Pulled Off a Big One

Zhao Feng slowly walked down from the mountain.

His pace was not fast, but every step was planted firmly.

The bluestone slabs made subtle sounds under the soles of his shoes, like a heartbeat, thump, thump, growing heavier and heavier.

At first, when he heard the Lord tell him to go and exterminate that Nascent Soul cultivator, he thought the Lord had gone mad.

He was just a low-tier cultivator who had broken through to the Golden Core realm less than a month ago. Going to kill a Nascent Soul? Wasn't that a suicide mission?

But immediately after, he realized what was happening!

Sure enough, upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, Zhao Feng saw over a dozen people kneeling on the ground.

Those from the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Earth Blade Sect, not a single one was missing.

Li Canglan knelt on the left, Lu Hanshan knelt on the right, and behind them were Zhou Hai, Chen Song, Liu Yuan, Sun Jing, and the four early-stage Golden Core cultivators of the Earth Blade Sect. They were lined up neatly.

A group of rogue cultivators stood far away in the surroundings, not daring to approach, nor daring to leave.

Some stood on their tiptoes to peer over, some covered their mouths whispering to each other, and a few bold ones took out recording stones to secretly capture the scene.

Zhao Feng took a deep breath.

Thinking about what he was about to do, Zhao Feng's heart pounded wildly, and his entire body trembled with excitement.

Killing a Nascent Soul! That was a Nascent Soul True Lord!

How many people lived their whole lives without even catching a glimpse of a Nascent Soul cultivator!

And he, who a month ago was a cripple with all four limbs broken, thrown at the city gates to beg, was now going to personally end a Nascent Soul!

What made him even more awestruck was that the Lord had been in the courtyard on the mountain from beginning to end, not even showing his face or lifting a finger, yet he had frozen a Nascent Soul True Lord and ten Golden Core Ancestors right where they stood, forcing them to kneel!

What kind of method was this?

Zhao Feng did not know, nor did he want to know.

He only knew that he had made the right bet! His daughter's etiquette lessons were absolutely not in vain!

Zhao Feng took a deep breath, drew the longsword from his waist, channeled his Golden Core spiritual energy, and let out a loud shout that echoed throughout the area:

"You dared to offend my Tianyan Sect, humiliate our sect's disciples, and trespass into the forbidden grounds of my Mount Qingyun. You all deserve death! Today, I, Zhao Feng, shall carry out the execution on behalf of my Lord!"

Before his voice even faded, he took a step forward, walking straight to the Heavenly Sword Sect Master, Li Canglan.

Li Canglan's body was stiff. He could only roll his eyes to look at Zhao Feng as he approached step by step. His voice trembled uncontrollably, "Zhao Feng... what... what are you going to do? I am the Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect! Do you dare to kill me?"

"Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect?"

Zhao Feng sneered, his eyes icy cold. "A month ago, when you sat in the Heavenly Sword Sect's discussion hall, watching Li Mo kick me when I was down, watching me get thrown to the city gates as a beggar, why didn't you think this day would come?"

"I was wrong! Elder Zhao! I was wrong!"

Li Canglan panicked. "You are just a gatekeeper here. How about this, I am willing to accept you back into my Heavenly Sword Sect and grant you the position of an Inner Sect Elder!"

"Hmph!"

Zhao Feng snorted coldly. "Don't even mention an Inner Sect Elder. Even if you gave me the position of Sect Master, I wouldn't give a damn. I would rather be a gatekeeper for the Tianyan Sect for the rest of my life!"

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Feng twisted his wrist, and a sword light flashed. With a squelch, blood splattered three feet into the air.

Li Canglan's head rolled onto the ground, his eyes wide open. Even in death, he could not believe that he would actually die at the hands of Zhao Feng, the man he had once looked down upon the most.

Dead silence fell over the surroundings.

Everyone held their breath, looking at the blood-soaked figure holding the longsword.

A month ago, he was a cripple whom anyone could bully.

A month later, he held the power of life and death, beheading a Golden Core Sect Master with a single strike!

What an incredible reversal of fate! What immense satisfaction!

Zhao Feng did not pause. His footsteps did not stop as he approached the other elders of the Heavenly Sword Sect one by one.

"First Elder, back then you deducted my stipend and targeted me at every turn. Do you remember?"

"Second Elder, back then you even wanted to take my daughter as a concubine. Do you still remember?"

"Third Elder..."

Sword lights flashed, and one head after another fell to the ground.

The once high and mighty Golden Core Ancestors now did not even have the strength to resist. They could only watch helplessly as they marched toward their deaths, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Their eyes were filled with regret, fear, and despair.

