"D-Do we really have to spit?"

The Core Disciple glanced at Nalan Qingtian’s body, which hung in midair, swaying with the wind. It was covered in wounds and had clearly been dead for days. He spoke, unable to bear the sight.

Two Celestial Alliance Core Disciples glared at him and said angrily, "If you don’t spit, you’re an enemy of our Celestial Alliance!"

"That’s right. Anyone who dares to oppose our Celestial Alliance..."

The other Core Disciple, his face radiating an intense sense of superiority, started to speak, but a sudden gust of wind forced his mouth shut before he could finish.

WHOOSH—

The unexpected gale kicked up a cloud of sand, forcing the two Celestial Alliance Core Disciples to squint.

When they opened their eyes again, they saw a young man standing in midair before the wooden post, gazing at Nalan Qingtian, who was hanging by a noose.

The young man’s voice was hoarse. "Qingtian, I’m sorry. I’m late... Walk slowly on the Yellow Springs Road. I’ll send Wangg Tianyi down to join you soon enough!"

At these words, the expressions of the two Celestial Alliance Core Disciples changed in unison.

Their faces twisted with ferocious anger as one of them sneered, "Kid, this is a Forbidden Land designated by the Celestial Alliance! You’re courting death by trespassing here!"

The young man ignored them, flicking a finger and severing the rope.

Nalan Qingtian’s body had just begun to fall when the young man caught it with one arm, holding it in his embrace.

This scene made the two Celestial Alliance experts’ faces turn even uglier, their complexions shifting between pale and ashen. One of them raised a brow, his eyes flashing with fury and thick killing intent. "How dare you! You actually took down the person our Celestial Alliance hung up for public display! You’re digging your own grave!"

The moment his voice fell.

The Celestial Alliance Core Disciple had already raised a Long Spear and thrust it toward the young man’s back.

The thrust was astonishingly fast and powerful—a killing blow.

"Annoying."

The young man whipped his head around, two beams of cold light shooting from his eyes. His robes fluttered as he let out a cold shout, "Get out!"

The sound wave was like the tolling of a great bell, humming like roaring thunder, deafeningly loud.

The two words, "Get out," formed an invisible shockwave that slammed directly into the Celestial Alliance Core Disciple.

BANG—

The Long Spear snapped, and its head spun through the air before stabbing deep into the ground.

The Celestial Alliance Core Disciple staggered back a full five steps. His broken spear shaft slammed into the ground as his body swayed. Then, with a BOOM, his head exploded like a watermelon smashed by a hammer, splattering blood and brain matter in all directions.

The other Celestial Alliance Core Disciple was standing very close and was instantly covered in blood and gore.

He stared wide-eyed, his gaze hollow and filled with despair.

The dead Celestial Alliance Core Disciple’s cultivation had reached the True Martial Realm Seventh Stage, yet a single shout had been enough to make his head explode. What terrifying power was this?

The shocked Celestial Alliance expert’s eye twitched as he finally recognized the newcomer. "J-J-Jiang Chen?"

"Where is Wangg Tianyi?"

Jiang Chen held Nalan Qingtian’s body with one arm, his eyes pulsing with a sharp, piercing light as he stared at the man.

"I-I-I don’t know." The Celestial Alliance Core Disciple’s voice trembled, and he shook his head like a rattle. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Jiang Chen frowned. "Who else was involved in this?"

The man hesitated for a moment, then shook his head again. "I don’t know. I don’t know anything..."

"If you don’t know anything, then what use is there for you in this world?" Jiang Chen said lightly.

"Huh?"

The man froze, then convulsed violently. Blood gushed from his seven orifices as he dropped dead.

A flash of azure-gold light disappeared from Jiang Chen’s eyes. His cold gaze swept over the other Core Disciples, who were completely dumbfounded.

"..."

The men shuddered, afraid of being caught in the crossfire. One of them quickly spoke up, "Senior Brother Jiang Chen, we aren’t with the Celestial Alliance!"

"Oh?"

Jiang Chen glanced at them and nodded, then asked, "Who among you knows exactly who was involved in Nalan Qingtian’s murder? And what about Wangg Tianyi? Where is he now?"

"Senior Brother Jiang Chen, I was at Cuiwei Pavilion when Nalan Qingtian was killed!" said the Core Disciple who had been forced to spit on Nalan Qingtian earlier. He looked at Jiang Chen with burning admiration.

Jiang Chen looked at him.

"Senior Brother Jiang Chen, my name is Shu Kai."

Shu Kai looked at Jiang Chen excitedly and continued, "Nalan Qingtian was telling people that you were going to build your own faction and was trying to recruit Outer Sect Disciples. That day, he was at Cuiwei Pavilion promoting your faction when he ran into Senior Brother Wangg Tianyi. Wangg Tianyi demanded that he kneel and publicly insult you. Qingtian refused, so Wangg Tianyi crippled his cultivation. Qingtian was in agony and cursed at him a couple of times, so Wangg Tianyi killed him in a fit of rage."

"Senior Brother Qiu Yunbo was also there. After Nalan Qingtian died, it was Qiu Yunbo who hung his body up for display!"

Shu Kai said all this in a single breath, then gasped twice, his heart pounding in his chest.

Jiang Chen’s eyes narrowed, the killing intent in his chest spreading like wildfire, growing more intense by the second. "Qiu Yunbo, Wangg Tianyi... My brother refused to betray me, so you killed him. And you even hung his body up for public display? Good. Very good. The pain you inflicted on my brother, I will return to you tenfold, a hundredfold!"

