Chapter 97: A Worldview-Shattering Act

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: A Worldview-Shattering Act

Fang Liangfu and Wei Fangzhi did have a higher Cultivation than Chen Jingshan and his men, but they were still in the Nascent Soul Realm.

Thanks to the power of his Chaos Body and the Miaolian Celestial Stabilization Technique, even though Chu Fan was currently only at Nascent Soul Realm Tier One, an opponent at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm would still be no match for him.

To be invincible within the same Realm was not just empty words, nor was it an exaggeration.

After all, besides his Nascent Soul, he had twelve Lotus Seeds in his body, each one like a Golden Core.

Not to mention the Inner Lion Seal Divine Techniques he had recently unlocked from the second layer of the Juntian Mirror.

With a single move—the First Technique of the Yifeng Sword Technique—and before the wind could even carry away Wei Fangzhi’s mocking words, invisible Sword Qi had already left three bloody holes in his body.

"Y-You... what kind of Sword Technique is this?" Wei Fangzhi stared at Chu Fan in terror.

"The kind that can kill you, of course," Chu Fan said, laughing heartily.

"How arrogant!" Fang Liangfu roared as he swung his blade.

"Sword and Shoes Ascending the Hall, Sword into Plowshare!"

This was the Third Technique of the Yifeng Sword Technique. Its name literally meant to abandon the sword for the plow, a symbolic act of forsaking martial pursuits for civil ones.

Yet this technique was the one with the most potent killing intent in the Yifeng Sword Technique.

Throughout history, what kind of people forsook the martial for the literary? Who could know the grief and indignation in their hearts?

Chu Fan executed a deceptively simple upward slash, as if using his sword as a brush to paint the Thousand-Mile River and Mountain Map. It seemed uncontentious and gentle, without a sharp edge or any aggression.

But the Sword Qi contained within the technique was like surging waves, layer upon layer.

Wei Fangzhi and Fang Liangfu simply couldn’t perceive it. They just swung the curved blades in their hands frantically, trying to prevent a repeat of what had just happened to Wei Fangzhi.

The constant CLANGING made both men realize the power behind Chu Fan’s technique.

Unfortunately, their reaction was ultimately a step too slow.

Wei Fangzhi was relatively lucky. Being off to Chu Fan’s side, he only received a series of gashes from the Sword Qi along his flank.

Fang Liangfu, on the other hand, was engulfed by countless streams of Sword Qi. One pierced his throat, while another broke through the True Qi Barrier at his abdomen and destroyed his Dantian.

Who would have ever thought a Nascent Soul Realm Tier Six Cultivator would be instantly killed in such a manner?

Seeing Fang Liangfu dead, how could Wei Fangzhi possibly have any will to fight? He turned and fled.

"Trying to escape?" Chu Fan sneered, directly unleashing Awakening Dream Clarity Like Sun and Stars from his Dream-Breaking Meteor Sword.

It was like a meteor streaking across the sky, arriving in an instant.

The sword pierced through Wei Fangzhi from behind. The Juntian Sword rapidly devoured his blood, leaving a dried-out corpse to fall to the ground.

After sheathing his sword, Chu Fan leaped back into the side courtyard of the Commandery Governor’s Mansion.

At that moment, Qu Mochuan was kneeling on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

He had watched the three-way battle with perfect clarity. He had thought it would be a clash of titans, like Immortals fighting, but who could have imagined that the two men from Red Blood Mansion would be so utterly fragile?

"S-Sir, spare me!" Qu Mochuan kowtowed again and again. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"The Prefect of Nanling County, conspiring with villains to harm the very people under your jurisdiction. A crime punishable by death."

"S-Sir, I was... I was wrong! Sp-Spare my life!" Oblivious to the blood covering his face, Qu Mochuan slammed his head against the ground, terrified that if he wasn’t loud enough, he’d be killed the next second.

"I won’t kill you. I’m leaving you alive to send a message to the Red Blood Mansion. Tell them that for acting so perversely, the Six Sects and Eight Gates of the Eastern Domain will one day unite, charge straight into their lair, and flatten Three Mountains Island."

"Th-Thank you, Sir, for... for not killing me."

"I may not be killing you, but you still have to pay the price." With a casual swing of his sword, Chu Fan severed one of his arms and one of his legs.

Qu Mochuan’s agonized howl was cut short as he fainted from the pain.

