Chapter 308: The Approaching Imperial Herald
"DIE, TRAITOR!" Bai Ruolan screamed, her voice cracking with a chilling mix of grief and unbridled rage.
Her hair was wild and unraveled, her indigo robes torn and stained with soot and blood, but beneath her tear-streaked face, her eyes burned with a calculating, icy focus.
She drove her blade forward in a fierce, continuous barrage, using the chaos of the battlefield to press Zhao Tianxing hard.
Zhao Tianxing, a 7th-stage Golden Core master, possessed raw strength that vastly outclassed Bai Ruolan on paper.
Yet, he was entirely thrown off balance, paralyzed with paranoia over Peng Kai’s public accusations, terrified of Meng De’s silent, murderous glare, and frantic to save his own skin.
Bai Ruolan took full advantage of his frayed nerves.
Weaving around falling stone slabs with fluid, agile footwork, she pressed him relentlessly in a frantic flurry of strikes, ensuring he didn’t have a single second to clarify his innocence or flee the collapsing building.
High above the slaughter, hidden behind the shimmering veil of his Phantom Steps, Shen Yu stood casually on the edge of a shattered roofline.
His dark green robes fluttered gently in the sweltering, blood-scented wind as his piercing gaze drifted past the ongoing carnage, sweeping toward the distant avenue below.
There, right on cue, Cao Shuying arrived at the perimeter, executing the precise directive Shen Yu had laid out for her twenty-four hours prior.
Dressed in striking noble attire, she led an elite team of Cao Clan healers straight into the chaotic fray.
Without a single moment of hesitation, they threw themselves into rescue efforts, distributing healing pills, stabilizing dying elders, and erecting protective light barriers around the bleeding union disciples.
Watching their fiercest rival risk life and limb to render selfless aid in the shadow of a bloodthirsty demonic monster, the surviving union members were struck by a profound wave of awe.
The sheer, noble righteousness of the Cao Clan shone like a beacon against the backdrop of absolute destruction, instantly dissolving years of bitter regional grudges.
A subtle, satisfied smirk curled the corner of Shen Yu’s lips. Every single piece on his board was dancing to his script.
Suddenly, a violent shift in the atmospheric pressure made Shen Yu’s eyes narrow.
From the direction of the City Lord’s estate, a third Nascent Soul aura tore through the skies at blinding speed.
It surged across the metropolis like an overwhelming tsunami, vastly eclipsing the combined strength of both the decrepit Ancestor Ming and the volatile Peng Kai.
"The Imperial Herald..." Shen Yu murmured, his voice smooth and cold.
He checked his internal rhythm, calculating the distance.
"Two minutes remaining."
Without losing a beat, Shen Yu, still shrouded under the guise of Ni Tian, shifted into high gear.
Activating his Phantom Steps to their absolute limit, he dissolved into an invisible whisper of movement, descending into the bloody chaos below.
Like a silent executioner, he reaped his way through the ruined hall.
His target was the high-ranking elders who possessed too much political leverage or stubborn loyalty, the ones who, if left alive, would become immovable obstacles in Bai Ruolan’s path to seizing the union’s leadership.
One by one, throat after throat was slit from the shadows.
Blood sprayed into the dust, yet no one could locate the killer.
Panic spread through the surviving disciples and elders like wildfire.
Fighting a visible monster like Peng Kai was terrifying, but an unseen, phantom reaper executing cultivators without leaving a single trace of spiritual resonance was pure, nightmare-inducing horror!
High in the sky, Ancestor Ming felt the sudden, rapid extinguishing of his elders’ life signals down below.
Shocked, he swept his Nascent Soul spiritual sense across the courtyard in a desperate attempt to locate the hidden assassin.
Yet, his divine sense met only empty air.
Shen Yu’s Phantom Steps was a high-tier movement art capable of completely evading the detection of anyone less than two major realms above him.
Shen Yu was currently at the third stage of Foundation Establishment, while Ancestor Ming was at the second stage of the Nascent Soul realm, making Shen Yu an absolute ghost to the old man’s senses.
That split second of distraction was all Peng Kai needed.
"Don’t lose focus in battle, old man!" Peng Kai cackled evilly, his crimson eyes gleaming as he drove his heavy saber down toward the elder’s exposed shoulder.
"I thought a fossil like you would have more experience!"
Ancestor Ming snapped his head back at the very last moment.
He desperately tried to raise his silver spear to parry, but his reaction was a fraction of a second too late.
SLASH!
The heavy demonic blade bit deep into the old man’s shoulder, cleaving through bone and armored flesh!
"ARGHHH!" Ancestor Ming screamed in agony.
Channeling every ounce of his remaining vitality, he lashed out with a violent, Qi-infused kick directly into Peng Kai’s stomach!
The heavy impact blasted Peng Kai backward, but the old man didn’t stop, he gritted his blood-stained teeth, lunging forward with his spear to press the attack despite the gaping wound on his neck and chest.
Down in the smoldering courtyard, the desperation reached a boiling point.
Zhao Tianxing, realizing he was being framed and cornered like a rat, had stopped holding back.
He fought with genuine, frantic brutality.
Both he and Bai Ruolan were caked in blood and gasping for breath, though Zhao Tianxing’s body bore far more severe, jagged wounds from her relentless barrage.
Stepping over a freshly slain elder, Shen Yu locked his cold, hellish red gaze onto his final target in the courtyard, Union Leader Meng De.
Chilling, absolute killing intent leaked from Shen Yu’s eyes.
All of this slaughter had unfolded in the span of a single, breath-stealing minute.
Shen Yu locked his gaze onto the horizon, tracking the rapidly approaching aura of the Imperial Herald.
The man was accelerating, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
"One minute,.. No, only thirty seconds remaining."
Without a moment’s delay, Shen Yu unleashed a raspy commanding roar that echoed across the entire shattered complex like thunder!
"KILL HIM NOW!"
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