Mercy
“Stop! Are you crazy? You raised her!” Yang Chen’s gaze was fueled with rage, as the situation was nowhere near mediated.
“Hmph. It’s because I raised her, that I have the right to strip off her cultivation!”
Tang Luyi was unhesitant in her claims. But understanding that Yang Chen had unbelievable might, she effortlessly hovered into the air once again. This time, she was paired with dozens of concealed needles the size of thumbtacks, glittering in the light with glows of poison green. She fired them off quicker than the eye could see at Yang Chen’s torso!
Yang Chen nonetheless was not unnerved by the attack, which came within range of his person. An inch before the needles would have penetrated his skin, they fell to the ground in pitter patters.
His retaliation left Tang Luyi and Tang Dianshan, along with the row of elders in shock.
They had no clue how Yang Chen had achieved that.
Yang Chen emotionlessly grasped onto Tang Luyi’s wrist and flung her outwards. The overwhelming force was too strong for her to resist and she was unceremoniously flung out of the building as a result.
But Tang Luyi was a master in lightness skill which allowed her to regain her balance after flipping through the air a few times.
Even then, Yang Chen’s effortless counter-reaction in nullifying all her attacks left Tang Luyi in a daze.
Yang Chen reached out and gave Cai Ning a reassuring hug. “It’s going to be fine.”
Cai Ning shook her head and dishearteningly glanced at Tang Luyi, then at Tang Dianshan. “I never once yearned for your love and respect. But never would I have thought that all my years serving under this sect would ultimately end up in me getting stripped of my cultivation without my consent.”
“You are the sole reason for this. We gave you the opportunity to join us but you so readily declined. No matter, we have many great talents here in the sect. The loss of one would not harm us much.” One elder took to express his resentment.
“Shut up.”
Yang Chen growled like a lion to its prey.
The unyielding position from Yang Chen left everyone in attendance glued to their positions.
Yang Chen viciously glared at the elder, while simultaneously wiping the tears off of Cai Ning’s face. “Ning’er, they started it first. Should anyone die today, it is not my fault.”
Cai Ning bit on her lip as she nodded. “Be careful.”
Being a member among the Group of Eight, she had killed often. Now that the situation had progressed to this stage, she wouldn’t ask Yang Chen to show mercy.
“Hahaha.” Tang Dianshan smirked. “Yang Chen, I don’t think you fully understand the situation you’re in. Even if you have achieved the Xiantian Full Cycle and have a firm grasp of the Endless Resolve Restoration Scripture, you are still alone. Let me reiterate this one more time. Unless you want us to rip you limb from limb, hand over the—”
“Bullshit.”
Before Tang Dianshan could finish, Yang Chen stopped him, fed up with his threats.
With one single wave, Tang Dianshan and the elders felt a wave of incomprehensible strength surround them from all four sides!
Like a tide from a monsoon, it was a force of nature.
“Careful!”
A circle formed from True Qi created a shield which would suffice from keeping their bodies from being blown into pieces by the astral force. But the destructive strength of the wave collided with their shield and sent them flying to the back wall.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!
Nine consecutive bangs could be heard echoing throughout the room as the elders slammed into the wall with tremendous force!
If they were not all at least Xiantian cultivators, Yang Chen’s strike would have left them in ashes!
“The little brat wields strange cultivation practices. This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before!” yelled one of the elders.
“Full force!” Tian Dianshan quickly instructed the elders who were still in their daze.
The elders did not hesitate as they channeled the full power of their True Qi, paired with a variety of Tang Sect’s conceal weapons as they charged all at once!
Flower Needles of the Thunderstorm, Poison Bindii, Steel Toad, and Emei Ying Yang Spikes were some of the attacks to name a few.
The concealed weapons were charged with concentrated Xiantian True Qi as they shimmered in blinding lights.
Yang Chen was unfazed as he held out his fist and punched the air in front of him!
All the weapons seemed to stop mid-air before vanishing like dust.
“Child’s play. How could one be so confident with these kinds of abilities…”
Cai Ning, who was still standing behind Yang Chen, gasped in awe for his show of power. She was finally assured that her man would be fine on his own.
Tang Dianshan paled at the shift in the situation. After a quick glance at the elders, he retrieved a small, black, pill-shaped object and launched it right to where Yang Chen was standing.
