I Seriously Didn't Want to Be the Martial Alliance Leader

Hong Yuanqing was not short on sons.

He had nine of them. The eldest had been raised to be exceptional, and he was satisfied with the performance of more than half of them.

This time, that useless piece of trash Hong Chengwen had provoked two powerful and disastrous fiends, leading to heavy casualties among the guards of his Hong Family Castle.

Even if Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan were to retreat today, he would still have to kill Hong Chengwen to consolidate his family's loyalty and serve as a warning to his other sons.

Hong Yuanqing came from the army, and he ran his family with the same military discipline.

Military law was absolute, and his sons were no exception.

Sacrificing a son who was already marked for death in exchange for the retreat of these two young masters of mysterious origin was a worthy trade.

But who would have thought they wouldn't be satisfied with the life of one son? They actually wanted to exterminate his entire lineage!

"Kill!"

With a ferocious roar, battle intent surged from the Profound Gold Spear in Hong Yuanqing's hand. He thrust it forward, unleashing what looked like a boundless tempest upon Chen Yuan and Gu Lichuan.

A sharp glint flashed from the Celestial Blade in Chen Yuan's hand as it erupted with overwhelming Demonic Qi to meet the charge.

Gu Lichuan thrust out his Long Sword. Not a shred of True Qi leaked from it, yet an incredibly pure Sword Intent soared to the heavens, its sharpness on full display.

The blade and the sword combined their might, clashing with Hong Yuanqing's tyrannical spear. In that instant, a violent wave of True Qi erupted, nearly tearing the entire grand hall apart.

At the same time, Hong Yuanqing's sons charged in from behind him.

Although the Hong Family had numerous guards, the strength of most was mediocre.

Even though Hong Yuanqing trained them with methods from the Great Xia Army, most of the guards were only at the Meridian Passage Realm.

The ones with real strength were Hong Yuanqing's sons. His first three had all reached the Sea of Reincarnation Realm. Though they were over thirty—a bit old by the standards of the Jianghu—they were still considered prodigies among the young Martial Artists of Qing Province.

"Brother Gu, you go kill Hong Yuanqing's sons. I'll hold him off."

A trace of hesitation appeared in Gu Lichuan's eyes.

He had seen the power of Hong Yuanqing's previous strike—it was immensely powerful and overwhelmingly fierce, just as one would expect from a Condensing Truth Realm Late Stage expert.

'The two of us together barely blocked a single strike from his spear, and now Brother Chen wants to face him alone? This seems a bit dangerous.'

But seeing the look in Chen Yuan's eyes, Gu Lichuan no longer hesitated and charged toward Hong Chengtao and the other members of the Hong family's second generation.

"Courting death!"

Hong Yuanqing snorted coldly.

'Together, they can stand against me. But separated... this gives me the perfect opportunity.'

'Although this puts my sons at risk, I trust they aren't all useless trash like Hong Chengwen.'

'Even if they can't win, so many of them against one man should be enough to hold him off for a while.'

Hong Yuanqing brandished his Profound Gold Spear, its movements like a striking dragon. With every thrust, a burst of black-red Evil Qi erupted from the tip, like crimson flowers blooming in mid-air.

Having come from the army and endured countless battles, his Inner Power True Essence was naturally tinged with a trace of Evil Qi.

For an ordinary person to refine such externally-sourced Evil Qi would almost certainly lead to qi deviation.

Fortunately, General Yuwen Tai had gifted him a Taoist Secret Manual, the Black Water Profound Skill. The Black Water Power it cultivated was profound and dense, more than enough to suppress the Evil Qi.

Countless crimson flowers now bloomed before Chen Yuan. Though the spear's momentum was tyrannical, its movements were exquisitely precise, sealing off nearly all of Chen Yuan's avenues of escape.

In a flash, Chen Yuan's hands formed a Seal Technique. Golden Buddha Light radiated from his body, and the air filled with the echo of Brahma Sound.

