Chapter 8: Lian Yu's First Confrontation
\[Background Music...\] The silence near the cave shattered, the melody signaling the impending bloodshed.
\[Realm 1, Near the Bloody Magic Herb Cave\]
Lian Yu, a shadow among the trees, reached the cave's vicinity. His breathing was steady, yet a storm raged within his heart. A short distance away, Xiao Long and his handful of soldiers were like rabid hunters; their eyes bloodshot, breaths ragged, scrutinizing every rock and bush as if the secret to immortality lay hidden there.
"It's here somewhere\!" Xiao Long almost shrieked. "I... I saw a strange red glow\!"
His soldiers immediately plunged into the cave's darkness. Lian Yu clenched his fist. Millennia of combat experience were confined within his soul, but this young body was still weak. A direct confrontation was not part of his plan, yet destiny had brought him to a crossroads where retreating would be cowardice.
\[: A glacial, dangerous glint appeared in Lian Yu's eyes. The shadows behind him stretched, forming a terrifying silhouette, as if an ancient demon had awakened.\]
A soldier stumbled out of the cave, a rusted, broken sword in his hand. "Leader\! I found this\! There's something inside\!"
Xiao Long snatched the sword like a ravenous beast. Without a moment's thought, he smashed it against a rock, and from its hilt, the 'Bloody Magic Herb' tumbled out, glowing with a deep red light.
Upon seeing it, Xiao Long's last vestiges of sanity were consumed. Greed, madness, and an insatiable lust for power erupted on his face. "This... this is mine\! Forever\!"
Then, a calm voice emerged from the thicket of trees, "Yes, it is yours."
Xiao Long and his soldiers spun around, startled. Lian Yu stepped out of the darkness into the light.
"You... who are you?" Xiao Long's voice held a note of surprise.
"My name is Lian Yu," he said, his voice carrying more weight than his name suggested. "The last descendant of the Blade Clan."
Hearing this, Xiao Long burst into laughter, a sound filled with arrogance and mockery. "So this trap was set by you\! A mere babe tried to fool me? What threat could a weakling like you pose?"
Lian Yu did not reply. He gripped his broken sword tightly and activated his 'Shadow Blade' technique. For a moment, a vortex of blue aura rose around him, denser and more powerful than ever before.
"Kill him\!" Xiao Long commanded his soldiers.
Two soldiers charged at Lian Yu, swords swinging. But Lian Yu's speed was faster than the wind. His movements possessed a strange rhythm, as if he wasn't fighting, but performing a dance of death. Before they could comprehend, a sharp, blue energy streak shot from Lian Yu's sword, slicing both soldiers' throats in a single swift motion.
"What?\!" Xiao Long's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You decimated my clan," Lian Yu said calmly, but his voice was as cold as winter. "You took my father's life. Now you must pay the price."
Xiao Long's face flushed with rage. He drew his massive sword. "To lose to a worm like you would be an insult\!"
Lian Yu closed his eyes for a moment. He made a decision that could very well kill him. He drew a small, yet immensely powerful, fragment of his soul's boundless energy into his mortal body. An unbearable wave of pain coursed through every vein, as if his body were tearing apart from within, but he suppressed the agony with his willpower.
\[Manhua Style: A golden aura explodes from Lian Yu's body, merging with his blue aura to form a sacred and destructive storm. The air around him becomes unstable, trembling.\]
In the next instant, he advanced towards Xiao Long. Their swords clashed, and a deafening shriek of metal resonated. Xiao Long's strength was brutal, but Lian Yu's technique, his experience, and his speed were otherworldly. He parried Xiao Long's every blow as skillfully as a master artist drawing lines on a canvas.
The fight lasted only a few moments. In the end, seizing an opening, Lian Yu's sword darted forward like a blue serpent and plunged directly into Xiao Long's heart.
"This... how... how could this be?" Xiao Long's words came out with blood. The light of life was fading from his eyes.
Lian Yu leaned close to his ear and whispered, "You didn't just kill a clan, Xiao Long. You betrayed a soul that had seen billions of years. And that soul... has now returned to collect its debt."
Xiao Long's lifeless body collapsed to the ground. With his death, the first chapter of the Shadow Clan's tyranny came to an end.
Lian Yu pulled out his sword. Blood also seeped from his body, but in his eyes, there was no pain, but a new, deeper, and dangerous gleam. He looked up at the sky and said,
"This was just a pawn. The real player is you... the one with the golden aura. Wherever you are... I will find you."
Lian Yu left the corpses behind and moved towards the ruins for his next step. His journey had truly begun.