Since this world gives nothing but darkness to those who merely want to live honestly, then split that darkness open.
And see if, behind it, there is even a single glimmer of light.
At the very instant Liu Qingcheng reached out to open the door, Chen Kuang spoke.
"Miss Liu, stop. They're here for me."
He didn't use voice transmission via divine sense.
He simply spoke.
The voice traveled through the wall and reached three pairs of ears:
Liu Qingcheng, Yu Xiangsi, and...
The other deathguard raised by the Prince's household, Tong Shi!
He had been waiting in silence all along, like a statue in the shadows.
But now, because of Chen Kuang's voice, and the sudden surge of aura he released, Tong Shi finally pinpointed his location.
In the blink of an eye, Tong Shi raised his arm and hurled a full-force punch toward the source of the voice.
There was no restraint.
...
BOOM!!!
That punch erupted like thunder, a storm of power howling forth with devastating force.
With a pinpoint blast, it shattered everything in its path.
Behind the deathguard, a massive phantom lion's head roared into existence.
Those who saw it could almost hear a soul-shaking, world-splitting howl in their ears.
A roar so loud, so piercing, that within a three-li radius, anyone who heard it felt their blood and Qi turn chaotic. Weaker cultivators instantly vomited blood and collapsed from internal injuries!
The punch wasn't just raw power, it included a deadly sound-based technique.
And in that thunderous sonic boom, Xuni Pavillion ceased to exist.
Whether tiles, beams, or brick walls, everything disintegrated like ash in the wind. In an instant, they became nothing more than swirling dust.
And naturally, everyone inside was caught in the destruction.
It didn't matter whether they were involved or not. Mortal or cultivator. Official constable or street-side rogue cultivator, all of them were instantly reduced to bloody mist.
Their remains merged with the dust and smoke, rising into the air like mist.
And Xuni Pavillion wasn't the only casualty.
The brothel had been located at the very heart of Zangfeng Prefecture's Flower Street, the busiest, most crowded place in the entire city.
A punch that devastated three li?
Dozens of buildings collapsed. The number of people killed in an instant was incalculable.
Chen Kuang hadn't expected this.
He had assumed that since the attacker was a subordinate of Prince Wen Chai, that even a degenerate noble would at least have some restraint on his own turf.
After all, in a conflict that hadn't yet turned irreconcilable, shouldn't a prince be cautious not to cause too much chaos?
He wasn't being naive. He was just applying normal logic, this was the Yang Kingdom. He hadn't killed anyone close to the prince and hadn't committed any obvious offense.
He had only been in Yang for three days. The only one he had killed... was a demon.
He had already acted as discreetly as possible.
By appearing of his own will, his hope was to limit the fallout to himself, to avoid involving others.
If this had been the Martial Saint Pavilion, where hatred was already life-or-death, then yes, extreme measures made sense.
But Prince Wen Chai's ruthlessness was unjustified.
They had never even interacted before!
...
The moment Tong Shi struck, Chen Kuang's "Blood Premonition" hit its highest level.
By the time he reacted, there was only enough time to hurl himself toward Liu Qingcheng, using his own body to block most of the impact.
"Wind Leans on the Tree", combined with his demonic physique.
"Moon-Clad Kasaya", a net of spiritual defense.
"Invincible Before the Divine", "Flesh Reishi" for regeneration.
"Last-Second Reversal" for an emergency boost.
All his defensive capabilities activated simultaneously and were pushed to the absolute limit.
Even so, he could only barely absorb the direct impact of the strike.
The residual force of the punch, plus the sound-based attack, swept through the area like a tidal wave.
Liu Qingcheng, despite her one-quarter demon bloodline, was nearly indistinguishable from an ordinary mortal.
But that tiny sliver of demon blood was her saving grace.
Her body was stronger than most mortals, enough that, with Chen Kuang shielding her from the brunt of it, she didn't die instantly.
