590 - 593

Chapter 590: Intercepting at a Wasteland

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The bearded woodcutter was overjoyed beyond belief, and he waved his big thumb in excitement as he exclaimed, "Old Ye, we're fellow compatriots in the way of wine, but even knowing you for so many years, this is still the first time that I've seen you so generous. You're a really good friend! Thanks a lot, wahaha…" He raised his neck to continue chugging.

The scholarly man in white stared at the bearded man with an expression of contempt before lowly cursing, "You're really a hundred percent idiot. What people deem as trash, you actually treat as a treasure." His gaze shifted towards the leather bag that Ye QingChen was hugging like a baby. For this addict who treated wine like life to forsake his alcohol so easily, the contents of the bag would definitely have even better alcohol. No wonder he called the woodcutter a fool.

Not long after, the fragrance of snake meat started to waft through the air. The woodcutter took turns drinking from the jar of wine and gnawing on the wild boar's leg, enjoying his meal with extreme delight. As he started to belch, he turned to Ye QingChen and laughed, "Old Ye, you're really something. After I get back, this daddy here will gift you a jar of my own wine."

Ye QingChen smiled and thanked him, but he was thinking, 'So long as you don't fight me to the death later, I'll be burning incense to the gods as thanks! As for good wine… compared to what I have in my bag, yours is akin to swill. This old man isn't interested, so you can save it for yourself.'

The freshly roasted snake meat was finally done, and Li Xue, as though performing a magic trick, suddenly took out four bowls made of ice, placing them in front of everyone. This gave the other three Beyond Heavens Sect members a great fright!

It was still the beginning of autumn, so where did the ice come from? And furthermore, such an ice bowl that looked like it was crafted by hand?

Seeing their gazes, Li Xue laughed a little, playing it down as she said, "I had nothing to do, and suddenly thought that we didn't have any utensils to eat with, hence I casually made a few. I hope I did not insult you seniors with my lousy performance."

Casually made a few? The white-robed scholar and Ye QingChen stared with wide eyes in shock, while the bearded woodcutter stared at Li Xue with an open mouth like a beached shark…

Merely congealing water to form ice, while seldom seen, was not a skill of high difficulty. At least, the people present did not see it as a difficult task. The difficulty lay in the fact that Li Xue had obviously just created them from scratch moments ago, and yet none of them had discovered her actions! If she were to display her skills to the fullest, she would probably be able to fill the air full of frost without her opponents knowing what happened!

This was preposterous! To think that this dainty and slim lady was actually a peerless expert rarely seen in this world!

Ling Tian gave her a thumbs up in his heart, at the same time feeling as though she had boosted his image.

The white-robed scholar could not help but shake his head with a face full of shame. When he saw Ling Tian bring such a heaven-toppling beauty along with him, he had thought it was a problem that these young rich nobles had, which made him despise Ling Tian. Now he knew that he had misjudged, and could not help but turn red in embarrassment.

At this moment, Ye QingChen laughed to dissipate the awkwardness as he exclaimed, "Let's drink some wine!" As he spoke, he lifted up his leather bag, pulling the cork out from the jar within. He then proceeded to carefully pour the wine into the bowl, afraid of spilling even a single drop. Ye QingChen had long felt an itch, having a bottle of divine wine yet unable to taste it immediately. It felt as though his heart had twenty-five rabbits inside, with a hundred claws scratching at his heart.

A strong aroma wafted out following the opening of the cork and pervaded the surroundings in an instant. The white-robed scholar's nose twitched as he greedily inhaled the fragrance in the air. Looking at the crystal clear wine being poured out, he could not help but emotionally exclaim, "To think that this old man would have the opportunity to be able to taste the nectar of the Gods in my lifetime. I've not lived my life in vain!"

The moment the fragrance from the alcohol spread, the bearded woodcutter stood there dumbly with his eyes wide open for a long time. All of a sudden, he flung the wine gourd in his hands aside as he angrily hollered, "Good, Ye QingChen, you darned old fogey, no wonder you kept persuading this old man to drink your trashy wine, so you already knew that there was a divine wine inside the bag! To think of tricking this old man here, I will have it out with you!"

Ye QingChen merely blew at his beard in annoyance, "Stop spouting nonsense! It was you who treated wine like your life, snatching over my wine gourd and choosing to drink my expensive wine. You're actually blaming me now? You.. you… you will really anger me to death!" While his tone was that of anger, there was a secret scheming and delighted light within his eyes.

The bearded woodcutter stared angrily at him, as though wishing for nothing other than to wring Ye QingChen's neck. His nose constantly twitched as he smelled the euphoric fragrance, yet he was helpless about his full stomach… this sort of feeling was as though someone had just filled his stomach with a heap of fodder but then he was invited to participate in a banquet full of heavenly dishes…

The crowd could not help but break into laughter.

"Trying to let this old man watch all of you drink? Ye QingChen, dream on!" The woodcutter's face alternated between white and red, before suddenly coming up with a plan. He shouted, "All of you wait a moment, don't start drinking before this old man is back! Or else, this old man will fight it out with you." He threw this sentence down before he rushed into the forest.

Just when everyone was in confusion, a series of violent heaving and vomiting could be heard from inside the forest…

Not long after, the bearded woodcutter bounded out with a haggard yet excited face, laughing as he exclaimed, "Alright, we can begin drinking now."

Ling Tian began to sweat profusely!

Who are all these people? Are they the so-called peerless experts from the legends?!

Ye QingChen stared at the woodcutter with a flabbergasted expression, his face completely pale…

The white-robed scholar turned his head away, the muscles on his face twitching…

Li Xue stared with her beautiful eyes at this scene, struck dumb like a wooden chicken…

....

"Lass, quickquickquick… please make me an ice bowl! Pretty please? Good lass…." The bearded woodcutter pleaded with an expression full of thirst and hope, his two eyes staring straight at the leather bag, with his big nose twitching up and down. A strand of saliva slowly descended from his gluttonous mouth. How was this the bearing of an expert?!!

Li Xue: …

Ling Tian: …

Everyone descended into silence… towards the woodcutter's actions and attitude, everyone only felt the highest form of reverence…

This guy was too valiant…

The result of this entire fiasco was that both Ye QingChen and the white-robed scholar gazed at their dream divine wine but suddenly felt as though they had difficulty swallowing it. Li Xue did not even touch a drop in her bowl, as she was busy holding back her desire to vomit….

Only Ling Tian and the bearded woodcutter were left, each taking bowl after bowl, drinking to their heart's content. The latter was even screaming out loud in sheer pleasure. This made Ye QingChen and the rest stare in shock. To think that Ling Tian, someone of noble birth and used to impeccable hygiene, would actually not even have the urge to vomit after the gruesome incident, and in fact could still gulp down bowl after bowl happily. This was something unexpected!

Noticing the looks on everyone's faces, Ling Tian coldly laughed to himself as he thought, 'This daddy here has even eaten trash and drank sewer water, would this mild incident bother me?! Li Xue is the true noble here, look at that direct disciple instead!'

Li Xue acutely felt Ling Tian's sorrow at this moment, and could not help but shift over, gently leaning her head against him. Feeling a sense of warmth, Ling Tian's depressed emotions took a turn for the better.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed and he gently placed his wine bowl down. Li Xue's gentle expression at the same time hardened like a layer of frost, and she sat up straight, her eyes coldly gazing towards the north.

Belatedly, Ye QingChen and the white-robed scholar finally understood why the two people were behaving as such. The ground was slightly shaking, which meant that there was a large number of troops coming in from the north. Combining this with what Ling Tian spoke about the five hundred elite troops from the Above Heavens Sect, the expressions of the two men turned sour.

The ground was trembling even more urgently now, as though hundreds of thousands of drums were beaten at the same time.

Li Xue coldly gazed at the horizon as she spoke, "For the Above Heavens cavalry to rush over even in the night, they must probably be aware that something has happened over here. If we let these people barge into Sky Bearing, then they will cause a high number of casualties, maybe even causing unthinkable consequences for us. I think that we have no need to show courtesy to them, we should just kill them all."

Ling Tian was aware that her sentence was not for him, but rather to remind the three Beyond Heavens Sect members. He nodded in agreement, "That's right, kill them all, leave none alive!"

Following these eight words, a blast of chilling cold killing intent was emitted by Ling Tian, giving the impression that it was corporeal.

The white-robed scholar frowned a little in displeasure at Ling Tian's attempt to start an undeclared war, as though disagreeing with him. However, just as he was about to speak, Ye QingChen pulled at his sleeve, silencing him. However, his expression still remained a little strange.

Ling Tian turned to them with a cold gaze in his eyes, but he warmly spoke, "I only seek for success, be it fair or foul means. But what I want is not just a victory, but also assuring the least deaths on my side! Going on a head-on clash might be exhilarating, maybe even just and honorable, but to do so would mean creating rivers of blood using my own subordinates in exchange! I, Ling Tian have never cared for fame nor reputation. To protect my own brothers' lives, I'm willing to bear with infamy!"

Pausing a while, Ling Tian continued blandly, "If Senior cannot accept this, you can choose to sit on the sidelines. Please do not attempt to lecture me right now, that would be the greatest support you can give!"

