Chapter 475: Line Of Death

The pungent scent of blood filled the air, leaving the attendant feeling like he had fallen into an icehouse. His face turned ashen as the boy in the suit across from him smiled. His grin was as chilling as the Reaper’s.

The attendant instinctively took a step back. His hands tightened on the horizontal blade in his grasp out of sheer reflex.

"You... you butcher, executioner, demon..." He stuttered.

His face flushed red, although it was unclear whether it was rage or sheer terror that fueled him.

Li Xiaofei chuckled softly. He offered no explanation. There was no point in doing so. Yet he didn’t leave. Instead, he leisurely settled himself in the luxurious chair of the consul general.

He leaned back and propped his feet up on the desk that was a symbol of Jiepeng's highest authority. He seemed utterly nonchalant as he started humming a tune from Great Xia that the attendant could not understand.

The attendant remained rooted where he was, too fearful to approach. He could keenly feel the utter disregard the boy held for him. It was as if he was a dragon high above the heavens and had no interest in the barking of a stray dog wallowing in the dirt.

The attendant shouted curses. He hurled accusations. His voice grew hoarse as he denounced the boy before him, condemning his inhuman slaughter. Thousands of lives had perished at his hands in an instant, yet here he was supremely calm and unperturbed.

But Li Xiaofei never responded. Nor did he kill him.

"The clanging of iron hooves echoes, traversing vast mountains and rivers. I stand at the forefront, tightly grasping the sun and moon as they revolve. May the world of mortals, filled with smoke and fire, find peace and prosperity..." He sang quietly.

He was waiting.

A few minutes later, the sound of sirens rang out outside the building. The military police of the Wanmao District were finally responding to the silent alarm. The shrill wail of the sirens tore through the tranquility of the neighborhood, causing many foreigners who had grown accustomed to the serene atmosphere to frown slightly in displeasure.

Military Captain Zheng Ji, flanked by several trusted subordinates, arrived at the gates of the Jiepeng Consulate. The sight of four guards lying in a pool of blood caused Zheng Ji to inhale sharply.

Who would be so brazen and audacious as to cause trouble at the Jiepeng Consulate? Moreover, the bodies have been here for quite some time. Why hasn’t anyone from Jiepeng come out to deal with them?

Sensing something amiss, Zheng Ji snuck a cautious glance into the courtyard. A foreboding feeling quickly rose within him. It was too quiet inside. Unnaturally quiet. Eerily quiet.

"My lord, what should we do?" whispered Little Snake, one of his loyal subordinates.

Zheng Ji hesitated for a moment before replying, "Select a few discreet, dependable brothers and follow me inside to check. Something big may have happened."

"Understood," Little Snake responded promptly and went to grab the men.

Soon, he had twenty fully armored power armor soldiers ready to go. Zheng Ji nodded, donned his protective helmet and lightweight outer armor, and led the group toward the gates of the Jiepeng Consulate.

Just as they reached the entrance...

Swish!

A crimson blade of light descended from above. It was as if an enraged god had cast down a fiery ray of sunset.

The light struck the ground, transforming into a peculiar long blade that was as red as burning dusk. It embedded itself precisely on the threshold, its blade humming as it vibrated.

The blade caused a visible crack to extend across the gate as the aura of the blade spread out. One slash split yin and yang. One line divided life and death.

"Anyone who crosses this line will die."

The commanding voice struck Zheng Ji and his men like a heavy hammer. Their hearts pounded uncontrollably as dread filled their faces.

"My lord, it's the Chixia Blade!" Little Snake exclaimed in sudden alarm as he pointed at the crimson treasure embedded in the ground. "That’s Chiyo Tsukio’s personal blade; the prized weapon of the Jiepeng envoy. But it was rumored that it changed hands yesterday...”

The events that transpired at Lijing Hotel were already circulating among the major factions. The details were whispered, but the implications were thunderous.

According to the rumors, Yagyu Jueichiro, Chiyo Tsukio, and hundreds of Jiepeng ronin, warriors, and soldiers had been completely annihilated. That kind of tale sounded like something out of a myth or legend. It was impossible and utterly absurd. Yet, every investigation, every pieced-together account confirmed the same facts.

As a senior officer in the Wanmao District’s military police, Zheng Ji had, of course, heard of the incident. He had assumed the Jiepeng authorities would stop at nothing to exact frenzied vengeance and capture the perpetrator.

