Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

"You... You actually dared to kill him?"

Luo Zhen’s eyes went wide. His flickering gaze met the staring eyes of Zhao Qinghuo, who couldn’t find peace even in death. His entire being trembled.

’The Luo Family!’

’One of the Ten Great Aristocratic Families of the Imperial Capital!’

’A behemoth that could make the Saint Martial Dynasty tremble with a stomp of their foot!’

’Hadn’t they seen it? Just by invoking the Luo Family’s name, he’d made Yulan Shouqing and Wang Yizhou—the most powerful figures in Yulan Mansion, at least on paper—stand by helplessly. They could only obey his every command.’

’But Jiang Chen...’

’He had actually dared to behead Zhao Qinghuo right in front of him.’

’This was no different from a vicious slap across the Luo Family’s face!’

Luo Zhen’s delicate face was contorted with fury. He roared, "You’re finished! Utterly finished! Not even the Celestial King himself can save you now! To think you’d dare offend my Luo Family... there will be no place for you left in the entire Saint Martial Dynasty! Jiang Chen, even if you kneel and beg me right now, I will never spare you."

However, a sharp SLAP was his only answer.

Standing his ground, Jiang Chen gave a light wave of his hand. A palm-shaped blast of True Essence slammed viciously into Luo Zhen’s face.

The force of the blow spun Luo Zhen around three times in place before he managed to wobble to a stop. A blood-red Palm Seal appeared on his left cheek, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Jiang Chen, completely dumbfounded. "You... You... You dare to hit me?"

He was the son of the Luo Family’s Steward, and more importantly, the Scholar’s Attendant to Luo Qing, the family’s foremost prodigy, who valued him greatly.

Even in the Imperial Capital, teeming with the young masters of great aristocratic families, his, Luo Zhen’s, status was not to be underestimated.

Growing up, he had always been the one following Luo Qing around, bullying others. Who would ever have dared to lay a finger on him?

But now...

Here, in this remote Yulan Mansion, not only had his predictions failed time and again, leaving him humiliated, but even Zhao Qinghuo, whom he had personally stepped forward to protect, had been beheaded by Jiang Chen. And now, he himself had been viciously slapped by Jiang Chen!

’This is a supreme humiliation!’

’Unforgivable!’

Luo Zhen trembled with rage, roaring, "You little bastard, you’re dead! Prepare to face the wrath of my Luo Family!"

"So much nonsense. It seems that slap wasn’t hard enough," Jiang Chen said coolly.

With a slight lift of his left hand, he unleashed more than a dozen slaps through the air in the blink of an eye.

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

The crisp sounds were exceptionally pleasing to the ear.

One to the left, one to the right...

Luo Zhen’s head was jerked violently from side to side, sending shimmering globs of saliva flying from his mouth with each swing.

SLAP!

An especially loud crack echoed from his face. His entire body was sent flying, spinning a full ten times just above the ground before THUDDING heavily onto the dirt. His face swelled up like a pig’s head, his cheeks puffed high and tight. The blood he spat out was mixed with broken teeth, and his eyes were squeezed into narrow slits.

"Oof..."

Luo Zhen pushed himself up on his hands, trying to get to his feet, only for Jiang Chen to plant a foot on his back, slamming him back down and giving him a mouthful of dirt.

Jiang Chen said coolly, "I heard you were the one who ordered them to cut out Uncle Lui’s tongue and eyes, weren’t you?"

"N-no, no, it wasn’t..." Luo Zhen shook his head frantically, his gaze on Jiang Chen filled with terror.

’When he thought of Zhao Qingshui, who had been tortured to death by a thousand cuts earlier, how could he possibly dare to admit it?’

"I don’t like liars." Jiang Chen shook his head and stomped his foot down, crushing Luo Zhen’s right shoulder.

"AARGH..."

Luo Zhen let out a squeal like a stuck pig. "Stop hitting me! I’ll confess... I ordered it! It was me, all me..."

"Since you’ve admitted it, I can now logically avenge Uncle Lui," Jiang Chen said, nodding.

Luo Zhen’s face went blank as a stampede of ten thousand curses raced through his mind.

’Damn it! So I get beaten if I deny it, and it’s a dead end if I admit it?’

