Chapter 80: Fear

Chapter 80: Fear

Silver saddles illuminated white horses, galloping as swiftly as shooting stars. Killing a man every ten steps, leaving no trace for a thousand miles.[1]

Whether it was Jiang Sheng, Lyu Jianfeng, Li Cunyu, Xu Dengfeng, Yue Xingzhou, or even Liao Shanhe and Liao Ming, these poetic lines flashed through their minds simultaneously.

Yaoguang's movements were fluid and seamless, and he moved with irresistible momentum, making him appear gallant and heroic! Facing two great martial paragons, fighting one against two, he had actually managed to kill them both in the blink of an eye with overwhelming force!

Although the process appeared fraught with danger, that fearless, head-on decisiveness fully demonstrated Yaoguang’s absolute confidence in his own strength. This level of power, boldness, and charisma, coupled with the fact that this scene featured a nineteen-year-old youth, complemented each other perfectly. In a daze, everyone felt as if they were witnessing a rising sun ascending into the highest heavens at incredible speed, releasing ten thousand rays of radiance and spreading light and heat to every corner of the world. The light he had become would illuminate the world.

***

After killing Liao Zhenguo and withdrawing his blade, Yaoguang did not hesitate. He turned instantly and charged toward Liao Shanhe. The biting chill and killing intent surged forward, forming an icy sensation that pierced to the bone, instantly jolting the shocked Liao Shanhe awake.

It was the Liao family's martial paragons who died just now!

They were the foundation that deterred all sides and maintained the family’s rule over Dayu! However, there was no time for grief or horror. Seeing Yaoguang approaching with his sword drawn, Liao Shanhe retreated frantically while shouting orders to those around him, "Stop him! Stop him!"

The residents of the Liao Royal Palace were all fiercely loyal. Immediately, several grandmasters, accompanied by over a dozen fully armed martial masters, rushed out.

But before they could intercept, Lyu Jianfeng, Jiang Sheng, Yue Xingzhou, and the other nine grandmasters, who had also regained their senses, charged forward, taking the initiative to engage this elite armed force.

"Lyu Jianfeng, Jiang Sheng! This boy's strength is too great; he cannot be allowed to live! If I die, you will live in his shadow for the rest of your lives..." Liao Shanhe bellowed as he retreated.

However, the fully armed Lyu Jianfeng, Jiang Sheng, and the others did not say a word. It was one thing for Liao Shanhe to recognize them, but whether they admitted it was another matter entirely.

The nine grandmasters gave their all, instantly clashing with the elite force and the royal experts who arrived shortly after. Saber lights, sword shadows, the ring of firearms, and screams of agony converged in an instant!

But none of this affected Yaoguang as he strode forward. Running at full speed, he crossed the distance of less than a hundred meters between him and Liao Shanhe in a matter of seconds.

However, just as Yaoguang pursued him indoors, he saw Liao Shanhe suddenly dart toward the other side at full speed.

On the second floor, a large door burst open, and a heavy Gatling machine gun—or rather, a machine cannon mounted on a base—was quickly rolled out. A burly man operated the barrels, aiming directly at the approaching Yaoguang.

"Fire!" Almost simultaneously, Liao Shanhe’s voice rang out.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

In that instant, Yaoguang swung his sword. He thrust his blade through the air. The point of the sword was aimed precisely at the burly man operating the machine gun.

However, the distance between them was at least twenty meters. No martial paragon, no matter how powerful, could shoot a target dead from twenty meters away through the air. Even throwing the sword might not have been fast enough.

Such an action seemed like a futile final struggle before death. Yet, this mid-air strike, which Liao Shanhe didn't think could possibly kill anyone, appeared to the martial master behind the heavy machine gun as a sword light tearing through the void. It struck with a terrifying, brilliant sharpness.

"Ah!" Under a shiver of fear that originated from the depths of his soul, he could not help but let out an uncontrollable scream.

In the next moment, the scream stopped abruptly. The perfectly unharmed martial master collapsed backward, slamming onto the ground. Although he was not yet dead, his thoughts had nearly ceased to function. This kind of technique...

"Psychic will! Psychic will! This is psychic will!" Liao Shanhe’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief.

That sword strike was not some augmented sword qi or normal sword qi; it was the infusion of psychic will into the blade, which exploded through the amplification of the sword technique to form a sword will that directly slashed at the soul.

Transforming psychic will into sword will to strike down a martial master twenty meters away?! This was a nearly perfect application of psychic will!

Yaoguang had previously displayed the might of a martial paragon by fighting one against two and destroying the Liao family’s pillars: Liao Zhenguo and the fiercely loyal Bian Liancheng. That had already made Liao Shanhe feel as though the sky were falling.

And now, he had actually demonstrated a psychic-will technique that only a psychic-will martial paragon could perform!

"How is this possible?!"

Just as the head of the Liao family felt his understanding of the world was about to be overturned, the sound of something breaking through the air rang out. By the time he heard it, he caught a glimpse of a faint shadow out of the corner of his eye.

But that shadow was too secretive and transparent for him to capture accurately. Driven only by his instinct for survival, he twisted his body sharply. Halfway through the turn, he felt as if he had been struck in the waist by a bullet.

Even though he wore an inner armor that combined comfort, breathability, softness, bulletproofing, and fireproofing, he still felt unprecedented pain running through his body like an electric current.

Under the stimulation of this agonizing, electrical pain, he suddenly realized he had lost all sensation in his lower body.

It was only at that moment that he discovered a short sword, which appeared almost entirely transparent at first glance, had pierced through his waist, precisely and ruthlessly destroying the spinal nerves in his lower back.

