The deafening silence that enveloped the Central Martial Arena was so absolute that even the whistling mountain breeze seemed to freeze mid-air. Ten thousand spectators sat motionless in their seats, their faces pale, their eyes wide with sheer disbelief as they stared down at the destruction on the marble floor.
Young Master Wu-Feng—the proud outer disciple of the Sovereign Sword Sect, the supposed peerless genius who had reached the Fifth-Stage of Ki refinement—was kneeling in a pool of his own blood. Half of his face was swollen and purple, his mouth missing several teeth, and his pristine white-and-silver martial robes were torn and covered in dust.
Standing before him was Li-Wen.
The blue-robed youth remained completely unruffled. Not a single thread of his scholar gown was out of place. His hands rested calmly behind his back, his dark eyes looking down at Wu-Feng with the tranquil, indifferent expression of an ancient deity looking down at a bruised insect.
"Is this the extent of your pride, Wu-Feng?" Li-Wen's smooth, velvet voice echoed clearly across the silent arena, piercing through the cold morning air. "Three weeks ago, you stood on this very ground and declared that the weak have no right to choose their own fate. Today, you are kneeling at my feet. By your own logic... what right do you have to live?"
"You... you dirty bastard!" Wu-Feng spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, his remaining eye burning with a mixture of intense humiliation, rage, and bone-deep terror.
He had spent his entire life being praised as a genius. He had looked down on branch disciples like dust beneath his shoes. To be slapped across the face, disarmed, and humiliated in front of the entire city council and thousands of spectators was a fate far worse than death for his burning arrogance!
"I am an outer disciple of the grand Sovereign Sword Sect!" Wu-Feng screamed hysterically, his voice cracking with desperation as he scrambled backward on his hands and knees. "If you touch me, the Sovereign Sword Sect will mobilize their elders and erase you and everyone connected to you from the face of this continent! Do you hear me?! Kneel down and beg for mercy now, and I might leave your corpse intact!"
Li-Wen slowly took a single step forward.
TAP.
The moment his cloth shoe touched the marble floor, an invisible, crushing gravitational pulse radiated from Li-Wen's body. The air pressure around Wu-Feng suddenly surged tenfold, forcing the kneeling youth flat against the cracked stone!
CRACK!
Wu-Feng's knees shattered the granite tiles beneath him as he gasped for breath, feeling as if a massive iron mountain had suddenly been placed onto his shoulders!
"The Sovereign Sword Sect?" Li-Wen murmured softly, a cold, razor-sharp glint flashing deep within his golden-tinged eyes. "In your eyes, they are a sky-reaching giant. In my eyes... they are merely another obstacle waiting to be swept away. If they come to seek revenge for you, I shall simply extinguish their sect hierarchy as well."
"Presumptuous murderer! Stop your hands!"
A thunderous, rage-filled roar erupted from the high honor platform!
Chief Elder Wu-Bao's face was completely crimson with uncontrollable fury. His Fifth-Stage Ki erupted around his body like a volcanic blast, shattering the heavy oak table and chairs on the platform into flying wood splinters!
"Elders of the Wu Clan!" Elder Wu-Bao bellowed, pointing his trembling, ring-adorned finger down at Li-Wen. "This demon has cultivated an evil, forbidden art! He has crippled our young master and insulted our ancestral lineage! Activate the Great Iron-Grid Formation and execute him on the spot! Kill him!"
RUMBLE—!
The moment Elder Wu-Bao's order echoed across the arena, sixteen heavy martial elders of the Wu Clan vaulted down from the high platform like dark shadows!
Each of these elders possessed cultivation ranging from the Fourth to Fifth-Stage of Ki refinement. They landed in a perfect geometric circle surrounding Li-Wen, their expressions twisted with vicious intent.
Simultaneously, forty elite family guards clad in heavy black steel armor rushed onto the arena perimeter, plunging sixteen glowing array flags into the marble stone.
WOOSH! WOOSH! WOOSH!