Chen Kuang wrapped his arms around her, spinning as they tumbled out from the collapsing building and into the dust and blood-filled air.
..
Liu Qingcheng's mind was blank.
"Pfft!!"
She coughed out a mouthful of blood as pain surged through her.
Her body began to split and crack.
It was like diving into the deep sea or outer space without any protective gear, her lungs and organs couldn't handle the pressure.
From her back, fracture-like cracks spread across her skin like porcelain about to shatter.
The exquisite beauty now looked like a fragile vase on the verge of breaking apart.
Chen Kuang's eyes burned with fury.
"Circulate your energy!"
"The Scripture of the Well and Pivot focuses on nourishing life. Guide your Spiritual Energy to your heart, it can save you!"
He didn't get the last part out aloud but thankfully, Liu Qingcheng had already begun cultivating that scripture.
And she had never mentioned... she might actually be a late-blooming prodigy.
According to the scripture, even sensing Qi in a single day was considered rare talent.
But Liu Qingcheng?
She only needed a quarter of an hour.
She spat up blood again, but this time, it was dark, clotted blood being purged by the technique.
Chen Kuang, however, was worse off.
He had nearly lost his human form.
But as he breathed a sigh of relief, his hand, still wrapped around Liu Qingcheng, produced a phantom-like pearl glowing with a soft white light.
Divine Ability of the Merfolk: Pearl-Wielding Serpent Transformation!
It was pure luck that Chen Kuang had obtained this divine ability earlier, able to heal others.
The pearl radiated mist-like light, and pure Spiritual Energy surged into Liu Qingcheng's body.
[You have gained 1 point of Good Karma, and 372 points of Evil Karma.]
Then, Chen Kuang pushed the pearl into Liu Qingcheng's chest and hurled her out of the dust cloud with the momentum.
He himself tumbled down, falling into the swirling waters of Rouge River.
And underwater?
A merman's Divine Ability was three times more powerful!
Chen Kuang conjured another "Dragon Pearl" in his free hand, pressing it to his chest.
His mangled flesh rapidly regenerated.
He would survive.
But he didn't dare linger as his body was still more than half torn open.
He lifted his head and gazed coldly up at the surface.
High above, Han Shan stood with sword in hand.
Tong Shi slowly stepped out of the ruined Xuni Pavillion.
A gust of wind scattered the dust and blood from his body.
The two deathguards exchanged no words, but understood each other instantly:
This was the man they were looking for.
Tong Shi had actually slightly restrained himself with that punch, adjusting the angle just enough so it wouldn't be instantly fatal.
This estimate came from Prince Wen Chai's intelligence briefing.
According to the intel, Chen Kuang possessed an extraordinary healing ability.
That was how he had survived again and again, even escaping from figures far above his cultivation level.
He had even fled from the Martial Saint himself and lived.
So, if this man survived the punch, he must be the target.
If not? Then he wasn't.
Chen Kuang could already feel the oppressive might of two Grandmasters descending upon him.
The Blood Premonition alert level was on par with what he'd felt against Bai Fen.
It pounded against his temples with a deafening thud-thud-thud, and a sharp pain twisted through his brain.
Back then, when he fought three Grandmasters at once, he at least had Lin Eryou and Shen Xingzhu to handle the other two.
In truth, he'd only faced Bai Fen alone.
But this time, no such luck.
No allies, no friends. No one to help him.
Just two Grandmasters, both coming for his life.
Their might descended like a world-shrouding black palm, reaching for him once more..
It was suffocating and crushing.
Suddenly, from the bottom of Rouge River, Chen Kuang saw something float past in the current,
A shredded piece of pink fabric.
His pupils constricted and if his heart still beat, it would have skipped a beat in that moment.
That fabric...
He recognized it.
That soft, silky pink, like the dawn's first blush. It was high-quality, rare even in this pleasure district.
And he had only seen it once before.
Not long ago.
