"You damn brat, you dare kick me!" Wei Guang roared, his face flushing red after Chen Xing kicked him squarely in the face.

"So what if I kicked you?" Chen Xing glared. "A prisoner, and you still dare to be so arrogant? I’m not just gonna kick you, I’m gonna beat you too."

The moment he finished speaking, Chen Xing rushed forward and gave Wei Guang a sound thrashing. In moments, Wei Guang’s face had swollen up like a pig’s head, his eyes reduced to two small slits in the puffy flesh, glinting with venomous hatred.

"Damn it, you still dare to glare at me." Chen Xing was annoyed. He was never one to shy away from trouble, so he started kicking Wei Guang viciously in the groin, laughing boisterously. "Feels good! This feels amazing! Beating up the Governor’s son... I’ve been alive all these years, and this is a first for me. It feels fucking great!" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Seeing that his captor clearly had no regard for his life, a chill shot through Wei Guang’s heart. He didn’t dare show the slightest hint of defiance again.

Seeing the worried expressions on his grandfather and the others, Ye Xuan smiled. "Grandfather, everyone, please don’t worry. Do you not trust me?"

As if imbued with Magic Power, Ye Xuan’s words gradually soothed everyone’s anxious hearts.

Recalling everything that had happened in Blue Moon City, Ye Batian and the others nodded. Though Ye Xuan was bold, he wasn’t reckless. Since he dared to head to the City Lord’s Mansion, he clearly had an ace up his sleeve.

The group continued onward at a swift pace.

Just then, a large number of soldiers suddenly swarmed in from all directions, completely surrounding them.

Their leader was a middle-aged general with a gaze as sharp as a hawk’s. He was majestic and imposing, radiating a terrifying aura.

Just by standing there, he exuded an air of absolute superiority. Seated atop his tall steed, he looked down on Ye Xuan and his people like an emperor surveying his subjects.

"It’s Lord Fang Tianhong."

"The legend of our Tianxu Province."

"A Tier Five First Layer Martial Sect... A person of his caliber is a major figure even in the entire Liuyun Kingdom."

The many Martial Artists and faction members who had been secretly following Ye Xuan’s group began to murmur amongst themselves upon seeing the general, their expressions turning grave.

"Senior Fang Tianhong, quick, save me!" Upon seeing the man, Wei Guang’s eyes lit up with wild joy, and he began to squeal like a pig being slaughtered.

Fang Tianhong frowned. "And you are?"

Chen Xing had beaten Wei Guang’s face into a swollen mess; he was completely unrecognizable.

"It’s me, Wei Guang!" Wei Guang cried out. He was a powerhouse on the level of a Celestial Martial Artist, yet now he was bawling like a wronged child.

Seeing Wei Guang’s miserable state, Fang Tianhong’s gaze sharpened. "Young Master Wei Guang," he said coldly, "where are Ouyang Feng and the others?"

"This kid killed Ouyang Feng! Lord Fang Tianhong, you have to save me...!"

"Damn it, what’s all the shouting about?" Chen Xing stepped forward and slapped Wei Guang hard a few times, leaving him so dazed he couldn’t speak.

A cold glint flashed in Fang Tianhong’s eyes. He looked down at Ye Xuan’s group and said coldly, "Who in the world are you? Why have you come to our Tianxu Province to commit such atrocities and harm our Governor’s son?"

At a glance, he was inwardly shocked. ’Their group is full of experts at or above the Earth Martial Artist level, with quite a few Celestial Martial Artists among them.’ As the top expert in Tianxu Province, he was worldly and experienced. Their fearless demeanor clearly meant they had powerful backing. ’What could it be?’

This group definitely had a significant background. That was why he hadn’t rashly ordered their capture.

Ye Xuan replied coldly, "The one committing atrocities was your Governor’s son, wasn’t it?"

"How audacious!"

"Insolent!"

"Release Young Master Wei Guang at once and surrender without a fight! You might just be allowed to live."

Several officers behind Fang Tianhong roared in anger.

"Sir, regardless of the circumstances, release Young Master Wei Guang first," Fang Tianhong said coolly, his eyes narrowed, his mind racing.

"Senior Fang Tianhong, why are you wasting your breath on them? Just capture them all! Today, I’ll make them wish they were dead! I’ll make them regret they were ever born!"

Wei Guang howled. He hadn’t even been rescued yet, but he was already imagining a thousand different ways to torture Ye Xuan and his group.

"Shut up!" Annoyed, Chen Xing pulled off one of his socks—unwashed after many days of hard travel—and stuffed the filthy thing into Wei Guang’s mouth. The stench was so overpowering it made Wei Guang’s eyes water and his nose run, leaving him without even the strength to breathe.

The smell was so foul that even the few City Guards holding Wei Guang stumbled back, feeling dizzy. It was more potent than a poison gas bomb.

"One more peep out of you, and I’ll throw you in a latrine pit," Chen Xing said with contempt, picking his nose and wiping it on Wei Guang’s face.

GAG!

In the distance, many of the spectating Martial Artists were so disgusted they started to vomit.

As for Wei Guang, the whites of his eyes showed as he nearly passed out.