Seeing the sharp, deadly aura pulsing from Jiang Chen’s Sword Finger, Luo Zhen’s pupils contracted violently. His eyes filled with despair. He struggled with all his might, kicking and flailing as he tilted his head back and roared, "Let me go... You can’t kill me! I came to Yulan Mansion on the Young Master’s orders! If anything happens to me, the Young Master will definitely avenge me! My Young Master is a Core Disciple of the Saint Martial Sword Sect! He will never let you off..."

"This Young Master you speak of... is Luo Qing, isn’t it?" Jiang Chen asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Precisely Young Master Luo Qing..."

A look of pride returned to Luo Zhen’s face as he threatened, "Young Master Luo Qing is a powerhouse at the Peak of True Martial Realm and a Core Disciple of the Saint Martial Sword Sect. His power is immense. If you let me go, I can ask the Young Master to spare your life. You’d better think this through. If you kill me, you’ll be signing your own death warrant. But if you let me go, you still have a chance to swear fealty to Young Master Luo Qing..."

’A death warrant? Swear fealty?’

’Heh...’

’You think far too highly of Luo Qing!’

Jiang Chen said coolly, "Sorry, but I have no interest in being someone’s dog. As for Luo Qing... don’t you worry. If he really comes looking for me to avenge you, I’ll send him to the Underworld for a family reunion with you!"

"What... You..."

Luo Zhen’s face was a mask of terror. Before he could finish his words, a flash of sword light severed his head from his body.

He was dead before his body hit the ground.

Yulan Shouqing and Wang Yizhou rushed over, but they were too late to intervene. They both looked at Jiang Chen with exasperation. "Jiang Chen, you’ve brought on a huge disaster! Killing Zhao Qinghuo was one thing, but you... how could you kill Luo Zhen, too? Behind him is the Luo Family! And Luo Qing!"

"What’s done is done. What’s the use of regret? Besides, if this Luo Qing doesn’t come looking for me, then we’re even. If he dares to come, I don’t mind sending him to reunite with Zhao Qinghuo and the others," Jiang Chen waved his hand dismissively.

"You... Ah... Forget it. What’s done is done, regret is useless." Wang Yizhou gave a bitter smile and looked at Yulan Shouqing. "Mansion Master, it seems that once we return, we’ll have to find a way to use our connections to suppress this matter. I’m afraid the Luo Family will use this as a pretext to come after us!"

"Don’t worry. Zhao Qinghuo may have had connections in the Imperial Capital, but my Yulan Clan is not without its own backers!"

Yulan Shouqing nodded, then turned to Jiang Chen and asked, "Worthy Nephew Jiang Chen, now that Zhao Qinghuo is dead, what do you think should be done with the Qinghuo Gang?"

Hearing this, Wang Yizhou’s eyes also glinted as he stared at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen paused, then narrowed his eyes slightly and coolly uttered four words: "Exterminate them completely!"

"That’s exactly what I was thinking!"

"Then let’s make our move!"

The three men looked at each other and smiled. The City Lord’s Mansion and the Red Flame Army struck at the same time.

Although the Qinghuo Gang had nearly ten thousand members, its peak combat power had been decimated. Only five True Martial Realm powerhouses remained, and they were all merely at the initial stage of the True Martial Realm. Under the ferocious assault of the experts from the City Lord’s Mansion and the Red Flame Army, all five True Martial Realm powerhouses fell. The nearly ten thousand gang members, likewise, could not escape death.

In the past, the Qinghuo Gang had been tyrannical and abusive, and many other factions had long been displeased with them.

Under the leadership of Yulan Shouqing and Wang Yizhou, all the powerhouses in Yulan Mansion were mobilized to begin the encirclement and annihilation of the Qinghuo Gang, the Qian Family, the Luoo Family, and the Money Commerce Association.

This slaughter lasted for a full day and night.

In his quest to avenge his son, Zhao Qinghuo had brought all ten thousand members of the Qinghuo Gang to Celestial Demon Canyon, which conveniently gave Yulan Shouqing and the others a perfect opportunity to wipe them out, root and stem. After a day and a night of slaughter, the entire Celestial Demon Canyon was saturated with the pungent stench of blood. The ground itself was stained red, and corpses littered the landscape, like a scene from Asura Purgatory.

When Jiang Chen severed the head of the last Qinghuo Gang expert, the once-unassailable Qinghuo Gang, one of the three great Overlords of Yulan Mansion, was utterly annihilated.

And the mastermind behind its destruction was a young man not yet eighteen years old.

Every powerhouse in Yulan Mansion etched this taboo-like existence into their memory. His name was—

Jiang Chen!