It was the Chengying Sword, and it was aimed directly at his heart. However, even as it shot toward that vital organ, it seemed to have predicted every possible angle he could use to dodge, sealing off all space for escape.

As a result, although he had dodged rapidly enough to prevent his heart from being skewered, he still could not escape the fate of being struck in a critical spot. His twisting body, now out of control due to the severed spinal nerves, collapsed involuntarily to the ground with a thud

.

Liao Shanhe looked up in horror, just in time to see Yaoguang take a stride and appear before him.

"So, you fear the Rebirth Society, but you do not fear me?" Yaoguang’s voice rang out in Liao Shanhe's ears.

His pupils shrank violently. Before Zhao Sheng’s death, the Liao family could have claimed ignorance, but after the killing of Zhao Sheng, Yaoguang had already demonstrated his strength.

Was he afraid? Of a nineteen-year-old martial paragon?! Or perhaps a psychic-will martial paragon?! He was indeed afraid. But the Rebirth Society was even more terrifying.

"Y-You cannot kill me. Once you kill me, the peaceful environment of Dayu will be shattered. It will inevitably fall into civil war, and countless people will be displaced and their families destroyed because of you..." he said quickly.

"You might be overestimating the importance of your Liao family." Yaoguang expressionlessly raised the Divine Shadow Sword in his hand.

Looking at Yaoguang’s resolute eyes, Liao Shanhe finally fell into despair.

Why?! Why did it come to this?!

To avoid offending the Rebirth Society, the Liao family had compromised time and again, acting submissively and choosing to turn a blind eye to all their actions. How had they still ended up with this fate?

"I won't accept this! I won't accept this!" Liao Shanhe stared fixedly at Yaoguang, a trace of madness in his eyes. "Do you think you can defeat the Rebirth Society? You are pushing Dayu toward a dead end! You have no idea what kind of terrifying existence you are defying! Hahaha... I will die, and you... You will die too! Everyone will die! Let it be destroyed! Hahaha, destroy everything..."

The high-raised Divine Shadow Sword fell instantly, piercing through Liao Shanhe’s skull with a squelch. The crazed shouting stopped abruptly...

"I will see for myself." Yaoguang withdrew his sword and simultaneously took out the Soul-Capturing Bead, drawing in the remnant soul of the Liao family head.

In theory, Liao Zhenguo would have known more because he was a martial paragon. For top-tier organizations, when it came to major meetings, the attendees' abilities were not important; status was the key. If your status was not high enough, the other party would not even bother with you. And this so-called status was not based on your position or lineage, but solely on your strength. Or rather, your life level!

At a meeting for martial paragons, even the highest-ranking grandmaster had no right to join. Even if that martial paragon was nothing more than a cultivation fanatic who understood nothing of social graces.

However, the interior of the Liao family was relatively united. Most of the news Liao Zhenguo received would be relayed to Liao Shanhe as the head of the family. Therefore, obtaining information from Liao Shanhe’s soul fragment would not be much less effective.

The sound of hurried footsteps approached. Lyu Jianfeng, Jiang Sheng, and the others quickly rushed in.

When they saw Liao Shanhe’s corpse, they all froze for a moment.

They knew that with the deaths of Liao Zhenguo and Bian Liancheng, the Liao family’s power had essentially collapsed. But those two martial paragons were, after all, distant entities to them. In contrast, they had the most contact and communication with Liao Shanhe. Seeing him dead, a sense of melancholy rose in their hearts.

Who could have thought that the direct cause of the great Dayu royal family’s ultimate destruction was not a failure of governance leading to an overthrow by other forces, but rather offending a mere nineteen-year-old youth?

"Alright, it isn't time to relax yet. Continue mopping up the remnants," Yaoguang said.

At the same time, he turned to Jiang Sheng. "Where is Kong Fang?"

"According to the information we received, he is leading men toward the palace... it seems he intends to provide reinforcements..." Jiang Sheng spoke, pausing for a moment. "Lord Yaoguang, you killed Liao Zhenguo and Bian Liancheng so quickly that he likely still believes the situation is undecided and hopes to turn the tide."

Yaoguang nodded. As a martial paragon, it was not strange to have such thoughts. Especially in small and medium-sized countries, there had been more than one instance where a martial paragon, through their own strength, had single-handedly turned the tide during an internal coup.

"I will go settle it to prevent it from becoming a hidden threat," Yaoguang said.

Then, thinking of something, he said to Yue Xingzhou, "Tally the palace assets. The others will surround and eliminate the remaining core members of the royal family."

Yue Xingzhou, Jiang Sheng, Lyu Jianfeng, and the others all nodded simultaneously. They had no objections to Yaoguang tasking Yue Xingzhou with tallying the palace spoils.

Yaoguang’s feat of crushing two great martial paragons was right before their eyes, and his immense strength had completely awed these grandmasters. The key was that he was only nineteen!

If he already possessed such strength at nineteen, what level would he grow to in the future?! The royal treasury surely contained many treasures, but offending such a peerless genius with a limitless future—someone even more terrifying than the Liao family—for these interests was clearly an extremely unwise move.

"Leave it to us."

"We cannot trouble Lord Yaoguang to handle everything personally. We can certainly handle the remaining stragglers."

"Please rest assured, Lord. We have already arranged for men to lie in wait at key locations. The members of the Liao family will not escape." Lyu Jianfeng, Jiang Sheng, and the others spoke up one after another.

Yaoguang nodded and walked out the door.

1. Both these sentences are lines from "Ode to the Gallant" (Chinese: 侠客行), one of the most celebrated poems by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. It captures the spirit of the youxia (wandering knights-errant), figures who were central to Chinese folklore and later became the foundation of the wuxia genre. ☜