"Very well. Don’t blame me for what comes next." Seeing this, Fang Tianhong knew that words were useless. He leaped from his horse and, in a flash, appeared before Ye Xuan’s group. The Profound Power of a Tier Five Martial Sect erupted from him, crashing toward the Imperial Guard.

A glint appeared in Ouyang Xiaoshan’s eyes, and he was about to strike, but Ye Xuan stopped him. "Assume formation."

At his curt command, all the Imperial Guards instantly moved to their designated positions, forming a protective circle around Ye Xuan and the members of the Ye family.

"A mere First Layer Martial Sect is the perfect test for their recent training," Ye Xuan remarked nonchalantly to Ouyang Xiaoshan before shouting a cold command: "Capture him."

"Sir!" The Hundred Linked Array activated in an instant. The Imperial Guards closest to Fang Tianhong slashed out with their battle sabers in unison.

"Child’s play." A cold smirk touched Fang Tianhong’s lips. A greatsword manifested on his back, unleashing a brilliant beam of sword light that slashed into the formation.

BOOM! The Array they had formed wavered for a moment, but it quickly stabilized. The terrifying Profound Power from the sword light was rapidly weakened by the Array until it dissipated into nothing.

Fang Tianhong was startled, the look of contempt on his face vanishing. A tyrannical martial spirit fluctuation surged from his body as he brandished his greatsword. In an instant, like meteors streaking across the moon, a dozen beams of sword light seemed to tear through space and descend upon the Array. A continuous RUMBLE echoed as thick dust filled the air. The resulting shockwave of Profound Power formed a veritable hurricane that swept outward.

"It’s Lord Fang Tianhong’s Thirteen Sword-Light Slashes!"

"This technique requires thirteen slashes in a single instant! Each strike is as fast as lightning, with power like a surging tide. It can kill a Third Heaven Celestial Martial Artist as easily as slaughtering a dog."

"It’s over. The Ye family is done for. No matter how terrifyingly strong that group is, without a Tier Five Martial Sect among them, they can’t possibly block Lord Fang Tianhong’s attack."

"What a pity. They were too arrogant. If they had retreated earlier, they might have had a sliver of a chance to survive."

Murmurs of shock and pity rose from the crowd. Many shook their heads, having no faith that Ye Xuan and his people could survive.

But in the next moment, everyone was dumbfounded.

As the dust settled, it was revealed that not a single person in the group before Ye Xuan had fallen. Only a few of the weaker Imperial Guards had sustained minor injuries, and were bleeding.

"What?" Fang Tianhong’s eyes widened, his face a mask of utter disbelief.

"What was that?" Ye Xuan frowned and berated them. "The principle of the Hundred Linked Array is seamless unity and fluid movement. When one person moves, the Array moves. When one is still, the Array is still. You must remain as one, unmoving as a mountain no matter how strong the enemy. That is the essence of the Hundred Linked Array! Now look at yourselves. A mere First Layer Martial Sect was enough to create openings in your formation, and a few of you even got hurt. What a disgrace!"

Ye Xuan’s words struck the Imperial Guards like a bolt of lightning, making them flush with shame. They wished the earth would open up and swallow them whole.

Meanwhile, the surrounding Martial Artists were utterly flabbergasted.

’A mere First Layer Martial Sect?’

Everyone was dumbstruck. This was a First Layer Martial Sect they were talking about—one of the top fighting forces in the Liuyun Kingdom! Even in the Royal City, he would be a renowned figure. Throughout the entire Thirteen Nations Alliance, he would be a force to be reckoned with.

Yet in this young man’s eyes, such a figure was treated like a nobody, not even worth mentioning. His men had only suffered a few minor injuries under Lord Fang Tianhong’s terrifying attack—an incredible feat!—and yet he scolded them like this. Did he have any idea what an honor it was for them to withstand even a single one of Lord Fang Tianhong’s attacks?

What the crowd didn’t know was that Fang Tianhong himself was too shocked to speak.

’This Array of theirs is bizarre,’ Fang Tianhong thought. ’It can actually combine the strength of every single person. Each of my attacks is absorbed by the Array as a whole and dispersed among all of them, preventing me from doing any real damage.’

’My Thirteen Sword-Light Slashes unleashed an unparalleled burst of power, and even then, I only managed to injure a few of them. But from what that boy said, it was because they failed to unleash the Array’s full potential. If that’s true... just what level of Array is this?’

A deep sense of foreboding filled Fang Tianhong. He could no longer afford to hold back. "All troops, hear my command!" he roared. "Rescue Young Master Wei Guang!"

At Fang Tianhong’s command, a massive group of soldiers swiftly closed in. Their numbers far surpassed those of the previous City Guard. And while their individual strengths were similar, this new force was strictly disciplined and unafraid of death. Like a ferocious tidal wave, they crashed down upon the Array formed by the Imperial Guard.

Like a tsunami crashing against a reef, the two sides clashed in a brutal melee.

"Kill!"

Fang Tianhong’s figure flickered, moving like a phantom. This time, instead of confronting the Imperial Guards’ Array head-on, he transformed into a wisp of smoke and shot toward Wei Guang. Most of the Imperial Guards along his path couldn’t even touch the hem of his robes.