Yan Chen stood with his hands behind his back and said nothing for a moment. His brows were cold, his bearing grave and imposing, and his whole person was like a sharp blade poised to strike. Until he spoke, no one dared to interrupt.
Just by standing there, he seemed to make the entire mountaintop fall silent. Everyone held their breath and composed themselves.
Ye Huaiyao was shielded behind Yan Chen, and when he looked up, he could see his profile.
Eighteen years had passed since they parted. As a cultivator, his shixiong had changed little in appearance, but his temperament had become increasingly cool and mature, with two fine lines gathered between his brows.
During the years Ye Huaiyao had been away, Yan Chen had left the position of Illustrious Sage vacant and managed both internal and external affairs single-handedly. On top of that, he had had to worry about Ye Huaiyao’s affairs, expending no small amount of energy. He had become increasingly taciturn.
Ye Huaiyao blinked and quietly tapped the heel of Yan Chen’s shoe with his toe.
He Zhanyang and the others stood behind Yan Chen as punishment. They knew their shixiong’s temper and did not dare to interrupt, only exchanging secret glances with one another. Then they saw Ye Huaiyao’s little gesture and could not help but snort with laughter.
Ye Huaiyao silently mouthed to him, “Shut up.”
Yan Chen naturally felt Ye Huaiyao stepping on him, but with the Chensu Sect, Yan Jin and the others facing him, he did not so much as move an eyebrow. At last, he spoke, “Young Master Yan.”
The excruciating pain in Yan Jin’s head from having his spiritual consciousness probed still lingered. Hearing Yan Chen’s voice, he was seized by fear.
He barely managed to maintain his composure, cupped his hands and lowered his eyes without saying a word.
Yan Chen said, “My shidi just said that the reason Young Master Yan made things difficult for him several times was because, after seeing that his appearance resembled that of the Illustrious Sage, you took your anger at Young Master Ji out on him. Young Master Yan did not refute this, so it seems that this is indeed the truth.”
It was indeed a rather shameful reason to admit openly. Ji Lanying’s face turned pale, then flushed red. After a moment, Yan Jin said quietly, “…Yes.”
“Good.”
Yan Chen said only one word, but everyone could hear the profound anger concealed within it.
The man’s long, well-defined fingers closed around the hilt of his sword. Then came a resonant hum, followed by a sharp aura that pressed against their faces. Yan Chen’s sword, “Lone Snow”, was already drawn!
With the status and cultivation of a Law Sage, why would he need to use a weapon when fighting others? This sword, Lone Snow, had not been drawn for a full hundred years, yet today it was about to test its edge on Mount Chensu.
The dark, heavy blade pointed towards Yan Jin. Yan Chen said coldly, “Take three strikes from me. After the three strikes, this matter will be settled.”
Everyone present changed colour. Ye Huaiyao was plainly standing there safe and sound, yet for such a matter, Yan Chen was actually going to take action himself!
Three strikes sounded simple enough, but how could the swordsmanship of a Law Sage possibly be compared with that of an ordinary person?
He had just slain the demonic dragon with a single strike. After three moves now, even if Yan Jin was the hope of the Yan family, a treasured young talent, he would likely be crippled if not killed.
Yan Jin’s face was ashen. He had never suffered such treatment before. Looking at the disciples of the Chensu Sect standing together, each of them watching him with cold eyes, he was so frustrated that he almost wanted to spit blood.
This was blatant bullying!
When he had been in a position of power and wantonly bullied disciples from smaller sects, Yan Jin had felt triumphant and considered it only natural.
Now the situation had been completely reversed. As the weaker party, he was being looked down upon with disdain by a group of people whose martial prowess surpassed his, whose backgrounds were better than his, and who were even several degrees more handsome than him. Yan Jin could not bear it, and was furious that they refused to show him any consideration.
With such a temperament, he had simply not been beaten enough.
Zhan Yu gave a laugh and deliberately raised his voice. “How strange. He cannot compare with those great figures in handsomeness, grace or bearing, so he harbours a grudge but does not dare provoke them, and instead goes looking for someone who resembles them to bully. He can even feel smug about it. Is there something wrong with this person’s head?”
The moment he opened his mouth, He Zhanyang immediately understood and coolly picked up where he left off.
