A violent, cold rain had begun to sweep over Azure Sky City, washing the dark cobblestone streets with misty rain and reflecting the dim flickering light of street lanterns.
The crowds that had packed the main boulevard outside the Golden Pavilion had long dispersed, fleeing the bitter dampness of the midnight storm. The streets surrounding the central district were eerily quiet, save for the howling wind and the heavy rhythm of falling rain.
Li-Wen walked out of the grand archway of the Golden Pavilion, his light-grey robes fluttering gently against the cold wind.
He did not rush. He did not run or attempt to merge into the dark alleys. With his hands casually folded inside his broad sleeves, he walked down the wide, empty avenue with slow, unhurried steps, his posture radiating a calm, absolute composure.
Behind him, high on the fifth-floor balcony of the Golden Pavilion, Su Qing-Er stood leaning against the marble railing, her dark eyes filled with a mixture of awe and underlying tension as she watched the solitary grey silhouette disappear into the rainy night.
"Manager Su," an old, gray-haired elder stepped up behind her, holding a black paper umbrella over her head. "Young Master Lin Feng has deployed eighteen elite shadow guards and two Late Earth-Realm elders from the Lin Clan. They have completely sealed off all four exits of the central district. Should we send our hidden guards to intervene?"
Su Qing-Er looked into the dark, rain-swept horizon, a faint, confident smile touching her lips.
"Intervene?" Su Qing-Er murmured softly, shaking her head gently. "No, Elder Song. We do not need to intervene. We only need to clean up the bodies afterward. Lin Feng thinks he is hunting a helpless sheep... he has no idea he just walked into the domain of a primordial predator."
Three miles away from the Golden Pavilion, in a dark, narrow stone plaza surrounded by abandoned merchant warehouses.
The heavy rain pounded relentlessly against the slippery flagstones.
Li-Wen came to a gradual halt in the very center of the empty plaza. He raised his head slightly, his deep, dark eyes looking through the thick curtain of rain toward the pitch-black roofs of the surrounding buildings.
"Eighteen rats hiding in the shadows," Li-Wen spoke calmly, his smooth voice penetrating through the heavy roar of the rainstorm like a sharp steel needle. "And two old dogs waiting to strike from behind. Since you followed me all the way here... why waste time hiding?"
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
The moment his words left his lips, eighteen shadows leapt from the high rooftops simultaneously!
Like specters clad in jet-black leather armor and holding poison-coated curved daggers, the shadow guards descended in a disciplined, lethal formation, completely encircling Li-Wen in a thirty-foot perimeter. Their eyes glinted with ruthless, icy murder, their collective breathing suppressed to absolute silence.
Slowly, two figures stepped out from the deep shadows of the eastern warehouse.
It was Lin Feng and the dark-robed elder who had threatened Li-Wen at the auction gate! Lin Feng walked with a smug, twisted smirk on his face, holding an umbrella held by a guard, his eyes burning with intense, sadistic excitement.
"Hahaha! Well, well, well!" Lin Feng laughed mockingly, his voice dripping with arrogance. "Look at you, rural peasant! Do you still think your Gold-Feather Token or the Su Association can protect you out here on the dark streets? In Azure Sky City, when my Lin Clan wants someone dead, even the heavens cannot save them!"
Li-Wen slowly turned around, looking at Lin Feng with complete indifference, as if looking at a dead corpse.
"You brought eighteen low-tier mercenaries and two weak elders to hunt me?" Li-Wen asked, a subtle, cold smile curling at the corner of his lips. "You overestimate your clan's strength."
"Insolent fool!" the dark-robed elder beside Lin Feng snarled furiously, his Late Earth-Realm aura exploding outward! The sheer pressure of his Ki caused the falling rain around him to instantly vaporize into white steam! "You are merely at the Second Stage of the Earth-Realm! Before this elder, you are nothing more than an ant!"
Lin Feng sneered, snapping his fingers coldly. "Kill him! Cut off his hands, tear out his tongue, and bring me his spatial ring! I want that Abyssal Meteorite and the Ice-Heart Lotus right now!"
