"How is he?"

After killing the Dust Sacrifice, Yan Sea rushed back to Su Yue’s side, asking as he looked at the unconscious Yu Fei.

Her hands never ceasing their technique, Su Yue spoke without looking up. "It’s not good. That cultist activated a Life-or-Death Skill before he died. Even a casual strike from him was incredibly powerful. Yu Fei has numerous broken bones, and his heart and lungs have sustained critical damage. I can only keep him stable for now. He needs to be treated at a specialized, high-level martial hospital."

Yan Sea nodded. "I’ll contact... my senior brother. Let’s go to the Tianchen Third Military Hospital!"

"That works. It would be best to requisition a dedicated medical transport aircraft."

After a pause, Su Yue said with irritation, "Yu Fei was far too reckless. You’ll have to teach him a lesson later. A mere quasi-second realm daring to fight a fourth-realm master of Inner Qi to the death... he was asking for it."

Yan Sea was silent for a moment. "When a young man first gains power, he often doesn’t understand the immensity of the world. Getting injured might actually be a good thing. It could prevent him from losing his sense of reverence, otherwise he might stumble into a sudden, unexpected catastrophe one day."

In truth, Yan Sea had always felt that Yu Fei possessed a strange, inexplicable confidence. It was a difficult feeling to describe. He didn’t discourage confidence in a Martial Artist, but one must also have a sense of reverence. Over thousands of years, even those as powerful as Martial Saints were not immune to falling victim to schemes and plots.

That "if not me, then who?" attitude on Yu Fei was too pronounced, and that was not a good thing.

He was the one who had initiated Yu Fei onto the path of martial arts, his guide. Furthermore, Yu Fei was the inheritor of the Calamity Sword. More than anyone, he hoped this student of his could reach the pinnacle of the martial path. He could only hope that this time, Yu Fei would learn his lesson.

Within the Chaotic Heaven Realm, Kong Sheng clutched the hilt of his sword, his eyes glinting with excitement.

"Mr. Tang, what kind of domain was that? Think I can slice it apart?"

Mr. Tang chided him with a laugh, "Slice it, my ass. That blockhead practices a variation of an ancient Cultivation Technique. The concept of domains didn’t exist back then. Grandmasters simply cultivated a Dharmic Image. That blood dragon wasn’t a domain at all."

"It looked awesome, though. Why aren’t powerful Cultivation Techniques like that more widespread?" Kong Sheng asked, puzzled.

Mr. Tang let out a soft sigh. "Those ancient Cultivation Techniques are too difficult and dangerous to practice. Plus, their abilities are too one-dimensional. They’re certainly powerful, but their practitioner’s survivability is low. They were eventually phased out. I have no idea where that blockhead managed to dig it up."

"Powerful? But its survivability is low?"

"Exactly. Don’t be fooled just because he could crush that old bastard from the Illuminati. If my Yuanyuan were also a Grandmaster and opened her domain, she could run that blockhead ragged until he collapsed. Same for you. Inside your sword domain, he’d run himself to death and never be able to catch you."

Kong Sheng looked intrigued. "And if he does catch up?"

Mr. Tang shot him a look. "If you let him catch you, then you’re the one who’s dead."

Kong Sheng grew pensive. ’So, Yan Sea cultivates a Dharmic Image. It grants him immense attack power, but he’s severely lacking in other areas. It makes sense that this path was abandoned.’

For some reason, he suddenly thought of Su Yue’s unfathomably deep support abilities. ’If those two teamed up...’ An image flashed in his mind: the Dust Sacrifice, bound in chains, being helplessly beaten to a pulp.

’Never mind.’ Kong Sheng dismissed the thought and suggested, "What do you say? Me and Yan Sea, with you holding down the fort, old man. We could force out this big rat that’s hiding in the shadows... Ah, the green dot is gone."

"You and your big mouth! Why would you say that out loud? See? He probably sensed us and ran off."

He was joking, of course. But who could it be? Mr. Tang’s mind raced, but he had no answers.

-----------------

Five days passed in a flash. The events that transpired during the storm had been nothing short of world-shaking, but the vast majority of the public was unaware of the details. All sorts of rumors, however, were flying around.

Some said mutated beasts had invaded the city and killed many people, which seemed plausible given the strange noises heard that day.

Others claimed it was a group of criminals setting off explosives, damaging many buildings in the city—which also made sense, considering the continuous loud bangs.

Meanwhile, those who knew the truth of what had happened were run off their feet.

The death of a Grandmaster from the Bright God Sect, the rise of a new Grandmaster, the annihilation of a group of desperados, and the sacrifice of numerous brave Warriors—given everything involved, the higher-ups finally dispatched a special commissioner to conduct a detailed investigation.

On a national scale, the death or ascension of a Grandmaster was but a small ripple in a vast ocean, something that happened from time to time.

But in a small place like Y-City, it was a tidal wave.

The responsibility for handling the aftermath fell entirely on Han Qiubai’s shoulders. Tao Lang was inconsolable, while Yan Sea and Su Yue had rushed off with Yu Fei for emergency treatment, taking the barely-breathing Zhang Yuanqiao with them. His character and strength aside, everyone agreed on Zhang Yuanqiao’s contribution to the battle. He had taken the most vicious beating of all, and his injuries were arguably even more severe than Yu Fei’s.

After the battle, Kong Sheng made a brief appearance. Seeing that the matter had been resolved, he offered some words of encouragement to the survivors and departed. No one dared to question a Grandmaster’s itinerary, nor would they dare to voice any complaints they might have.

All of these issues piled up, leaving the already injured Han Qiubai looking even more haggard.

After a flurry of activity, the full truth of the incident finally came to light, exposing the Riverfront Village massacre in all its hair-raising brutality.

The special commissioner from the Security Bureau sealed the investigation report, filed it away, and then departed in a hurry.

A violent uprising by the Primal Demon clan in the Abyss had put the Martial Artists of the Yu Kingdom on the back foot. With all manner of miscreants and monsters taking the opportunity to stir up trouble, they were momentarily overwhelmed.

In the world of the extraordinary, a significant information barrier existed between ordinary people and Martial Artists. This was partly to maintain social order—after all, ordinary people could not process certain extreme truths and would likely panic. It was also to prevent individuals from joining extremist organizations.