Chapter 115 - 114: When Will the Cycle of Vengeance End?
The Xu Family’s plot had been exposed, and now Chen Yuan was involved.
Therefore, for the Nine Swords Alliance, annexing the Guan Family was out of the question. The most important thing now was to preserve the Xu Family.
"Spare the Xu Family?"
Chen Yuan’s lips curled into a strange smile. "Are all of you from the Nine Swords Alliance so naive? The saber is already drawn. Do you really expect me to sheathe it?
Today, the Xu Family must be exterminated, and you will die as well!"
As his voice fell, Chen Yuan roared, "Attack!"
Guan Zhenshan had been waiting for those words.
If Chen Yuan had actually decided to spare the Xu Family for some strategic benefit, Guan Zhenshan would have truly put his faith in the wrong person.
Fortunately, Chen Yuan did not disappoint him.
Guan Zhenshan was an honest man, but even honest men have a temper.
The Xu Family wanted to wipe out his entire line, so today, he would see their clan utterly annihilated!
Chen Yuan’s True Qi roared around him as he pushed the power of his Fish Dragon Transformation to its absolute limit.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Yuan moved, appearing right in front of Wu Youqing.
An almost tangible Blood Qi condensed upon the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink. The saber descended, its momentum like a magnificent, brilliant river of blood falling from the sky.
In an instant, a boundlessly ferocious Blood Qi erupted!
Blood Refining Divine Saber!
Wu Youqing’s expression changed drastically.
Back when Chen Yuan was in the Qi Casting Realm, he could only flee in a hurry. But now, only a few months later, the condensed and formidable power in this saber strike was no less than that of a Condensing Truth Realm Martial Artist!
CLANG! With a deafening ring, Wu Youqing’s long sword flew from its sheath. True Qi erupted and True Essence surged forth, transforming into a torrent of Fiery Flame Sword Qi that slashed toward Chen Yuan’s Blood Refining Divine Saber.
The greatest difference between the Condensing Truth Realm and the Sea of Reincarnation Realm lay in their power.
What flowed within a Condensing Truth Realm expert was no longer True Qi, but liquid True Essence, compressed to its absolute limit.
When released, the power of True Essence didn’t dissipate over long distances like True Qi. Its attack range was several times that of the Sea of Reincarnation Realm, and its explosive force was also far greater.
However, Chen Yuan’s incredibly powerful foundation meant his explosive strength was already on par with a Condensing Truth Realm expert.
Fighting a Condensing Truth expert as a Sea of Reincarnation master, he still had a chance to win!
The surging Fiery Flame Sword Qi collided with the overwhelming Blood Qi. A violent explosion roared at their point of impact, cracking the earth and stone for dozens of feet around. The scene was unbelievably intense.
The surrounding Captains from Kaiping Prefecture paled slightly as they witnessed this.
They finally understood why their superiors had allowed Lord Chen to become an Inspector while only at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm.
With such strength and power, there was hardly any difference between him and a Condensing Truth expert.
From within the violent turbulence of True Qi, the light of the Shocking Saber suddenly slashed out. The swift strike appeared before Wu Youqing in the blink of an eye.
Although Wu Youqing was old, he was a battle-hardened veteran.
He retreated rapidly while thrusting his long sword out repeatedly. Each stream of Sword Qi seemed to transform into a fire dragon, attacking Chen Yuan with scorching, dreadful power.
Chen Yuan formed a Seal Technique with his hands, and a sky-blotting golden Buddha Light suddenly appeared.
As the Buddha Light caused the void to tremble, a Brahma Sound chanted. Golden ripples spread out, circle by circle, as if a Divine Buddha was reciting scripture with solemn dignity.
The moment the Six Paths of Vajra Mantra of Master Padmasambhava was unleashed, the Brahma Sound, like the tolling of a great bell, instantly shattered Wu Youqing’s Fire Dragon Sword Qi.
Even Wu Youqing himself was struck by this immense power. The Qi Blood in his Inner Viscera trembled, his face flushed red, and he could barely hold onto his long sword.
Seeing Chen Yuan’s saber about to strike, Wu Youqing’s Qi Blood suddenly began to burn violently. A purple flame immediately coiled around his body.
He held his long sword horizontally before him. The purple flame soared, erupting with an ultimate, powerful force to block Chen Yuan’s strike.