The white-robed scholar was tongue-tied, his face full of shame. Suddenly, he felt that compared to Ling Tian, he had lived so many years, but was still so childish in certain areas.

Li Xue let out a magnificently cold smile, before suddenly lifting up her hands. Two streams of extremely cold air landed on the campfire and the blazing embers were extinguished almost immediately. The surroundings were plunged into darkness, and with the cold air streams continuing to be emitted, a white layer of frost was formed, sealing up even the smoke.

Ling Tian and Li Xue stood silently together, and at this point, Ye QingChen and the white-robed scholar could no longer feel the existence of the duo! Their eyes clearly saw them standing there, yet they could not sense anything through their divine sense. Both of them were overwhelmed with shock!

This was obviously an extremely profound realm in martial arts: Heaven and Man as One! To think that at their tender ages they could actually achieve such a state in their martial path! No wonder they had the confidence to stop five hundred of the Above Heavens elite troops with just the strength of the two of them!

The white-robed scholar could only sigh and say, "Only now do I realize that I've been so narrow-minded, like a frog at the bottom of a well."

The galloping sounds got louder and louder! Suddenly, on a high slope to the north, a group of cavalry appeared. The group consisting of four to five hundred soldiers and warhorses flooded out like a river, forming into a long line. The horses sped along the plains, like a raging current in the river.

Ling Tian sighed to himself. Today night was fated to be a hard battle, an unprecedentedly hard battle!

The formation of the Above Heavens Sect people was definitely done to prevent ambushes, because with such a long train of cavalry, their losses would not be too huge at any given time…

A thousand feet!

Seven hundred feet!

Five hundred feet….

"Move!" Ling Tian lowly gave the command

Following his shout, the Ling and Li both pulled out their swords and rushed down. This distance was the optimal one, as they could display their strongest moves the moment they met with the enemy.

As to whether Ye QingChen and the rest chose to act, Ling Tian did not put them into account.

If not for Ye QingChen journeying with him this time, Ling Tian likely would not even converse with them. It was because of Ye QingChen's face that he even bothered explaining to the other. In actual fact, he was already really annoyed in his heart…

Ling Tian's Heaven Splitter soundlessly slid out of its sheath, and with an exchange of glances, Li Xue nodded, her sword also at the ready! Li Xue's sword had a full body of a black crimson color with a slim width. It was completely made out of Black Iron!

This was the first weapon Li Xue owned in this world!

The first rider was in the midst of rushing along when he suddenly felt something strange in front of him. Just as he was about to observe closely, a thick wave of cold air rushed forward, obscuring his vision!

Ling Tian's body left the ground, somersaulting once in mid-air. Following that was a circular blade light, carrying with it the beauty and coldness of the air around it, together with a frighteningly devastating might, being shot towards the lead rider from above him!

At the same time, Ling Tian's energy burst out from within him, bringing him as he flew ahead, leaving behind a loud boom in his wake! That was the sound of a sonic boom!

Peerless arts of killing, Sword and Body as One! Ling Tian's pure inner energy had already integrated as one with the Heaven Splitter, forming into a killing tornado which knew no mercy!

Enemy ambush! Fan out!!——" A shrill voice broke the silence, and everyone could hear from the voice that it was cut off due to his throat being sliced!

However, it was too late.

Under the high galloping speeds, no one was practically able to rein in their horses in so short a time. The Above Heavens head, a white-haired man with a beard, practically vomited blood as he saw that destructive sword light slice neatly through their formation. Like a hot knife through butter, it parted the bodies of the riders, and blood splashed as the screams of misery rang through the air!

One can imagine, that such a long troop formation, upon meeting with this sword light which only spelled death, what exactly was the end result. Under the high speed, the blood splattered and could be seen to have formed into a sort of blood alley!

Where the sword light flashed, one could only see the blinding light, so bright that not even the blood splattered could be seen. After that, head after head of the riders could be seen excitedly bobbing up into the air one after another…

The sword light did not even seem to lose a tiny bit of its luster even after passing through so many people, continuing to kill its way into the distance!

The asura of a generation, Ling Tian completely merging with his sword! Nothing could overcome that!

This was also the first time he had completely performed the state of Man and Sword as One!

All those who tried to stop the wave of sword light, could not even get close to it before shattering. No matter what sort of weapon it was, so long as it touched the light there would only be one ending, the complete destruction of that weapon!

As for those who died under the sword light, it was like being sentenced to death by a thousand cuts!

The white-robed scholar was walking about from the forest as well. Upon seeing this macabre scene before him, his skin crawled, and goosebumps appeared. He spoke in a trembling voice, "Old Ye, the martial skills of this little brother of yours…"

Ye QingChen also got a good scare, staring with his eyes wide open as he exclaimed, "This little monster, when did he achieve such a cultivation? Even that killing addict is only slightly better than him, right? This rate of improvement is too fast… it leaves one in shock."

On the side, the bearded woodcutter spoke with a muffled voice, "It's our turn to shine. What are the two of you speaking so much nonsense for?"

The three of them shared a bitter laugh and were about to fly out when they witnessed another unbelievable scene…

"Everyone, gather around me!" The white-haired old man used his inner energy to project his shout. Just looking at the brilliant sword light made his eyes bleed at the corners and caused a splitting pain in his heart and mind!

Just as he spoke, another wave of sword light shot out from within the frost and snow, shooting downwards onto the ground! It slammed like a meteor, exploding into a huge shockwave of colors and bone-chilling air. It followed the same tactics of avoiding the heads, instead indomitably slashing through the long line of riders!

If the previous sword light was akin to the sun in the nine heavens, then this sword light resembled an everlasting frosty mountain, the coldest intent possible!

Akin to a tough bull plowing the fields, it passed through the members of the Above Heavens, harvesting them like wheat!

The current troop formation meant that only the realm of Sword and Body as One pressing forward courageously could inflict the greatest harm upon them! Ling Tian and Li Xue simultaneously agreed on this method!

Both parties had only thrown out one move each, but the entire battlefield had already been thrown into a living hell, cruel and bloody beyond belief!

"This…. this was the pretty doll sitting with us just now?!" The white-robed scholar stared at Ye QingChen, seeking some form of confirmation. This was too unbelievable! To have such a high cultivation and sword realm at such a young age, one Ling Tian would already be too much, but there were actually two of them!

"Am… am I actually stuck within a dream?" The white-robed scholar struggled and pinched his waist, before grimacing in pain. His arrogant demeanor previously had been exchanged for an expression of shame. Upon thinking of how he still displayed such a haughty attitude before this couple previously, this was really foolish conceit on his part, making him ashamed and unable to show his face.

Ling Tian flew like a shooting star, his feet not touching the ground as he relied on the power of his one sword to pierce through the entire Above Heavens troops. After landing at the back of the troop line, only then did his sword light dissipate as he hyperventilated, his face flushed. While his inner energy reserves were deep and seemingly unending, to shoot out a sword light with all his strength also left him with a momentarily feeling of weakness.

He took a deep breath, revolving his cultivation base one complete cycle before recovering. As he turned around he chanced upon Li Xue's sword light, like a sun among the darkness, killing her way over to him!

Chapter 591: Violent Night Battle

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The few remaining survivors reacted quickly. With a loud roar, they raised up their blades and pounced towards Ling Tian with a crazed madness. Ling Tian's gaze swept past these survivors and realized that all of them had martial arts no weaker than his Blood Iron Warriors. With a hearty laugh, he raised his sword to receive their attacks.

Right at the moment when Ling Tian charged forward, Li Xue's 'man and sword as one' splendor flashed past Ling Tian's body and landed right behind Ling Tian, panting heavily with her face pale.

Li Xue's inner qi was naturally far purer than others but when compared to Ling Tian she was still lacking. After such a long period of exhaustion, especially with her opponents not being weak, she would naturally exhaust a large amount of inner qi! Even with Ling Tian's profound cultivation, he was also nearing his limits not to mention the slightly inferior Li Xue. Even though she was protected by her 'man and sword as one', such a level of exhaustion was something which she could not endure.

If not for the fact that she held the treasured Black Iron Sword in her hands, she might not have been able to fight until the very end!

Ling Tian swept his sword out and the few remaining survivors who had just pounced forward were already reduced into a puddle of blood. Li Xue shut her eyes in meditation and was well guarded by Ling Tian.

With the two of them killing two paths of blood out, the 500 Above Heavens experts had immediately lost 200 of their comrades! There wasn't a single individual who was only injured. Being victims of Ling Tian and Li Xue's man and sword as one, there wouldn't be any casualties but only fatalities. Furthermore, they would all die without a complete corpse!

The remaining men gathered together with rage all over their faces. They glared at the man and woman before them, hating the fact that they could not swallow the two individuals before them alive.

"You are Ling Tian?!" A white-robed elder clenched his teeth and glared at Ling Tian with viciousness.

"It is this young noble indeed." Ling Tian let out a carefree laugh and replied politely, "All of you have traveled a long distance before arriving at Sky Bearing. Ling Tian is here to act as a good host."

"Act as a good host?" A burly man cursed, "This daddy will f**k your ancestors! What a bullsh*t host! You d*mned b*st*rd who deserves to be sliced into a thousand pieces!"

Ling Tian's eyes turned cold and he sneered, "You guys indeed live up to having a thousand years of history. The only thing you guys inherited is a mouth full of curses. Not bad indeed."

