"What he takes has nothing to do with you. You shouldn't have come," Martial Heaven said coolly.
"She's your student! You brought her to the Northern Plains! Are you forcing her to marry someone she doesn't love? Or the descendant of a Qin Family slave who betrayed his master?" Qin Yang roared furiously.
"Qin Yang, listen to me..." Lou Mengyu tried to speak, but suddenly felt weak. Her spirit seemed to leave her body as she collapsed into Qin Yang's arms.
"Lou Mengyu? Lou Mengyu!" Qin Yang shouted, but the woman in his arms didn't respond. She... wasn't breathing!
Time seemed to stop. Qin Yang stood frozen.
"Qin Yang, the truth is..." Jin Wanshan, showing no sign of grief, was about to explain when...
Thump!
The heartbeat sounded as if it came from the heavens above, yet also from the abyss below. Though not loud, it resonated deep within the mind.
Thump!
Another heartbeat, completely disrupting Jin Wanshan's rhythm.
Hack! Jin Wanshan suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. He stared at Qin Yang in horror, disbelief written across his face. Were those two heartbeats... Qin Yang's?
The third heartbeat hadn't yet sounded, but Jin Wanshan's heart seemed to have stopped beating altogether.
Martial Heaven frowned. "Jin Wanshan, leave now."
Jin Wanshan shook his head, forcing himself to remain. Qin Yang's condition was unstable, and he feared...
"Martial Heaven." Qin Yang's voice suddenly took on an empty quality. His eyes, crimson and intense, locked onto the man like a primeval beast.
Martial Heaven froze. Why wasn't he being called "Martial Face" anymore?
Feeling the warmth in his arms gradually fading, Qin Yang tightened his embrace, desperate to hold onto everything. But an overwhelming sense of helplessness flooded his heart.
He could no longer change anything.
Two tracks of moisture slid down his cheeks, his face as cold as ancient ice.
"Tell me," Qin Yang's voice remained eerily calm, "what did she do wrong?"
Martial Heaven offered no answer. Jin Wanshan struggled to speak from the side, but the pressure emanating from Qin Yang was overwhelming, making even breathing difficult.
Qin Yang suddenly transformed, veins bulging on his forehead as he roared, "Tell me! What did she do wrong?!"
His voice, thick with grief and fury, carried deeper notes of defiance and powerlessness.
Qin Yang's appearance was terrifying, but it didn't frighten Martial Heaven.
"She's done nothing wrong," Martial Heaven said slowly. "The mistake is yours."
"If you hadn't come, everything would have gone smoothly."
"Smoothly into marrying Qin Wuyi?" Qin Yang threw his head back and laughed. He pointed at the highest memorial tablet in the ancestral hall. "Open your dog eyes and look carefully. Their ancestors were slaves of our Qin family!"
Martial Heaven looked over, a shudder running through him. The name on the highest tablet was...
Qin... Anu?
Qin Yang stared at Martial Heaven. "If you hadn't come, how much better it would have been. You're the one who forced Lou Mengyu to her death!"
Qin Yang's laughter turned manic, sending chills down Jin Wanshan's spine and filling his heart with fear.
"Want to save her?"
Qin Yang gently laid down the woman in his arms, her exquisite beauty now lifeless. His eyes, devoid of emotion, watched as he slowly stood up.
He produced the Treasure Rat, removed the Qiankun Ring from his hand, and tossed it along with the four previously acquired rings to Jin Wanshan.
"Jin Wanshan, get out of here."
Jin Wanshan's eyes widened. What was Qin Yang planning to do?
Qin Yang stared coldly at Martial Heaven and spoke calmly, "In my name, I purge the Qin Family's gates. No living creature in this secret realm shall remain."
His voice, icy and sinister as if from hell itself, pronounced the death sentence upon all life within the realm.
Martial Heaven's face twisted with fury. "With me here, you'll never succeed!"
"More importantly, worry about yourself. You won't escape alive either, Martial Heaven!" Qin Yang roared, his fists clenching until his knuckles whitened.