"UNDERSTOOD!"
The eighteen shadow guards roared in unison, their bodies blurring into dark streaks as they lunged toward Li-Wen from every conceivable angle! Eighteen poison-coated daggers whistled through the rainy air, aiming directly for his throat, heart, and vital meridians!
Up on the roof, the dark-robed elder watched with a cold smile, expecting the grey-robed youth to be torn into pieces within a single second.
However, Li-Wen did not dodge. He did not pull a sword, nor did he form a defensive barrier.
He simply took a single, light step forward with his left foot.
Void Sovereign Technique: Sovereign Domain!
BOOM—!
An invisible, terrifying wave of gravity erupted from Li-Wen's body, expanding outward in a fifty-foot radius like a collapsing star!
The surrounding falling raindrops within fifty feet froze instantly in mid-air!
The eighteen shadow guards, who were rushing forward at high speeds, felt an astronomical, mountain-like weight suddenly slam down onto their shoulders! The sheer force was so immense that the heavy stone plaza beneath their boots instantly shattered into fine dust!
"AAARGH!"
"MY BONES!"
Creaks of snapping bones and horrific screams of agony echoed simultaneously through the rainstorm!
All eighteen elite shadow guards were instantly forced to their knees, their legs shattering under the brutal gravitational pressure! Their poison daggers fell from their numb fingers, clattering uselessly onto the muddy ground!
"W-WHAT?!" Lin Feng's arrogant expression shattered into absolute, horrifying disbelief! His knees buckled slightly, cold sweat instantly drenching his back.
The dark-robed elder's eyes widened to the size of saucers, his face turning pale as paper. "T-Physical force pressure?! How can a Second-Stage Earth-Realm brat possess such tyrannical physical force?!"
Li-Wen stood in the center of the crushed plaza, his light-grey robes spotless, unbothered by a single drop of rain.
He raised his right hand, making a casual, sweeping gesture with his index finger.
SWIISH!
The thousands of frozen raindrops suspended in mid-air transformed into razor-sharp, silver-gold needles embedded with the supreme law of the Void Sovereign Technique!
"Die," Li-Wen murmured softly.
SHOOT! SHOOT! SHOOT!
A torrential storm of gold-lit raindrops shot outward in every direction!
PUNCH! PUNCH! PUNCH!
The eighteen shadow guards didn't even have time to scream a second time. The pressurized raindrops pierced through their iron armor, skulls, and hearts with effortless ease, turning their bodies into bloody sieves!
Within less than two seconds, eighteen elite shadow guards of the Lin Clan lay dead in pools of crimson blood, their vitality completely erased!
Silence returned to the plaza. Only the heavy sound of falling rain and Lin Feng's ragged, terrified gasps remained.
"Mon... Monster!" Lin Feng shrieked in sheer terror, taking five frantic steps backward, his foot slipping in the mud and sending him tumbling violently onto his backside. "Elder Elder Lu! Kill him! Kill him now!"
The dark-robed elder, Elder Lu, swallowed hard, his heart pounding against his ribs like a war drum. He realized with absolute, ice-cold clarity that this grey-robed youth was a terrifying monster disguised as a human youth!
"Kid! You dare slaughter the elite guards of my Lin Clan?!" Elder Lu roared, attempting to suppress his internal terror. He unsheathed a heavy, broad-bladed steel sword that flared with thick, dark purple Ki. "I don't care what ancient secret technique you used... Die under my Spectral Shadow Slash!"
Elder Lu leaped fifty feet into the air, his body fusing with his broadsword to transform into a thirty-foot purple sword beam that sliced down toward Li-Wen's skull with mountain-cleaving force!
This was the absolute peak attack of a Sixth-Stage Earth-Realm Expert!
Li-Wen looked up at the descending thirty-foot purple sword beam with eyes as quiet and deep as an ancient abyss.
He did not draw a weapon. He slowly raised his bare right arm, extending two slender fingers—his index and middle finger—directly toward the sharp edge of the massive steel sword!
"Arrogant fool! Catching my steel sword with naked fingers?!" Elder Lu laughed maniacally in mid-air, pouring all his remaining Ki into the strike.
