Judgement of the Golden Sword

Following the confrontation in the Commercial District ended, Chen Ruyi paid a total of 15,000 gold coins to cover the cost of the destroyed goods and the wounded people.

She and Xiu Meixiang also decided to keep everything that happened to themselves. They knew that if Liu Ming found out, things would spiral out of control and become a disaster.

With the Disciple Market Auction just a few days away, clan conflicts were the last thing they needed.

...

[Chen Family Estate, Guest House]

A while later, Chen Ruyi and Xiu Meixiang returned and decided to visit Liu Ming.

"Brother Ming!"

When they walked into his cultivation room, they saw him calmly seated in a lotus position.

There was a unique sense of peace around him, and seeing him so calm and graceful made Chen Ruyi's heart skip a beat.

'Hm? What's this strange feeling...?'

She placed a hand on her chest, surprised by how uneven her heart was beating.

This wasn't the first time she felt this way; she had the same sensation yesterday when she was around Liu Ming. It was a strange feeling she'd never experienced before.

Even when she accompanied her father to special events and met various men from rich noble families, she felt nothing.

This was the first time her heart reacted to a man.

It wasn't exactly love or attraction, but she definitely felt something different around Liu Ming.

And this "different" was good.

Serenely opening his beautiful blue eyes, Liu Ming saw the two ladies and smiled mildly.

"Oh, it looks like you two are back. That's good. How was the market?"

He remained seated in a lotus position, watching them as they walked around his cultivation room, perhaps searching for a place to sit.

Chen Ruyi kept her composure and took a seat on the nearby bed, wrapping her arms around a pillow.

"Well, it was quite interesting, I'll tell you that."

She gave Xiu Meixiang a side-eye, waiting for her to add a few fabricated thoughts of her own.

Tee-hee!

Xiu Meixiang giggled and knocked her head playfully.

"Oh, silly me! It was really fun. The young miss and I bought a lot of great things like cauldrons, pills, some cultivation manuals, and we even got this fantastic spider silk thread that's great for wea──"

"When will you stop lying?"

Liu Ming interrupted with a firm, cold voice.

"────!?"

Both women were shocked that he had caught on so quickly.

Xiu Meixiang was already preparing to tell the truth, but Chen Ruyi shook her head vigorously to warn her against it.

Just because Liu Ming had exposed their lie, it didn't mean he spontaneously knew the truth or what they were hiding.

Xiu Meixiang wasn't as sharp or clever as Chen Ruyi, so she couldn't see the situation as clearly.

"Uh, what exactly could we be lying about, Brother Ming?"

Chen Ruyi tilted her head and chuckled innocently.

────Huff!

Liu Ming shot a quick look at the young miss.

"Do you take me for a fool? I can sense a strong residual energy from Han Zichen around you and Meixiang. Yesterday, when you met, you didn't have this much of his energy on you, and Meixiang has never met him before, so she shouldn't have any of his energy on her. I can also tell he attacked Meixiang from the traces of sword Qi around her."

His face was serious, leaving no hint that he was joking.

Chen Ruyi was completely stunned.

'Such masterful deduction!'

It was the first time she'd seen someone accurately describe an entire scene just by using spiritual energy deduction. This was something only powerful experts from the Ancient World State could do.

"I see..."

When it came down to it, Chen Ruyi's silence was all Liu Ming needed to understand the situation.

He turned to Xiu Meixiang.

"Did he hurt you?"

Not detecting any serious physical injuries, he wanted to check if she was feeling anything unusual.

Xiu Meixiang placed a hand on her lower chest and rubbed it gently, as if soothing a chest pain. "I'm feeling a little pain here, but that's all..."

Liu Ming's eyes widened in alarm.

His worst fear had come true.

WHOOOOSH~!

He appeared in front of Xiu Meixiang in an instant and placed his hand on her lower chest. The brief but intimate contact with her breasts made Xiu Meixiang's cheeks flush red, but she remained silent.

"This area is where a cultivator's spiritual grotto is located. The residual sword Qi from Han Zichen's attack has affected it. Your lifespan..."

Liu Ming paused, too angry to continue.

Chen Ruyi rushed over, panic in her voice. "What's wrong with her lifespan? Did something bad happen?!" She was already preparing to blame herself for any harm that came to Xiu Meixiang.

Liu Ming stood up straight, placing both hands behind his back.

"Meixiang has lost two years from her lifespan. She only took a part per thousand of the attack. If it had been any stronger, her spiritual grotto would have been destroyed."

"So, what do we do?" Chen Ruyi asked, worried.

Liu Ming turned away from the scene and faced the door, letting out a heavy sigh.

Hrmm...

Without turning around, he made a Two-Fingered Incantation Gesture toward Xiu Meixiang. A wave of sacred Qi flowed from his index and middle fingers, completely surrounding the pink-haired beauty.

"I've temporarily eliminated the sword Qi from your spiritual grotto. You are to return to your cultivation."

"Y-, yes... Senior Brother."

Next, the young patriarch started heading for the door.

Chen Ruyi stepped forward and asked, "Where are you going?"

Liu Ming didn't respond and kept walking.