On the little maid who'd squatted by his door, crying..
She'd been wearing a dress made from this very same fabric.
In the water's refracted light, Chen Kuang saw a gold foil leaf stained with blood, wrapped in that exact silk.
His heart turned cold.
So it was her...
That maid named Lian Mi was just an ordinary mortal.
How could a mortal survive a Grandmaster's full-powered strike?
But Chen Kuang couldn't stop himself from wondering:
When the Xuni Pavillion was reduced to dust,
What had she been doing?
Hanging clothes, like always?
Or sitting blankly by the river, staring at her own reflection like a fool?
He'd only known her for one day.
But that silly, kind-hearted little maid...
Had already told him her life's dream.
She wanted to save enough to buy her freedom.
Then open a steamed bun stall with her mistress, Miss Liu.
Chen Kuang remembered.
She'd said she was only a month away from having enough.
A month...
But now, there would be no next month.
He opened his mouth, silently mouthing the words:
"I already took care of the bastard who wanted to force you, who tried to destroy your dream. So now... you can just keep saving your money, and wait to buy your freedom."
Turns out, Shen Xingzhu's cold doctrine:
"Do not kill, do not save. Do not hear, do not advise. Those who walk the Dao, guide them. Those without the Dao, kill them."
...really could be called "justice" or "kindness" in this world.
She would lift a finger to shield innocent mortals caught in a cultivator's battle, letting them take one more breath.
She might even avenge them, if the wrongdoer offended her personal principles.
But most mortals, would still end up like this, turned to dust. Vanished from existence.
Han Shan drew his sword, pointing it at the still surface of Rouge River.
He repeated:
"Chen Kuang. The Prince invites you. You are requested at the Prince's manor. Please come with us."
He used the word "please" three times.
But his tone was exactly what one would use to escort a death row criminal, no courtesy at all.
"So they really do know who I am..."
"That Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp... it definitely had something wrong with it."
Chen Kuang laughed quietly.
Han Shan, having spoken, didn't waste another word.
The "invitation" had no polite meaning, it meant: Use all means necessary to bring him back.
As long as he was alive, that was enough.
And just now, Chen Kuang had demonstrated that he could survive a Grandmaster's full-force strike.
Which meant, it was time to go all out and complete the mission.
Swish!
Han Shan's sword moved with nearly no shadow.
In an instant, a wave of sword energy swept across the earth.
This stroke was light, almost casual, like a master brushstroke.
But it cut deep to the bone.
CRACK-!
The sound of stone splitting.
Rouge River was cleaved in half.
The surrounding rubble followed and in a single instant, everything was split cleanly into two sides, separated by a deep canyon-like rift.
The wrecked remains of buildings revealed cross-sections, tilting precariously over the new cliff edges.
Water from the river rushed into the chasm, pouring down instinctively.
The once-straight river now had two new tributaries, forming a strange cross-shaped river across the heart of Flower Street.
Han Shan, blind though he was, couldn't see this scene.
But his expression grew grave.
Because Chen Kuang was still in the river.
He hadn't dodged, he hadn't even moved.
But just then, at the center of the river, a small area had been left untouched.
A gap that was intentionally carved out.
A patch of river that hadn't been split by Han Shan's sword.
Which meant, this area now sat higher than the rest, like a raised altar in the middle of the current.
And standing there, was Chen Kuang.
His two fingers were pressed together into a sword hand seal, pointed at the sky.
Just now, at the same moment Han Shan had struck, Chen Kuang had raised his own hand.
And with a single sword finger, traced a line across the sky.
Because Chen Kuang... also had a sword.
His sword was not in his hand, but in his mind, and in the tip of his fingers.
Divine Ability: "Parting the River into Land"!
This was a Divine Ability inherited from the Merfolk clan, enhanced and refined by Chen Kuang's own swordsmanship.
With that one sword finger, he severed Han Shan's sword energy, split it apart!