This was a Secret Technique from the Celestial Flame True Understanding that Wu Youqing cultivated, called the Purple Fire Burning Body Technique.
It used Qi Blood as fuel and True Essence as flame to unleash ultimate power.
Normally, Wu Youqing would only use this move in a life-or-death battle against a Martial Artist of the same level.
He never expected that after just a few exchanges, he would be forced by Chen Yuan to use the Purple Fire Burning Body Technique.
The power of the purple fire was incomparably tyrannical. Not only did it explode with extreme strength to block Chen Yuan’s saber, but an intense burning sensation also washed over him.
Whether it was the Buddha Light or the Demonic Qi, both were incinerated by that tyrannical purple fire, unable to advance even half a step.
At the same time, Wu Youqing formed a Sword Pointing with his left hand and thrust it toward Chen Yuan’s chest and abdomen.
Purple fire condensed on the Sword Pointing. A dreadful Sword Qi surged, its ultimate, piercing sharpness instantly tearing through Chen Yuan’s Protective True Qi.
Just then, an ultimately powerful Blood Fiend Power suddenly erupted from Chen Yuan’s body.
He unleashed the Profound Celestial Pointing, bringing down the Power of Nine Heavens. It was finger against finger, Attack Against Attack!
The purple fire Sword Pointing collided with the Profound Celestial Pointing. One side’s purple fire was tyrannical, while the other’s finger strength was majestic and imposing, its power unparalleled.
The massive impact forced a muffled grunt from Wu Youqing. He staggered back three steps, his face turning slightly pale.
In a direct clash of power, he had actually lost to Chen Yuan!
The next moment, Chen Yuan slashed down his saber. Surging Demonic Qi and boundless Blood Fiend intertwined, transforming into an endless abyss that threatened to devour and tear Wu Youqing apart.
Demon Buddha Devouring the Sun!
As Wu Youqing retreated, he frantically channeled the power of his purple fire. A sky full of sword light formed a barrier in front of him, barely managing to block this ultimately tyrannical and bizarre power.
After withstanding Chen Yuan’s Demon Buddha Devouring the Sun strike, Wu Youqing gasped for breath. The scorching Fiery Flame True Qi around him erupted, but not to attack Chen Yuan—it was to escape!
With the Guan Family and Zhenwu Hall joining forces, the Xu Family was doomed. They would definitely be wiped out today.
But he couldn’t let himself be dragged down with them. So, the moment Wu Youqing realized he couldn’t defeat Chen Yuan, he turned and fled.
He fled, and Chen Yuan gave chase.
The scene was strangely familiar, only the roles were now reversed.
Wu Youqing was horrified. He had already played almost all of his trump cards, yet Chen Yuan seemed to have an endless supply of powerful Secret Arts, each more formidable and domineering than the last.
He was fighting a Condensing Truth expert as a Sea of Reincarnation master, yet he had forcibly erased the gap of an entire Realm using a variety of absurdly powerful Cultivation Techniques and Secret Arts.
Even if he was the illegitimate son of Zhenwu Hall’s Grand Commandant Chao Hongtu, this inheritance was simply too exaggerated.
But as Wu Youqing fled, he discovered that he couldn’t shake Chen Yuan off!
Chen Yuan stuck to him like a shadow. In the blink of an eye, they were several miles away from Flying Horse Pavilion, yet Chen Yuan remained hot on his heels.
Gasping for breath, Wu Youqing’s heart sank.
The Purple Fire Burning Body Technique used Qi Blood as fuel. Although it didn’t burn as quickly as some extreme cultivation techniques, it had already consumed nearly half of his Qi Blood.
He was over seventy, after all. Though his Qi Blood hadn’t begun to decline with age, he was no longer at his peak.
If he continued this stalemate with Chen Yuan, he would die from Qi Blood exhaustion before Chen Yuan even needed to strike.
Moreover, he remembered that Chen Yuan still had trump cards he hadn’t used.
That aura back then had made Wu Youqing tremble with fear, let alone now.
"Lord Chen, when will this cycle of revenge ever end? My young master did try to kill you back then, but he failed to cause you any harm.
If you let me go this one time, the Nine Swords Alliance will surely reward you handsomely in the future! What do you say we bury the hatchet?"
Wu Youqing wasn’t saying this just because he feared death; he genuinely wanted to resolve the enmity with Chen Yuan.