The burly man's face turned purple and he sneered in response, "Ling Tian, you are only a profligate young noble from some third-grade family and you actually dare to spout such words of arrogance? Apart from ambushing us from behind, what other abilities do you guys have?!"

Ling Tian did not get angry but smiled instead, "This young noble is no longer a profligate brat anymore and the world will naturally have its assessment of me. On the contrary, there will always be some with an inflated ego indulging in their glory from a thousand years ago. I wonder who is the foolishly conceited frog in the well. I believe that the world will also have its assessment about that."

Just when that burly man wanted to retort, the white-robed man beside him scolded, "Shut up! Back down now!" The Above Heavens troops quickly split themselves into five groups with an elder leading each group glaring at Ling Tian with hatred in their eyes.

Tens of torches were lit up at the same time.

Li Xue was right behind Ling Tian, seated cross-legged without a single care in the world. She was silently circulating her inner qi to quickly replenish her exhaustion as though the remaining three hundred enemies did not exist.

Despite all of them being filled with the urge to tear the man and woman before their eyes into shreds, not a single one of them dared to make a move. The situation was extremely tense and on the verge of exploding at any moment.

Ling Tian looked at the five leaders coldly and said with an amiable voice, "What's the matter! There are actually five leaders? Haha, with only three hundred men left, are so many leaders useful? In case you guys end up fighting for merits because you guys aren't split up nicely, let me give all of you a hand. I believe that as long as another two to three of you are gone, there wouldn't be any more arguments!"

All of their faces changed and a bearded old man took a step forward, "Ling Tian, you are also someone with status. Do you only know how to wag your tongue before a battle?"

Ling Tian burst out laughing, "Should I not wag my tongue? When I was swinging around my blade just now, where were the five of you hiding at? Only after I killed two blood paths out and slaughtered about 200 of your subordinates did you guys appear without a single injury. You guys truly have extremely profound martial arts. I am truly in admiration of such martially skilled leaders!"

The five elders in the lead flushed completely red. With the two invincible sword lights charging at them like a speeding train, just brushing past the sword lights would mean their definite doom. So what if their cultivations were profound? That sword light was the epitome of sword arts, the state of man and sword as one! Thus, all of them fled as quickly as they could with the fastest movement technique that they could muster. Now that Ling Tian had openly criticized them for their fear of death, be it whether or not they were forced by circumstances, they felt extremely embarrassed.

The bearded elder in the middle roared, "Ling Tian! Regardless of whether or not both our families are enemies, you should come at us in the open. How is ambushing us in such a despicable manner the actions of a hero! Aren't you afraid of tarnishing your name?"

Ling Tian's eyes narrowed, "Who are you?"

"The old man is the vice sect head of Above Heavens, Meng LingXiao!" The bearded elder glared at Ling Tian and said proudly, "We are martial artists from the pugilistic world and our grudges should be settled by the rules of the pugilistic world. Ling Tian, you are the direct descendant of a Great Family on the continent. Aren't you afraid of becoming a laughing stock in the world by ambushing us in such a manner?"

Ling Tian sneered, "You are indeed someone from a thousand-year-old sect. Even without a reason, you are actually able to quibble with the facts. Didn't the lot of you just say that my Ling Family is a third-rate family and that I am a profligate brat? Why are you talking about the rules of the pugilistic world now?! You really don't know what shame is! Furthermore, we are currently fighting for the hegemony of the world. What is the point of talking about the rules of the pugilistic world? What a joke! What kind of grudges do I have with your Above Heavens? Ridiculous."

The bearded man roared in exasperation, "So you think that you can massacre the innocent with the excuse of fighting for hegemony in the world?"

"The winner is king while the losers will become thieves! This logic holds true from the ancient times until now." Ling Tian smiled with mockery, "Massacring the innocent? Are any of you innocent? What a joke! If I allow all of you to enter Sky Bearing, what will all of you do? At that time, the ones to be massacred will probably be the citizens of my Sky Bearing Empire! D*mmit, only you guys are allowed to do evil but you can't accept it when others kill you? Old Man, you already have a full beard and should be sixty at the very least, right? Have you lived all of those years for nothing? Is this the bearing of a thousand-year-old sect?"

The bearded man was angered to the point his body was trembling all over. With his breathing heavy, he glared at Ling Tian with a deathly expression and enunciated word by word slowly, "Good! Good! Good! If that's the case, then don't blame this old man for being vicious!" He then took a step back and roared, "Everyone from my Above Heavens is to go all-out to kill even at the cost of your lives! Tear this little b*st*rd into shreds and take revenge for our brothers!"

"Revenge!"

"Revenge!" The 300 burly men roared in unison and their eyes had all flushed red!

The only reason why the bearded elder would drag the matter on for so long was so that his terrified subordinates could regain their cool and unleash their strongest battle force. Now that his objective had been met, even if Ling Tian didn't provoke him, he would never let Ling Tian go. Just like what Ling Tian had said, their objective for traveling to Sky Bearing was to take revenge. If they were to really enter Sky Bearing, the things that they would do would definitely be far worse than Ling Tian.

With Ling Tian's wisdom, how could he not tell what the bearded man was planning? However, if the bearded man wanted to stall for time, Ling Tian was extremely happy to play along with him. After all, Li Xue had also exhausted a great deal of inner qi previously and had yet to fully recover. If the other party charged forward without considering the consequences, then it would truly be troublesome for Ling Tian. Besides that, he had also agreed to meet up with Ling Jian here and the appointed time was past but Ling Jian was not here yet. There might have been some changes and so Ling Tian needed to delay some time for both Ling Jian and Li Xue.

Behind him, Li Xue gradually stood up and looked at the 300 warriors in front of her as though they were 300 corpses. She was not injured at all but had only overly exhausted her inner qi. After circulating her inner qi, she had mostly recovered already. While she wouldn't be able to unleash her 'man and sword as one' again, an ordinary fight wouldn't pose a problem for her.

"Kill!" A well-built knight waved his spear and led fifty to sixty men to charge at Ling Tian. The moment he charged forward, a chain reaction was ignited and the others rushed forward to surround the two of them as well.

"You go left and I go right. Go all-out to kill, there isn't a need to show any mercy." Ling Tian instructed in a low voice. Li Xue nodded her head and her figure drifted out while unleashing her Divine Ice Formula at full force!"

The surrounding hundred feet around Li Xue was immediately assaulted by a bone-piercing chill. With the sudden change of temperature, a large fog spread out from with Li Xue at the center!

"Ah?!"

"Who? Ah…" Just when both parties were prepared to take action, miserable groans were heard one after another. Three figures like dragons split up into three different directions while unleashing a massacre. A boorish voice could then be heard laughing, "Haha! I can finally kill to my heart's content!"

Ye QingChen and the white-robed scholar held onto a gleaming sword each and following closely behind them were two rows of men collapsing on the ground.

"People from Beyond Heavens?!" The bearded elder was angry to the point that his nose was crooked. He never expected that when facing the two asuras before them, they would actually be stabbed in the back by their thousand-year-old enemies.

"Third junior brother, fourth junior brother, and ninth junior brother, quickly take men to block the three of them. Kill them without mercy! Don't let them break our formation."

The three leaders acknowledged those orders and their figures shot out like shooting stars.

"Kill without mercy? Meng LingXiao, after not seeing you for twenty over years, your martial arts haven't improved by much but your ego has truly been inflated greatly!" The white-robed scholar replied without a tinge of anger in his voice and a bloody flower was created with a single stab of his sword, "With just all of you? You must be dreaming. This old man is only here to warm my body up."

"Bai ZhenTing you old fogey!" the bearded man cursed in anger.

"Bai ZhenTing? What a good name." Ling Tian almost burst out laughing, "No wonder he wasn't willing to mention his own name. I see."

Hearing Ling Tian's muttering to himself, Li Xue was curious. With a bright sword light, she landed beside him and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Bai ZhenTing ah…" Ling Tian said with a mischievous smile, "White (Bai), real (Zhen) and straight (Ting). Hehehe, his name truly makes my blood boil!"

"Pervert!" Li Xue exclaimed before charging out again with her face completely flushed red. This time, she did not turn around again as she cursed, All men in the world only know how to think with the lower half of their body. A pretty majestic name had been completely twisted to become a dirty novel!

"Bai ZhenTing… pervert…" Ling Tian had a weird smile on his face as he muttered, "It is truly a match made in heavens."

More than ten burly men charged to Ling Tian's side and were completely puzzled. It wouldn't be much if this brat didn't bother avoiding them at all, but why did he have such a weird smile on his face?

Ling Tian finally snapped out of his daze and sped forward with his Heaven Splitter. Two of the burly men felt the weight in their hands lighten and their blades were reduced to scrap metal. They then felt a tinge of cold in their necks and their heads were lopped off. As for Ling Tian, he was already unleashing a massacre behind the two of them!

A white figure flashed past and Meng LingXiao landed in front of Ling Tian with seven to eight sword shadows smashing down on him. Ling Tian did not even attempt to avoid the sword and welcomed it with his sword. With a loud clang, Ling Tian's figure shook and he took half a step back. At the same time, he waved his sword and sliced off the two front legs of a horse. Stabbing out, he then killed the knight who was on the horse.