Though only a narrow rift was carved through, it was already enough.
Chen Kuang laughed.
But there was no joy in it, only a cold, bone-deep chill.
He said softly:
"Tell that dogshit Prince of yours-"
And then, word by word, he roared:
"Go. Fuck. Your. Self! Laozi's not going!"
Passive Activated: "Refusal Stands".
At the same moment he spoke, Chen Kuang intentionally used Divine Sense transmission, ensuring that his voice would pierce directly into the "ears" of the two Grandmasters across from him.
So they could hear him, loud and clear.
Han Shan and Tong Shi's faces twisted.
As deathguards raised since childhood, they could abandon their own lives, their strength, even their dignity but their master was inviolable.
And now, that master had been insulted.
They were furious.
RUMBLE!!
Sword energy and fist force came crashing down like a collapsing world.
A frost-covered scroll unfurled across the sky, freezing all in its path.
A lion's roar echoed through forest and storm, as if a beast charged forth, trampling all in its wake.
But Chen Kuang didn't care.
He had a fire in his heart today.
A suffocating rage, and he had to let it out.
He knew that once the passive Refusal Stands activated, there were only two ways it could be fulfilled:
One: he dies.
Two: he escapes.
All probability now danced on a razor-thin edge.
He was gambling.
Gambling that the Heavenly Dao, this strange, karmic force that balanced all things, would give him a way out.
In the Wujian Between.
The illusion realm had changed.
The influx of 372 units of Evil Karma had transformed this desolate domain into something vibrant, an entire flower street, surrounding structures, the obsessions of the dead manifesting into a new, bizarre world that followed its own twisted logic.
Chen Kuang stood high above, completely silent.
These were his evil karmas.
Only now did he understand what true "evil karma" meant:
Those who died because of him, directly or indirectly, they were all his sins.
Even a single mistake in judgment could yield hundreds of karmic debts.
But he did not resist it.
The logic had always been simple:
If the cause and effect were close enough, the karma would be pinned on him.
He had chosen to reveal himself in Xuni Pavillion.
And it was that choice that triggered the deathguard's full assault.
Chen Kuang didn't object to bearing the karma.
But he also knew, this karma didn't really belong to him.
And if he couldn't return it to where it belonged...
He might dream about it for the rest of his life.
Though these days, he rarely slept at all...
"Young master, would you like to buy a flower?"
An old woman's voice suddenly echoed from below.
Chen Kuang looked down, it was a cheerful, wrinkled flower seller.
She looked to be nearly seventy, her hair pulled back into a simple bun with a single white flower pinned near her temple. Her clothes were patched, plain, but clean and neat.
She carried a bamboo basket filled with blooming, colorful flowers.
She was the Flower Granny, an illusion born of Wu Man's Evil Karma, who had once sold flowers in the village of Ping'an Town.
But behind that gentle image...
She was one of the beings Chen Kuang had identified as at least Grandmaster-level demon cultivators hidden in the illusion.
Chen Kuang had tried many times to interact with her through Wu Man's karma.
But these illusion beings had limitations. Like NPCs in a game, they only followed scripted behavior, delivering quests, giving repeated dialogue. They couldn't truly act freely.
Even when Chen Kuang stood in front of them, they would react, but not truly interact.
But now...
This Flower Granny had initiated a conversation.
Was it because of the 372 units of Evil Karma? Had that karmic weight thickened this illusion enough to make it... real?
With that, Chen Kuang leapt down from the rooftop.
"I'll buy one."
He looked into her basket.
"How much for one?"
The old woman smiled kindly:
"Not expensive, not expensive. One copper each. All freshly picked!"
He immediately spotted a pink, unopened double lotus blossom.
It reminded him of Lian Mi.
Chen Kuang had no real money on him, but this was the Wujian Between, it was his domain.
With a thought, he conjured a copper coin and pulled it from his sleeve.
Down to the details, it was minted in Yang Country.
