Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

At the entrance of Gale Hall, Ji Yun confirmed the wax seal was undamaged. "The item is secure," he said.

With his words, the delivery was officially accepted. The handover was complete. The stern expression on the Fuwei Escort Agency’s Leader of the Escort vanished, replaced by a smile. "Master Ji, do you need to send a reply? If not, we’ll be on our way."

Ji Yun said, "Please wait a moment. Let me see who sent this before I make a decision."

Smiling, he tore open the letter and pulled out the paper inside. Just as he unfolded it to read, his gaze was instantly seized by a few large, conspicuous words—KONG YU DEAD.

The smile on Ji Yun’s face vanished in a flash, his expression turning incomparably grim.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! My disciple, Kong Yu, has a Lower A-class Root Bone! He’s ranked third among the Ten Heroes and was destined to break through the Marrow Cleansing realm. Nothing could have happened to him!"

Ji Yun’s mind reeled as if struck by lightning. ’This is impossible!’ he roared internally. Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the fury in his heart and began to read the letter from the first line.

The further he read, the darker his expression grew.

*SPURT!*

Before he could even finish the letter, Ji Yun’s vision went black. A sweet, metallic taste filled his throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body swaying precariously.

The crimson blood splattered across the ground, a shocking sight. The Darts Masters from the Fuwei Escort Agency jumped back in alarm.

"Aaargh... The pain is unbearable!"

Ji Yun roared, his voice a deafening, desolate cry.

Not long after the death of his illegitimate son, news of his most prized Direct Disciple’s death had arrived. Ji Yun felt as if his heart was being shredded, his Gang Qi spiraling completely out of control.

A mournful howl escaped his lips, like that of a wounded tiger. A renowned Gang Qi expert, he could barely remain on his feet, looking as if he might collapse at any second.

"Master Ji..."

The Leader of the Escort from the Fuwei Escort Agency paled and rushed forward to support Ji Yun. He couldn’t imagine what was in the letter to make a mighty Gang Qi expert nearly pass out.

"Master..."

Ji Yun’s roar had also alarmed the disciples of Gale Hall, who all came rushing out. They stared in horror at their master, who had just coughed up blood and was on the verge of collapse.

They saw Ji Yun, looking as fragile as a candle in the wind. His face was as white as a sheet, the corners of his mouth were stained with blood, and his jaw was clenched tight.

"The letter is poisoned! The Fuwei Escort Agency used the letter to harm our master!"

one disciple with an overactive imagination yelled, assuming there was something wrong with the letter delivered by the Fuwei Escort Agency.

The Leader of the Escort from the Fuwei Escort Agency flinched and hurriedly retorted, "Bullshit! There’s nothing wrong with the letter! The problem is the message inside it!"

With that, he took the letter from Ji Yun’s hand and read it.

The next moment, he froze, stammering, "Kong Yu... Kong Yu and Li Xu... are both dead."

At his words, everyone felt as if they had been struck by lightning, their hearts pounding in disbelief.

’Kong Yu, hailed as the greatest talent from the last Dragon Ascension, is dead?’

That was *Kong Yu* they were talking about. A genius the likes of which Qingyuan County might not see for years had just... died. No wonder Ji Yun looked more grief-stricken than if his own father had passed away.

If any of them had lost such a disciple, they would have likely reacted the same way.

"Ah Yu..."

Ji Yun let out a low growl and spat out another mouthful of blood. This time, he fainted dead away, collapsing limply into the arms of the Leader of the Escort.

"Master!"

The crowd of Gale Hall disciples cried out in alarm.

"Quick, get a physician!" the Leader of the Escort roared, hastily scooping up Ji Yun and running toward Gale Hall.

Before long, news of Kong Yu’s death had spread throughout all of Qingyuan County.

As the most talented participant of the last Dragon Ascension, Kong Yu’s reputation was even greater than that of Cao Rong, the actual first-place winner. News of his death, spread by the Gale Hall disciples and the Fuwei Escort Agency’s Darts Masters, traveled quickly through Qingyuan County.

"Kong Yu is dead?"

In Weiyuan Hall, Lin Cheng froze when he heard the news, finding it hard to believe.

The Purple Sun Sect was a cruel place, but even there, one had to pick their targets carefully. No one would dare to make a move on someone with Kong Yu’s talent lightly.

"Good riddance!"

The next moment, he broke into delighted laughter.

’That bastard Ji Yun cried until he fainted, so it must be true,’ he thought. ’Kong Yu is really dead.’

As Ji Yun’s arch-rival, he had naturally worried about Kong Yu growing stronger and returning to help Ji Yun deal with him.

Now that Kong Yu was dead, that worry was gone.

’He must have gotten arrogant with his talent, bullying people left and right until he provoked someone he shouldn’t have and got himself killed in the shadows. That Xu Yang kid is much smarter. He understands that the tallest tree catches the most wind.’

Before, he hadn’t approved of Xu Yang’s cautious behavior, believing a Martial Artist should be sharp and aggressive. But now, hearing that even Kong Yu was dead, he felt more strongly than ever that Xu Yang’s approach was the wise one.

’Resources are useless if you’re not alive. Only the living have a future.’

’I wonder if that kid has reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm yet. He hasn’t even sent me a letter. Still, with that old fox Xiao Hua looking out for him, he’s probably managed it by now.’

He recalled his daughter’s letter mentioning that Xiao Hua was taking good care of Xu Yang, and his heart was put at ease.

’I’ll go visit him after Lin Wei and Xiao Chen’s wedding.’

The thought that his daughter and Xiao Hua’s son were getting along so well put Lin Cheng in a great mood. He immediately strode out of his personal courtyard to instruct his disciples.

...

Bathed in the light of the setting sun, Xu Yang stepped into his courtyard but found it empty. Sun Tao and Jiang Ping were nowhere to be seen; they had probably gone to the mess hall.

After washing the sweat from his body, he left the courtyard, also intending to head to the mess hall for dinner. At the entrance, however, he saw a crowd of people completely blocking the path.

Just as he was about to walk around them, he heard a familiar voice.

"Stop clinging to me! My father won’t agree, and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s your own fault for being such a disappointment. It’s been this long, and you still haven’t reached the Qi Cultivation Gang realm."

It was Xiao Chen!

Xu Yang squeezed through the crowd and saw Xiao Chen and Lin Wei in the center, struggling with each other.

"Uncle Xiao can’t do this! Go talk to him. I’m about to break through, I really am!" Lin Wei pleaded.