Chu Fan sneered, then left Nanling County with Yun Xi in tow.

That night, Qu Mochuan awoke in his bed. His severed arm and leg couldn’t be reattached, and had already been bandaged by a Physician.

When he awoke, the searing pain wracking his body told him the terrifying scene from a few hours ago had been no dream.

"My lord, how are you feeling?" Qu Mochuan’s wife asked, full of concern.

Staring at his wife, Qu Mochuan’s eyes blazed with unending resentment.

"Go, bring the steward to me."

Before long, the steward entered the bedroom. He bowed, then stood to the side with his chin pressed to his chest, not daring to lift his head.

"Go and gather the bodies of the Red Blood Mansion men, as well as those from the Ten-Mile Pavilion. Place them all in the eastern courtyard. Buy plenty of ice and pile it beside them to preserve them. Then, you will personally travel to Donglai County and report what happened to the Red Blood Mansion’s man-in-charge there."

"But my lord, I don’t know the specifics of what happened!" the steward said nervously.

"Just say that Bao Zhishuang of the Wuji Sect killed Fang Liangfu and all the other Red Blood Mansion disciples, and that he threatened to rally the Six Sects and Eight Gates to flatten Three Mountains Island. Now, go!" Qu Mochuan shouted, his eyes wide.

The old steward turned and ran out of the bedroom.

As he watched the old steward depart, Qu Mochuan seethed through clenched teeth. ’Bao Zhishuang... If I don’t annihilate your Wuji Sect, then I, Qu Mochuan, will have lived in vain!’

...

Yingzhong County was a mere one hundred and sixty li from Nanling County.

At their speed, it took Chu Fan and Yun Xi less than a single hour to reach Yingchuan County, the town closest to Nanling County.

Sure enough, this county town also had its share of Cultivators.

Chu Fan and Yun Xi, still disguised as Bao Zhishuang and Zhu Zishu, checked into an inn and began gathering information about recent events in town.

It took only a little casual listening for them to hear things that filled both Chu Fan and Yun Xi with fury.

These Cultivators were doing more than just lording their power over the townspeople. Treating human life as worthless was nothing to them; they had stomped morality deep into the mud.

At first, they had only used the recruitment of disciples as a pretense to deceive the populace.

But now, they had resorted to brute force. If they took a fancy to a family’s daughter or wife, they would show up at their door and demand her. If the men of the house refused, they were killed. If the woman refused, she was raped right in front of her husband, children, or parents.

Afterward, they would demand a hefty sum of silver from the family, euphemistically calling it a "fee for accompanying an Immortal."

But the most infuriating incident of all was the tragedy that befell the Chu Family.

Half a month ago, an Elder from the Immortal Gate took a fancy to the grandson of Li Qiao, the Pavilion Master of Ping’an Square, and expressed his desire to take the boy as a Direct Disciple.

This should have been a good thing, but this Elder had a penchant for married women. While such a predilection was despicable, it was, at its core, just a matter of poor character.

But it didn’t stop there. He didn’t just like married women; he specifically liked pregnant married women.

Afterward, the woman would always miscarry. In some cases, both mother and child would die.

This practice, infuriating enough to drive anyone mad just by hearing of it, he called acquiring a "Luck Transfer Pearl."

The "pearl" was the fetus in the woman’s womb.

When Pavilion Master Li Qiao learned of the Elder’s fetish, he sought to curry favor by informing the Elder of the residences of all the pregnant women in the square.

One of these women was the Chu Family’s daughter-in-law.

The woman was over eight months pregnant. Although her body was swollen from the pregnancy, it didn’t diminish her beauty in the slightest. On the contrary, her condition only seemed to grant her a unique, captivating allure.

The Elder was captivated the moment he laid eyes on her and became hopelessly infatuated.

That very night, Pavilion Master Li Qiao led the Elder to their door, carrying two jugs of wine and a cut of meat, claiming he was there to propose marriage.

Such a twisted and perverse marriage proposal made the Chu Family so furious they wanted to grab knives and cut the men down. But in the end, they were just common people and could only kneel and beg for mercy.

But who would have thought that watching the family prostrate themselves and beg would not stir the Elder’s conscience in the least? In fact, he grew unusually aroused.

He had the Pavilion Master prepare two red wine cups and forced the woman’s husband to offer him a toast.

Then, right there in the Chu family’s main hall, in front of all seven family members, he did something that even a beast wouldn’t do...