But the Flower Granny glanced at it and shook her head:
"Young master, don't think you can fool an old woman's eyes. This coin is fake!"
Chen Kuang froze.
She could discern reality from illusion, even here?
Some beings, like Xi Mengquan, could see through the illusion.
He'd even guessed that the Great Void Illusion Realm was a reincarnation loop, telling Su Huaiying to go check if Chen Kuang's corpse had a shadow.
So then...
Could the Flower Granny's true self be...
A Saint?
A Great Demon Sage?
Chen Kuang's scalp tingled and a chill ran down his neck.
He took a breath and retracted the coin.
"Sorry, Granny. Someone scammed me into taking that. The outside world is full of bad people...
I've got no real money on me now, so I guess I can't buy your flowers."
The old woman looked at him for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully:
"Yes... the outside world is full of wicked folk."
"That's why we residents of Ping'an Town never leave.. and we never let outsiders in."
She fixed him with a calm gaze.
"So then, young master, how did you get in?"
Chen Kuang immediately understood:
There was a barrier around this Ping'an Town, a special domain set by these demon sages.
When Wu Man betrayed them, the town wasn't truly destroyed, only the illusion shattered.
But Chen Kuang, by touching Wu Man's karmic obsession, had somehow stumbled into the true Ping'an Town... inside the Wujian Between!
His back tensed but his Blood Premonition didn't warn him.
He exhaled slowly and answered:
"I didn't come into Ping'an Town...
It was Ping'an Town that got dragged into me."
The flower seller blinked, stunned.
Then burst out laughing, her whole body shaking:
"Oh, how interesting! How interesting indeed!
It's been so long since something this funny happened!"
"Us old fossils... dragged here by a little brat like you!"
After laughing, she plucked that pink double lotus from her basket and handed it over:
"You've got a nice face, little master. This flower's on the house."
Chen Kuang froze but then accepted it.
At that moment, the lotus bud suddenly blossomed in full, radiant and magnificent.
...
BOOM!!
Back in reality, Chen Kuang was smashed into a crater by another punch, his body slashed diagonally by sword light.
This new pit had a diameter of nearly three miles, expanding from the original rift Han Shan had carved.
Each blow built upon the last, pounding the terrain several meters deep.
Chen Kuang couldn't get up.
Every time he tried to resist, Tong Shi would slam him back into the pit with another punch.
His body was broken beyond recognition.
Had he been an ordinary cultivator, his heart meridian would've long since ruptured.
But this body, reforged through the Method of Demon Shedding, it had no meridians..
It could last longer than most.
But that only meant... that the pain was ten times worse.
Deep inside him, even the stuffed doll made by his mother, his true core, was starting to split apart.
He didn't have long left.
Yet he still tried to stand.
And Han Shan and Tong Shi showed no signs of stopping.
To them, this was punishment.
Vengeance.
So long as he stayed alive, even as a heap of meat, their mission would be complete.
Chen Kuang lay at the bottom of the pit, choking on dust and blood, he had been silent for a long time.
Almost like he had given up.
Han Shan spoke again:
"Chen Kuang. The Prince invites you.
Please come with us to the manor. Please-"
"...hhhhh..."
A hoarse, torn voice rasped from the crater.
Then it switched to Divine Sense, because his vocal cords hadn't yet healed:
"This flower... is actually kind of pretty.
It suits you, after all.."
Han Shan blinked.
Was this guy... hallucinating?
"Heh... you two blind bastards.
Can't even see it, huh?"
Chen Kuang laughed.
"Let me show you, then."
Suddenly, both Han Shan and Tong Shi were struck by a chill down their spine.
In their vision, eternal darkness swallowed them as a radiant glowing pink double lotus bloomed before them.
"Retreat!!" Han Shan shouted through Divine Sense.
But it was too late.
The double lotus appeared inside their bodies, and in that instant, it began to bloom violently outward.