Ancient crimson runes etched deep within the foundation of the Central Martial Arena suddenly lit up with a blood-red glare! A massive dome of dark, heavy barrier energy erupted into existence, sealing the central ring and cutting off all escape routes! Heavy iron pikes and spectral blade projections condensed inside the barrier, aiming directly at Li-Wen's vital points!
"The Great Iron-Grid Formation!"
"That is the Wu Clan's sacred kill-array! It was designed to suppress Sixth-Stage Grandmasters!"
"Elder Wu-Bao is completely insane! He's using the full power of the family array against a single scholar!"
Spectators in the stands gasped in sheer terror, many scrambling backward away from the boundary of the glowing barrier.
In the VIP pavilion, Captain Chen of the Silver-Crane Trading Society slammed his fist against the railing, his face pale with horror. "Young Mistress! Sixteen elders plus an ancestral kill-array! Even a Seventh-Stage expert would be worn down and slaughtered inside that cage! We must act!"
Miss Liu-Rong remained standing by the bamboo screen, her slender fingers tightening around her silver folding fan. Her eyes were fixed on Li-Wen's calm blue-robed figure inside the glowing blood-red barrier.
"Look at his eyes, Captain Chen," Miss Liu-Rong whispered, her voice filled with trembling awe. "Does he look like a man trapped in a cage... or a predator waiting for the prey to step closer?"
Inside the glowing red barrier, the sixteen Wu Clan elders raised their longswords and heavy spears simultaneously, their combined Ki creating a suffocating pressure wave that cracked the marble floor into dust.
"Li-Wen!" Elder Wu-Bao stood at the front of the array, his eyes bloodshot, holding a crimson command flag in his hand. "You had a chance to live as a useless dog in the wilderness, but you chose to return and challenge my Wu Clan's authority! Today, even if an immortal descends from the heavens, you will be crushed into blood paste within this formation!"
Li-Wen stood in the absolute center of the lethal energy storm, his hands still casually folded behind his back. He looked at the glowing blood-red barrier, then at the sixteen elders surrounding him, a faint, condescending sigh escaping his lips.
"Sixteen ants forming a slightly larger cage," Li-Wen spoke softly, his voice cutting through the roaring wind of the array effortlessly. "Do you truly believe a fragile array built from low-grade spiritual stones can seal the void?"
"Die, arrogant fool!" Elder Wu-Bao screamed, slamming the crimson command flag into the ground! "Formation, ACTIVATE! Thousand-Blade Execution!"
SWISH—!
Hundreds of blood-red spectral blades condensed out of thin air inside the dome, shooting toward Li-Wen from every angle with sound-barrier-shattering speed! Simultaneously, the sixteen elders lunged forward, their weapons combined into a massive, concentrated beam of destructive Fifth-Stage Ki aimed straight at his heart!
Facing an attack capable of flattening a small hill, Li-Wen did not dodge. He did not even draw his hands out from behind his back.
He simply raised his right foot and took a half-step forward.
Inside his skeletal structure, the Ignis-Frost Astral Rune on his chest bone and the Abyssal Bone Rune along his spine resonated at a microscopic frequency!
TAP.
"Break."
A single word stepped out from Li-Wen's lips.
BOOM—!
An absolute, catastrophic pulse of dual-element cosmic energy erupted outward from Li-Wen's body in a three-hundred-sixty-degree wave!
A white-hot wave of thermal energy reaching thousands of degrees collided violently with an arctic wave of absolute sub-zero frost! The instant these two extreme elemental forces smashed together, a terrifying vacuum shockwave exploded from the center of the ring!
CRACKLE... SNAP... BANG—!
The hundreds of blood-red spectral blades were instantly vaporized into thin air!
The combined Ki strike of the sixteen elders shattered like brittle glass upon contact with the shockwave!
"AHHHH!"
"MY MERIDIANS!"
The sixteen high elders of the Wu Clan didn't even get the chance to touch Li-Wen's gown. The explosive pressure wave slammed into their bodies, melting their iron weapons into liquid slag while simultaneously freezing their limbs into dark-blue ice!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
All sixteen elders were blasted outward like ragdolls, crashing through the heavy granite walls of the arena ring before collapsing into bloody, motionless heaps on the outer stone paths!