With the activation of the Six Paths of Vajra Mantra of Master Padmasambhava, golden ripples spread through the air, and this immense power immediately suppressed the Evil Qi.

The next moment, Chen Yuan drew upon his killing intent, and an overwhelming Blood Fiend Power erupted from him.

Sensing this power, Hong Yuanqing's expression suddenly changed.

Compared to the Power of Blood Fiend Origin, the battlefield's Evil Qi he had absorbed was like the light of a firefly next to the bright moon.

'How could any human cultivate such a powerful and terrifying Blood Fiend Qi?'

'Even if he'd been killing since the day he was born, he couldn't possibly have condensed such a terrifying Blood Fiend Power!'

Blood Refining Power condensed on the edge of his blade as overwhelming Blood Fiend poured into it.

With a single downward slash, it was as if a Blood River from the underworld had been unleashed, and a torrent of Blood Qi poured down from above!

The power of the Blood Refining Divine Saber, now fused with Blood Fiend Power, was immense. Hong Yuanqing let out a bellow, pushing his Black Water True Qi to its absolute limit. He swept his Profound Gold Spear horizontally, then vertically, forming a colossal, cross-shaped wave of True Qi before him.

When the black and red energies collided, Chen Yuan surprisingly held a slight advantage in raw power.

The very instant the two forces dissipated, Hong Yuanqing's power suddenly converged, condensing to its absolute limit.

In that moment, he seemed to become one with his spear, transforming into a black shadow. Like a black dragon taking flight from the earth, he tore through the rampaging True Qi and shot straight toward Chen Yuan!

The momentum of Hong Yuanqing's attack was matchless, as if he were back on the battlefields of old. It was with this very move that he once led his Death Warriors to charge formations, be the first to cut down an enemy general, shatter their lines, and seize their banner!

Instead of retreating, Chen Yuan advanced. His hands formed a Seal Technique, pushing the power of the Sutra of the Pure Glazed Vajra to its absolute limit.

At the same time, he brought his blade down in a Blood Demon Devouring the Sun strike. Blood Fiend and Demonic Qi tore at each other, continuously sapping Hong Yuanqing's strength.

Blade and spear crashed together. Chen Yuan instantly felt an extreme, colossal force slam into him, a wild and majestic torrent of True Qi battering his body.

Yet Chen Yuan met Hong Yuanqing's attack head-on, not yielding a single step. The Power of Buddha Light fortified his body, the Fish Dragon Transformation compressed his True Qi, and he condensed his Blood Fiend to endure the blow.

The first push is the strongest; the second shows weakness, and the third brings exhaustion.

The power of Hong Yuanqing's man-and-spear-as-one technique was immeasurable, but Chen Yuan had chipped away at its momentum again and again. Now, it was beginning to lose its force.

Seeing his chance, Chen Yuan formed a sword-finger with his left hand, bringing the Profound Celestial Finger crashing down on Hong Yuanqing.

A giant Palm Seal of Black Water True Qi condensed to block the Profound Celestial Finger, and Hong Yuanqing immediately withdrew his spear and retreated.

He had no time to be locked in a stalemate with Chen Yuan; a prolonged struggle for dominance was the worst possible scenario for him.

But when he pulled back his Profound Gold Spear, he saw a deep gash on the spearhead. The sight made his expression shift slightly.

This Profound Gold Spear was an Earth Soldier given to him by General Yuwen himself. Even though it was only a Low Grade Earth Soldier, its sharpness was still astounding.

'And yet his opponent's blade left such a deep mark on it. The grade of that weapon must be far superior to my own.'

He had fought and risked his life in the army for half a lifetime, and it was only by the good fortune of serving under a general as generous as General Yuwen that he had managed to acquire a Low Grade Earth Soldier.

'Yet this young man, merely at the Sea of Reincarnation Realm, is already wielding an Earth Soldier. His background must be terrifyingly deep.'

A deep killing intent appeared in Hong Yuanqing's eyes.

'And for that very reason, I must kill them today!'

'So young, and with such a foundation. Their origins must be extraordinary.'