"Brother Ming!" Chen Ruyi called after him.

He stopped but didn't turn around.

"I only came to this city to find a few disciples for my sect, and now that vile bastard, Han Zichen, has put my Meixiang in mortal danger. He wants to harm someone close to me, doesn't he?"

Liu Ming's face darkened and his eyes glowed fiercely.

"From now on, I'Il make it such that the Han Clan doesn't even get to enjoy their lifespan for two breaths of time."

With that, he left the cultivation room in a flash of golden light.

━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━

Powerful families, like the Han Clan, always made sure to build or secure their own estates in the various states of the Eastern Reaches.

This was a common practice dating back to the warring periods.

By having estates in different states, clans could safeguard a portion of their wealth. If they ever needed to flee from their home state, they would still have some resources available elsewhere, reducing the financial damage from such a move.

Outside the Han Clan Estate, four guards were patrolling the area to keep out beggars and merchants hoping to approach the young lord.

A middle-aged man, the Chief Guard, was checking to make sure the guards were doing their job.

Hmm...

Suddenly, he noticed that all the guards were staring up at something.

"Hm, what's going on──!!"

The Chief Guard froze as he sensed an intense killing intent that felt like death itself.

The pressure was so overwhelming that his legs started to tremble.

"Th-, this feeling... what is it──?!"

When he looked up, he saw a man hovering high above them, hands behind his back.

It was the young patriarch!

The expression on his face was anything but the usual calm demeanor of Liu Ming.

"Are you all members of the Han Clan?"

He asked, but no one answered.

They were too terrified to speak. Liu Ming's killing intent was crushing their bodies, minds, and spirits, making them feel as if a mountain was pressing down on them.

"No answer? I'll take that as a yes."

Saying that, Liu Ming raised his right hand and started to gather powerful streams of sacred Qi while keeping his left hand behind his back.

Suddenly, the sky turned golden and started to shake.

A loud, screeching sound filled the air, like stone scraping against glass, though it was something much more terrifying.

Then came a series of booming drumming noises, announcing the arrival of a force from the heavens, moving so fast it broke the sound barrier!

In the blink of an eye, a blinding golden light burst forth, revealing a massive golden sword.

brr────OOOOOM!

The sword was enormous, stretching 300 meters long.

It was so immense that it blotted out the sky and radiated an overwhelming presence that carved fear in the very earth beneath it.

This technique was something the Sword God School was very familiar with.

Once, a patriarch of the Sacred Cloud School used this same technique to kill a dragon with a single strike.

"Th-, that's..."

"Is that really the one they call Liu Ming...?"

"He's already capable of this much?!"

Sweat poured from every pore of the guards as they stepped back in fear and dropped their weapons.

This was the third stage of the Sacred Qi Sword Formation Art!

At its highest level, the technique allowed the cultivator to combine all their sacred swords into a single, colossal sword of immense power.

Sacred Sword Convergence!

With a wave of his hand, the massive sacred sword came crashing down, splitting the heavens across the Central World State in half!

The guards panicked, not knowing where to go.

"R-, RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

By this time, the Chief Guard had already used a life-saving treasure to teleport to the Han Clan Estate.

TREMBLEEEEEE!

When the sacred sword hit the ground, it shook the totality of Immortal Cloud City like it was about to collapse!

"AAARRGGHH!"

"NAARRGGHH!"

The four guards were obliterated by the intense energy of the golden blade, which burned as hot as the sun. The earth split apart, but the destructive wave of energy couldn't breach the defensive formations around the Han Clan Estate.

The barrier held strong!

...

The Chief Guard stumbled in front of Han Zichen, panting heavily and clutching his chest. Sweat dripped down his face as he tried to catch his breath.

"Liu Ming, you bloodthirsty demon! It won't be easy for you to kill me! This one refuses to die until he has reached the Foundation Spirit stage!"

"Is that so?" the young patriarch answered.

"WHA──?!"

Panicking, the Chief Guard looked around.

There was no one.

This voice came from his head!

In the next moment, Liu Ming activated Divine Chain Sensing.

… BOOOOM────SPLAT!!

Instantly, the Chief Guard burst into tiny fragments of flesh and bone. His body shattered, sending pieces everywhere and covering Han Zichen in a foul-smelling spray of blood.

"H-, HUUUH──?!"

Han Zichen was shaking in fear, unable to comprehend what was happening. He had always feared Liu Ming's return but never imagined it would come so soon.

It was clear now...

For this young lord, grudges were not meant to outlast the night!

Panic spread through the Han Clan estate.

"GAAAAAAHHHH!"

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIEEE!"

"THIS IS THE END OF OUR HAN CLAN!"

Members ran frantically, screaming at the top of their lungs, unable to think clearly. It was over──they had lost.

...

Hovering elegantly outside the barrier, Liu Ming held the massive golden sword high into the heavens.

It was then he made his divine decree.

"I, Liu Ming, will make sure that after today, no one will ever hear of the Han Clan again."

━ ━ ━

[FOOTNOTES]

Sorry for the long chapter, tried to keep it short but didn't make sense to. And I didn't want to break it to another chapter.