Soon, all five Golden Core elders of the Heavenly Sword Sect were executed. Zhao Feng turned his head and looked at the group from the Earth Blade Sect.

The Earth Blade Sect Master, Lu Hanshan, was frightened out of his wits and hurriedly shouted, "Elder Zhao, spare my life! Elder Zhao, please spare me!"

"Wu Shan has already been crippled by you and thrown to the city gates to be a beggar! The grudges between us have been settled! I beg you, spare our lives!"

"Settled?"

Zhao Feng couldn't be bothered to waste any more words.

Sword light rose in all directions.

Agonized screams echoed one after another.

In just a moment, the five Golden Core elders of the Earth Blade Sect also fell into pools of blood.

Killing ten Golden Core Ancestors in one breath!

Ten strikes.

Ten Golden Core cultivators.

Zhao Feng stood there holding his sword. The blood on the blade dripped down from the tip, blooming into glaring red plum blossoms on the bluestone slabs.

The wind blew his bloodstained robes, making them flutter loudly. Even though he only had the cultivation of an early-stage Golden Core, at this moment, he exuded an imposing aura that was even more terrifying than a Nascent Soul True Lord.

The surroundings were deathly silent. A full three breaths of time passed before someone sharply gasped, breaking the suffocating silence.

"Dead... they're dead..."

"Ten Golden Core cultivators... all dead..."

"Sect Master Li... Sect Master Lu... those were Golden Core Ancestors..."

"I've lived for most of my life without even seeing a single Golden Core cultivator, and today I saw ten in one breath... and then they all died..."

"Too terrifying... Zhao Feng is too terrifying..."

"How is this Zhao Feng being powerful!"

An older rogue cultivator nearby shook his head, looking toward Mount Qingyun with complex eyes.

"It's that Sect Master of the Tianyan Sect who is powerful! Didn't you see? These Nascent Soul True Lords and Golden Core Ancestors couldn't even move. They could only kneel and wait to die!"

"Yes! That Sect Master didn't even show his face, yet he immobilized a Nascent Soul and ten Golden Cores! What kind of realm is this?"

"The sky of Cangwu Commandery is truly going to change!"

"From now on, this Mount Qingyun will be the forbidden ground of our Cangwu Commandery!"

...

Zhao Feng ignored the whispers. He walked toward Han Lie, his pace neither hurried nor slow, like walking toward a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Han Lie knelt on the ground. He watched Zhao Feng approach, and the expression on his face held no fear, only anger and unwillingness.

"Ignorant brat! You dare!"

"I am an elder of the Biluo Sect! If you kill me, the Biluo Sect will not let you off."

Zhao Feng did not stop.

"The Biluo Sect has a late-stage Nascent Soul Ancestor. Can a puny Golden Core like you bear the consequences?"

Zhao Feng still did not stop.

Han Lie's expression changed.

"I am a descendant of the Han family!"

Zhao Feng's hand paused for a moment.

The Han family?

Seeing Zhao Feng stop, Han Lie raised his voice a few notches.

"The Han family of the Great Qian Dynasty! My Han family's Ancestor is a Deity Transformation Venerable! If you dare to touch me, the Han family will definitely exterminate your entire clan!"

The bystanders exploded into an uproar.

"The Han family? Which Han family?"

"Which other Han family could it be? The Han family, one of the four great noble families of the Great Qian Dynasty!"

"Deity Transformation... a Deity Transformation Venerable?"

"My heavens... this Han Lie is actually a member of the Han family?"

"It's over, it's over. The Tianyan Sect has provoked massive trouble..."

"Deity Transformation... that is a legendary existence..."

Zhao Feng's brows furrowed together.

His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, but he did not draw it.

He hesitated.

Just then, a white figure appeared in the center of the field without any warning.

No one saw how he arrived.

A moment ago, the space was empty; the next, he was already standing there.

It was as if he had always been there, only unseen by everyone.

This person wore a white shirt as pure as snow, possessed a handsome face, and held a slice of green tangerine in his hand.

Han Lie's pupils shrank violently.

He could not see through this person's cultivation level.

He didn't even sense any fluctuations of spiritual power.

When this person appeared, the surrounding spiritual energy did not change, the wind direction remained the same, and not even the dust on the ground was disturbed.

It was as if the laws of heaven and earth had no effect on him.

When Zhao Feng saw the newcomer clearly, he quickly knelt down to pay his respects.

"My Lord!"

My Lord?

The surrounding bystanders were completely dumbfounded.