“That is quite normal. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong is something people without ability or prospects are particularly fond of doing. But to bully the weak and fear the strong while still thinking yourself noble and proud, I cannot quite understand that.”
Zhan Yu chuckled. “Shidi, you have some shame. Not understanding is exactly how it should be.”
The Xuantian Tower disciples immediately broke into deliberately exaggerated laughter, and some even mocked him. “Doesn’t his family have a mirror? He ought to take a good look at what sort of thing he is. He wants to compare himself with our Illustrious Sage? Bah! No one would even want him to carry his shoes.”
Ji Lanying’s face turned deathly pale.
The back-and-forth mockery from Yan Jin’s fellow disciples drove him into such a fury that his whole body trembled. He wished he could rush over and fight them to the death. His blood surged, and he drew his own sword, raising his chin defiantly towards Yan Chen. “Fine. I’ll take three sword strikes from Lord Shaoyi!”
Yan Chen had no desire to waste words with him. The moment Yan Jin drew his sword, Yan Chen took it as a sign that he was ready. With a turn of his wrist, he brought his sword straight down. “The first strike.”
From the instant Yan Chen began his attack, the surroundings surged like a raging sea. In the blink of an eye, a vast and overwhelming force swept forth, sword light flowing and surging towards Yan Jin from every direction!
The force was so heavy and domineering that even those standing nearby felt their breathing become constricted. They had no choice but to swiftly raise their true qi to protect themselves and retreat. The only ones who remained unaffected were the members of Xuantian Tower, shielded behind Yan Chen.
In that instant, Yan Jin’s pupils contracted sharply. He did not even have time to draw his own sword before he felt the blade rushing towards his face.
—The fear of death had never been so close to him.
At the critical moment, he could only circulate his spiritual power rapidly throughout his body, causing the various precious talismans he carried to emit protective golden light. Yet under the force of this single sword strike, they shattered in an instant, turning to dust.
Yan Jin spat out blood and was sent flying backwards, his back crashing heavily against the ground. He could barely get himself up.
And this was with talismans helping him withstand the attack. The might of a single sword strike from a Law Sage was actually this terrifying!
Ji Lanying cried out, “Brother Yan!”
He could hardly understand how the whole matter had developed into this situation. He was about to rush forward and help Yan Jin up when Yan Chen’s flat, emotionless voice rang out once more.
“The second strike.”
There was no interval whatsoever between the two strikes. This was revenge, not a contest, and Yan Chen felt no obligation to wait for his opponent to get up and catch his breath. Yan Jin had certainly not been so courteous when dealing with his shidi.
The talismans on Yan Jin, worth a fortune, had at least not been wasted. They had blocked a considerable amount of the damage. Therefore, although his bones and muscles felt as though they were about to fall apart, his internal injuries were not particularly severe.
Driven by a surge of pride, he secretly told himself that he had to get back on his feet and preserve the last shred of his dignity and backbone.
At this point, Yan Jin had probably cast Xuantian Tower as a villain beyond redemption in his own mind, while he himself was the brave hero resisting them. Yet just as he rose heroically, blood and froth still filling his mouth, before he could even steady himself, Yan Chen’s second sword had already arrived.
It pierced the clouds and split the sun, its sword force blazing like a rainbow!
Yan Jin’s sword, which had accompanied him for several hundred years, snapped in two with a crack. This time he was thrown even farther, and he felt as though his breastbone had been shattered. He writhed on the ground twice, blood flowing from his seven orifices, gasping for breath like a dying fish, but no matter how he tried, he could not get up.
The sight was truly tragic and heartrending. The disciples of the Chensu Sect surrounding him all watched with a profound sense of sympathy, yet they were also filled with indescribable fear.
Yan Jin had been a perfectly respectable young master from a wealthy family, but now he looked utterly wretched. Still, everyone present knew the truth. What had happened to him today was entirely of his own making.
Not only had he brought this upon himself, he had also implicated the Chensu Sect. The Law Sage was now so enraged, so what would become of the Chensu Sect?
Although Ji Lanying had seen the Illustrious Sage’s true appearance before, it had only been by chance, a fleeting encounter. This was the first time he had ever directly faced someone of this level.
He had once been merely a minor disciple from a collateral branch of the Ji family, climbing step by step to where he was today with the support of numerous influential figures.