Meng LingXiao was shaken by the shock of the clash and he made a somersault in mid-air before stabbing down with a brilliant splendor.

From the sword strike which he exchanged with Meng LingXiao, Ling Tian knew that the sword in the hands of this old man wasn't an ordinary item. Furthermore, with the profound inner qi of Meng LingXiao, it was very likely that Meng LingXiao would be able to exchange a few blows with him. It wouldn't be anything if this was during an ordinary period, but with Ling Tian facing enemies from all directions and him being the strongest fighter on his side, if he were to be tangled up with Meng LingXiao, it wouldn't be good for the overall situation.

His body shrunk back slightly and he dodged to the right before weaving back into the ranks of the enemy. One after another, the horses collapsed onto the ground and Ling Tian's figure would never stop. He would go to the left sometimes and the right sometimes. He would advance and retreat without any fixed rhythm and would target the places where the number of enemies would be the most. Every time his figure weaved through the ranks of the enemies, a couple of lives would be wiped out.

Meng LingXiao let out a series of roars and followed closely behind Ling Tian but he would always be a short distance away from Ling Tian. In a fit of rage, he could only let out a series of furious roars of desperation. However, Ling Tian could not be bothered about Meng LingXiao at all and since he was surrounded by enemies all around, he would just kill to his heart's content. However, Meng LingXiao could not do that. Everyone around him was either the disciple of his sect or his loyal subordinates. How could he possibly go all out like Ling Tian without any restraint? As such, the many experts of Above Heavens had become the greatest obstruction to Meng LingXiao's speed! In fact, this was also Ling Tian's objective. Not only would he be able to tangle with the strongest fighter of his enemy to weaken the pressure on his side, he would also be able to frustrate his enemy. If not, how would it be possible for Meng LingXiao to even follow after Ling Tian with Ling Tian's speed?

On the other side, Li Xue was already completely surrounded in fog and the temperature surrounding her was still declining rapidly. Ye QingChen who was originally opposite Li Xue had already changed directions and joined forces with the white-robed scholar, Bai ZhenTing.

Ye QingChen was no fool. After Li Xue unleashed her white fog, the whole region had turned into her personal domain. Regardless of how high his martial arts was, he would be blinded after entering the fog. Ye QingChen wasn't willing to go in and blind himself, even if he was a fortune teller.

In the thick fog, miserable groans sounded one after another without a single pause in between them! It could be seen just how quickly the people inside were being massacred. Ye QingChen, who could clearly hear what was going on inside, was covered all over with goosebumps. Who would have imagined that the frail and delicate looking lady beside Ling Tian would actually be such a vicious character who was completely numb to killing?

Ye QingChen asked himself, even if he was facing a herd of pigs, would he be able to kill as swiftly as the lass before him? Furthermore, she was killing a bunch of Above Heavens experts! He then looked over at Ling Tian and muttered to himself, "Birds of a feather flock together indeed. Ling Tian is indeed a perverse individual who would find someone like her to be his wife."

As for the woodcutter, he held a shiny axe in his hands which was the size of half a door. The moment he swung his axe, he was like a mini thousand-bladed chariot. He went left and right and roared out loudly with the intoxication of battle. Of the three Beyond Heavens individuals, he was the one with the most powerful killing force. Although he couldn't be compared to Ling Tian or Li Xue, the number of those who perished under his hands was also a respectable figure. At this moment, there were at least thirty who had died in his hands.

From far off, a black-robed figure sped forward like a speeding arrow. As this speeding figure heard the battle coming from afar, his figure sped up even further and his calm appearance gradually became laced with a cold killing intent. The sword by his waist also let out a shrill sound that was filled with dense killing intent! It was as though his sword had a spirit of its own and wanted to join in the massacre.

Ling Tian burst out into laughter and began teasing Meng LingXiao to provoke him. At the same time, his movement techniques were filled with endless variation. Whenever Meng LingXiao was about to catch up to him, he would suddenly dodge to the side. With one chasing and another escaping, countless individuals died under Ling Tian's sword.

"Ling Tian, stop for this old man if you are a man. This old man will have a one-on-one battle to the death with you!" Meng LingXiao was angered to the point his innards were on fire! His original bearing and elegance had completely disappeared as his teeth were clenched and his eyes were bloodshot. The other party was leading him in a cat and mouse chase but he was always a step behind. At the same time, he had to watch as his sect disciples were killed under Ling Tian's hands and turned into cold corpses. Such a feeling was definitely a horrible one.

"Forget it, old man. I am facing 300 of you alone but you still cannot gain the upper hand. You still want to fight me one on one? Did you take the wrong medicine today? As for whether or not I am a man, do you think you can make the final decision? Do you think that you are a peerless beauty?!" Ling Tian retorted and his figure flashed past five feet in front of Meng LingXiao. Sending out a palm strike, he crushed a head like it was a watermelon. The moment blood sprayed out in all directions, Ling Tian had even arrogantly shaken his ass in Meng LingXiao's direction.

"Ling Tian! You despicable coward! You b*st*rd!" Meng LingXiao was angered to the point he puked blood and his eyes almost fell out from their sockets. "Come at this daddy if you have the guts. You only know how to attack the weaker younger generation! You… can you even be considered to be the ruler of a region?"

Ling Tian happily waved his sword before turning behind to look at Meng LingXiao, "Younger generation? Old man, you better be clear about something. All of them seem to be at least ten to twenty years older than me. This young noble has to face them alone and this young noble is now the one bullying the younger generation? The words of someone from the thousand-year-old Above Heavens is interesting indeed. No wonder you are able to live until you have a full beard on your face. You are truly an optimistic fellow who likes to joke. With you always being in such a good mood, it would be difficult for you to not lead a long life."

Ling Tian had a look of admiration as he said to Meng LingXiao while blinking his eyes, "Do you agree? Old fogey? However, it wouldn't be good for you to live for too long either. What a waste of food. This young noble shall do some good and send you back to your old home!" As he said that, he laughed out loud and his figure darted away, dodging the dozen of palm strikes that Meng LingXiao had just sent out.

Meng LingXiao's face flushed red and with a loud shout, his figure shot up to the sky. Spinning around in the air, a brilliant ball of sword light was formed. With a lagging trail of sword light behind him, Meng LingXiao charged forward at Ling Tian with an unstoppable momentum.

"What the f**k! Man and sword as one? You also know how to do that?" Ling Tian's words angered Meng LingXiao to the point he almost fell from the air.

What does it mean by 'you also know how to do that'? Should I not know? Could it be that you are the only one in the world who is allowed to know man and sword as one?

"Oh my goodness." Ling Tian stuck out his tongue and sped up even further. He charged forward in an S-shaped pattern, and with every step that he took he would hide behind an Above Heavens disciple. He would then use his hands to push them, his shoulders to shove them, or nudge them with his ass, sending all the Above Heavens disciples flying into the incoming sword light like a moth flying into the flame of a candle.

Meng LingXiao, who was in the sword light, clenched his teeth and regardless of the number of Above Heavens who were reduced to mincemeat when they crashed into his sword light, he wasn't willing to stop.

He knew that Ling Tian wanted to make use of such a method to exhaust him or make him stop his attack. However, he had already steeled his heart. With the large exhaustion of the 'man and sword as one' skill, Meng LingXiao would only be able to unleash it once. If he were to unleash it a second time, he would end up like a lamp out of fuel and would die on the spot.

Thus, even at the expense of his sect disciple's injuries, he would take Ling Tian down with this strike of his! At this moment, Meng LingXiao hated Ling Tian to the bones!

He would never rest until he had killed Ling Tian.

However, this little brat was like a slippery eel. Despite having unparalleled martial arts, Ling Tian would only avoid the battle and set his sights on his disciples. This was unforgivable! Ling Tian's speed was obviously only a little bit faster than his, but even after he unleashed his man and sword as one and had his speed doubled, he was still slightly slower than Ling Tian. How was this possible?! He didn't know that Ling Tian had not unleashed his full speed but had purposely played him like a fool!

"Haha… Meng LingXiao, sect master Meng, truly has divine martial arts. You are able to kill your own disciples as though you are dicing up vegetables! Ling Tian is truly filled with admiration. It turns out that the sword of Above Heavens is trained with the blood of their own sect members! It is a thousand-year wonder indeed! Hahahaha." Ling Tian's loud laughter could be heard and he sent out another three kicks to send three disciples towards Meng LingXiao.

As everyone in the battle heard Ling Tian's maniacal laughter, they all turned around to take a look, only to see three Above Heavens experts being reduced to mush under Meng LingXiao's sword light.

Chapter 592: Changes in the Courtyard

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Not just Ye QingChen, but even the white-robed scholar stared in amazement. They had no idea what was wrong with this Above Heavens Vice Sect Head. As for the bearded woodcutter, he burst out laughing immediately, saying, "Meng LingXiao, this old man seems to have suffered from a cultivation deviation…"

"Vice Sect Head…"

"Second Senior Brother…."

The few leaders from the Above Heavens all exclaimed loudly at once. One of them even showed traces of anger in his eyes. They did not understand the underlying reason behind what happened, but no matter what it was, they could not just perform fratricide while in the middle of a war with their enemies, right? What difference would that be from directly betraying the sect?