This terrifying existence who had just slain ten Golden Core experts in one breath was now kneeling respectfully before a young man, calling him "My Lord"?

Then what kind of existence could this young man be?

Nascent Soul? Soul Formation? Or...

Han Lie's expression changed rapidly.

He guessed that this person was the Heaven Derivation Sect Master, the very existence who had turned Zhao Feng from a cripple into a Golden Core cultivator, the one who had forced him to kneel here.

Suppressing the fear in his heart, Han Lie shouted with false bravado, "You are the Heaven Derivation Sect Master? I warn you, release me immediately! Otherwise, the Biluo Sect and the Han family will definitely flatten your Azure Cloud Mountain!"

Lin Yan didn't even glance at him, walking straight up to Mo Wentian.

"What is your name?" he asked calmly.

"The Lord is asking you a question, kneel down at once!" Zhao Feng quickly shouted.

Mo Wentian, who had just faced a Nascent Soul True Monarch with an unyielding spirit, immediately dropped to his knees with a thud and said respectfully, "Reporting to the Sect Master, this disciple is Mo Wentian!"

"Mo Wentian... a good name!"

"I will remember it."

Lin Yan paused, then asked again, "Do you dare to kill?"

Mo Wentian nodded vigorously, his eyes incredibly firm. "I dare! For the Sect Master, this disciple is willing to climb a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire without hesitation!"

Lin Yan extended his right hand, brought his index and middle fingers together, and made a light slashing motion in the air.

With a swish, the longsword at Li Canglan's waist automatically unsheathed itself. The blade trembled, letting out a crisp hum as it drew an arc in the air, landing steadily in Mo Wentian's hand.

Mo Wentian looked up at Lin Yan.

Lin Yan said calmly, "Kill him."

Han Lie's expression completely changed.

"You can't kill me! I am an elder of the Biluo Sect! I am a descendant of the Han family! My Han family's patriarch is a Soul Formation Venerable!"

Lin Yan did not look at him.

From beginning to end, he had not cast a single glance at Han Lie.

Han Lie grew desperate. "If you kill me, the Han family will not let you off! The Biluo Sect will not let..."

Before he could finish his words, Mo Wentian had already gripped the longsword tightly and thrust it viciously toward him.

Clang!

The tip of the sword struck Han Lie's body, emitting a crisp sound of clashing metal, failing to leave even a faint white mark.

Han Lie burst into laughter. "Hahaha! An ant at the third level of Qi Condensation wants to kill me? Even if I stand still and let you strike, you can't even break my defense!"

Holding the longsword, Mo Wentian's shoulders trembled slightly, and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

He turned his head and looked at Lin Yan.

Lin Yan still didn't look at Han Lie, simply saying calmly:

"From now on, your mission is to kill him. The day you kill him will be the day I officially accept you as an outer disciple of the Heaven Derivation Sect."

Mo Wentian jerked his head up, his eyes instantly lighting up as if stars were burning within them.

"Disciple obeys! Disciple will definitely not disappoint the Sect Master's expectations and will slay this villain as soon as possible!"

Lin Yan nodded.

In the next second, his figure disappeared again, as if he had never been there at all.

The entire area was dead silent.

Everyone looked up toward the direction of Azure Cloud Mountain, their eyes filled with worship and awe.

So domineering!

So handsome!

He didn't even bother to personally deal with a Nascent Soul True Monarch, directly handing him over to a third-level Qi Condensation disciple!

A true man should be exactly like this!

In Zhao Feng's small courtyard, behind the crack of the door, a pair of sparkling eyes stared in the direction of the mountain peak.

Zhao Xiangru leaned against the doorframe, her small hands clutching the hem of her clothes. Her cheeks were flushed red, and her heart beat heavily and rapidly in her chest.

So, this was the omnipotent Lord her father had spoken of.

Only Han Lie remained kneeling in place, completely dumbfounded.

What does this mean?

He just wants me to kneel here forever?

And let this little third-level Qi Condensation ant stab me with a sword every single day?

Until he stabs me to death?

What kind of terrifying torture is this?

He finally broke down, shouting hysterically, "Devil! You are a devil! You are not human! You are an Extraterrestrial Fiend!"

But his shouts seemed so pale and powerless at the foot of the empty mountain.

No one paid him any attention.

In the distance, curling smoke rose before the ant grave.

On the stone tablet, the words Tomb of Lord Ant Immortal shimmered faintly in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Only Mo Wentian, gripping the longsword in his hand, looked at him with a resolute gaze.

He knew that from today onward, there was only one thing left in his life.

And that was to kill Han Lie.