He had thought Yan Jin was extraordinarily powerful, and that Yuan Xian was already a prodigy of heaven whom no one could hope to look up to.
Only today, after witnessing Yan Chen take action, did he understand just how terrifying the meaning of the word “Sage” truly was.
Ji Lanying had once thought that, since the Illustrious Sage and the Law Sage jointly governed Xuantian Tower, and since the two had vastly different temperaments, they would naturally have different views when handling matters, and their relationship might not necessarily be harmonious.
But now it seemed he had been wrong.
A man like Yan Chen, who seemed so detached from the world, wholeheartedly protected only the Illustrious Sage. He had not even spared anyone else a glance.
“Wait!”
Ji Lanying did not know where he found the courage. He suddenly rushed forward and, before Yan Chen could unleash his third sword strike, stood in front of Yan Jin and looked directly at him.
Yan Chen returned his gaze indifferently. His expression remained blank, and he did not even ask a question, as though Ji Lanying were merely a stone that had accidentally rolled into his path.
Apart from his relationship with Ye Huaiyao, Yuan Xian had little connection to the whole affair. He understood Yan Chen’s temperament and had been standing silently to one side. When he suddenly saw Ji Lanying rush out, he was greatly startled and tried to stop him, but it was already too late.
He Zhanyang sneered. “Ji Lanying, you have a share in this matter as well. We haven’t even settled the score with you yet, and you’re already coming out to seek death?”
Ji Lanying said, “Master He is right. It was because of me that this happened, so I should bear the responsibility together with Brother Yan. I ask the Law Sage to permit me to take the strike in his place…”
“The third strike.”
He had not yet managed to say the final three words, “the third strike”, when Yan Chen interrupted him in his calm, emotionless voice.
Ji Lanying had been so caught up in his own impassioned courage that he had almost moved himself with it. He had not expected Yan Chen not to say a single word to him, but simply to swing his sword again.
Ji Lanying was horrified. He had not even drawn his weapon. In his haste, he instinctively gripped the hilt. The moment his sword had barely cleared its sheath, he felt a terrifying force slam heavily into his chest.
Yan Chen’s swordsmanship was not at all flashy, yet every strike was like raging wind and thunderous waves. Rocks and stones across the ground shattered and flew, while blood sprayed in all directions. The broken sword in Ji Lanying’s hand fell in pieces across the ground, and a long wound had been carved from his chest down to his abdomen.
In truth, everyone present knew that this was at most thirty percent of Yan Chen’s strength. Had he used his full power, Ji Lanying would probably have been reduced to two pieces of corpse by now.
Even so, not only had Ji Lanying’s sword been broken and his body wounded and bleeding, but even Yan Jin, who had been unable to move behind him, was thrown away by the lingering force of the sword. This time he landed face-first, his face a complete bloody mess.
Just then, Ye Huaiyao heard Huaijiang give a soft “Oh”, and asked, “What is it?”
“I remember telling you before that this person’s destiny is exceptionally good, with a layer of golden aura of fortune enveloping his entire body,” Huaijiang said. “Just now, your shixiong’s sword… shattered it.”
His voice was filled with utter astonishment. “So this is possible too? Such a wondrous sight is truly something I have never seen in my life!”
Ye Huaiyao had not expected that this could happen either. He could not help glancing at Ji Lanying, thinking that if he knew his protagonist aura had been destroyed by Yan Chen’s sword, he would probably regret stepping forward for Yan Jin just now. This time, he had truly tried to steal the chicken only to lose the rice as well.
Yan Jin lay on the ground, and no one dared to go and help him. He prided himself on his status and was even less willing to ask for assistance himself. All he could think about was getting back up as quickly as possible so that he could see how Ji Lanying was doing.
After struggling on the ground several times, Yan Jin discovered that, quite apart from the pain throughout his body, the most terrifying thing was that his limbs were completely limp and utterly without strength. He could not even turn himself over.
—Yan Chen’s three sword strikes had actually crippled him!
No, this was impossible. He had only just been mocking Ye Huaiyao for having his spiritual meridians completely severed and becoming a useless cripple. If he were to end up in the same state, Yan Jin would rather die.
He was a direct descendant of the Yan family. How dare Yan Chen!
