"Fuck! All of you stay put and guard this place for this young master!"
Tonight's moon hung especially bright, perfect for ensuring those two bitches had nowhere to hide.
"I want to see just who dares slap Moon Hua Sect in the face!" Luo Ba stood smugly at the street corner. He'd already locked down the entire auction house—those mother-daughter sluts couldn't escape even if they sprouted wings.
"Young Master, we've sealed off every route as you ordered," said the bodyguard beside him—a Moon Hua Sect expert in his forties.
"Hmph! Find that bastard and drag him out. See who has the balls to steal my women. Once we do, I'll cripple his tendons, then you lot drop your pants and line up—I'm going to fuck that pair until their bellies swell right in front of him."
"Heh heh, thank you for the reward, Young Master." His lackeys leered obscenely. Following Luo Ba meant they could do whatever the hell they wanted.
"Look! Someone's coming!" One sharp-eyed thug spotted a figure approaching.
"Delivering himself to our door… Stop him! Beat him to death!"
"Moon Hua Sect… such arrogance. Blocking the road and assaulting people in broad daylight right in the imperial capital?" As the man stepped out of the shadows, Luo Ba nearly collapsed in terror.
"I-It's… you!!!"
The black-haired man wearing a fox mask carried an azure thunder-colored sword, walking with calm, unhurried steps—no trace of panic.
"Oh? Have we met?" Ling Shuo was surprised. He'd only come down from the mountain a few days ago—yet Luo Ba was trembling like this… Could it be…
Was Luo Ba one of the group that ambushed Xi Chan Immortal's carriage last night?
"E-Elder Yan! This kid's strong—kill him quick for this young master!" Luo Ba still vividly remembered Ling Shuo descending from the sky last night, beheading a man with one slash. His legs shook as he hurriedly hid behind the expert.
The surrounding thugs fell silent in fear—they clearly recognized the masked youth too.
Something strange was definitely going on.
Ling Shuo didn't have time to dwell on it. His priority was dealing with these scum.
"Moon Hua Sect has endured for a thousand years, protecting the faithful around it, forging goodwill to ensure its legacy. Yet today it produces a depraved fiend like you—tarnishing the sect's name."
"Very well. Today, I'll clean house on behalf of Moon Chan Immortal!" In a flash, Ling Shuo drew his blade and struck—he couldn't gauge the middle-aged man's cultivation, so he seized the initiative.
"Insolent!" The man called Elder Yan drew his longsword and parried the attack.
"Immortal-tier third realm… such strength at so young an age." He blocked with his sword, then kicked away the fox-masked youth lunging toward Luo Ba.
"Though I lack immortal blood, I reached the peak of Heaven-grade fourth realm long ago—and I have a symbiotic spirit beast. Young friend, I suggest you kneel and beg Young Master Luo's forgiveness now, lest you end up in pieces." As he spoke, a ferocious snow-white spotted leopard materialized from thin air, growing larger before coiling from his shoulder down his right arm and vanishing into his sword.
"Not good…" Ling Shuo's heart sank. He'd hit a wall. This man was an entire major realm above him, and he even had a symbiotic spirit beast.
Spirit beasts were demon beasts that had awakened divine sense. Gaining one as a symbiotic partner required not only cultivation but rare fortune—the beast had to willingly acknowledge the cultivator, merging their meridians into one.
Beating him right now was nearly impossible… Should he retreat?
No…
He remembered Eliza's helpless plea, and Linda's innocent yet resolute face. He absolutely could not let that mother-daughter pair fall into Luo Ba's hands!
Then he had no choice—he'd use the sect's sacred treasure. Even if his mother dragged him back to Ling Peak, he wouldn't regret it!
A real man owns his choices. That was Ling Shuo's true nature.
"You've had your chance…" Sensing Ling Shuo's movement, Elder Yan's eyes turned cold. In an instant, sword light flashed—nearly shearing off the strands of hair in front of Ling Shuo's eyes.
"Frost Thousand Sword!!!" In that same moment, Ling Shuo gripped a sword hilt from his storage ring. Even before fully drawing it, the surrounding temperature plummeted to bone-chilling cold.
This was his master's weapon—the infamous blade of Heavenly Fox Sword Immortal Da Qianqin, known throughout Lingxiao as the sword of death itself.
Once drawn, there was no turning back. Ling Shuo didn't hesitate.
"What!!" Realizing the danger, Elder Yan paled in horror. He frantically pushed his movement technique to the limit—he had to kill Ling Shuo before that thing was fully unsheathed, or everyone here would be reduced to chunks!
"Sigh… utterly useless…"
At that critical juncture, Ling Shuo suddenly found his fingers unable to move another inch.
"I've only been out a few days—I'm not ready to go back to that boring mountain yet. Hmph~ I was already sick of it." A lazy, sleepy feminine moan laced with morning grumpiness rang out. Time itself seemed to slow; the man's sword edge hovered a hair's breadth from Ling Shuo's nose.
He could even hear the leopard's roar emanating from the blade.
What's happening?
"This empress is bored… so I'll lend you a hand~" Azure-green hair draped over Ling Shuo's shoulder. Unnoticed, a tall, voluptuous beauty in an off-shoulder, low-cut kimono had appeared behind him. She guided his wrists from behind, just like his master did when teaching sword techniques.
"Put it away already… Ugh, back when this empress was weakened, that little fox nearly chopped me in half with this thing… Still pisses me off."
"Frost Thousand Sword…" Ling Shuo cried out in shock. His connection to the storage ring was forcibly severed—the hilt vanished from his grasp.
"No need for that…" The beauty's fragrance was like faint night-blooming cereus. A tingling numbness spread through Ling Shuo's body, followed by a vast, overwhelming surge of power!
"This empress will aid you~"
Azure thunder crackled along his sword. The beauty vanished, time resumed, and Ling Shuo's senses sharpened dozens of times over! Dragon-like light coiled around him as he reversed his grip and drew in a flash!
"It's the Azure King Thunder Dragon Beast!" Elder Yan desperately raised his sword to block, but it was too late—Ling Shuo's thunder blade effortlessly cleaved through his half-formed stance, slicing off his spirit beast and shoulder in one stroke!!
"PFFF!!!!" A spray of blood filled the air along with the leopard's dying wail. Elder Yan flew dozens of feet like a rag doll.
"R-Run!! Run!!" The onlookers froze in shock. The invincible expert in their eyes had been sent flying with one slash—life or death unknown.
"AAAAHH!! AAAAAAHHH!!!" The sword qi also grazed Luo Ba; clutching his bleeding face, the man fled screaming into the night.
"Urgh…" Ling Shuo wanted to pursue, but… after the intoxicating rush of lightning power faded, only deep exhaustion remained.
"Hm… only able to withstand that much? Not bad, though…"
The beauty's seductive voice flickered in his mind—that was the last thing Ling Shuo perceived before consciousness slipped away, his body crumpling to the ground.
…
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