CLANG—!
A deafening, metallic gong-like ring echoed across Azure Sky City!
Sparks flew wildly into the night air!
The thirty-foot purple sword beam shattered like fragile glass into thousands of spark particles! The heavy, high-grade steel broadsword came to a absolute, dead stop in mid-air—held firmly between Li-Wen's two slender fingers!
Not a single scratch was left on Li-Wen's skin! The translucent gold luster of his Jade-Bone Foundation hummed with ancient, unbreakable power!
"N-No... Impossible..." Elder Lu's eyes bulged out of his head, his mind completely collapsing into utter madness. "Bare fingers... catching a High-Grade Earth Weapon with bare fingers?!"
"Your sword technique is full of flaws," Li-Wen said coolly.
He lightly twisted his two fingers.
CRACK!
The massive, tempered steel broadsword snapped in half like a dry twig!
Before Elder Lu could even register the shock, Li-Wen stepped forward, his speed defying human perception, and drove his open palm straight into Elder Lu's chest!
Void Sovereign Technique: Shattering Palm!
BOOM!
A concentrated shockwave of silver-gold Ki erupted from Li-Wen's palm, passing straight through Elder Lu's body!
Elder Lu's eyes went completely blank. His internal organs, meridians, and Dantian were instantly pulverized into fine dust under the tyrannical force of the palm strike! His body flew backward like a broken cannonball, slamming violently through three thick stone walls of the warehouse behind him before collapsing into a motionless pile of rubble!
Dead! A Late Earth-Realm Elder killed with a single, casual palm strike!
Lin Feng, who was crawling backward in the mud, completely lost control of his bladder. A foul, wet stain spread across his expensive purple silk robes as he stared at the grey-robed youth stepping slowly toward him through the rain.
"D-Don't come near me!" Lin Feng screamed hysterically, tears and rain mixing on his terrified face. "I am Lin Feng! The young master of the Lin Clan! My Grand Ancestor is a Heaven-Realm Expert! If you kill me, the Lin Clan will hunt you to the ends of the earth!"
Li-Wen stopped three feet in front of Lin Feng, looking down at the trembling youth with cold, absolute detachment.
"Heaven-Realm?" Li-Wen murmured softly, a slight, mocking glint flashing in his golden pupils. "In my eyes, whether it is an Earth-Realm ant or a Heaven-Realm bug... they are all the same."
Li-Wen slowly raised his right foot.
"No! Wait! I have spirit stones! I have treasures! I'll give you everything—" Lin Feng shrieked frantically, offering his spatial ring with trembling hands.
CRUSH!
Li-Wen's boot descended calmly, crushing Lin Feng's neck instantly into the muddy cobblestones.
Lin Feng's frantic screams ceased forever. His eyes remained wide open, frozen in an eternal expression of utter horror and regret.
Li-Wen casually swept his sleeve, bringing Lin Feng's spatial ring into his hand with a flick of Ki. He didn't even spare a second glance at the nineteen corpses scattered across the plaza.
"Messy," Li-Wen said softly, looking at the rain washing the blood off his grey boots.
Suddenly, his ears twitched slightly.
From the high rooftops half a mile away, two subtle, extremely suppressed breaths flared briefly before rapidly retreating into the dark night.
"Shadow scouts from the other major clans..." Li-Wen analyzed silently, choosing not to pursue them. "Let them report. It will save me the trouble of dealing with minor flies later."
He turned around, his light-grey robes fluttering against the wind, and walked calmly out of the alleyways, heading toward a quiet, private inn he had reserved in the eastern district of the city.
Half an hour later.
In the grand hall of the Lin Clan Manor, situated at the northern heart of Azure Sky City.
BOOM—!
A massive mahogany table was smashed into fine dust under a violent burst of crimson Ki!
An old man with wild, silver hair and blood-red robes stood in the center of the hall, his face contorted in uncontrollable, demonic fury! He was Lin Tian-Xiong, the Patriarch of the Lin Clan—a formidable Ninth-Stage Earth-Realm Expert!
