In the mortal world, the Imperial Clan was the undisputed, supre overlord. Even the four great royal clans were only fit to carry their shoes.
The Imperial Clan often publicly declared they weren't the least bit afraid of the denizens of Yuning Mountain, but this was just talk. When truly facing the cultivators from Yuning Mountain's sects, almost everyone in the Imperial Clan, save for a few exceptions, couldn't help but feel a deep sense of dread. This was especially true when they faced core mbers like Shen Shaotian.
Setting aside his actual power, his identity alone was enough to suffocate them.
So much so that after having an arm severed and suffering grievous injuries, the leader didn't dare make a peep. He just bowed his head low, not even daring to et Shen Shaotian's gaze. The n who had been jeering just monts before all shuffled backward, the hair on their bodies standing on end.
"I... I am one of the Imperial Clan's Elders. I was sent by the Clan Leader to the Qingyuan River."
The old man who recognized Shen Shaotian didn't dare make a single rash move. He clasped his fists together, adopting an extrely low posture, and forced a smile. "Mr. Shen, if we have caused any offense, I hope you can be magnanimous and overlook it."
Shen Shaotian gave a slight shake of his head. It was a simple gesture, yet it sent a wave of tension through the Imperial Clan mbers, making their hearts pound violently.
They couldn't understand it. The Imperial Clan and the Southern Dipper Academy had always kept to themselves, like two wells whose water never mixes. So why would this Mr. Shen suddenly appear today? And to attack and injure soone right off the bat?
"Mr. Shen..." the Elder tried again. "We truly have urgent business today. Another ti, another ti, we will be sure to invite you to our Imperial Clan for tea."
"And what urgent business might that be?" Shen Shaotian asked, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.
Thinking there was so leeway, the Elder quickly responded, "Our Imperial Clan has an enemy. We are on our way to provide reinforcents and kill him once and for all."
"Chen Yang?" Shen Shaotian prompted.
"Yes, that's him!" the Elder nodded instinctively. "That piece of trash—" He stopped mid-sentence. His wrinkled face suddenly showed utter shock. How could he know? Could it be... Not daring to dwell on the thought, the Elder hastily asked, "Mr. Shen, do... do you know Chen Yang?"
"Don't know him," Shen Shaotian said with a purse of his lips.
The Elder breathed a huge sigh of relief. But just as he was wiping the cold sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, Shen Shaotian's next words made his scalp tingle and every hair on his body stand on end.
"He's my brother-in-law."
His words were nothing short of a bombshell. Didn't he just say he didn't know him? Where did this 'brother-in-law' business co from? What utter nonsense!
Shen Shaotian had indeed never t Chen Yang, so he couldn't be said to know him. However, he was Liu Qingi's most devoted suitor and was suprely confident he would win her heart. In that light, calling Chen Yang his brother-in-law wasn't entirely out of place.
HISS.
The Imperial Clan Elder sucked in a sharp breath. He didn't have ti to consider if it was true or not. The man had co here and was specifically waiting for them—wasn't the implication obvious enough? This Young Master of the Southern Dipper Academy had personally intervened.
"You're right, I apologize. We'll leave now," the Elder said apologetically. "Please forgive any offense we may have caused."
With that, he hastily signaled his people to get in the vehicles.
CLANG!
The longsword Shen Shaotian had planted in the ground suddenly slid from its sheath. The clear ring of steel made the Imperial Clan mbers, who were so desperate to leave, shudder in unison, their faces ashen.
"I've changed my mind," Shen Shaotian murmured, almost to himself. Without looking up, he ran two fingers along the blade of his sword.
HUM.
Elder Chen felt as if he'd been struck by lightning. His eyelids twitched violently as he blurted out, "Mr. Shen, our Clan Leader has visited the Southern Dipper Academy before! He t with your father! Could you please..."
"What does that have to do with ?" Shen Shaotian cut him off.
Elder Chen: "..."
SHINK!
The sword flashed. Just as the Elder was trying to think of another way to leverage their connections, he felt a razor-sharp aura surge toward him.
He sheathed his sword. Without another glance at anyone, Shen Shaotian turned and walked away, holding his sword in one hand and an umbrella in the other.
The wind and rain raged, whipping his long robes about him. He cut a magnificent figure.
BOOM!
A thunderous sound erupted where they stood. Then, before the Elder's eyes, a dozen Imperial Clan disciples fell in rows, like wheat reaped by the Grim Reaper's scythe.
Elder Chen stood dumbfounded, letting the mist of blood spray across his face. The last image frozen in his vision was of the comrcial van turning around and driving away.
SWISH!
A thin red line appeared at his waist. A gust of wind swept past, and he simply toppled to the ground.
WHOOSH.
The thick pools of blood were washed away by the downpour, gradually fading into nothing. Only a few SUVs remained on the dark road, their hazard lights flashing rhythmically in the storm.
"This..."
"The n from the Imperial Clan... all wiped out, just like that?"
Onlookers were terrified, shivering as they gazed in the direction they'd been heading. They were clearly going to the banks of the Qingyuan River. Felled before their campaign even began?
Who could have imagined that the proud mbers of the Imperial Clan would be swept away en masse, like autumn leaves in a storm?
This sudden incident was inevitably linked to Chen Yang. It was clear that far from de-escalating, the conflict was only intensifying and drawing in more complex players.
「In the comrcial van.」
"Zhirou, what should we eat tonight? The food in the mortal world is truly extraordinary. Yuning Mountain can't hold a candle to it."
Shen Shaotian drove with one hand on the steering wheel, the other propping up his head. If you didn't know better, you could never reconcile the man he was now with the one who, monts ago, had swung his sword and left no one alive.
"I... I'm fine with anything. I'll have whatever the Young Master is having," Zhou Zhirou said with a smile. But it was clearly forced, and in the end, she couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, why did you have to kill them all?"
"The Imperial Clan isn't composed of good people to begin with," Shen Shaotian said calmly. "Besides, their Clan Leader wasn't in any of the vehicles. If they had reached the Qingyuan River before , my brother-in-law would have been in grave danger. If sothing were to happen to him, how could I possibly face Qingi? So, that made angry."
Zhou Zhirou nodded in understanding. With a placating smile, she asked, "Then... should we drive faster?"
***
「On the banks of the Qingyuan River.」
The two halves of the Qingyuan River, which had been split by a single strike, crashed back together. The collision threw up a towering wall of water more than ten ters high that continued to surge upward, filling the air with a dense mist that blotted out the sun.
THUD!
The water wall collapsed, sending a monstrous wave surging over the flood barrier and into the streets.
A piece of driftwood suddenly bobbed to the surface in the center of the river, catching everyone's eye. It was the log Chen Yang had used to cross the water.
In an instant, everyone's eyes narrowed, their fists clenching unconsciously.
...
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