In just a few short months, this man had gone from a mere Loose Cultivator to an Inspector of the Zhenwu Hall. His strength had skyrocketed to the point where he could chase Wu Youqing all over the place.
With such strength and such a terrifying rate of progress, he was absolutely qualified to compete with the heirs of the world’s top factions. He was a figure worthy of being on the Jianghu Hidden Dragon Rankings!
Although Zuo Feiyu was also outstanding, Wu Youqing had to admit that his young master was merely mature in his methods and mindset, with some renown in the Border of Youning.
At this stage, Zuo Feiyu’s strength was completely incomparable to Chen Yuan’s.
Making an enemy of a young prodigy of this caliber was truly unwise. The only options were to befriend him or kill him outright.
His young master had always been prudent in his actions, treating his subordinates with respect and excelling at making friends in the Jianghu.
’So why didn’t he befriend this Chen Yuan back then, and instead make an enemy of him?’
Chen Yuan smiled. "When will the cycle of revenge ever end? I agree with that sentiment."
Hearing Chen Yuan say this, Wu Youqing let out a long sigh of relief.
’As long as he’s willing to talk, there’s hope. The worst-case scenario is when they refuse to even negotiate.’
"That’s why I’ve always believed that as long as you completely exterminate your enemy’s clan, wipe out all nine generations, and kill every last one of them, you’ll never get caught in a cycle of revenge."
"You’re messing with me!"
Wu Youqing’s face darkened, and a vicious glint appeared in his eyes. "Fine, fine! Since you’re so aggressive, then let’s die together!"
As his voice fell, Wu Youqing pulled a broken sword from his robes.
To be precise, it couldn’t even be called a broken sword. It was just a thumb-sized fragment of a blade, fiery red like a piece of red jade.
The next moment, Wu Youqing frantically channeled all his True Essence and Blood Qi into the fragment.
In an instant, a scorching, piercing, and incomparably powerful Sky-Reaching Sword Qi began to condense within the tiny fragment.
A grave look appeared in Chen Yuan’s eyes.
’This old bastard really has some hidden treasures. He actually has a Divine Soldier Fragment.’
The small blade fragment was formerly a Divine Soldier, but it had been shattered into dregs and could no longer be used as a normal Divine Soldier.
Even if one collected all the fragments, it would be impossible to reforge the complete Divine Soldier.
In this world, only an extremely special existence like the Seven Kills Stele could be shattered into seven pieces and still be restored, with each fragment containing its own independent and powerful might.
A Divine Soldier Fragment of this size could only be barely activated by channeling one’s own True Essence and Blood Qi into it.
But despite its small size, activating its power would drain a Condensing Truth Realm master dry, unleashing an astonishingly ultimate force in the process.
Wu Youqing was already resolved to die. Even in death, he had to help the Nine Swords Alliance eliminate such a terrifying future opponent with limitless potential!
The next moment, the Sky-Reaching, scorching Sword Qi erupted. Chen Yuan could see nothing before him but the searing, blazing heat of that one sword strike!
Chen Yuan’s face was fearless; he was simply estimating the power of the strike.
’The Divine Artifact Incarnation from the Corpse Tower Forest is too precious. I can’t bear to use it yet.’
Just as the sword strike was about to hit him, Chen Yuan suddenly tapped the spot between his eyebrows.
Boundless Qi Blood gathered, and along with it, the Blood Fiend Power condensed by the Seven Kills Stele also converged on his Forehead Ancestral Acupoint.
A small red mark appeared on Chen Yuan’s forehead, like a vertical pupil splitting open. From within, an ultimately powerful, boundless bloody light bloomed!
Celestial Blood Eye!
The Sky-Reaching Sword Qi collided with the boundless bloody light. The powerful impact sent earth and stone flying around them, making it seem as if an earthquake had struck an area over a hundred feet wide.
Wu Youqing’s Qi Blood was rapidly consumed. Within a few short breaths, he was reduced to a withered figure of skin and bones.
But he clung to his last breath, wanting to see Chen Yuan completely obliterated into dust.
But the next moment, as the dust settled, Chen Yuan’s figure staggered out from within it.
The blood-red eye on his forehead was striking. Though his face was pale, he clearly still had strength to spare.
Wu Youqing’s eyes widened. With a miserable smile and a look of intense unwillingness, he collapsed to the ground with a THUD.