"Young master… uh, Master! We've reported to the Military Region. We don't know the result yet."In the Zhang family pond, an old butler knelt, breath coming fast. Before him stood a youth in silk—Zhang Ying.
Old Master Zhang had no biological sons; Zhang Ying was the adopted heir. For years he'd been laughed at as the "useless young master," overshadowed by the later-arriving prodigy Zhang Yinbai. Now… they were all dead. The Zhang family belonged to him. The capital belonged to him. His heart hammered; there was no grief, only greedy excitement. This was opportunity in its purest form.
"Fine. If the Military Region won't intervene…" the butler began, anxious.
Zhang Ying's sneer cut him off. "If they don't, I'll kill that man first. Then we'll handle the Military Region." He glanced into the dark. A pure black silhouette slid forward like a stain.
A cold, arrogant female voice answered, dripping contempt. Zhang Ying chuckled. "Of course I believe you.""Bee Woman.""Heh."
The voice faded; the shadow seemed never to have been there. The butler began to sweat. Before he could settle, the ground thundered.
Under the moon, a mammoth's silhouette swelled on the horizon. Its shadow lengthened like an omen; each step felt like an earthquake. Zhang Ying, flanked by a dozen core awakeners, threw the gates open.
"You're strong. Join me — choose any resource, any woman in the capital. Be loyal and everything is yours." He tried to bribe his way out of bloodshed. If he could win Chen Xiao, his headship would be secured.
But the man atop the mammoth's trunk was a nightmare in the moonlight—blood-splattered, cold, utterly murderous. A frosty-blue long blade condensed in his hand, then he vanished.
"Holy—where'd he go?!" Zhang Ying went pale.
"Bee Woman!" he cried, and a shadow leapt from the dark to answer the call. At least that steadied him.
Chen Xiao's steps were illusory, moving in flashes—his use of Invisibility economical and brutal. "Chen Xiao!" "You'll pay for your arrogance!" the Bee Woman hissed, springing under the moon.
Chen Xiao didn't hesitate. He threw a single punch—pressure and killing intent like a falling star. The Bee Woman was no amateur; she twisted and redirected force with ruthless skill, flipping through the air and returning to stance. Chen Xiao advanced anyway, lotus-like ripples forming where his feet met the air.
"Remember Ouyang Tu?" the Bee Woman spat from the shadows.
Chen Xiao kept walking into the city, bypassing Zhang Ying, closing the distance to the Bee Woman. "His wife?" he asked, then paused. "His daughter?" Her voice wavered—hatred coiled in it. "My father died three days after fighting you. You sure it had nothing to do with you?"
Chen Xiao's mouth twitched. "Oh? So that's how it is… My mistake." He let the words hang. "You want justice? Fine. But you should've investigated first."
"Fool!" she screamed. "You've entered the Queen Bee Barrier!"
Invisible chains erupted, converging from all directions. They wrapped him like a living net, draining and dragging at his power—absolute rule-type suppression. Chen Xiao felt his limbs thicken, strength leeched as if by sinkhole. This was new: rule talent. It sucked percentage points from his raw might.
Interesting, he thought. He summoned his panel: Physical Strength — exceeds Phase One limit; unreadable. Even under rules, his baseline was obscene. The Bee Woman's net tugged, but it didn't break him.
She howled and slashed. A moonlit blade sliced toward his head.
Chen Xiao grabbed her wrist mid-strike and hurled her like a stone. She flew hundreds of meters, blood blooming in the air. The Bee Woman hit the ground hard—crippled, winded, broken. A single move had ended her.
"Master! The Bee Woman's crippled!" a voice cried out. Zhang Ying gritted his teeth. How could a rule talent fail so utterly? "Impossible—her Barrier is legendary. How can he resist rules?"
"Magic Vanguard Team, move!" Zhang Ying barked.
Seven or eight S-rank-and-up mages exploded from Zhang Pond like a vanguard of doom—each radiating distinct spell auras, the Zhang family's anti-physical specialists. They were trained to melt strong bodies with artifice.
"Kid, prepare to die!" one shouted."Watch my Nine Heavens Thunder Double Kick!" another yelled."Blazing Fire, Shatter the Sky!" "Earth Spike!"
They unleashed in sequence—lightning, flame, earth—an orchestrated storm built to punish anyone relying on brute force.
But Chen Xiao stood where he was, calm as a south wind. Water rippled around him like a halo. He wasn't flustered. He had faced rule suppression. He had counters.
When the first bolt struck, the water around him sang; it bent the lightning like a reed. Flames licked at the ripples and hissed out. The earth spike crashed into a wall of flowing water and shattered, scattering like glass. The magic vanguard's coordinated strikes fizzled against the water-space interface Chen Xiao formed in microseconds.
He moved. Not much—just a step, a water blade blossoming in his palm. Each motion was clinical, economical: intercept, sever, neutralize. The mages howled as their spells were reflected back or sliced to ribbons. The night filled with the sound of magic exploding and men falling.
Zhang Ying watched his vanguard crumble and felt the world tilt. "How—this is impossible!" he whispered.
Chen Xiao advanced through the smoke and sparks—calm, merciless. Under the full moon he was a revenant god, and every failed spell was a confession: no magic team could cover for cowardice long.
"Earth Spike!" the last mage screamed, but his cry was swallowed by the roar of water. Chen Xiao's blade flashed cold as moonlight.
The city held its breath.