Chapter 708: Apologize!
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Zhang Zhiyun, has been severely wounded. Plundering +50,000 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! The Child of Destiny, Zhang Zhiyun's, Dao Heart has shattered. Plundering +200,000 Destiny Value!]
A figure, mangled and soaked in blood, lay motionless in the filth of a sewer. He looked less like a man and more like a discarded sack of broken bones, indistinguishable from the refuse around him.
After an unknowable stretch of time, a low, guttural murmur echoed through the subterranean tunnel.
"I lost... I still lost... A complete and utter defeat..."
Zhang Zhiyun's face was ashen, a mask of gray against the grime. A crushing weight of despair settled over him, so heavy he could barely draw breath.
Having mastered the Yin Corpse Devil Swordplay and broken through to the Tianshi Sect's highest echelons, he had been confident. His strength could rival a Land Immortal; he had believed he no longer needed to fear the likes of Wu Shenyun.
But the reality had been a brutal awakening. Shen Anyu's power had far surpassed his wildest imaginings, crushing him with an overwhelming, indisputable force.
If Zhang Zhiyun hadn't managed to escape into the sewer, a final, desperate gambit, he would be a corpse by now.
'How could Shen Anyu be so strong?'
He couldn't understand it. He truly, deeply could not wrap his mind around it.
Initially, Zhang Zhiyun hadn't spared Shen Anyu a second thought. Yes, the man had a prominent identity, but his strength was laughable. Crushing him would have been easier than squashing an ant. Zhang Zhiyun had been far more concerned with the two women, Wu Shenyun and Bai Bing, whose power was genuinely terrifying.
And yet, it was the overlooked Shen Anyu who had revealed such horrifying strength. Had he actually reached the legendary world of a Land Immortal?
'That's right... If he wasn't a Land Immortal, how could he possibly have subdued those two women, the Yun Slave and the Ice Slave?'
A wave of bitterness washed over Zhang Zhiyun, and with it came a dreadful, final understanding. The most terrifying enemy wasn't the Yanxia Shen Clan, nor was it Wu Shenyun or Bai Bing. It was Shen Anyu himself.
His power was suffocating. Absolute.
How could anyone defeat such an enemy?
Zhang Zhiyun's heart filled with nothing but despair and a chilling sense of helplessness.
"No... there's still a chance," he mumbled, the words a ragged prayer in the darkness. "There's still hope..."
His eyes gradually turned bloodshot, so strained it seemed blood might seep from them. He fumbled within his tattered robes, his fingers closing around the Yin Corpse Devil Sword Embryo. He would refine it. He would successfully merge with it.
With the aid of the terrifying Yin Corpse Devil Sword, he would definitely be able to kill Shen Anyu. He would!
"The Blood Curse Talisman... it still lacks a trace of essence blood from a descendant of Immortal Master Si's bloodline," Zhang Zhiyun murmured, his voice a rasp. "That woman beside Shen Anyu is untouchable for now. I need to find other members of the Yu Clan."
The Yanxia Yu Clan was a colossal entity with countless branches and offshoots. He had already massacred the ancestral main branch to extract their essence blood, but other lineages still existed. He didn't dare touch Yu Guannan, not yet, lest he draw Shen Anyu's attention again.
"Soon," he hissed, the sound swallowed by the gurgling sewage. "It's almost time. Shen Anyu, when I, Zhang Zhiyun, finally draw the Yin Corpse Devil Sword, it will be your doom!"
"Just you wait!"
He pressed his hands into the muck, his muscles screaming in protest as he struggled to his feet. He stumbled through the sewer, a broken silhouette lurching through the darkness, occasionally collapsing into the foul water only to claw his way back up again.
'Indeed, a person truly needs to be pushed to their limits. My Yin Corpse Devil Sword is almost complete.'
Shen Anyu silently acknowledged Zhang Zhiyun's renewed, desperate determination. He gave a mental nod of approval before turning his attention back to the woman kneeling before him, a satisfied smile gracing his lips.
Yu Guannan knelt on the cold marble floor, her hands bound behind her back. She lifted her head, her phoenix eyes stubbornly fixed on Shen Anyu.
"Shen Anyu, is my apology sufficient now?"
Shen Anyu simply smiled and shook his head.
A faintly self-mocking expression flickered across Yu Guannan's exquisite face. "Still not enough? Do you need me to give myself to you right now?"
Shen Anyu's soul form, along with Yu Guannan and the corpses of her brothers, Yu Guanying and Yu Guanxiong, had long since left the ruined Hilton penthouse suite. They were now in one of his private villas in Hangzhou.
Moonlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the spacious living room in a silvery glow. Shen Anyu sat casually on the sofa, with the proud heroine of the Yu Clan kneeling before him like a supplicant.