Standing before him were three trembling shadow scouts, kneeling on the cold floor with their heads pressed against the tiles.
"What did you say?!" Patriarch Lin's voice roared like thunder, shaking the entire hall! "Feng-Er... and Elder Lu... were all slaughtered in the central district?!"
"P-Patriarch! It is true!" the head scout stammered frantically, his voice shaking with intense fear. "That grey-robed youth... he crushed eighteen shadow guards with raw pressure alone! He caught Elder Lu's sword with bare fingers and killed him in a single palm! Young Master Lin Feng... was crushed to death without even a chance to fight back!"
"AAAAARGH!" Patriarch Lin let out a blood-curdling roar of hatred! His red Ki flared wildly, scorching the surrounding marble pillars! "A nameless, rural peasant dares to exterminate my son and my clan elders in Azure Sky City?!"
"Patriarch, calm your anger!" a wise, middle-aged elder stepped forward hurriedly, holding his hands in a respectful bow. "That youth possesses such terrifying power at such a young age... he must belong to an hidden ancient sect or a supreme faction from the Provincial Capital's central core! If we act rashly, we might bring disaster upon our clan!"
Patriarch Lin gritted his teeth so hard blood trickled from the corner of his lips. He took several deep, heavy breaths, forcing his wild rage back down.
"He holds the VIP Gold-Feather Token of the Su Association..." Patriarch Lin hissed through gritted teeth, his eyes burning with sinister, cold intent. "We cannot touch him inside the city walls without provoking the Su Family and the City Governor."
"Then what should we do, Patriarch?" the elder asked carefully.
Patriarch Lin let out a low, bloodthirsty chuckle that sent chills down everyone's spine.
"The Imperial Academy Selection begins in three days!" Patriarch Lin stated coldly, his eyes glinting with venomous malice. "According to the rules, all participants will be sent into the Sovereign Night Ruins for the survival trial! Inside the ancient ruins, city laws do not apply, and the Su Association cannot intervene!"
He turned his head toward the dark shadows behind the throne hall.
"Inform my eldest son, Lin Zhan!" Patriarch Lin commanded in a harsh, cold tone. "Tell him that his younger brother has been murdered! Tell him to reach the Late Earth-Realm before the trial... and cut off that grey-robed bastard's head inside the Sovereign Night Tomb!"
From the deep shadows behind the hall, a tall, muscular youth carrying a massive black heavy spear stepped out slowly. His body radiated an absurdly sharp, bloodthirsty aura—Lin Zhan, the undisputed number one young genius of the Lin Clan!
"Rest easy, Father," Lin Zhan spoke, his voice deep and heavy like striking iron. "Inside the Sovereign Night Ruins... I will crush every bone in his body and present his skull to you."
Meanwhile, in a quiet, luxurious courtyard room at the Eastern Cloud Inn.
Li-Wen sat cross-legged on a clean meditation mat.
Floating in front of him was the translucent blue Three-Hundred-Year Ice-Heart Lotus and the pitch-black Abyssal Meteorite Core.
The room was sealed with a dense, silver-gold array that completely isolated all sound and energy fluctuations from the outside world.
"The Lin Clan will not drop this matter," Li-Wen murmured softly, looking at the black meteorite core in his hands. "They will undoubtedly attempt an ambush during the Imperial Academy Selection inside the Sovereign Night Ruins."
A cold, expectant smile touched his lips.
"Good," Li-Wen said, his eyes flaring with divine brilliance. "More blood to nourish my cultivation."
He closed his eyes, executing the ancient hand seals of the Void Sovereign Technique.
SWOOSH!
The Ice-Heart Lotus dissolved into a gentle, icy stream of pure blue light, flowing smoothly into his mouth and wrapping around his Dantian and meridians like an impenetrable, cool silk cushion.
At the same time, the dark runes within the Abyssal Meteorite Core pulsed rhythmically, emitting faint, cosmic spatial waves that merged directly into his Divine Spiritual Core!
Li-Wen's aura began to climb once more, pushing rapidly toward the Third Stage of the Earth-Realm!
See you in next chapter