Meng LingXiao was embarrassed and furious, but his inner energy was already close to running out. He furiously bellowed, "Ling Tian, I won't rest until one of us dies!" He pulled upon the dredges of his energies, and the originally scattered sword lights suddenly congealed to the point that they looked nearly corporeal, flying towards Ling Tian to cut him down.

"This young noble has no time." Ling Tian snorted in disdain. "You're also not my child, so I have no need to accompany you to play." His figure twisted, and left behind four or five twisted shadows, colliding towards the troops of Above Heavens. The Heaven Splitter flashed, and as it spun in a circle, a few of the disciples that were slower fell to the ground as they screamed.

Meng LingXiao clenched his teeth and finely controlled his sword lights to turn back again, rushing towards Ling Tian. His white beard was already speckled with droplets of blood. After forcing himself to integrate sword and body as one twice, he was already an arrow at the end of its flight. To add on force to increase its speed, his internal energy became over-stimulated, causing himself some serious internal injuries. Right now, he only wanted to use the threatening strength given by his 'man and sword as one' to kill Ling Tian or at least seriously injure him.

In addition, his hate towards Ling Tian had already reached an extreme, and if he could trade his life to deal some damage to Ling Tian, he would do it without any hesitation.

A bone-biting cold killing intent suddenly pervaded the entire battlefield!

"Vice Sect Head, be careful!"

"Second Senior Brother, careful!"

"Stop him!"

A few of the disciples threw themselves over with expressions of urgency and panic, disregarding their lives!

Meng LingXiao turned a deaf ear to all this and he did not even care what was happening around him. His eyes were already bloodshot with the image of Ling Tian's mocking smile the only thing reflected in his eyes and mind. He had only hate in his heart, and he only wished to kill that irritating kid.

A pity, reality sometimes was just this cruel!

Because…

He suddenly felt a chill pass through his neck, and saw himself suddenly flying up! As his eyes looked down, he witnessed a headless body with blood spouting from the severed neck, with its two hands gleaming with the light from the realm of sword and body as one as it rushed forward. It was definitely of that realm, despite the sword light already beginning to scatter.

How could a headless person activate this level of skill?

Wait a minute… that corpse, why does it resemble me so much?… Meng LingXiao's eyes suddenly opened up wide, full of incredulity, but his thoughts had ground to a halt at this point.

The Above Heavens Vice Sect Head, Meng LingXiao, had died!

Everyone could clearly see that just as Meng LingXiao thrust out with his sword, a black shadow suddenly appeared from nowhere, arcing across the battlefield in an instant and appearing behind Meng LingXiao. After that, a wave of the shadow's hand cleanly separated the former's head from his neck!

This clean and straightforward method of killing someone made everyone stall a little in their actions. This was because the person assassinated was the number two figure of the Above Heavens sect, Meng LingXiao! And furthermore, Meng LingXiao could not do anything other than to allow his head to be lopped off! Even if he could not retaliate, even if he was caught unprepared, how could his head be so easily taken off?

Assassin! This person was definitely a peerless assassin! This was definitely someone who lived for the dao of killing!

The person in question shot forward rapidly, only revealing a blurred shadow of himself as it passed through the Above Heavens crowd. It only halted when it came in front of Ling Tian. At this time, everyone saw that the shadow was actually a youth garbed in black.

Black robes, cold expression, his eyes scanning the battlefield like arcs of lightning. His face was handsome, but he exuded a fearsome killing intent, the sword in his hands still dripping blood.

Ling Jian!

Ling Jian had arrived!

Using his stored expansive sword energy, Ling Jian had rushed to the back of Meng LingXiao, and under the circumstance where the latter was an arrow at the end of its flight, this great Vice Sect Head was actually assassinated in one hit! Who would have thought that he would die such a miserable death, to the point of not even being able to see his killer before he died!

"You're late." Ling Tian looked at Ling Jian, a look of praise flashing across his eyes. He naturally could see the breakthrough Ling Jian had with his martial skills.

"Yes, Young noble." Ling Jian nodded, before continuing in a hurried and low voice, "Young noble, we need to finish this battle fast. I've just received news from the Crystal Pavilion that the number one aristocratic family in the Moon Deity Empire, the Lei Family, has secretly infiltrated Sky Bearing Empire. The exact number and names are unknown, but definitely above 1000 in number. Their objective currently remains unclear."

"How long has it been since you received the news?!" Ling Tian jumped in shock.

"When I received the news, it was around eight hours ago." Ling Jian's face now showed a sense of anxiety. "The Ling Family Courtyard is in danger! Lass Chen is also in danger!"

A cold gleam shot through Ling Tian's eyes, and he no longer hesitated, suddenly howling out into the air, "Use all your strength to kill, leave no one alive! Quickly clean up this group of trash and return to Sky Bearing!"

To leave behind even some would mean allowing a tumor to fester. This would bring unnecessary trouble, thus Ling Tian chose to wipe them all out!

"Yes!"

Just as his voice sounded in the ears of everyone present, Ling Jian had already thrown himself into the battle, the Black Iron sword in hand hacking down like a torrential downpour. As his figure flew forward, the disciples of the Above Heavens gurgled in their throats before falling to the ground. All of them sported a thin red line around the necks, the trademark skill of Ling Jian.

Ling Jian did not hesitate or conserve his power, going all-out at the start! Under his anxiousness, he did not bother to hide his skills as the number one famed killer. He moved like a warship traveling unhindered through the seas, only leaving behind rolling waves of blood.

A blast of cold came into existence, as Li Xue rushed in amid a wave of white frost. With her fist on the left and her sword on the right, she threw herself into another direction of Above Heaven disciples. Every time her sword flashed at least one life would be reaped, and every time her fist landed someone would drop to the ground, frozen stiff.

Within the icy fog, everyone was in disorder. The ground was littered with bodies, none of them fated to walk back out alive.

Ling Tian's movement skill accelerated to his peak within an instant, and at his maximum speed, the three burly men who were barricading his way turned into six chunks of flesh. With a shout, he had already appeared and blocked the way of the two leaders of Above Heavens, and his sword thrust out over a hundred times in a few moments, akin to raindrops falling on them!

The two leaders received a huge shock and immediately resisted while retreating in a haggard manner. Ling Tian's movement technique had reached such speeds that it was impossible to imagine that a mortal body could achieve it. He suddenly slipped past them, and with a sweep of his sword, two other disciples lost their lives. Ling Tian flipped himself up, using the heads of the disciples in front of him as stepping stones as he proceeded onward, rupturing their heads in the process and leaving a trail of corpses to mark his progress. By the time he landed, he was once again in front of the two leaders.

At this point, the guards of the two leaders suddenly stiffened and stumbled over. Just as they touched the ground, their bodies separated into two! Nobody saw a thing, especially how Ling Tian had acted, but the two leaders just seemed to have mysteriously died just like that.

Another two moves were exchanged, and the leaders were forced back seven to eight steps. The Heaven Splitter in Ling Tian's hands suddenly shot upwards to the sky, and using his two palms, he congealed his full strength, striking out eight times in a row, causing a strong gale to be whipped up.

Ling Tian did not even bother to stay, his figure shooting up into the sky like a sword before grasping the Heaven Splitter. In one move, he crossed a hundred feet before directly landing atop a horse. He reversed his grip on his sword and prodded the butt of said horse, causing it to neigh loudly and take off away from the battlefield.

His voice traveled as he rode off into the distance, "There have been some unforeseen circumstances! Everyone, please settle this quickly and return, I'll make a move first! The three seniors of Beyond Heavens, Ling Tian thanks you for your help in advance!" As he finished speaking, so did the sound from the horse galloping vanish without a trace.

It was only now that the eight palms Ling Tian had sent out suddenly exploded outwards, blasting the two leaders of Above Heavens into little meat chunks scattering all over the battlefield. When Ling Tian had moved, he determined that they would die without a doubt, and hence did not even bother checking once!

Ling Jian was so totally engrossed in the slaughtering that he did not even reply Ling Tian's words. Wherever his slim body passed, there were only dead, no injured. The Above Heavens disciples present were being cut down like leaves being blown off the trees by the autumn wind, only leaving a few heads for Ye QingChen and the other Beyond Heavens members.

Li Xue flew past him, and behind her similarly was devoid of people. Both exchanged a glance, slightly nodding, before rushing forward once again, attacking the leaders of Above Heavens that Ye QingChen and company were tangling with.

The few leaders there were already at their wit's end, and upon the entrance of this new variable, they dropped down like flies without resistance.

The bearded woodcutter flared up, shouting, "Busybodies! Sneaking an attack from the back, what a…"

Ling Jian's face turned cold.

Li Xue, however, was aware of the character of this man, knowing that he meant no ill will, and could only cup her fists and say, "Please don't take offense, Senior. There have been some changes in Sky Bearing and we need to rush back as soon as possible. If there's any point that we offended you, please forgive us. We'll give you an explanation after all this has ended. Just like how the mountains are high and the rivers long, there will be a day where we will meet again."

Signaling to Ling Jian, the two of them rose up into the air, snatching a few horses before rushing off, only leaving behind a trail of smoke behind them.

On this plains reeking of blood, there were only the three Beyond Heavens members left staring at the field of corpses, looking at each other in dismay.