“The Bomb of Millennia Phosphorus?” Cai Ning exclaimed.
The small object shot towards Yang Chen. However, unlike the last attack, Yang Chen wasn’t able to decimate them all on time as the explosives went off one after another.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The chain of explosions saturated the air with the toxic powder.
The radius around Yang Chen and Cai Ning became a death zone.
Yang Chen was impervious to the attack, but for Cai Ning’s protection, he wielded a shapeless shield over themselves. He then gathered the gas into a cylindrical form and spun it till it became a tornado.
“Fall back!”
Tang Dianshan yelled at the top of his lungs as he quickly led his sister Tang Luyi alongside the council of elders out of the hall!
Meanwhile, Yang Chen, having gathered the toxic gas into a whirlwind, shot it out like an air cannon.
Before the whirlwind of poison gas reached the entrance of the hall, a loud rumble was heard. The assembly hall shifted its structure!
The two corners of the stone walls appeared activated by a control panel as countless concealed projectiles emerged.
Countless slender needles drenched in poison shot out from the narrow projectiles as they rained upon them both like a wave of arrows.
Yang Chen was all the more agitated. These people really have no intention of letting us live, do they? How crucial is the Endless Resolve Restoration Scripture for them to resort to such brutal ways? he thought.
But the attacks were all completely harmless to Yang Chen.
The tornado of poison gas stormed out of the hall. Yang Chen with one hand over Cai Ning’s shoulders slowly marched out from within. The ambiance they led was stern and formidable.
Before the needled weapons could lay waste on the couple, the chamber hall made with dull bluestone started fracturing and rumbling on all sides.
THUM!
In a blink of an eye, the chamber hall was nothing but a pile of debris.
Despite the sturdiness of the structure, Yang Chen had broken it down like it was cotton.
A huge gust of storm winds hurried through, and the assembly hall in the center point of the Tang Ancestral Fortress was now nothing but a plot of land.
The other disciples of the Tang Sect had seen what was going on from afar and rushed over, only to be stupefied at the sight.
Yang Chen alongside Cai Ning strolled across the vacant plot, towards where Tang Dianshan and the rest of the masters stood.
Yang Chen took a quick glance at the lot like a sentient overseeing a pit of ants as he sneered. “Now tell me, where is the Tower of Scrolls? If you tell me, I might by merciful enough to let you leave with your corpses intact.”
“You… you’re declaring war against all the ancient sects of China in its entirety!” Tang Dianshan ranted.
“Pfft,” Yang Chen rebuked. “Even Hongmeng’s appearance wouldn’t matter. What makes you think I’m afraid of your shitty little sect?
“I came for a civilized conversation but I guess that’s off the table now.
“Those in favor shall live while those who oppose me will die. I have a habit of not leaving the scene with my enemies alive…”
To hear Yang Chen’s mention of ‘Hongmeng’, Tang Dianshan was terrified.
“You… Have you reached the Soul Forming stage?!” Tang Dianshan instantly come to a realization. It’s no wonder that we’re leagues apart. He has reached heights the rest of us have never seen! he thought.
They previously had accepted Yang Chen to be a strong cultivator, but they could never align a youth in his twenties as the first to break through the Xiantian Full Cycle!
That was why they had always assumed they had strength in numbers.
“How is that possible? He’s only in his twenties. How could this happen…” Tang Luyi was stupefied at the revelation.
Yang Chen had enough of their terrified expressions. “You guys about done? I’m here to get something, I don’t have time to waste with you pathetic lots!”
Tang Dianshan and company were frozen to their spots, still in awe at how Yang Chen had managed to entirely leap past their cultivation level, rendering any of their attacks futile.
Right at that moment, an old elder with a long, white beard started forcing his eyes open before subsequently giving a warcry and charged towards Yang Chen!
Yang Chen felt slightly ominous which led to him reactively turning backward and clamping down the elder and his movements.
Yang Chen instantly took to notice the elder’s demonic red eyes. He then felt like something was a little off. “All of you… Are your minds being controlled by someone else?”
Everyone from the Tang Sect was confused at what Yang Chen was trying to say.
But Tang Dianshan and Tang Luyi, along with the elders, seemed to be in deep shock as their eyes turned blood red. Their veins started pulsating as they turned towards Yang Chen with malice. Retreating was not an option.