu Zhi prided himself on most, he would be so utterly crushed by Ye Chen.

BOOM!

Terrifying Spiritual Power erupted from Xu Zhi's body!

At a time like this, he could only rely on his Spiritual Power to block Ye Chen.

As a Primordial Mansion Realm Cultivator, his cultivation realm was countless times stronger than Ye Chen's!

But to Xu Zhi's despair, his barrier of Spiritual Power was cut to pieces under Ye Chen's sword as if it were tofu.

'That's right...'

'The Tiger was also a First Layer Primordial Mansion Realm Cultivator, but he couldn't block a single one of your strikes either!'

'Without using Swordsmanship, what's the difference between me and the Tiger?'

Xu Zhi's expression changed drastically. The treasured sword in his hand, along with the Spiritual Power surging from his body, was torn apart by Ye Chen's blade!

"Stop! You can't kill me!"

"I'm from the Xu family of Yuan Province!"

"If you kill me, the Xu family will not let you go!"

"And there's Brother Qianqiu! He's the most powerful genius of our Xu family's generation, and he's in Lei Province too! He..."

Xu Zhi wanted to struggle desperately. At this moment, with his life on the line, he finally felt fear.

SWISH—

A merciless flash of sword light swept past.

"No, no, no—"

The eyes of the Xu family experts went wide as they roared in fury.

Xu Zhi's head flew high into the air before tumbling to the ground.

His body collapsed, limp and lifeless.

In the final moment before he lost consciousness.

A wave of regret washed over Xu Zhi.

He regretted why he had so easily provoked Ye Chen into a life-or-death battle.

He had thought that in a place like Lei Province, he could easily crush anyone he came across.

He never imagined he'd end up picking a fight with the wrong person.

'Brother Qianqiu... you must... avenge me...'

Before he died, Xu Zhi crushed the Token in his hand, sending out his final thought.

Outside the Dragon Prison Cave, a straight-backed figure in a white robe sat cross-legged.

His face was cold and severe, with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes. A sharp, treasured sword rested before him.

The sword was simple and ancient, exuding a vast and distant aura.

Most importantly, the sword was actually hovering in the air in front of him!

He was clearly not using any power, yet the treasured sword seemed to move according to his will alone.

One moment it would hover before him, the next it would suddenly spiral into the air, executing astonishing killing moves before obediently returning to its original position.

Many of the people nearby witnessed this and were too frightened by the strange sight to approach.

The treasured sword was so bizarrely animated, it was as if it had become Spiritual.

If they got any closer, there was no telling if the sword might suddenly attack them!

Just then, the man in the white robe, who had kept his eyes shut the entire time, suddenly snapped them wide open!

The shape of a sword was revealed within his pupils, and waves of astonishingly sharp Sword Qi shot out like countless blades.

The ground beside him was sliced into a riddled mess!

"Who is it!"

"Who is so audacious as to dare kill a member of my Xu family!!!"

Xu Qianqiu shot to his feet. He seemed to merge as one with the ancient sword hovering before him. His Sword Intent rocketed into the sky, cleaving even the distant white clouds in two!

Many of the onlookers were so frightened by his crazed appearance that they staggered back in horror.

But he paid them no mind, merely glancing into the distance.

'The matter of the Dragon Prison Cave is too important.'

'I'll seek revenge after this is over.'

He looked again toward the Dragon Prison Cave before him.

Although the seal was broken, its shattered power radiated a five-colored light, which swirled like iridescent clouds, filling the cave entrance.

But now, that iridescent light was clearly much dimmer than it had been at first.

It seemed the sealing power at the entrance of the Dragon Prison Cave was finally about to dissipate completely.

...

「At the Liu family residence.」

After cutting off Xu Zhi's head, he slowly sheathed his sword, casually taking the Storage Ring from Xu Zhi's body as well.

"You... you..."

"You actually killed the Young Master!!!"

The Xu family experts were incensed. They glared at Ye Chen, their bodies surging with killing intent!

It was one thing for Ye Chen to have killed the Tiger.

They would certainly have sought revenge, but they would never have been as furious as they were now!

After all, the Tiger was merely one of Xu Zhi's attendants.

But Xu Zhi was a true young prodigy of their Xu family!

Although he wasn't on the level of their number one prodigy, Xu Qianqiu, he was definitely among the top-ranked youths of the Xu family's current generation!!!

Yet a powerful prodigy like him couldn't even block a single one of Ye Chen's strikes!

All because the Swordsmanship the Xu family prided itself on was like child's play before Ye Chen.

The experts of the Liu family also looked at each other in dismay.

Ye Chen's strength was indeed astonishing, but killing Xu Zhi didn't seem like a good thing, did it?

"Didn't he say it himself just now?"

Ye Chen glanced indifferently at the Xu family members. "He was the one who said the loser would be beheaded."

"I was merely fulfilling the initial promise."

"Bastard!"

"How can you compare yourself to a prodigy of my Xu family?"

"You people from Lei Province are just worthless scum! Your lives are cheaper than paper, so it doesn't matter if you die!"

"But our Xu family prodigies are noble and precious! Throughout the entire eastern part of the dynasty, few would dare to look down on us! Now that he has died by your sword, just you wait for the endless hunt of our Xu family!"

The Xu family experts roared furiously.

Clearly, they hadn't taken Ye Chen's words seriously at all.

Even if Xu Zhi had said the loser would be beheaded, so what?

He could behead someone from Lei Province, but someone from Lei Province couldn't behead him!

After all, on what grounds could mere Cultivators from Lei Province compare to the Xu family of Yuan Province?

Hearing this, Ye Chen didn't speak, but simply scoffed.

"This..."

"Master Ye, the Xu family of Yuan Province is immensely powerful. If word of what happened here gets out, the consequences could be unpredictable."

Liu Yuchan hesitated for a moment but couldn't help but offer a word of caution.

Ye Chen's strength was certainly great.

But faced with the hunt of a behemoth like the Xu family, he would inevitably be walking into a dead end!

"No matter!"

"Word of what happened here today won't get out."

Ye Chen's gaze swept over the remaining members of the Xu family.

"I just have to kill these guys too, right?"