Flames erupted from his clenched fists, the air rippling around his hands.
Activating Dragon Soaring Steps, Qin Yang unleashed a punch that blurred through the air.
"Impossible speed!" Martial Heaven's eyes widened as he desperately raised both palms to block.
CRACK!
The impact resonated like clashing metal. Martial Heaven's defenses failed completely - the punch struck his face, sending him flying through the air.
The resulting shockwave hurled Jin Wanshan away, but behind Qin Yang, Lou Mengyu's hair merely fluttered slightly.
With a flash of movement, Qin Yang gave chase.
Jin Wanshan took several deep breaths, finally managing to dispel the suffocating sensation. Yet his face remained etched with anxiety, a thousand unspoken words caught in his throat.
The panda paced softly across the ground, sensing the boundless fury and murderous intent radiating from Qin Yang. His eyes gradually turned crimson.
After a final glance at Jin Wanshan, the panda slowly emerged from the ancestral hall. With each step, his massive form grew larger until he stood as tall as a mountain by the time he exited.
ROAR! The panda threw his head back and roared at the sky, pounding his chest with both fists.
This display of power drew the attention of a nearby demonic beast, which charged forth. The panda's fist shot out, exploding the creature's skull.
"This..." Jin Wanshan's mouth hung open as he approached Lou Mengyu. He sighed heavily. "It's wrong. Everything's wrong!"
The area had transformed into a battlefield. Jin Wanshan scooped up Lou Mengyu's body, intending to flee, when a voice suddenly spoke by his ear:
"Nangong Ling, you've arrived just in time!"
Jin Wanshan's heart skipped a beat.
Outside the ancestral hall, Qin Yang's relentless assault forced Martial Heaven into constant retreat, each move pushing him further into disadvantage.
Martial Heaven never anticipated Qin Yang's assault would be so ferocious, leaving him completely unable to mount an effective counterattack.
Qin Yang suddenly vanished. Martial Heaven whipped around, his divine sense probing for his opponent's location. But with his cultivation suppressed by a full realm, his speed couldn't possibly match Qin Yang's!
"Heaven-Piercing Kick!" Qin Yang's foot shot upward. Martial Heaven blocked with both hands, but the force still sent him flying.
"Not bad, but..." Martial Heaven snarled. Suddenly, his expression changed.
A bone-chilling cold erupted from his hands, slowing even his true qi. A sense of imminent danger gripped his heart, making it race.
"Behind me, above!" Martial Heaven's eyes narrowed.
"Half-Moon Slash, Head Strike!" Qin Yang materialized, his palm tracing a dazzling crescent through the air like a giant sword.
Clang!
The strike failed to sever Martial Heaven's head. A black light enveloped him, forming a protective tower shape that shielded his entire body.
The magical artifact's power had blocked the fatal blow, but Martial Heaven still suffered greatly.
Like a leather ball, he was sent flying, hurtling straight toward the ground.
Boom!
The impact carved out a deep crater, the hardened earth cracking and fissures spreading outward in all directions.
The massive explosion froze the entire arena. Every combatant—both human and beast—stood petrified.
All eyes turned skyward toward the god of slaughter, their faces pale with terror.
"Is that Qin Yang? His power..."
"That one buried in the crater... could it be Martial Heaven?"
Gasps of shock rippled through the crowd. The confrontation between the Qin Family Patriarch and the Fourth Elder now seemed like children's play in comparison.
Nearby, the Tian Swallowing Beast crushed one beast with a punch, sending another wave flying with a kick. Its killing spree left no survivors.
"Which beast is that?"
"That's... the Tian Swallowing Beast!"
"None of us could tame it! Wasn't it forced into the Wandering Marsh? Did Qin Yang rescue it?"
The Panda attacked indiscriminately. Having received Qin Yang's order to leave no survivors in this secret realm, he naturally complied.
"I, the Tian Swallowing Beast, never fail when it matters most!" The Panda's eyes blazed crimson, its killing intent overflowing.