Chapter Sixty-seven: The Favored Underling

Xiang Ao was locked in a fierce battle with You Qi, the head of the underlings. Although You Qi was known for his cunning and sycophantic ways, his martial skills were not to be underestimated. Coupled with the elixirs bestowed upon him by Lin Ruhai, his cultivation was nearly on par with Xiang Ao’s, rendering the fight a stalemate.

At that critical moment, Xiang Ao sensed a mortal threat—a chilling aura of death, cold and sinister, like the gaze of a venomous serpent ready to strike his back with its flickering tongue. This was not the internal energy of an ordinary martial artist, but the overwhelming true essence of a true master—hundreds of times stronger.

It was Lin Ruhai.

You Qi, too, saw the great chieftain at Xiang Ao’s back, his spirits surging as he pressed his attack with renewed ferocity and viciousness. While fending off the relentless You Qi, Xiang Ao’s heart was thrown into turmoil and despair: It seems today my life will end here in Tianmen Stronghold, and what awaits my son and the Luoyang Martial Hall is uncertain…

There was no evading the assault of a master at this level. Though he had resigned himself to death, Xiang Ao refused to wait passively; if he was to die, he would at least take down a key opponent with him—You Qi would be his chosen sacrifice.

As Lin Ruhai’s ferocious palm strike swept toward his back, Xiang Ao suddenly unleashed his latent strength, his iron fist smashing into You Qi’s chest and hurling him several meters away, crashing into the dust.

Elsewhere, Chen Xiangru, wielding his serpent-bladed halberd and dispatching another underling, turned just in time to see a palm wind racing toward his master’s back at frightening speed.

His eyes widened in horror, his voice hoarse as he shouted, “Master, beware!”

Just as all believed Xiang Ao’s death was certain, Ma Qingyun, who had always been cold and aloof, finally intervened. With a casual wave of his hand through the void, a surge of palm wind shot forth—faster and mightier than Lin Ruhai’s—intercepting the deadly blow destined for Xiang Ao.

Lin Ruhai’s palm strike was thus entirely neutralized, leaving no trace.

Expecting death, Xiang Ao felt the oppressive aura of doom behind him suddenly vanish. Startled, he quickly realized Ma Qingyun had acted.

From afar, Chen Xiangru’s tense heart finally settled; his body slackened as relief washed over him. Thank goodness Master is safe—otherwise, I would have hated myself, loathing my weakness as a mere mortal martial artist, unable to protect the man I regard as a father. His determination to grow stronger only intensified—he resolved to train even harder upon returning.

Lin Ruhai had launched his attack casually, believing slaying Xiang Ao would be effortless. Yet he had not expected his strike to be so easily thwarted.

His heart sank: He had underestimated the Luoyang Martial Hall—there were hidden dragons among them, and one was even stronger than himself.

But before he could process this, a flash of white light streaked straight for his crown. Lin Ruhai snorted coldly, preparing to dodge, but the light was upon him in an instant. Before fear could even touch him, his head split cleanly in two.

Blood sprayed forth in a geyser; his body and the lower half of his skull flew forward a few more paces before smashing to the ground. The upper half of his head had already rolled into the dust, its emerald eyes still wide open, filled with irrepressible hatred and profound confusion.

He died with his eyes open.

In his final moment, he never even saw where the white light had come from, his last thought lingering: Who was it that killed me…

Thus fell a master of the true essence realm, and the fate of Tianmen Stronghold was sealed.

The instant Lin Ruhai’s head was split and blood erupted, Ma Xue’e’s face turned deathly pale. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry. She had once cleaved a man in two with a whip, and witnessed dozens of underlings die before her, but those corpses were at least whole. This was different—Lin Ruhai’s head was bisected, the cut so smooth it was chilling.

Her own brother was terrifying—was he even human?

Unobtrusively, she edged away from Ma Qingyun and sidled up to Luo Changning.

Nearby, Xiang Yinglong, who always appeared boisterous and carefree, was in truth attentive to detail. Witnessing this, his heart ached for little Xue’e, so young and forced to witness such carnage. Yet he felt a pang of jealousy as well; from her reliance and trust in Luo Changning, Xiang Yinglong could see her young heart had already been captured.

He glanced at Luo Changning, who remained oblivious, still marveling at Ma Qingyun’s martial prowess. For once, Xiang Yinglong indulged in a bit of dark amusement: I know Xue’e likes you, but I won’t tell you, lest you lead her astray at such a young age!

Yet who can say if, years from now, Xiang Yinglong would look back on this day and regret his decision? If he could foresee the future, perhaps he would have been bolder, unwilling to surrender so easily. Even if his first love had already pledged her heart elsewhere, he might still have fought for her.

If only things had been different, so much that happened later might never have come to pass.

Yet, alas, the future is forever unknowable. Even those self-styled grand fortune-tellers are but charlatans deceiving the masses. Human lives are bound by fate, no matter how loudly they protest that man can conquer destiny. Little do they know—all is predestined by unseen hands.

Whether one chooses to submit or rebel against fate, in the end, it is all written in the stars…

The surviving underlings of Tianmen Stronghold, seeing their chieftain slain in such a gruesome manner, were thrown into utter chaos.

Lin Ruhai had been one of the few true masters in Qiuhe Prefecture. If even he could be killed in a single blow, what hope did these underlings—practiced only in a few crude tricks—have against the warriors of Luoyang Martial Hall?

Before, out of fear of Lin Ruhai, they had forced themselves to fight, even as terror gripped them.

Now, with the chieftain dead, they threw down their weapons and fell to their knees, begging for mercy. “Heroes, spare us! We are but poor farmers from nearby villages, driven to banditry by desperate need—we had no other choice!”

“Yes, we may have aided evil in the past, but if you spare us, we’ll leave Tianmen Stronghold at once and reform ourselves, never committing misdeeds again!”

The three underlings who kidnapped Su Meng had already been dealt with by Luo Changning and the others. They had once been favored by Lin Ruhai and allowed to live in the rear quarters of Tianmen Peak. That was why, when Ma Qingyun and Luo Changning searched the common quarters, they failed to find Su Meng, only to later discover her in a small woodshed in the rear courtyard.

Su Meng had mentioned the appearances of several of her captors, and at the very start of the chaos, Luo Changning had sought them out and dispatched them.

Now, with Lin Ruhai dead, there was no reason to trouble the remaining, inconsequential men.

Xiang Ao waved his hand, commanding, “All of you, disband and leave the mountain—but do not touch a single coin of the stronghold’s treasure. When you return to your villages, see that you keep to the straight and narrow. If I hear otherwise, I won’t spare you a second time!”

The underlings gratefully kowtowed, quickly scattering and hurrying home.