'If I truly can't afford to provoke the power behind them, then worst case, I'll go back to General Yuwen and rejoin the Vigorous Martial Army.'

The heavens are vast and the earth is wide, but the Court is mightiest of all!

Just as Hong Yuanqing was considering his escape routes, his gaze shifted. A glimpse of what was happening with Gu Lichuan made his eyes nearly split from their sockets in rage, and his spirit trembled.

Gu Lichuan had already killed five of his eight remaining sons.

Just in that instant, his most favored eldest son, Hong Chengtao, was run through the chest by Gu Lichuan's sword, undeniably and utterly dead.

With a furious roar, Hong Yuanqing immediately tried to turn back to kill Gu Lichuan, but how could Chen Yuan let him have his way?

Evil Qi condensed in his palm as a murderous calamity descended.

The Blood Fiend Heaven-Seizing Hand descended. The massive Palm Seal slammed into Hong Yuanqing, sending him flying and causing him to vomit a mouthful of blood.

In just that one moment, Hong Yuanqing's remaining three sons were also killed by Gu Lichuan.

Against these ordinary Qi Casting Realm Martial Artists, his Fast Sword was so quick they didn't even have time to defend themselves.

With bloodshot eyes, Hong Yuanqing used the momentum from being blasted away by Chen Yuan's Blood Killing Heaven-Seizing Hand to twist his body in mid-air and hurtle toward Gu Lichuan.

His Qi and Blood burned furiously as immense power merged into his Black Water True Qi. The surging energy transformed into a blood-red dragon that lanced toward Gu Lichuan with terrifying power.

Gu Lichuan suddenly turned around and slowly thrust his sword out.

Normally his sword was swift, but this strike was unnervingly slow. The True Qi around him burned frantically as his Sword Intent stacked, layer upon layer, onto his Long Sword.

As he thrust the sword forward, the very air seemed to freeze for an instant. Then, a ferocious Sword Intent erupted. Countless strands of Sword Qi danced through the air, coalescing before Gu Lichuan into a great Sword Qi River!

Mountain and Sea Sword Scripture!

This technique came from an incomplete sword manual Gu Lichuan had stumbled upon in the Liang Province Desert.

The manual had been severely damaged, but Gu Lichuan, relying on his own supreme understanding of the Sword Dao, had managed to restore it completely.

This sword strike contained the power of mountains and seas. It gathered strength, waiting to be unleashed. Its great artifice appeared simple, yet the power it erupted with was utterly astonishing.

The Sword Qi River crashed against the blood-red dragon. As the two ultimate forces collided, Gu Lichuan was sent flying, a spray of blood erupting from his mouth.

He had never practiced a Cultivation Technique for refining the physical body, so in a direct clash of power, he was no match for Hong Yuanqing.

Unlike Chen Yuan, who, empowered by the Sutra of the Pure Glazed Vajra, had no fear of such forceful impacts.

But Hong Yuanqing was no better off. His body was covered in sword gashes, his Qi and Blood were weak and depleted, and his face was deathly pale.

Just then, Hong Yuanqing thrust his long spear backward. With a resounding CLANG, he parried Chen Yuan's blade.

But Chen Yuan's left hand formed the Great Celestial Demon Seal and brought it crashing down. Demonic Qi exploded and a piercing Demon Sound howled, shattering the last remnants of Hong Yuanqing's Protective True Qi.

Hong Yuanqing condensed Black Water True Qi in his palm to meet the Great Celestial Demon Seal.

Amid the detonation of True Qi, Chen Yuan stood unmoving, raining down one seal after another in a pure battle of attrition against Hong Yuanqing.

Hong Yuanqing's face grew paler and paler, but suddenly his face became extremely flushed.

At some point, a long sword had pierced through his chest.

The sword had been so fast he hadn't even had a chance to react.

Chen Yuan brought down the Great Celestial Demon Seal one last time. With no strength left to resist, Hong Yuanqing's head was smashed to pieces.