Yet, to his astonishment, the Jiepeng forces had remained uncharacteristically quiet. Now, seemed like that very perpetrator had appeared at the Jiepeng Consulate? What kind of audacity and courage did this require? This was courting disaster on an unimaginable scale.

"What now, boss?" Little Snake asked.

Zheng Ji pondered for a moment before responding, "Order everyone to hold position and remain on standby. After some thought, I’ve realized that without explicit orders, we have no authority to enter the Jiepeng Consulate."

Little Snake froze in surprise, his expression a mix of hesitation and disbelief.

"Yes sir!" He replied loudly.

He could vaguely guess what had happened inside. But despite his shock, a faint sense of admiration also arose in his heart, mixed with concern for that so-called perpetrator.

In this era, any warrior of Great Xia with even an ounce of backbone couldn’t help but hope for the prosperity of their homeland. This was especially true of soldiers like them who were tasked with defending the Wanmao District, which had become a haven for these cursed invaders. They had long grown tired of the arrogance and tyranny of the Jiepeng people.

But what could they do about it? When they were faced with Jiepeng forces, they still had to lower their heads respectfully. They had to bow and scrape to feed their families. They were forced to swallow their pride day after day. Yet deep down, how could they not admire those heroic souls who dared to resist?

The military police formed a cordon around the consulate as Zheng Ji reported the strange situation to his superiors. However, before any response could be received, a new development unfolded.

A strange steed galloped into view. Its silvery-white coat gleamed like fine silk, suggesting a bloodline of high-grade star beasts. The creature ran with a steady, graceful rhythm, and its striking appearance instantly provoked a thought in every onlooker’s mind.

How can a horse look this majestic?

Its value far surpassed that of luxurious hovercars. But alas, the rider was no prince charming. Instead, it was a hunchbacked, stooped, bald old man. His wrinkled face was both ugly and menacing.

Everything about this man’s appearance spoke of negligence during creation; perhaps the heavens themselves had been indifferent when crafting him. As time wore on, they seemed to have grown even more disgusted as they mercilessly ravaged him further.

Zheng Ji’s heart tightened as he recognized the old man. He was no ordinary figure. He was a close attendant to Tsukiha Tensō, the third most powerful individual in Haijing City, and a formidable expert in his own right.

Immediately, Zheng Ji signaled his soldiers to step aside. The grotesque old servant dismounted from the majestic horse and approached the consulate gate. His eyes suddenly flashed with a cold gleam as they fell upon the Chixia Blade embedded in the ground.

Realization dawned upon him in an instant.

“Baka!” He bellowed angrily, charging toward the consulate with blinding speed.

Zheng Ji instinctively raised his arm, intending to call out a warning, but the words died in his throat as a horrifying scene unfolded in the next moment.

The ugly old servant moved with astonishing swiftness. As he crossed the fissure in the ground and dashed roughly ten meters into the courtyard, his grotesque head suddenly stopped, as if it was unable to keep up with the rest of his body. His headless body kept moving, but then his upper torso came to a sudden halt. His legs continued pumping, carrying him another twenty meters before they faltered and collapsed.

The instant he had crossed the line carved by the Chixia Blade, the invisible, omnipresent blade aura had sliced his body into countless fragments. Yet he had been utterly unaware. As his body fell, it shattered into sixty or seventy pieces. The pieces of his dismembered corpse fell to the ground one after another along his path, each fragment accompanied by a spray of fresh blood.

Thud, thud.

The grotesque, aged head rolled across the ground. The expression on its face remained frozen in the ferocity and arrogance it had carried moments before. Even at the very end, he hadn’t realized he was already dead.

Zheng Ji, Little Snake, and the other soldiers were instantly horrified. A chill ran down their spines as they stared at the crimson blade that glowed like burning dusk. To them, it was no longer a weapon but the embodiment of Death itself.

They instinctively retreated further. This was a catastrophe. This wasn’t just any death; it was the demise of Tsukiha Tensō’s personal attendant. The closest shadow of the Jiepeng Saint, who had served faithfully at his side for decades, was now nothing more than fragments of flesh. Surely, the Jiepeng Saint would be alerted.

As Zheng Ji's mind barely formed the thought...

Boom!

The earth quaked violently as a discreet corner of Haijing City suddenly exploded with a pillar of energy. It pierced the clouds like a divine sword, cleaving through the heavens and rending the firmament. Its aura seemed so fierce that it might shatter the stars beyond the atmosphere.

The presence of a Saint! The aura of Tsukiha Tensō, the Jiepeng Saint, had erupted at the very moment his servant had fallen. An earth-shaking event was about to unfold.