"How do we deal with the aftermath?" The white-robed scholar sighed after a long time, before continuing, "Other than clearing the corpses, what else do we have to do? How scary those people are!" Ye QingChen only sighed and nodded, remaining silent.

The bearded woodcutter swept his eyes across the battlefield, and something caught his attention before he stuck out his tongue and spoke in shock, "Isn't that so? There really is isn't anything else we can do, d*mmit, look at the actions of those three, they actually did not even leave a single one alive!" After thinking about it, he scratched his head as he exclaimed, "Who was that black-robed kid that came much later? Why is he so domineering?!" Ling Jian's eyes, cold and full of killing intent, were enough to let the woodcutter feel the chills even now.

Gazing in the direction that the three of them had left, the white-robed scholar softly spoke, "It was that kid who killed the vice sect head Meng LingXiao with one stroke of his sword."

The woodcutter started sweating immediately, his voice hoarse as he spoke, "How is that possible?"

The white-robed scholar attempted to gaze as far as his eyes would allow, speaking with heavy suspicion in his voice, "Dressed in black, with a heavy killing intent almost comparable to Ling Tian. In fact, it might even surpass Ling Tian's! Although I only shot him a glance due to my shock, I believe that the gentleman is someone who is extremely dangerous."

Ye QingChen laughed at this point, "That little brat is actually someone I recognize and is definitely a dangerous character. However, dangerous is good, because if you constantly wage war it would be strange if you do not even possess this little bit of killing intent. Besides, there's the Ling kid to restrain him, so he would not deviate to become some monster." Ye QingChen's words were spoken untruthfully, in favor of Ling Tian. With the amount of killing intent exuded by Ling Jian, he could already be compared to a Devil King, so how could it still be classified as some 'little bit of killing intent'?

The white-robed scholar shot Ye QingChen a look, before replying with a heavy expression. "In just today, we've already seen some of the top exponents of the Ling Family. Including Ling Tian, there are already three. While this three might have slightly weaker internal energies compared to us, their application of martial arts are already above ours, and their moves are equally ruthless. How much more strength then does Ling Tian actually keep hidden? To use such a strength to conquer the world, I believe that will not be a difficult task. No wonder he appears so confident."

Ye QingChen only sighed, "Brother White, while Ling Tian had his ambitions, he has not thrown away his sincerity. If such a character is really able to conquer the world, while he might have to resort of countless bloodshed at the beginning, he will be sure to bring fortune to his people in the future. Everyone is actually clear that in this chaotic world, without spilling blood, conquering the world will only be a pipe dream. This is something unavoidable, and one does not have to be too concerned over it."

The white-robed scholar remained quiet for a long time to come. Finally, he let out a long and melancholic sigh.

Madly galloping!

Along the way, Ling Tian had already sent out news to separately inform the Ling Family Courtyard and the Violent Wind Gang. However, he only brought out two messenger falcons with him this time around…

Just as he was hoping for more messenger falcons to swoop down and respond to his commands, he found out that there were actually none left… Because his speed was too fast, it was too hard for the messenger falcons to spot him in this darkness, even though they were blessed with exceptionally good eyesight…

Ling Tian sat on his horse, galloping crazily forward through the night like a hurricane. Under the intense pain from the sword stabbed in it, the sturdy horse ran ever faster as though it were mad. While it would not be able to last in the long run, in the short term it would still save a lot of time.

With a light shout, Ling Tian shot off from the horse's back, and borrowing the forward momentum, rushed forward like an arrow. In an instant, he had already crossed over 100 feet. Behind him, one could hear the horse he was sitting on give out an agonized wail before collapsing onto the ground as its legs buckled. It had been ridden to death!

Ling Tian's internal energy was fully diverted towards his movement techniques. He stuck close to the ground like a breeze blowing across the grass as he sped forward into the distance. Within these 50 kilometers or so, even the treasured blood horses would be unable to catch up to him!

For the first time, Ling Tian felt a burning anxiety in his heart!

Ling Family!

Ling Family Courtyard!

The Ling Residence had some sort of countermeasure that Ling Tian had long ago arranged in case of any unexpected matters. During times of attack, the family members could silently hide without anyone being the wiser, so Ling Tian was not too worried about them. Furthermore, within the family servants, Ling Tian had arranged for a few peerless experts to guard the area as well, so he felt safe leaving his grandparents to stubbornly stay within the Ling Residence.

What he was worried about now was the place where there was the greatest military might ordinarily, as well as the greatest military stores and experts, the Ling Family Courtyard!

Right now, the Ling Family Courtyard was not like the Ling Family Courtyard of old. It had reached an extreme state of weakness!

Ling Tian, Ling Jian, Li Xue, the three greatest experts of the Ling Family Courtyard were all out, and only Ling Chen, Ling Chi, Feng, Yun, Dian, Lei, and Nineteen were present. Furthermore, Ling Chi was still severely wounded from attempting to assassinate the Xiao Family general the other time!

Ling Chen, Dian, and Lei were the only few experts left, so how could they alone resist against hundred if not thousands of the Lei Family disciples? While there were still twenty odd men from the Blood Iron Warriors on guard, facing such elite disciples of the pugilistic community, it would be great if they could protect themselves!

Especially since Meng LiGe had just led the army back to the camp, and it was at this moment when the men were tired and the horses weary. If anything happened…

The normally domineering and strong Ling Family Courtyard was now at its weakness state! Furthermore, the Lei Family were one of the eight great aristocratic families. They were as famous as the Yu Family, thus they definitely had the strength to back it up. Furthermore, they had come prepared this time, if…

Ling Tian did not even dare to continue thinking along this line, merely putting in his all to sprint forward.

Ling Chen, Yu BingYan, Xiao YanXue, Meng LiGe, Shui QianRou… none of them were what Ling Tian could afford or wish to lose! But the enemy actually chose this time to quietly sneak an attack!

What a penetrating move!

If anything untoward happened towards Ling Family Courtyard, I, Ling Tian, swear using my parents' names of two lifetimes, that every single blood descendant of the Lei Family will face my most cruel, inhumane treatment as revenge!

I will let all of you have mouths but be unable to talk, ears but unable to hear, eyes but unable to see! I will reduce you to pieces but still barely alive, and let you witness all the pain available in this world!

Under his mad sprint, Ling Tian's eyes had turned into a frightening red color!

And there was still Yu ManLou!

The presence of the Lei Family indicated that it was definitely Yu ManLou who had invited them over. Why else would they appear in Sky Bearing of all places? If one said that this had nothing to do with Yu ManLou, even if Ling Tian was beaten to death, he would still refuse to believe it!

At the relay station for horses, Ling Tian invaded the place like a whirlwind and rushed out in a matter of seconds, holding onto another horse with all its reins chopped off…

Harshly whipping it, the sturdy horse neighed and began to gallop as fast as it could. When its speed had reached its maximum, Ling Tian suddenly clawed down on its rear, drawing out wound after wound, dripping blood.

Under the extreme pain, the horse galloped even faster, the speed rising a few notches from its original fastest…

Behind Ling Tian, less than 50 kilometers apart, there were two other people spurring their horses on as though they were mad.

Ling Jian and Li Xue!

Both of them were considered to have a cold personality, so they did not even communicate once throughout the entire journey. At this moment Li Xue had long forgotten to annoy Ling Jian, and Ling Jian had already forgotten the grudges between them. All that was on their minds was the Ling Family Courtyard far, far ahead. Their hearts were also burning with the same anxiety, and following the hoofbeats of the horses pulling them forward, they got all the more anxious! This was especially so for Ling Jian, to the point that his eyes were nearly completely red!

Both of them had on dark expressions, icy cold looks without a single word being uttered between them. Just killing intent that threatened to overflow the heavens! The two of them at this moment resembled rumbling volcanoes that were ready to erupt!

The attack on their Ling Family Courtyard thoroughly pushed them close to the point of eruption!

Ling Family Courtyard! Ling Chen, you have to hold on!

Chapter 593: Lei Family Invades

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The Ling Family Courtyard was in imminent peril!

When a countless number of black-robed experts suddenly assaulted the Ling Family Courtyard, Ling Chen, Shui QianRou, and Yu BingYan were sitting together. When they rushed out, they realized that the entire Ling Family Courtyard had turned into an absolute mess!

They had only received the news of the Lei Family using this divide and conquer method of attacking Sky Bearing four hours ago, and while Ling Chen had been hastily gathering all the forces available around them, it was obvious that Sky Bearing now had no more strength left for them to draw upon… and furthermore, compared the the grandeur that the Lei Family possessed, their strength could be said to amount to nothing…

At this point, the various traps and ambushes that Ling Tian had insisted on installing now came to great use…..

The head of the Lei family, Lei ZhenTian, was an extremely traditional man, and someone who paid close attention to the prestige of the aristocratic family. He did not put anyone in his eyes, and in his heart, there were only a few people who were considered to be worthy of cooperating with. Yu ManLou happened to be one, and furthermore the most optimal one, thus he was very satisfied with the agreement signed by both sides.

At the same time, he was prudent and extremely cautious when he did things. He knew clearly that for someone like Yu ManLou to take this family as his enemy, they had to possess some kind of strength, and in order to deal with it, the kind of strength he himself needed to mobilize. Thus, for this attack on the Ling Family, he did not dare to underestimate them and commanded the Lei Family to move out in full force, a total of 3,500 men!