And the supposedly indestructible Great Iron-Grid Formation?
The blood-red barrier dome bulged outward for a fraction of a second before shattering into millions of glowing red fragments that dissolved into thin air like autumn dust!
The entire kill-array... annihilated in a single breath!
The Central Martial Arena looked as if a natural disaster had swept through it.
The granite ring floor was completely obliterated, replaced by a deep, smoking crater lined with white frost on one side and molten rock on the other.
Over forty elite family guards were lying on the ground, groaning in sheer agony, their armor ruined. Sixteen high elders were completely paralyzed, their cultivation bases thoroughly shattered by the dual-element shockwave.
Only three people remained standing in the ring area: Li-Wen, who stood peacefully in the center of the smoking crater; Wu-Feng, who was curled up on the ground shaking hysterically; and Elder Wu-Bao, who was frozen at the edge of the crater, holding a snapped command flag, his face pale as a white sheet.
Elder Wu-Bao looked at his ruined elders, then at the smoking crater, his mind completely collapsing into utter madness and terror.
"Monster... you are a monster..." Elder Wu-Bao whimpered, taking trembling steps backward as his legs gave out, causing him to fall onto his knees in the dirt. "How... how can a youth possess such power?! Who are you?!"
Li-Wen slowly walked out of the crater, his footsteps light and silent. He stopped five paces in front of the trembling Chief Elder.
"Three weeks ago, you signed the decree to strip my lineage," Li-Wen looked down at Wu-Bao, his dark pupils reflecting no heat, no hatred—only an icy, absolute finality. "You authorized Wu-Feng to break my ribs and throw me into the rain. You claimed the weak are destined to be crushed."
Li-Wen slowly extended his right index finger, pointing it toward Elder Wu-Bao's forehead.
"Today, the Wu Clan's debt is settled."
"NO! SPARE ME! SENIOR, SPARE MY LIFE!" Elder Wu-Bao wept hysterically, slapping his head against the sharp stones until his forehead bled. "I was blind! I was grease-brained! I will give you all the family assets! I will make you the Patriarch! Just spare my life!"
Li-Wen's expression remained as cold as iron. He flicked his finger lightly.
ZIP!
A microscopic beam of compressed air Qi shot through the air, piercing straight through Elder Wu-Bao's forehead!
Elder Wu-Bao's cries stopped instantly. His eyes went wide, his body stiffened for a second, and then he collapsed backward onto the stone floor, his breath ending forever.
"Father!" Wu-Feng screamed in utter despair from the dirt, his mind completely broken as he watched his father die before his eyes.
Li-Wen turned his gaze toward Wu-Feng.
Wu-Feng trembled violently under that gaze, crawling backward like a wounded dog, weeping continuously. "Don't kill me... please don't kill me... I am a disciple of the Sovereign Sword Sect... my master is Senior Elder Ling..."
"Your master cannot save you," Li-Wen spoke softly, stepping forward.
"HOLD YOUR HAND!"
Suddenly, a voice like rolling thunder roared down from the sky above Azure Mist City!
WOOSH—!
A blinding, sixty-foot-long beam of pure azure sword Ki pierced through the cloud layer above, descending toward the Central Martial Arena at blinding speed!
The sword aura carried the crushing, suffocating pressure of a Seventh-Stage Grandmaster!
The spectators in the stands were knocked off their feet by the sheer wind pressure, many vomiting blood from the terrifying mental pressure!
From within the blinding azure sword light, an elderly man wearing long azure robes and carrying a white whisk descended gracefully, landing on the high tower above the arena! His eyes were like cold lightning, his beard flying in the wind as he glared down at the arena floor with supreme, terrifying majesty!
This was an Inner Elder of the Sovereign Sword Sect—Elder Ling-Xiao!
Beside Elder Ling-Xiao stood two young inner disciples, both possessing Sixth-Stage cultivation, their faces filled with cold, condescending pride.
"It's Senior Elder Ling-Xiao from the Sovereign Sword Sect!"