He looked at Shu Kai and asked, "Shu Kai, do you know where Wangg Tianyi and Qiu Yunbo are?"

"Senior Brother Wangg seems to have returned to the Inner Sect, but Qiu Yunbo is at Cuiwei Pavilion, in his personal villa," Shu Kai said quickly.

"Thank you!"

Jiang Chen nodded to Shu Kai, and with a flash, his figure tore across the sky like a shooting star.

Moments later, Jiang Chen arrived at Qiu Yunbo’s villa.

The villa was quite spacious.

「Meanwhile...」

Qiu Yunbo was drinking and carousing with several Celestial Alliance Core Disciples in the villa. The atmosphere was lively. "Come, come, let’s drink up!"

"Brother Qiu, not only did we kill Nalan Qingtian, but we also displayed his corpse outside Cuiwei Pavilion. What if Jiang Chen comes back for revenge?" one of the Core Disciples asked after downing his cup of wine, his face flushed and his breath reeking of alcohol.

"What’s there to be afraid of!"

Qiu Yunbo took a large gulp of wine and sneered. "We’ve got Senior Brother Wangg Tianyi backing us. Even if you gave Jiang Chen ten times the courage, he still wouldn’t dare cause trouble for us. Unless he’s tired of living and wants to hand Senior Brother Wangg an excuse to kill him, he would never dare to make a move against us!"

"Brother Qiu’s analysis is so insightful!"

"That’s right! Our Celestial Alliance is so powerful, just a few of our members could crush Jiang Chen!"

This barrage of flattery made the smile on Qiu Yunbo’s face grow even wider. He raised his cup and shouted, "Come, let’s drink hearty!"

"Drink!"

The crowd quickly raised their cups.

However, before the wine in Qiu Yunbo’s cup could even touch his lips, a sharp, piercing sound cut through the air, followed by a spray of hot blood that splashed across his face.

Qiu Yunbo’s expression changed, and the alcohol’s haze cleared slightly.

He saw that of the five men who had just been flattering him, four were now decapitated. The hot blood was gushing from their severed necks.

"Wh-Wh-What’s going on?"

Qiu Yunbo was dumbstruck. A shiver ran through him, jolting him into sobriety as he raised a hand to wipe the blood from his face.

"If I were you, I’d stay calm and not move a muscle!" an indifferent voice suddenly spoke beside his ear.

’Holy shit!’

’Jiang Chen?’

Qiu Yunbo’s eyes widened, the effects of the alcohol fading even more.

He dazedly realized that his body was suddenly suspended in the air, his neck caught in a powerful, unyielding grip.

Death, despair, and Darkness filled his entire being.

Qiu Yunbo struggled violently, but it was all in vain. Jiang Chen’s strength was too immense!

Jiang Chen held Qiu Yunbo by the neck with one hand while holding Nalan Qingtian’s body with the other. "Where is Wangg Tianyi?" he asked coolly.

"Insolent! Is Senior Brother Wangg’s name something you can speak so directly?" Qiu Yunbo’s eyes bulged as he roared, "I’m warning you, you’d better let me go. Otherwise, when Senior Brother Wangg gets here, he’ll tear you to pieces!"

"Tear me to pieces?"

Jiang Chen paused, then the corners of his mouth lifted into an icy smile. "You’ve just reminded me of something," he said lightly.

"Huh? Reminded you of what?"

Qiu Yunbo froze, looking at Jiang Chen in confusion.

Jiang Chen’s lips curled upwards. With a flick of his hand, he ripped a supporting pillar from the villa and planted it in the ground. Immediately after, he tapped a finger on Qiu Yunbo’s lower abdomen. Qiu Yunbo’s whole body trembled, his face a mask of despair and disbelief. "Y-Y-You... you crippled my Dantian?"

One of the ten great prodigies of the Outer Sect was now nothing but a cripple.

Qiu Yunbo was on the verge of madness!

Jiang Chen remained indifferent. Ignoring Qiu Yunbo’s hysterical roars and curses, he tied him to the pillar. He turned his cold gaze to the sole surviving Celestial Alliance Core Disciple, who was paralyzed with fear on the ground. "I’m giving you a chance to live. Do you want it or not?"

"Yes! I want to live! I don’t want to die!" the man said hurriedly.

Jiang Chen nodded. He picked up a carving knife from a nearby table and tossed it to the man. "From now on, every ten breaths, you will stab Qiu Yunbo once. Remember, each stab must be in a different place, but you can’t kill him. If he dies before I say so, you will die with him. Understand?"

"I-I-I understand!"

The man shakily gripped the dagger. THWACK! He stabbed it into Qiu Yunbo’s thigh, making him scream in agony.

He stabbed him again and again.

"Jiang Chen, you’ll die a horrible death..."

"Kill me! I’m begging you, just kill me..."

"AGHH..."

Qiu Yunbo was covered in wounds, bleeding nonstop. He had been stabbed no less than twenty times, a truly gruesome sight.

Jiang Chen sat to the side as if none of it had anything to do with him.

After a full five hundred breaths had passed, and Qiu Yunbo had been stabbed fifty times, Jiang Chen’s gaze suddenly sharpened. He looked toward the eastern horizon, where a dark figure was rapidly approaching. A frigid light glinted in his eyes, and his calm voice was like a cold blade piercing the heavens.

"You’re finally here."