1 Sect Head, 7 Elders, 3 Deacons, and goodness knows how many core, inner and outer disciples including the various pavilion heads. Just the headcount of the experts neared 200!

Lei ZhenTian was never willing to fight a war that he didn't have a guarantee of winning. When he had to fight, then he would use his full strength, like how a lion would use its full strength even when hunting a rabbit. Lei ZhenTian believed that with this amount of strength he would be able to defeat the Ling Family in one fell swoop. Even if the Ling Family Courtyard hid their strength, they would face annihilation as the only possible ending.

During this time period, Lei ZhenTian also scrutinized the overall situation in the Heavenly Star Continent. He knew that inside this game of chess, the linchpin was actually the Ling Family. It was not just the place the Ling Family resided in, but also the strength of their family! As for the differences between the two, Lei ZhenTian had also separated them clearly.

For a nouveau riche family like the Ling Family, whether it was finances or the military or even martial skills, they would all be in the stage of a great expansion. As such, when so many expansions took place together, it would form into a frightening strength.

While Lei ZhenTian looked down in disdain at the Ling Family's nouveau riche expansion, in regards to them as an opponent he needed to face, he never dared to let his guard down. He had made sure that he scrutinized every single report he obtained about the Ling Family without missing a single point!

As such, he was able to accurately predict that this was the time when the Ling Family Courtyard was at its weakness, and naturally, he also used this timing to state his conditions towards Yu ManLou.

His calculations went as predicted. Under such an opportunity, Yu ManLou would not reject them despite how harsh the conditions were because he required Lei ZhenTian's help. As such, Lei ZhenTian's blackmail proceeded smoothly this time, surprisingly smoothly.

Conversely, Lei ZhenTian did not fear that Yu ManLou would not breach the contract after he carried out his plans!

This was, in fact, the Lei Family's first time carrying out an assault on the Heavenly Star Continent! As such, they planned to use this to intimidate and awe the Yu Family, so they would certainly reveal a portion of their strength. Lei ZhenTian was unwilling to be classified as a mere chess piece by Yu ManLou, so he wanted to obliterate the Ling Family and take control of Sky Bearing! Even if Yu ManLou were to rip off all pretenses with him in the future, with the combination of the Lei and the remnant Ling family's strength, the Yu Family would still have to pay a huge price to succeed. This was the escape route that Lei ZhenTian had planned!

Lei ZhenTian's objective was not really to become a world hegemon, but rather he wanted power! Matchless influence! Even if he could not be on the same level as Yu ManLou, he had to ensure that he and only himself was seated directly below the former, such that his influence would still be unmatched in the world!

If he possessed such power, would Yu ManLou still not allow him to sit on the same level as him? His every command could force him to not eat and sleep well, and to throw the entire continent into chaos!

Furthermore, Lei ZhenTian was someone extremely crafty, as he had already decided that whether or not Yu ManLou agreed to his conditions, he would still attack the Ling Family!

While the Ling Family might be the greatest enemies of the Yu Family now, who was to say that they wouldn't become the enemies of the Lei Family in the future? Since the Lei Family had tied themselves to the same raft as the Yu Family, Ling Tian was bound to also target the Lei Family. Once Ling Tian was given time to grow and stretch his claws out, then it would be a head-on fierce battle. With Ling Tian's battle achievements as well as Lei ZhenTian's own feeling, he did not have any guarantees of winning!

Right now, this was when Ling Tian's forces were at their weakest. It was an opportunity of a thousand years! If they did not move now, then when?!

Furthermore, Lei ZhenTian was absolutely unwilling to allow a grassroots family clan, a nouveau riche, to press down upon his head! Even if it was just to be equally famous, Lei ZhenTian was unwilling to accept this. For the high and mighty Lei Family, how could it be possible for them to be on the same level as a grassroots family?

Thus, Lei ZhenTian decided to arrogantly proceed with his plans.

In his imagination, this operation specifically targeted the time when the opponent was at their weakest, and would definitely be a one-sided massacre! The opponent's key figures were all not present, especially their backbone Ling Tian, only leaving behind a few weak, wounded, and ill people. Wasn't that easy to clear up? The troop lineup of the Lei Family this time could be said to be luxurious, employing their strongest force to strike at the Ling Family Courtyard. This was akin to using a chainsaw to kill a chicken, annihilating them like Mount Tai crushing down on them.

As such, Lei ZhenTian split his troops into two parts, one of them consisting of a small group of riders, including his second brother Lei ZhenPeng to storm the Ling Residence, while the other elites would be lead by him and crush the Ling Family Courtyard in a show of utmost glory!

However, while the Ling Family Courtyard did not even have a third of its military strength currently, it would still be a pipe dream for the Lei Family to take it down in one fell swoop!

What Lei ZhenTian did not foresee was that even before they could invade the Ling Family Courtyard, they had already met with trouble. They had used quite a bit of effort before in clearing out all the security guards, but before they could exclaim in joy and rush in, they had already alerted the other party. Following some fool blindly walking around, a gentle chime sounded. This immediately expanded into a wave of bell chimes, as though all the bells had gone crazy.

Lei ZhenTian suddenly felt as though he had stepped into a swampy pool!

And this swamp was as good as a blood-sucking devil!

He never in his dreams thought that they would be so many traps hidden inside the Ling Family Courtyard, and furthermore designed so elaborately.

Arrows shot out from everywhere like rain, as well as various flying knives and needles, all sorts of hidden weapons. The seemingly innocuous ground would be revealed to be a pitfall once stepped on. Just when they thought that the ground was booby-trapped and that they should proceed through the air, the trees suddenly started spraying out noxious toxic fumes…

Looking at the increasing losses in his own elites, Lei ZhenTian felt heartache as well as anger! This was the foundation of his power that he was relying on to seize control of the country! To think that in just the first wave of assault, a good 200 elites were already lost, and what they exchanged with was merely around ten random guards, as well as a whole patch of traps. The 200 did not even include the injured and the poisoned!

Lei ZhenTian let out a loud howl and gave out a command. The remaining troops split up into ten separate sword formations, with three top experts at the vanguard resembling sharp knives, and they quickly brought their troops to leave this blood-sucking territory.

This was the most effective measure, as under the command of a few top experts, the traps prepared by the Ling Family Courtyard were rendered harmless. The only damage they could still deal resided in the arrows shooting from all directions, but with the continued advancement of the experts, even that lost its effectiveness.

Because the Lei Family was doing a dusk assault with only martial artists in their formations, as well as the fact that more than half of the sentinels inside the Ling Family Courtyard had been wiped out due to their inability to react, this made the Lei Family rush in as a single group. This caused the crossbows on top of the Ling Family Courtyard walls, which possessed the highest firepower in the base, to be rendered useless at this moment. If not for the above factors, just the crossbows would be enough to result in the deaths of a good portion of the Lei Family members, at least 30% if not more!

Just as the Lei Family successfully broke through the first defensive perimeter, the personnel inside the Ling Family Courtyard were also fully activated. This was not because their reaction times were too slow, but rather because the assault of the Lei Family was too sudden and their capabilities too extreme, which resulted in this scenario. People were hysterically screaming around the Ling Family Courtyard, causing a huge ruckus, and dozens of torches were lit and thrown out. However, Ling Tian had predicted that such a situation would happen when he was building the courtyard, and hence only used limestone and mud bricks in the construction. Therefore, there was no fear that enemies would use fire to attack them, as it would merely cause some mild chaos.

Just as they were attacking the third courtyard, there came a piercing howl that caused the sentinels of the Ling Family who were clashing with the Lei Family to suddenly withdraw like a receding tide. At the same time, over a hundred torches flared into existence, illuminating the entirety of the courtyard as though it were daytime.

A clear and piercingly cold voice sounded, "May I know what guests have come from afar to create trouble in the Ling Family Courtyard? Dare you report your names?!" The voice was calm and level, not indignant and or angered, but though the voice seemed warm and friendly, it carried with it a thread of coldness.

Following the voice, a peerless beauty appeared on top of the roof in front of the assailants. It was as though an immortal fairy amid the purest snow, or Chang'e from the moon, had descended upon the Earth. She carried a sense of holiness untainted by mortal dust, indifferently gazing at the experts from the Lei Family. The night wind lightly waved her snow-white robes, as though she could ride off into the wind at any moment.

As the various members of the Lei Family took in her peerless magnificence, they were actually at a loss for words, including the Lei Family head himself. Everyone felt at that moment, that let alone killing her, but to even raise their voice at her would be some kind of blasphemy.

Beside Lei ZhenTian, a youth in black had his eyes fully focused forward, and had an expression as though his soul had left his body as he stumbled forward and said, "Lady, this elder brother here is Lei XiaoSong, and I'm the young master of the Lei Family. May I have the honor of knowing your name?"

Beside him, Lei ZhenTian was almost angered to death by his single sentence. He came this time to the Ling Family Courtyard because he had full confidence that he would succeed in crushing the enemy, but he was still unwilling to be tied in death feud with Ling Tian. His original intention was to slaughter the enemy without a single word, such that no hint of his family's involvement would be revealed. At that time, even if Ling Tian were to suspect anything, he had no proof to back it up! Lei ZhenTian was even willing to push all the blame to the Yu Family to absolve himself! But to think that his son would be such a useless trash to immediately reveal their family name. Looking at his expression, he would most likely even reveal all his ancestors' names if she asked! Now that things have gotten to such a state, he could not subvert the blame even if he wanted to, this matter was just too shameful to reveal to the public! However, with so many people present, even if they managed to defeat them, it was impossible to completely silence them!