"A Seventh-Stage Grandmaster has arrived!"
"Heavens... the Sovereign Sword Sect sent an inner elder to observe the assessment!"
Wu-Feng's despair instantly turned into ecstatic, mad joy! He scrambled toward the high tower, crying hysterically, "Master! Elder Ling! Save me! This demon killed my father and shattered our elders! Execute him! Slice him into ten thousand pieces!"
Elder Ling-Xiao looked down at the bloody, ruined scene of the Wu Clan, his face growing darker and colder by the second. His Seventh-Stage Ki erupted outward like a towering ocean wave, suppressing the entire arena!
"Insolent junior!" Elder Ling-Xiao's voice thundered across the sky, echoing like a deity's wrath. "To dare butcher the family members of my Sovereign Sword Sect's disciple right in front of my eyes! Do you think because you cultivated some crude physical strength, you are invincible in this small northern province?!"
The two Sixth-Stage inner disciples beside Elder Ling-Xiao drew their longswords, their silver sword Ki humming loudly as they glared down at Li-Wen with cold contempt.
"Elder Ling, why waste words with a mountain brute?" One of the inner disciples sneered arrogantly. "Allow me to step down and sever his limbs to avenge Junior Brother Wu-Feng!"
In the VIP pavilion, Captain Chen fell onto his knees, his forehead dripping with cold sweat. "Seventh-Stage Grandmaster... plus two Sixth-Stage inner disciples... Young Mistress, this is the absolute top power of the northern province! Even a major city lord must bow before Elder Ling-Xiao!"
Miss Liu-Rong gripped her silver fan tightly, her face pale, yet her eyes remained fixed on Li-Wen. "Look at him, Captain Chen... he hasn't even looked up at that tower once."
Down on the ruined arena floor, Li-Wen slowly raised his eyes, looking up at Elder Ling-Xiao standing on the high tower.
His blue scholar gown fluttered gently in the heavy pressure wave generated by the Seventh-Stage Grandmaster, yet his expression remained completely serene, completely unbothered, as if the terrifying Grandmaster above him were nothing more than a passing cloud.
"Another one who likes to roar from high places," Li-Wen spoke in a quiet, smooth tone that effortlessly shattered the crushing mental pressure in the air.
"You came just in time," Li-Wen added softly, a cold, razor-sharp glint flashing deep within his golden-purple pupils. "I was just thinking that killing Wu-Feng alone would leave the root of the problem intact."
Elder Ling-Xiao's face twisted with intense rage! "Arrogant worm! Today, I shall let you know what true sword cultivation means!"
SWISH—!
Elder Ling-Xiao raised his hand, gesturing toward the sky!
The heavy azure sword on his back unsheathed itself with a deafening metallic roar, transforming into a ninety-foot-long giant sword projection that cut through the clouds, aimed straight at Li-Wen's head!
"Die under my Azure Heavens Sword!"
The ninety-foot giant sword projection descended like a falling star, the kinetic force alone shattering the surrounding stone seats into flying dust!
Facing this godly Seventh-Stage strike, Li-Wen finally took his hands out from behind his back.
He raised his right hand, his fingers curling into a simple, unpretentious fist.
Inside his chest, the Ignis-Frost Astral Rune flared with cosmic luminescence, while the Abyssal Bone Rune along his spine hummed with the weight of a dying star!
"Void Sovereign Technique," Li-Wen murmured softly, taking a single step into the air, stepping onto empty space as if climbing invisible stone steps!
"First Stance... Star-Shattering Punch!"
BOOM—!
Li-Wen threw a plain, straight punch upward against the falling ninety-foot giant sword projection!
There was no glowing Ki aura. There was only an absolute, space-compressing pulse of raw cosmic force that erupted from his knuckles!
CRACKLE... BOOM—!
The ninety-foot giant azure sword projection, condensed from the full-force Fifth and Seventh-Stage Ki of Elder Ling-Xiao, collided with Li-Wen's fist!
The giant sword projection didn't even pause for a millisecond. The moment it touched Li-Wen's fist, it violently shattered into millions of tiny azure light particles that exploded across the sky like fireworks!