He was no sycophant, and he would certainly never allow a woman to take advantage of him. It didn't matter that Yu Guannan was exceptionally beautiful, with a magnificent figure and delicious, honey-colored skin. It didn't even matter that she held the status of a Destined Heroine.
Shen Anyu would never be a woman's fool.
Fools who debased themselves for women never came to a good end; that was common sense. The very notion of a woman getting the upper hand would never even materialize in Young Master Shen's presence. A little jealousy or a playful tantrum from one of his own women could be a charming display of affection. But for a woman to try and take advantage of him... well, that was an entirely different matter. Such behavior simply meant she required a firmer hand, a proper education in her place.
Shen Anyu observed the woman before him. She was still breathtakingly beautiful. But the sharp, noble, and heroic fire that usually defined her was gone. The light in her phoenix eyes had been banked to dull, gray embers. A deep-seated sorrow was etched into the fine lines of her brow, and her lovely face was a mask of listless apathy.
Clearly, the destruction of her clan and the brutal deaths of her brothers right before her eyes had dealt Yu Guannan a devastating blow. Otherwise, a woman of her rationality, intelligence, and upbringing would never have lost control and questioned him earlier.
"Get up."
As Shen Anyu's voice fell, two invisible streams of Telekinesis gently lifted Yu Guannan to her feet.
She looked at him with a flicker of surprise. She had expected him to continue humiliating her, but instead, he had shown mercy. A complex emotion she couldn't name stirred in her eyes.
"Rest well. I will send people to help you handle the aftermath for the Yu Clan." With that, Shen Anyu made to stand and leave.
"Wait..." Seeing him about to depart, Yu Guannan called out, her voice strained.
"What is it?" Shen Anyu turned back, his expression softening into one of gentle concern.
"I'm sorry," Yu Guannan said, bowing deeply from the waist. "I was taking my anger out on you earlier. I apologize."
"You've already apologized." A hint of a smile touched Shen Anyu's eyes. He walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders, helping her straighten up.
Yu Guannan looked up at him, her gaze a whirlwind of complex feelings. This man, her former rival, the Young Master of the Shen Clan, had now become her only pillar of support.
The Yu Clan was annihilated, with only a few distant branch lineages surviving. Her elder brother, Yu Guanying, and her second brother, Yu Guanxiong, were both dead. If not for Shen Anyu's intervention, she would have shared their fate.
The terror and power of the Young Master of the Tianshi Sect, Zhang Zhiyun, had far exceeded her imagination. Even Koga Ichiro, a peak Tenin, had been killed in a single, instantaneous move.
But Shen Anyu had been able to contend with him, displaying the unbelievable strength of a Land Immortal.
At this moment, Shen Anyu was still in his soul form, but he no longer appeared as a towering giant. He stood at the height of a normal man, his entire being emitting a faint golden radiance that was both brilliant and sacred.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Yu Guannan made a decision. She looked intently at Shen Anyu and spoke softly, her voice firm.
"Shen Anyu, help me get revenge. If you do, I am yours. The Yu Clan will also become your subordinate."
She pressed on, her words gaining momentum. "Although the main branch has been annihilated, its foundation remains. There are still countless assets and connections."
"As long as you avenge me and kill the Young Master of the Tianshi Sect, Zhang Zhiyun, everything will be yours!"
At this, a faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"Including me."
The plan was complete.
Shen Anyu felt a cold surge of satisfaction. Everything was proceeding exactly as he had designed.
Yu Guannan, this Destined Heroine, possessed a resolute character; she was not one to yield easily. If Shen Anyu had been the one to massacre Yanxia's Yu Clan, it would have been impossible to ever win her heart and plunder her destiny value.
However, the Yu Clan was an enemy of the Shen Clan. In the original story, they had allied with Ye Yan, the Child of Destiny who descended from the mountains, to destroy the Shens. Vengeance was unavoidable.
Using someone else to do the dirty work was the perfect solution. Letting Zhang Zhiyun make the move was the masterstroke.
Who could have possibly imagined that the esteemed Young Master of the Tianshi Sect, the terrifyingly powerful Zhang Zhiyun, was nothing more than Shen Anyu's demonic blade?
Yu Guannan could never have imagined it. Yu Guanying could never have imagined it. Even Zhang Zhiyun himself could not have imagined it.
"That bet we made... I will fulfill it," Yu Guannan said, her voice trembling slightly when she saw Shen Anyu remain silent. A sliver of trepidation entered her heart. If he refused to act, she stood no chance against a terrifying expert like Zhang Zhiyun. "As long as you can avenge me, avenge the Yu Clan, I, Yu Guannan, swear that I will be your concubine, your woman. I will serve you and obey your every command for my entire life!"
"Naturally..." A handsome smile finally bloomed on Shen Anyu's face. He was about to agree.
But just as the word left his lips, an unexpected change occurred.
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