This extremely dangerous character, Ling Tian, could now be considered to be his eternal enemy!

It was surprising then, that even with Lei ZhenTian bringing over a thousand of the Lei Family's elite disciples, together with Ling Chen and the people in the Ling Family Courtyard, no one spotted someone hiding within a towering tree only a mere hundred feet away. Upon hearing the sentence uttered by young master Lei, he sneered, "The world is full of miracles. To think that such a person who could be so quick-witted in lecherous thoughts would exist. This little b*st*rd from the Lei Family ought to be considered an alien!"

After that, he let out a long sigh before frowning as he lightly whispered to himself, "This old man here came to settle scores with Ling Tian, but dammit, not only did I not find him, but I coincidentally bumped into this kind of matter! Should I care or not care? To not care would not make common sense, but to interfere would be to let the little brat off too easily!"

Shaking his head, the hesitating man in black lightly sighed and narrowed his eyes.

Under the tree, the white-robed woman's cold eyes looked over, and seeing Lei XiaoSong's lecherous face she immediately felt a revolting hatred towards him, icily calling out, "To think that it's a group of Lei Family experts that arrived? The Lei Family and my Ling Family have no hatred nor grudges all along, and neither are we connected, so why did you come here to offend us? Please give us a reason!"

The white-robed lady was, of course, Ling Chen! After hearing someone sound the alarm, she did not choose to rush out to meet the enemy but rather chose to prepare and arrange everything first. Ling Chen's first decision was to send people to escort Xiao YanXue and Meng LiGe into the secret chamber in the belly of the mountain. Although both resisted, under the orders of Ling Chen, they were still towed in by the guards.

In Ling Chen's heart, while the Ling Family Courtyard could be lost, they could definitely not afford to lose both Meng LiGe and Xiao YanXue! One of them was the commander for the military, while the other the overseer for administration and finances. So long as both of them remained safe, then Ling Tian could quickly rebuild his family's strength in the shortest time, rising back to glory once again!

As such, the two of them had to be absolutely safe!

When Ling Chen wanted to drag the injured Ling Chi into the secret chamber as well, she realized that the experienced assassin had actually vanished from his treatment room. While no one knew where he went, everyone could guess what he wanted to do…..

As for Yu BingYan, that normally soft and weak lady suddenly displayed a fierce resoluteness. She embraced death wholly, refusing to retreat and instead choosing to stick with Ling Chen all the way. Helplessly, Ling Chen could only agree, and in the dark inform Shui QianRou that if the situation went south, she was to risk offending Yu BingYan and knock her out to ensure her safety.

Ling Chen never thought that this scenario would ever appear. Upon hearing the enemy alarm being activated, she knew that this was the most crucial battle when the Ling Family Courtyard was at its weakest, and this was also an unavoidable life and death battle! The strength of the enemy had far outstripped all the people that they had ever faced, and even if they had their full strength currently, success was also not guaranteed! Not to mention the present when they had no ability to defend themselves.

But even a starving camel is still bigger than a horse, and the Ling Family Courtyard was not willing to allow just anyone to trample on their pride! The killing intent in Ling Chen's eyes intensified. Since you want to annihilate my Ling Family Courtyard, then I'll make you pay the respective price!

As the lady owner of Ling Family Courtyard, Ling Chen had already made the decision that even if she had to sacrifice her life, she would protect the foundation and career of the man she loved!

Under her instructions, the remaining few experts left inside the Ling Family Courtyard, Ling Feng, Yun, Lei, Dian, and Twenty Two, had all hidden in the shadows, awaiting the chance to assassinate their targets! Toward these five silent yet famous assassins, Ling Chen only gave one instruction: That whatever target they chose, they had to finish them off in one blow, and be able to protect themselves from the aftermath and not sacrifice themselves like a martyr!

Ling Six, Seven, Eight and Nine were hidden behind Ling Chen, and her instructions to them were to protect their lives at all costs! They could not afford to die since in their hands was the key to the intelligence network that Ling Tian would use to encompass the entire world… They were Ling Tian's eyes and ears, and also the foundation of his strength and plans!

Ling Chen's eyes now coldly gazed on Lei ZhenTian, as she slowly replied, "The Lei Family's head, Lei ZhenTian himself?!" While she phrased it like a question, her tone sounded like she was already certain.

That's right, Ling Chen only had one motive in her mind, that was to stall for as much time as possible! This was Sky Bearing after all, the headquarters of the Ling Family, and the longer they dragged out this battle the better their chances of survival.

Lei ZhenTian could only let out a bitter smile. He did not expect this white-robed lass to have such penetrating eyesight to be able to tell him apart at first glance. A feeling suddenly surfaced in his heart, as though he was talking to someone high up, so high that she was looking down on him as she spoke. This was the first time in his life that he had such a feeling. Not even the Yu family head Yu ManLou had given him such a feeling!

But this white-robed lass seemed to hold control of the entire world within her hands, making Lei ZhenTian and the others feel ashamed of their own inferiority in front of her!

Coughing twice to recover his senses, Lei ZhenTian indifferently replied, "I am precisely Lei ZhenTian of the Lei Family, may I know who you are? And what position do you hold within the Ling Family Courtyard?"

Ling Chen only shot him an indifferent gaze, with no hatred nor surprise in her eyes as she replied, "I am Ling Chen, and I'm the owner of this Ling Family Courtyard."

"You're the owner of the Ling Family Courtyard? This…. this means that you're the profligate Ling Tian's woman?" Before Lei ZhenTian could speak, his son Lei XiaoSong by the side had already interjected, screaming out. His voice was laced with sadness and fury, as well as a strong sense of envy.

Ling Chen only shot him a disdainful look in response as she arrogantly replied, "The owner of the Ling Family Courtyard is naturally young noble Ling Tian's woman. What's wrong with that?"

Lei XiaoSong let out a furious yell, almost vomiting blood as he shouted out, "Kill! Kill them all! Don't even leave one alive!…" The moment this jerk saw Ling Chen, he thought that she was saintly and pure with such peerless beauty, and he had long claimed her for himself in his mind. To think that Ling Chen did not even hesitate at all and immediately admitted that she was Ling Tian's woman, this made Lei XiaoSong so envious that he almost went insane!

"Surprisingly, the Lei Family actually has two family heads." Ling Chen's eyes flashed with contempt and she despicably added, "When the family head is talking, there actually exists someone who dares to send down a command without permission. Family Head Lei, you have a really good parenting method. I'm not sure, is it the son who listens to the father or the father who listens to the son?"

Ling Chen's ridicule made the faces of everyone from the Lei Family side extremely ugly, whereas the Ling Family side started to laugh out loud, and hooting and jeering noises came out after.

Lei ZhenTian's face sank as he deeply spoke, "Whoever is the Lei Family Head, or how we do our teachings, that isn't in Miss's capacity to care. You should be more worried about the lack of reinforcements even though you're trying your best to stall for time. Before tomorrow afternoon, there will not even be half a soldier coming over as reinforcements. It's enough for me to raze the entire Ling Family Courtyard to the ground!

At this point, the last few straggling riders from the Lei Family had also arrived. Everyone held on gleaming blades and swords, their expressions ferocious.

Ling Chen merely gazed at the multitude of Lei Family experts on the ground, coldly replying, "Since that's the case, then I'll invite the Lei Family to introduce your distinguished experts to us, allowing us juniors to die an honorable death. To know which expert in whose hands we will die is also good. At least it will prevent us from going to the Netherworld as a muddled and confused spirit."

A trace of anger suffused in Lei ZhenTian's eyes, and he shouted out, "Lowly servant girl! How dare you even think of trying to stall for more time!"

He waved his hands, shouting out loudly, "Kill!"

If Lei ZhenTian took the time to introduce the various troops and riders, even if it was limited to just his core disciples and above, that would take at least half an hour! Furthermore, Ling Chen could still take that time to come out with more questions to drag for time…

Thus, Lei ZhenTian made up his mind immediately.

Ling Chen however coldly snapped, "Stop! I still have something to say."

Lei ZhenTian raised a hand as he sneered, "Don't tell me you wish to surrender?" The moment he spoke, Lei XiaoSong who was beside him revealed an expression of ecstasy. If this beauty were to surrender, then he himself could…

A clear smile surfaced on her face, as though a pure lotus flower had just bloomed. This sight caused everyone's vision to be solely focused on her.

Right at this moment, Ling Chen spat out a ruthless sentence, "This place is the Ling Family Courtyard. All visitors are guests, and all guests should follow the will of the host. If you want to start the killing, then it should also be said by myself! All of you, slaughter them!"

Since we have to act, then I might as well as first! Ling Chen excitedly thought. This way, she would create an ideal scenario, allowing Ling Feng and the others to act to their own benefit.

Just as her voice faded, within the shadows, five silhouettes shot out like lightning, and simultaneously, there were five screams of misery marking the start of the battle!