"WHAT?!" Elder Ling-Xiao shrieked in absolute, spirit-shattering horror! His natal sword spirit was instantly destroyed, causing him to spew a huge fountain of blood as he stumbled backward on the tower!
Before anyone could comprehend what had happened, Li-Wen's blue-robed figure vanished from thin air!
WOOSH!
In the next heartbeat, Li-Wen materialized directly in front of Elder Ling-Xiao on the high tower!
The two Sixth-Stage inner disciples didn't even have time to raise their swords. Li-Wen casually flicked his left sleeve.
BANG! BANG!
A heavy gust of compressed kinetic air shot out, blasting both Sixth-Stage inner disciples backward through the wooden tower structure, shattering their ribs and knocking them unconscious instantly!
Li-Wen extended his right hand, grabbing Elder Ling-Xiao by the throat, lifting the Seventh-Stage Grandmaster off his feet as easily as picking up a chicken!
"Aaargh... mercy... senior... spare..." Elder Ling-Xiao choked violently, his feet dangling in thin air, his face turning dark purple as he felt an ancient, cosmic aura radiating from Li-Wen that made his soul tremble in utter horror!
"You talked about true sword cultivation," Li-Wen looked into Elder Ling-Xiao's terrified eyes, his tone smooth and velvet. "Is this all your Sovereign Sword Sect has to offer?"
Li-Wen tightened his fingers slightly.
CRACK.
Elder Ling-Xiao's neck snapped like a dry twig. His eyes went lifeless, his Seventh-Stage Ki ocean collapsing instantly as his body went limp.
Li-Wen casually tossed the corpse of the inner elder off the high tower, letting it fall sixty feet onto the arena floor right beside the weeping Wu-Feng.
THUD.
The heavy thud of the Seventh-Stage Grandmaster's corpse hitting the ground echoed across the silent arena like a funeral bell.
Wu-Feng stared at his master's lifeless body resting beside him, his mind completely snapping into total insanity. He began laughing hysterically while weeping in the dirt, completely broken in spirit.
Li-Wen stepped off the edge of the high tower, drifting down to the marble floor like a falling leaf, landing right in front of Wu-Feng.
He did not waste another word. He raised his foot and tapped Wu-Feng's forehead lightly with the tip of his shoe.
A microscopic pulse of Ki pierced Wu-Feng's dantian, permanently shattering his Ki ocean and burning his meridians into ash, turning the proud genius into a true, helpless cripple for the rest of his life.
"Living as a broken beggar in the streets of the city you tried to rule," Li-Wen spoke quietly, turning his back on Wu-Feng. "That is the proper ending for your pride."
The sun reached its highest point in the sky, marking exactly noon.
The Wu Clan—one of the four major dominant forces o " ...The Wu Clan—one of the four major dominant forces of Azure Mist City—had completely collapsed in the span of a single hour. Its patriarch was dead, its sixteen elders were ruined, its supreme genius was turned into an insane cripple, and an Inner Elder of the mighty Sovereign Sword Sect lay lifeless on the cold granite floor.
Li-Wen slowly walked toward the main southern exit of the arena, his plain blue scholar gown swaying gently in the cool mountain breeze. He did not look at the thousands of awe-struck spectators who bowed their heads in profound fear and reverence as he passed. He did not look at the fallen banners of the Wu Clan fluttering in the dirt.
As he reached the massive iron gates, he paused briefly, glancing toward the high VIP pavilion where Miss Liu-Rong sat.
Miss Liu-Rong immediately stood up behind the bamboo screen, lowering her head in a deep, respectful bow. Li-Wen gave a subtle, almost imperceptible nod before stepping out of the arena gates and disappearing into the bustling avenues of Azure Mist City.
Behind him, the Central Martial Arena remained in utter silence for several minutes. No one dared to speak. No one dared to move.
The citizens and merchants of Azure Mist City knew that from this day forward, the name Li-Wen would become a legendary myth—a storm that had swept through the northern province, leaving an indelible mark upon the history of the realm.
See you in next chapter.....